Jack's Reviews
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A largely predictable, lightweight and slightly amusing fare that includes a popular TV quiz show serve. Daniel Auteuil’s Francois Coste is a successful middle-aged antique dealer who, it seems, has everything except true friendship. His attempts to secure a bond of camaraderie to win a bet centre around an unlikely tutor, a trivia gushing, generous cab driver named Bruno. Auteuil and director Patrice Leconte make Francois, the man hardly anybody likes, a likable, if somewhat pitiable screen persona while Bruno is less convincing as an amiable idiot-savant and subject to panic attacks under pressure. What could have been a more serious tome on friendship and loneliness, has become a good natured flick that I found mildly entertaining.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Having just seen Pedro Almodovar’s just released “Broken Embraces” (12/09), his much earlier WOMEN is probably excellent too. I say ‘probably’ because on this DVD only some of the Spanish dialogue was translated into subtitles, so I was largely in the dark regarding the reasons for Pepa’s unhappiness and her mad behaviour. Not knowing the basics of the comedic and complex plot that has unexpected twists and turns let alone the nuances of the characters, I had to give up. So unless you know Spanish or get a DVD with complete subtitles, I wouldn’t recommend adding this one to your queue.
(Don't bother!) - review by Jack
Under unusual circumstances, coolly sexy Claudia (Monica Vitti) begins an affair with handsome and deceitful Sandro, a rich architect. He and his friends, bored with their extravagant lifestyles, wander aimlessly and amorally through life. This is Michelangelo Antonioni's masterpiece of despair and condemnation of lives without purpose or ability to love. He uses a series of betrayals that emphasize human weaknesses in a slowly evolving story about a perplexing sexual relationship and lackadaisical search for a vanished lover. The striking black ‘n white photography mixes sweeping views of the Aeolian sea and volcanic islands with the towns, cities and countryside of Sicily. The film will keep you guessing and wondering right to the end.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
One of the most frustrating and annoying films I’ve ever sat through due the often difficult to hear dialogue being drowned out at various times by repetitive musical scores. Pity because Paul Thomas Anderson’s script and direction has got lots going for it: great acting, artistically visionary, emotionally and intellectually hefty with multi-character disconnected storylines that gradually (three hours plus!) come together in a heavy batrachian (Look it up!) downpour. Chance and coincidence are essential ingredients bringing all the troubled relationships to a surreal conclusion. It’s heady stuff that also includes dark themes, heaps of cussing, and prolonged scenes, all suggesting that viewers will have different interpretations and be strongly polarized.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Bleak and depressing, darkly amusing in a grimacing way, but ultimately the realistic conclusion that life can deal out unforeseen and unfortunate consequences that only the person being affected can sometimes resolve was too nihilistic for me. The universal Man in question is Michael Stuhlbarg who plays Larry Gopnik, a hapless midwestern Jewish University physics professor, struggling to find solutions to a torrent of major and minor adversities. Ironically, hypocrite Sy Ableman, his friend and wife’s suitor, claims to be ‘a serious man’, and is accepted while honest Larry never gets much due. The Coen’s have deliberately made an unsentimental fable that, regrettably, left me not seriously caring about Larry’s fate. Engrossing but very cynical.
Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
A lousy “Fargo” take that’s well wide of the dark comedy mark. Margaret, played by Holly Hunter, suffers Tourette’s Syndrome (expletive repeater), and is the best of the capable actors that include her submissive travel agent husband Paul (Robin Williams), his ultra-violent brother Raymond (Woody Harrelson) and unfunny henchmen Tim Blake Nelson and W. Earl Brown. Then there’s whipping-boy insurance company agent Ted who has an unexplained vampire-like complexion. Left off the title’s end is the word “Lie” because at the Hollywood conclusion morality has been compromised through lack of truth telling, the moral being that if you can get away with it, all will be fine! The film’s major hitch is poor scripting and direction. Avoid it like a blizzard!
(Don't bother!) - review by Jack
One critic has referred to director Peter Greenaway as a “cinema provocateur”; I hardily agree. His films, always visually seductive, unhappily have enigmatic story lines and dialogue easily blurred amidst the meticulously lit theatrical tableaux. This critique of Rembrandt Van Rijn’s most famous painting, “The Night Watch”, is no different. Never showing the iconic 17th century Dutch painter at his easel, he’s portrayed as earthy, over-bearing and foul mouthed, transforming a painting commission into a symbolic indictment of Amsterdam Civil Guards for their corruption and implication in a murder. It’s intriguing ‘stuff’ without evidence in fact, and overall much too intellectually heavy going for me to grasp the subtleties.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
In a role that requires the utmost versatility, Annette Bening is marvelous as forty-ish diva actor Julia Lambert. On or off the stage Julia takes on many roles, able to expose new facets of her volatile personality at will. It’s 1938, Julia is at the height of her popularity, but is bored, aware her good looks are fading. Married, she nevertheless begins an affair with a handsome manipulator half her age that has vengeful consequences. My question is whether or not viewers will approve of her high-strung ego-centric behaviour which veers to the ruthless in an on-stage finale. For me, her unprincipled actions leading to a resounding, but hollow victory affected my enjoyment of the movie. Yet her decision to “celebrate” her guilt alone is a lesson in itself.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Sandwiched between Fellini’s great “La Strada” and “The Nights of Cabiria”, IB doesn’t have their compelling thematic drive, but does continue to probe the destinies of outcast protagonists. A petty 50’s Rome fraudster of the poor, Augusto (Broderick Crawford) struggles with loneliness and a growing sense of self-worthlessness and guilt. Flavoured with ironic humour and exhibiting the director’s keen eye for sardonic behaviour among affected wannabes, Fellini utilizes an eclectic mix of peasants, rogues and working class city dwellers. The darkly comic swindle that begins the film is replaced by a belated revelation reminiscent of La Strada’s Zampanò and a concluding heartless reprisal. Subtitles may need to be switched on from the DVD remote. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
It’s comforting to know that men are occasionally necessary in a feminist folk tale about Antonia, a strong willed Dutch woman, taking up roots at the end of WWII in a small farming town in which she was raised. It’s not that she doesn’t like males, she just doesn’t often need them. The way most are portrayed you can’t blame her. In a series of vignettes covering 50 years of life and death affecting her family, she and her female descendants sustain a free-thinking spirit that results in positive community change. An extraordinary set of characters come under Antonia’s transforming influence, and if viewers can get past the aspersions cast on males and that only women know what’s best, you’ll probably be captivated by the film’s humanity and magic.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Off the wall, literally and figuratively! The unpredictable, innovative, and colourful, and sometimes animated sequences kept me in for the duration, but its aimless wandering became a tedious slog. Writer/director Michel Gondry left me guessing as to whether imaginative anti-hero Stephane was awake or dreaming during his surreal quest to woo anti-heroine Stephanie. Each is peculiar, he at times child-like, insecure, aggressive, shy, and coquettish and she by turns aloof, turned-on, amiable, neurotic and confused, both are obsessive. What an infantile, unlikely romance that skips from English to French or Spanish dialogue! Sexual antics by one of Stephane’s co-workers in a calendar publishing office were bizarre. Ditto for the rest of the film.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Billy, the adolescent son of an embittered striking coal miner, not only “hears a different drummer”, he steps (dances) “to the music which he hears.” Henry Thoreau’s poem aside, over coming antagonism to rise from obscurity and fulfill a dream is a well-used cinematic motif. Aware that audiences know the hero will triumph at the film’s conclusion makes it difficult for a director to fashion a storyline less predictable with fresh and original identities without resorting to clichés and sentimentality. Alas, it doesn’t happen. However, Jamie Bell as ardent and energetic Billy (his exuberant street dance was a joy to watch) and Julie Walters as no nonsense middleclass Mrs. Wilkinson, his ballet teacher, do save their characters from being stereotypical. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Good friends and former college flat mates, two young women with peculiar cases of attitude re-bond after six years apart. Anxious about facial dermatitis, introverted and venerable Annie and her aggressive, acerbic pal Hannah, once social misfits, have now become moderately successful “career girls” yet remain discontented. Not as compelling as “Secrets and Lies”, Mike Leigh’s CG is a near plotless episodic character study of an awkward friendship that flits back and forth in time. Annie and Hannah have changed, but how much? They’ve matured, present a mainstream veneer, peculiarities blunted; however, unresolved issues remain. Like most of us they’re doing their best to cope, trying to reach goals, unsure how. Challenging! Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Descriptors: White Anglo Saxon Protestant flapdoodle, a Yankee apple pie and ice cream romantic comedy, sentimental and sweet, quirky and quite entertaining. Plot: Steve Carell is uptight Dan Burns, a Mr. Nice Guy newspaper advice columnist and single father who’s struggling to cope since the death of his wife. He meets Marie in a bookshop, later discovering she is dating his brother; relationships are tested in none too serious ways in what becomes an awkward annual family reunion. Verdict: Pleasant and enjoyable if one doesn’t mind the rather weakly drawn character of Dan, the even more so Marie (Juliette Binoche), his love interest, and Dan’s family members. Will tranquility return to Dan’s Life? Will love conquer all? Is this Real?
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Lots to like but also some to feel let down by. Wonderful performances by the cast, praise worthy cinematography, and an intriguing romantic tale that is turned dark by a lie. As the film’s title suggests, the wrong was redressed. Well it is, in a twisted kind of way, but not in a satisfying cinematic fashion. What works for a novel (here by Ian McEwan), doesn’t guarantee it will be successfully rendered to film. From its joyous 1935 dinner party beginnings in an aristocratic English estate to an ignoble retreat on the beaches of Dunkirk and grisly scenes of hospitalized wounded soldiers, the action becomes uneven and time shifts a touch confusing. This emotionally powerful tragedy of guilt and redemption ultimately lacks warmth. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Kurosawa, towards the end of his illustrious career, filmed an uncomplicated story of friendship in largely outdoor film locales outside of Japan. Shimmering with humanity, it’s based on the diaries of Captain Arsenyev, a military surveyor, who in 1907 encountered Dersu Uzala, a Soviet Mongol living in tune with nature in eastern Siberia. The clash of a small band of humans with a harsh environment and an urbane adventurer’s contact with a “noble savage” becomes a heartwarming tale of courage and hardship. Its strong ecological message is set amidst spectacular Siberian rivers, forests and taiga. Extras include an interview with the actor who played Arsenyev and archive footage of the original exploration and later Kurosawa’s production.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
It’s relatively easy to review this bomb I axed after 30 minutes. Movement of the hand held camera capturing two fast walker-talkers—the spunky attractive Olya and would-be Casanova, Alyosha -- was distinctly uncomfortable. People, buildings, monuments, streets of St Petersburg were mostly a blur. The pace was frenetic, without respite between utterances, the non-stop snappy flirty chatter rambled on, hardly giving pause for reflection. Comparisons with the superior Before Sunrise came to mind; I identified with that love struck couple and their directionless wandering, but not with The Stroll(ers). The best that can be said is that these carefree and optimistic pedestrians disguised deeper themes that the filming techniques obscured for me.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
A heist gone wrong isn’t new cinema, but viewers will find it hard to predict this white knuckler’s deadly outcomes (hint-hint). For different reasons, two unpleasant brothers, one a conniving bully, the other a weak willed loser, each have a desperate need for money; this and their greed are at the heart of the perverse crime thriller that taps into family dysfunction and the perpetuation of evil. The botched robbery is segmented into before and after flashbacks that gradually bring into focus all the interacting nasty characters. In fact, Sidney Lumet’s masterly direction and outstanding performances from Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, Marisa Tomei and Brian O’Byrne left no one to admire—villains and victims all—a tragic morality tale.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Director Michelangelo Antonioni has painted his cinematic canvas with hues of gloom, in a forerunner of today’s ecological predicaments and disasters. An Italian industrial environment, shown in vivid contrasts of colour, is dominated by outsized man-made structures, poisonous waters and sky, and blighted, desolate landscapes. Emotionally fragile Giuliana, the beautiful wife of a factory manager and electronics engineer, struggles to cope with the pollution and spirit deprivation situation in which she must live. Alienated, she seeks love and meaning to her life, finding a brief respite with her husband’s business associate. Her neurotic behaviour and concluding carry-on resignation don’t make for exhilarating drama or satisfying story telling.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Great films cast their aura for many years and Chinatown, in the film noir genre, is in that mold. Jack Nicholson as the dapper, hard (and slit) nosed Private Investigator Jake Gittes is in every scene and doesn’t disappoint. He’s smart, scrupulous and inquisitive, quick to use force to gain an advantage. Faye Dunaway’s Mrs. Mulwray is the femme fatale whose gradually unfolding secrets kept me in suspense and her fate might surprise viewers. Dialogue is razor sharp, like from Noah Cross (John Huston): “Course I’m respectable. I’m old. Politicians, ugly buildings, and whores all get respectable if they last long enough.” Reprisal of Roman Polanski’s complex 1930’s LA tale of political corruption, murder and family dysfunction will reward.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Great films cast their aura for many years and Chinatown, in the film noir genre, is in that mold. Jack Nicholson as the dapper, hard (and slit) nosed Private Investigator Jake Gittes is in every scene and doesn’t disappoint. He’s smart, scrupulous and inquisitive, quick to use force to gain an advantage. Faye Dunaway’s Mrs. Mulwray is the femme fatale whose gradually unfolding secrets kept me in suspense and her fate might surprise viewers. Dialogue is razor sharp, like from Noah Cross (John Huston): “Course I’m respectable. I’m old. Politicians, ugly buildings, and whores all get respectable if they last long enough.” Reprisal of Roman Polanski’s complex 1930’s LA tale of political corruption, murder and family dysfunction will reward.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Cultural conflict, so well done by director Mira Nair (Salaam Bombay and Mississippi Masala), here follows two generations of a Bengali family, the Gangolis who begin their married life in New York. Their son Gogol is given his name because of a near death experience that changed the life of Gogol’s father. However, the name becomes a source of embarrassment for the teenager until as an adult he reconciles his Indian roots with his Yankee upbringing. Similar stories have been filmed before, and viewers probably won’t be surprised by most developments. Also readily apparent is the film’s book origins; some key events over 30 years must be compressed into less than satisfactory length scenes. Still, humour, love, and commitment are heart winners.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
