Sunday, June 30, 2013

Yellow Submarine

Yellow Submarine (1968) Animated. The Blue Meanies invade Pepperland and turn most of the inhabitants to stone, and it's the Beatles to the rescue. John, Paul, George and Ringo are recruited by one of the inhabitants of Pepperland, who fetches them in a yellow submarine. Best feature of the movie is the Beatles songs which are played frequently throughout, and the animation is ... psychedelic. It's certainly very colorful, at any rate. For fans of the Beatles, this is probably a must-see, and you've probably seen it already. I happen to know that the actual Beatles had very little involvement in this movie -- it's not even their voices that you hear when the animated Beatles talk. So I find it lacking in that respect. But it's an OK entertainment, and the kids might even enjoy it. (English subtitles are available, but not closed captions.) Grade: B   

Friday, June 28, 2013

The X-Files

The X-Files (1998) starring David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Martin Landau, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Blythe Danner, William B. Davis, John Neville, Mitch Pileggi. After surviving a bomb blast at a building in Dallas, Mulder and Scully (Duchovny and Anderson) set off on a quest to unravel a worldwide conspiracy involving extraterrestrials and a virus that invades humans and turns them into ... something not human. I think this movie will appeal mainly to fans of "The X-Files" TV show, and even they will be disappointed. Sure, it's nice to see all those  familiar faces again and to have some of the secrets of the conspiracy revealed, but this is basically a preposterous film. (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B-  

Thursday, June 27, 2013

The Wrestler

The Wrestler (2008) starring Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood. Over-the-hill professional wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Rourke) suffers a heart attack, and decides to try and deal with the mess he has made of his life. He tries starting a relationship with a stripper he knows (Tomei) and he tries to patch up his relationship with his daughter (Wood). He retires from wrestling and takes an extra shift in the deli section of the grocery store where he works. But nothing seems to go right. Rourke is pretty great in this role, and he and Tomei were both nominated for Academy Awards. Sadly, though, this movie just didn't grab me like it did the first time I saw it. It was good but not great. (Closed captions are available.) Grade: B+ 

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) starring Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jeffrey Jones, Jennifer Grey. A flawed masterpiece of a film, with some great moments and some not-so-great. Most unforgettable is the scene where Ferris (Broderick) takes a place on a parade float and sings "Danke Schoen" and "Twist and Shout." It's a transcendent moment, and never fails to cheer me up. On the other hand, the film drifts at times, and it's hard to buy the cluelessness of Ferris's parents. All in all, this is a movie that I always enjoy, and who wouldn't want to be like Ferris? (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+   

Monday, June 24, 2013

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) starring Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano, Maria Barranco. Directed by Pedro Almodovar. Interesting Spanish comedy about a rather eccentric woman (Maura) and how she reacts when she is abandoned by her longtime lover. The movie features a bright color palette and is peopled with odd characters. It's in Spanish with English subtitles, and I think a little something was lost in translation, still I will remember this movie fondly. It's definitely one-of-a-kind and worth seeing. Grade: B+

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) starring Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, Mickey Rooney. Directed by Blake Edwards. Delightful story of country girl (Hepburn) who moves to New York City and goes "wild," with a cat named Cat. Peppard plays her neighbor, who falls in love with her. I've seen this movie before, but was surprised this time by all the clever twists and turns the plot takes. The only jarring note was the horrible racial stereotyping involved in having Rooney play a Japanese man who lives upstairs in the apartment building. That one misstep was not quite enough to spoil the film for me. Oscar winner for music by Henry Mancini and song ("Moon River"). (English subtitles are provided, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+   

