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Reviews
Home from the Hill (1960)
Excellent direction, acting, camerawork; dubious 2d half script
Director Vincente Minnelli made many excellent films: FATHER OF THE BRIDE, LUST FOR LIFE, MEET ME IN ST LOUIS are just three examples of the versatility of the man as director, weaving magic seamlessly whether it be in drama, comedy or musicals.
HOME FROM THE HILL delivers in-family drama with well drawn characters. Robert Mitchum offers one of his finest portrayals as the pater familias who has a roving eye and in the process ignores his growing son (George Hamilton), whom he loves more than he knows; George Peppard also acts above his average as Mitchum's son from a previous marriage, now more a servant about the property. Rafe has the personality Mitchum wishes Hamilton had; Eleanor Parker provides touching moments as Hamilton's mother and the wife Mitchum cheats on and ignores, but who he does not want to exchange for any other female as wife; and Hamilton, like the other George, gives a fine show, well above what I thought him capable of. Reliable and yet unusual as ever, Everett Sloane makes a short but remarkable contribution to the across the board high quality acting.
Fantastic cinematography by Milton Krasner, fitting score by Bronislau Kaper. The script by Harriet Frank and Irving Ravetch opens powerfully but loses oomph in the second half. The honest but bleak ending does not help.
All told, well worth watching on account of superior direction, acting, and photography. 8/10.
Sea of Sand (1958)
Taut script, photography, editing; quality acting, direction
Director Guy Green began as cameraman and quality camera work is a trademark he retains in SEA OF SAND aka DESERT PATROL - no mean feat when the entire film is shot in the desert. Wilkie Cooper's cinematography deserves high praise.
Plaudits, too, to Robert Westerby for the credible, taut script, with sharp dialogue - particularly between Michael Craig and John Gregson as two captains with different leadership ideas. I found rather astute the decision to give the best known actor in the cast at the time - Richard Attenborough - a rather middling, unassuming role as a military vehicle driver partial to brandy, which turns out to be providential during a German pinch.
Acting rates top notch across the board, even smaller parts by Ray McAnally - the surname does him no justice, he does not act anally at all!; Barry Foster - possibly best remembered for his "tie serial killer" in Hitchcock's FRENZY; Tanganyka-born Andrew Faulds as the reliable supplies man; and Vincent Ball as the attentive Sergeant Nesbitt, all deliver flawlessly.
The famous British upper lip abounds and John Gregson, who I remember best for his comic role in GENEVIEVE, plays the understated, cultured officer who can actually speak German and so saves his crew from a hail of German lead.
SEA OF SAND is a fitting title: sand everywhere, vehicles get bogged down in it, wind blows tracks, the enemy appears in the middle of sand storms.
Thoughtful homage to LRDG in WWII. 8/10.
Accident (1967)
Introspective: not much spoken, well acted and directed
Talented Joseph Losey was riding the crest of his wave in 1967, having made the famous THE SERVANT and KING AND COUNTRY (both also with Bogarde) and about to serve the bigger-budgeted but just as claustrophobic THE GO-BETWEEN in 1971, ACCIDENT sees two university professors (Bogarde and Baker) interact with minimal language, like mirror reflections of each other as they seemingly stumble upon life and its lack of sense - all of which is typical of a Harold Pinter script.
Unfortunate Michael York, in his first eye-catching stirrings, is promptly killed off in a vehicle accident and the events leading up to it are reviewed. It does not sound particularly interesting, but high quality direction and acting from the leads, and Bogarde's wife (tremendous show from Vivien Merchant) keep me hooked.
Born in the United States but forced to move to the UK because of Senator McCarthy's persecution of communists in Hollywood under the aegis of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), Joseph Losey insightfully shows life in England, its class distinctions, and the looseness of such supposedly firm commitments as marriage, job, and friendship.
If you are looking for action, this is not your film but, unlike other viewers, I found nothing boring about it. Although mundane concerns and words float through the film, I found myself reflecting on my own voyeurism as I watched others trying to make something of the meaning of life. 8/10.
Lone Survivor (2013)
Completely unbelievable
Quite frankly, I doubt that any of what happens in LONE SURVIVOR had any connection with reality. For starters, although it has been done in all conflicts since the beginning of time to send teams to enemy territory to eliminate enemy leaders, it seems plain impossible for a highly professional, calculating army like that of the United States to send just four men to a place in Afghanistan where the opposition's numerical advantage is in excess of 100 to 1. It would amount to a suicide mission and I very much doubt that the US would ever endorse any such.
Then, those four come across three shepherds, two youngsters and one old geyser, and they unwisely set them free, after considering all three possible solutions. The best one would be to ice the three but kindly Wahlberg is afraid of CNN and other negative international repercussions.