A tightly constructed suspenseful movie whose groundwork is laid in the first hour. Regrettably, it completely self destructs in the final minutes probably leaving a righteous feeling in some (Israelis) who might have felt troubled about several issues, one being vigilante vengeance. Then there’s homophobia, racial prejudice, Nazi guilt, suicidal terrorists, German/Israeli relations, etc. Except for the concluding laughable improbabilities it’s not intended as a comedy, though banal dialogue might infer otherwise: “Do it for your mother,” when hesitant Mossad assassin Eyal is urged to eliminate another victim. Daringly, allusions to the present day Palestine/Israeli conflict imply Jewish mentality lacks some understanding. Two and a half stars.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Celebrity fixation began many years before the press and gossip mag writers glorified Hollywood actors. Folk hero and outlaw Jesse James is brought back to earth by Brad Pitt’s portrayal of James as a repugnant psychopathic robber. With little depth to his character and piddling background to his degenerate deeds, there’s no doubting his menacing grip over gang members. His killer, hero worshiper Robert Ford (Casey Affleck) projects an extreme example of a creepy, misguided groupie, who’s resentful of his mediocrity and fears for his life. His betrayal of James gains the notoriety (and reward) Ford believes he deserves, learning too late it’s tinged with the hate reserved for traitors. Over-length, slow paced and brooding, the film has a daguerreotype quality. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Doing it hard in Benares, Aparajito’s frankness won’t disturb today, but it’s a film that that went where no Indian director had gone before—and included music by a then yet to be recognized sitar player, Ravi Shankar. Second in a trilogy, it’s a slow paced story about life’s struggles and hard won triumphs centred about a widowed mother’s stoic love for her academic son, Apu. Despite sadness and a degree of resignation there’s a sense of quiet optimism amidst serene beauty and tranquility expertly captured in black and white. Aspects of Indian culture, its festivals, religious beliefs and social stratification, though understated are discreetly criticized. Meaning ‘unvanquished’, the movie is based on a serial novel that follows Apu’s life from childhood to adult.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
An episodic extravaganza of colour, ideas and imagination that merges reality with fantasy and Frederico Fellini’s persona with The Eternal City. It’s his tribute to modern and ancient Rome, warts and all, held together by the thinnest of narration threads -- puzzling for viewers expecting a traditional story. However, intriguing scenes of the pleasures of mind and body include: singing and prancing prostitutes of all sizes and shapes enticing bordello customers, boisterous outdoor summer dining, a WWII raucous vaudeville show with a rude interjecting audience, a subway tunnel dig that uncovers an underground Roman fresco lined crypt, a fashion parade with roller skating nuns, and priests, bishops and cardinals in bizarre ecclesiastical dress, etc. It’s a hoot and a holler.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Though 90 minutes in length EK plays like an intense long “short”, heavy with expletive street parlance in the tough sordid environs of a run down west Sydney suburb, Erskineville. Two brothers are reunited when one, sensitive and hesitant Barky (Marty Denniss), returns home for the funeral of his father and is confronted by a seething bitter older brother Wace (Hugh Jackman). A straightforward story about men unable talk about their feelings, Wace’s guilt and resentment erupts with violence drawing to a shattering climax in a grubby pub toilet. Then spent, and awkwardly resolved it ends, perhaps, like the real life it reflects. Even so, I expected more, but not sure what or why. Terrific acting by the two leads, harshly vivid camera work. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Quite a con job: Actor John Malkovich putting on aires and accents, dressing outlandishly and pretending to be gay Alan Conway who in the real world claimed to be the reclusive famous director Stanley Kubrick. As a tribute to him the film fails despite references to his well known masterpieces. The comedic tone set by Malkovich’s acting can only be described as “over the top” and glib. Without probing Conway’s motivations, the ‘based on a true story’ content is superficial. Fleecing suckers happens all the time, but surely the real Conway had more subtlety. However, Malkovich was entertaining; he preyed on his willing victims’ (us?) desires to touch and even contribute to a celebrity, undoubtedly, a regrettable and actual state of affairs.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
If for only ogling Marlene Dietrich as Lola Lola in top hat, stockings and bare thighs singing “Falling in Love Again” on a cabaret stage, it’s worth eyeballing a flick that is well past its use by date. Deeper themes are implicit in this pre-WWII German production that casts the bourgeoisie in an unflattering light and underscores class differences. Emil Jannings stars as a middle-aged bachelor schoolmaster of English, Dr. Immanuel Rath, who becomes besotted with Lola, losing his dignity and respect in the process of tying himself to a sensuous amoral woman. Elements of sadism and cruelty, master and slave, and child like regression made TBA darkly tragic, conceivably heralding the rise of a new order (promulgated by the Nazis) in the 1930 Weimar Republic.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
As we’re told, long term coupling of hopeless romantic Tom and incorrigible realist Summer was doomed. I liked but felt uncomfortable with the contradictory nature of the romantic comedy that probably has more relevance to younger viewers than me. It’s air brushed surface belied the bitter pill theme of love rejected in a quirky story that skipped back ‘n forth in time, inserted animation into a joyous toe-tapping dance sequence, included the sitting-at-the-back-of-the-bus ending of The Graduate and a tip-of-the-hat to Bergman’s chess playing grim reaper in The Seventh Seal. At the end, was director Marc Webb suggesting that fate determines lasting liaisons? I don’t believe it does and there’s a lot more to chew on than Tom’s greeting card adages.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Toshiro Mifune was a truly great actor long associated with outstanding director Akira Kurosawa. I wanted to see Mifune under another director, didn’t expect much from Samurai Pirate (with such a title who would?) and I was duly unrewarded. As a fantasy a la Sinbad the Sailor it suffers from a ho-hum fairy tale plot, cardboard characters, and little action or suspense. It might appeal to youngsters with its adventure, wizard magic and attempts at humour, but the special effects of this ’63 film are ordinary. Shot in colour, the elaborate costumes have a distinctly 1960’s look, the dialogue clichéd. If Kurosawa saw SP, I’d imagine he would have snickered and shaken his head. It bored me and I went to bed before our hero vanquished his adversaries.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Agonizing angst that can make for trying viewing. Follow the long, some might say achingly slow, somber journey for Jakob Beer, a Polish jew, who as a child watched in horror as his parents are slain by German soldiers and his sister met an unknown end. Rescued by a Greek archaeologist Jakob’s adult life continues in Canada where he writes perceptive prose and poetry about his tragic past. However, his memories subjugate and isolate him with his ghosts; he’s unable to fully give others the love he willingly accepts. Told in a series of flashbacks, these ‘fugitive pieces’ don’t quite come together as a compelling insight into Jakob’s anguish. Nevertheless, his memories proffer lessons for the present and the power of love ultimately offers absolution.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
What a perfect title for the heartwarmingly honest comedy about aging and impending death. My sense of humour was sparked by the impersonation shenanigans of elderly close male friends, Fanda and Eda, who delight in playing practical jokes but lately at a cost, financially and emotionally. Fanda’s wife, Emilie, can’t accept his charades as she harps on about her their funeral plans, a looming shift to an old peoples’ home and his need to get serious about life. How have they survived 44 years of bickering, bitterness and resentment? It looks like their marriage has finally come a cropper and Fanda reacts with despondency becoming old as we watch. Humorous and poignant sans sentimentality, the film is uplifting and engaging.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Potentially steamy themes of public toilet homosexuality, adultery, adolescent sexual orientation and coming of age are examined in the frosty environs of a small Nova Scotia town. Alternative lifestyle parents of intellectually advanced, but socially ill-equipped Emerson, a home schooled 13 year old, decide it’s in his best interests to attend the local middle school causing unresolved issues to erupt. The main characters are well drawn, but dark subjects are hardly controversial and, as a comedy, it’s not funny, nor is it moving. Several plot devices bothered me, like Shakespeare being warmly received by Junior High students, an intelligent teacher risked all by seeking liaisons in communal amenities and on cue a gay driver propositioned a distressed Emerson. Two and a half stars.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
A highly stylized study of the fatalistic and flawed lives of three criminals as they routinely murder and rob. What’s striking is the utter lack of emotion shown by the principals: Leather jacketed Franz (acted by debut director Rainer Fassbinder), a pimp and small time hood, his attractive prostitute girlfriend Joanna, and cold blooded killer Bruno, in suit with Fedora tipped at a jaunty angle. Envisage long scenes, a stationary camera, little or no dialogue, backgrounds of black ‘n icy whiteness, action slowed or stopped. Is Fassbinder asking viewers to imagine what these low life characters were thinking? Surely a difficult ask! Though violent, the beatings and murders aren’t graphic; these crooks have no redeeming traits, quite a contrast with most Hollywood gangsters. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
How To Be An Enterprising Teenage Upper Middleclass Pimp Without Your Parent’s Knowing is, of course, much too long for a movie title for the male fantasy comedy. However, it sums up Risky Business, Tom Cruise’s first (pelvic) thrust into cinema lore. He plays Princeton hopeful Joel Goodson whose sexual frustrations lead him to engage the services of warmish hearted hooker, Lana (Rebecca DeMornay) when his socially conscious parents go on holiday. Their departure gives Joel some independence time and, at home, he slides into a white fronted jive to Bob Seger’s "Old Time Rock and Roll"—a classic ‘get-it-on’ scene. The smart and incisive dialogue cuts a satirical sway through touchy topics of greed, wealth, guilt, and lust. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
A near plotless slapstick comedy of the silent film type filled with joyful French music and minimal dialogue. Contrasting the old (bicycle mail delivery system) with the new (speedy American postal daring-do), gangly mailman Francois (Jacques Tati) serves up a mocking tribute to Yankee technology and modernization. Charming French village scenes celebrating Bastille Day add a carnival atmosphere as Francois cavorts with the locals, consumes too much alcohol and finally gets on with his irrepressible, indefatigable and often comedic mail distribution. It’s fun, but its funniness is probably more in tune with an earlier era. The re-mastered colour isn’t up to scratch, but that’s a minor quibble.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Director Sam Mendes’ Road was damnation for the film’s villains but, unfortunately, for me too. It’s too predictable, largely unbelievable, and any affinity for the tight-lipped protagonist hit-man Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks) seldom rose above the “Who cares anyway?” kind. There is no doubt Sullivan is a killer, but the evilness of his deeds is side-stepped in favour of his role of being a loving parent in a quest for deadly retribution. Similarly the Depression era Irish gangsters were depicted more as nostalgic cartoon figures than as thugs. Only Jude Law’s character, murder scene photographer Harlen Maguire is unquestionably diabolical. The dark, water soaked cinematography was slightly surreal while the syrupy all-ends-well finale was unreal. One and a half stars.
(Don't bother!) - review by Jack
Alien outcasts called “prawns” live in ghetto-like conditions in South Africa. Weird? It is, but before you think just a run-of-the-mill Sci-Fi film, it isn’t. You’ll probably end up siding with the prawns and their leader, curiously named Christopher Johnson, and his young son, Little CJ. A dorky human, Wikus van der Merwe, an exuberant field operation chief is initially sent to relocate the cat food loving otherworldly populace, but ends up aiding them instead. Convincing special effects create a huge hovering disabled spacecraft, tentacle mouthed extraterrestrials, and nasty super weaponry clashes. This innovative, thinly disguised morality tale takes humans to task for their corporate corruption, racism and treatment of refugees. Food (prawn) for thought?!
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Don’t let the title give the impression it’s a cinematic soap opera. This fly-on-the-wall scrutiny of a flawed British family is about finding oneself and one’s origins through the power of love. At times funny, often sad, and ultimately uplifting, it’s a compelling reach-for-the-tissues drama as much for its story about a adopted young middle class woman finding her biological mother as the powerful acting. Brenda Blethyn (Oscar nominated) is factory worker Cynthia, a fearful, lonely single mother trying to get along with her morose 20 year old daughter, Roxanne. Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Timothy Spall, and Phyllis Logan give multi-layered performances respectively as Hortense, Roxanne’s half-sister, Maurice, Cynthia’s photographer brother and his wife Monica. Four and a half stars.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
What an auspicious directorial debut by the Coen bros! Their oft-repeated style embedded in an quirky plot was set in motion here: imaginatively wacky characterizations, blood curdling effects, and dark drollness. This Texas locale story concerns a perplexingly alluring adulterous wife, her creepy bartender lover, the vindictive bar owner husband and a jovial but noxious private detective who accepts a dual murder contract. Simple it isn’t as we’re taken along an unexpected trail of double-dealing, mix-ups and grim homicides involving the four sordid and quite unpredictable characters. Somehow injections of black humour, singular sounds and visual chicanery (including shades of red) make the journey both suspenseful and fun (if you can handle the bloodiness).
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Highly acclaimed stage plays don’t necessarily make for riveting movies, but ASND triumphs. Vivid dialogue loaded scenes fuse with undisguised sexuality (for the 50’s) to create a tense edgy drama. Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowaski is a crude and sexually charged blue-collar brute set against the genteel Southern belle pretense of his sister-in-law Blanche Dubois (in an Academy Award winning portrayal by Vivian Leigh). Her down-to-earth sister Stella Kowaski (Kim Hunter) tries to keep Stanley’s ceaseless probing attacks on Blanche in check. Nevertheless, when his masculinity is threatened he viciously lashes out and, after his wife walks out, his emotional dependence on her gives rise to the (famous) bellow of his primal anguish, “Hey, Stell-laaahhhh!”
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Ridley Scott has directed some very good films (Blade Runner, Matchstick Men, Thelma and Louise, Alien) but WS is NOT one of them. It’s filled with banal dialogue as when crotchety “Skipper” (Jeff Bridges) sagely declares to his inexperienced hunky schoolboy crew, “You know what's out there? Wind and rain, and some damn big waves, reefs and rocks, sandbars, and enough fog and night to hide it all.” Camera work aboard the “Albatross” in port or at sea is excellent but the story is heavy-handed, unoriginal and the clichéd characters poorly developed, none worse than the domineering wealthy father and his wimpy wife checking up on their seafaring son. After that scene the as yet unseen white squall became a black screen—I went to bed!
