Change Your Image
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMzZiMWQ5MzYtNzY5NS00NjU0LTgwOTAtNzI2MDRhNThkNDI3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNDI1MDg4Njk@._V1_SY100_SX100_.jpg)
steiner-sam
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Lists
An error has ocurred. Please try again![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZDgzZDBmZTgtODVmNS00ZjcxLTgzYTUtYzU0ZWFmZGVlMzI1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTY5Nzc4MDY@._V1_SX86_CR0,0,86,86_.jpg)
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNGJhZmY4ODItNGVhOC00MDk3LTg3MmUtMjc5MDZlNWQ3Y2Y5XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyOTU3ODk4MQ@@._V1_SX86_CR0,0,86,86_.jpg)
Reviews
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973)
The 50th-anniversary version is still too cluttered
It's a Sam Peckinpah-style Western set in the Western United States in 1908 and 1881. The movie opens with Pat Garrett's (James Coburn) death in 1908 and then reverts to 1881 when he pursues Billy the Kid (Kris Kristofferson). Garrett catches the Kid, who is sentenced to death in April 1881. The bulk of the film covers the two months before Garrett catches up with him again in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.
"Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" has great style and a fascinating musical score by Bob Dylan, who also plays an enigmatic character known only as "Alias." The film includes many historical figures like James Bell (Matt Clark) and Bob Olinger (R. G. Armstrong) that make sense. Others are loosely defined and clutter and confuse the storyline. This clutter probably happened because Peckinpah gave small parts to many stalwarts in older Westerns like Jack Elam, Chill Wills, and Slim Pickens. Because this is a Peckinpah film, there is a significant amount of blood; his victims do not die bloodless. But he doesn't linger on the blood.
James Coburn does a good Pat Garrett; Kris Kristofferson is way too old for Billy the Kid, who was 21 when he died. I liked Dylan's music and learned this movie was the source of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door."
I watched the extended 50th-anniversary version on a Criterion Blu-ray, closer to Peckinpah's original vision and 11 minutes longer than the theater release.
Pickup on South Street (1953)
Has some really great noir scenes
It's a Cold War film noir drama set in the early 1950s in New York City. At the film's opening, we see an elaborate pickpocket scene on the subway where Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark), a three-time loser, lifts the wallet of Candy (Jean Peters), a streetwise, politically naive, woman who was trying to make a last delivery for her ex, Joey (Richard Kiley). This all happens under the eye of FBI agent Zara (Willis Bouchey), who knows she was actually carrying a microfilm of a secret chemical formula to a Communist cell leader for transport out of the country. However, Skip gets away before he can be apprehended.
McCoy soon learns the value of what he has accidentally stolen and wants to sell it to the Communists. Meanwhile, Agent Zara and Police Captain Tiger (Murvyn Vye) desperately try to track Skip down, as do Joey and Candy. Everyone turns to Moe (Thelma Ritter), a police informant who knows the New York petty criminal element well, for help locating McCoy.
Unlike truly classic noir, "Pickup on South Street" ends up mostly happy. But its excellent opening subway scene, a dumbwaiter sequence, and the fishing shack on the East River in which Skip lives are great noir images. The film has all the shadows you could want. Candy experiences more physical violence than modern movies would tolerate, but her spirit as the gutsy noir "broad" shines nonetheless.
In the modern political world, "Pickup on South Street" is very dated but a great historical piece.
Fly Me to the Moon (2024)
Has much potential but falls way short
It's a comedy-drama about the Apollo 11 space mission set in 1968 and 1969, primarily set at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It follows a fast-talking advertising executive, Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson), who is hired by Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson), a fixer in the Nixon White House, to help confirm funding for the Apollo space program and prepare a staged moon landing if necessary. Ruby Martin (Anna Garcia) is her assistant. Lance Vespertine (Jim Rash) is the foppish advertising director Kelly hires to stage the fake landing.
Cole Davis (Channing Tatum) is a Korean War hero and wanna-be astronaut who now heads the Apollo 11 launch program for NASA. He is no-nonsense and initially opposes Kelly's schemes. Cole's assistant is Henry Smalls (Ray Romano).
"Fly Me to the Moon" uses actual TV footage from earlier in the 1960s to introduce the space race between Russia and the United States and uses Walter Cronkite commentary numerous times to lend authenticity.
"Fly Me to the Moon" has much unrealized potential but falls way short. It can't decide if it's a comedy or a drama. It's at least 30 minutes too long. Johansson and Tatum have so little chemistry that it's hard to believe their relationship. There are funny pieces of dialogue throughout, but they're too far apart. Some subplots could easily have been dropped.
