Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

[gunnar]

Unchained certainly has a lot of trivia attached to it. I think Dexter Gordon was actually a prisoner in Chino for a heroin conviction when he appeared in the film.

Desert Victory (1943) - 7/10 - This film examines the North Africa campaign fought by the British and their allies against Rommel and his German army. There is some captured footage included along with re-enactments and plenty of combat footage. The narration is informative, though a bit dry. It was a decent enough film for wartime, though I thought it got a bit repetitive at times.

After the Axe (1982) - 8/10 - This Canadian drama (a fictional documentary) shows what happens to an executive in a large company after he is fired. Since he had been with the company for a long time and to avoid problems, the company pays his salary for a year and also pays for relocation training to help him find a new job. The people at that company and the executives he meets later are all real, but the man and the company he worked for were fictional. I think that the movie does a good job showing what these 40-something executives might go through and how they likely need to realign their thinking to move on with their career.

The Cry of Reason - Beyers Naude: An Afrikaner Speaks Out (1988) - 7.5/10 - Beyers Naude was a white South African cleric who started speaking out against apart apartheid in the early 1960s. It caused him to separate from his church and start his own institute. He was harassed by the South African government and banned for seven years. He is interviewed here along with Desmond Tutu and many others about his work and his relationship with the black population. Archival footage is also mixed in and it all makes for a pretty good film.

Doing Time: Life Inside the Big House (1991) - 6/10 - This HBO film had the filmmakers visit Lewisburg Penitentiary in Pennsylvania where they interviewed guards, the warden, and prisoners to discover what their lives were like inside the prison. They also discussed with a few of the prisoners what led them to be in prison and what problems they currently had. I thought that the film was interesting at times, but didn't find myself fully engaged at others. Overall, it was okay.

He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' (1983) - 7.5/10 - Jacques d"Amboise was the principal dancer for the New York City Ballet for many years. He started the National Dance Institute in 1976 to bring dance into New York City schools so that students could meet once each week with professional dancers and learn modern dance. Exceptional students were invited to join his 'Swat Team' and rehearse at Lincoln Center on Saturday mornings. At the end of the year they put on a big performance to show off the various routines that they learned, woven together into a story. This was a nice film and the kids seemed to be having a great time, even though it was hard work. d'Amboise is demanding, but generally in a nice way, taking the time to work with the kids, and they speak highly of him in the film.

Let My People Go (1965) - 7.5/10 - This film looks at events that led to the founding of the State of Israel, mostly from the beginning of the 20th Century through 1949. The founding of Tel Aviv, the British Mandate, Jewish Ghettos in Poland and elsewhere, concentration camps, etc. are all covered. Immigration to Palestine was limited even after WWII ended so that many Jews were kept in camps on Cyprus if they were caught trying to enter illegally. The footage was well chosen and the narration was good, though I felt that the history was sort of superficial. There was a lot to cram into a one hour documentary.

The Anderson Platoon (1967) - 7/10 - A French film crew was embedded with an American platoon in Vietnam for six weeks. This film shows what their lives are like during that time. There is combat, but there is also time to relax, eat dinner, bathe in the river, go on leave in a big city, and interact with locals. The narration is sometimes sparse as it often lets the film speak for itself. A number of the platoon members are wounded or killed during the course of the film. I found it to be an interesting look at some of the things soldiers in Vietnam had to deal with.

Wolves and the Wolf Men (1969) - 7/10 - Wolves are shown (and studied) in the wild. Some of them are captured, equipped with radio collars, and released so that researchers can study their movements. Wolves are also raised in captivity so that researchers can become close with them and study their social behaviors. In some areas, wolves were still being hunted to extinction and populations were somewhat threatened. I thought the film did a nice job showing the wolves that were raised in captivity and how they interacted with humans and each other. Their behaviors were also explained by the narrator or the scientists involved.

The Fighting Lady (1944) - 7.5/10 - The USS Yorktown is an aircraft carrier that was commissioned in 1943. This film takes place from July 1943-June 1944 and shows it traveling through the Panama Canal, undergoing sea exercises, and battling Japanese forces in various parts of the Pacific. We get to see plenty of action using gunport cameras and activity aboard the carrier with planes landing, sometimes too damaged to land properly. We also get to see aspects of everyday life aboard ship - writing or reading letters, playing cards, getting some sun on the deck, eating meals, getting mission briefings, etc. It is in technicolor and I think that this really adds to the film. The Yorktown is now a museum ship in South Carolina and I visited it a couple of years ago. It is a big ship and it was interesting to tour it.

On the Bowery (1956) - 5/10 - Ray is new to the Bowery, a place full of people who are down and out, making very little money and often spending what they do have on alcohol. Ray is taken advantage of by one of the residents that he thinks of as a friend, though Ray doesn't realize it. When he is sober, Ray swears to stay off drink and try to better himself, but the call of drink is too much to resist. I didn't really care for this film very much. It didn't really work for me, though it seems fairly popular to others.

[Big Magilla]

One more Unchained trivia connection.

Johnny Johnston, who was fifth billed behind Hirsch, Hale, Morris, and Duncan, played the James Dunn role in the Broadway musical version of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn in which he and Shirley Booth in the Joan Blondell role were the top-billed stars. His short but eclectic film career ranged from Till the Clouds Roll By to Rock Around the Clock. Kathryn Grayson was the second of his five wives.

[Mister Tee]

Unchained (1955) - 7/10 - Steve Davitt is sent to an experimental prison in Chino, California where the cells aren't locked and there are no armed guards. They can also wear the clothes that they want and have visitors on Sundays. The Superintendent of the prison believes that prisoners are people and wants to treat them as such in hopes of rehabilitating them rather than punishing them. The movie is based on the non-fiction book by Kenyon Scudder and is based on his real experiences at Chino as Superintendent (aka warden). The acting of Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch as Davitt left something to be desired, but the supporting cast was mostly okay. The plot is a bit pedestrian, but I still enjoyed it.

I've never seen this, but it's got a truly wild bundle of trivia attached to it:

It stars Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch, a Hall of Fame football player who played the lead in his own biopic, and made a brief stab at a fuller acting career, of which this was probably the peak.

It features one actor Oscar-nominated in 1929 (Chester Morris) and another Oscar-nominated in 1986 (Dexter Gordon!).

It also features Todd Duncan, who was Porgy in the original Broadway production of Porgy and Bess.

The great John Qualen is in it, which makes any movie memorable.

It's a TV treasure trove for baby boomers, with Barbara Hale (Della Street in the Raymond Burr Perry Mason series), Jerry Paris (Dick van Dyke's next door neighbor Jerry Halper), and Tim Considine (Disney veteran of Mickey Mouse Club's Spin and Marty and The Hardy Boys, as well as The Shaggy Dog, plus, later, My Three Sons).

ON EDIT: Add one more: actor Stafford Repp, who played Chief O'Hara on the 60s Batman series -- and, remarkably, also appeared in Orson Welles' long-delayed The Other Side of the Wind. Whew.

If that's not enough, there's Kathryn Grant, who was Bing Crosby's wife the last 20 years of his life.

And, of course, the film is the source of the Oscar-nominated Unchained Melody, now most associated with The Righteous Brothers, Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and a potting wheel. In case you wondered where that song's title came from.

[Reza]

Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (Gus Van Sant, 2018) 5/10

Portland Cartoonist John Callahan (Joaquin Phienix), an alcoholic, becomes a paraplegic after an accident. He is reluctantly helped through recovery with the encouragement of his girlfriend (Rooney Mara) and a sponsor (Jonah Hill). Phoenix once again loses himself into the flawed character he is playing and gives an extremely raw and riveting performance neatly balancing anger and humor. Too bad that Van Sant keeps resorting to corny sentimentality that also marred his "Good Will Hunting" and there are too many repetitious scenes set during the councelling sessions. The screenplay is based on Callahan's book about his recovery.