(Don't bother!) - review by Jack
Hollywood Middle East terrorist twittle-twaddle with compulsory injections of techno whiz-bangs, a nurse love interest, plenty of violence, explosions, bullets, and even a last moment rescue of the bruised, finger busted, bleeding hero. (Sound familiar?) Also grating was tubby Russell Crowe as Washington based CIA agent Ed Hoffman in mindless minder roles. While acing like the father of the year this laid-back prig pig blithely used his mobile phone to direct deadly missions for angst charged operative Roger Ferris (Leonardo DeCaprio) in some Arab hot spot. Add a cool Jordanian head of Intelligence with another agenda and bingo—you’ve got a three-way stream of deceptions! Without depth BOL is simplistic and seems mainly aimed at an action seeking audience.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Though only a “movie”, depictions of class and staff room and playground reality don’t come any more palpable. Former real-life educator, François Bégaudeau plays committed teacher François Marin teaching French grammar to a street-smart multi-racial class of 14 and 15 year olds in an inner Paris suburb. As expected, student resistance and emotionally charged power struggles ensue with outcomes that can only be described as transitory real-life evasions and fixes, not enduring movie-life resolutions. Intense, at times hostile and expletive-loaded, issues are examined from student, staff and administration viewpoints with varying degrees of accord. TC is unfeigned and compelling viewing requiring rapid subtitle reading in a dialogue driven drama.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Mysterious it is until enough clues from fragmented flashbacks can be strung together to grasp why deeply troubled Irina, “The Disowned One”, so desperately wants to be a nanny for the Adacher family. An eerie atmosphere is created thanks to excellent camera work, but Ennio Morricone’s music (in itself a recommendation) isn’t enough to sustain supposed suspenseful scenes. It’s watchable, but there’s much that is ugly: sexual exploitation, sadism, preposterous plot devices, dubious morality on the part of Irina (to gain her job), too many questions left unanswered and, at the conclusion, all for what—a connection that isn’t valid biologically? Has this end justified the means? Xenia Rappoport’s lead performance is the best part of a regrettable film.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
With a twinkle (and hardly a tear) in her eye, Audrey “Amelie” Tautou does Coco Chanel in a rather vapid representation of the renowned fashion designer’s rise from orphanage beginnings. Nevertheless, as a period piece viewers will recognise the restrictions of the ostentatious women’s costumes of the early 1900’s and Coco’s liberating influences, typified by her simple eye catching outfits and hats. Director Anne Fontaine’s biopic makes Coco into a sympathetic iconoclast, skimming a ruffled surface but sparing us the unsavory details in the depths – a pleasant Chanel No 5 whiff of a spirited, independent and committed woman.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
What this savvy film has to say about upper crust social mores probably isn’t so important after 69 years. After all, besides today’s internet tittle-tattle and gossip mag scrutinizers, who really attaches much importance to the whims of the rich be it 1940 or 2009? However, this romantic farce’s wacky and tangled plot has especially witty dialogue uttered by the stars of the day: Katharine Hepburn, Gary Grant and James Stewart and their supporting cast. Centred around the re-marriage of head-strong heiress Tracy Lord (Hepburn), suitors, including her smug ex-husband (Grant), are still keen on her. There’s an unacceptable acceptance of philandering, at least by the affluent and, understandably, there’s also a decidedly sexist view of a woman’s place.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Though a fan of the Coen brothers, I’m not enamored by their caricature style films, like Raising Arizona and now this one. It’s opening few minutes laid satirical exaggerations on so thickly, I only hesitated to hammer the remote’s death button because the visuals were so appealing. I couldn’t connect with these outlandish cartoon characters who lack humanity in this fabrication of a corrupt corporate world. With an increasing buildup of bile for the Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Paul Newman odd balls they portrayed—mutant metamorphoses of earlier Hollywood film stars -- and their over zealous support cast, I hit the eject button well before finding out why or if Norville Barnes actually jumped to his death. One and a half stars.
(Don't bother!) - review by Jack
So dismayed with this coarse French farce, I turned it off midway. English dubbing didn’t help in the not very believable, silly script, an unenlightening comedy of humiliation. In addition, its stage setting was all too evocative of a Yankee TV sit-com further restricting its appeal. Action and dialogue were fast paced, but the supposed witty banter between up-himself publisher, Pierre, and perceptive, but dumb civil servant Francois didn’t provoke laughter, only disinterest in the predictable plot loaded with hyperbole, misunderstandings, unlikely incidents and clumsy accidents. Jacques Villeret as the thickheaded but warm hearted Francois, did a creditable job acting the unmitigated fool, likable in a painful sort of way. Ugh! Bah!
(Maybe) - review by Jack
After reading the book, my wife wasn’t anxious to see Disgrace and she wasn’t much uplifted after the film either. However, I thought it disturbingly brilliant. John Malkovich as dishonoured university professor David Lurie and Jessica Haines, his daughter Lucy, portray difficult roles with poise. Their bleak story is largely set in a severe South African landscape and a violent post apartheid culture. After a brutal assault and rape of his daughter by three black youths David is compelled to appraise not only his flawed life but also his attitudes about racism and the nature of justice and division in the country. Aussie Antony Partos’ score passionately reflects the emotionality of Steve Jacobs and Anna-Maria Monticelli’s challenging masterpiece.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
It begins with a promising dawn: Natalie, a suburban every-mum and her hard working good natured husband, Ross, start an undercover bonk, interrupted by their two adolescent kids. An ominous portent? Yes! An annus horribilis is about to test family, friend and pet relationships. In a series of monthly snapshots writer/director Sarah Watt warmly and humourously displays this battling Aussie middleclass family’s joys, hardships, frustrations and love. I wasn’t expecting this much reflective fun about a close-knit family trying to cope with and make sense of life’s minor and major trials. Though packed with numerous examples of the tacky, the ridiculousness of gross consumerism, and even a brush with religious salvation, it’s mostly a gleeful experience.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
An unremarkable melodrama but worth seeing for Phyllis Logan’s captivating performance as Janie, the repressed wife of a dour older Scottish farmer during WWII. A liberation of spirit comes when Janie surrenders to the advances of an Italian prisoner-of-war with predictable results. Plotting is mundane, the mood, like the northern winter landscapes, often gloomy, but the cinematography excellent. I particularly liked the village music and dancing scenes during which Janie’s friend sang a beautiful Scottish aire and Janie released her pent up frustrations by joyously cavorting on the dance floor. Her love interest, a passionate Luigi, belts out Italian songs with gusto, but neither these nor the talk among the three prisoners is subtitled.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
An iconic American, HST didn’t enter my cognisance until relatively recently with the news of his suicide in ’05. His outrageous persona is revealed in Alex Gibney’s documentary that I reacted to with clashing sensitivities: respect for Hunter’s subjective (Gonzo style) journalistic capers (his political views mirror mine), but abhorrence for his drug dependent and self-destructive lifestyle. The portrait captures footage of the writer throughout his life, comments and anecdotes from prominent figures including his two wives, Jimmy Carter, George McGovern, and Tom Wolfe, readings from Thompson’s work by Johnny Depp, old photos, voice recordings and TV footage. It’s larger than life stuff about a man who became a victim of the rebellious image he so willingly inflated.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
In this banner year of Aussie films, BK is a stand-out, however, its subject matter is demanding. With a beautiful but crass girlfriend in tow, a brooding Ned Kendall (Ben Mendelsohn) reluctantly returns home somewhere in the remote Flinders Ranges to bid farewell to his dying and spiteful widower father (Bryan Brown). The mood is tense, relationships strained and the dysfunctional family situation gets darker as a series of sexually loaded flashbacks pack one emotional layer upon another. Director Rachel Ward takes viewers on a powerfully poignant journey into kindred blackness and then, abruptly, into resolution’s sunlight. The cast including Rachel Griffiths and Sophie Lowe as Ned’s sisters, commonsense Sally, and spirited Kate, give inspiring performances.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Director Luis Buñuel confronts his audience with blunt messages, but not ones especially upsetting today, unless viewers are piously religious. Consider four examples: Viridiana’s devout widower uncle, Don Jaime, succumbs to lecherous desires then exacts a vengeful departure betraying his empty life. The exalted sounds of Handel’s Messiah are paired with Last Supper like scenes featuring a rabble of beggars and miscreants in drunken (and amusing) depravity. Viridiana, an idealistic aspiring nun, has her naivety savagely stripped away yet pragmatically accepts the harsh reality of her existence. Tied to the undercarriage of a moving cart a suffering dog is saved when Jorge buys it; abruptly another cart with its tethered canine rolls by. Four and a half stars.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Ever been out late and caught in a situation which acted to delay a return to the warmth and security of your bed? AH explores this theme as a goofy and wildly inventive dark comedy, perhaps intended as a cosmic joke by director Martin Scorsese. It didn’t make me antsy having to watch our anxiety ridden hero, Paul Hackett, a computer programmer enduring a prolonged nightmare as he confronted weird characters in offbeat New York nightspots. But I can appreciate Paul’s late night odyssey could be like chalk screeching down a chalkboard for viewers as he struggles to gain the safely of his apartment. The off kilter Big apple bohemian denizens he encounters were choicely acted, uttered witty dialogue and cleverly directed.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Very much a man’s fantasy successfully employing batty and humourous dialogue to present a contrived and spurious view of love. Hooker Daniela (Monica Belluci) is the very sexy focal point of this farcical psychological battle. It involved herself, client Francois and, in the film’s second half, Charly (Gérard Depardieu), her husband/pimp who vacillated from being a growling gangster menace to a bluffing dilettante. Excerpts from Bellini, Verdi, and Puccini operas were unusual, but welcome background. Was director Bertrand Blier having a go at opera’s often loony plots by inserting arias to underline his characters’ whacky machinations? Probably! HMDYLM? is the stuff of opera buffa without the principals having to sing. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
A demanding gem. Why? Most of the choice, freely translated dialogue loaded interactions occur in the confines of a rundown mid-19th century Japanese flophouse. The stage play-like tatty setting heightens the stark poverty, anger, frustration, self-deception and despondency mirrored in the facial airs of its lower class denizens. Except for a wandering pilgrim who stays one night, the characters are pitiful. Still, all are engaging despite being unable to escape their tragic karma. Yet, unexpected humour sparkles in the gloomy atmosphere. All this requires patient and concentrated observation that will reward viewers with Kurosawa’s insights into the human condition. Even sympathy with the no-hopers’ miseries is probable. Afterwards TLD haunts.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Reminded me of “The Goodies” TV antics (they came next decade) and about as silly. Even so, there’s a plenty of ear nostalgia, eye lollies and messages about how to cope with squealing female fans, persistent reporters and overwrought producers. After all, John, Paul, George and Ringo were iconic Rock ‘n Roll superstars in the making and they generated a new liberating spirit. Beatles enthusiasts should enjoy the circa mid-60’s take on Beatlemania and the near plotless trying-hard-to-be-funny comedy. Paul’s testy grandfather triggered a few outright laughs but the wise cracking palaver from the relaxed Fab Four seemed fatuous which I suppose was much the point, i.e. it and the film weren’t meant to be taken too seriously.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Such interconnected complex relationships and missed connections surely happen in the real world. Here they’re captured in a way that makes for a celebration of goodness in spite of malicious forces that could act against this. The absorbing story involves six people, four Turkish and two German, the comings and goings of some of them between the two countries and the death of two. First rate acting and storyline elicit character sympathy and I was drawn into their preserve knowing links of which they were not aware. It’s compelling viewing, much better than the French made “Happenstance” and other movies of this ilk in which chance and circumstances are crucial to outcomes. Director Fatih Akin has made a dramatic winner.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
I learned more about Kurosawa in the Extras from talking-heads’ tributes than I did from the less than riveting Docu which was repetitive, grainy and not well structured. A few selections from Kurosawa’s autobiography were narrated (he had samurai ancestors), but there’s only one brief archive interview with the great director. Several of his superb films were touched upon, but others were left out. On the other hand, the recollections from family, friends and those who worked with the director reflect his genius and the methods he employed to try to achieve perfection. Included were actors James Coburn and Clint Eastwood who mused over the impact Kurosawa’s movies made on Hollywood. One for Kurosawa devotees.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
A melange of seven European university students in Barcelona combine partying, dalliances and close quarter living with schooling, activities which are likely to resonate with many viewers. At the centre is bemused Parisian Xavier (Romain Duris) belatedly studying economics, and not certain of anything. Fortunately, his away-from-home experiences provide him with the components needed to fulfill his maturation, but not before some highly amusing out-of-class learning situations and entanglements. Relationships are as frenetic as these would-be scholars’ lifestyle, their apartment microcosmos optimistically representing the often-chaotic (like their interior of the communal refrigerator) cooperation between European Union partners.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Never mind the duels (hardly possible), the stunning cinematography of this Napoleonic Wars period film just can’t be topped and though often shadowy I rate it along side Kubrick’s “Barry Lyndon”. Landscapes, costuming, and exterior and interior views of buildings are awesome. The plot centres on the existing European code of honour, its absurdity mirroring the battlefield clashes. Over 15 years two cavalry officers, Lt. D’Hubert and Lt. Ferraud, fight a series of duels without resolution until the last one. D’Hubert is the victim of the Ferraud’s irrationality, just as countries were helpless victims, compelled to take up arms against Napoleon’s invasions. Based on Joseph Conrad’s “The Duel” director Scott Ridley’s adaptation is excellent.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Unmistakeably Kurosawa, but with fewer Western touches. However, a slow movement from one of Vivaldi’s opus 3 “L’estro armonico” concerti (if I caught the concluding credits correctly) is used with glowing effect. The film is a tender tribute by grateful and loving former students of an aging Japanese professor honoured by a yearly birthday banquet. Told in a series of verbose vignettes, at times protracted, the reclusive and down-to-earth professor’s life appears uncomplicated, though much enriched by his enduring devotion to his career, friends, pets, simple domicile needs and wife (in that order!). The low key buzz of the film is Kurosawa’s slant on a meaningful life as seen through the witty intellect of an inspirational mentor. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
A brilliant heart felt examination without sentimentality of the consequences of the death of a family matriarch, the importance of memories attached to objects and the ephemeral nature of the status quo. Three family members recognize that they have different talents, needs and aspirations, disparities that cause conflicts of interest. The film’s title evokes enjoyable recollections of summer holidays, events that are impossible to repeat, but which continue to be reborn with new and satisfying outcomes. I found the film’s themes quite involving; they’re to be savoured long after the credits have ceased. Why? As I’ve aged, I’ve become more centred on what is most important and I’m wondering if to date I have made a significant legacy.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
I believe audiences are conditioned to more sophistication in films than previously, not as in WH (’49) where cardboard characters spout comic book dialogue. Nevertheless, this gangster film noir was entertaining with enough unpredictable ridiculous twists to keep the sinister silliness interesting. Showing a paunch at 50, James Cagney, as dastardly villain Cody Jarrett, gave a frightening, and often violent, portrayal as a psychopathic killer and gang leader. He has a fixation for his Ma who, as it is confirmed, is the only one he can trust. She pampers him and is involved in the heist planning. Virginia Mayo as Laura, Cody’s narcissist gun moll wife, is about as believable in the role as Minnie Mouse would be, but much better looking. Two and a half stars.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Well, it’s not, but still intriguing! With 60s state-of-the-art security, how can this diamond heist be pulled off? Much time and thought have gone into the planning, yet one of the two players, Mr. Hobbs (Michael Caine) isn’t letting his co-colluder Laura Quinn (Demi Moore) in on everything. Set in the London’s Diamond Corporation building, it’s a clever crime story without humour but with laughable twists. At the heart of the schemers’ motives is dubious spite targeted at health insurance company morality and corporate sexual discrimination. Even more doubtful is the contrived present day tell-it-to-the-reporter beginning used to unfold the tale in flashback and the ending which tries to put a cloak of moral and social responsibility over the thieves.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Our hero, kite flyer Amnir, is a coward, his close boyhood friend kite runner, Hassan, isn’t and remains in Soviet invaded Afghanistan (1978) while ”hero” and his father, Baba, escape to the safety of suburbia in Fremont, California. Summoned back to the Taliban controlled country in 2000 Amir has an opportunity for atonement. Fortunately, bravery has been instilled in Hassan’s adolescent son, Sohrab, and Amir escapes—battered, but unchanged. The flashbacked storyline, rich with possibilities that seldom eventuate, is cloyingly sentimental at times, is culturally cruel and politically simplistic, and becomes nothing more than innocuous entertainment reinforcing ethnic stereotypes. Given an alternative, I’d suggest you “Go fly a kite!”
