La Luna (1979)

The Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci has made some wonderful films, but this is not one of them.  Shot in English this tells the very overboiled saga of an opera singer played by Jull Clayburgh and her teenaged son who is seeking a father figure and who looks for solace in drugs.  She in turn seems to be looking for solace in an incestuous relationship with her son -- she doesn't quite get there but she sure as hell tries.  At the best part of two and a half hours one wonders what the film is really saying.  Not much I reckon.  Beautifully photographed however, like all of the director's films.

The Howards of Virginia (1940)

It is not very often that I have the opportunity of viewing a Cary Grant film that I have never seen before and I was hoping for the best.  Sadly this was a disappointment, being something of a potboiler of the years before and during the American Revolutionary War.  Grant was too much a man of his time and costume dramas just do not work for him.  Objectively he looked great but one could sense that he was uncomfortable in the role of a backwoodsman mixing in high society.  He also adopted the most un-Cary Grant voice I have ever heard him use, sounding more like a West Country bumpkin than a southern would-be gent. It is really only worth seeing for completists (but I guess that includes me!)

The Other Side of the Bed (2002)

This little sex comedy was apparently a big hit in its native Spain and there is some quiet charm in this tale of friends having it off with their friends' partners.  There are even one or two laugh-out-loud moments. However I could have done with the story proceeding in its more and more complicated way without the cast bursting into song at every opportunity, with six backing dancers performing some very samey moves.  Dennis Potter has a lot to answer for. 

Love Don't Cost a Thing (2003)

This film is a remake of the little-remembered 1987 Patrick Dempsey starrer "Can't Buy Me Love" but with a mainly black cast.  This seems to be something of a trend, and while there is nothing wrong with fashioning new releases for a black audience, the makers might have found material that was less cliched.

Having said that, the film (while in no way memorable) had pleasant enough leads in Nick Cannon and Christina Milian as respectively the high school nerd who thinks he can buy popularity by "paying" a gal from the in-crowd (Ms. Milian).  To make it clear that she was not a "ho" no money changed hands -- he repaired her mother's car which she had crashed.  And surprise, surprise he learns that popularity is not the end-all and she learns that love can be found when least expected.

What I actually found most offensive about this movie was the token use of white characters in much the same way as films used to have token blacks.

Batman (1989)

With "Batman Begins" now in cinemas I thought the time had come to re-evaluate the first of the modern Batman films.  Of the two Tim Burton-directed movies, I have always preferred "Batman Returns" to the original -- and watching it again did not change my mind.  The star of the film is the impressive production design which did win an oscar but the dark and oppressive city is less effective on the small screen. The picture did not win any kudos for its story and is little more than a series of unconnected scenes.  Among the actors the most watchable remains Jack Nicholson's Joker who is still good fun.  Michael Keaton while far preferable to Val Kilmer or George Clooney in the third and fourth outings is not really that impressive; he is capable of wild interpretations, but I think he was restrained by the inhibitions of his double role.  It will be interesting to see if Christian Bale brings more life to his enactment.

Something the Lord Made (2004)

I was expecting this made-for-cable movie to be little more than "worthy" -- and worthy it was, but surprisingly involving and interesting.  It tells the (true) story of a poor black youth who dreams of becoming a doctor but who never realises this aim for various reasons.  Instead he becomes the research assistant of a famous surgeon who became the first doctor to perform heart surgery successfully.  The doctor, played by Alan Rickman, is happy to accept the fame and accolades without admiting that he owed his success to the work and talent of his helper who has no medical qualifications at all but a fine mind.   He in turn faces the prejudice and thoughtless treatment of the time. (The film starts in 1930 and continues to the 1960s when he finally receives recognition).

The role is taken by Mos Def who I think is the most versatile of the actors that started off as rappers or in hip-hop.  He was also excellent as the high-handed police inspector of "The Woodsman" and he brings a quiet dignity to this role as he ages from 20 to 60.  When he finally receives an honourary doctorate, I too cheered his achievement.  

Germaine Dulac short films (1927/8)

What a treat to see these two 40-minute films recently restored by the Netherlands Film Museum.  The first, "L'Invitation au Voyage" tells the story of an unhappy housewife who seeks love and/or escape in the nightclub of the title.  She doesn't find it but we feel her despair and taste her dreams in the scenes of her imagination. This short, told without intertitles and enhanced by a modern score, was far more straightforward than the second, "The Seashell and the Clergyman".

I would be hard-pressed to summarise the film or to tell you what it was about since it was no more than a series of surreal scenes caught by a whirling camera.  It was fascinating, however -- a non-stop barrage of wonderful images and trick photography, as the hapless clergyman was caught up in the logic of dreams.

The Big Bounce (2004)

This is a remake of the pretty awful 1969 movie of the same title.  I read recently that Elmore Leonard who wrote the original book was asked which of the movies based on his books was the worst; he replied that the first movie was the second worst and that the remake takes the number one spot.

Well, it's not quite as bad as all that although I see no reason for making the film again.  Owen Wilson assumes the Ryan O'Neal role of the amoral but charming thief, a part he could play in his sleep, but the rest of the heavyweight casting is mis-used.  Morgan Freeman, Gary Sinise and Bebe Neuwirth are totally wasted and there is even one scene featuring Willie Nelson and Harry Dean Stanton where all they do is play cards (if they figured in the action, it must have ended up on the cutting room floor.)  There is also a female lead that I never heard of previously whose sole function seems to be to be seen in a constant change of skimpy outfits. But that is not the big bounce of the title!!

Kill Cruise aka Der Skipper (1990)

Now here's a bit of eurotrash for you -- a mainstay of German TV -- made there I think.  The lead is Juergen Prochnow who is an excellent actor and who should have known better than to team up with Elizabeth Hurley and Patsy Kensit who play feckless friends tarting it up in Gibraltar -- their "nightclub act" has to be seen to be believed.  Anyhow he is a captain of a small vessel and agrees to sail them to Barbados.  En route he starts an affair with Hurley which sends Kensit 'round the twist until the action takes a totally unexpected turn which comes right out of left field.  I think "stupid" describes this film best.

Waiting for Happiness (Heremakono) (2002)

This film from Mauretania  focuses on a disparate group living or biding their time in a small coastal town -- some will leave, some will stay, some will die.  There is no linking story but we do get to know many of them in a very small way -- whether we really wish to know them is another matter.  However the look, feel and sound of the encounters leaves an indelible image that lingers on.

Alex & Emma (2003)

I can't really review this film since I gave up on it after about an hour and am surprised that I stuck it that long, as I found it a complete embarrassment.  Ever since Goldie's little girl, Kate Hudson, was nominated for an oscar for "Almost Famous", the powers that be seem to have decided that she is a  fascinating lead and will come across with her mother's trademark kookiness.  Wrong.  I have seen all of her follow-up films and am yet to be convinced that she can carry a film.  Pairing her with Luke Wilson who has little of his brother's laid-back charm doesn't help.

I gave up when the stories within the story (she is helping him write a novel) started featuring her as the various characters speaking in funny accents or in old-age make-up.  Enough already -- a dire failure from Ron Reiner who has directed some of the more successful light comedies of recent years.

 

Open Hearts (2002)

This Danish film was supposedly made under the strict Dogme conventions so I was  somewhat surprised to see the flashy abstract camerawork that bookended the story. While the movie held my attention, thinking about it in retrospect I feel that it was a singularly unpleasant film.  It concerns a young woman whose fiance is disabled in a car accident and how she takes up with the doctor-husband of the woman who ran him over.  By the end four lives have been ruined and there is little indication as to what will eventually become of them.  I like my endings a little more satisfying.