"My favourite film"

njpickles asked recently what's my favourite movie and this is not an easy question to answer.  If you go to AOL Hometown you will find this journal under that category, but only because there was no more appropriate category for film reviews in general.  And if anything, I am a generalist; I love so many films in so many different genres -- the exception is war movies.  Too many of them are about a loveable bunch of guys being picked off one by one. Come to think of it, you could also describe modern horror movies which I do like in the same way; maybe the difference is that the characters are not necessarily likeable -- and I can bring a sense of distance to horror films which I can't to war films.

However if you were to ask me today to name my top five or ten films you probably would not receive the same answer if you were to ask tomorrow or next week.  In general I prefer movies that stir something in me, which is why I am a sucker for the films of John Ford -- he can make strong men cry.  In pictures like "The Man who Shot Liberty Valance" and "How Green was my Valley", I am usually in tears before the first reel has finished.  Then there are those films that I can watch over and over again, seeing something new each time; Robert Altman's "Nashville" is the prime example here.  And finally there are those movies that just make me happy to be alive, like "It's a Wonderful Life" (but everyone loves this film I think).  Next time someone asks there is bound to be a different selection, but that's what makes my pasttime so satisfying.

Born to Fight (2004)

I'm not sure what this Thai martial arts film was doing in a festival of fantasy and horror, but very enjoyable it was too.  I've not yet seen "Ong Bak" which is meant to be in the same genre and something of a treat insofar as there is no reliance on wire work or CGI -- just real athleticism.  This film is by the same director and stars the second lead of the earlier film (one Choupong Changprung -- so I can't say remember his name) as an undercover cop who has just lost his partner while capturing a mean drug lord.  He travels with a group of athletes to a border village where they are attacked by terrorists looking to free the baddie.  After that it is free-for-all mayhem, both bloody and spectacular.

There was a second Thai film shown called "P" (2005), directed by a westerner but otherwise thoroughly foreign.  This was about a poor village girl who goes to the big city and becomes a "hostess" to earn money to send home.  Because she is versed in magic, she begins to misuse her powers and a dark, evil second self emerges.  I somehow doubt that this will ever make it to British screens, but who knows.

Land of the Dead (2005)

It's been 20 years since the third part of George A. Romero's zombie trilogy in which he wrote all the rules of the modern zombie flick (for which he has a lot to answer!) And ever since "Day of the Dead" appeared, people have been asking when they could see part four.  Well here it is and I don't know that it was worth the wait, but you can judge for yourselves when it opens here on 23 September.  The walking dead are learning how to survive and the non-dead face a constant battle to avoid their ranks.  Interestingly the head zombie is played by a black actor, since Romero has always had at least one black lead in this series.

FrightFest did offer viewings of the first three movies before premiering this one, but I have seen them all sufficiently recently to forgo the pleasure.  And I'm beginning to think that I really don't care if I never see another, although "Sean of the Dead" was in fact quite amusing.  I only hope people stop pestering Romero for another sequel. He was on stage at this screening and said that fans often ask about a prequel; his clever reply was that any prequel could only depict life as normal, i.e. before his first lot rose from the dead back in 1968. 

Night Watch (2004)

I thought I'd make this one of the first FrightFest reviews since it will be released in the UK in October.  It is apparently the highest-grossing Russian film ever and is intended as part one of a trilogy.  Part two is called "Day Watch" and has just finished shooting in Russia, and part three will be called "Dusk Watch" and be set in the States. The gist of the story is that an uneasy truce exists between the forces of light and darkness and chosen "good" men form the night watch to curb any excesses of the creatures of the night.  However the Great Other is coming and threatens to tip the balance between the two worlds.  I know this sounds like a load of gobbledygook, but it was all done with great visual flair and certainly makes me want to see the continuation of this saga. Mind you, I think I need to watch this a second time just to keep my own mind straight as to what was actually going on.   

Frightfest 2005

As I posted on the Boards, there have been no reviews for the last few days as I have been attending much of the above festival of horror and fantasy films.  This is the sixth year it has been held over the August bank holiday weekend (before that it was a July week-end strand at the National Film Theatre).  I have been to them all and have over the years seen some very memorable pictures, some of which have had a release here, some of which have gone straight to DVD and a few of which have fallen under the floorboards. The festival was previously held at the Prince Charles Cinema but moved this year to the Odeon West End in Leicester Square which has a much larger auditorium.  And it was full!!! -- mainly with youngish men of between 20 and 30 with the occasional fuchsia-haired girl-friend.  Goodness know what they made of an old biddy like me and my equally wrinkly partner.