Touch (2024)
A fascinating cross-cultural love story brilliantly told.
It's a search-for-lost-love romantic drama set in 1969 London, England, and March 1980 in London and Japan, with a few scenes between those dates. Kristófer (Palmi Kormakur/Egill Ólafsson) is an elderly widower in Iceland facing increasingly fragile health just as the Covid outbreak is arriving in 2020. He leaves for London to search for a Japanese woman, Miko (Koki/Yoki Narahashi), whom he met in London in 1969 while dropping out of graduate school at the London School of Economics as a frustrated political radical.
We see Kristófer's 2020 search for Miko interspersed with scenes in 1969 when he worked initially as a dishwasher in a restaurant owned by Miko's widowed father, Takahashi-san (Masahiro Motoki). The film's 1969 scenes follow Kristófer's increasing fascination with Japanese culture, and more particularly with Miko. Their relationship grows until Takahashi-san and Miko suddenly disappear. By "Touch's" end, we learn the reasons for Miko's disappearance that stretch back to World War II.
I loved this movie, partly because I've always been a hopeless romantic. But "Touch" brings together so much from cross-cultural love, the struggle to understand never-before-seen illnesses, and the power of remembering first loves. "Touch" (a recurring visual theme between lovers) perhaps has a bit too neat an ending, but it was all very satisfying. I came close to giving it a 10.
The Caine Mutiny (1954)
A decent yarn, but with some script limitations
It's a World War II drama about cowardice and mental illness set from 1943 to 1945 in the Pacific part of the war. It follows the experiences of officers on a U. S. Navy minesweeper called the Caine during those years. It's told from the perspective of a young college-educated ensign, Willie Keith (Robert Francis). The first commander he encounters is William De Vriess (Tom Tully), who is quite relaxed in his leadership. We also meet highly skilled by-the-book Lt. Steve Maryk (Van Johnson) and intellectual fiction writer Lt. Tom Keefer (Fred MacMurray).
Suddenly De Vriess is replaced by Lt. Commander Philip Queeg (Humphrey Bogart), an intense, combative, detail-oriented tyrant who constantly berates his men and seems to seize up mentally at critical times. Queeg's officers and crew become more resentful, and during a typhoon, Lt. Maryk takes control of the Caine with the support of Ensign Keith. This action leads to a trial for mutiny against Maryk and Keith in which Lt. Commander Challee (E. G. Marshall) prosecutes and Lt. Barney Greenwald (José Ferrer) serves as defense counsel against his better judgment.
"The Caine Mutiny" is a good yarn, but our seeing Queeg's prior bizarre behavior makes some of the trial seem redundant. The sidebar about Keith's romance and challenges with his mother seems extraneous. The best twist at the end is the exposure of a second coward. Bogart, Johnson, and MacMurray are all effective in their characters. The court martial dialogue did not seem realistic to me, though Marshall and Ferrer gave it their best. Some of the typhoon scenes looked pretty faked, but that was the cinematic technology of the mid-1950s.
Obsession (1976)
Works well until the last 20 minutes
It's a psychological drama set in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Florence, Italy, in 1959 and 1975. It follows a tragedy in the life of New Orleans real estate developer Michael Courtland (Cliff Robertson). In 1959, Michael's young wife, Elizabeth (Geneviève Bujold), and daughter, Amy (Wanda Blackman), are kidnapped. Following police advice, he pays a ransom of fake money that is tracked by the police. However, something goes badly wrong, and the kidnappers, Elizabeth, and Amy are killed while the kidnappers are trying to escape.
Sixteen years later, Michael accompanies his partner, Robert LaSalle (John Lithgow), to Florence, Italy, where Michael had first met Elizabeth. Michael has felt guilt for all those years for his family's death. He is startled to see a young woman doing art restoration in the cathedral where he first met Elizabeth. Sandra Portinari (Geneviève Bujold) looks exactly like Elizabeth, and Michael becomes obsessed with her. Eventually, he persuades her to return to New Orleans and marry him. Just before their marriage, she, too, is kidnapped. We learn much about the characters in the last 20 minutes of "Obsession."
"Obsession's" plot, inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo," works well for the first three-fourths of the film. The plot for this part was creative and believable. Robertson, and especially Bujold, are excellent. John Lithgow's Southern accent is a bit much. No one else in the movie, including the police inspector (Stanley J. Reyes) and Michael's psychiatrist (Stocker Fontelieu), matters. Unfortunately, "Obsession's" climax and resolution are absurd; there should have been a much better script for the resolution.