(Maybe) - review by Jack
I knew I was in for a hilarious (return) screwball ride when the opening credits were rocked by Mozart’s overture “The Marriage of Figaro”. Having watched a few comedies of manners lately, this 26 year old one had the most chortle power. Eddie Murphy as Billy Ray Valentine sparkles as a street-smart hustler, a puffed-up gentleman, and a shrewd commodies broker. So do Dan Aykroyd as stuck-up Louis Winthorpe III, Jamie Lee Curtis’s big hearted prostitute, Denholm Elliott’s droll manservant, and Ralph Bellemy and Don Amache as the gleefully manipulative and villainous Duke brothers. The gay gorilla bit was a clichéd variation that I didn’t especially like and moral issues were ignored but overall TP tickled my fancy. Four and a half stars.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Once over the speech and mannerisms of English actors being Germans, I was sucked into this unlikely Holocaust story of forbidden friendship and loss of innocence. The protected and privileged life of boyishly adventurous 8 year old Bruno as seen through his eyes has boundaries. His father is an SS officer, a concentration camp Commandant determined to carry out Nazi genocide quotas. Bruno, not Shmuel, the Jewish Striped Pajama Boy behind barbed wire, is the centre of attention, but that shifts to Bruno’s parents and sister closer to the film’s devastating finale. I felt intense emotions, feelings of pity and sympathy that overrode my contempt and disgust of the Commandant and the other willing perpetrators. And you?
(Excellent) - review by Jack
A dark comedy of manners that attacks Spanish upper classes and the Catholic church; its surreal elements are difficult to understand. Seemingly trapped in a grand bourgeois manor, the elitist behaviour of impeccably attired guests over time degenerates into bickering sordid exchanges. They’re a pack of hypocrites, with counterfeit societal dictates. Their solution is to turn to religious ritual, exchanging their former empty, unbelieving glitterati lives for the hollowness of the church. This is highlighted when, after escaping the “shut-up” mansion, they (sheep-like) attend a church service, and are inexplicably (again) unable to leave. Without much empathy for the characters, I held on to see director Luis Buñuel’s unreal cinematic visions.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Based on a screenplay by Japanese master director Akira Kurosawa, but butchered by Hollywood, RT has plenty of excitement, tension and action, but can loads of absurdities be embraced? Here’s just a few: a psychotic prison warden attempts to reach and kill anti-hero Manny (Jon Voight) by being lowered on a helicopter ladder to a snow covered speeding locomotive, Sara, a lone railway worker on the out-of-control train falls for Buck, a blustering dim wit jail escapee, an excerpt of the spiritual and uplifting “Gloria” by Antonio Vivaldi is played while the trapped trio decry their chances of survival, and ludicrous dialogue, as when Manny utters, “ Whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger!” Runaway Nonsense might be a more fitting title.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Much to like—outstanding black ‘n white cinematography, superb acting and an enigmatic psycho-sexual conflict—but oh sooooo depressing, like periods of heavy stillness the film sometimes engages. Sisters Ester and Anna and the latter’s ten year old son, Johan, interrupt their train journey for a bleak hotel stay in a foreign city in which none of them can understand the language. There is little or no talk to or from them, hence “the silence” which director Ingmar Bergman extends to the sisters’ oppressive relationship and God’s response to their despair. From Johan’s view we see the sisters’ loneliness, lust and emotional separation. It’s a lot to sit through for what I believe is a self-evident conclusion: we determine our destiny in an existential life.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Much to taste—romance, coming-of-age story, pivotal Turkish-Greek conflicts and light comedy--but not that much to savour. Its load of condiment metaphors, multi-character strands and plot flashbacks couldn’t hold my drowsy interest; the heavily nostalgic final 30 minutes had to wait until the next day. The camera work is aesthetically gratifying but the promising storyline following a young boy, Fanis, growing up in a close-knit Greek family deported from their home in Istanbul doesn’t hold together as a compact entity. Still there’s some touching and amusing scenes, like adolescent Fanis showing his girlfriend Saime how to cook a dish if she’ll dance for him and many years later he tempts her with an offer of a dance payback. Two and a half stars.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
It’s worth viewing a silent film to appreciate just how important sound has become in telling a cinematic story. Stone faced Buster Keaton makes his sometimes-dangerous and often athletic stunts easy to take for granted, here standing nonchalantly while a two story building facade with an open window falls directly over him, leaving him unscathed and unfazed. The movie’s Mississippi River set location leads on to a number of intriguing DVD extras including a Depression era docu, footage of the great flood of ’27, a ’31 steamboat cartoon, two silent movie excerpts and a short 30’s talkie (Jail Bait) with Keaton. If you like slight gags, slapstick, and Keaton’s propensity for accidents you might like this comedy about parental rejection and redemption.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
What a fitting tribute to Dame Joan’s last performance. My first exposure to a Giacomo Meyerbeer opera, I’m now his proponent. His exciting music and song was absolutely outstanding and several vocal renderings equally so, namely the thrilling coloratura soprano page, Urbain, sung by Suzanne Johnston, Sutherland’s arias as the Queen of France, John Pringle as Nevers and Amanda Thane as Valentine. In addition, the conducting by Richard Bonynge and acting were consummate. No wonder this Grand Opera is seldom performed, the expense of a large cast, ornate sets and 16th century costuming must be enormous. The concluding homage to Sutherland was splendid, replete with standing ovations, oodles of confetti, and the diva’s encore.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Racism, an ugly reality that no culture is likely to be free from, has damaging effects. Fortunately director Mira Nair (she of the gritty 5 star 1988 “Salaam Bombay!”) infuses a sparkle and esprit to this Deep South Romeo and Juliet variant, reflecting the title’s spicy Indian cooking mixture masala. She largely softens the extreme rant and rage that xenophobia inspires by interweaving three stories: One is the budding romance of black Mississippian Demetrius and Indian emigrant Mina, another is her family’s exile from Uganda and her father’s longing to return and lastly the oft amusing entanglements between and within both cultures. It’s a message against racial stereotyping, fighting prejudice by being willing to explore beyond one’s social and ethnic circles.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Sensitive and honourable hoods? Probably not what you’d expect! Especially when the morals and buddy-buddy relationship of Irish hit-men Ken and Ray get in the way. The thuggish life-and-death thriller is laced with dark humour, deviant characters, romance and unpredictable surprises, all embellished by the striking medieval setting of contemporary Bruges. The unlikely plot makes for entertaining fare, unless, of course, you find it all too ridiculous, bordering on the surreal and the jokes don’t tickle you know what. Gleeson and Farrell as the Irish gunmen deliver the goods making the incredible almost believable. Their foul-mouthed and intensely volatile boss Harry (Ralph Finnes) is also a deadly killer who in an ironical twist upholds his principles.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
When responding to a jibe, the words you’d like to have used are the ones usually concocted after the event. Adapted from a Noel Coward play, the characters here have no such difficulties, uttering witty and biting retorts we can only dream about. The period comedy is spumy amusement without fits of laughter exploring character morality in the light of social expectations. Not as nuanced as the black ‘n white ’39 satire of French manners “The Rules of the Game”, EV’s non-conformist Larita, a Yankee, refuses to play by English upper-crust rules. Set on a massive English estate complete with a stately manor of castle like proportions, it’s richly textured with late-20’s fashions. A sexy tango followed by ripping rejoinders creates a satisfying finish. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
A life affirming cult classic, at times morose and morbid, but outrageously droll. If you can handle the fake suicides, dying obsessions and funeral fixations, the dark humour of this eccentric romance and coming of age comedy will delight you as it did me. Shy, joyless and a loner, deadpan Harold, 19, and gregarious, outlandish and free-spirited Maude, 79 are plainly opposites. However, like opposing poles of two magnets, they are pulled together in an unconventional bond, seeking to uncover life’s marvels and beauty. Director Hal Ashby uses their quirky affinity to promote the values of individuality over conformity, a transforming and liberating experience for Harold. Uplifting songs by Cat Stevens provide a genial score.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
What a stinker! Other than the initial funny-bizarre sight of a girl born with oversized thumbs, (a natural born hitch-hiker of course) there’s little else to trigger a hoot or even a snicker. In fact there’s no redeeming features at all in Gus van Sant’s slant on Tom Robbin’s book of the same name. Lacking rationality and ambience, the fractured plot includes a badly cast mix of crass screwballs, lesbians, peyote abusers and a drag queen, all poleaxed together by the muddled highway zigzags of Sissy Hankshaw (Uma Thurman).
(Don't bother!) - review by Jack
Unfortunately a beautiful actor like Aishwarya Rai, “The Mistress” Tilo, in this ridiculous romantic tale set in a vibrant San Francisco spice shop, needs a lot more than her good looks to make the movie’s chemistry work. It isn’t so much that her spice wizardry is too kooky, but ‘talking to spices’? Come on now. Then there’s the forbidden attraction and predictable liaison with Doug, the hot architect -- not much piquancy here. And is the camera’s repeated lingering on red chillies when Doug is around a portent of disaster or what? Though Tilo gets her mojo working again the cinematic magic is spurious, the repercussions of which generates something genuine -- a blandness of engagement. One and a half stars.
(Don't bother!) - review by Jack
Even when Kurosawa’s films have gloomy themes some humour is usually present. This very dark samurai feudal drama has little to chortle about, except perhaps melodramatic posturing by doomed Lord Washizu (Toshirô Mifun). However, there’s much to admire that contributes to the dour and eerie mood: stunning cinematography incorporating foggy mists, wind and rain and elements of classic Japanese Noh drama. The stylised movements of Washizu’s detestable wife, the white-faced and expressionless Asaji, are seriously spooky as is the genderless woodland spirit/ghost whose prophecies forecast murder and mayhem. The long concluding death scenes, during which a hail of arrows target a guilt ridden and neurotic Lord are remarkable. Three and a half stars
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Despite one of the looniest and contrived plots in all opera, this 1986 production features the must-see-and-listen-to Dame Joan Sutherland, dubbed “La Stupenda” by Italian audiences in 1960. At 59 her dramatic colouratura soprano voice was still remarkably pristine and her interpretation of the very technically demanding 3rd act “Mad Scene” aria is awesome. The “Lucia Sextet” at the end of the 2nd Act has been frequently used in altered forms in movies, cartoons and even by the Three Stooges. Sutherland was well established on the continent in the early 1950s, but her 1959 rendition of Lucia at the Royal Opera house made her a star and her career blossomed establishing her as a truly stupendous 20th century diva.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Ever feel lost and directionless, in an unsatisfying job or marriage role and longing for a change? Well the Wheelers, Frank and April (DiCaprio and Winslet) might impart some lessons on how NOT to live a meaningful life. Keep a serious grip on yourself ‘cause there’s little to giggle about (except maybe 50’s fashions and paraphernalia which were fastidiously recreated)--you’re in for a no-holds-barred assault on the circa 1950s American suburban dream. This, no doubt, has resonance today, though pressures to conform in the Western world are not as inhibiting now. If this devastating film makes some viewers sit up and consider the direction they’ve given their life, then director Sam Menzes has succeeded. Anyone for Paris?
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Now dated, the movie didn’t make the same impact on me it did 46 years ago. Attitudes have changed, nevertheless ILD is still fun and viewers can enjoy the acting talents of MacLaine and Lemmon. The latter takes on several guises, as a naïve righteous gendarme on the beat, a would-be pimp, a buck toothed one-eyed English lord and a moonlighting food market worker. As a casual “heart of gold” Gallic prostitute you’ll warm to MacLaine’s droll, brazen and ebullient portrayal of Irma. Director Billy Wilder’s jibes about two faced (American) middle class sexual mores are pretty blunt; the French setting and characters, though richly coloured and textured, are too clichéd, like an assumed version of a sanitized touristy 60’s Paris.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Thought arousing despite little dialogue, this bleak teenage love story shot with disturbing candor in a desolate central Australian desert community wasn’t made for “they-lived-happily-ever-after” escapist viewers. Those seeking parallels with the biblical story won’t find much similarity either, except there is a cutting of hair--after a loss of strength, not before. What shines forth is emotion loaded acting by the two young Aboriginal stars, forced on a journey of survival that tests their caring commitment to one another. Images are mostly grotty, depicting squalid housing, petrol sniffing and the barrenness of the protagonist’s lives, yet the film’s ambience is more forgiving. It encompasses despair, humour, cheerfulness, and sadness, finally resting on a gritty glint of promise.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
“One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest” it isn’t, but HOF’s dark comedic moments, plot unpredictability and anti-war sentiments engaged me. Some of the inmates of the psychiatric hospital are just too loony while the Chechen and Russian soldiers that clash in and around the asylum also have bouts of raving madness. The plot centres on ebullient Jana, an attractive 20 something patient, who has delusions of reciprocal love for real life pop singer Bryan Adams. She settles on a Chechen soldier instead with bitter-sweet outcomes. Director Konchalovsky’s inclusion of Adams’ fantasy sequences does stress the value of one’s dreams and imagination, in a way quite different to that of “City of Lost Children”. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Two contrasting violin sonatas played with brilliance and depth of feeling by Anne-Sophie and Lambert Orkis (piano). The elegant “Spring” is full of joy, light and hope while the “Kreutzer” (dedicated to the renowned violinist of the day who never attempted it publicly, judging it to be unplayable) has a huge emotional sweep in its three movements--agitated, contemplative and finally buoyant. Exquisite! Mutter’s deep attachment to Beethoven is illustrated in the last segment that includes a snippet of her debut with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic as a 15 year old. She and Orkis play excerpts from Sonatas 5 and 9, she discusses her career and waxes philosophical. “I am convinced that music is the bond between earth and heaven.”