Then, the four face some 500 talibans who just never stop coming up, and there is killing aplenty, the fab four get all shot up, fall several times down flicks, get all cut up, but somehow survive broken bones and all (if you believe that, you'll believe anything!)
And in the end, one Apache chopper downed by a Taliban Stinger, kindly Wahlberg gets his just rewards as he is saved, though he must have finished with stitches in every inch of his sorry body.
Nearly two hours of this mind-numbing violence and outright falsehood is just not for me. 2/10.
A Prize of Arms (1962)
Superb British heist flick with in form Baker, Schmid, Magee
I really liked this well constructed, fast moving, credible heist film. It is no accident that not yet famous, future film director Nicholas Roeg scripted the excellent screenplay.
I had never heard of Director Cliff Owen, and even IMDB does not carry that much information on him, but on the strength of A PRIZE OF ARMS, I hope to watch more of Owen's work. He extracts a phenomenal performance from Stanley Baker as the quick-thinking heist planner; and very good ones from Austrian-born actor Helmut Schmid, from the hot-tempered, nervous Tom Bell, and John Philips, as the beffudled camp commander who keeps his nerve in spite of the large sum taken from his unit's coffers.
In fairness to the great thespian that Baker was, I had the misfortune to first see him in GUNS OF NAVARONE, in which he played a rather minor, even dislikable part, causing me to underrate him for many years. I have upped that rating exponentially after watching A PRIZE OF ARMS, HELL DRIVERS, BLIND DATE, ROBBERY, ACCIDENT, among others.
Excellent cinematography by Gerald Gibbs and editing by John Jympson.
Sole regret: no ladies. Otherwise, a definite must-se for anyone interested in the military and in a credible heist. 9/10.
Me and My Gal (1932)
Well directed zany fun with Tracy, Bennett in superb form
I have always like films directed by Raoul Walsh, famously unlucky to lose his right eye after a rabbit jumped through his car's windshield. He has a no-nonsense approach combinbed with dry humor, and his camera work consistently reflects high competence and professionalism.
ME AND MY GAL stands as an excellent example of the 1930s screwball comedy at its best. It has the advantage of a talented cast in top form, notably the wonderful Spencer Tracy (my all-time favorite American actor) and the lovable Joan Bennett, then all of 22 years old, and her sister played by the similarly stunning Marion Burns. George Walsh (Raoul's younger brother) convincingly plays the villain Duke Castenega, who has won Burns' heart, even though she is now married to another man, which poses interesting problems. Still, although affected by the bad egg hiding in the attic, the Tracy-Bennett relation overcomes all those obstacles with good grace - their conversation on the sofa, each of them speaking different from their actual thoughts - is memorable and absolutely remarkable for a 1932 film, especially in light of the fact that talkies had only started four years earlier.
The sole jarring note comes from over the top slapstick acting by some unknown actor portraying a drunk hobo who nearly gets drowned and throws a fish around. Tracy and Bennett are flawlessly comic enough that the drunk hobo's part becomes annoyingly long and embarrassingly repetitive. The good news is that he suddenly disappears and thankfully never returns.
ME AND MY GAL is 79 minutes long and definitely worth watching. 8/10.
They Call It Murder (1971)
Enjoyable TV thriller/whodunnit; Hutton, Bochner in good form
District Attorney Doug Selby (competently played by Jim Hutton) faces a unique murder case involving a dead body in a pool with two bullets in its heart. After some detailed examination and theory debunking as to which of those bullets might have gone in first, it becomes clear that the D. A. is not helped by the blundering Police Chief Otto Larkin, who keeps stupidly disrespecting the very law he is supposed to uphold - it could be a comic relief, but does not quite work - and in time comes under attack himself from a vehicle trying to bump him off a cliffy road.
Standout performance from Lloyd Bochner as lawyer A B Carr, self-effacing but effective in his legal assistance.
Well, all is not bad news: Selby is surrounded by pretty women: the elegant Jessica Walter, who in 1971 also played an evil part in PLAY MISTY FOR ME; Nita Talbot, absolutely gorgeous as a second rate movie star who keeps undergoing rejuvenating surgery; and Jo Ann Pflug, simply to die for.
The explanation as to how all the murders took place struck me as lengthier than necessary, but otherwise I enjoyed it all. 7/10.
Compartiment tueurs (1965)
Superlative cast in fast moving whodunnit French noir
I have heard and read a few accounts as to how this film nearly did not get made because no one was interested, but then Signoret apparently had worked with Costa-Gavras when he was still an apprentice assistant director, liked his approach and offered to play a part, and that somehow got her hubby, Montand, interested too. With those two big weights behind the production, Costa-Gavras managed to get a budget going, which also meant that the cast steadily included more and more up and coming French thespians, including already well known names like Jean-Louis Trintignant, Michel Piccoli, Bernadette Lafont, Claude Mann, Charles Denner, Pierre Mondy, among others.
