Tunes of Glory (1960)

I was going to review "The Machinist" with a skeletal Christian Bale (diet hint: he lost 60 pounds for the role by eating only a tin of tuna and one apple per day), but I fell asleep within minutes.  It probably wasn't really that boring, but I will need to have a go on another occasion.  So I bring you the above British classic instead -- a movie by a middling director and rather murkily filmed, but boasting not one but two barnstorming performances by Alec Guinness and John Mills, with the bonus of a super supporting cast including Susannah York in her debut.  The interesting thing is that the actors could have swopped their roles easily with equally brilliant results.  Guinness is cast as the rough and ready commander of a peacetime Scottish Highlands regiment who is about to be replaced by troubled martinet Mills (a similar personality to Guinness' in "Bridge on the River Kwai".)  The battle of wills that follows is devastatingly played by both actors and leads to an unexpected denouement.  Sporting a bright red crewcut and an immaculate not quite pukka accent, Guinness has said that this was one of his favourite roles, but the quiet desperation of the Mills character was also something of a departure for him.

Support Your Local Sheriff (1969)

James Garner has been a reliable leading man for some fifty years now on television and in feature films, and has never won any special accolades, other than the continuing affection of viewers everywhere.   I would be hard-pressed to name a more likeable presence or professional player with the same longevity.  Obviously, now that he is nearing eighty, he is more often seen in support, but he always holds the screen, whatever the size of his role.  Here he has one of his most satisfying leads as a opportunistic drifter in this Western spoof.  Announcing that he is only stopping by on his way to Australia, he takes on the sheriff's job in a lawless mining town and brings his own brand of sensible justice, even if this means keeping Mr. Big's (Walter Brennan's) idiot son Bruce Dern in the new jail which hasn't yet had its bars installed.  The local worthies, led by the lovely character actors Harry Morgan and Henry Jones, are yellow to the core, but with the help of Morgan's feisty, tomboyish daughter -- beautifully played by Joan Hackett -- and the assistance of his deputy, Jack Elam -- for once in a good-guy role -- Garner brings a lawful future to the community, whilst still telling folks that he is really only on his way to Australia.  Much of the cast reunited two years later for "Support Your Local Gunfighter" which is not a sequel (as they play different roles), but which is nearly as amusing as this happy romp. 

Block-Heads (1938)

I admit it: I'm a big baby when it comes to loving the films of Laurel and Hardy, and apart from their last movie when they were both frankly past it, there is always enough sweetness and surreal moments in most of their shorts and features to charm the most sour-faced amongst us.  This one finds Stan still guarding his foxhole in France twenty years after the war has ended.  When brought back home, Ollie seeks him out to take him to meet the wife and enjoy one of her fabulous meals.  Needless to say nothing works out as planned with Ollie's flat being blown up, his wife walking out, and the tootsie from across the hall losing her clothes and being hidden from both her husband and Ollie's wife disguised as an easy chair!  That's only the crunch of the story which takes in Ollie thinking Stan has lost a leg, his car being buried under a truckload of dirt, Stan smoking a pipe that isn't there, and a shlepp up and down thirteen flights of stairs for no good reason.  But one doesn't watch "The Boys" if one is looking for reason or rationality. 

 

The Amityville Horror (2005)

The original 1979 movie of this title was no great shakes, but for some inexplicable reason it must have been popular enough to explain away the numerous sequels that followed, which in no way justifies this so-called remake.  Even the original was proved not to be based on a true story, but a fabrication by the family behind the book, but the above film is still trying to hoodwink the audience into believing that the house in question was indeed possessed and the source of all the horrors experienced by its new residents.  Anyhow, all we get is a rehash of the many cheap horror effects from countless other forgettable movies and little in the way of genuine scares.  Ryan Reynolds makes a good fist of acting out the new husband and stepfather trying to make a go of protecting his family whilst falling more and more under the house's spell.  As Rhett Butler might have said, "Frankly, folks, I don't give a damn."  But don't think for a moment that we have seen the end of remakes of movies that should never have seen the light in the first place.

The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)

I've had a copy of this movie for yonks, but it was the cut release from way back when, so it was something of a treat to finally view the restored full version of what should be better known as an American classic.  It's the Faust legend moved to New Hampshire, as told by poet Stephen Vincent Benet, and it is more than a little interesting to note that the director, William Dieterle, began his career as an actor in Germany and appeared in the Murnau version.  We have an impoverished farmer played by James Craig who signs away his soul for seven years' prosperity; Craig is a fairly colourless actor, but the devil -- called here Mr. Scratch -- is brilliantly played by Walter Huston, with a twinkle in his eye and a whole bag of cinematic tricks.  And most of the rest of the main players are pretty nifty too, including Jane Darwell as Craig's homespun mum, Simone Simon at the devil's temptress, John Qualen as the local miser, and most importantly Edward Arnold as Daniel Webster who saves the day for Craig by arguing that no foreign prince can claim the soul of a free Amereican, in a trial before a jury of Mr.  Scratch's ghostly victims.  Blessed by a brilliant Bernard Herrmann score and stunning cinematography, this movie belongs right up there with the best.

