The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)

All I remember of my first viewing of this film is that I gave up halfway through deciding it was a bunch of pretentious twaddle. However since I am now older and maybe wiser and since it is considered one of the seminal films of the 70's, I decided to try again.  I think I was right the first time.

The story concerns two brothers -- the serious one played by Jack Nicholson (you can tell he is serious because he is wearing glasses) and the feckless, slightly criminal one played by Bruce Dern (an actor I have always liked but who has never achieved A-list success) -- and their involvement during Dern's latest wheeze with an aging beauty queen (Ellen Burstyn way over the top) and her nubile step-daughter in a pre-redeveloped Atlantic City..  It all ends tragically but since one never developed any sympathy for any of the characters, one doesn't really care.  Perhaps I'm missing something.

The Story of the Weeping Camel (2003)

This semi-documentary was made by a bunch of German film students and focuses on an extended Mongolian family living in the Gobi Desert and their attempts to help the most-recent camel colt who has been rejected by his mother.  I think the film was meant to be charming, but while the look it afforded at another way of life was not without interest, I think the story was too "staged" in the tradition of "Nanook of the North" to really warm one's heart.  The film-makers seem so enamoured of every facet of the family's life that the coherence of the tale is lost. The most interesting part to me since I find baby camels resistible was the inroads being made by so-called civilization into what was once a simple life--from the plastic dust-brush used to sweep the yurt through the clothing with logos to the television set the family had acquired at the end (no doubt a gift from the Germans).  

Honky Tonk (1941)

On many levels this could be labelled a potboiler, but with a cast that includes Clark Gable, Lana Turner (20 years his junior and gorgeous), Frank Morgan, and Claire Trevor, it is hardly a waste of time.  While we've seen the story before of a charming rogue redeemed by the love of a good woman, Gable brings such charisma to his role that one is prepared just to sit back and accept it.  There's not a lot more to the story despite it lasting some 100 minutes, but there are far less enjoyable ways of spending an afternoon.

Pieces of April (2003)

What a delightful and unexpected treat.  Katie Holmes may be in the headlines as the next Mrs. Cruise (Lord help her) but she shines here as the punk daughter trying to make a Thanksgiving dinner for her slightly dysfunctional family, including her dying mother -- a sensational Patricia Clarkson.  Chief among her problems is that her oven has conked out and she finds herself begging her assorted and somewhat weird neighbours in her apartment block to borrow theirs. The word "quirky" just about covers this movie, but it is also very funny at times and by the end extremely moving. 

To Die For (1995)

This was probably Nicole Kidman's breakout movie in the US to show that she could be a star without the help of Tom Cruise.  However although she is very good as the simpering idiot who will do anything for fame, her performance is not quite as wonderful as all that.  At times I had trouble understanding what she was saying since inbetween all the cute faces, she was mumbling.  But it was good to see her in the days before she became the all-out diva that she now is -- and her basic talents are evident.

However I reserve my praise for the rest of the cast: Matt Dillon (whom we have established I like) as the doomed husband, Dan Hedaya as his father, Illeanna Douglas as his caustic sister (she was actually terrific) and even Joaquin Phoenix as the dopey high school kid that Kidman seduces.  The film also had a wonderful ending which totally came out of the blue and wrapped up the action admirably.  The movie should have finished there, but not knowing when enough is enough, the director added on some extra unnecessary scenes.

Mad Max (1979)

It's hard to believe that this film is 26 years old but looking at Mel Gibson, one can see just how young he is.  One can also see the roots of his character in the Lethal Weapon series -- Mad Max relocated to the States.

I have never actually been that taken with this movie or with any of the films in the series, but I thought it was worth another look.  It's a nasty tale and one where revenge doesn't really make me feel any the better.  I can understand why it has its fans, I just can't bring myself to be numbered among them.

Taking Lives (2004)

This is an instantly-forgettable police procedural with the fragrant Angelina Jolie playing an FBI crime profiler called in by the Montreal police (an excuse to employ several French actors all of whom are wasted) to help them find a serial killer who takes on the identities of the men he kills. There are also parts for Kiefer Sutherland and Gena Rowlands (both also wasted) and Ethan Hawke -- who is I think miscast. The denouement comes as no big surprise. The whole can of worms holds one's attention if one is willing to forgive the insults to one's intelligence.

Portrait of Jennie (1948)

Back in the early days, Hollywood had a nice line in fantasy films of which this is one, although the premise is so far out of left field that it doesn't bear thinking about. Briefly Joseph Cotten plays an unsuccessful artist whose latent ability comes out after he meets Jennie played by Jennifer Jones.  He doesn't seem too bothered by the fact that she is a child at their first meeting and seems to age by several years at subsequent meetings (all over the period of about a year) nor by the fact that she is probably dead. It's a completely lunatic scenario but the romanticism of the plot just carries one along.  As they say, they don't make them like this any more.   

Welcome to the Jungle (US: The Rundown) (2003)

Changing the name of this film for its UK release was unlikely to be any sort of improvement, and I don't know what would be.  While I have no great love for wrestlers-turned-actors, the Rock is perfectly acceptable as the retrieval expert sent to hunt down a gangster's son played by Seann William Scott (not a million miles from his Stifler persona). And Rosario Dawson as the third lead is also OK.  It's just that nothing really seems to grab the viewer to agree that the Rock will be the next big action hero -- not even the cameo endorsement by Arnie at the start of the movie (blink and you will miss it).

As for Christopher Walken playing the villain, years of received information lead one to believe that he adds class to any film which has often been the case.  Not so here. I really felt that he was walking through the role without so much as a twinkle in his eye en route to his paycheque.

These Old Broads (2001)

I have heard about this television movie for a while but have only just seen it.  The appeal is the teaming of Debbie Reynolds, Shirley Maclaine, and Joan Collins as three (obviously) aging divas who are being brought together for a reunion show, and as is usually the case in this sort of thing, they start off hating each other.  It's no surprise that they love each other by the end.  The real surprise is how game and feisty the three actresses are -- they are not afraid to take pot-shots at their own images -- and when they sing and dance, they are still pros.  Elizabeth Taylor has a cameo part as their agent and plays it right over the top, adding little, other than her presence, to the movie. 

The Flamingo Kid (1984)

I have a soft spot for this film despite it not being all that special since it reminds me of my teenage years on the sunny south shore of Long Island.  It's all about our young hero played by a young Matt Dillon being seduced by the lifestyle of the rich and tawdry as personified by the Mr. Big of the beach club, Richard Crenna.  Dillon was a magnetic presence in his youth and more the pity that he has faded from the scene recently.  One bit of useless information for you: the movie was directed by Garry Marshall and features Hector Elizondo as Dillon's father; Elizondo has appeared in all of Marshall's pictures and is considered something of a good luck charm by the director..

The Name of the Rose (1986)

This must be Sean Connery's strangest role, even allowing for "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" early in his career.  Here he plays a 13th Century Franciscan monk with overtones of Sherlock Holmes who has been asked to investigate a series of gruesome deaths at a monastery.  His sidekick and acolyte is a very young Christian Slater whose older self is the off-screen narrator.  Based on the difficult book by Umberto Eco, this film could be heavy-going, but it holds one's attention through the strength of the acting and the odd visuals.  The company of monks look as if they were recruited from a gargoyles' convention and the ugliest of them all is Ron Perlman (no beauty at the best of times) who plays a snaggle-toothed hunchback. Hardly everyone's cup of tea, but well worth a look says Pretty Pink.