Where Angels Fear to Tread (1991)

This DVD was given away by one of the Sundays a while back and I was convinced that I must have seen it previously, since it has certainly been shown on terrestrial television.  But I hadn't.  Based on E.M. Forster's first novel and with Helena Bonham Carter in the cast you can bet that it was yet another "Heritage" drama like so many of the Merchant-Ivory's (not that it was one of theirs), but it was not without interest.  Held together by a small but perfect cast which included Rupert Graves, Helen Mirren, and Judy Davis, a tragedy unravels as unthinking Edwardian characters unleash their various hang-ups on a romanticised Italian world.  Davis in particular is brilliant as the priggish spinster looking down her nose on any sort of joie de vivre who is responsible for the final disastrous turn of events.  As the first half of the film's title would have it: "Fools rush in".  My only criticism is that the movie peters out rather sharply and I half expected 'to be continued...' to pop up on the screen. 

Rick (2003)

Having been a little dismissive of the Hallmark Channel recently, I was surprised to find this oddity tucked away in its middle-of-the-night schedules and not even listed as a premiere; I'm not even convinced that it was a cable movie like most of their film offerings, since the strong language and sexual scenes are not the channel's usual bag.  However it was a very strange and provocative black comedy/drama, based on Verdi's Rigoletto in modern dress, written by the author of the Lemony Snicket books, and starring Bill Pullman as a completely unsympathetic company high-flyer who finds himself working for a man half his age.  All of the men in the tale are called names like Rick and Buck and Duke and Nick (words ending in a K are funny as Matthau might have said in "The Sunshine Boys") and each of them is obnoxious in their own special way.  When Pullman gets all snitty with interviewee Sandra Oh and later causes her to lose her cocktail waitress job, she puts a curse on his 'evil soul'.  All of a suddent taxis won't stop for him, he discovers that his nubile teenaged daughter is involved in on-line sex chat with his boss, and a plan to rid himself of the latter goes disastrously wrong.  All this with tinkly (and sometimes too loud) Christmas music in the background resulted in a surreal and disturbing film.  Not Hallmark's bag at all.

The DVD backlog

Now that Sky in its wisdom has decided that two or three new films a week is sufficient and Film4 is replaying its back catalogue for its new Freeview audience, most nights when I'm in there is little to watch on the box that I've not seen previously -- I have even seen all of the "new" Korean premieres on Film4 this month.  And there is a limit to the number of television movies shown on Hallmark and their sister channel that I can tolerate at any one time.  So most nights, we fall back on our DVD backlog -- which I hate to admit is quite substantial -- in the search for new thrills.  Poor, poor Patty!  Some evenings are more successful than others, and yesterday's was a typical mixture:

Rider on the Rain (1969):  We remembered seeing this on a transatlantic flight many moons ago, but could remember nothing about it other than that it was French-made and starred Charles Bronson (whose granite-like masculinity I like just fine).  It is also fairly well rated by the critics, so I was not prepared for the disappointment in store.  Firstly it was one of the worst prints I ever seen on a DVD transfer, nearly black and white when it wasn't meant to be.  Also I found Bronson's co-star Marlene Jobert something of a disappointment, especially since she was on screen nearly non-stop.  Part of the problem is that the film which was set in France was probably originally shot in French with a dubbed Bronson, which might or might not have been an improvement.  Bronson was as usual just dandy and there was even a small part for his beloved wife, Jill Ireland.  Mind you in the olden days they probably could get away with showing an in-flight film about a raped woman who murders her attacker -- not nowadays I bet.

Police Assassins/Yes Madam (1985):  This Hong Kong movie was a real mixed bag, but on balance more jolly than not.  Michelle Yeoh (billed early in her career as Michelle Khan) is now famous for her martial arts skills, but in this her third movie, she had to practice for months to try her hand (and feet) here for the first time.  She plays a cop searching for missing microfilm and paired with real-life champion fighter Cynthia Rothrock, who wasn't attractive enough for US movies but who made a big splash back then in Hong Kong.  The two of them really do kick some ass in flamboyant style by the film's end.  Unfortunately one also has to put up with some singularly low and unfunny Chinese humour by an array of familiar faces from Sammo Hung downwards during much of the exposition.  I was wondering why Yuen Biao wasn't fighting, until I worked out that the actor I thought was him was actually a ringer.  Even more weirdly prolific Hong Kong director Hark Tsui appears as one of the quasi-baddies -- he should stick with his day job. 