Over the four days one could have viewed 23 features plus various shorts and  trailers. I did not choose to see everything since I do like eating, sleeping and seeing daylight occasionally.  Over the next few days I hope to review some of the highlights to whet your appetites.  Three of the films I will not be reviewing fall into my category of Amateur Night at the Oasis.  These films were "Dead Meat" (2005) which was billed as the first Irish zombie thriller (and the last I hope), "The Roost" (2005) an American debut effort with vampire bats (which also seemed to turn their victims to zombies), and "The Collingswood Story" (2002) which had a clever framing device of all of the characters speaking through webcams.  Where they all fell down in my estimation is that at some stage they  featured a totally black screen for long periods with only sound effects.  This is inexcusable enough when watching a movie on TV but a mark of sheer amateurism on the big screen.

Take My Eyes (2003)

Like many of the films by Ken Loach, this Spanish movie is mainly "worthy" (there's that dreaded word again) insofar as it focuses on a social problem  -- the problem here is domestic abuse.  I'm sure there are as many battered wives in Spain as anywhere else, but I am not certain why a foreign audience would wish to view this film, however well-made it may be.  The picture opens with the heroine and her son having left the husband/father whom they still love because of his past behaviour.  He is in fact seeing a psychologist to try to control his irrational outbursts and manages to convince them to return home. Naturally the cruelty continues despite the husband's probably really loving his wife, until finally she leaves again with the promise of a new career as a museum docent.

The title does not refer to any physical harm to the wife but to the fact that she has pledged all parts of her body to her husband in the throes of lovemaking.  By the end of the film she has reclaimed her eyes and sees that the only future for her and her son is one apart.  Like I said above, all very worthy but not exactly entertaining.

Raising Victor Vargas (2002)

Yet another movie that the critics loved, presumably because it portrays a latino slice of life in Brooklyn, played by an amateur cast.  So far, so good if anyone is really interested in getting an in-depth insight into the life of three teenagers being raised by their somewhat uptight grandmother.  We have the eldest boy looking for love (or sex) with a neighbourhood hottie, his more than plump sister who also finds a potential romance, and his younger brother who doesn't know where to begin, so starts with self-relief.  The cast were all OK but I felt like a fly on the wall more often than a truly interested viewer. 

Kojak (2005)

Nowadays one has become used to 1960's and 1970's television series being reinvented for the big screen (often disastrously), but it is somewhat less usual for them to be re-made for the small screen.  This television pilot changes a white bald detective of Greek descent to a black bald detective -- Telly Savalas has become Ving Rhames (in case anyone is wondering, Ving is short for Irving).  All of the other characteristics are there including the sharp dressing, the caring persona and the lollipops.  As a pilot the storyline was not uninteresting as Kojak investigated a string of prostitute murders and then needed to solve the one case that differed from the others.  Rhames has a certain gravitas and watchability, but this did not stop my thinking that the world does not really need a new series of Kojak.  

Undercurrent (1946)

This film doesn't have too much going for it on paper with a director better-known for musicals (Vincent Minelli), an aging leading man, Robert Taylor, playing against type as a villain, Katharine Hepburn trying to act the hysterical female, and finally Robert Mitchum in a minor role as her potential love-interest (when he was a good ten years younger than she).  The fact that it works at all is down to the standard of the acting and the production values for which MGM was famous.

Even in his pre-World War II roles I never fancied Taylor who might have been "pretty" but who always struck me as a light-weight actor.  Now if we are talking about the young Tyrone Power in the same period....

The World According to Garp (1982)

The novel on which this film was based was the first John Irving book I ever read and I enjoyed it enormously. (It was also the last of his I ever managed to finish despite really trying.)  The film-makers here obviously liked the novel as well, since they have attempted to include absolutely everything into their screenplay, with the result that the movie is far too long; it starts off brilliantly but then sags in the second half and only just about picks up by the end.

The casting however is most interesting.  Playing Garp from about age 17 to age 30-plus is the 31-year old Robin Williams in his non-obnoxious mode before he started trying too hard, and he nearly looks young enough.  Playing his mother in her feature film debut, we have Glenn Close who was all of four years older.  Then we have John Lithgow as a trans-sexual ex-footballer.  If only the director had curbed his I-must-include-it-all instincts, this movie would have been a real winner.

The Missing (2003)

The more of director Ron Howard's films I view, the more I am convinced that he is little more than a competent journeyman.  His films are made well enough and have fine production values, but he wears me into oblivion with his somber pretentions.  This film starring the able, but I think slightly over-rated, Cate Blanchett as a frontierswoman raising her two daughters without any real male support finds her needing the assistance of her estranged father, Tommy Lee Jones (who went off to live with the Apaches for not very well explained reasons), when one of her daughters is kidnapped by the indians. Jones has acquired some gravitas over the years and is quite watchable, but the chase and rescue and final redemption seem to take forever.  And while it is very sweet of the director to always find a small part for his brother Clint in his movies, I wonder whether he realises that the poor bloke can't act a damn.