For what it's worth, Alec Baldwin attempted to direct a remake in 2001 with himself as the farmer, Anthony Hopkins as Webster, and believe it or not, Jennifer Love Hewitt as the devil, but I believe the final film was scrapped and fortunately has not yet been thrust upon us, although some poor souls must have seen it, since it has an IMDb rating.

Hud (1963)

In my ever-growing film collection, I have never previously felt the need to add the above film, despite its being nominated for seven Academy Awards and winning three.  One of the nominations that it did not win was for Paul Newman as best actor in the title role, and I suspect this is the source of my unease.  He plays the amoral anti-hero with such skill -- a womanizer, a bad son to his virtuous Dad (Melvyn Douglas), a sorry example to his teenaged nephew (the grown-up lad from "Shane", Brandon DeWilde), and a brutal would-be rapist of family housekeeper (Patricia Neal ) -- that one is enchanted by  his screen charisma but still hates him as a character.  Beautifully photographed in sparkling black and white by cinematographer James Wong Howe (an Oscar winner along with Douglas and Neal), the barrenness of the landscape reflects the dead-endedness of Newman's life.  When foot and mouth is found on their  farm, the final disintegration of this dysfunctional household becomes inevitable -- and sad.

Race with the Devil (1975)

Not exactly a great movie, but certainly an interesting and watchable cult curiosity.  Two couples, Warren Oates and Loretta Swit plus Peter Fonda and Lara Parker (who she?) go off on holiday in their luxury motorhome.  On the first night the men observe a presumably satanic cult ritual and murder, and the foursome spend the rest of the film trying to get someone to believe them and to escape from the murderous weirdos pursuing them.  Their dog is slaughtered, snakes are left in their cupboards, and numerous vehicles are trying to drive them off the road.  At times it seems that the entire population of Texas is out to get them, despite their disposing of various pursuers, and by the end we know for certain that not only IS the whole population after them indeed, but that there can never be an escape.   Not really ideal viewing if you like happy endings. 

50 Films to See Before You Die

Channel 4 are the UK Champions of listing programmes and this is their latest, meant as a taster for their changing the FilmFour Channel from subscription to Freeview -- which means that more people can access the channel, as long as they don't object to the movies being interrupted by ad breaks.  OK, I can live with this and save myself £7 a month, but given my druthers...   Anyhow, this marathon programme presented an eclectic choice of films to turn the average viewer into a film buff.  Ha, ha.  In its favour it did include four movies not in the English language (and a rather peculiar selection too) and did go as far back as 1935 (A Marx Brothers movie since you ask), but there were no silents and a definite emphasis on films of the last 25 years or so.   It also included one film which it is virtually impossible to view in this country: "Pink Flamingos" -- and yes, I do have a copy.  Mind you, any programme of this sort is by definition guaranteed to court controversy by omitting certain old favourites and warhorses and also eschewing the blockbuster franchises.  They could easily make another offering tomorrow with the same title and featuring a different fifty films.  Still it is always pleasant to watch film clips of movies one knows (well, in my case) and to hear some reasonable talking heads.  Then again I have far more than fifty films left to see before I die which unlike the ones included above I have not yet seen, and oh dear, I'm running out of time!

Beauty Shop (2005)

Having been totally underwhelmed by the two "Barbershop" movies, I had no hopes for this spin-off from the second of them as a vehicle for Queen Latifah.  Well, perhaps the heat is frying my brain, but I must admit it was a bit of harmless fun by Latifah and her ensemble cast, not all of whom were black.  There are supporting roles for Alicia Silverstone (who has been missing in action for a while), Andie MacDowell, Mena Suvari, and most notably Kevin Bacon having a good time playing an affected, pseudo-Austrian rival.  There is no strong plotline, but there is satisfying character development, as Latifah struggles to make a go of her own salon, keep her talented young daughter in music school, and reluctantly find some love interest as well.  Maybe on a cold winter's day I might have sneered rather more, but the movie was seriously OK.