To be honest, I have never come across a more stellar cast in a French film, and - a rare event - it does not detract from its inherent quality, as the fast moving script and elusive murders and murderer perfectly dovetail with the individualities in a fast emerging, highly talented ensemble: Montand is memorable with his Marseilles accent and nose spray up his nostrils; Perrin and Allégret (Signoret's daughter) make a beautiful, lovable young couple; Piccoli deserves plaudits for his sympathetic portrayal of a man who can't take his eye off women's private parts; Claude Mann as the police intern who knows more than it seems; the extremely alluring Lafont makes the most of a tiny part as a wife trying to tell police more than her interfering hubby; Mondy as the chief inspector who keeps barking commands in numerical order, primo, segondo, tercio; and Denner almost steals the show in the role of Bob, with the nickname Robert, lover of the film's first victim, the luscious Pascale Roberts.
Yes, so many roles and quality actors tend to spoil the broth, and COMPARTIMENT suffers a little bit from that, too - but it grabs you from the outset and the exciting final chase must have inspired many others.
Mesmerizing B&W cinematography from Jean Tournier and editing by Christian Gaudin. Truly pulsating score by Michel Magne.
The final standing ovation has to go to Costa-Gavras for the immaculate directorial debut and the terrific screenplay off the original novel by Japrisot.
Wonderful noir whodunnnit, must-see for anyone interested in noir and French cinema. 9/10.
So weit die Füße tragen (2001)
Great photography, Bettermann acting; overlong, inattentive narrative
Director Hardy Martins, about whom I am shamefully ignorant, does a splendid job with this spectacular rendition of the story of Clemens Forrell, a German POW sentenced to 10 years in jail in Siberia in July 1945.
About 10 years later, after an eventful escape from the pen, and with an USSR Army lieutenant breathing down his neck all the way (I found it hard to believe that he would even encounter his nemesis face to face on the bridge on the border between USSR and Iran - actually Persia in 1955).
Forrell returns home colelcting along the way experiences with a Siberian husky, a beautiful Eskimo-like female, and he comes across all types of cultures in the world's biggest country (Russia's territory comprises about 20% of the Earth's land surface).
Of course, he suffers accidents along the way, is rearrested and ill-treated, and to me the best part is when he meets Igor, well played by Aleksandr Efremov, as a Jew who is out to help people and is not troubled to assist a German POW. The dialogue between the two men, regarding responsibility for the genocide of Jews, is memorable.
In the end, Forrell complies with the promise he made to daughter Elizabeth that he would be home for Christmas... he just failed to specify when, and his daughter had to wait 10 Christmas.
Important negatives: 1. Overlong by some 45 minutes, with excessive snow shots, nightmarish visions, garish forests - all spectacularly filmed but just too much and by no means essential for the narrative; 2. So Clemens gets to reunite with daughter and wife in the church at the end. What about the son born while he was a POW? Why did he not greet his family at the house, just before they left for the church? He had no idea that his daughter had pleaded with the Virgin Mary for his return, he had only promised to return for Christmas - those details, coupled with the (for me) impossible to believe situation on the bridge, with the USSR lieutenant allowing him passage after hunting him down nonstop, detract from what is supposed to be a true story's narrative veracity.
Ultimately, I felt I watched a POW's fertile imagination at work. Still enjoyable but I felt cheated. 7/10.
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)
Superb road/heist movie: impeccable direction, acting, photography
Michael Cimino opened his remarkable directorial career with this largely underappreciated and, back in 1974, somewhat undernoticed THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT. The greater the pity because it amounts to a great deal more than just an action/road/buddy/heist movie: it has an emotional and intellectual depth seldom seen in films in which Eastwood acted back then - though PLAY MISTY FOR ME and THE BEGUILED already put out signs that Eastwood's career was evolving toward something more intelligent than the flat character Dirty Harry, Honky Tonk, Joe Kidd, High Plains Drifter, Gauntlet vehicles that populated his 1970s.
I purposely mention Eastwood first because it was his company, Malpaso, that financed this project, and yet his laidback Thunderbolt allows the best roles and sharpest lines to go to Jeff Bridges (sublime show!), the humorless, murderous Red Leary played by George Kennedy with malevolent infamy, and the extremely funny Geoffrey Lewis going around selling ice cream while helping map out the heist. Some viewers suggest a gay liaison in the THUNDERBOLT-LIGHTFOOT relation. I disagree. Lightfoot picks up a couple of good looking broads which they bed in separate quarters, naked women turn, and what I saw was genuine friendship between the two men.