 

Movie Crazy (1932)

The documentarians consider Harold Lloyd "the third genius" of silent comedy, but for my money you can keep Chaplin -- Lloyd is right up there with Keaton.  This talkie is one of his late pictures and probably the last one on a par with his greatest silents (although I have a very soft spot for his last film "The Sin of Harold Diddlebock" which wasn't released until 1947).  In this film he goes to Hollywood where he expects to be greeted as a great potential star; naturally he has no acting talent and creates chaos whenever he appears on set.  The backstage business of the early studio days is in itself fascinating, but coupled with several brilliant set pieces (including one where Lloyd mistakenly dons a magician's jacket loaded with props) makes this film a winner.  Thinking about it, the title would also be suitable for this blog!

A Better Tomorrow II (1986)

This was director John Woo's follow-up to his hit movie of the previous year which ricocheted Chow Yun Fat to stardom; for a while he was just about the coolest actor in the world and even now he takes some beating.  The only trouble is that his character died in the first film, so he is resurrected here as his twin.  Like so many Hong Kong movies the revenge plot is somewhat convoluted and one can not always follow the logic; however the bullet ballet and the bloodbath that ensue are pure Woo and a terrific rollercoaster ride while the action lasts. 

The Cat in the Hat (2003)

I don't like to think of Dr. Seuss spinning in his grave, but he would be if presented with this abortion (that's the word that comes to mind).  The makers have taken a classic childrens' story and set it in a pastel world full of crudities and fart jokes.  All of the adults involved starting with Mike Myers and Kelly Preston should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves and stand in the corner; and as for Alec Baldwin, words fail me.  Who would believe that an able actor would so demean himself.

The two children are just about OK and I'll tell you a scary story.  I heard recently that the most successful actress in films today (based on the grosses) is Dakota Fanning, the little girl here.  I suppose the nearly 100 million dollars this movie took in the US alone contributed to this statistic. Now that IS scary.

Everybody's Fine(1990)

There was always something to like about the great Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni, whatever role he assumed, as he always brought great humanity and depth to his character.  Here he is a old widower who regrets that his children never visit and never come together, so he leaves his home in Sicily to visit (unannounced) the five cities on the mainland where his grown children now live to try to understand their achievements and their ways of life.  Like other films in this genre (think back to "Tokyo Story"), his children are wrapped up in their own problems and would rather lie to him than to admit any failure.  He still visualizes them as the youngsters they were and has a recurrent nightmare of a black cloud carrying them away; in fact they have gone away from him.  He can never really accept this and visits his wife's grave on his return home to tell her about his adventures and about how well his family is doing.  The film was charming because of the lead, but also deeply sad.

The Way Home (2002)

Bratty children come in all nationalities.  In this Korean picture, a city-raised seven-year old is dumped on his very elderly and very poor mute grandmother who lives out in the sticks, while his mother looks for work.  Nothing she does can please him and he is rude, destructive, and generally impossible.  Still it is apparent that granny loves him anyhow and she keeps trying to satisfy his demands for special foods, clothing, and game batteries.  I really felt like thumping the little monster.  By the end of the film when his mother comes to take him home, we are meant to believe that he now loves his gran and that he will miss her -- but the change is far too sudden.

The Return (2003)

I was really looking forward to seeing this Russian film since I had read some of the comments on the Internet Movie Database which were little short of ecstatic.  For a debut feature, it was in fact very assured, telling the story of two young boys of about 15 and 13 who have not seen their father for twelve years.  When he suddenly reappears at their home, their mother allows him to take them off on a fishing trip for a couple of days, although this becomes a full week before the finale.  The father is at times cruel and distant, but one feels that he is trying in his own way to establish some rapport with the sons he has never known.  The boys react differently -- the elder doing his best to go with the flow, while the younger remains antagonistic. What I found frustrating about this movie is that I was left at the end with so many unanswered questions, but perhaps the director was getting at the enigmatic relationship between fathers and sons, or some such, but the movie could have done with some form of closure after a shocking event.

The young actors were both very good and I understand that the elder died tragically shortly after the film was completed.  The younger would have absolutely no future in American movies, since I have never seen a more sullen looking child.  A final word about the cinematography which was lush, but which at times detracted rather than added to the what was going on on the screen.

The Anniversary Party (2001)

This entertainment (and I use the word loosely) was devised, produced and directed by Alan Cumming and Jennifer Jason Leigh who are two of the more precious actors of our time.  They play a famous writer and his equally famous wife who are celebrating their sixth anniversary by inviting a bunch of luvvies to a party; they also invite their next-door neighbours with whom they have nothing in common and with whom they are having a continuing row.  The film was purportedly scripted by Cummings and Leigh, but feels improvised which means that it swings between somewhat involving and somewhat tedious.  Many people reckon this movie but to me it was a little too self-indulgent.