The Perfect Man (2005)

There's a thin line sometimes between stories that should have stayed as television movies and those that deserve to be blown up for the big screen; this film is fine for viewing at home and then forgetting, but to try to make something more meaningful out of this bit of fluff is hopeless, especially since two of the three leads -- Heather Locklear and Chris Noth -- are best known for their TV roles.  The third lead and presumably conceived as a vehicle for her is young Hilary Duff, one of the least offensive young comers.  Her mother moves her and her younger sister across the country on a regular basis every time that she is dumped by an unsuitable boyfriend.  When she lands up in Brooklyn (huh?) where there is the promise of a more stable life, Duff creates a fictitious beau to keep her mum happy and to forestall her relationship with a geeky baker.  This would-be lover is based on her friend's uncle (Noth) and initially Duff must keep him away from her mother to avoid being found-out; this includes some really dumb antics at the restaurant which he runs and at a wedding that he is catering.  In the end, mother and daughters learn the value of family, the strengths in being oneself, and of course the promise of real love all round.  Apart from there being no 'disease-of-the-week', perfect TV fare.

Le Combat dans l'Ile (1962)

Jean-Louis Trintignant is rapidly becoming something of a bete noir to me.  This busy French actor has appeared in dozens of films, some of them classics, but his vacantness is beginning to annoy me.  Having seen him recently in the pretentious "Trans-Europ Express", he was even less likeable in this political (not very thrilling) thriller.  He plays a right-wing conspirator framed by his mentor and on the run for a set-up, but unsuccessful, assassination attempt.  He is alienated from his wealthy family and from society at large, but his strained relationship with his wife, Romy Schneider, is really his only tenuous link with reality.  They take refuge with an old friend, Henri Serre, a socialist and pacifist.  When Trintignant tootles off to Buenos Aires to take revenge on his betrayer, Schneider and Serre begin a relationship which can only be resolved by Serre reluctantly adopting violence as well.  It may be something of a spoiler for me to write that by the end of the film I was rooting for Serre to "Kill the Bastard".

The Cold Light of Day (1995)

I've said before, but I'll say it again, I do wonder how certain films come to be made.  This one is a good case in point, since it is a remake in English by a Dutch director of an obscure German movie from 1958.  What makes it even weirder is that it is set somewhere in Eastern Europe, some time after the fall of Communism with a mainly English cast speaking in pukka tones.  Richard E. Grant plays a cop who has quit the force when his superior (in search of political glory) has framed a known offender for the murder of three young girls.  Grant wants to find the real killer in his own way, even if this in fact means placing a youngster and her mother in harm's way.  No suspense is involved since the viewer knows from about ten minutes in that the perp is Simon Cadell, a seemingly respected doctor (but one in the Patch Adams vein).  Yes, that Simon Cadell out of "Hi-de-hi" playing one very creepy paedophile, but thinking about it, his character was pretty creepy in the sitcom as well (in a different way).  He manages to ingratiate himself to Grant's young bait, but disaster is of course averted in the nick of time.  To add to the peculiarities of this film, the story is based on a fairly elderly Durrenmatt novel, written well before the end of the communist era; this updating adds nothing to the story itself.  So why did they bother?

Brain Damage (1988)

Many thanks to those of you who left birthday greetings, although thinking about it, I can't explain what made me announce this in the first place!  Sky last night had nothing new to help me celebrate, showing an interminable TV movie called "Category 7 - The End of the World" about severe weather conditions (unexplained) wreaking havoc on various landmarks and adding a totally unnecessary subplot about a religious fanatic planning the slaughter of the first-born.  Forget about it.

Instead I'll tell you about this weirdie which I rewatched a few days ago.  The second horror film from low-budget auteur Frank Henenlotter (who? you ask) who went on to make the Basket Case series and "Frankenhooker", it is really a lot of fun if you have no cultural hang-ups.  A puppet-like mobile spinal cord escapes from its elderly owners and ends up through the water system in an adjoining flat where it attaches itself to the neck of a young man.  In exchange for providing him with hallucinatory images, the boy's mobility allows the thingy to find new victims whose brains it can suck for sustenance.  What, you now ask, am I doing watching this sort of rubbish?  Well, it's all a matter of perspective and there are times when a dose of lowbrow amusement does set me up for more serious viewing.  So there!