Superlative cinematography and editing by Frank Stanley and Ferris Webster, respectively. Lovely landscapes, the beginning against the backdrop of a corn field and mountains with Eastwood running from a church in priestly clothes to avoid taking a bullet, the first of many very well done action sequences.
Kudos to Michael Cimino for a magnificent directorial debut and a script in equal parts intelligent and lively.
Fitting musical score, particularly Paul Williams' song about 8 minutes into the action, "Where do I go from here?" which is relevant to the entire film, especially the ending.
Must-see opus that also reflects crime trends of the 1970s quite well. 9/10.
Ring of Spies (1964)
Solid cautionary tale about UK Cold War spy case
Robert Tronson, better known as a TV film director, helmed the production of RING OF SPIES, aka RING OF TREASON, which is a kind of British noir cautionary tale based on the Gordon Lonsdale spy case in the UK in the 1950s.
Of undeniable quality for a B flick, it is professionally done, solid Arthur Lavis cinematography, competent editing by Thelma Connell, and good acting by unusual lead Bernard Lee in the even more unlikely role of womanizer, tippler, and money-driven spy; Margaret Tyzack as the upstanding, fully compliant state functionary who gets corrupted by Lee, and falls in the web of espionage crime (needless to say, both Lee and Tyzack end up looking stupid and untrustworthy, soiling their good name forever; William Sylvester does well with his short part as the nefarious Gordon Lonsdale; and Thorley Walters portrays very effectively Commander Winters as the overseer of the sting operation that netted the ring of spies.
In that context, I particularly liked the deployment of police personnel and vehicles following the suspects, the way one accountant-like copper kept taking note of how much Houghton (Lee) spent on drinking alone, and sharp arithmetic calculations uncovering the fact that he and Tyzack simply did not earn enough to maintain such a lavish lifestyle.
Definitely worth watching both as dramatization of a real incident and something to learn from: careful what you wish for, it could change you and your life... and seldom, if ever, for the better. 7/10.
Man in the Middle (1964)
Credible Indian background in middling courtroom drama
Originally titled MAN IN THE MIDDLE, but bearing a different name in the US film circuit - THE WINSTON AFFAIR, if memory serves me right - this is a middling script off a middling novel by Howard Fast.
Director Guy Hamilton, famous for such James Bond vehicles as GOLDFINGER, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, LIVE AND LET DIE, MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, among others, never rose above middling status himself. In MAN IN THE MIDDLE, his mediocrity stamps just about every well shot, effective frame credibly bringing out a most unusual Indian background (I have to admit that I never knew of a British-US Command HQ in India during WWII) where US Army sergeant Keenan Wynn just shoots dead a British soldier for apparently making a noise at night, promptly retiring to his quarters and enjoying a good night's sleep.
Eleven witnesses and a courtroom case later, the middling solution could only be for a competent lawyer like Mitchum - albeit a bit rusty after not practicing law for 15 years - to plead insanity on Wynn's behalf... and even the British expertt psychiatrist portrayed by Trevor Howard pretty much endorses that finding.
Whether the finale that every senior US officer apparently sought - death by hanging for Wynn - actually happened, goes open ended. Instead, we see a smarmy Mitchum bidding farewell to pretty nurse France Nuyen... and, as much as I admire Mitchum, the best bit happens when another US officer taps his belly and suggests that he is putting on weight. For the remainder, Mitchum looks more or less bored. I was reminded of his famous self-appraisal: "I have two acting styles: with and without a horse."
No wonder his performance should be middling, then: no horse and a mediocre script about a courtroom drama in which poor Wynn finally steps forward and acts the madman.
The point of this film? I couldn't see one. 6/10 stars for reasonable standards of acting from Sullivan, Howard, Wynn, and fair cinematography from Wilkie Cooper.
HHhH (2017)
Why bother to keep alive the memory of the Butcher of Prague?
I have nothing against French director Cedric Jimenez but, with the talent he showed in LA FRENCH (2014) I expected him to come up with something better than rehash the story of Reinhardt Heydrich, the Gestapo general who was one of the brains behind the final solution for Jews, and who committed every massacre and barbary imaginable at concentration camps and even in the urban centers - like Prague - where the Reich posted him.
That Jason Clarke satisfactorily fleshes Heydrich out on the screen is undeniable, even if I could not buy that fable he allegedly told Himmler about the foxes invading the chicken coop, and having to be killed off - no one of sound mind would entrust a top mission requiring meticulous organization to a fable teller. That said, Clarke is quite convincing as Heydrich.