Deanna Durbin

I've been having a mini Deanna Durbin celebration this weekend to escape from the overbearing excesses of "Alexander"; does Oliver Stone actually believe that people can speak his dialogue with a straight face?  As for Miss Durbin whose career only lasted between the ages of 14 to 26 (1936 to 1948), it is hard for us to remember that she was once the highest paid female star in the world and the saviour of Universal Studios.  First featured in a short with Judy Garland, her contract was not picked up by MGM, but she soon made her mark in a run of hit escapist fare where the unique selling point was her voice with its operatic range.  Never a beauty and like Garland needing to watch her weight, she caught the public's fancy and is a charming presence in even the worst of the vehicles provided for her, including one with Gene Kelly where he is a deadbeat and not showcased as a song and dance man.  She was blessed by playing against a number of other likeable leading men, receiving her first screen kiss at age 17 from Robert Stack in his debut role, and by being supported by some of the finest character actors and most memorable faces of the period.  I'm particularly charmed by the two movies where she appears with my great favourite Charles Laughton: "It Started with Eve" and "Because of Him".  If one had to generalise, her earlier films have more appeal than her latter ones, probably because of the youth and freshness that she brought to her roles, although there are certainly exceptions like "The Amazing Mrs. Holliday" in 1943.  While she was no longer a fresh face in her last movie, "For the Love of Mary", her naive charm prevailed, and she chose to leave the business because she wanted to, not because she was past it in any way.  However,  tastes do change, and maybe she had the sense to retire gracefully at the right time.  As far as I know, she is still alive and living in France.

The Miracle of Bern (2003)

If you had told me up front that I might like this German soccer drama set in 1954 when a defeated nation began its turn-around by winning the World Cup (no spoiler here, as this is fact), you probably would have heard me muttering something about flying pigs.  And although I managed not to watch a single game during this year's Cup, I was totally involved with this film.  That's probably because it was less about the mechanics of the game and more about the relationship between one of the players and his "good-luck charm" 11-year old mascot.  The youngster in question has never met his father who has been held in a Russian POW camp since before he was born.  When the father is finally released and returns to the family that has coped without him, his hardline disciplinarian approach alienates them all.  As he gradually manages to shake off the traumas of his years away, he begins to bond with his son and borrows a car to drive him to the final Germany-Hungary match in Bern.  Michael got pretty chokey by the end of this movie and although I managed to keep the lumps out of my throat, I can understand why.

Outrageous Fortune (1987)

Shelley Long left the hit series "Cheers" convinced that a brilliant film career awaited her.  Well, she was wrong; she starred in a number of mildly amusing comedies like "The Money Pit" with Tom Hanks and a fair number of duds.  Lately she is back on television, where she started, without much to show for the interlude.  Having said that, however, I quite like this comedy which reverses the male buddy theme and teams Long with Bette Midler as chalk and cheese actresses who have both been intimate with phoney schoolteacher, Peter Coyote.  When he is purportedly killed in an explosion, each of them turns up at the morgue to view the remains and both realise that the body on display can not possibly be his (as it is insufficiently well-endowed!).  The hoity-toity Long teams up with the Mae West-like Midler to discover the truth and they are chased across the country by assorted police, FBI, and general baddies with agreeably comedic results.  They may each have lost a lover (and he was a no-goodnik anyhow), but they do learn the meaning of friendship.

The Gods Must be Crazy (1980)

This simple movie is a real charmer and has gained a cult following worldwide, which is pretty remarkable for a South African film shot on a budget and which took four years to complete.  A canny Bushman, but one totally ignorant of the world outside the Kalahari Desert, finds a Coca Cola bottle that has been dropped from a light airplane; he takes it back to his extended family who have never seen anything like it and who find various uses for it. However when it begins to cause friction amongst the family, our hero wonders why the Gods have given it to him and he decides to rid himself of the cursed object by dropping it off the edge of the world.  As he goes off on his journey, we meet the film's others characters: a kind but klutzy biologist and his native sidekick, a sophisticated woman who has come to teach in a local school, and a bunch of revolutionaries who take her and her charges hostage.  The film is not a staged documentary in the mould of "Nanook of the North" but a work of fiction based on the landscape and politics of the area.  Played with humour and with a central performance from the Bushman that would grace any effort, it is a movie that it is impossible not to like, even at its silliest.

A sequel followed in 1989 with the same native star encountering different "fat people" (his view of Westerners) while he searches for his two children who have become trapped on a poacher's truck.  This one also features broad comedy mixed with the threat of danger and is nearly a worthy follow-up.