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, 1943) 10/10

The title character was inspired by David Low's cartoon caricature - the pigheaded blowhard militaryman Colonel Blimp - but the inspired screenplay turns him into an original character for this epic film. The story traces the career of General Clive Candy (Roger Livesey), a bluff, middle-class British soldier from the Boer war, where he won a VC, up to 1943 when the rules of the game became less gentlemanly when it came to defeating the Nazis. Along with being a delightful satire about the British Army it also mourns the decline of a strict code of honour amongst professional soldiers. It is also about the importance of friendship - a long standing one between Blimp (Roger Livesey) and a German officer (Anton Walbrook) who first meet while fighting a duel with their relationship spanning the years 1902-1942. Since the film was shot during the height of WWII with German bombs falling on London, the screenplay caused a major crisis for the filmmakers when Churchill opposed it thinking first that the pompous Blimp was based on him and secondly being appalled at the idea of the two main characters - a Brit and a German - being close friends. The film was first banned but later released in a truncated version. Martin Scorsese restored this magnificent film to its original glory in 1983. It is also an intensely romantic film with Blimp falling in love with a British governess (Deborah Kerr) he meets in Berlin but only after she accepts a marriage proposal from his German friend. At first he is happy for them but later realises he loves her too and spends years looking for a substitute and at last finding one in a nurse who is the spitting image of the woman he loved and lost. Kerr plays this second role as well and then appears at the end in a third role as Blimp's working class driver during WWII. Powell first wanted Wendy Hiller for the part but she declined as she was pregnant and Kerr, who was Powell's lover at the time, got to magnificently play all three roles. This is also one of the most beautiful Technicolor productions - shot by the great Georges Périnal, and assisted by Jack Cardiff and Geoffrey Unsworth who would both go on to become famous cinematographers in their own right. Witty wartime propaganda film is one of many cinematic masterpieces by the director duo and is an absolute must-see.

Tampico (Lothar Mendes, 1944) 7/10

One of numerous WWII related propaganda films churned out by Hollywood during the War. Slick action-adventure story involving the Navy, spies and treacherous women. The skipper (Edward G. Robinson) of a merchant ship picks up survivors of a U-boat attack and after a brief courtship, followed by a drunken night on the town, finds himself married to one (Lynn Bari). On a later voyage he gets into an altercation with his best mate (Victor McLaglen) who is annoyed about his sudden marriage. As they resort to a fist fight their ship is hit by a torpedo and sunk. The skipper survives but his friend drowns. During the investigation of the sinking it is revealed that his wife may be a Nazi spy and could have relayed messages to the U-boat. With his marriage in ruins and shorn of his position as captain he resorts to drink and is approached by Nazi agents to join them and provide classified information about merchant ships carrying oil. Exciting thriller with tough Robinson who is memorable as always.

Hatched (Scott Jeffrey & Rebecca Matthews, 2021) 2/10

No movie with rampaging Velociraptors and a T-Rex could be all that bad but this one just about manages to be. The premise is also old hat - people trapped in a house with dinosaurs chasing them - yet the film manages a couple of jump scares. The problem is with the T-Rex which looks like its being pushed by someone and basically has one move which is to bend its neck to chomp on human prey. And this fake move is repeated ad nauseum. The cast are also of no help as none of the actors can act. A scientist has recreated dinosaurs on his remote farm and along with his wife gets eaten by them. The only survivor is their son. When the rest of the family unexpectedly visit they find themselves fighting for their lives as the three beasts go on full attack mode. Very cheesy film.

The World, the Flesh and the Devil (Ranald MacDougall, 1959) 6/10

A black mine inspector (Harry Belafonte) gets trapped in a cave-in for over a week and when he manages to escape discovers he is all alone in a post-apocalyptic world. All living creatures have perished during an atomic blast. He manages to reach New York City and starts a solitary life in an apartment when he discovers a white woman (Inger Stevens) who has also survived. When another man (Mel Ferrer) later arrives there begins a rift between the two men over the woman. Hollywood (and the United States) had three pet topics during the 1950s - fear of communism, the imminent threat of a nuclear catastrophe and the "black problem". The obsession with all three topics had major guilt at their core - guilt over the way McCarthy persecuted citizens and how people betrayed each other shattering honest livelihoods, guilt over the "Japanese solution" during WWII and of course guilt about the way white America treated their own black citizens which was a very long holdover from the days of slavery and which unfortunately has continued on to this day. Belafonte, then at the peak of his career, took on this role as a means to make a point about the racial issue in the story which also dealt with a post-nuclear scenario which would lead into the fourth American fear - the Cold War paranoia which became a major topic during the next decade. The moments in the screenplay which had the black man and white woman finding love in their loneliness was hastily discarded by the studio who got cold feet over interracial intimacy much to the anger of the film's star. He later wrote about this in his memoir - "Once again, I was confronted by the country's schizophrenia on race. On the one hand, I'd just appeared on the cover of Time magazine, accompanied by a long reverent profile inside. Yet the same sort of white decision makers couldn't abide the thought of me touching or kissing a white woman". Belafonte wanted to walk off the film but fear of being blacklisted by the studio forced him to finish the project. The film's whitewashed ending seems ridiculous and it was a huge flop. Over the years the film has developed a cult status. There are many chilling scenes of empty streets with cars parked eerily on bridges. The movie does a great job of evoking a post-nuclear New York in an almost poetic way with its scenes completely devoid of life. Pity about the silly human triangle part of the story. The postscript to Inger Stevens' life and career was also very sad. In 1961 she married a black man but hid this fact out of fear for her career. She died of acute barbiturate poisoning in 1970 and her death was ruled a suicide.

Land (Robin Wright, 2021) 4/10

A woman (Robin Wright) goes into isolation in the wilderness of Wyoming after suffering a terrible tragedy. She sets up house in a cabin in the woods and there are scenes of accute hardships during winter. A bear turns up. Nothing new in this very dreary film. Demián Bichir briefly breaks the monontony as an Indian who teaches her how to hunt and survive the elements but he is just as damaged as her. After a while even the stunning scenery begins to look dreary. This low key effort is Wright's directorial debut.

No Sudden Move (Steven Soderbergh, 2021) 8/10

Convoluted neo-noir is a delightful game of double and triple crosses between a bunch of crooks and gangsters in 1950s Detroit. A gangster (Don Cheadle), in need of cash to get out of town, is hired along with another gangster (Benicio Del Toro) to get hold of some documents. They hold an accountant's family hostage and get him to retrieve the documents from the safe of his boss which he finds is empty. He delivers fake documents to the handler who tells both gangsters to massacre the family. The two men realise they have been set up, release the family and go in search of the actual documents which they find. Once in their possession they try and figure out its actual worth by trying to sell them to assorted interested parties - a white ganglord (Ray Liotta), a black mob boss (Bill Duke) and an arrogant and bigoted automobile industry executive 'Mr Big' (Matt Damon) - while a suspicious cop (Jon Hamm) is hot on their trail. The inventive screenplay also throws into the mix an adulterous secretary who switches lovers at the drop of a hat and a ditsy wife who for the love of cold cash has the guts to calmly shoot both her husband and lover in cold blood. Beautifully shot, richly layered film impeccably creates the period flavor with every member of the ensemble cast working in tandem with director Soderbergh. This stylized caper thriller may not rank as high as some others in this genre but it has enough desperate thrills which easily make it rank close to some of the best.

Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi (Seema Pahwa, 2021) 8/10

Pahwa perfectly captures the dynamics between different members of a large family. When a patriarch (Naseeruddin Shah) dies his entire family descends on the family home in Lucknow to provide comfort to the matriarch (Supriya Pathak) and mourn his death for the obligatory 13 days. However, as at most such family gatherings dirty linen is aired, long suppressed emotions are laid bare and what was supposed to be an occasion for mourning turns into a potourri of bitter retorts, bitchy accusations and recriminations. The matriarch quietly watches as her four sons, two daughters, their respective spouses and children, her own siblings and other assorted relatives and servants bicker amongst themselves. This is award-winning character actress Pahwa's directorial debut and her dialogue and screenplay (based on her own play "Pind Daan") brilliantly captures the nuances of each family member as she explores various family issues and emotional moments while exposing the hypocricies involved in the various rituals on hand. The plot revolves around an orthodox Hindu family but the emotions and dynamics are universal, especially to the sub-continent, and is a mirror image that fits right into any religious household - Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist. A fantastic ensemble cast - Vikrant Massey, Konkona Sen Sharma, Parambrata Chatterjee, Vinay Pathak, Manoj Pahwa and Vineet Kumar - bring to vivid life the various family members. There are no villains here. The screenplay presents every character in an honest way showing them as flawed human beings stuck in fragile relationships who carry on despite life's turmoils. Memorable film is a must-see.

Strange Bargain (Will Price, 1949) 6/10

Minor noir about a suicide made to look like murder in order to benefit from an insurance policy. Bankrupt business owner plans to kill himself and offers an employee (Jeffrey Lynn) a big sum of money to dispose the gun. Unwillingly he goes ahead with the plan and after he finds his boss dead gets rid of the gun and takes the envelope of money left for him. His guilty conscience starts getting the better of him and his wife (Martha Scott) gets worried. The wily cop (Harry Morgan) on the case suspects another employee of the murder as he did not get along with the deceased and had been heard arguing with him. Lynn is good as the man stuck in an improbable situation who does not want the wrong man charged for a murder that was instead a suicide. Katherine Emery, as the dead man's social climbing wife, is a standout. One of numerous B-noirs that have fallen under the radar but need to be rediscovered.

[gunnar]

Chile: Hasta Cuando? (1986) - 7.5/10 - An Australian film crew went to Chile in 1985 under the pretense of doing a story on music. They really wanted to document the brutality and crimes of the Pinochet regime. Pinochet took over Chile in a U.S. backed coup in 1973 and during his time in power, thousands of people went missing and even more were arrested and sometimes tortured. Economic inequality increased dramatically during his reign and unemployment was rampant in certain sectors. The people try to unite, but protests are squelched with water cannons, tear gas, and bullets.

Unchained (1955) - 7/10 - Steve Davitt is sent to an experimental prison in Chino, California where the cells aren't locked and there are no armed guards. They can also wear the clothes that they want and have visitors on Sundays. The Superintendent of the prison believes that prisoners are people and wants to treat them as such in hopes of rehabilitating them rather than punishing them. The movie is based on the non-fiction book by Kenyon Scudder and is based on his real experiences at Chino as Superintendent (aka warden). The acting of Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch as Davitt left something to be desired, but the supporting cast was mostly okay. The plot is a bit pedestrian, but I still enjoyed it.

Children of Darkness (1983) - 7.5/10 - This documentary looks at a few teenagers with mental illness or other issues such as drinking or antisocial behavior along with some of the facilities that 'treat' them. Of the places that were shown, it seems that the facilities were generally understaffed and many of the residents underwent various forms of abuse in the name of treatment. At one place, there was even a boxing ring where students would be made to beat each other. Injecting lots of drugs to medicate residents and the use of restraints also seemed common. One facility called South Beach had over 60 deaths in a year and a half and there didn't seem to be any serious repercussions. This is a sickening look at mental health care among juveniles and I doubt if it got much better for those who moved on to adult facilities. One employee defended their practices in the name of trying to keep kids out of jail which would be much worse, but it seems a dubious argument at best.

High Grass Circus (1976) - 7/10 - The Royal Bros. Circus operated in Canada in the 1970s. They would travel from small town to small town throughout the season with over 100 shows. It was a pretty small outfit and some of the young workers that they hired would occasionally grab their belongings and leave during the night. The crowds seemed to enjoy the entertainment. The film shows some of the performances along with the work involved in setting up the show and moving from town to town. I don't think that the show could have been very profitable, but it provided a living for people, entertainment for the customers, and allowed the seasonal workers to travel across the country.

Promises to Keep (1988) - 7.5/10 - Community for Creative Non-Violence is an organization in Washington, D.C. that worked for several years in the mid-80s to get a homeless shelter renovated by the government and kept open. The government donated the empty building, but refused to provide funds to fix it up. They later agreed, but reneged on the deal, instead trying to bus residents to a more distant facility. The leader of CCNV was Mitch Snyder and he went on a hunger strike at one point to get the funding and this nearly killed him. The plight of the homeless is definitely serious and it doesn't look to have changed much in the 30+ years since the film was made. I can see where Snyder might rub some people the wrong way, but he was persistent and seemed to genuinely care about the people that he tried to help.

The Profession of Arms (1983) - 8/10 - Gwynne Dyer hosts this look at what it takes to be a soldier. There is a brief segment on the history of warfare followed by interviews with officers (and a few enlisted) from U.S., Canadian, Soviet, and Israeli armed forces. Video of training exercises and archival footage is also mixed in. I thought it was a pretty good look at decisions that some of the leaders need to make and how different people approach having to possibly kill enemy soldiers.

Isaac in America: A Journey with Isaac Bashevis Singer (1986) - 7/10 - Singer recounts some tales from his life and visits Coney Island where he lived when he first came to the United States. He is also shown answering questions from an audience and receiving an award from the King of Sweden. Singer seems to have a decent sense of humor. I've never read any of his stories, but the name was certainly familiar. The documentary wasn't bad.

Kon-Tiki (1950) - 8/10 - This film features narration coupled with film and photographs from the 1947 Thor Heyerdahl expedition where he tried to show that it was possible for residents of South America to have reached Polynesia by raft 1500 years ago. He and his crew build a large raft from balsa wood and set out on a 100+ day voyage across the Pacific Ocean. The film from the trip is very interesting and the narration doesn't get boring at all as it explains what is going on in the film. Very entertaining.

Fighting for Our Lives (1975) - 8/10 - In April 1973, the contract for grape workers in California expired. The growers brought in the Teamsters and the workers went on a non-violent strike, wanting a United Farm Workers contract. There were numerous acts of intimidation and violence by Teamsters against strikers and their families. The growers also brought in police and they arrested thousands of strikers over the next few months and also committed acts of brutality against them. Cesar Chavez was one of the faces of the strike which also spread to lettuce workers. The film does a good job documenting the strike and the troubles that they faced.

A Great Day in Harlem (1994) - 7.5/10 - In 1958, photographer Art Kane arranged to gather as many jazz musicians as he could on one particular day in Harlem so that he could get a group photograph. Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Thelonius Monk, Sonny Rollins, and many others gathered there. Kane had some difficulty getting the musicians arranged because they wanted to visit with their friends, many of whom they hadn't seen in a while. Eventually it came together in a very memorable photo filled with tons of musical talent. This documentary features interviews with Kane and surviving musicians from that day as they reminisce about some of the others who were there. Mixed in are home movies taken by bass player Milt Hinton and his wife at the photo shoot and archival footage of the musicians being discussed in action. It makes for a pretty laid back and entertaining film.

Before the Mountain was Moved (1970) - 7.5/10 - Strip mining for coal in Raleigh County, West Virginia was destroying the landscape, polluting water sources, and causing landslides. One landslide buried a family's car up to the top of the trunk and along the side of the house. A group of residents meet at the local church to discuss the matter with the help of an organizer. Some residents are afraid to participate because they live in company homes or because one of them works for the coal company. The residents go to the State Capitol and speak before the Senate about the issue and then return home. A strip mining bill was under consideration at the time so their testimony could have had an impact. This was a good environmental film, though I wonder what changes were made after the law was passed.