The beauty and talent of Rosamund Pike, as Heydrich's wife, are sadly wasted here in a small part in which she begins by forcing Heydrich to become a nazi in order to marry her, and then she just fizzles out as the ignored, expendable half. The two Jacks who play Heydrich's assassins deliver credibly, - the scene of their suicide is harrowing.
In the end, to me the abiding question is: why spend so many $ millions on the memory of a soul-less degenerate who achieved the dubious distinction of rating the biggest killer of Jews in WWII? 6/10.
After Hours (1985)
Untypical Scorcese flick with typical tragicomic overtones
I am not the greatest fan of Martin Scorcese, though I readily concur with anyone who rates masterpieces films like TAXI DRIVER, RAGING BULL, GOODFELLAS, THE DEPARTED and THE IRISHMAN, and I have the greatest respect for his instructive and informative TV programs on US, Italian, French, Brazilian, and other cinema.
Thus, AFTER HOURS is not a favorite among what I see as lesser Scorcese vehicles. It is undeniable that it has some moments of genius, and a clever tragicomic approach to a succession of Kafkaesque situations in one eventful night in the life of Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne) - whose finest performance this might be - but somehow I lost sympathy with this opus after Marcy (played by the extraordinarily lovely Rosanna Arquette) dies of an overdose of tablets, and equally stunning Linda Fiorentino exposes her perfect breasts and disappears after a useless cameo. Just to watch the female beauties makes AFTER HOURS unmissable, but I could not forgive the waste of talent and beauty of those two mermaids... and ultimately I found the film a pointless succession of avoidable mishaps.
Great music from Mozart and Bach, marvelous cinematography by Michael Mallhaus, impeccable editing by Thelma Schoonmaker.
Not too impressed with Minion's screenplay, though Dunne gets most of the film's best lines. Look fast to see Martin Scorcese handle a searchlight in a nightclub. 7/10.
All the Kind Strangers (1974)
Well acted TV production: suspension of disbelief essential
Burt Kennedy directed some very fine Westerns like THE WAR WAGON and THE TRAIN ROBBERS but here he tackles a TV production with less well known actors, though Stacy Keach was riding the crest of his wave in 1974, having starred in high quality films like DOC and FAT CITY.
Keach manages to sound credible in a difficult to believe part of an adult man who is lured by a seven year old into coming into a house of parentless youngsters where everybody is hoping to have a pa and a ma and, to that end, they have already shanghaied pretty Samantha Eggar.
The open end does not clarify whether everyone's quest - apart, it seems from Peter, played rather schizophrenically by John Savage - will succeed, and whether they will form a family unit or social welfare will be the future for those kids.
Eggar is underutilized, as is Robbie Benson and exceedingly beautiful Arlene Farber. Wonderful set of guard dogs, especially the Rottweiler... but you have to wonder how these kids living in the back of beyond, away from school and any form of civilization, actually manage to keep some seven dogs in excellent condition, clearly well fed and trained, with collars and shiny hair.
If you manage to suspend your disbelief - like just switch off your logic brain cells - you will enjoy the cinematography, the canines, the acting, the singing, and even the film's flaws. 7/10.
Night of the Demon (1957)
Superb Tourneur-directed horror flick
Jacques Tourneur achieved deserved fame thanks to his work with Val Lewton in masterpieces like CAT PEOPLE, I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, THE LEOPARD MAN, OUT OF THE PAST - the latter not of the horror genre, but in my opinion his career's finest hour.
In all those films he always took the approach that less is more i.e. He preferred subtlety to showing graphic violence, or even just too explicit motivations. To a large extent, NIGHT OF THE DEMON was intended to follow the same trend, but the producers decided that the monster had to have its face shown and, as much as Tourneur tried to turn it, the tide just overwhelmed him and he had to let them impose their vision.
Thankfully, he restricted the monster to just a couple of sightings, and the beast is so horrible, scabrous, slow moving, and its claws so horny that I ended up accepting it... though I agree with those who feel that not showing the monster would have resulted in an even better opus, as human imagination amounts to the most powerful invention of all.
Plaudits to Dana Andrews for posting a credible performance as the non-believing psychologist who flies all the way from the USA to Great Britain to debunk what he sees as Satanic myths, and especially to Niall McGinnis for building a genuinely frightening character with uncommon powers of prediction and even of distortion of natural phenomena. The party scene in which he ups the stake from white to black magic, ushering in a cyclone, is truly superlative but by no means the only memorable one.
Wonderful B&W cinematography and editing that heighten the scary, oppressive atmosphere, and a fitting musical score all help make this one of the greatest of all horror pictures in any era. 9/10.