Tuesday (2023)
Creative imagery, but it didn't connect to my reality
It's a fantasy film about Death, set in the modern age in a large American city. It has four main characters. Zora (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is a single, financially challenged mom dreading the impending Death of her teenage daughter, Tuesday (Lola Petticrew), from a debilitating terminal illness. Billie (Leah Harvey) is a nurse who cares for Tuesday when Zora presumably works. The fourth main character is Death (Arinzé Kene), who interacts with Zora and Tuesday throughout the movie.
The point of "Tuesday" seems to be coming to terms with Death and suggests there can be short-term negotiations with Death. I had a lot of problems with the film, having experienced the extended death of a loved one through cancer. There was virtually nothing to which I could relate in "Tuesday." There is a reality and finality about death that fantasy can't address.
In addition, Tuesday's character looked way too healthy for someone in the last stages of terminal illness. However, the film dressed her up with oxygen tanks and bed lifts, but at other times, it had her merrily operating her wheelchair with minimal effort. The interaction between Death, Tuesday, and her mother was interesting as creative imagery, but it didn't connect to my reality.
Call Northside 777 (1948)
Historically interesting until it inserts some darkroom shenanigans
It's a reporter-cracks-the-false-conviction drama set mainly in Chicago, Illinois, in 1932/33 and 1944 with some scenes in the Stateville Correctional Center. We see the murder of a Chicago policeman in a speakeasy in 1932, the subsequent arrest and conviction of Frank Wiecek (Richard Conte) and Tomek Zaleska (George Tyne) for the crime, and their sentencing to 99 years in prison.
Eleven years later, Wiecek's mother, Tillie (Kasia Orzazewski), offers a $5,000 reward for proof of the policeman's real killers. The ad says to call Northside 777 to contact Tillie. This ad catches the eye of Chicago Times city editor Brian Kelly (Lee J. Cobb), who assigns P. J. McNeal (James Stewart) to follow up on the story.
"Call Northside 777" follows McNeal's journey from skepticism about the story to belief in Wiecek's innocence, and in particular, his effort to uncover some shady police activity around a critical witness, Wanda Skutnik (Betty Garde). The script follows a docu-drama presentation that is quite historically interesting until it inserts some shenanigans about what can be accomplished in the photographic darkroom at the film's climax. The documentary style includes scenes in the Illinois State Prison and the functioning of a lie detector test in the late 1940s, shown by its co-inventor, Leonarde Keeler.
The film is based on Joseph Majczek's true story, though details are modified to enhance the story and include an uncommonly friendly prison warden (Richard Bishop).
The Player (1992)
An entertaining smirk at Hollywood
It's a satiric dark comedy about major Hollywood film studios set in the early 1990s in Hollywood, California. The story follows Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins), a vice president at a major studio. He's the gatekeeper for film scripts; he recommends up to 12 a year up the ladder to his boss, Joel Levison (Brion James), and rejects thousands more that cross his desk or get pitched by screenwriters. Griffin gets anonymous threatening notes from a screenwriter he had promised to call but didn't. Concerned, Griffin finally decides that the irate writer is David Kahane (Vincent D'Onofrio), and he tries to confront him one evening. Kahane's girlfriend, June Gudmundsdottir (Greta Scacchi), tells him on the phone that David went to a movie. Griffin goes to the theater and confronts him. Their argument extends outside, and David is dead when it's all over.
The rest of the movie follows Griffin's efforts to avoid being charged by Detectives Avery (Whoopi Goldberg) and DeLongpre (Lyle Lovett), deflect insinuations by studio security chief Walter Stuckel (Fred Ward), nurture a budding relationship with June, and deal with the threat of a new studio vice president, Larry Levy (Peter Gallagher). A secondary story is a movie called "Habeas Corpus" that Griffin uses to manipulate those around him.
"The Player" is clever and cynical. A couple dozen Hollywood stars do cameos as guests at an award dinner or actors in the fictional movie. Tim Robbins and Greta Scacchi work well together, but it's not historic chemistry. There are so many bit players it's hard to keep track of everyone. The ending is inspired. All in all, it's an entertaining smirk at Hollywood.
Pale Rider (1985)
A conventional Western with a veneer of apocalyptic vengeance
It's a Western with a veneer of apocalyptic vengeance set in fictional LaHood, California, probably in the 1860s. It features a small colony of gold miners led by Hull Barret (Michael Moriarty) and Spider Conway (Doug McGrath). Hull hopes to marry Sarah Wheeler (Carrie Snodgress), who has a precocious 14-year-old daughter, Megan (Sydney Penny). Sarah was abandoned by her first husband.