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
A WOW of a surreal fairy tale, chockablock with freakish characters and gimmicks of astonishing diversity and colour, comically dark too. Unfortunately the profusion of Salvador Dali Victorian-like images, special effects, bizarre ideas and weirdoes created a garbled beginning, and I was more lost than the Lost Children. The dreamlike world is a highly original visual triumph, but a narrative ordeal whose allegorical thrust, preservation of children’s reveries, is dubious. Quirky figures like Krank, dwarf clones, Mademoiselle Bismuth, an underwater junk collector, Cyclops-like kidnappers, Siamese twin sisters, and Irvin, a talking brain in a chemical bath are set against heroine Miette, a 9 year old orphan, and hero One, a carnival strongman. Will blow you away!
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Buster Keaton, the great silent movie star and director, probably did more to give meaning to “deadpan” than any other actor. His brand of humour resonates with me but not in belly laughter, more in empathizing with his undeterred determination to achieve a goal, often in a haze of heedless daft behaviour. It requires that you take him seriously which, for some viewers, might be at odds with the intended comedy. Restored black ‘n white footage captures a Civil War authenticity, dangerous stunts, and destruction of an actual locomotive and bridge with flair. My attention was held like in the truck and car chase in Steven Speilberg’s “Duel”. Bearing in mind that railroad tracks have pursuit limitations, Keaton injects an amazing amount of variation.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Shot on location, SB is a story of survival that embraces drug dealers and addicts, prostitutes, thieves and homeless children. However, in spite of the despair of street life into which the film’s star, Krishna, an 11-year-old street urchin, finds himself, his shared community somehow copes, living as it does on the edge of one catastrophe after another. Mira Nair’s disturbing depiction of Mumbai’s seedy districts will never be used by its Tourist Bureau to lure overseas visitors, but as a portrait of the seamy side of urban Indian life this emotional drama is superb. Paradoxically, within this microcosm of wretchedness a kernel of hope exists.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
If TC weren’t based on actual events in the late 20’s, I’d have given a hardy guffaw to its storyline. How could a mother not be believed when she insists that someone else’s child isn’t her own? Instead the film rates a vociferous hurrah. We discover that the corrupt LAPD was behind the ruse and we’re soon drawn into an insightful, and sometimes suspenseful, Clint Eastwood crafted scenario. As a period piece set in late 20’s to the mid 30’s the superb attention to every detail of the times is meticulous, by itself making the film worth viewing. Angelina Jolie is very convincing as the distraught mother, ditto too for John Malkovich’s portrayal of a crime fighting minister, but Jason Butler Harner is absolutely brilliant as the crazed chicken ranch owner.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Director Pedro Almodovar has used unconventional characters in unpredictable ways to illustrate family values, especially those of motherhood—a plaint in praise of the female psyche. Ex-hooker, Manuela, acts as a surrogate mother to a group of emotional cripples that includes lesbians, a pregnant nun, and transvestites. All are faced with crushing problems, but have inner strengths, boosted by Manuela’s mothering instincts, that see them through the most difficult situations. With tributes to Betty Davis and “A Streetcar Named Desire” this movie neither brought on tears or outright laughter, but I was kept intrigued by the clever sensibility of its peculiar story. Bright colours and unique film work compliment the screenplay’s simplicity.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Many have said (and may continue to say) that there is no place in sport for politics, as if sport is above it all, a pinnacle of human endeavour not to be tainted by ‘lesser’ struggles. This documentary has addressed this belief and helped to redress a wrong. Aussie sprint great Peter Norman’s support of the black gloved salutes made by Tommy Smith and John Carlos during their medals presentation at the 1968 Olympics should be long remembered, not buried by official neglect. Norman stood up for what was right, taking a stand for human rights and against discrimination. His principles transcend individual track and field records, even if they are Olympian ones. I am glad for having viewed it and urge others to reconnect with this defining moment in history.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
How to turn sour relationships into sweet ones, this pleasant make-believe romance will likely engage women in unhappy marriages (maybe men too), escapists, dreamers and those whose holiday plans include Italy. Referring to San Salvatore, a castle in northern Italy to which she has taken respite, Lottie Wilkins declares “It’s a tub of love”. And miraculously within the flower scented grounds of the sunny estate bordered by sea its occupants undergo an enchantment, a kind of internal metamorphosis leading to their liberation. “Unbelievable” you say. “Yes” I’d agree, but the acting is so good you’ll be charmed as I was by the characters’ spirited interactions. Never bogging down in sentimentality, there’s ample humour, tenderness and joy.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Blade runner Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a terse, sceptical, and capable sleuth, is a kind of ‘replicant’ from 40’s noir detective movies. However, it’s 2019, the setting is a rain drenched Los Angeles and four escaped, and highly dangerous, android slaves must be ‘retired’ (read executed). Unlike other Sci-Fi films, B R is simply astonishing in its special effects and depiction of a huge neon billboard lit, but cloudy, wet and crowded LA cityscape. Attention to detail in art design has made for a visual banquet; everyday items, some antique, are contrasted with futuristic technology. Complex, flawed and largely implausible characters, both human and humanoid, deliver clever lines, but an origami made unicorn has the last word. Four and a half stars.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Though heavily loaded with philosophical subject matter director Bergman treats it in such a way that, at times, it appears light hearted. Despite queries about a silent God and dark themes of death, mortality, existential fears, and Judgment Day reckoning, a tight balance is struck between comedy and drama. Set in 14th century Sweden the allegory searches for answers about the human condition. There are universal chance moments of joy that are life affirming and override the gloom and despair that returning Crusader Antonius Block (Max Von Sydow) and his squire, Jöns (Gunnar Björnstrand) find in their Plague affected country. The black ‘n white cinematography is absolutely stunning; there’s even consolation in the concluding dance macabre.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
What an entertaining surprise packet of intrigue, suspense and unusual romance--very original to say the least! Life seems to have passed by Carla, a self-effacing spinster and property development secretary. However, beneath the surface of near deaf Carla, lies a woman of grit awaiting release. She and roguish Paul, an ex-con, are two misfits that unexpectedly are thrown together and unpredictably click, feeding off each other to realise their untapped potentials. As this happens she and Paul are thrust into an underworld of crime, betrayals, assaults and murder. There’s delight for viewers who can to tap into their pure joy at discovering their mutual connectedness, a result of their cooperative, audacious and highly risky actions. Four and a half stars.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
In 1993 how did Hollywood lighten the emotion-loaded issues of homophobia, discrimination against gays and/or AIDS affected people and still show that justice was being served? Answer: By spreading the cast ethnicity, keeping the hot topics superficial, making tidy resolutions and not straying far from the politically correct. Contrast the loveless scenes between Philadelphia lawyer Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) with his partner with those of current film, “Milk”. The scene where AIDS affected Andrew tries to convey his love of opera to his attorney Joe Miller (Denzel Washington) via a Maria Callas aria was intensely moving for me. Set against the drama of a dismal situation, Callas’s singing brought me to tears, but then I am often stirred by emotional music. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Disgraced US President Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) was saddled with an unflattering moniker, “Tricky Dick”; it reflected his success at denying Watergate responsibility. Sometime British journalist David Frost (Michael Sheen) displayed a confident easy-going manner but lacked the intellectual depth of his adversary. Our attention is captured as in a thriller when these men, each with their own agendas, put themselves in hot seats of their own making. As a battle of wits, Nixon was clearly in control behind the scenes and during the (in-)famous 1977 interview. Or was he? Mindful of the limitations of film making, the truth of this bit of history is stretched and concentrated for dramatic effect. It makes for a provocative examination of hubris.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
My wish: Everyone, but especially homophobic people should view this film. Sean Penn’s stirring performance as homosexual Harvey Milk and Gus Van Sant's perceptive direction have combined to produce a sad yet energetic story with an upbeat ambience—in itself a remarkable achievement. But it is a measure of the movie’s humanity, enclosing a strong gay rights message and hope for the future that is at its core. Milk’s fight to stay at the forefront of a movement he led is an awesome testament to his fortitude and will to invigorate others with optimism and drive. At times there’s a documentary feel obtained from archival news footage usage including grainy and subdued coloured recreated newscasts; it’s shot on location with a strong supporting cast.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
See my Disc 1 review of the entire movie. Two and a half stars
(Maybe) - review by Jack
I asked myself: Could this grandiose film, of epic length on two discs, just be a poor adaptation of a good book? No! It’s just poor. Protagonists Olmo (Gerard Depardeiu) and Alfredo (Robert De Niro) are ill-defined, the class struggle narrative is all over the place and communist leaning director, Bernardo Bertolucci exaggerates the political slant (good peasant communists versus bad aristocratic Fascists). However, the scenic and period settings are splendidly shot, and Ennio Morricone’s sound track is first rate. There are plenty of memorable scenes some including Donald Sutherland’s overblown portrayal of a depraved black shirted Fascist, but they seem patched together. The movie ends in a parody of vaudevillian buffoonery. Two and a half stars.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
No earthquakes here, so it’s an unusual title for a morose neorealist film about impoverished Sicilian fishermen and the injustices they suffer at the hands of unscrupulous wholesalers who buy their catch. Maybe the title’s future tense indicates what the privileged middlemen have to prepare themselves for--an earth shaking retribution perhaps? Excellent cinematography combines harsh local realism, with the use of natural sound and light while rich acting performances from non-professional local villagers create a powerful commentary about an unchanging social injustice. In 1963 Luchino Visconti directed his richly layered masterpiece, “The Leopard”, about disruptive social change, the 19th century re-unification of Italy.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
My interest was initially engaged by off the wall behaviour of the five main actors. However, the rudeness of a decadent “family” group of four and the intellectual stand-offishness of “The Professor” (Burt Lancaster) were so severe I felt little empathy for any of them. Persisting to the end of director Visconti’s confused un-masterpiece, I was recompensed with a lesson hardly applicable to anyone. The dialogue (English) is flowery (lots of it), the Mozart snippets gorgeous and the Professor’s baroque palazzo apartment settings beautiful (best parts) where little action takes place (bordering on boring), and the acting quality variable (occasionally pathetic). Themes of corruption and hedonism versus taste and intelligence are poorly presented.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
We always knew that pro wrestling was a set-up, fake gladiatorial entertainment for blood eager patrons. Isn’t it ironic that another acted out drama about a down ‘n almost out washed up wrestler, Randy ‘The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke) can arrest us with his character flawed humanity, not the ring gore? Of the latter, there’s enough gruesome instances to make obvious the physical pain aging Randy must submit to in order to retain his tenuous place in the wrestling world. However, it’s outside the ring where his loneliness and failed relationships produce insufferable emotional pain. Viewers don’t despair; director Darren Aronofsky has softened this melancholic heartbreak with moments of humour and tenderness producing a truly moving character study.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
More questions than answers are raised in this Holocaust guilt puzzler that stars Kate Winslet as Hanna Schmitz, an ex-death-camp guard who simultaneously raises emotions of revulsion and sympathy. Can the poorly educated be excused for acting in evil ways? Is the potential for wicked behaviour as well as failing to act when evil is being done, something everyone shares? The film’s title directs our attention to middle aged Michael Berg (Ralph Fiennes), who as a 15 year old (acted by David Kross) read to Hanna before their love-making. Years later, it is he who shares Hanna’s guilt which he keeps to himself, mostly hiding any outward display of feelings. Clearly though, the story’s focus is on Winslet and her performance is as electrifying as the movie is gloomy.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
As an anti-war polemic, it’s pretty tame stuff, like the film’s everyman, insipid Billy Pilgrim (Michael Sacks), who travels back and forth in time. He’s unable to resist forces around him reacting to numerous outrages, the greatest being the WWII fire bombing of Dresden, and indignities suffered during his childhood, as a PoW, and his dull marriage with a kind of idiotic tranquility. Never expressing indignation, he finally succumbs to a nervous breakdown that sets in motion this desultory black comedy come science fiction narrative adapted from Kurt Vonnegut’s highly regarded 1969 novel. The movie is baffling and bizarre at times, yet still retains a certain unexplainable allure that may or may not be resolved by reading the book. I haven’t. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Tasting notes: bold and over powering, entirely without subtlety, cloudy, its chemistry out of wack, made to a well-worn formula, not one to savour for very long, just a drink now quaffer. Other observations: The best of a clichéd set of characters is Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman), a British wine snob whose French prejudices are up-ended by the quality of the Napa Valley grape fermentations he samples. Being based on a ’76 “true story” why did the screenplay need to be embellished with such outlandish contrived plot devices, such as settling father-son disputes in the boxing ring? The 70s rock soundtrack produced an atmosphere of frivolity, but was it the right one? I don’t think so. “Sideways” is a far better wine influenced movie. Two and a half stars.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
How can a story set the future look and sound so dated? It’s back to the 60’s when it was filmed. Not enough imagination was shown creating futuristic indoor sets, the monorail scenes, hairstyles and clothes; even the dialogue is without wit, and the acting mundane. There’s little engaging about the Government sanctioned book burning, sanitized mind numbing television and use of calming drugs. Laughable are the final winter forest scenes in which zombie like characters parade aimlessly reciting passages from great literature that they have committed to memory. How lifeless and dull! Without intending to director François Truffaut has made reading literary classics seem like a pretty dreary affair, a dismal adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s original story.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
It’s difficult to believe or accept that the subject of this movie, the barbaric practice of female circumcision, is still happening in Africa today, but it is! Such a sensitive issue might seem to be equally hard to portray on film, but 81-year-old director Ousmane Sembene has done so in a way that captures Senegalese village society with vibrancy, colour and humour. His barbs are directed at the Muslim leaders of an abusive patriarchal system who are challenged in the story by Collé, a strong willed woman. She offers moolaadé (sanctuary) to four young girls who have fled the torturous ceremony held once every 7 years. The ensuing stand-off pits an ignorant traditional male power base against a new feminist awakening. It’s makes for engaging cinema!
(Excellent) - review by Jack
A very fulfilling and sophisticated soapie about a Chinese family of four in Taipei struggling to find meaning in their lives. Each sees the world around them differently, each is unable to communicate their unease and consequently each feels alone. Though their troubled entanglements are unsettling, flickers of promise and an acceptance of change to which we should all be able to relate were delivered with grace, poignancy and wit by writer/director Edward Yang. The family reflects everything that is human: love, hate, happiness, sadness, regret, self-respect and what we should all be striving for—growth. The sanguine outlook of the Japanese software developer, Mr. Ota, and his partial playing of Beethoven’s Moonlight sonata especially moved me.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
A made for TV drama later released to cinemas Duel has a dubious plot and minimal dialogue, but Steven Speilberg’s early directorial stint shows his skills in molding an edgy vignette. Most of the film is about a monster diesel truck steered by an unseen killer chasing the hapless driver in a red Valiant sedan. What surprised me was that my interest could be held so long. Somehow Speilberg weaves one suspenseful climax after another in the well-paced highway drama that finally screeches to a shattering conclusion. The action is heightened using tricky camera angles, illusions of speed and menace including frame-filling shots of the black fume belching horror truck or the pursued car and its terrified bourgeois driver, a mustachioed Dennis Weaver.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Guilt ridden high school Principal Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) takes the high moral ground, but Viola Davis as Mrs. Miller imparts an unforeseen slant to this gripping story. As the mother of the only black student she is confronted by Sister Aloysius. Under scrutiny is what progressive and compassionate Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) may or may not have done with Mrs. Miller’s son. What makes this film so good and so thought provoking is its gray-area realism underscored by fabulous acting. If you want black ‘n white morality and to be left with no DOUBT about Father Flynn, then don’t see this one. Are you aware that Director-screenwriter John Patrick Shanley also produced the screenplay for “Moonstruck”? It’s one of my favourite films!