[gunnar]

Portia on Trial (1937) - 7/10 - Portia Merryman is a successful defense attorney who ends up taking the case of Elizabeth Manners who is on trial for the murder of the wealthy Earle Condon. Portia knows what Elizabeth is going through since she was in a similar position 17 years earlier when she had Earle Condon's illegitimate son, only to have the son taken away by Earle's powerful father. I thought this was a pretty entertaining film. Sure, a number of corners were cut in the courtroom scene, but it was still fairly effective. It's too bad that the only available copy at the moment is one that had around 18 minutes cut for television. I think that much of that was likely early in the film when her son is injured and then is suddenly well again shortly thereafter.

Adam Clayton Powell (1989) - 7.5/10 - Adam Clayton Powell was a reverend in Harlem who was in early leader in the Civil Rights Movement and represented his community in Congress for many years. He was a good speaker and had a flamboyant manner. He was very influential until the mid-1960s when his womanizing, financial irregularities, and absenteeism caught up with him, tarnishing his reputation. He was still popular with his constituents, but had many detractors. I'll admit that I wasn't familiar with Powell before watching the film, though he seems like a pretty important figure. His lifestyle, especially later in life, was certainly a contrast to Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders.

The California Reich (1975) - 7/10 - The four California units of the American Nazi party are profiled here through interviews and film of them in 'action'. Their numbers are pretty small and in general they seem kind of pathetic, definitely not the image you might have when thinking of Nazis. There are certainly other groups that have cropped up since then who seem more like what one might expect of Nazis, but these seem like a social group for misfits. The indoctrination of the young with racist attitude is sad, but overall these groups appear to have very minimal real impact.

A Time for Burning (1967) - 7.5/10 - The minister of a white Lutheran church in Omaha, Nebraska tries to get his congregation to embrace the idea of interracial visits between their church and a black church from the north side of Omaha. He meets with members of the black church and community along with those in leadership positions of his own church, but finds quite a bit of resistance to the idea within his own congregation. The film is pretty interesting for the frank discussions and also for the pointed questions that are sometimes asked. Ernie Chambers is a black barber who is an important figure in the film. Chambers later went on to serve as a state senator for 46 years representing the north side of Omaha. There is no narration in the film with the discussions getting the story across. It is a pretty good film that gets the sad truth across that many white Christians were not ready or willing to cross the color barrier to get to know members of the black churches.

Music for the Movies: Bernard Herrmann (1992) - 7/10 - Bernard Herrmann was the conductor of the CBS Symphony Orchestra in the 1930s when he moved to Hollywood at the urging of Orson Welles. He then worked in Hollywood as a composer and conductor for the next 35 years until his death. He started with Citizen Kane and ended with Taxi Driver, working on many Hitchcock films in between, including Psycho, Rear Window, Vertigo, and others. He had a definite talent for composition, but would rather have been a symphony conductor. The effect of music on motion pictures is pretty evident here and they even show a couple of scenes with and without music to illustrate this. It was a pretty interesting film.

The Ten-Year Lunch: The Wit and Legend of the Algonquin Round Table (1987) - 7/10 - During the 1920s, a group of friends (mostly journalists and writers) met for lunch at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City. They became fairly well known and each shared a sharp wit. Members included Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, Alexander Woollcott, Edna Ferber, Harpo Marx, George Kaufman, and others. One thing that came out of this group was The New Yorker magazine. They also spent time together away from the lunch table, but eventually drifted apart at the end of the 1920s, some to Hollywood. The film is narrated by the son of two members and also features interviews with the last surviving member (Marc Connelly) as well as others associated with the group. I thought it was a nice film and I enjoyed the quips and anecdotes shared throughout. There is also archival footage and photographs.

High Society (1955) - 5/10 - This Bowery Boys picture was mistaken for the better known movie of the same name that came out in 1956 and temporarily received an Academy Award nomination. Slip and Sach run a garage in New York City when Sach innocently becomes part of a plot to steal part of an inheritance. I didn't like the first part of the picture at all, but it got a bit better after that. They made a ton of these Bowery Boys films, but this was the first (and probably last) in the series for me. I did like Dead End quite a bit which also had Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall and was the first film featuring the Dead End Kids who eventually morphed into the Bowery Boys.

[mlrg]

Morocco (1930) – Another iconic Dietrich role and Claude Rains againg playing Claude Rains. 6/10

Dietrich's co-stars were Gary Cooper and Adolphe Menjou. Rains' film career started with The Invisible Man in 1933.

Damn you are right. My bad!

[gunnar]

The Race for Space (1959) - 7.5/10 - Mike Wallace hosted this entertaining documentary about the development of the U.S. space program. It starts with the first Sputnik launch and then backtracks to discuss Robert Goddard and his experiments. Goddard's wife is interviewed and footage of some of the experiments is shown. The German V-2 rocketry program is looked at with footage from Germany included. The U.S. program got a boost with the capture of German scientists and leftover V-2 materials. It was interesting to see Soviet footage from their experiments, including dogs in space. Wallace did a nice job narrating and hosting the film, though it felt more like a highlights reel rather than an in-depth study. It was entertaining and likely used to try and increase interest among the U.S. populace for investment in space research, but it also wasn't very deep.

Aloma of the South Seas (1941) - 5/10 - When she was a young girl, Aloma was chosen by the chief on a tropical island as the one who would marry the chief's son when they were adults. The son, Tanoa, is then sent away to the United States to be educated. When he returns 15 years later, he falls for the adult Aloma (Dorothy Lamour), though a rival wants to keep them apart. This movie seems basically to be another excuse to use Lamour in a tropical setting. It features nice technicolor and is short fairly well, but the story is pretty simple and not all that interesting. The special effects shots of a nearby volcano erupting aren't particularly convincing. Rivo, the villain of the picture, is pretty much one dimensional. The movie is watchable, but isn't really very good.

The Great American Cowboy (1973) - 7.5/10 - Joel McCrea narrates this look at the rodeo and the men who compete in it. There is plenty of time devoted to bucking bulls and horses, though time is also given to steer wrestling, bareback riding, and rodeos for kids. Two of the cowboys (Phil Lyne and Larry Mahan) were a bit better than the others and they were competitive for the top earner spot. Animals that perform well become known on the circuit and one such bull (Oscar) draws a cowboy from Mexico to the rodeo to get a chance at riding him. The lives of the cowboys aren't too glamorous as they spend a lot of time on the road traveling from one event to another. Injuries among the cowboys and the rodeo clowns are common as they get kicked or animals fall on them or some other injury. The camera angles used were pretty effective, even giving the occasional view from the saddle. I'm not a rodeo fan, but I did find this interesting. I liked the 101 year old cowboy that they interviewed who talked about how it was different in the old days. This is a pretty good look at a sport that isn't exactly mainstream, but does have quite a few followers. There's a lot more to it than what is portrayed here, but you get a peek inside at least.

Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream (1995) - 8/10 - A nice biopic about the life of Hank Aaron that follows his life from childhood through passing Babe Ruth's all time home run record and beyond. This had a nice mix of narration, contemporary interviews, archival footage, and re-creations using actors. Aaron certainly had to go through quite a bit over the course of his career with overt and covert racism in many places plus death threats and hate mail for his pursuit of Ruth. He was definitely one of the all time greats in baseball.

Down and Out in America (1986) - 7.5/10 - This documentary looks at three situations that may seem unrelated on the surface, but do have things that connect them. The first situation was the plight of farmers, especially in the midwest. At the time, the country was losing farms at a high rate. Farmers were going into debt because costs were rising quickly and the money they got for their food was stable or even decreasing. The banks seemed more interested in getting the land than in helping the farmers. There are a number of similarities to the later film Troublesome Creek. My dad grew up on a farm and my uncle was a farmer and brickmason so I have some familiarity with their plight. Fortunately for my family, they didn't run into the debt problems that many farmers faced. The second segment looked briefly at factory workers and management who lost their jobs due to factories moving their production elsewhere, to other countries in many cases. The people that remain had a hard time surviving on minimum wage. The third segment looked at the homeless, including those who were displaced from their apartments in New York City due to fire and essentially forced to live in welfare hotels with little hope for getting out of the cycle. The film paints a pretty bleak picture of sections of society in the 1980s. I know that problems persist to this day, but it was a bad time for many.