Friday, June 21, 2013

World Trade Center

World Trade Center (2006) starring Nicolas Cage, Michael Pena, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Maria Bello. Directed by Oliver Stone. Tightly focused film looks at 9/11 from the point of view of two Port Authority police (Cage and Pena) who are trapped under tons of rubble when Building 5 collapses. Gyllenhaal and Bello provide the counterpoint as the men's wives, who agonize over whether their husbands will come home alive or not. Although calling the movie World Trade Center seems a bit grandiose to me, the film still succeeds in its main story-telling task, and the viewer does find him/herself caring about the people involved. The movie has the virtue of being based on the true story of two port-authority cops, John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno. (Subtitles for the hard of hearing are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B  

Thursday, June 20, 2013

The World's Fastest Indian

The World's Fastest Indian (2005) starring Anthony Hopkins, Diane Ladd. Hopkins stars as an old man in New Zealand who dreams of taking his 1920s Indian Scout motorcycle to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah and trying to set a new land-speed record. Along the way, he meets and befriends a variety of characters, most of them American, and all of them interesting. This is a fairly entertaining, straight-line movie that provides an evening's divertissement and doesn't challenge the intellect too much. (Subtitles in English are not offered on the disc, but closed captions make up for the loss.) Grade: B

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Side Effects

Side Effects (2013) starring Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum, Catherine Zeta-Jones. Psychological thriller in which Emily (Mara) stabs her husband (Tatum) to death while taking an anti-depressant that has been prescribed to her by her psychiatrist (Law). The angle is that she was sleepwalking when she killed her husband, and she gets off on an insanity defense. This is a muddled movie in which some things happen for unexplained reasons, and the tangled plot becomes uninteresting about half-way through. It seems like it's going to be a good movie, but it just doesn't follow through. (Subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available on the disc, but not closed captions.) Grade: B- 

Monday, June 17, 2013

The World of Henry Orient

The World of Henry Orient (1964) starring Peter Sellers, Tippy Walker, Merrie Spaeth, Paula Prentiss, Angela Lansbury. Mildly amusing comedy in which Sellers, as eccentric concert pianist Henry Orient, becomes the object of fascination for two 14-year-old girls (Walker, Spaeth). They follow him all over New York City, while he fruitlessly pursues the very married Prentiss. The movie has a simple story arc, and Sellers' more zany comedic talents aren't made use of much. In fact, the movie really focuses on the two girls, and neither one of them has much in the way of charisma. The film makes for a passable evening's entertainment, but it doesn't seem to aspire to, and certainly doesn't reach, greatness. (English subtitles are available, as are closed captions for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B  

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Tampopo

Tampopo (1986) starring Ken Watanabe, Tsutomo Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto. Set in Japan, this is a movie about food in all its glory. This movie has been referred to as the first "noodle Western," because it shows properties of Western movies (one protagonist wears a cowboy hat) and because it is mostly about the search for the perfect recipe for a bowl of noodles, Japanese style. There are also several interesting vignettes about people interacting with food in various ways -- using it erotically, feeling it up in the store, ordering it at a fancy restaurant, learning how to eat it properly. In the main story line, two truckers (Watanabe, Yamazaki) pull up on a rainy night at the noodle shop of a recently widowed -- and none too skilled -- woman named Tampopo (Miyamoto). They become involved with her and set out to make her shop a big success by finding the perfect recipe for a bowl of noodles. It's a delightfully entertaining film with appealing characters, and it really makes you hungry to try a bowl of noodles. (In Japanese, with English subtitles.) Grade: B+

Friday, June 14, 2013

The Glenn Miller Story

The Glenn Miller Story (1954) starring James Stewart, June Allyson, Henry Morgan, Charles Drake, George Tobias. The music is the real star of this biopic about popular big-band leader Miller (Stewart), whose music was a smash in the early '40s. Some of the hits re-created for the movie include "In the Mood," "String of Pearls" and "Moonlight Serenade." Stewart is good as Miller, although his life is mostly fictionalized for this film. Allyson does a good job as his wife, Helen, in this sentimental movie. The film ends with Miller's death as he flies across the English Channel in 1944. He is officially listed as Missing in Action. (Subtitles for the hearing-impaired are included, although closed captions are not.) Grade: B+  