Black Hawk Down (2001)
Needless, poorly planned op into foreign land - nothing new
As a non-American living in then Swaziland, Africa, at the time - October 1993 - of the incident highlighted in BLACK HAWK DOWN (BHD), I could not help but wonder about the point of that operation. The South African media carried some reports on it, the local media very little, and suddenly it seemed forgotten to the extent that I wondered whether I had not imagined it all.
Then I found a Newsweek magazine with a more detailed account and from it I inferred that the mission's purpose was to whack a Somali tribal chief. Why, I never learned clearly, but it would take no rocket scientist to conclude that he displeased the White House. One detail that stuck with me from that read was that the US forces had gone in with state of the art listening equipment which proved worthless because the Somalis had no intel, Internet, or even a reliable national phone network, and communicated by traditional systems such as signs, sounds, and messages sung from mosque minarets.
None of that surfaces in BHD. I suppose that Director Ridley Scott decided to minimize the extent of the poor preparedness for the mission, though early in the film General Garrison (played by a convincingly baffled Sam Shephard) admits that the helicopters sent in for the mission might fall short of requirements - which ultimately proved true.
As an onlooker, I could not but feel sympathy for the poor residents of Mogadishu who suddenly came under heavy fire from foreign forces apparently intent on icing a tribal chief. I felt most of all for poor dogs wandering about the streets: Somalia being 99% Muslim, and Muslims regarding canine breath as the devil's breath, those poor mutts had it tough enough to eke out an existence before all manner of heavy military vehicles and gun fire made them run for cover (and dog hearing surpassing human hearing some 60 times, it must have sounded like atomic bombs!)
The manner in which the operation starts, with slick deployment of forces from helis on to roof tops and not too busy streets, immediately shows the difference in technology, and the superiority of US Delta and Rangers troops. Military personnel portrayed by a rather hesitant Josh Hartnett, a determined Eric Bana, Ewan McGregor in a part that is as short as it is meaningless, Tom Sizemore as a colonel able to keep things ticking despite his serious wounds, the briefest appearance by a very young Tom Hardy, all come into view under an endless stream of battle fire, flying rockets, crashing choppers, exposed guts, a blood flood, and all the graphic gore you could ask for and more.
Now, in light of such a devastating attack, you should be able to identify a fearsome enemy. Instead, you see dark-hued persons in plain clothes apparently realizing that they are coming under attack, taking up weapons, and driving open-back vans and jeeps with mounted machine guns. They are portrayed almost like aliens attacking earthlings, and I suppose our instinctive sympathy lies with the earthlings, but in reality their country was invaded by aliens.
The CGI special effects are first class, as one would expect from a Ridley Scott flick.
I found particularly interesting and memorable the baffled facial expressions of Gen. Garrison as he kept receiving bad news from the perimeter inside the unfriendly quarters of Mogadishu, mounting evidence that his men were near condemned and that he had no clue how to help them, but still he issued a threatening warning to the UN forces in Mogadishu that their military vehicles and help was needed. Thankfully, those UN forces rescued the surviving US troops from a truly anarchic situation with locals carrying the bodies of US soldiers and attacking the defenseless wounded inside the downed choppers and other vehicles.
The end of the movie explains that Gen. Garrison retired the day after the wanted Somali tribal chief was killed. A fitting end, I think, to someone handed an unenviable and possibly avoidable assigment without the necessary equipment and preparation.
BHD was done for the US market and obviously neither Scott nor the producers wanted to put off that prime market, but for this film to rate masterpiece it would have to make clearer what prompted the mission, the viewpoint of the Somali authorities and military forces, and even how the Pakistani UN forces felt about endangering their lives and annoying the locals by rescuing the US forces. 7/10.
Telephone Operator (1937)
Cute movie despite bad, chopped up copy
I have to put it down to personal misfortune that I watched a chopped up copy, with voices cut off in mid-sentence and abrupt changes of scenario - but, in spite of those shortcomings (which some rate 'dated' and 'old' because they are rooted in the present), I still found it arresting enough to watch it to the final frame.
Direction by Scott Pembroke (about whom I know nothing) is quite good, as is the script brimming with funny situations and sharp one-liners as a number of men try to win over a gorgeous telephone operator nicely played by stunning Judith Allen... and suddenly Riverdale Dam bursts open and all hell breaks loose as Allen goes to the switchboard to convey warnings, save lives... and be proposed marriage! 6/10.
Good-bye, My Lady (1956)
The best dog picture I have ever watched
Director William "Wild Bill" Wellman delivers yet another very fine film, to rival with the likes of OX BOW INCIDENT (1943), the original A STAR IS BORN (1937) and my personal favorite Wellman vehicle, STORY OF G. I. JOE (1945)... all very different films on very different subjects, but all buoyed by superb acting, scripts, cinematography and editing.