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Give this one a spell, like a great old wine, it needs time to develop to let its characters become familiar and their machinations and interactions progress. A send-up like “the second best move of all time” is absurd since the ‘time’ (of movies) hasn’t stopped. That said, Jean Renoir’s satirical comedy of manners of pre-WWII French aristocracy and their servants is stunning. Its superficial theme of a weekend hunting and house party on a large estate is a launching pad for a profusion of societal ideas and layered characterizations. Interwoven are trysts, betrayals, adultery, ritualized hunting scenes, an amateur play, chases, a botched duel, mistaken identity and unwritten rules broken leading to tragedy. Brilliantly photographed, acted and spoken, indeed a Classic!
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Dispensing with screen credits the dynamite loaded start immediately put me up in a state of suspense. Those initial crane tracking shots were just one of many superbly filmed sequences in Orson Wells’ gritty and sleazy backhander to police corruption. Nothing to rave about, the murder mystery is pure pulp fiction. Most characters are darkly coloured, the dialogue at times sparkling and at others a fizzle, and the sound track late 50’s bongo rock trash. However, Wells was at a cinematic peak in his directorial camera use, film editing and acting, here playing doughy faced Hank Quinlan, the bigoted and disagreeable, porky police detective of a small Mexican border town. Sultry Marlene Dietrich briefly sizzles while good guy Charlton Heston is a Mexican narcotics investigator. “He’s what?” you might well say. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
A tear inducing film with an often used formula: a newcomer to a small community injects new ideas transforming the inhabitants. Cynical viewers might cringe, but the positive message of mutual support to overcome community ignorance and the power of music to heal the soul is a strong one. Daniel (Michael Nyqvist), the tormented and doomed conductor, finally realizes his life’s aim in a story that can be interpreted as very Christ-like. One of the strongest scenes comes when Gabrielle, a victim of domestic violence, sings a life affirming song that acts to give her the courage to confront her husband. AiiiH reminded me of the even better and less sentimental ’87 Danish movie, Babette’s Feast, in which food becomes a stimulus for change not music.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
A depressing and strangely lifeless (pardon the pun) morality tale with a lackluster resolution. Craggy Tommy Lee Jones as tough cowboy foreman Pete Perkins takes centre stage, acting and directing this cowpoke soapy about catching illegal emigrants, racial intolerance, murder, dysfunctional marriages, adultery, friendship, loyalty and salvation. Halleluiah! The hostile dry landscapes were effectively captured around the West Texas border town of Van Horn and northern Mexico, but the third burial dragged, incredulous situations were thrown up (how many did you count?) and the characters too one dimensional and clichéd. After seeing No Country For Old Men, I bet the Coen brothers could have put a lot more than gallows humour into TTBOMF. Two and a half stars.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
This is a road film without a road, a journey to nowhere and about as pretentious as they come. About the best that can be said about Director Bernardo Bertolucci’s overblown drama is that it’s shot on location in the Sahara desert; the photography of the locals, including ubiquitous camels, in their breath-taking and harsh environs is stunning. The principal characters, Port Moresby (hold on, that’s the capital of Papua New Guinea) and his wife Kit are self indulgent and insipid; they’re lost before they start their aimless North African journey of self discovery and, for one of them, self destruction. Whatever Bertolucci was trying to get across he has done it in such a flawed and boring way as to be not worth the effort to interpret.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
A Japanese feudal conflict with comedy? Sound like a contradiction? Not for Akira Kurosawa whose HF characters and their adventureous and miscalculated deeds served as inspiration for George Lucas’s Star Wars films. HF’s stars are two bumbling greedy peasants from whose point of view the story is largely told and magnificent Tashiro Mifune as fierce General Makabe honour bound to his Samurai code. Kurosawa plays with our expectations, both granting and excluding them, in ways that justify his genius. Expertly choreographed and filmed battle scenes, a lengthy spear wielding duel, a pagan fire dance, a sexy willful Princess wearing shorts—there’s plenty of unanticipated mind twisting treats to ponder upon.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Dirty Harry has grown older, and he’s a demanding, mean mouthed bigoted, grump with a gun finger trigger finger hand concealing a munificent heart. That Clint Eastwood’s Walt Kowalski is capable of not only his own redemption but bringing about that of his teenage Hmong neighbor is a credit to both Eastwood’s acting and the expletive loaded, politically incorrect and often humorous script. The world according to Kowalski is black ‘n white, reflected by the behaviour of the film’s hoodlums and law abiding city folk. This simplifies things for viewers and, no doubt, helped ensure the wide spread popularity of GT. Nevertheless, as distinctive aged veterans, Eastwood and his Gran Torino are classics and won’t be pushed aside easily. Four and a half stars.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
CW has a Aussie TV soapie feel emphasized by ordinary camera work and mundane dialogue. However, as 17 year old Emily, determined to seek out answers about her past, Victoria Thaine’s performance stands out in a cast of talented actors. Despite highly charged themes that include adultery, suicide, family estrangement and teen pregnancy, the story never reaches the emotional heights it might have. There’s holes in the storyline, I wanted to know about relationships that aren’t explained and the ineffectual scripting exposed weaknesses in characterization. At the conclusion, I didn’t really care if the caterpillar (-butterfly metamorphosis) wish was fulfilled or not. Two and a half stars.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
If you can handle the heavily F-worded mongrel but brilliant dialogue, harebrained antics and a warped fragmented plot, I think you’ll be thoroughly entertained as I was. The story’s outlandish oddballs elicited full belly laughs to chuckles while dream sequences and 10 pin bowling scenes hit the goofy-is-good mark in this homage to ’40s film noir. The acting is superb, none better than Jeff Bridges who as “The Dude” puts a whole new perspective on being laid-back. John Goodman as the overbearing and short fused Vietnam vet Walter Sobchak is too dumb to give sensible advice or make levelheaded decisions. Classic cult followers (and those who aren’t) have plenty of reasons to rave about this memorable Coen brother’s comic absurdity!
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Only a slight step up from a TV sitcom, this French farce based on a play is clever and quite entertaining. However, it’s just too light on and frothy even though a swipe is directed at French corporate hiring policies. Daniel Auteuil as Gerard and his wife Colette (Valerie Lemercier) are unsophisticated and too clueless to prepare a dinner party to impress Gerard’s potential boss without help from their know-it-all neighbor, Alexandre. There’s lots of misunderstandings and as a comedy of errors and social differences it’s funny in places, but not uproariously. In the end, Gerard is a killjoy and I couldn’t forgive his faults, much less those of Colette.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
An art house film’s film! Director Wim Wenders’ gentle and haunting melancholy leisurely meanders among Berlin’s inhabitants, young and old, before its wall was torn down. It’s life affirming, poetic, very cerebral, and often puzzling, alternating between dominant black and white (the angel’s world) and colour (the world of humans). If like me, you find the weight of allegory and symbolism overwhelms with difficult to interpret messages, you might want to ponder awhile about Wenders’ intent. Not suited to everyone’s tastes, nevertheless it’s a 5 star film whose enjoyment was moderated by my lack of comprehension. Therefore, I shall again select WOD in few months, and make another stab at understanding the film’s many nuances.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Scintillating state of the art technological effects, attention to period detail and sumptuous cinematography, help make this bizarre story of reverse aging and intersecting love succeed. However, it’s Brad Pitt as the ‘ain’t-getting-any-older’ Benjamin and Kate Blanchett as head strong Daisy who make the chemistry of their fragmented relationship really come off. Knowing that their anticipated and eventual mature union would be more fleeting than most emphasized the ephemeral nature of our lives. It gave me pause for thought about the brevity of my own mortality. TCCOBB is Hollywood make believe and sentimentality but nevertheless speaks with a perceptive humanity to which we should all be able to relate.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Shot in India, the Middle East and Central Europe, Tony Gatlif has captured gypsy music’s power to stir emotions. Combined with colourful gypsy costumes, the rhythmic sounds played on a variety of local instruments often had my toes-a-tapping. The dancing sequences and countryside through which these nomads moved were also a delight, but tempered by reminders of the oppression and bigotry they have suffered in their long history. However, without dialogue or narration other than the subtitles to song lyrics and the barest of story lines, this on the road docu was always going to leave me wanting more information and something else to attach my interest onto as the film glides from one gypsy group and country to the next.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Poverty and riches, hate and love, evil and good, torture and pleasure are all glued together by a set of flash-backs linked to tension filled answers by questions posed in the Indian version of Who Wants to be A Millionaire? The contrived thriller-melodrama works a treat as our thinking man-orphaned-hero, Jamal, isn’t on the quiz show for the money, but to win his beautiful childhood sweetheart, Latika from the clutches of a malevolent crime boss. The warts, wealth and class distinctions of modern day Moombi are vividly captured, laid on with Bollywood panache, a Dickensian set of characters, a rags to riches scenerio and atmospheric Indian music, capped off by a leap-for-joy dance sequence during the concluding credits. If you don’t have a big smile on your face after this one, something’s wrong.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
This send-up comedy detective story is the flip(pant) side to “more clever than words”. Here the machine gun speed dialogue is too street smart and cocky for its own good. The result was extreme difficulty in trying to make sense of a confusing plot, though an inkling of it emerges by the end. Sometime story narrator Robert Downey Jr. as nice-small-time-thief-guy Harry Lockhart turned would-be actor and inadvertent efficient killer does work his way into potentially funny situations with gay private-eye Perry van Shrike (Val Kilmer). However, their silly smartass banter became tedious and self indulgent despite the perfectly timed deliveries; outlandish action sequences were often more humourous. It might have more appeal to a hip-hop crowd.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Prepare for a late 19th century dark psychological drama about the dysfunctional relationships between three sisters during a time when one of them is painfully dying of cancer. It’s wonderfully acted and beautifully filmed with a predominance of red ironically signifying friendship, love and mutual support contrasted with the sisters’ white dresses expressing their frigidity. Using a minimum of dialogue, clarifying attention is given to expressive facial close-ups and flash-backs exposing distasteful family secrets. Only Anna, the maid who cares for her dying patron, shows real sympathy and devotion. With an emotional intensity that might leave you wanting less, not more, Ingmar Bergman, at his enigmatic best, is telling us about something important in life. What is it?
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
François Truffaut has assembled a quirky set of out-of-the-ordinary events of human life and made them as beguiling as courageous or sensational themes. Antoine Doinel, our blasé hero in this the fourth and final episode of his life, has become a middleclass married eccentric, having drifted a long ways from his troubled adolescent days in “The 400 Blows”. Up to this point, Antoine has been a hapless failure, a seeker of the unattainable, but undaunted he continues his hopeless quests. His love affairs and occupations have been and are chaotic and unique, absurdly amusing and inexplicably captivating. Now it looks like his marriage to Christine is going in the same bust-up direction. If the ending is not quite the one expected, then at least be buoyed by it.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
If this philosophical science fiction ant-thriller moved any slower it would be just standing still. In spite of some weird and colourful visual aspects, long stretches of nearly slow motion action was stupefying and more than I could handle. I fell asleep! The next day, Disk 2 picked up where the first left off with our hair challenged impassive male trio plodding into the Zone, a deserted and prohibited area, through rural landscapes, over an disused railroad track and into large drain leading them to a water logged tiled room to find some kind of salvation. I wasn’t up to Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky’s nearly 3 hour demands on my concentration and the English voice over translations. I failed to find out if the trio of sloggers, representing Science, Art and Faith, achieved their nirvana. Desperately dreary.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Hyperbole is deliberate and obvious exaggeration used for effect, and, to its detriment, Network would have to be one of the most hyperbolic satires I’ve seen. Did USA audiences need to be hit over the head with such a strident fantasy to score points about the inadequacies of mid 70’s television perceived need for sensationalism to drive up ratings? Is there no room for subtlety in satire? However, the acting is first rate and included Faye Dunaway as an ambitious TV executive bitch, an acerbic William Holden and a screaming evangelic epileptic Peter Finch who received a posthumous Academy Award for his efforts. A few scenes made the film bearable, one being Holden leaving his wife played by Beatrice Straight for sexy Dunaway. Campy it is, good it is not.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Kurosawa’s brilliant directorial style and cinematography influence can’t be missed in this bleak look at corporate corruption. The opening wedding sequence quickly injects elements of doubt and mystery that heighten as the plot unfolds. The star is Toshirô Mifune, playing Koichi Nishi, secretary to the president of a crooked housing corporation, who is bent on revenge, and ultimately consumed by it. His performance is outstanding, but I failed to identify with his vengeful righteousness or very much like his Nishi like Hamlet. Without revealing the expected violence, Kurosawa intensifies the suspenseful ending by using flashbacks and, in the final scene, a one sided conversation and a replaced telephone receiver is a damning indictment of a higher level status quo.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
As a sequel, SS2 just qualifies as a flick to see. Kurosawa’s directorial effects are still there, our judo champion, Sugata, is still a role model citizen, but the 1887 fight sequence between he and an American boxer is ridiculous. Sugata’s easy win was a 1945 cinematic propaganda boost for the nation’s martial arts spirit despite Japan’s WWII defeat. The two combatants in the concluding fight sequence, filmed under snowy conditions, are blurry and indistinct, the judo versus karate contest to the death thwarted when one martial arts warrior is flung down a steep incline and is badly injured. Sugata’s ultimate salvation and escape from death is miraculous and mystical, reflecting a philosophy of self-discipline, spirituality and respect for his opponents. Two and a half stars.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Without resorting to slapstick and juvenile silliness, this farcical and most entertaining comedy successfully explores the nature of how we choose to see others by pointing out gaps that often exist between perception and reality. Daniel Auteuil as Francois Pignon leads a mundane existence until he learns he is about to be fired and to save his job he’s advised to let on that he’s gay. As a result, dreary Pignon suddenly becomes interesting and mysterious to the people around him with unforeseen consequences. Auteuil’s performance is understated and effective while that of Gerard Depardieu, who plays the company’s homophobic rugby coach, is more showy and predictable, but produces the most laughs. Insightful without being offensive.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
It should be no surprise that the Nazi’s used concentration camp inmates, mostly Jews, to counterfeit money, documents and even stamps. What does astonish is how good the phoney bills were yet how easy it was to detect their German printing site. Adolf Burger’s memoir, “The Devil’s Workshop”, contains recollections of his ordeal. These form the backbone of this Holocaust survival story that explores a moral issue, namely whether to accede to an evil or risk one’s life through sabotage. Behind his oft inscrutable mask, master forger Salomon Sorowitsch is at the centre of this insufferable moral ambiguity and I was caught up trying to grasp the rationale of his pragmatic but arcane behaviour. TC is flawed though engaging. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
As a comedy, this one fails badly. As a romance, the last 20 minutes do come alive with expectation and fruition while periodic flashbacks having nothing to do with sexual love involving Uncle Henry (Albert Finney) and a young Max Skinner possess an amusing joyfulness. However, Max (Russell Crowe) a high powered London bond trader, is such a heartless know-it-all dork that when he finally sees the light and mellows it’s too late to like him very much or believe that he really deserves his good fortune. Crowe was miscast, he just isn’t funny and snippets of slapstick thrown in seem out of place. I was left guessing as to the connection of “Le Coin Perdu”, the superior wine that must have been made using grapes from Henry’s French vineyard.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Beginning in 1882 during the Meiji era, the simple martial arts story entails an undisciplined firebrand’s (Sugata) spiritual enlightenment through Judo. Credited with being Kurosawa’s first directed film, it’s black ‘n white grainy texture looks much older than it is, but the stamp of its famous director is obvious. Besides brilliant cinematic techniques including the wipe cut, Kurosawa, the artist, comments on the futility of violence, choosing to film the final fight scene on a windy night on hillside fields of tall grass that largely obscure the shadowy combatants. Unfortunately, some continuity was lost when Japanese censors edited out portions of this WWII production. The ending is unsatisfactorily abrupt but the sequel (SS2) is already in my queue!