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Working Girl

Working Girl (1988) starring Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, Melanie Griffith, Alec Baldwin, Joan Cusack. Directed by Mike Nichols. Although Griffith is listed third in the credits, this is her movie. She stars as Tess McGill, a New York secretary who has the ambition (and the intelligence) to want to be  more. She hooks up with Jack Trainer (Ford) to make a business deal she has cooked up, and falls in love with him at the same time. Weaver has a sly time playing the villain, Katharine Parker, an executive who tries to steal her secretary's idea. Music by Carly Simon, featuring Oscar-winning song "Let the River Run." This movie is truly a great entertainment, and really evokes the feeling of the '80s. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+   

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Women in Trouble

Women in Trouble (2009) starring Carla Gugino, Connie Britton, Adrianne Palicki, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Sarah Clarke, Simon Baker, Josh Brolin. Directed by Sebastian Gutierrez. One day in the life of ten women in Los Angeles features high drama, soft-core sex, soap opera, and one pregnant porn star (Gugino). Large ensemble cast manages to make this movie entertaining, kind of in the mold of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. To be honest, I didn't recognize most of the actresses and actors in this movie, especially Gugino, who is a porn-star version of herself. I did recognize Britton and Baker, and I was glad to see the familiar faces among the ensemble. The film is not high art, nor does it aspire to be. I think Gutierrez was going for a fun romp with a few serious moments thrown in. At least, that's what he has delivered. (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B  

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas (2012) starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess. Cloud Atlas is really six (or seven) movies in one, all interwoven through time by the fact that the same actors appear as different characters in different time periods. The action skips back and forth in time, from 1849 to the distant future. Several different realities are portrayed in a dazzling kaleidoscope that keeps the viewer guessing. Some viewers will be put off by the effort required to follow the six plot lines, but I was drawn in and, ultimately, moved. This is one of those movies that you have to see more than once, and I anticipate seeing it again -- when I have nearly three hours to devote to it. The disc I rented had no Extras. (English subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available, but not closed captions.) Grade: A-   

Monday, June 10, 2013

Women in Love

Women in Love (1969) starring Alan Bates, Oliver Reed, Glenda Jackson, Jennie Linden. The novel by D.H. Lawrence is the inspiration for this movie, set in 1921, in which two men and two women fall in love. Their relationships go off in vastly different directions, one ending in marriage and the other in death. The British can be quite inscrutable, and I had rather a hard time figuring out what was going on in this movie. All the words were there, but they didn't quite fit together. Jackson won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance, but otherwise the film is undistinguished. It is, however, justly famous for a nude wrestling scene between Bates and Reed. (Subtitles in English are offered, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B 

Saturday, June 08, 2013

Repo Man

Repo Man (1984) starring Harry Dean Stanton, Emilio Estevez. Repo Man is a cult film, which by definition means it has a small, rabid following, while everyone else is indifferent to it. Put me in the "indifferent" group. While the movie has some interesting scenes, and the basic premise is kind of fun, it doesn't hang together very well, the script is weak, and most of the acting is so-so. This is a low-budget film, with only one  interesting special effect. The premise of the film: A man is driving a 1964 Chevy Malibu to Los Angeles from Area 51, and he has something in the trunk (supposedly four dead aliens) that is lethal to anyone who opens the trunk of the car. Bud (Stanton) and Otto (Estevez) play two repo men whose job it is to find the car and collect the $20,000 reward. The film has a punk sensibility that I found off-putting, and a lot of scenes that go nowhere. Like I said, it's a cult film. (Subtitles in English for the hearing-impaired are available, but closed captions are not.) Grade: C   