The mining colony is opposed by a large mining operation that opened the area 10 or 15 years earlier. Coy LaHood (Richard Dysart) and his son, Josh (Chris Penn), who head the operation, want to drive out the small colony and take over their claims.
Suddenly, in rides a tall stranger who comes to their aid in several conflicts, without any deaths. The Preacher (Clint Eastwood) wears a clerical collar, though his religious language is limited. His arrival coincides with Sarah's and Megan's reading of the Book of Revelation in the Bible which refers to a pale horse ridden by Death. The Preacher rides a pale horse.
As the conflict escalates, Coy LaHood bring in Marshal Stockburn (John Russell), who the Preacher seems to know. The movie's climax features a kind of apocalyptic vengeance, though some obvious questions are unanswered.
"Pale Rider" is a conventional Western with obvious villains and set upon heroes. There is a satisfying resolution of the plot. Clint Eastwood plays Clint Eastwood--few words and loud actions. Women are visual-dressing in his movies. The scenery is great, and many scenes could be cut and pasted from other Westerns. Was he real? Was he something else? The religious veneer is cute but without any significance. I can't understand by Roger Ebert gave it four stars out of four.
The Goodbye Girl (1977)
A tad predictable but satisfying for all romantics
It's a Neil Simon romantic comedy set in New York City in the 1970s. Paula McFadden (Marsha Mason) and her 10-year-old daughter, Lucy (Quinn Cummings), live in an Upper East Side apartment with a scoundrel actor who suddenly departs and sublets the apartment. Paula is a Broadway dancer who hasn't worked for a couple of years and now faces financial calamity. Elliot Garfield (Richard Dreyfuss) is the actor looking for his first break in an off-Broadway play and has taken over the lease. He shows up in the middle of the night and encounters a resistant Paula. They finally agree to share the apartment.
The movie follows their predictable relationship path, leavened by the very precocious Lucy. Additional humor extends from Elliot's role as Richard III since the play's director, Mark Bodine (Paul Benedict), wants Richard played as a blatant homosexual. The 2024 viewer might find this aspect less startling than in 1977.
"The Goodbye Girl" is genuinely funny, with Neil Simon's snappy dialogue and edgy but likable characters. Mason, Cummings, and Dreyfuss work very well together. The plot is a tad predictable but satisfying for all romantics watching the film.
Touch of Evil (1958)
Brilliant cinematography and direction, with uneven dialogue
It's a film noir drama set in the 1950s on the border between Mexico and Texas. As the film opens, a mysterious man places a bomb in a convertible that a man and a young woman soon drive away. A couple walking across the border from Mexico to Texas constantly intersects with the car. They are Miguel Vargas (Charlton Heston) and his new American wife, Susie (Janet Leigh). Vargas is a high-ranking Mexican prosecutor about to go to trial against members of the Grandi drug gang. Vargas witnesses the car's explosion and becomes involved in the investigation, even though it's on U. S. territory.
An obese racist police captain, Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles), and his partner, Pete Menzies (Joseph Calleia), lead the investigation. Meanwhile, members of the Grandi family living in Texas try to undermine Vargas by compromising his wife. These thugs include Uncle Joe Grandi (Akim Tamiroff) and Risto (Lalo Rios). The complex plot follows both threads as Vargas comes to suspect Quinlan is corrupt, and Joe Grandi puts Susie in danger.
"Touch of Evil" shows off some brilliant cinematography and noir direction, especially in the opening scene as we wait for the bomb to explode. Welles' unique camera angles and use of shadows are brilliant. There are clever cameos by Marlene Dietrich, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Dennis Weaver. For me, the biggest concern was the script's dialogue. The unfortunately-named Susie has no consistent voice, and Charlton Heston has some stiff lines that don't fit. Orson Welles steals the show, as would be expected. I would have hoped for a better textual quality in a noir film by 1958.
The Lady Vanishes (1938)
A fun early Alfred Hitchcock political film
It's a comedy-drama set in 1938 in Bandrika, a fictional pre-war Eastern European country with mountains. It follows a group of English citizens preparing to return to England after a vacation or extended time in Bandrika. They are stranded in a local hotel for a night because an avalanche has covered the train. They include Iris Henderson (Margaret Lockwood), a wealthy young woman heading back to marry a businessman she doesn't love. Gilbert (Michael Redgrave) is an ethnomusicologist who is learning local folk dances. Miss Froy (May Whitty) is an older woman who says she's been a governess in Bandrika for the past six years. Caldicott (Nauton Wayne) and Charters (Basil Radford), who provide comic relief), are two blow-hard Brits in a hurry to return to England to see a cricket match. Mr. Todhunter (Cecil Parker) is an older lawyer dallying with his mistress (Linden Travers), to whom he has falsely suggested marriage after their mutual divorces.