I admit that Leigh is a very able actress, but she has ruined more than one picture for me with her affectations, for example "The Hudsucker Proxy" and "Kansas City".  However in this film Gwyneth Paltrow is even more annoying.  The large ensemble cast includes Kevin Kline, John C. Reilly, Parker Posey, Jennifer Beale, and in a very welcome return Phoebe Cates (Mrs. Kline) who had more or less retired.  If nothing else this movie shows that she is still a fine actress.

Stolen Kisses (1969)

Yes I do watch a remarkable number of non-English speaking films, but as I have written previously, I have no problem with subtitles.  This Francois Truffaut film is the third of four in his Antoine Doinel series which started with "The 400 Blows".  Rumour has it that the lead actor, Jean-Pierre Leaud, is Truffaut's alter ego and that the movies are semi-autobiographical.  If that is the case then the director has found his calling, since Leaud is absolutely useless in the various jobs he undertakes in this film -- soldier, concierge, detective, TV repairman.  The bulk of the action takes place during his feeble detective days and while it is all vaguely charming, it is also vaguely peculiar. The stolen kisses refer to his time with prostitutes, his boss's wife, and his off-again/on-again girlfriend who in turn is being mysteriously trailed by a would-be suitor.  The movie is a pleasant diversion but not deserving of its superior reputation. 

The Eighth Day (1996)

I have been trying to get hold of this film again for a while, but copies are not exactly abundant.  It's a French-Belgian production about uptight businessman, Daniel Auteuil, who is a failure as a husband and father.  He comes across Georges who is mongoloid (I'm sure there's a PC word for this nowadays), who has run away from the home where he has been stashed away.  Reluctantly a bond forms between them and he becomes a better man.  The two leads shared the best actor award at Cannes; the actor playing Georges does suffer from the condition, but his is a virtuoso performance.  It's moving, sentimental, and manipulative but stays just this side of acceptable exploitation.  If you can stand watching handicapped actors, I do recommend it. 

Le Testament d'Orphee (1959)

This was the last film of director/poet/playwright/artist Jean Cocteau and it brings to a climax the various themes that appear in his works.  He stars as the poet who wanders through the unreal landscape meeting friends from the past, characters from his films and admirers from the present, among them Charles Aznevour and Pablo Picasso (who hams mightily during his thirty seconds of screen time). We even have Yul Brynner in a small part.  There is no linear story but only the fantasies of the poet's mind, as he presents us with images that burn into our memory.

Belly of the Beast (2003)

I never reckoned Steven Seagal's movies, even when he was young and fit, although I could admire his martial skills.  The trouble was that no one else could get a look-in -- he would defeat all comers with nary a scratch.  Now that he is older, slow and fat, he is just an embarrassment as he lumbers about like a pregnant elephant.  In this film he goes to Thailand to rescue his kidnapped daughter.

The Hong Kong director does display some visual style, but his main job here is to make Seagal look good.  He films the action in such a way that our hero can see off armies of gangsters, ninja warriors and even a transvestite fighting devil with a sneer and a Buddhist flick of his mighty wrist.  I swear the mongol hordes would have been no match.  And just to add to the narcissism he is allowed an oriental love interest about the same age as his poor daughter.

Kika (1993)

This film is Almodovar in a playful mood before the maturity of some of his later movies; only he could direct a rape scene as high comedy.  Kika is a free spirit who moves from lover to lover, new situation to yet another without blinking twice.  We see her with her most recent (cataleptic) boyfriend, her venal servant -- the incredibly weird-looking Rossy De Palma, and crossing swords with a no-holds-barred TV scandalmonger played by the remarkable Victoria Abril.  The American actor Peter Coyote also floats in and out of this screwball world as a nonchalant murderer. 

Godsend (2004)

You'd think by now that other characters would have learned to be wary of Robert De Niro when he is in his do-gooder mode a la "Angel Heart"; it always ends in tears.  Here Greg Kinnear and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos have lost their eight-year old son in a freak accident.  Kindly scientist-doctor De Niro manages to convince them to move to a new locale and to let him illegally clone a new child, but of course he has his own agenda or there would be no film.  Everything is fine until the new son turns eight, and then....  The movie feels long, is irrational, has a few feeble shocks, and no discernible ending.   

San Antonio (1945)

Thinking about it, Errol Flynn (before he went to seed) was one of the few non-American actors who really looked comfortable in westerns. This one is not all that unusual and seems to be made up of the best bits from others -- the saloon brawl, the final gunfight in the ruins of the Alamo, and so forth -- but it is boosted by high production values and a pleasing cast.  Set in l870's Texas, Flynn is investigating a cattle-rustling ring led by Paul Kelly; he becomes involved with glamourpuss songstress Alexis Smith who has been imported by slimeball Victor Francen, owner of the local saloon.  There are some excellent musical numbers; I've always liked the song "Some Sunday Morning" which was Oscar-nominated.  The comic relief is provided by Hungarian-born S. Z. Sakall, known affectionately throughout Hollywood in the 40's as "Cuddles".  I guess a movie needn't necessarily be original to be an enjoyable romp.