Fantastic Four (2005)

Ho hum!  Another day, another set of super-heroes -- but don't expect me to remember these next week.  Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis are exposed to radiation which affects their DNA (or something) and they can stretch, go invisible, become a fireball, or be a human Rocky (literally) respectively.  Big deal.  Neither terribly well done nor particularly interesting, I can see youngish men panting over the delectable Ms. Alba, but otherwise, forget it.  I now know -- yet again -- why I do not rely on current blockbusters for my entertainment, not that I suppose this one made much of an impact at the box office.  I don't suppose that this will prevent our being lumbered with a sequel in due course, more's the pity.

Princess Tam Tam (1935)

As you may have gathered by now, I will go out of my way to view rareties, hence my visit to the NFT to see this French flick starring the incredible Josephine Baker.  If ever a performer was in the right place at the right time, it was this Black American who was the toast of Paris in the 20s and 30s, mainly for her wild dance routines and her somewhat operatic voice.  However the films that she made, while they form a record of her singular talent -- such as it was -- come from Planet Weird.  In this one which was banned Stateside since it implies a multi-racial romance, she plays a Tunisian goatherd (would you believe) who is tutored by a vacationing author to make his feckless wife jealous.  The fact that Baker was 31 at the time with a sophisticate's make-up did not stop the film-makers here trying to portray her as some sort of street urchin.  This Pygmalian-like tale has its moments but as a showcase for Miss Baker, it leaves a great deal to be desired.  Since it was conceived and written by her husband of the time, she can't really blame anyone else for some of the idiocies inflicted upon her.  One has a long wait before seeing her dance routines, but there are compensations, particularly with an elaborately-staged production number that wouldn't have shamed Busby Berkeley (not that she was in this one).  I'm happy to have seen this film, but wouldn't break my neck to see another of her vehicles. 

Broken Flowers (2005)

Bill Murray strikes me as one of those actors that you really dig or wonder what he is all about and how he managed to have a career.  As you have probably guessed, I fall in the latter category.  In his early roles I found him slightly too sour to appreciate and in his later roles he has adopted a kind of Zen stillness which is mystifying.  Put him together with the director, Jim Jarmusch, whose films specialise in stillness (although I must admit a real liking for his "Dead Man" with Johnny Depp and "Ghost Dog..." with Forest Whitaker), and you get a movie like this one where at the end, you wonder why you bothered watching it in the first place.

Murray receives an anonymous letter on pink stationery announcing that he is the father of a now 19-year old son.  His next door neighbour, Jeffrey Wright -- speaking with a weird Jamaican accent -- encourages him to seek out his ex-flames from twenty years previous to find the truth.  So he reluctantly begins a road trip which has him visiting Sharon Stone, Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange, and an unrecognizable Tilda Swinton.  That the film ends with his being none the wiser nor being any better a man comes as no surprise.

Monte Cristo (1928/29)

I don't know how many versions of Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo" I have seen -- certainly a fair number -- but this silent French version was not one I'd viewed previously.  Apart from its antiquity -- and it is not even the oldest version by any means -- there was frankly little to commend it.  At over 220 minutes the director, Henri Fescourt, apparently wanted to film the novel word for word as it were, but the result was a pedestrian and overstuffed movie.  The fact that the lead was taken by a fairly uncharismatic actor called Jean Angelo did not help, and even having a famous silent beauty, Lil Dagover, as the female lead was of little avail.  Still, because it joins my list of obscurities on disc, this 2006 restoration could become yet another movie that I probably will not look at again -- but it's there should I wish to.

The Fantastic Planet (1973)

This Czech-French animated classic is now available on DVD and really deserves to be better known as it was one of the first films with a SciFi slant intended for an adult audience.  Nowadays we look to anime for this, but this movie is an important forerunner.  Set in a world dominated by huge blue creatures called Draags who keep tiny human-like beings called Oms as pets, the wild oms in the surrounding parkland are considered vermin to be periodically culled.  We follow once such om, Terr, who is treated like a doll but who manages to learn (by transfer direct to the brain) as his mistress learns.  When she loses interest in him as a teenager, he escapes dragging a learning device with him.  With this he manages to educate the wild oms and to lead them, initially into rebellion, but then into a fragile peace.

The animation is very much of its period and has a psychodelic feel like "The Yellow Submarine" and the Gilliam cartoons for Monty Python, creating fabulous landscapes and creatures in a fantastic world.  Seek out the DVD which I am sure you will find of unusual interest; it also contains two rather super shorts which are more than worth your time.