The Miracle of the Bells (1948)

If you don't faint from an overdose of saccharine, this film does have its moments.  Fred MacMurray plays a brash press-agent who have never had the nerve to confess his love for (Alida) Valli, whom he has met occasionally and whom he has guided to her first starring motion picture.  When she dies the day after shooting finishes, he fulfills his promise to her of taking her body back to her drab coal-mining hometown and arranging a funeral mass.  Producer Lee J. Cobb wants to scupper the release of her film and MacMurray looks for gimmicks to bring her to the public's attention, which includes the non-stop ringing for three days of the bells of the town's five churches.  When, during her funeral service, two statues move to face her coffin, a miracle may or may not have taken place, but the film's message is that hope and kindness are more important in our world than fact.  The presiding priest is played by a lightweight Frank Sinatra (before he learned to act ) -- all solemn seriousness.  The famous film critic James Agee wrote of this movie that he was founding a society for the prevention of cruelty to God -- but the movie really doesn't deserve this snipe.  I seem to recall that Sinatra had a hit record once upon a time of a song with this title, but it is not featured here.

The Break-up (2006)

This hot weather is doing me in, and I'm sure I'm not alone.  I did drag myself out to see a preview of the above movie (at least the cinema was air-conditioned), but I could have done without the sauna-like tube network.  Never mind, they are not about to remake "The Incredible Melting Man" (now there's a bad, bad film!).  Anyhow, getting back to the above, I was a little disappointed, as it started off smartly with some decent laughs, but it began to sag halfway through.  Boy meets Girl, they buy a condo, Girl breaks up with Boy because of his selfish behaviour, Girl hopes to get Boy back by making him jealous, and so on.  The fact that the film didn't give us the expected resolution for similar rom-coms was probably in its favour, although the audience was left with a carrot for the future of this relationship.  Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn, who I understand are a real-life post-Pitt couple, have soso screen chemistry and I soon tired of them both.  The amazing thing was seeing how enormously fat both Jon Favreau amd Vincent D'Onofrio have become -- but that's kind of depressing.  I will give Judy Davis full marks as the owner of the art gallery where Aniston works, playing a full-blooded eccentric.  My final verdict, wait until it turns up on TV.

House of Wax (2005)

Knowing my feelings about most remakes, you can probably guess that I have little to say in favour of this remake of the Vincent Price 1953 early 3-D movie, which in fact was a remake of the 1933 "Mystery of the Wax Museum".  I am fond of that original, not because it is particularly brilliant, but because of its early use of two-strip colour and its stars (Fay Wray at her screaming best and spooky Lionel Atwill); however if the truth be told, it is a pretty creaky effort and suffers from that feature of early '30s movies: the fast-talking, smartass gal reporter.  The Price starrer is fun since he is always great value and there's an early Charles Bronson role as his Igor-like assistant.  However, getting back to this new version, it really only shares the earlier title, since the story itself is considerably different and none the worse for it.  The really interesting thing about this version is that the house in question is literally made of wax as are its furnishings and of course all the wax-covered dead people who inhabit it (and the local cinema and the local church).  The leads were Elisha Cuthbert and Chad Michael Murray playing brother and sister and the only survivors of the six friends who set off together at the start of the film.  I must confess that it was very satisfying to see Paris Hilton being spectacularly murdered (I gather audiences cheered Stateside), but her role was secondary and frankly she was no better or worse than the other actors.  As usual my main complaint is the peculiar notion that horror films are best played in near darkness.  Nonsense!

Moolaade (2004)

Talking about 83-year-old directors, as one does, the film is the most recent release from the veteran African director, Ousmane Sembene, and it was not an easy watch.  It was however a rewarding one and a film that deserves to be better known for its attack against ritual female circumcision -- not you may think the most appealing subject matter.  Set in a small West African village, four young girls seek protection with a woman who refused to allow her daughter to be "purified" in this way some years before (because of her own bad experiences with the physical results).  The woman blocks off the entrance to her courtyard with a length of wool to create a "moolaade", a spell of sanctuary, which can not be broken until she gives the word.  The elders of the village (the Taleban have nothing on them) browbeat all of the men into believing that the Koran insists upon this ceremony, that no decent man would wed an uncircumcised female, and that women are solely there to be dominated.  They even decide to confiscate all of the village women's radios as being unholy influences.  They force our heroine's husband to flog her publicly, but still she will not say the word to end the spell.  By the end of the film, one can sense that things will change in the future -- but slowly, very slowly.  I find it amazing that a man of Sembene's age and status would tackle this subject, but it is brilliantly done.