Win a Date with Tad Hamilton (2004)

This comedy struck me as a nearly complete waste of time.  It did suggest that Kate Bosworth may have a career to come, as might Ginnifer Goodwin, but left me thinking that Topher should say Grace for what he has received.  I know, I have no "boogie" but I did think that there was little chemistry or warmth between the leads, just a load of empty space.  Even with the gorgeous movie star (Josh Duhamel) with whom she had won a date, our Kate acted as if she would rather be somewhere else.  That's exactly how I felt.  

Welcome to Woop Woop (1997)

There are not too many Australian movies that I really like, but this is one of them -- and unlike most of the others, it is definitely not art house fare. It is the extremely rude and raucous tale of a American con man (Johnathon Schaech) who escapes to the Outback of Australia where he falls in with a flighty female who lures him to a settlement in the back of beyond where her father (a nearly unrecognizable from his leading-man days Rod Taylor) rules the roost according to his own laws.  These include not allowing any one to leave.  The community is full of eccentrics and they are all obsessed with Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals which play in the background nearly non-stop. It carries along in this weird vein until the viewer begins to doubt his own sanity. A definite oddity.

La Strada (1954)

A best foreign picture Oscar for Federico Fellini for one of his most intimate films, more involving and to me more memorable than his more celebrated pictures like "8 1/2" or "La Dolce Vita".  Giulietta Masina (his wife) plays a slightly simple-minded waif who has been sold to the brutish Anthony Quinn to assist with his touring strong man act.  She brings such naive charm and amazement to all that she encounters that one can't help but recall the best silent comedians; she also expresses deep hurt and loss at Quinn's philandering and indifference.  Only after he has abandoned her does he in turn realise what he has lost.  A very simple story beautifully told.

My Stepmother is an Alien (1988)

This so-called high-concept comedy is really something of a mixed bag as widower and mad scientist Dan Aykroyd falls for alien Kim Basinger who has come to earth to get him to save her planet.  At times it is mildly amusing as Basinger learns the meaning of such earthly pursuits as kissing and sex; at other times it is just downright stupid, especially when Jon Lovitz who plays Aykroyd's brother is involved.  To prove that not all child actors fall by the wayside, Aykroyd's daughter is ably played by Alyson (Band Camp) Hannigan in her film debut; also, if you look quickly, you can spot Juliette Lewis and Seth Green.  The bit that I remembered most from my previous view was the appeal of Jimmy Durante's song from "The Man who Came to Dinner" -- now that's a high concept comedy that works!

The Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer (1947)

The title of this movie was changed to "Bachelor Knight" in the U.K. which doesn't really say what the films is all about; like it says above, this is the story of a carefree bachelor (Cary Grant) who unwittingly attracts a besotted teenager (Shirley Temple in one of her few late roles).  At the threat of being charged with unseemly conduct, her sister judge orders him to date Temple until she comes to her senses.  Depending on your point of view, it is either easy-going froth played by able comic actors (other than Temple) or a complete embarrassment as Grant is forced to act like teenager too.  The fact that he is able to carry off such silliness is a testimony to his acting chops. The rest of the cast which includes Myrna Loy, Rudy Vallee (once a singing sensation), Harry Davenport and Ray Collins add to the general amusement. 

Pardon Us (1931)

This film was Laurel and Hardy's first full-length feature, although even in its extended form it only runs 60-odd minutes.  In this one "the boys" are sent to jail for bootlegging.  They get involved in a breakout and hide out among a group of "darkies" working in the cotton fields -- this sort of political incorrectness has long passed its sell-by date, but it does allow for a very charming song from Hardy and an equally pleasant dance from Laurel.  Once they are re-captured there is the occasionally amusing bit of business, but by and large this is not one of their best. However I would rather watch the likes of this than some of the very dubious offerings that pass my way.

Bluebeard (1944)

Austrian-born director Edgar G. Ulmer was one of the few emigres to Hollywood in the thirties who did not convert his experience into a big career.  He spent his working life making B-movies for the poorest of the studios, yet everything he touched  was memorable.  He brought a real European sensibility to the most mundane projects; considering that there was probably very little money for this film, he does wonders with whatever was available, using camera angles and expressionistic shadows for effect.  John Carradine, he of the melodious voice and increasingly hammy roles, had one of his few leads here as a serial strangler and he plays it more or less straight. I've wanted to see this movie for a long time and I am so pleased to have finally caught up with it.