They all get on the train, where we also meet Dr. Hartz (Paul Lukas), a famous brain surgeon, and two Italian passengers, Signor and Signora Doppo (Philip Leaver and Selma Vaz Dias). Iris and Miss Froy are traveling together, but suddenly Miss Froy disappears.
The rest of the movie follows Iris's efforts to find Miss Froy, with obstructions to her search thrown up by almost everyone until Gilbert finally has cause to believe her. Iris happily ends up back in London.
"The Lady Vanishes" is a fun early Alfred Hitchcock film. As a pre-war British film, it mocks British efforts to stay on the political fence and departs from the novel on which it is based to achieve this. It does not end well for the one "pacifist" in the film. There is more physical humor and less real drama than in later Hitchcock films, but some of his techniques, like the use of shadows, are visible.
Thelma (2024)
A lot of fun, with many scenes we oldster can recognize
It's a comedy about old seniors and their families set over several days in modern times in the Van Nuys area of Los Angeles, California. Grandma Thelma (June Squibb) is 93, lives alone in her home, and has been widowed for two years. Her grandson, Danny (Fred Hechinger), is a 24-year-old who remains unfocused in life but dearly loves Thelma. He drives her when required and serves as her tech support with computers. Thelma's daughter, Gail (Parker Posey), and son-in-law, Alan (Clark Gregg) are overly fussy parents.
The story revolves around Thelma being caught in the grandparent-fake grandchild scam and sending $10,000 to a local scammer (Malcolm McDowell). When Thelma decides to recover her money, she seeks the help of an old friend, Ben (Richard Roundtree), and his two-seat scooter. The story displays Thelma's independent streak and many of the foibles of old age while resolving the scam storyline.
"Thelma" is a lot of fun, with many scenes that folks over 75 can recognize, but the elderly are not mocked. The plot is an unrealistic set-up since most scams of this type would be conveniently local. Thus, it's all built on a shaky premise. The humor is gentle, if exaggerated, and the relationship chemistry between Squibb and Hechinger is outstanding. Posey's and Gregg's characters are not as well developed.
Cast Away (2000)
Hanks is spectacular as Chuck while on the island
It's a disaster-survival drama set in 1995 and 1999 in Texas, New York, Memphis, Moscow, and a fictional island 600 miles south of the Cook Islands in the Pacific. Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) is a FedEx troubleshooter who travels the world to solve crises. After a couple of movie setups, we first see him in action in Moscow during the Christmas season, unscrambling logistical issues. Chuck's live-in girlfriend, Kelly (Helen Hunt), is a PhD student frustrated by Chuck's job demands. He promises to return from a sudden Malaysia trip for New Year's Day and her imminent PhD defense.
His plane loses radio contact and goes down off course in a storm. Chuck is the only survivor on a small, uninhabited island. The story follows his learning to survive, finding a friend in a soccer ball and solace in an old watch and an unopened FedEx package.
The cinematography of the plane crash is spectacular and outstanding. At the film's beginning, Hanks is a stereotyped alpha male, but he is spectacular as Chuck while on the island. The crash and life on the island are worth the price of admission. The ending is schlocky Hollywood fare, and the storyline around the unopened package doesn't make sense to me.
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (2024)
Too soon to tell if this four-part movie series succeeds
It's the first part of a four-part epic Western, beginning in 1859 in the San Pedro Valley, Arizona, and exploring Montana, Wyoming, and Kansas. It follows folks living in or aspiring to live in the fictional settlement of Horizon on the San Pedro River. The settlement is located at an Apache People river crossing, which creates major issues between the settlers and the Apache.
As Chapter 1, the movie sets up numerous parallel stories with no resolution by the end of this segment. Primary characters include Frances Kittredge (Sienna Miller) and her young teenage daughter, Elizabeth (Georgia MacPhail), and Union Calvary officer Trent Gephardt (Sam Worthington), who helps rescue them after an Apache raid. Another storyline follows the disagreement over how best to deal with the "white-eyes" within the Apache community (Owen Crow Shoe, Tatanka Means). A third storyline involves seasoned miner Hayes Ellison (Kevin Costner), who gets mixed up with a young sex worker, Marigold (Abbey Lee), who is being pursued by James Sykes (Charles Halford) and his sons. Finally, a wagon train heads for Horion, led by Matthew Van Weyden (Luke Wilson), contains myriad characters.