Princess Raccoon (2005)

I mentioned a few days ago that I had tickets to see this film, despite the fact that nearly every review I read was largely negative.  Well, let me tell you, the movie was positively enchanting.  The director is 83 years old, but his cinematic vision is as young and as creative as anyone's, and despite this being a complete change from his previous movies, it is a triumphant success.  The film is a kaleidoscope of Japanese folklore, visual fantasy, musical styles from traditional to rap, and non-stop imaginative images.  Its critics railed against its visual overload and "silly" storyline, but I found it magical.  Zhang Ziyi was imported to play the titular princess from Cathay, but all of the cast shared her beauty and charm -- even the three little girls who sang straight to their parents in the front row, so to speak.  Back in January I reviewed the Studio Ghibli anime "Pom Poko" which also tells of the mythic Tanuki tribe of shape-shifters -- that too was translated as 'raccoons' even if these are not native to Japan; the forbidden love story here between a tanuki and a human was explained away by taking place in a year of 13 moons when anything is possible.  From the anime I learned that tanukis love to party and wow, not only did they party mightily here, but they proved that yes, everything is definitely possible.

Magic (1978)

The schizophrenic ventriloquist and his caustic dummy has been a staple of movie horror since the year dot, probably seen to best effect in the 1945 compendium film "Dead of Night" with Michael Redgrave as the poor possessed dupe.  This riff on the same theme might have been a waste of time were it not for the bravura performance from Anthony Hopkins, who does both his own voice and the dummy's.  In fact he is the whole show, and neither Burgess Meredith as his sharp agent who thinks he needs pyschiatric help nor Ann-Margaret as his over-the-hill sexpot high school sweetheart stand much of a chance against him.  In the end one just can't tell who is the dummy and who is not.  Written by William Goldman and based on his own book, the theme is that we all need magic in our lives -- but magic is, after all, an illusion.

Winchester '73 (1950)

This was the first of the eight films in which Anthony Mann directed James Stewart and it remains one of the best, both for its clever story and for its wonderful cast, down to the smallest parts.  In short, Stewart wins the "one in a thousand" rifle in a Dodge City shooting contest, but it is stolen by the defeated Stephen McNally.  The latter is forced to sell it to gun trader John McIntire who is then murdered by an Indian warrior who covets it (Rock Hudson in one of his earliest roles).  When the Indians attack a cavalry division which includes a very young soldier played by Tony Curtis, Hudson is killed and the sergeant gives the rifle to Shelley Winter's boyfriend.  He in turn is murdered for the rifle by psycho Dan Duryea who eventually returns it to McNally -- just in time for Stewart to kill the latter.  One knows that there is something brewing between these two characters, but the facts are held back until the end reel.  This is the film that started Stewart on his Western mode and it stands as an excellent introduction to this new persona in his career, basically upright but often troubled.

The Patsy (1928)

In my continuing attempt to add to my knowledge of silent films, I went to the NFT to catch this King Vidor-directed, Marion Davis starrer.  It is something of a pity that she is now remembered only as William Randolph Hearst's bit of fluff and the possessor of the original "rosebud" or as characterized in "Citizen Kane" as a talentless wannabe.  She was in fact an excellent light comedienne as evidenced in this film.  Her character, Pat, was the patsy of her aspiring family, where all the stops were pulled out for her older vamp sister by their socially-bumbling mother, played by the inimitable Marie Dressler.  Parenthetically here, Dressler who died circa 1934 left a number of indelible roles in the early talkies, capped by her double-take at Jean Harlow's chassis in "Dinner at Eight".   But going back to Davies, the plot of trying to land her sister's spare boyfriend may not have made a lot of sense, but it did allow for her trying to develop a personality by quoting nutty aphorisms from self-help books and to even at one stage doing spot-on imitations of three other actresses from the period, including a simpering Lillian Gish.

To add to the fun of the evening, the above film was preceded by a 1913 French short hilarity entitled "Onesime et le coeur de Tzigane" in which a honeymoon couple are unable to stop dancing when serenaded by a restaurant gypsy- violinist and how this dancing hysteria spreads to the kitchen staff at their hotel and even a pair of acrobatic dogs.  A remarkable demonstration of early trick photography as well and a perfect appetizer for the main course.  