Soldiers in Hiding (1984) - 7/10 - Six Vietnam veterans are profiled here. Each of them came home from the war deeply affected by their experiences such that they are unable to function fully around a lot of other people. Most of them seek solace in remote areas where they live off the land. This costs some of them their family, but a couple of the wives stick with their husband, giving them room to be alone when they need it. It's not a pretty picture that they are still so deeply affected 15 or more years after their service. While these profiles are interesting, I don't think that we can use it to paint all Vietnam vets. There have likely been veterans from all wars who came back mentally scarred from their experiences, but with television it comes out more into the open. Also, I suspect that earlier generations may have felt some pressure from society to keep it to themselves and deal with it in private.

[Reza]

Morocco (1930) – Another iconic Dietrich role and Claude Rains againg playing Claude Rains. 6/10

Dietrich's co-stars were Gary Cooper and Adolphe Menjou. Rains' film career started with The Invisible Man in 1933.

[gunnar]

The Witness (2008) - 8/10 - Reverend Billy Kyles was standing next to Martin Luther King on the balcony when King was assassinated in 1968. 40 years later, Kyles reminisces about that day and about his interactions with King in regard to the Civil Rights movement. Archival footage and footage of Kyles preaching about King from the pulpit is interspersed with the interviews. It is a pretty good short film.

Girls' School (1938) - 7.5/10 - Anne Shirley stars as a poor girl named Natalie who is on scholarship at a ritzy boarding school for girls. As part of her scholarship, she has to do a lot of the scut work, including reporting on infractions by other girls. After accidentally spotting a popular girl (Nan Grey) coming in after being out all night, she tries to avoid reporting it because it could lead to expulsion, but has it forced out of her. This sets up a chain of bullying and misunderstandings in what I thought was a pretty good film. I liked both Shirley and Grey here. There are definitely some dated parts to the film, but also a number of things that ring true, such as the bullying. As a teacher, I was kind of annoyed at the headmistress and staff of the school, though for their fairly cavalier attitude toward the students at times.. Expulsion for one infraction just prior to graduation? That seems pretty severe to me.

Transatlantic (1931) - 7.5/10 - This pre-code drama takes place aboard an ocean liner where there is quite a bit of action. Monty Greer is a gambler who falls for Judy Kramer, the daughter of a lens grinder who is accompanying his daughter on a European adventure. The father has his savings in a bank that may be failing. Henry Graham is the man in charge of the bank and he is on the ship as well, along with his estranged wife (Myrna Loy) and Swedish mistress (plus some securities). There is a gun battle, a murder attempt, theft, music, dancing, and a fairly entertaining film. It picked up an Academy Award for art direction and I think it was a good choice, though an argument could be made for À nous la liberté.

The Killing Ground (1979) - 6/10 - This ABC News production reports on problem areas in regard to chemical dumps, including the infamous Love Canal in Niagara Falls, NY, plus spots in New Jersey, Louisiana, Michigan, and elsewhere. Illegal dumping is shown to be a profitable business without much in the way of penalties if caught. The chemical dumped or buried contaminate underground water sources and led to birth defects, leukemia, and numerous other health issues. Parents, politicians, government employees, and a whistleblower are all interviewed. The governor of Louisiana comes across as pretty smarmy, which I guess isn't too surprising since he later serve six years in prison for racketeering, extortion, money laundering and other charges. This ended up being a decent documentary about a fairly serious issue that is sometimes ignored due to lack of resources or financial gain. It seemed a bit superficial at times since they crammed in many sites into the story.

El Salvador: Another Vietnam (1981) - 7/10 - The idea proposed here is that U.S. aid to El Salvador in terms of money and weapons under the pretext of battling communism could lead to a situation similar to what happened in Vietnam. I don't think that they really make that case very well, but instead make a different case. The government forces murdered many people, sometimes seemingly at random, disrupted life for many of the poor people of the country, and led many people to join the opposition. The U.S. flow of money and aid was only interrupted when four American nuns were kidnapped, raped, and murdered. Even then, the flow of money resumed shortly thereafter with the establishment of a new junta. The documentary shows a number of abuses by the government forces, interviews relatives of victims, and also interviews some of the rebels who think of themselves as freedom fighters. Even the murder of a Catholic bishop while saying mass didn't seem to change anything. This film, along with others like The Panama Deception the short film School of the Americas Assassins paint a pretty bad picture of U.S. involvement in Latin America during the 1970s/80s which included training soldiers who served as death squads. The Salvadoran Civil War lasted until 1992.

[mlrg]

Lately I’ve been catching up with a lot of nominated films and performances. By order of viewing:

Autumn Sonata (1978) – My favorite Bergman film. Both Ingrid Bergman and Liv Ullman are perfection. 9/10

Brief Encounter (1945) – A very pleasant surprise. Really liked the way the story is presented. 9/10

Shanghai Express (1932) – Iconic for Dietrich performance and its cinematography. 6/10

Notorious (1946) – My least favorite Hitchcock film. Was not impressed. 5/10

Pygmalion (1938) – The first adaptation of My Fair Lady. Pretty enjoyable. 7/10

The Last Command (1928) – A masterpiece. Emil Jannings is spectacular. The whole movie is splendid. A must see 10/10

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) – Entertaining but pretty forgettable. Claude Rains is the best actor playing Claude Rains. 5/10

A Double Life (1947) – Aside from the committed performance by Ronald Colman the film is a snooze fest. 5/10

Of Human Bondage (1934) – The film that launched Bette Davis. Pretty dull overall. 4/10

My Man Godfrey (1936) – Splendid social critique film with a witty screenplay, gracious humor and great performances. 9/10

Cries and Whispers (1973) – I may be in the minority but this film is absolutely insufferable. A pain to watch save for Sven Nykvist cinematograpy. 2/10

How Green was My Valley (1941) – Magnificent film with a masterful John Ford direction. Loved it. 9/10

A Farewell to Arms (1932) – Pretty average considering the source material. No wonder Hemingway did not like the film. 5/10

Cleopatra (1934) – Colbert exhales sexiness in this pre code epic. 6/10

The Little Foxes (1941) – My favorite Bette Davis performance in a very interesting film. 8/10

Kiss of Death (1947) – Great film noir. Richard Widmark is stupendous. 9/10

Pinky (1949) – Rather dated, did not age well. No wonder Jeanne Crain never had a decent career. She is completely wooden. 4/10

The Gay Divorcee (1934) – Entertaining Astaire/Rogers film. The “The Continental” scene runs for too long. 7/10

Pick Up on South Street (1953) – After Kiss of Death I had high expectations for this one but was utterly disappointed. 4/10

Suspicion (1941) – Cary Grant is very good in this. Top tier Hitchcock for me. 7/10

Farewell My Lovely (1975) – 70’s film done in 50’s noir B film mode this has not aged well. 2/10

A Thousand Clowns (1965) – Overlong, boring trying to be funny filmed play. Balsam’s Oscar is pretty ridiculous. He has one scene in the film. 3/10

My Cousin Rachel (1952) – Competent direction by Henry Koster. De Havilland and Burton are good in it. 5/10

The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936) – Nice performance from Paul Muni. 6/10

The Entertainer (1960) – Pretty average film with an over the top Olivier. 5/10

The OX Bow Incident (1942) – This little movie was a very pleasant surprise. A very relevant story that still seems fresh. 9/10

Broken Arrow (1950) – Good western with a fine James Stewart performance. 6/10

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968) – Had issues with the pacing but Alan Arkin is very good as a deaf character. 7/10

Morning Glory (1933) – Loved it. Hepburn, in her first Oscar winning role, is superb. The Romeo and Juliet's balcony scene at a party is beautiful. 9/10