I like two kinds of Westerns- those that contain unmistakable good guys and bad guys who do not involve Native Americans and more extensive efforts that try to provide a nuanced story for both settlers and Native Americans. "Horizon" is obviously in the latter class, but it's too soon to tell if it succeeds. The storylines are intriguing enough that I will want to see Chapter 2 in August. Some of the storylines are hackneyed, but there is also some good potential, e.g., Chinese immigrants and the role of some African American characters. Some scenery is spectacular, and I didn't find the plodding pace off-putting.
Don't Look Now (1973)
Not a classic horror movie, but brilliantly done
It's a quasi-horror drama about grief set in the early 1970s in rural England and Venice, Italy. John Baxter (Donald Sutherland) is a wealthy architect specializing in restoring historic churches. He and his wife, Laura (Julie Christie), have two children, Christine (Sharon Williams) and Johnny (Nicholas Salter). At the film's beginning, we see Christine's death by drowning despite John's frantic efforts to save her.
The film then shifts to Venice, where John and Laura travel for his work with Bishop Barbarrigo (Massimo Serato). The off-kilter sense of unease in John Baxter's rational world increases after they meet two older sisters who are vacationing in Venice. Wendy (Clelia Matania) assists her blind sister, Heather (Hilary Mason), who appears to have psychic powers, and tells the Baxters that she has envisioned a happy Christine.
"Don't Look Now" unfolds an increasingly uneasy story as the sisters warn the Baxters to leave Venice. Rational John resists despite the presence of a serial killer in Venice and his recurring visions of Christine in her shiny red coat. Laura briefly returns to England when Johnny has an accident, even as John's world becomes more sinister.
"Don't Look Now" isn't a classic horror movie (at least in my perception as someone who doesn't watch horror movies). Still, it has a compelling sense of unease throughout the story until a climactic ending that makes no sense in a typical drama but seals its status as a horror movie. The film's editing is fantastic, and the Venice backdrop is stunning. Sutherland and Christie brilliantly portray the movie's well-known love scene with the help of clever editing. Matania and Mason are effective as the two sisters.
Eye of the Needle (1981)
A decent Ken Follett yarn put to film
It's a World War II spy drama set in 1940 and 1944 in London, England, Berlin, Germany, and a fictional Storm Island in Scotland. It follows a German spy operating under the name of Henry Faber (Donald Sutherland). We meet him in 1940 when he's friends with a young man, Billy Parkin (Philip Martin Brown), who wants to enlist but is too young. We also see his skill with the stiletto knife that gives him the codename "Needle." We also meet a young couple on the day of their marriage. David Rose (Christopher Cazenove) marries Lucy (Kate Nelligan), but on the way to their one-night honeymoon, they are in a grave accident in which David loses the use of his legs.
The story shifts to 1944. Faber learns about some misdirection planned by the British concerning D-Day and is determined to alert German Intelligence. Inspector Godliman (Ian Bannen) tries to track him down before Faber is taken by a submarine to report directly to Hitler. Godliman is helped by Billy Parkin, who can identify Faber. David and Lucy now live as sheep farmers on isolated Storm Island, where a storm takes Faber in a boat he has stolen to meet the submarine he's trying to meet.
The movie's last half follows Faber's interaction with the Rose family, especially Lucy, as she learns Faber's true nature.
"Eye of the Needle" is a decent Ken Follett yarn put to film, though the quality of the original is no match for John le Carré. This more formulaic story means too many magical escapes and inadequate character development. Donald Sutherland emotes polished, cold-blooded evil until he meets Lucy. Kate Nelligan is an unhappy wife who falls a little too quickly for the wet stranger. It's OK, but it gives Sutherland's character too narrow of a range.
Opening Night (1977)
A mixture of brilliant scenes and scenes that make little sense
It's a middle-aged alcoholic actor's breakdown drama within a drama in the 1970s in New Haven, Connecticut, and New York City. "Opening Night" follows the preparation of "The Second Woman," a play previewing in Connecticut before heading for opening night on Broadway. The play's lead is Myrtle Gordon (Gena Rowlands), a famous but aging actor. The fictional play is produced by David Samuels (Paul Stewart), written by Sarah Goode (Joan Blondell), and directed by Manny Victor (Ben Gazzara). The male leads in the play are Maurice Aarons (John Cassavetes) and Gus Simmons (John Tuell).
Myrtle's emotional instability is evident from the start. It is exacerbated by the accidental death of Nancy Stein (Laura Johnson), a teenage fan, whose death Myrtle sees after an early preview. "Opening Night" follows Myrtle's accelerating emotional decay and alcohol abuse due partly to her demons related to Nancy's death. The movie climaxes with opening night on Broadway.