Geordie (1955)

This is another film that brings back strange memories, since I saw it in the cinema two nights in a row some years ago, because I was afraid to tell my "hot" date that I had seen it with my parents the day before.  Funny the idiotic things one remembers. Anyhow I have seen it several times since and it is still something of a charmer; it's not a brilliant movie by any means but the combination of glorious Scottish landscape, the always welcome appearance of Alastair Sim, and the cute story of Wee Geordie (the film's US title) growing from a scrawny youth to an Olympic champion through a Charles Atlas-type correspondence course add up to a winner. It also has something important to say about national identity and pride in one's community, which is not a bad thing either.

 

Wife vs. Secretary (1936)

The powerhouse cast gives us Clark Gable as a publisher, the lovely Myrna Loy as his wife, and the very sexy Jean Harlow as his efficient secretary.  The fourth lead is James Stewart, but this is an early role for him and his is really just a supporting part as Harlow's boyfriend.  Gable loves his wife and does not have designs on Harlow, but Loy can't help but worry when they spend so much time together.  That's about it, and since the end result is never really in doubt, it was no more than a pleasant but totally disposable entertainment.

Volere Volare (1991)

This is another Maurizio Nichetti film to go with "The Icicle Thief" and even nuttier.  The man is either a comic genius or seriously demented, and I'll opt for the former.  In this one he plays a man who dubs cartoons into Italian or rather just gathers weird sound effects for them (his brother and partner dubs porn flicks).  He becomes involved with a woman who provides fulfillment of fantasies, sexual and other, for a series of weird clients, but runs from the relationship when he finds himself changing into an animated cartoon.  You don't see that every day! 

None but the Lonely Heart (1944)

As far as I know, Cary Grant had his only Academy Award nomination for his role in this movie and he didn't win.  It remained one of his favourites but is way outside his usual sphere and, from that point of view, is of some interest.  Made during World War II but set in a very dreary East End of London just before the war, Grant plays a shiftless "Cocker-ney" drifter who occasionally reappears at his Mum's home.  The mother is played by Ethel Barrymore, lured back from the stage after a long interval, and she did win an Oscar here. He also goes into and out of the lives of a good girl and a bad one, the latter tempting him briefly into a career in crime led on by shifty George Coulouris. 

Adapted from the novel of the same name and directed by left-wing playwright Clifford Odets, this remains a curiosity.  It is also full of high-brow verbiage and anti-war sentiment that are somewhat out of place in the downbeat setting.

The Haunted Mansion (2003)

I wonder for whom this movie was intended as it is a little too scary for youngsters and a lot too idiotic for adults.  Eddie Murphy in his search for family-friendly fare continues his downward spiral.  Based on one of the better Disneyland rides, this film is no "Pirates of the Caribbean"; the effects are well done but are the whole show here.  Terence Stamp and Wallace Shawn add a touch of class to the procedings, but not enough to salvage things.  The funniest part, to me, is that one-time sexpot Jennifer Tilly is reduced here to a disembodied and annoying talking head.

The Icicle Thief (1989)

On the other hand, if you can accept subtitles, I can not recommend this Italian film too highly.  Conceived and directed by Maurizio Nichetti who also takes two lead roles, one finds a comic genius who is so much more talented than Roberto Benigni the Academy Award clown. From the title you may guess that this is a take on neo-realist films such as "The Bicycle Thief" and the director has an obvious love of cinema per se.  However he is also making a statement about the way that films are often treated on television, and this movie allows the frequent ads to bleed into the film and vice versa so that one no longer knows quite what one is watching or what the auteur's intention might have been initially. It's not exactly laugh-out-loud funny, although the smiles are frequent, but it is undeniably exceptionally clever.

Le Bal (1982)

If you would like to view a remarkable "foreign" film but can't put up with either subtitles or dubbing, then this Italian-French production is the one for you since it has no dialogue whatsoever. It is set in a dance hall in the present but then segues back to the same location during various points in French history -- pre-World War II, the occupation, the post war period and the revolution of 1968.  The ensemble cast assumes different roles for each period and the action is played out through the music and the dance. My only criticism is that it is a little on the long side, but it is such an unusual movie and so well done that this is a minor quibble. 

Invaders from Mars (1953)

A lot of people have fond recollections of this movie which was part of the paranoia sci-fi cycle of the 50's, especially since it is told from the point of view of a child.  However it is not really one of the better ones of that period.  The only saving grace is the occasionally striking production design by the director, William Cameron Menzies, who ekes out a few memorable effects on what is obviously a Poverty Row budget. This was the longer european version which has a different ending from the original American version (there, apparently, it was all a dream -- but about to happen).  Either way I think Tim Burton's "Mars Attacks" is more fun.