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
This Kafkaesque story about an amnesiac WWII soldier attempting to learn about his lost identity is absurd and emotionally dull, the acting mostly average to poor. The best that can be said is that the dark plot is unpredictable, though there’s never a doubt that the central character, George Taylor (John Hodiak) will succeed. Only laid back Lloyd Nolan, as Police Lieutenant Kendall, really enlivens scenes. The dialogue is bizarre, for example, Kendall: “I’ve come for George Taylor.” Nancy, Taylor’s love interest replies: “You must be a little mixed up. This is my house. And I’m not George Taylor. You haven’t even got the right sex.” Although attempts were made to give the script a detective novel twang it comes out sounding too contrived and artificial.
(Don't bother!) - review by Jack
Amid scenes of WWI trench warfare JN glorifies the power of music and voice to overwhelm the viewer’s tear ducts. To this add Yule tide trappings, a Christmas eve setting and pre-film knowledge that a convivial gathering of German, French and Scottish troops during a temporary cease-fire was supposed to have happened in 1914. With dollops of gallows humour it’s a mighty emotional mix and a stirring anti-war statement. Unfortunately, credibility is stretched too far and the story is too one-dimensional and melodramatically incongruous. Singing also (briefly) features in the far superior Paths Of Glory, but the female singer is in a French café not serenading soldiers in the no-man’s land that separated the trenches. JN is sanitized sentimentality.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Poised on a knife’s edge, viewers can decide whether the famous conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, Wilhelm Furtwängler, deserved to be chastised or absolved for his decision to serve the artistic interests of Hitler’s Nazi Germany. The arguments put forward by each side act to blur the boundaries between good and evil, making a choice difficult. Stellan Skarsgård as Furtwängler gives an outstanding performance of a perplexed man still upholding his isolation from the politics of the defeated totalitarian régime. His intimidating and biased interrogator, Major Steve Arnold (Harvey Kietel) doggedly seeks evidence of Furtwängler’s complicity creating emotional confrontational tensions. Heavy on Beethoven’s 5th but mind engaging dialogue!
(Excellent) - review by Jack
What a start to a long and rewarding collaboration! Exceptional director Akiro Kurosawa cast 28 year old Toshirô Mifune as Matsunaga, the gangster anti-hero, filmed in a fetid slum of post WWII occupied Japan. Mifune went on to stardom as did Takashi Shimura, the rather hard to like doctor of the film’s title, in this his 5th of 19 Kurosawa directed movies. A nearby bubbling slimy pond and the thuggish Matsunaga who is afflicted with TB signify the state of Japanese culture. The selfless doctor who is prone to alcohol abuse seeks to heal the thug and unclean conditions. However, Matsunaga’s attempts to break free of the Yakaza come to naught in a white paint spattered fight scene reminiscent of the mud covered combatants in The Scalphunters, an American production 20 years later. The unusual musical score is excellent.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Much of this unsentimental film is shot as if the camera is inside the stroke affected protagonist’s head producing chilling claustrophobic effects for viewers. Based on his true story, Jean-Dominique Bauby is in effect, buried alive inside his immobile body (the diving bell) save for one blinking eye (the butterfly of his imagination) used to communicate with his carers. A flawed but sensitive man, Bauby, known as Jean Do, struggles but affirms his existence, dictating his biography by blinking when alphabet letters are recited, slowly forming words. In two touching scenes Max von Sydow as Jean Do’s elderly father reflects their imperfect bond: one while being shaved by Jean Do, the other, after his son’s stroke, breaking down while awkwardly confirming his fatherly love.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
If you like delectable morsels of beautiful operatic arias and lieder by Mozart, Bellini, Mahler, Offenbach, Puccini, Schubert and Schumann this vibrant early 20th century period piece is a treat. The leisurely moving plot involving a love story, singing lessons and a competition has been around in other guises before; it’s not too plausible and the endings are expected. The villains aren’t hard to spot and their lack of subtlety is a hoot. An absolute highlight for me was the soprano voice of lovely Sophia (sung by Dinah Bryant) opening the contest with Verdi’s “Sempre libera” (La Traviata). She is unexpectedly joined in a duet by her offstage beau and fellow protégée Jean (sung by Jerome Pruett). Worth selecting for the music and settings.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
There’s a hefty slice of melodrama and some tear inducing scenes exquisitely acted by Toshiro Mifune as Dr. Kyoji Fijisaki and Takashi Shimura, Kyoji’s doctor father. In one heart rending scene honour bound Kyoji reveals his pain at having to suppress his desires for his fiancée with whom he has broken his engagement. This early Kurosawa nugget deals with characters under stress, agonizing unrequited love, and venereal disease, the later one of many terrible after effects of Japan’s participation in WWII. Noriko Sengoku as a feisty apprentice nurse and Miki Sanjo as Mifune’s fiancée are superb. 1965 saw a last pairing of the renowned director with Mifune who plays crotchety Red Beard, faithfully adhering to a 19th century moral code. Like TQD it’s well worth viewing.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
An off beat continuation (third episode) of out of kilter, affable rebel, Antoine Doinel and his muddled sexual and occupational adventures. Not as gritty as The 400 Blows, I found this mildly poignant romantic comedy quite amusing, but my Gallic sense of humour isn’t developed enough to describe it as uproariously funny. With resolute enthusiasm our eager cockeyed hero acted by Jean-Pierre Léaud naturally projects human frailties; he’s a kind of French Holden Caulfield. Antoine’s seduction by the beautiful wife of a shoe store owner is a hoot, erotic without the graphic details. Shot in colour, Francois Truffaut’s distinctive signature is his location filming: busy city scenes are unmistakably Parisian and room interiors have an aged French look. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Though much different from Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing, BAR could be titled the same, largely the result of the characters’ lack of understanding, communication and plain stupidity. It’s darkly, darkly funny with a few brief violent scenes à la Coen brothers. At the conclusion, a minor player asks, "Well, what did we learn here?” That some humans make idiotic decisions? We know that already! That we never really know other people including our partners? Yep! That life is pointless and human values are worthless. Hey-Zeus, I hope not! Despite its nihilistic nature BAR is likely to suck you into its whacky absurdist plot. Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich and George Clooney glow with squirm-in-your-seat performances.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
A well constructed if slightly baffling political thriller that pits CIA researcher Joe Turner (Robert Redford) against unknown assailants. To avoid being snared, Joe randomly selects and kidnaps a total stranger who also happens to be stunning. She’s Kathy Hale (Faye Dunaway) and their eventual sexual liaison and her trust of him stretches believability. Likewise is “bookish” Turner’s awesome telephone tapping skills and growing confidence in his sleuthing. Icy assassin Max von Sydow as Joubert is at his sinister best generating generous doses of coolly calculated suspense. The film might be confirmation that these kinds of CIA conspiracies really do exist, but I think it’s just an entertaining fantasy, much better than James Bond silliness.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
This ‘83 TV docu has too many gaps, raising more questions than answers about this talented, complex man. However, I was moved by his lyric tenor voice and acting skills in several movie scenes. Singers, actors, and producers including Zsa Zsa Gabor, Kathryn Grayson and Anna Moffo are interviewed while Placido Domingo does a creditable job trying to tie this hodgepodge together. Without evidence Lanza’s mysterious death is linked to mobsters, but there’s no mention that he had had a minor heart attack and pneumonia a few months before his October ’59 death from a pulmonary embolism. Pity he didn’t continue the opera career he started in 1948 as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly though his Hollywood calling certainly made him a star known around the world.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Toshiro Mifune, directed for the last time by acclaimed Akira Kurosawa, is gruff Dr. Kyojio “Red Beard” Niide, who lives by a stern code of honour; he contributes to humankind through healing. Set around 1825 a Western medicine influenced and determined young doctor, Yasumoto, is sent to a poorly funded public clinic run by Red Beard in a poverty stricken area. Like squeezing water from a sponge, Kurosawa wrings every drop of pathos from the near 3 hour story, especially in the teary second half. Very much a sober and thought provoking morality play, it does have one comic scene when Red Beard fights and easily disposes of brothel thugs, and then remarks that a doctor shouldn’t commit such violence. Superb cinematography and overall a most rewarding film!
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
How disappointing. This disaster movie is one! Based on preposterous world wide horrific ice age weather, the impressive visual effects are humongous overkill. A meteor striking earth would have made more sense. On top of this, the dialogue is B grade at best. If I had known that Roland Emmerich was also responsible for Independence Day and Godzilla I wouldn’t have bothered. However, in a cynical political aside quite applicable today, the film’s USA vice president remarks that any new environmental measures (to combat the worsening meteorological situation) would be bad for the economy. Despite death and destruction and the dawn of a new ice age, there’s a Hollywood silver lining in the final words relayed from an orbiting space craft, “Have you ever seen the air so clear?” Supreme kitsch!
(Don't bother!) - review by Jack
Double entendres and snappy dialogue delivered with precise timing help make Billy Wilder’s fast paced comedy a classic that still makes for excellent viewing today. 1920’s gangland violence and menace combine with ridiculous situations that include racy issues like homosexuality, free love and men in drag. Though the late 50’s American audience was more puritan than now, they and the critics loved the madcap action. It produced terrific performances from stars Tony Curtis, Jack Lemon and especially Marilyn Monroe as sexy singer and ukulele player Sugar Kane. George Raft as gangster Spats Colombo and Joe E. Brown as goofy millionaire Osgood E. Fielding sparkle in smaller roles. It’s fun, funny and farcical--sharply entertaining! Four and a half stars.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
A lavish and vibrant, highly stylised production featuring fascinating, but curious costuming and make-up that appear to be a blend of exotic Egyptian, Turkish harem and Il Doce Italian. At nearly 3 and a half hours, its long arias are a bit tedious for me. However, there are scenes worth waiting for, some amusing, like Caesar’s vocal repartee with a violinist, Cleopatra’s (Yvonne Kenny) almost titillating milk bath and her second act aria, “V'adoro pupille”, sung to the accompaniment of a small onstage orchestra. It’s a celebrated Baroque opera employing countertenors Graham Pushee and Andrew Dalton in place of castratos as used in Handel’s day. The story is well and truly over-the-top, but as a beautiful sounding spectacle, it’s well worth viewing. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Syrupy slushy populist pap! But quite appropriate to help galvanize a nation on the brink of WWII, this is Frank Capra’s black ‘n white but highly red, white blue patriotic salute to the common man and American democracy. It’s got anthems and icons, good neighbour homilies, copious sentimentality, dubious humour, a strained romance, vitriolic swipes at Fascism, and even a joyous tiny snippet of Beethoven’s 9th at the end. (In 1941 how did a German composer rate a listen?) Would-be hobo Long John Willoughby (Gary Cooper) is the put-up John Doe advocating charity and good will, and symbolizes a contemporary Christ albeit without having to be nailed to a cross. As an aid to understanding where many Yanks are coming from I’d recommend, otherwise not.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
A smart, trashy mid 70’s slap (shot) at pro ice hockey--its players, the wives, the fans--in fact hardly anyone associated with the game is spared in this profanity laced bitter sweet sports comedy. High sticking play turns the dismal Charlestown Chief’s fortunes around though its demise is set for season’s end. Aging player-coach Reggie Dunlop (acted with a tacky savvy by Paul Newman) successfully ties together the disparate members, from the conniving general manager Joe McGrath, to the brawling Hanson brothers (thick as three bricks) to good guy Princeton grad Ned Braden. It’s screwy, at times slapstick but also has a gritty realness all due to Nancy Dowd’s clever screen play and George Roy Hill’s direction. And, the groovy sounds fit really well too.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
With minimal dialogue Bernardo Bertolucci’s emotional drama is nevertheless a beguiling cinematic meal for the ears and eyes, another slant on the human need for love and support. The actors’ body language and intense varied music combine to give the film its heart. I especially enjoyed the African folk songs and Chopin, Mozart, and Bach piano excerpts. The story is a very bizarre romance; there’s no obvious chemistry between the principals, Mr. Kinsky, an eccentric British composer and piano teacher, and Shandurai, his African house keeper, in fact she initially totally rejects his advances, and yet . . . music Kinsky composes for her signals a breakthrough in the emotional and cultural barriers that separate them—and then there’s the HEAVY sacrifice.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Deep impact! I was still thinking about last night’s viewing of Sean Penn’s fascinating docudrama about Chris McCandless’s fleeting life this morning when I woke up. As a would-be outdoorsman and back to nature inhabitant strongly influenced by the writings of Jack London and Henry Thoreau, I admire Chris’s commitment to an ideal, but not with his means of achieving it. His amateurish poorly prepared plan to survive in Alaska’s harsh environment cost him his life, but not before his “on the road” adventures bond him with slightly off-beat characters. Using flashbacks of our hero’s odyssey with spectacular outdoor photography, and terrific acting, sparse but insightful commentary and snippets of diary entries, this one really grabbed me.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
While not especially boring this pretentious melodrama with its improbable foolish plot including some kinky sexual diversions is far from an art house film, more like a big budget made-for-TV epic. The leads are stereotypical and seem to be a merging of successful film characters of that time. While espousing a self-centred view of the world, hedonistic Gilda (Charlize Theron) so convincingly has her HITC that her concluding WWII involvement is ludicrous. Her lovers, Guy and Mia, are sexy, have strong moral values, and complete a brief ménage a trois. Ho-hum! The best that can be said about the production are its lavish 20’s and 30’s period costuming and settings. In spite of many emotional opportunities, nary a tear was jerked from me. One and a half stars.