Morgan-A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966)

David Warner has appeared in so many bad films and in so many peculiar roles over the last forty years, that it is hard to remember how remarkable and charistmatic an actor he was considered in the '60s; his Hamlet at Stratford-upon-Avon against Glenda Jackson is legend.  This film was his first (and probably only) lead role and he plays here against Vanessa Redgrave in  her effective film debut.  Warner is a working-class artist obsessed with gorillas when high-tone wife Redgrave finally brings herself to divorce him.  While it is apparent throughout that she has a definite soft spot for this revolutionary nutter, she decides that marrying Robert Stephens is the sensible thing to do.  So Warner does all he can to upset the proposed union, and on his release from gaol (after sort of trying to blow up her mother), he dons a gorilla suit to disrupt the wedding.  His Tarzan and King Kong fantasies try to show him the way, but nothing can prevent his ending up in the funny farm tending the flowerbeds into a hammer and sickle design, with Redgrave still involved in his fate, despite herself.  With Irene Handl as his mum and Arthur Mullard and Bernard Bresslaw in important bit parts, this is a genuine British cult classic -- and a rare combination of words that is! 

Fighting Elegy (1966)

The ICA is doing a limited season of the films of the Japanese director Seijun Suzuki as a showcase for his most recent movie "Princess Raccoon" which I will be seeing later this week, despite some very offputting reviews.  (I shall of course report on this soon).  Anyhow the director has made two gangster films that I really reckon: "Tokyo Drifter" and "Branded to Kill", both of which are unusually quirky, and I thought I should try another of his rather enormous output.  Hence my viewing the above film which is set in 1935.  While I can't say that I was overly taken with it, I can understand others liking it.  We have a high school student who, as is so often the case, looked like he was in his late twenties (as did his peers), who found that fighting -- or "scuffles" as the subtitles would have it -- was a good sublimation for sexual urges.  On a broader level, this was probably some sort of parable for the growing militancy of Japan running up to World War II.  He didn't get the girl, but he did find his manhood.  I just don't know that this definition of being a man is the right one.

The Harvey Girls (1946)

Despite starring Judy Garland and containing one of the all-time great musical numbers ("The Atcheson, Topeka, and the Santa Fe"), this film has usually been considered one of the lesser MGM musicals.  Perhaps it is because of the rather strange premise of the Harvey House restaurants moving into the West with their wholesome, puritanically-dressed waitresses, as a counterbalance to the charms of the saloons and their "hostesses" (for hostesses, read whores).  This is vaguely, historically correct.  But the film certainly has its pleasures.  Apart from Garland in her prime, before her various physical problems kicked in, you have the eccentric dancing of "Tin Man" Ray Bolger and the unique scat of Virginia O'Brien.  Add to this Angela Lansbury as the leader of the hussies and Cyd Charisse as one of the good girls; incidentally their singing was dubbed, although Lansbury has sung very effectively in other films.  The only major miscasting was Judy's love interest in John Hodiak, one of the less appealing and more wooden planks of the period; but then again, it was one of the middle-budget pictures of the studio and he was probably a contract player.  However, it remains good enough, even with its limitations.

Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959)

Now some people might try to tell you that the only reason for watching this Oirish whimsy is to see Sean Connery in a very early role, and in fact seeing him so young and so gormless does remain a curiosity.  He even sings as the handsome love interest!  However that is an insufficient motive.  The real joy of this movie -- and some people would rate it much higher than your author -- is in the good use of special effects in such an old film, as the eponymous old hero mixes with the wee leprechauns in his pursuit of their gold.  There are also  representations of a banshee and a death carriage in the sky which might be a little scary for the young ones, and they might have trouble too with some of the thick Irish accents.  But all in all it is an inoffensive Disney pleasure, and it is always good to see Estelle Winwood, who was working up to the day she died at a ripe-old 101. 

The Ruling Class (1972)

The last time I viewed this film, it ran 148 minutes, but yesterday's DVD ran only 123 minutes (despite the case saying 154 minutes!) which obviously annoyed me, although I'll be damned if I can remember what was missing.  Now you might think that at even two hours the film was probably too long, but I would quite happily have watched another 25 minutes of this inspired madness.  Outside some of the Ealing comedies, it is one of the blackest satires ever to come out of Britain, and while possibly a bit of a Parson's Egg, it still leaves the viewer with a strong impression.  What you have is the wonderful Peter O'Toole playing the heir to an earldom who has spent the previous eight years in an asylum since he believes he is God.  (He says that he must be correct, because when he prays, he talks to himself!)  His greedy relatives led by step-uncle Willaim Mervyn (another actor that I love) don't want to lose control of the high life they have enjoyed, especially since bolshie retainer Arthur Lowe is the only other named heir.  So they force a marriage with Mervyn's mistress to produce another heir, so that they can have O'Toole taken care of by the Receiver in Lunacy (there really is such a position).  But a showdown with another "God" cures Jack (for that is his name), except that he now morphs into Jack the Ripper.  Full of weird touches and enhanced by great turns from the likes of the inimitable Alastair Sim, this makes singular viewing.  Now, if I could only recall what has been cut....