Dangerous (1935) – Clearly a consolation win for Bette Davis after a rising to fame one year earlier. Rather dull overall 2/10

Going My Way (1944) – The feel good movie America needed at the time. 4/10

Rebecca (1940) – Excellent in every way. My favorite Olivier performance. 9/10

Robinson Crusoe (1954) – Not much to say about this one. Watchable. 5/10

Bad Girl (1931) – Borzage won best director for this competent film. It has aged well. 6/10

The Philadelphia Story (1940) – Cary Grant deserved the Oscar for this instead of Stewart. Tremendously well written and 80 after it was made it still feels fresh. 9/10

The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) – By far this is Sinatra’s best film role. Liked it a lot. 8/10

Morocco (1930) – Another iconic Dietrich role and Claude Rains againg playing Claude Rains. 6/10

The Spiral Staircase (1946) – Pretty entertaining film. Ethel Barrymore is the stand out even if she is playing her routine “stuck in bed” character. 6/10

The Crucible (1996) – Other than Ryder atrocious performance it is pretty watchable. 6/10

The Go Between (1971) – 1971 is a tremendous year and this film is another good example. Was lucky enough to watch this in a theater screen during a Joseph Losey revival festival. 7/10

Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) – Jose Ferrer really deserved his Oscar for this performance. 8/10

Resurrection (1980) – On paper the story seems atrocious but I was surprised by the execution and Burstyn commitment to the role.7/10

Never on Sunday (1960) – Apparently this was a cultural phenomenon but I did not like it. 4/10

Becky Sharp (1935) - The first film shot in technicolor. Other than that, pretty dated. 3/10

Wuthering Heights (1939) – Given the source material I was expecting much more from this rather dull adaptation. Olivier and Merle Oberon have zero chemistry on film. 4/10

Country (1984) – Typical 80’s farming film with a good Jessica Lance performance who also executive produced the film. 4/10

Rob Roy (1995) – Tim Roth is fantastic as the villain. Although rather long I was very entertained by it. 6/10

Alfie (1966) – Struggled to understand Caine’s accent and felt some animosity towards the character. 5/10

Body and Soul (1947) – Probably the best boxing movie only second to Raging Bull. Garfield’s career looked promising. 8/10

Claudine (1974) – Really entertaining little film. Liked it a lot. James Earl Jones was overlooked for a nomination on this. 9/10

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) – Smith’s performance is a bit histrionic at times. Pamela Franklin is really good. 6/10

Charly (1968) – Dreadful piece of garbage. A chore to sit through. 1/10

The Happy Ending (1969) – Conrad Hall shot this film exactly the same way he shot American Beauty 30 years later. A movie that reflected the current society. 5/10

Quills (2000) – Phoenix was clearly miscast. Rush is very good in the third act. Passable. 5/10

[Mister Tee]

Il colosso di Rodi / The Colossus of Rhodes (Sergio Leone, 1961) 6/10

Sergio Leone's official directorial debut is a lavish Italian sword-and-sandal epic set during the Hellenistic era - the time following Alexander the Great's death but before the rise of the Roman empire. The story is set on the island of Rhodes with its newly constructed colossal statue of the god Apollo standing 300 ft high (three times the size of the original) stradling the main harbour (also a point of contention as nobody really knows where it actually stood). A greek war hero (Rory Calhoun) arrives on the island to visit his uncle and not only falls in love with the beautiful daughter (Léa Massari) of the statue's architect but also gets involved with rebels revolting against the tyrannical king. At the same time the king's second-in-command is also plotting against the king by smuggling Phoenician soldiers onto the island and having them pose as slaves. They occupy the interior of the gigantic statue awaiting the Phoenician fleet to enter the harbour. There are various double and triple crosses as the rebels and the slaves clash which is followed by a violent storm and a devastating earthquake which topples the Colossus into the harbour thus destroying one of the wonders of the ancient world. Sets and costuming overshadow the narrative which perks up during the scenes of disaster deftly handled by Leone. Calhoun, a last minute replacement for John Derek (who clashed with Leone), moves through the film smiling like the Cheshire Cat.

I saw this in the movies when I was 9 years old, and was utterly traumatized by the scene where a guy is tortured, having a giant bell put over his head and bonged. When they remove the bell, blood is pouring out his ears. The memory is so intense, I've literally made ear doctors promise me it could never actually happen.

[gunnar]

Typhoon (1940) - 7/10 - A bad storm is sinking a ship in the Pacific so the captain puts his young daughter on a life raft to save her. 10 years later, the girl has grown up to be Dorothy Lamour and lives on an otherwise deserted island with a chimpanzee for company. She's built herself a nice little hoe with what she has scavenged from things thrown up on shore. She helps a sailor who ends up on her island and then his friend who is the victim of a mutiny. The movie is a bit nonsensical, but I thought it was fun and the special effects were pretty good. We get a big storm that sinks a ship, a forest fire, and a typhoon.

Ferry Tales (2003) - 8/10 - A group of women meet every day in the women's restroom on the 8:15 Staten Island Ferry while on their way to work. Over the years, these women have formed bonds from this part of their daily routine. This film takes a peek inside and interviews the women as well. It was pretty well done.

George Grosz’ Interregnum (1960) - 7/10 - Artist George Grosz fled Germany and emigrated to the United States with his family in 1933 just before the Nazis took control. The Nazis were certainly not fans of his artwork from the previous 15-20 years which were critical of German society and showed the brutality and corruption of those in power. I'm not a big fan of his style of artwork, though it grew on me a bit. I think that the narration got somewhat tedious by the end. Overall, a decent film, though.

Sing! (2001) - 8/10 - This is a very nice film about the Los Angeles Children's Chorus. They have four choirs for students from ages 6-18 and the film shows part of the audition process along with practices, performances, evaluations, and more. Students and directors are interviewed about their experiences and what the program means to them. We also get to see a small group of students rehearse with Placido Domingo prior to a performance of La Boheme, which they have roles in. Definitely an interesting film if you have any interest in children and the arts.

Never Give Up: The 20th Century Odyssey of Herbert Zipper (1995) - 8/10 - Herbert Zipper was born in Vienna in 1904 and educated in an upper middle class Jewish home. He ended up in Dachau in 1938, but was released a year later so that he could join family in London. He moved to Manila, got married, led a symphony, and then was a Japanese prisoner for four months when they took over the country. After emigrating to the U.S., he worked toward promoting music education for the next five decades. This was a nice look at his life and his work that continued into his 90s.

General Spanky (1936) - 6/10 - This was the only Our Gang feature length film and it was okay, though setting it during the Civil War with Spanky, Buckwheat, and Alfalfa on the Confederate side seems on odd choice that doesn't hold up well today, especially with Buckwheat looking for a master to take him as a slave. Other than that, the antics and other situations are generally mildly amusing.

Scared Straight! (1978) - 7.5/10 - A group of juvenile delinquents are taken into a prison to have a 3 hour session with prisoners who are each serving 25 years or longer for armed robbery, murder, or other serious crimes in an attempt to get them onto a better path.

The Battle of the Bulge…The Brave Rifles (1965) - 6/10 - This documentary looks at Germany's last big push during WWII. The footage was okay, but the narration was overmelodramatic and pretty bad.

With These Hands (1950) - 4/10 - A garment worker is about to retire and he thinks back to his long career and the rise of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. He thinks of the poor conditions and steps that the union took to help the workers. Unfortunately, the scenes which don't use archival footage are generally poorly acted and seem like they are out of a bad stage play.