"Opening Night" is standard John Cassavetes fare. There are hand-held close-ups, unusual angles, and sometimes choppy dialogue that reflects its improvisation. His style makes for a mixture of brilliant scenes and scenes that make little sense. Gena Rowlands does another great job of playing a woman experiencing a psychological breakdown. Joan Blondell is excellent as the older playwright, as is John Cassavetes as the fictional play's co-lead. The play within the movie provides very engaging perspectives but extends the film a bit too much. The ending is too neat.
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
Even the shorter version doesn't feel finished
It's a neo-noir gangster movie set in Los Angeles, California, over several days in the 1970s. It follows the owner of a strip club, Cosmo Vittelli (Ben Gazzara), who has a gambling problem and, after seven years, has finally paid off a loan shark, Marty Reitz (Al Ruban). We see Cosmo functioning in his seedy club, especially with some of his strippers, especially his girlfriend, Rachel (Azizi Johari). Celebrating that night, Cosmo again goes into debt to Marty for $23,000.
The rest of the film follows the Mob's efforts to get Cosmo to a hit job to pay off a portion of his debt. He interacts with mobsters like Mort (Seymour Cassel) and Flo (Timothy Carey). Cosmo initially resists their demand but then follows through. When it's over, he learns the nature of the hit differs from his assumptions. The movie's end is inconclusive.
The 1978 version of "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" is almost 30 minutes shorter than the original 1976 version. I watched the shorter version. It still doesn't work.
There is some excellent cinematography of darkness, close-ups, and chaos. But the dialogue is choppy, and if some was improvised, it didn't work well. Extraneous scenes presumably meant to underscore real-life experiences get dropped in occasionally with little sense. Ben Gazzara is fine, but almost everyone else is forgettable. "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" is a potentially interesting story that was never really finished.
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
A grinding and emotional, but excellent, movie
It's a drama about the borderlines of sanity set in Los Angeles, California, over four days in the early 1970s, with a six-month gap between the third and fourth days. Nick Longhetti (Peter Falk) is a blue-collar construction foreman married to Mabel (Gena Rowlands). They have three children: Tony (Matthew Cassel, Angelo (Matthew Laborteaux), and Maria (Christina Grisanti). Nick's mother, Margaret (Katherine Cassavetes), is also prominent, as are Mabel's parents, George (Fred Draper) and Martha (Lady Rowlands). Dr. Zepp (Eddie Shaw), the family's physician and a relative, also plays a significant role.
Mabel is eccentric from the get-go. Nick has learned to live with her eccentricities but is bothered when others see them. His mother is much less understanding and judgmental. When Mabel's eccentric behavior becomes more concerning, Nick doesn't know how to cope and, after a crisis, commits Mabel to an institution. We see Nick's horrible planning for a big party when Mabel returns home and the fallout as her return threatens to fall apart.
"A Woman Under the Influence" is a grinding emotional movie. Neither Mabel nor Nick know how to cope with what has happened to them, and Margaret is no help. Nick's guilty feelings about his sometimes insensitive actions towards Mabel explode in their own destructive ways. Gena Rowland and Peter Falk are both fantastic in their characters. Rowland's portrayal of manic and compulsive behavior at several points is unforgettable, especially on her return home. Nick's mother's character seemed more forced and less natural, and Dr. Zepp was a bit too oily. But this movie deserves a second look when you've recovered from the first look.
A Patch of Blue (1965)
Hasn't aged well, but is emotionally powerful
It's a racial relations drama set in a city in Northern United States in the mid-1960s. We meet Selina D'Arcey (Debi Storm/Elizabeth Hartman), a blind 18-year-old girl living in poor circumstances with her mother, Rose-Ann (Shelley Winters), and grandfather, Ole Pa (Wallace Ford). Rose-Ann is a sex worker in a hotel, and Ole Pa usually comes home drunk at the end of the day. Selina strings beads for necklaces for Mr. Faber (John Qualen) and otherwise does all the housework and cooking. Rose-Anne is particularly abusive to Selina.
One day, Mr. Faber takes Selina to a nearby park, which she finds liberating. She talks Ole Pa into doing the same. She meets a cultured, well-educated African American man, Gordon Ralfe (Sidney Poitier), who has a decent job and lives in an apartment with his younger brother, Mark (Ivan Dixon), a medical student in a nearby hospital.
"A Patch of Blue" unfolds the development of the relationship between Gordon and Selina as they meet regularly in the park. We learn how Selina came to be blind and the various deprivations she has experienced. The film climaxes when Gordon works to place Selina in a school for the blind even while Rose-Ann discovers Selina's relationship with an African American man.