I Know Where I'm Going (1945)

What a difference between this movie and the British film of the same period that I watched a few days ago.  This little charmer, written, produced and directed by Powell and Pressburger, is everything that the other was not: beautifully photographed in the Western Isles to give a true sense of place and winningly acted.by all concerned.  Wendy Hiller plays a no-nonsense young lady travelling from Manchester to a Hebridean isle to marry a wealthy, older industrialist, and has no intention of letting anything stand in her way.  Her journey is interrupted by bad weather before the final crossing and she meets, among others, Roger Livesey an impoverished local laird on furlough from the navy.  From there onward we all know where the picture is going and we don't mind one little bit.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2 (2003)

Words nearly fail me.  I don't want to believe (but I do) that anything quite this bad can still be unloaded on the public.  Subtitled "Cousin Eddie's Island Vacation", this is so far removed from the National Lampoon heyday of "Animal House" that it beggars belief and goodness knows there have been some other National Lampoon labelled misfires in the meantime.  I am only amazed that the publication still lends its name to such rubbish or that anyone is willing to put up the money to continue churning out sequels.  Randy Quaid, who was funny once upon a time, plays the hopelessly stupid father of the family shipwrecked on a tropic isle; don't ask why they are there.  But the biggest embarrassment is Ed  Asner, who used to be a respected actor, playing his lecherous uncle. It's my fault of course for watching. 

The Singing Detective (2003)

This is a hard watch since Robert Downey Jr.'s make-up is so horrific that one is tempted to keep one's eyes averted; I don't recall the original television serial portraying the writer's ailment so graphically.  That apart the film is something of a parson's egg.  It was written for the movies by Dennis Potter before his death and the only major difference apart from shortening the tale is that the background fantasy and music have been moved from the 40's to the 50's. So one can't blame Hollywood completely for any failure.

Downey is, as always, pretty good -- if not in this instance totally watchable.  Mel Gibson, one of the producers, is nearly unrecognizable in a bald wig playing a doctor.  Robin Wright Penn is also masterful in a number of roles.  However it might be kind not to mention some of the others in the cast who are well over the top.  The musical numbers which are central to Potter's style are variable here from pretty effective to why bother. My verdict: get the DVD of the TV series.

Shikoku (1999)

Shikoku is an island where our heroine spent her childhood and left behind her two best friends.  Coming back some fifteen years later, she discovers that the girl friend is dead and that the boy friend is mourning her.  More to the point the dead girl's mother has gone 'round the twist and is on her 16th pilgrimage to the island's 88 temples, visiting them in the reverse order to that prescribed, which is meant to result in her daughter returning from the dead.  Like so many modern Japanese horror films this one is big on spooky atmosphere but short on real jolts and it doesn't help the western viewer that the dead daughter looks just like the ghost that crawled out of the television set in "Ringu".     

The Years Between (1946)

If the actors' lips were any stiffer in this British oldie they would run the risk of disappearing up their own fundaments.  Michael Redgrave and Valerie Hobson are happily married until he goes off to war and she is told that he is dead.  So she takes over his seat as an MP and is about to marry a good old brick when Michael turns up very much alive.  Things have changed in the four or five years and they both suffer from doubts, but in the end everyone does the right thing.  Occasionally one is glad that "they don't make them like that anymore".

Snow Walker (2003)

I don't know quite what I was expecting of this movie, but certainly not the absorbing and moving experience that it was.  Directed by Charles Martin Smith whom I have always liked as an actor, it tells of a bush pilot, Barry Pepper, who is cajoled (or actually bribed) to take an ill Inuit lass as a passenger.  The plane crashes in the arctic tundra and it soon becomes apparent that he is incapable of surviving on his own.  Having left her behind as he went off to "get help", he is effectively rescued by her and it is her native skills that ultimately provide him with the chance to live.  I must confess that Barry Pepper has never struck me as an actor who could carry a film on his own, but he does a reasonable job; the girl, an actual native in her first role, gives him the support he needs (on all levels), despite the fact that they have little language in common.  The photography is quite spectacular as one would hope.

Frenchie (1950)

I wasn't expecting this movie to be any good, but not having seen it previously, I thought I would give it the benefit of the doubt.  Well, I was right.  It's a not very successful riff on "Destry Rides Again" with a young but still chubby and rather blowsy Shelley Winters in the Marlene Dietrich role, but without her charm or songs.  She has come to avenge her father's death some years early and takes over the local saloon.  The pacifist sheriff (not called Destry) is played by Joel McCrea; he's no Jimmy Stewart granted, but I do think he is a remarkably under-rated actor and he has a certain appeal in this role.  Elsa Lanchester, one of filmdom's great eccentrics, has a pretty nothing part as Winters' sidekick.

Waxwork (1988)

The first feature by horror specialist Anthony Hickox (interestingly the grandson of J. Arthur Rank), this utilises a number of actors who were on the way down in their careers, presumably because they were cheap.  It's effectively a teen-slasher movie,  but it is done with a tongue firmly in cheek and an obvious affection for the genre. David Warner opens a waxwork in the middle of a residential street -- yes, a little weird for starters.  He invites young people to visit and after they get sucked into various tableaux, they subsequently become part of the display.  All of the old faithfuls are there, present and correct, from the Wolf Man, Dracula and the Mummy right through to modern monsters like the baby from "It's Alive" and the creatures from "Night of the Living Dead".  It is a gore-fest throughout with some effects that produce chuckles rather than shudders.  There's an all-out battle at the end by the army of baddies and a bunch of rickety evil-slayers led by Patrick Macnee in a fortified wheelchair.  In other words, it's a hoot.