[Reza]

In the Heights (Jon M. Chu, 2021) 7/10

A plaintive cry of despair through song by the ethnic community in the United States - the story is centered around a mostly Latino neighborhood in Washington Heights at the northern tip of Manhattan - but since the underlying theme is American patriotism there is always the promise of a better day and a better future. A young bodego owner (Anthony Ramos) is infatuated with a hot beautician (Melissa Barerra) who works at the local parlor, looks after the old Cuban lady (Olga Merediz) next door and dreams of winning the lottery and one day returning to the Dominican Republic to restore his late father's business. Meanwhile his childhood friend (Leslie Grace) returns from Stanford University and tells her proud father (Jimmy Smits) that she wants to drop out due to the constant racism she encounters. This energetic film version of the hit Broadway play is brought to the screen with 17 songs on the soundtrack. None of the songs are particularly memorable but they have an infectious quality which the actors elevate while dreaming (of a better life) and dancing. The rousing anthem, "Paciencia y Fe", sung by Olga Meredez, pretty much sums up the ethnic experience in the United States - a life spent dreaming of a better place, landing as an immigrant in America, the constant struggle there against rampant racism and for opportunities which are few and far between and a sad end for many with dreams unfulfilled. Message laden film has something to say to every person of ethnicity living in the United States. Looks kinda promising when seen through singing and dancing.

Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (Patrick Hughes, 2021) 8/10

When the hitman (Samuel L. Jackson) is kidnapped on the eve of his honeymoon his wife (Salma Hayek) grabs hold of his former bodyguard (Ryan Reynolds) and goes gun blazing looking for her man. This sequel to the previous action comedy moves like a live-action cartoon on heat. When the situation turns tense in a film it is a pathetic low when the screenplay uses the "F" word to bring on laughs. Yet it works everytime as the cast here goes into overdrive with that word resulting in many laughs. The outrageous Hayek has a field day brandishing guns, her boobs and the "F" word as she leads her depressed bodyguard on a journey fraught with danger, violence and outright mayhem. The film works due to the great chemistry between the three stars - sexual between Jackson and Hayek, a combination of hatred and friendship between Jackson and Reynolds and of a weird sort of maternal chemistry between Hayek and Reynolds. Adding spice to this oddball fray are a Liberace-like villain (Antonio Banderas) who has a past history with the hitman's wife and an ageing black AAA-grade hitman (Morgan Freeman) who just happens to have a past history with the bodyguard which the hitman finds hilariously incredulous. Plenty of action of the absurd variety - shootouts, car chases, stabbings, gouging, murder and every possible violent act under the sun - makes this one of the silliest but funniest rides this summer. And Hayek is still THE babe!!

The Raiders (Leslie Selander, 1952) 6/10

Richard Conte's presence boosts this minor Western's stature - a B-film with a generic revenge theme. A gold prospector (Richard Conte) in California seeks revenge when his brother and wife are murdered by the henchman (Hugh O'Brian - despicably evil and unsubtly dressed in black) of a greedy Mayor who has illegally usurped land belonging to many people. Joining hands with a Mexican and his sister (Viveca Lindfors), who have also been swindled, he turns outlaw to ruin the Mayor. Action packed western also has pretty Barbara Britton as the evil Mayor's daughter who takes a shine to the man hell bent on ruining her father. An intense steel-jawed Conte pulls this little film out of its minor league status and its screenplay throws in a little bit of history as well - California joining the Union. Predictable yet enjoyable.

Wrath of Man (Guy Ritchie, 2021) 7/10

Slick revenge thriller is old hat as far as the plot is concerned but it's a return to form for Ritchie as he juggles the film's convoluted framing using flashbacks and flash-forwards. And he jolts things up by teaming with an old mate after a long time. A mysterious man (Jason Statham) starts working for an armed vehicle company which had the misfortune of losing two staff during an earlier robbery. He is a gruff man of few words but soon turns hero when he handles with superb aplomb a second robbery attempt by single handedly shooting dead the six robbers. A flashback explains his presence at the company - an innocent bystander shot dead during the previous robbery was his son. Hence the revenge angle of the plot as Stathman turns into a killing machine in his quest to find the man who shot his son in cold blood and also shot him at the same time leaving him for dead. When the gang strikes again using an insider in the company all hell breaks loose into a horrific bloodbath with Statham bang in the center. The action is amped up by Christopher Benstead’s ominous score and the film's outstanding sound design. Statham plays his badass character completely deadpan as always and Richie dispenses with humour which he used to great effect in his last film "The Gentlemen". Humour is not needed here (although there are a few scattered laughs) as Ritchie concentrates instead on bloody carnage which would make Tarantino squeal with delight. Nothing new really but still an effective thriller as you root for the Stath to get his revenge.

Haseen Dillruba (Vinil Mathew, 2021) 7/10

A woman (Taapsee Pannu) is relentlessly interrogated by the police who suspect she murdered her husband (Vikrant Massey). As the investigation drags on the woman keeps pleading her innocence while relating the facts how she met her husband, married him, their eventual marital differences, clashes with her mother-in-law and her sexual involvement with her husband's visiting virile cousin (Harshvardan Rane). The screenplay has three acts. In the first we see the crumbling relationship between a newly married couple. She is gregarious and obsessed with reading crime novels and he is a reticent shy man madly in love with her yet too intimidated by her to consummate their marriage. The second act involves a visitor who arrives and further disrupts the couple's waning relationship. The third act involves a twist ending but not before venturing into grand guignol territory as the screen is awashed in blood, a limb is severed and there is a terrible gas explosion which results in a burnt dead body. I enjoyed the problematic third act but was a bit bored by the often very repetitious middle section. Taapsee Pannu, who is usually always very good, here seems out of sorts as she fails to bring to surface her character's different arcs. And what's with all those sexy sarees? They somehow don't quite fit in with her character's background. The film is stolen by Vikrant Massey who goes from being a hesitant young groom crazy in love to a man whose disappointment, anger and jealousy break loose in a fury he can no longer contain. His ultimate sacrifice for his love turns him into exactly the man his wife got turned on by in novels. The film's fantastic setting is a major plus as the film's prime location is a house overlooking a flowing river as most scenes are shot on balconies overlooking the running water which also plays an important part in the plot.

French Exit (Azazel Jacobs, 2020) 5/10

Quirky but uneven little film has Michelle Pfeiffer's return to the screen as a leading lady after years of brief parts in assorted franchises. An ageing, bored Manhattan socialite (Michelle Pfeiffer) sells what liitle remains of her inheritance and moves to Paris with her son (Lucas Hedges) and family cat who just happens to be her reincarnated husband. Surreal story is filled with oddball characters who all converge at the apartment in Paris - the son's girlfriend (Imogen Poots), her new lover, a detective, a medium who communicates with the dead husband through the cat and a kooky fellow expatriate widow (Valerie Mahaffey). Dirty linen is aired, the cat goes missing, the flamboyant widow doles out the last of her cash to strangers at the park and an ambivalent ending adds to the mystery surrounding the widow. Pfeiffer underplays throughout yet livens things up with every caustic remark that exits her lips. Hedges, as the sad sack son who has spent his whole life overwhelmed by his mother, looks catatonic throughout. The film somewhat archly resembles the films of Whit Stillman and Wes Anderson and the sudden different tracks it takes - the tone swinging from farce to absurdism to satire to domestic drama - is a case of a few too many cooks spoiling the broth.