Wishful Thinking (1997)

Not all little-known films deserve their obscure status and can be a pleasant enough watch without one thinking "My goodness, why hasn't anyone heard of this movie!"  As a case in point, this is yet another pleasant diversion (like so many others) where A loves B who wants C who ends up with D and so forth.  The four main characters are played by Drew Barrymore, the high-yellow Jennifer Beals (sorry, I always think of her this way despite her seldom playing black), James LeGros, and Jon Stewart (who hosted the Oscars earlier this year) and pretty effective and believable they all are.  The main message is sort of verbalised by one of them towards the end of the film: if you strip away someone's weaknesses and insecurities, you find more weaknesses and insecurities; if you strip these away, you find something else; and at the bottom, you find that there is no bottom.  Interesting.

Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990)

Viggo Mortensen has some rather odd entries on his filmography before he struck gold with the LOTR trilogy, but I bet this is one movie that he keeps quiet about, especially since (Spoiler alert!) he plays one of the baddies, not that this information is likely to upset many people since the film was never released in the UK.  Its original US release was something of a failure since it was literally cut to ribbons to satisfy the ratings folk and it is only recently that one has been able to view the uncut version on DVD, although even here some of the worst violence has been trimmed.  While anything but a great film, it is of some interest in completing the original trilogy before the current round of  remakes, even if it is only one of the three not shot in Texas or directed by Tobe Hooper.  The lead female is one Kate Hodge in her film debut and she has not had much of a career outside television since.  However the movie does boast two pluses: a sharp script from horrormeister David J. Schow and a charismatic turn from Ken Foree (the black actor out of "Dawn of the Dead").  In fact the latter proved sufficiently popular to audiences that the ending was altered to allow him to survive, rather than to have his head sliced open by the family chainsaw; Nice!  My major complaint and one that is common to so many films of the 80s and 90s is that the many night scenes were dark enough to be almost unwatchable; I like to see my scares.

Kings and Queen (2004)

I was expecting rather more from this French ensemble drama, which like life itself was a mixture of mysterious events, madcap interludes, long dreary patches, and ultimately self-interest, but I found it all strangely uninvolving.  The film focuses on two main characters: a single mother about to marry her third "husband" (she was not actually wed to the first two, although she somehow managed to marry the first one after his death -- they have some strange procedures in France) and a musician who has been committed to a mental institution by his family.  She is preoccupied for most of the film with her dying father in Switzerland and he works at enchanting the other inmates and staff before his release.  We eventually learn that the two lived together for seven years and that she (for some reason) wants him to adopt her 10-year-old son by her first "husband".  Not a lot turns out as one might have hoped or expected and the only shocking revelation is the dying father's secret thoughts about his beloved daughter.  I can see others being more enchanted with all of this, but I found neither of the two main leads to possess overly great appeal.

Around the Bend (2004)

I never heard anything about this film so must assume that it never had a UK release, but what a curious, quirky movie it was -- I nearly said "delight", but that would be the wrong word since it mixed sorrow with joy.  For a start (and this is not really a spoiler) Michael Caine dies within the first fifteen minutes, shortly followed by the family dog.  But this is all a device to bring together three generations of his family during a road trip to carry out his last wishes.  The family consists of Caine's grandson whom he has raised (Josh Lucas), Lucas' son played by a wonderful child actor called Jonah Bobo, and Christopher Walken as Caine's son and therefore Lucas' father who did a disappearing act some thirty years previous. On the one evening that the four generations have together, Caine insists on their dining somewhere "special" and takes them to his local Kentucky Fried Chicken!  And KFC figures large in the following action.  Gradually we learn more about Walken and the life he has led and the film is as much about forgiveness as it is about love.  All of the actors bring something special to the table and one feels good, even when ones eyes are misting over.

The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982)

You may well ask why I was watching this version which was made for US television; well the simple answer is that the DVD came "free" with one of the Sundays a while ago, and I just got around to having a look.  Despite its peculiarly high rating on IMDb, I found it lacking, but then again being a traditionalist, the Leslie Howard version from the '30s is the only one I reckon.  For a start, it was incredibly long and with the penchant for ad-breaks in the States, it must have run ten hours there -- it certainly felt long enough yesterday.  Secondly I thought the standard of acting was pathetic.  Sir Ian McKellen might be one of our National Treasures today, but as the villain Chauvelin here, he was very lightweight.  The lead was taken by Anthony Andrews whose foppish pose (essential for the role) was simply annoying and his love interest was Jane Seymour, an actress who looks pretty enough but who has built a career playing in drecky movies.  The production values were high, but these did not compensate for what seemed like amateur night to me.