Crossroads (1942)

I knew I had seen this before but just couldn't recall it, but decided that with a super cast which includes William Powell, Hedy Lamarr, Claire Trevor, Basil Rathbone and Felix Bressart that it had to be worth another look. I suppose it was, although I will probably have forgotten it by the next time it comes around.  Set in France in the mid-thirties (for no particular reason) it casts Powell as a successful diplomat newly married to Lamarr; he can't recall anything prior to an accident 13 years previously.  On to the scene come Rathbone and Trevor in the attempt to convince him that he had a previous persona as a thief and murderer.  Did he or didn't he, that's the question.

Arabesque (1966)

Totally forgettable fluff directed by Stanley Donen who has far better films to his credit.  Gregory Peck, slightly more playful than usual, plays an arabic scholar based in England who is abducted to decipher a phony Hittite message which actually reads "Goosey Goosey Gander..."; his foil and love interest is the very glamourous Sophia Loren.  Together they stop an assassination.  All very exciting while it lasts but with little to linger in the memory apart from some very dated dialogue and the classic exchange: "Follow that car"; Cabby: "I've waited all my life for someone to say that".  Now where have we heard that before?

Chasing Papi (2003)

Nowadays one is used to being presented with movies intended for black audiences, but latina-focused films are less in evidence.  However this is one of them -- a rather stupid story about an advertising executive with girlfriends in three different cities and an inability to commit to any one of them.  When they all descend on his Los Angeles home and discover the others we are meant to be presented with an amusing concept.  Unfortunately the film is a totally laugh-free zone until the very last shot which is of two dogs (the four-legged variety).  The women by the way are empowered by their experiences and all dump him.  However there is a tasty latina FBI agent on hand to fill the gap.

The Honeymoon Killers (1969)

It's been a while since I last saw this cult item and it was just as sleazy and fascinating as I recall.  Shirley Stoler in her first film role at age 40 plays an obese nurse who joins forces with a latin lothario with a line in wooing rich old ladies.  She poses as his sister but gets so jealous that most of them end up dead -- as do our two leads who went to the electric chair in 1959.  The basic facts are meant to be true but they are embellished for our benefit.  This was the first and only film written and directed by one Leonard Kastle, but he has earned himself a place in the history of exploitation film.  Rumour has it that Martin Scorsese was involved at an early stage which doubtlessly doesn't figure on his curriculum vitae.

A la Place du Coeur (1998)

This is a very strange movie based on a short story by the American black writer James Baldwin transposed to Marseilles.  It concerns 16-year old Clim and her black boyfriend Bebe.  They have been friends since childhood and eventually become lovers.  She becomes pregnant just as he is framed for rape by a racist local cop and sent to jail.  However the story goes beyond these two to their respective families.  He and his sister were adopted by a white couple; the father is supportive but the mother has become a religious fanatic dragging the sister along with her.  She has a loving family who will do anything to see their grandchild born and their prospective son-in-law freed.  The two fathers engage in minor crime to find the funds for their procrastinating lawyer, while the mother goes off to Sarajevo (as one would!) to find the rape victim and to get her to change her story.  It all ends well but it treads a very peculiar path along the way.

The Station Agent (2003)

A film festival fave and winner of the audience prize at Sundance, this quiet little film depicts the coming together in their loneliness of a dwarf (Peter Dinklage), a woman grieving the death of her son (Patricia Clarkson), and a Cuban refreshment stand operator (Bobby Cannavale).  Dinklage has inherited a redundant rail station and the others gradually find communion in his train-spotting hobby.  There is the odd bit of drama and a great deal of sweet humour, but not much more.  One just enjoys one's time in their company.

The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)

One of the best westerns not directed by John Ford (who before Clint Eastwood revitalized the genre was God).  The director here is Wlliam A. Wellman and the film is a masterpiece.  It tells how a blood-thirsty mob looking to avenge a killing (which as it turns out didn't occur) form a lynch-mob and hang three innocent men (Dana Andrews, Anthony Quinn, and Francis Ford -- John's brother).  Only seven of their number including Henry Fonda and his side-kick Harry Morgan (Col. Potter from MASH), newly arrived in the town, and the lovely character actor Harry Davenport try to air the voice of reason.  All to no avail, as the vultures have their way.  The film ends with Fonda reading out Andrews' farewell letter to his wife and family, as the culprits look shame-facedly away.  Very moving and no doubt faithful to many such outrages.