"A Patch of Blue" is highly manipulative with a significant level of unreality. Rose-Ann and Ole Pa portray strong personalities. But Selina is sugary-sweet despite her circumstances, and Gordon is a saint. The problem is the script, which probably had to be that way because it was 1965 and exploring a relationship between a young white woman and an older African American man. I really wish Hartman and Poitier had been allowed more of an edge in their roles. In that sense, "A Patch of Blue" has not aged well.
However, Elizabeth Hartman was three years older than me and went to a high school ten miles from where I grew up. She had a lot of tragedy in her life (she died of depression and suicide), which is almost mirrored in this movie. Despite its limitations, "A Patch of Blue" really got to me emotionally.
Wildcat (2023)
Hawke's cinematic balance between O'Connor's life and her story characters is remarkable
It's a partial biopic of Flannery O'Connor (Maya Hawke), the American novelist and short-story writer between 1948 and about 1953. It's set in New York City, Iowa City, Iowa, and Milledgeville, Georgia. It portrays O'Connor as an obsessive, eccentric writer who is socially inept and profoundly affected by her Roman Catholic faith. Her stories reflect her personality with characters near the psychological edges or with marked handicaps.
"Wildcat" presents biographical scenes with her mother, Regina (Laura Linney) and aunt (Christine Dye), her writing mentor, Robert Lowell (Philip Ettinger), and her priest (Liam Neeson). Frequently interspersed are short fantastical scenes from her short stories in which Flannery and her mother have significant roles embedded in the story's characters. We meet many quirky characters in these scenes. The film ends as Flannery leans into her hereditary illness and embraces her writing.
"Wildcat" includes no great action scenes but does a marvelous job of uncovering O'Connor's struggle to reconcile her writing with her life in rural Georgia, living with people who don't understand her art. Her struggle with her Christian faith is also well portrayed. Ethan Hawke's cinematic balance between O'Connor's life and her story characters is remarkable.
Faces (1968)
Reminds me of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf"
It's a marriage-disintegration drama in a North American city in about 1967 over 24 hours. It follows Richard Forst (John Marley), a middle-aged businessman, and his stay-at-home wife, Maria (Lynn Carlin). They are unhappy, and Richard is sexually frustrated.
The film sees Richard in his business setting, followed by drinks with Freddie (Fred Draper) in a local bar. They meet some girls, one of whom, Jeannie Rapp (Gena Rowlands), follows back to her room. When he gets home, a long interaction with Maria ends in conflict, and Richard departs to see Jeannie again. Meanwhile, Maria goes to a nightclub with her bridge friends where they meet Chet (Seymour Cassel). Everyone ends up back at Maria's house.
"Faces" reminds me of the 1966 film, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. In both, an incredible amount of alcohol is consumed, and the films are very dialogue-heavy. "Faces" is also black-and-white with a very contrasty appearance, and John Cassavetes extensively uses in-your-face closeups and cinéma vérité film technique. None of the characters in "Faces" are likable, but their intensity is gripping. The sexism of the 1960s is on full display. Marley, Rowlands, and Carlin give potent performances. However, there was no character I could identify with, and that always loses a point in my ratings.
Shadows (1958)
Fresh but choppy; French filmmakers of the era had better output
It's an early improvisational drama about race relations set in 1957 in New York City, with a few scenes in Philadelphia.
It follows three African American siblings who live together in Greenwich Village. The oldest is Hugh (Hugh Hurd), a jazz singer. Hugh's manager is Rupert (Rupert Crosse). Hugh has a darker skin color than his siblings, who could possibly pass. Ben (Ben Carruthers), the middle sibling, is an aspiring jazz trumpet player who hangs out with Dennis (Dennis Sallas) and Tom (Tom Allen) in restaurants and bars. Lelia (Lelia Goldoni) is an inexperienced 20-year-old dating David (David Politillow), an overbearing literary snob. When she tires of David, she engages with Tony (Anthony Ray), a white man, and Davey (David Jones), a hip Black man.
The film follows an improvisation generated by John Cassevetes' acting class in 1957, with some additional scenes shot in 1958. The class was mixed-race, so the improvisation explores race relations in late-1950s New York in a jazz environment and the relationship between the siblings. There is no plot; it follows the characters over a couple of weeks.
"Shadows" is primitive in its technology. The improvisational nature of the script makes the story fresh but choppy. The editing is rough because of the quality of the film source. The music by Charles Mingus and Shafi Hadi adds depth to the finished product. "Shadows" is interesting as an early American independent film, but it doesn't match the output of some of the French filmmakers of the same era.