Bombon el Perro (2004)

The above is the release title in England for the Argentinian film called simply "El Perro" (The Dog), and director Carlos Sorin has created another minor gem to be taken together with his earlier "Historias Minimas", which is also something of a doggy movie.  Working with non-professional actors in the wide-open spaces of Patagonia, the director introduces us to some wonderful characters whom we feel we have always known.  The protagonist here is an unemployed 52-year-old who wanders the highways, looking for work.  After helping a broken-down motorist whom he tows back to her miles-away ranch, he is given a dog as a thank you.  But not just any dog, it's an Argentinian Dogo (please note this is NOT the Spanish for dog, but the name of the breed): a very large and very imposing white monster, kind of like an oversized pitbull.  Owning this animal brings new experiences, new friends, and new self-worth to our hero, even if some would take advantage of his naivete.  That's about it (apart from the dogo having to learn to "hump"), but all rather sweet and simple.  Bombon incidentally was the animal's kennel-name, but not what his owner chose to call him, being a rather more down-to-earth characteer.

Tarnation (2003)

This documentary -- and that is hardly the right word -- was made for about $200 and comes with a lot of baggage attached.  At times one feels as if one is watching an art installation rather than a movie, as writer-director Jonathan Caouette presents a surreal kaleidoscope of images, all put together on his computer.  But once one tears oneself away from the amazing pictures, one realises that one is watching an autobiography and a sad one at that, of a life affected by the thoughtless treatment doled out to Caouette's mother who was in and out of institutions for most of her life, given unnecesary shock treatment, and ultimately brain-damaged.  Her creative son tries to find an answer to his own life by assembling the images he has collected since childhood, hoping that his future might be a little more promising than hers, but fearing the worse.  On one level, the film is a love-letter to his Mum.  It's a very personal project, but the finished film probably weighs in at more than the initial costs if one considers the clearances that must have been necessary for the many film clips and the amazing sound track.

Michael (1924)

This German-made silent by the great Danish director Carl-Theodor Dreyer has been available for a while now, but I only caught up with the most recent restoration via a German television broadcast.  I probably should have held out for the English-subtitled version since the film was not all that cinematic and had very "talky" intertitles (my German is hardly fluent).  Still I was able to get the gist of the story and a fairly unusual one for the time it was, insofar as it strongly suggested a homosexual relationship between a famous artist and his aspiring-artist protege and model.  The former was strongly played by Benjamin Christensen, himself the leading Danish director pre-Dreyer, and the latter by Walter Slezak, an Austrian actor whom I previously only knew from his Hollywood parts in the 40s and 50s; as a pretty, thin young man he was virtually unrecognizable from the mustachioed heavy he became.  Between the two comes a desirable Russian princess who is having her portrait done, but the elder artist (who previously only painted men) can not capture her essence; it takes the skill of the younger one (who apparently swings both ways) to portray her eyes.  He falls for her and with the selfishness of youth forsakes his mentor, even whilst the latter is on his death bed; the last shot of the young man is of his being comforted by his lover, wrapped up in an elaborate Chinese blanket (to my eye he looked here like an over-upholstered armchair, which is perhaps not the best message to take away from what is meant to be a classic film).  I will give it another go in due course, but doubt that I will find it any more wonderful.

Con Air (1997)

Gosh, has it really been nine years since this mayhem was released, but this movie still proves inexplicably entertaining.  There are times when only a popcorn movie will fill the bill and this is a fine example.  Falsely convicted con Nicolas Cage leaves prison after eight years, looking forward to seeing his wife and the daughter he never met and accepts transport on a prison plane.  Next time he should take a bus, since the cons take over the flight, led by a totally unscrupulous John Malkovich as Cyrus the Virus (!)  Being a Jerry Bruckheimer production everything is writ large -- the destruction, the violence, the anarchy.  The end section of the airplane taxiing down the Strip in Las Vegas has been designed for maximum damage and effect, but we never forget that it is really only a movie.  There is one section concerning mass murderer Steve Buscemi eyeing up a young girl which made this viewer feel queasy, but fortunately that line was not taken to its logical conclusion, but to an unrealistically feel-good ending for Mr. Buscemi (a lovely actor).  The only thing I really couldn't accept, assuming one believes in Cage as an action hero at the best of times, was the fact that he hadn't bothered to tidy himself up before meeting his daughter, but I guess it he looked any more reputable, the other cons might not have believed that he too was being transferred to a maximum security lock-up.  Leave your brains at the door when viewing this one.