Here you have a very young Brandon de Wilde, fresh from his outstanding child roles in THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING (1952) and SHANE (1953), extremely well assisted by the great Walter Brennan - who won three best supporting actor Oscars, the only actor to have achieved that distinction so far -, a very young Sidney Poitier on his way to global fame and his own awards, the always reliable Phil Harris as Mr Cash and, of course, My Lady of the Congo as the Basenji canine playing the role of My Lady.
I have watched other good dog pictures, but this one carries the right emotions (the song composed by Laurindo Almeida makes "sad" rhyme with "glad", and that is exactly how the film achieves its impeccable balance).
The humans in it may be illiterate and backward - curiously enough, the supposedly underpriviliged black person Gates (Poitier) is the best informed, sharpest knife in the neighborhood's drawer and, from what I have read, the cast got on famously and had a great time together, and it shows in the final product - leaving the spectator... sad and yet glad.
I cannot recommend this film enough, and a hanky will help. 10/10.
Story of G.I. Joe (1945)
Lest we forget war's sour, disgusting taste and waste
William "Wild Bill" Wellman, a larger than life director who orchestrated such fundamental films as the original (and best) 1937 version of A STAR IS BORN with March and Gaynor, WESTWARD THE WOMEN, THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY, and many other gems, delivers in my view his finest effort in STORY OF G. I. JOE.
In addition to extremely effective cinematography by Russell Metty and editing by Albrecht Joseph, at times usually actual fighting footage, the screenplay on the basis of journalist Ernie Pyle's reports from the war front in Italy give you a sense of being there, watching those men endure the disgusting, savage, mind-numbing taste of war, and the effects it has on you (back in WWII and 1945 they had not yet come up with vocabulary like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, but the signs are all there).
Plaudits to Wellman, too, for extracting one of Robert Mitchum's most sensitive performances, certainly not the inferior of those I rate his best: OUT OF THE PAST and THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER. Burgess Meredith is also memorable as Ernie Pyle and, though the rest of the cast is less well known, all deliver credibly, even the little stray mutt, "Arab."
One of the sequences that will forever stay with me sees Mitchum and a fellow sergeant trying to dislodge German sharpshooters from a church spire, firing shots and throwing hand grenades among statues of angels, the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, and other religious items, including frescoes on the walls of a completely destroyed church in Italy. Mitchum's companion remarks: "Strange place for killing people, ain't it?"
The film's finale is heart-wrenching. This is a definite masterpiece, too close to the quick for many stomachs lest we forget the sacrifices made by those who fought for freedom in WWII. 9/10.
The Indian Runner (1991)
Superb acting in Penn's confident directorial debut
Sean Penn directs THE INDIAN RUNNER with considerable assurance, extracting superb performances from David Morse, Viggo Mortensen, Patricia Arquette, and even Dennis Hopper - who by 1991 had become quite repetitive in his portrayal of supporting evil characters - and the tired vigilante Charles Bronson perform well above average.
The score by Jack Nitszche deserves plaudits for versatility and effectiveness, and cinematography by Anthony Richmond is top notch, with particularly inspired sequences involving an Indian runner who keeps appearing at crucial points in the film.
Penn's script brims with sharp, credible dialogue that keeps stoking the bleak atmosphere, that becomes even darker, almost Satanic, when Mortensen comes on screen.
One feels for Morse as the cop trying to keep his family together only to be thwarted by death and his brother's incapacity to function as family member.
Definitely worth watching. 7/10.
Der Richter und sein Henker (1975)
Pseudo intellectual thriller
DER RICHTER UND SEIN HENKER, a book written by Swiss author Friedrich Durrenmatt and first published in 1950, carried the literally translated title, THE JUDGE AND HIS HANGMAN, when it came out in English translation.
Maximilian Schell, winner of a Best Actor Oscar in 1961, directed this film with the title of END OF THE GAME. Not only does he drift from the original title, he also imbues the plot with a pseudo intellectualism that becomes increasingly annoying until the final suicide - which left me completely baffled. I really could not understand the wherefore of that finale.
It would appear that Inspector Barlach (Martin Ritt, who achieved cinematic fame as a film director) is engaging in a chess game with master criminal Gastmann (Robert Shaw), with humans disposed of as readily and coldly as so many pawns on a chess board. But that is only my perception, and I fear I may have got it completely wrong because the film is so meaninglessly convoluted.