La ronde / Circle of Love (Roger Vadim, 1964) 7/10

Arthur Schnitzler's highly provocative and controversial 1897 play, "Reigen", closely observes sexual morality and class ideology of its day. The story focuses on the sexual activities of a group of characters across all levels of society and offers social commentary on how sexual contact transgresses class boundaries. Max Ophüls adapted the play into a witty and elegant film in 1950. Vadim, the enfant terrible of 60s cinema, leaves nothing to the imagination and comes up with this soft porn version (with a screenplay by the distinguished french playwright Jean Anouih) starring an eclectic french cast who were then at the top of their game along with American starlet Jane Fonda who was having an affair with Vadim on the side and would get married right after the film's release. It is no wonder that she has his full attention because she easily steals the film with her delightful performance. It was also the first time an American movie star had appeared nude in a foreign film which added to the film's controversy. Fonda later sued the producers when the movie was advertised in New York with a giant eight-storey billboard in Times Square that displayed her naked body. The plot is a veritable merry-go-round as "love" goes round and comes full circle. During the summer of 1914 a sentimental prostitute (Marie Dubois) picks up a soldier (Claude Giraud), who seduces a housemaid (Anna Karina), who seduces the son of her employer (Jean-Claude Brialy), who visits his lover (Jane Fonda), who sleeps with her husband (Maurice Ronet), who casually picks up and takes a shopgirl (Catherine Spaak) to a private dining room. The pickup is promoted by a playwright (Bernard Noël), who renews an old affair with an actress (Francine Bergé), who is visited by a Count (Jean Sorel), who meets the sentimental prostitute. "La ronde", presented as a cycle of seduction and pleasure, is superbly photographed in stunning colour by the great Henri Decaë with eye catching costumes and production design. Apart from the wickedly funny Fonda there are also excellent performances by Spaak, Karina, Dubois and Bergé. Compared to Ophül's version this comes up short but the plot bounces along in typical 1960s sexual mode (despite the period setting) and there is enough eye candy on display to keep you riveted to the screen.

Madigan (Don Siegel, 1968) 7/10

Gritty police procedural set the tone for numerous later tv cop shows including its own namesake which Richard Widmark took to the small screen for a few equally gritty weekly shows some years later. Numerous plots run simultaneously in this neo-noir as it focuses on cops at a precinct in New York. A tired cop, Madigan (Richard Widmark), finds himself in a jam both at work and home. A murder suspect gets the better of him and his partner (Harry Guardino) when he escapes capture and runs off with their guns. In his private life he is juggling two dissatisfied women - his sexually frustrated wife (Inger Stevens) and a mistress (Sheree North). Meanwhile the strait-laced Commissioner (Henry Fonda) is hypocritically involved with a married woman (Susan Clark) and has discovered that the Chief Inspector (James Whitmore) - his childhood friend - is on the take. The screenplay not only tackles action but also delves into problems related to love, infidelity and friendship. Fast paced thriller makes good use of the New York City locations.

Il colosso di Rodi / The Colossus of Rhodes (Sergio Leone, 1961) 6/10

Sergio Leone's official directorial debut is a lavish Italian sword-and-sandal epic set during the Hellenistic era - the time following Alexander the Great's death but before the rise of the Roman empire. The story is set on the island of Rhodes with its newly constructed colossal statue of the god Apollo standing 300 ft high (three times the size of the original) stradling the main harbour (also a point of contention as nobody really knows where it actually stood). A greek war hero (Rory Calhoun) arrives on the island to visit his uncle and not only falls in love with the beautiful daughter (Léa Massari) of the statue's architect but also gets involved with rebels revolting against the tyrannical king. At the same time the king's second-in-command is also plotting against the king by smuggling Phoenician soldiers onto the island and having them pose as slaves. They occupy the interior of the gigantic statue awaiting the Phoenician fleet to enter the harbour. There are various double and triple crosses as the rebels and the slaves clash which is followed by a violent storm and a devastating earthquake which topples the Colossus into the harbour thus destroying one of the wonders of the ancient world. Sets and costuming overshadow the narrative which perks up during the scenes of disaster deftly handled by Leone. Calhoun, a last minute replacement for John Derek (who clashed with Leone), moves through the film smiling like the Cheshire Cat.

[gunnar]

Several days worth of films:

Hale County This Morning, This Evening (2018) - 7/10 - This is an unconventional film. It is beautifully shot, but lacks a narrative structure. As such, it can be somewhat unfocused. It is a slice of life film that takes place in Alabama. There are a few people who get more attention, such as Daniel, a student starting school at Selma University to play basketball. I started losing interest around 2/3 of the way through, but still liked it overall.

Zelig (1983) - 6/10 - This mock documentary stars Woody Allen as a man who came to fame in the 1920s/30s due to his unique chameleonlike ability to alter his appearance and abilities to fit in with his surroundings. Allen is inserted into a variety of archival pictures and video. There are also contemporary interviews with a variety of people. It was interesting at times, but is far from my favorite Allen film.

Victory Through Air Power (1943) - 7.5/10 - This Disney animated film is based on a book and is about long range strategic bombing, though they also get in a history of aviation as well. I thought it was pretty good.

James and the Giant Peach (1996) - 6/10 - James' parents are killed by a rhinoceros so he has to live with two horrible aunts who mistreat him. With the aid of magic crocodile tongues and a giant peach (along with insect and arachnid friends), he sets out for New York City to fulfill a dream that he shared with his parents. It was a bit underwhelming, but okay.

The Flame of New Orleans (1941) - 7.5/10 - Marlene Dietrich stars as a Countess who spawned a legend for having disappeared on her wedding day in 1840 only to have her wedding gown found in the water. The film tells her story as she is romanced by a sea captain (Bruce Cabot) and a wealthy banker (Roland Young). The movie is fun and the stars do a pretty nice job in their roles. I also liked Theresa Harris as Dietrich's maid, Clementine.

Helicopter Canada (1966) - 8/10 - Created in advance of the Centennial celebration, this movie was filmed entirely from helicopters and it gives a sky view of Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific, including the major cities, tourist attractions, and examples of popular Canadian activities such as skiing, fishing, dog-sledding, etc. The narration is good and there is even a cameo by the Beatles. My favorite bit was when one kid gives a two handed shove to another kid to knock them off the top of a big snow mound.

Union Maids (1976) - 7.5/10 - Three women are interviewed about the working conditions they experienced in the early 1930s and the birth of the labor unions, including their roles in the C.I.O. Archival footage is interspersed with their stories to add context. It was interesting, though similar to a couple of other films that I've seen recently.

The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner (2009) - 7.5/10 - Booth Gardner was the Governor of Washington from 1985 to 1993. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease about a year after leaving office. In 2008, he led a campaign to get physician assisted suicide on the November ballot. This documentary does a pretty balanced job showing Gardner's reasons and campaign as well as the opposition. Gardner gets more air time since he is the primary focus, but the other side isn't neglected. Gardner's Parkinson's does become a factor during the campaign in a few ways. The documentary probably could have gone into more depth, but it is a short film of just under 40 minutes rather than a feature length film.

Why Girls Leave Home (1945) - 5/10 - A young nightclub singer is fished out of the river and many people assume that it was an attempted suicide, but a newspaper reporter doesn't believe it and sets out to find the truth. This was mostly a dull and uninteresting film.

The Living Desert (1953) - 8/10 - This Disney True-Life Adventure explores the life found within the deserts of the American West: Insects, birds, mammals, flowers, and more. I thought it was pretty interesting.

The Vanishing Prairie (1954) - 7.5/10 - This Disney True-Life Adventure moves to the east of the Rocky Mountains to what is left of the Great Plains. The film is similar to The Living Desert, though the focus this time is on the buffalo, prairie dogs, badgers, mountain lions, and other animals that live there. There is a struggle for survival at times, but life goes on. The views inside the burrows were interesting.

The Man Who Walked Alone (1945) - 7.5/10 - Dave O'Brien stars as Marion, a soldier with a medical discharge who is trying to hitch a ride into town. Kay Aldridge is the woman who nearly runs him down before giving him a ride. The two end up in jail briefly a couple of times in this romantic comedy. The little sister (Nancy June Robinson) holds her own in her scenes and is pretty funny as well. I enjoyed this B-movie quite a bit.

Say Goodbye (1971) - 6/10 - This film is about wildlife conservation, though somewhat indirectly. There is some overlap with The Vanishing Prairie in terms of the animals and their behavior. There is an interesting battle between a mountain lion and a deer. They show, though, that the greatest threat to animals is man in a variety of ways. There is some good footage in here, but I didn't like the narrator at all.