Friday, June 07, 2013

The Women

The Women (1939) starring Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Rosalind Russell, Mary Boland, Joan Fontaine, Paulette Goddard. An all-woman cast makes up this film, and not a single man appears on screen. But all the women talk and think about is the men in their lives. In particular, Norma Shearer stars as Mary Haines, wife of Stephen Haines (who never appears on screen). When she finds out he's been having an affair with a chippie (Crawford), she divorces him. Quaintly, all the women who get divorces have to travel to Reno to get them. There's even a good cat fight, although I can't tell you why they were fighting. This is, perhaps, the ultimate chick flick, and as such my enjoyment was minimal. Still, it was interesting to see all those old-time actresses together on screen. (The film has subtitles in English for the hearing-impaired, and is also close-captioned.) Grade: B  

Thursday, June 06, 2013

Woman of the Year

Woman of the Year (1942) starring Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn. First on-screen pairing of Tracy and Hepburn is a disappointment. Episodic plot wanders from one scene to another, not much happens. The pair play rival journalists who meet and fall in love, and soon get married. That's when the trouble starts. Her career gets in the way of the marriage, and she doesn't really know how to be a wife. Various complications ensue, but really the only reason to watch this is for the star power of the legendary duo. They would go on to make nine movies together, and have a storied relationship off-screen. But this film doesn't live up to the hype. (English subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available, and the movie is closed-captioned.) Grade: B- 

White Hunter, Black Heart

White Hunter, Black Heart (1990) starring Clint Eastwood, Jeff Fahey, George Dzundza. Directed by Clint Eastwood. Eastwood is always watchable, and here he portrays John Wilson, a thinly disguised version of John Huston, during the days leading up to the filming of The African Queen. It's based on a 1953 novel by Peter Viertel about his experiences during the making of Queen. The film's main thrust is to portray Huston, er, Wilson as a monomaniac who becomes obsessed with shooting an elephant while on location in Africa, to the detriment of the movie he is supposed to be shooting. It's fairly entertaining, but mostly just filled me with a desire to see The African Queen. (English subtitles are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B 

Tuesday, June 04, 2013

The Woman in the Window

The Woman in the Window (1944) starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Raymond Massey, Dan Duryea. Middle-aged psychology professor (Robinson) kills a man in self-defense, then tries to cover it up instead of calling in the authorities. One of his friends (Massey) is the prosecutor, and the bodyguard (Duryea) for the dead man tries to blackmail the professor. Tension-packed film concludes with surprise ending that totally changes things. Very enjoyable entertainment. (Subtitles in English are offered for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+

Monday, June 03, 2013

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) starring Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Andy Serkis. Directed by Peter Jackson. Frodo Baggins (Wood) continues his quest to destroy the evil One Ring, accompanied by Sam Gamgee (Astin) and Gollum (Serkis). Meanwhile, the forces of men, led by Aragorn (Mortensen) and Gandalf (McKellen), take on the armies of Sauron in battle after battle. It's hard to say enough about this movie, which is so beautifully rendered and faithfully adapted from the book by J.R.R. Tolkien. It won 11 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. It's long at three hours and twenty minutes -- something I usually object to strenuously -- but in this case I think every minute is justified. This movie has no boring stretches, and I would gladly sit through it at a theater if my bladder would hold out. (Subtitles in English are available on the disc for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions.) Grade: A   

Saturday, June 01, 2013

A Woman in Berlin

A Woman in Berlin (2008) starring Nina Hoss, Yevgeni Sidikhin. In May of 1945, near the end of World War II, the Russian army advances into Berlin. All the German women who remain in the city are subject to being raped, including the protagonist (Hoss). She realizes that the only way to survive is to find a Russian protector -- a lover of high rank who can prevent her being gang-raped. This movie is based on an anonymous diary published in 1959, purportedly  written by the  woman of the title. It was condemned at the time as an affront to German women, because so many of them had gone willingly with Russian soldiers. The film is rather depressing and not uplifting in its portrait of the human spirit. It's in German and Russian with English subtitles. Grade: B-