Interesting to see two great-looking leads - Bisset and Voight, the latter with his dick bobbing up and down as he runs - have sex the moment they meet after her boyfriend's funeral. I found it puzzling that Donald Sutherland, by 1975 a great actor in his own right, should agree to play the part of a dead body but that is only another one of many rather absurd developments. For instance, I could not grasp whether Martin Ritt played only the part of Inspector Barlach, as he seemed to be two people, one of whom displayed a gluttonous appetite at the end, behaving in a manner rather unlike the hitherto rather restrained inspector.
Why Schell should engage in rather amateurish and unsteady directing instead of doing what he was best at, acting, only he would know - but the spectator is far from well served by Schell's choice. 6/10.
I crudeli (1967)
Corbucci, Cotten in commanding form
Honesty forces me to admit that the only other Sergio Cobucci film I have watched is THE GREAT SILENCE, which some reviewers rate the director' career best... but which I found excessively gelid and introspective, not least because male lead Jean-Louis Trintignant portrayed a mute pistolman and the action took place against a snowy, freezing-looking background.
I CRUDELI (The Cruel Ones, a more attuned title than THE HELL BENDERS) has to do with Confederate Colonel Jonas - convincingly and meanly interpreted by Joseph Cotten - and his psychotic trio of sons wanting to bankroll a revival of the Confederate forces even though officially Confederation had already accepted defeat.
The humane creature in THE HELL BENDERS is the character played by Brazilian-born actress Norma Bengell. She is not just spiritually wholesome, she is also delightful to look at - especially when she bathes in a rivulet in stockings.
There are well choreographed sequences, particularly those involving shooting action. Photography is of unusually high quality for a spaghetti Western, and the script brims with crisp dialogue exposing the cracks in relations between tough men, Jonas the father trying to keep his family unit intact whilst pursuing his Confederate cause to the end, with a decent woman caught in the flotsam.
Red Light (1949)
Moral values in noir; memorable Raft, Burr, Morgan
I must admit with considerable embarrassment that I had never heard of Director Roy del Ruth until I watched RED LIGHT, a remarkably moral movie for a film noir - with the plus of never becoming preachy.
I like del Ruth's directorial approach: extremely competent and effective cinematography while resorting to minimum special effects. This opus owes its oppressive ambiance to its darkness, dingy hotels, but del Ruth and Bert Glennon balance it with much lighter surroundings when Army Chaplain Art Franz and Raft meet. As a man of God, Franz brims with unique light, as does the vitral in the Catholic Church, and Church-like music box playing Ave Maria.
A similar contrast occurs in the mind of Raft as it moves from unfeeling readiness to throw Burr under the bus, and have feelings only for his brother Franz, to a man assisted by an angel ex machina in the shape of gorgeous Virginia Mayo - who sounds down to Earth as a woman of genuinely good principles instead of the traditional femme fatale of noir flicks.
Raymond Burr and Harry Morgan deliver superior performances as inmates, the former using the latter to get at Raft for pulling the rug from under his feet and handing him on a platter to police. And the target for his revenge is Catholic Chaplain Franz, Raft's beloved brother.
Raft conveys his pain as relentlessly as he single-mindedly embarks on a quest to find his brother's killer and get even. It would be unfair to disclose more: see it, it is a highly underrated film noir with a solid moral foundation, even if we all know the commandment "Thou Shalt Not Kill". 9/10.
Hop-a-Long Cassidy (1935)
Hopalong Cassidy enters, starts a B-flick series
Howard Bretherton directed this first Hop-a-Long Cassidy flick in a long series of more than 40, which ended in the 1940s but which TV brought back to life in the mid to late 1950s. This first film also goes by the title of HOPALONG CASSIDY ENTERS, and according to my late father, Cassidy was his, and other kids' joy on Saturday afternoons as the starter before the main film.
I was born in colonial Mozambique in 1957, and there was no TV there those days - so I missed Hop-a-Long Cassidy, Tom Mix, Gene Autry and the like. Now, I am glad that I have been able to watch some of these about 1-hour long flicks on Youtube.
This initial entry is one of the best - though, to be honest, I have always found William Boyd a rather mediocre actor - perhaps his distinctive black outfit explains his unusual popularity, because I do not find him physically a credible hero figure, either. George Hayes is the actor that I really look forward to watching , what with his accent, twists of lips and mouth, and unique laugh.
Here the problem has to do with the Bar 20 ranch, which is somehow served - owned? - by Cassidy, and in this case some neighbors, including cowardly villain Kenneth Thomson, are rustling cattle belonging to Uncle Ben, portrayed by the above mentioned, and immensely likable George Hayes.
Enjoyable oater, with handsome Ellison and pretty Paula Stone providing the love component. Strictly standard script and competent photography, especially of cattle on the move and a shootout in craggy cliffs. 7/10.