(Don't bother!) - review by Jack
Fellini's disturbing melodrama concerns a lonely naïve prostitute, Cabiria, whose life is a sad, tough struggle to deal with wicked men who take advantage of her. As she did so well in La Strada (co-starring Anthony Quinn), the childlike Giulietta Masina brilliantly displays a range of expressive moods (a la silent era). Here she conveys her strong and impudent life spirit ever determined to rise again after repeated setbacks. Her readiness to jeopardise everything to be loved and admired and to give her life meaning imbues the film with a tenderness and spirit of optimism. The black and white cinematography is exceptional (includes the poverty stricken environs of post WWII Rome) and Nino Rota’s music splendidly matches the emotional ambiance. Four and a half stars.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
What a rewarding (and depressing) film! Amusing moments when they come are not of the laugh-out-loud-kind, but are dry, slightly dark and edgy. After all what’s funny about dementia, nursing home care, incontinence, and impending death? Struggling near middle aged siblings Wendy and John Savage have the responsibility for determining the care of their declining father thrust upon them. Isolated and single, their separate scholarly worlds seem to deter them from leading successful lives and, when it matters, cooperating to aid their estranged invalid father. However, every nuance of their self absorbed complex personalities is mined to perfection by the acting talents of Linney and Hoffman. Minor and major trials of everyday life sparkle under the guiding hand of director-writer Tamara Jenkins. Now I’d like to see her earlier Slums of Bevery Hills.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Brain damaged protagonist, Chris Pratt (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is more ‘the insider’, not a lookout in this neo-noir bank vault heist. Only he and his blind roommate Lewis (Jeff Daniels) are fleshed out; the supporting cast are shallow caricatures (shotgun killer Bone just looks malevolent, saying almost nothing), including an overly wholesome femme fatale, Luvlee Lemons (Isla Fisher) who lacks a gritty edge. Some light relief comes from sarcastic Lewis in the otherwise dark and bleak wintry setting. While a feeling of disquiet pervades, the story doesn’t really provoke. The violent ending is predictable, but our hero’s remarkable rehabilitation isn’t. Gordon-Levitt aptly handles his mind challenging role in an otherwise unmemorable film.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Dated ’59 fashions, appliances and attitudes aren’t the only humourous elements; Billy Wilder’s clever dialogue is perceptive and the potentially gloomy, dark plot sparkles with humanity. Jack Lemmon as ambitious C.C. Baxter is a weak willed ‘nerd’ long before such a term was invented, and you might wonder if he’ll find his moral ‘backbone’. Hard-done-by elevator operator, Fran Kubelik, played by a 26 year old Shirley McLaine, has our sympathies, while heartless womanising boss J.D. Sheldrake (Fred McMurray) only our antipathy. Wilder’s male dominated corporate world is cynically seen as cold, backstabbing and alienating. (Is that image much different today?) Wonderful acting and photography, this winner was definitely worth revisiting after 48 years! Four and a half stars.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Catch the mellow humour in this roughhouse romp somewhere in the Wild West. It’s complete with hollering (Holly)wild injuns, an outlaw band of ‘cut-scalp’ bounty collectors, a crotchety but resourceful fur trapper, and an erudite runaway slave, but no cowboys of the bronco breaking kind. Using a covered wagon boudoir with brass bed as one example, director Sydney Pollack never lets the absurd chase-the-pelts plot take itself seriously, mainly achieved through the crisp performances of Davis, Lancaster, Savalas and a saucy Winters. They’re both having and poking fun. A 60s civil rights message surfaces as black-white racial boundaries merge into a muddy equality at the conclusion of a Davis and Lancaster brawl. All in all, enticing! Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
I found the unusual characters and plot intriguing in this slow moving dark drama. Two lonely and seemingly mismatched souls are drawn together in an odd granddaughter - grandfather type bond. One is a sexually active young woman, Sarah Silver, aspiring to be an actor, the other is Mr. Zao an attentive elderly Chinese. They live across from each other in a Paris apartment block; his considerate attention and her growing trust drew me in and I became sympathetic to their emotional baggage. This empathy was heightened by an ongoing air of tension due to the jealous actions of several tenants who become aware of the relationship and Sarah herself whose psychological state is precariously balanced. At the impetuous conclusion, what’s changed?
(Excellent) - review by Jack
As a consummate actor, Tashiro Mifune seemed to be able to play just about any role. Here he successfully presents the face of a scowling, bad-tempered, bent-backed old man obsessed with H bomb fear; he’s caring but not likable. His quarrelling family whom he is trying to “save” from nuclear catastrophe isn’t very pleasant either making for a tedious and bleak film (especially the ending), no matter how well acted. Takashi Shimura, a brooding dentist torn between his conscience and his duty, compliments Mifune. Akiro Kurosawa always presents challenging themes, this time he objectively explores changed Japanese values in conflict 10 years after WWII and how people dealt with the threat of nuclear war. I wouldn’t recommend ILIF for escapist amusement. Two and a half stars.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
What could have possessed me to select 300? I managed an hour, but all of the computer generated images of gory mayhem (arms, legs, heads hacked off, spears and swords slicing through soft rib cages, showers of bogus blood specks, etc.) repeated over and over with trivial variations, was enough. It was sort of like a Philip Glass composition of battle scenes. For me archaic butchery, digital enhancement of male physique and one dimensional testosterone loaded warriors isn’t entertainment or even very thought provoking! I agree with one critic’s assessment of 300 as “an overwrought, revved-up, and deeply silly symphony of clanging steel and spurting blood.”
(Don't bother!) - review by Jack
To save a 9 year old boy from a bleak life in Ethopia in the mid 80s a strong mother-son bond is harshly broken. A fleeting opportunity is seized and she commands, “Go! Live and become”, and so begins a black adolescent boy’s solitary immigration as a pseudo Falasha (Ethiopian) Jew to Israel. During the next 20 years Schlomo (his Jewish name) struggles to accept his cultural identity, overcome racial bigotry, deal with his guilt at leaving his mother, and attain a doctor’s qualifications. The overstretched and contrived story overlays the then political situation with Jewry dogma, pushing just about all our emotional buttons. Yaël Abecassis is excellent as Schlomo’s French/Israeli mother who helps her adopted son to grow into a man. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
A fanciful and farcical story with lavish costumes, gorgeous settings and loads of laughs based on a short unknown period in the life of the famous 17th century French dramatist Molière. Using reconstructions of characters from Molière’s plays, writer director Laurent Tirard has assembled an excellent cast to deliver a witty script in a fast paced, sometimes raucous period piece that conjures up the origins of Molière’s ideas. As the buffoonish and wealthy mistress seeking Monsieur Jourdain, I especially liked Fabrice Luchini (see him as a modern amorous fool in “Paris”) who is cuckolded by Molière and duped by greedy Count Dorante. Attractive Laura Morante as Elmire, Jourdain's neglected wife, is dazzling. As the director meant, I’ve been motivated to find out more about Molière and his plays.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
As a violent action thriller set in the Japanese gangster underworld it’s a good effort that concludes in the vengeful slaughter of the Yakuza baddies that would do Rambo proud. Aging Robert Mitchum as Harry Kilmer gets away with plenty of bloody mayhem wielding firearms as does his co-killer Japanese master sword swinger, Ken Tanaka (Takakura Ken) It takes the first dialogue loaded half of the film to get us to the point where the involved plot comes together, and some of the lines are rather ham fisted, ie., Ken: “One of us should leave.” Harry: “You mean that this town isn’t big enough for both of us?” Mitchum, as ever, is unflappable while no nonsense Takakura is relentlessly efficient as the honour bound executioner. It might be worth half a little finger to select this one—chop-chop!
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Unsentimental, but heart warming Thomas McCarthy’s quirky and original tale of the importance of friendships is a comedy-drama winner. A trio of oddball outsiders find comfort in one another in, of all places, an unused train depot in New Jersey. They are train enthusiast Finbar McBride (Peter Dinklage), a dwarf, Joe, an insecure, but talkative Latino roadside food vendor, and Oliva an angry divorcee artist. Dinklage is outstanding as the stoic loner beaten down by peoples’ perceptions of his small stature life, but who angrily breaks out of his shell. We know the film’s message before it starts: people shouldn’t be judged by superficial observations. In a most entertaining way TSA shows us that stereotyping can cause emotional distress. Four and a half stars.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
The importance of everyday life and living it to the full is the subject of Cedric Klapisch’s kaleidoscope of interconnected and complex stories set in the French capital. There’s pain, humour, happiness, birth, death, sorrow, jealousy, and, of course, lust and love. Juliette Binoche (Élise), Fabrice Luchini (Roland) and Roman Duris (Pierre) are central and give outstanding performances. Without stereotypes and a huge serve of unpredictability, Paris has a surprising amount of character depth considering the large cast. Views of Parisian architecture and street life are vivid, the musical score excellent (includes Erik Satie’s Gymnopedie No. 1) and the many persona riveting. However, overall there’s just too much going on to make this a masterpiece.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Nothing much has changed since Akiro Kurosawa’s paparazzi protest film was made except the magnitude of celebrity gossip mongers. By today’s standards the “scandal” is pretty tame; a photo of a prominent female singer and painter on a hotel balcony features in a magazine suggesting a tryst and a defamation trial follows. A weak willed lawyer (Takashi Shimura) and his TB infected daughter provide an emotional focus featuring overwrought sappy scenes. (Shimura reprises a similar role in the much better Ikiru two years later.) Black ‘n white in its’ shooting and characters, the baddies are blatant and the goodies are very upright and virtuous. Scandal also deals with weak character, a trait then unacceptable in Japanese culture. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
This corn-ball Western sex opera without singing (almost) is characterised by mawkish dialogue, over-the-top epic music, cardboard stereotyped characters, racial bias, lots of phoney red tinged outdoor shots and 1940’s cowboy fashions set in the 1880’s. Sex-pot Jennifer Jones as Pearl Chavez stands out in colourful form revealing attire. However, if viewed as campy fare you’ll find loads of laughs like “You double-crossin' bobcat” spoken by bad guy Gregory Peck at the outset of “the duel” surely one of the most over acted scenes ever put to screen. It’s a really bad taste movie, (reflected by Pearl when she shouts “I’m trash, trash, trash!”) and the person most responsible for it was David O Selznick who also produced Gone With The Wind. ‘Nuff said! One and a half stars.
(Don't bother!) - review by Jack
If you liked Ioan Gruffudd as Horatio Hornblower in the TV series, you’ll probably enjoy him as William Wilberforce, the driving force behind moves to outlaw the British slave trade in the late 1700’s. This historical story spans 20 years as Wilberforce attempts to push the passage of an Anti-slavery bill through the House of Commons; throughout there’s sparkling repartee and, predictably more often than not, smug pro-slavery advocates are put down with superior wit. If you want to see scenes of slave life and brutality look elsewhere, though there are two dramatic descriptions of this inhumanity. The cast of supporting actors give excellent performances. However, I think using the “Amazing Grace” hymn was a tacky attempt at religious righteousness.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Walter Vale is “the visitor”, a lonely and burnt-out economics professor whose privileged life takes a turn (for the better) when he meets Tarek, a cheerful African drum playing Syrian and his girlfriend, Zainab, a sour puss jewellery maker/hawker from Senegal, both illegal USA immigrants. When Tarek is jailed and faces deportation, Walter takes up his cause. Enter Mouna, Tarek’s mother, also an illegal alien whose relationship with Walter brings out the vibrant part of him he once was. I liked this touching film, but I expect this character study will evoke a spectrum of comment. The importance of friendships is also the theme of director Thomas McCarthy’s earlier film, The Station Agent (’03), which I’ve now added to my queue.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Set in Hong Kong in ’62, two attractive and lonely people move into the same apartment building. Each is married but they slowly drift closer to each other after learning that their respective spouses are having an affair. However, each is reticent and they maintain an emotional distance from each other; viewers must wonder whether they will or won’t. The vibrant cinematography and sound track are the best parts, especially Nat King Cole singing in Spanish and Michael Galasson’s evocative pizzicato strings with a mournful cello melody. This unusual film about repressed love left me rather frustrated; the leads aren’t fleshed out enough and, like unrequited love, it doesn’t add up to a fulfilling experience. Two and a half stars.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
A heart tugger this one might have you blubbering into your handkerchief. Giovanni (Nanni Moretti), an earnest but none to communicative psychoanalyst who likes to jog, is happily married with two teenagers when one of them drowns. The family has great difficulty coping with their grief until it is learned that their son had formed a tentative relationship with a girl he had met on a camping trip a few months before his death. The girl is contacted by letter and what happens in the concluding scenes is enlightening for the family and a means for them to heal their anguish. The mood is sometimes sentimental, but injections of subtle humour keep the well-paced film balanced. It’s a good film, but in the end did not fully engage me. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Some whopping set designs and Graeme Murphy’s choreographing make for eye-catching scenes in Puccini’s last opera. Unfortunately the choice of leads didn’t inspire. Turandot (Ealynn Voss) is an apt Ice Princess but how Calaf’s first sighting of her stirs his heart is beyond me (but that’s opera!). Despite her eventual reciprocal feelings of love, there’s little chemistry between the two. Calaf (Kenneth Collins), doesn’t give a toss when his chief supporter, Liu (Amanda Thane), is tortured and then kills herself to avoid giving away his name. The locals are a blood thirsty lot, eagerly yelling for yet another head. There’s an unexpected bright finale, but for me this grand Italian opera’s brutality and sadomasochism overwhelm its message of the redemptive power of love.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
I believe the film’s music will continue to be more celebrated than the flick itself (like Zorba the Greek). Ennio Morricone's dramatic score which included pan pipes, plus views of lush central South American jungle and the mammoth Iguazu Falls are terrific, really worth hearing and seeing. However, to be good there’s got to be more. Instead this “true” 18th century colonial conflict is distilled distortion and exotica of comic book proportions. From the opening over-the-falls martyrdom of a Jesuit priest (described by one critic as a “gleaming, romantic pendant of exotic misadventure”) to Father Gabriel’s (Jeremy Irons) pacification of the Guarani Indians with nothing more than an oboe, too much is cloying (cut to the tranquil Jesuit nirvana, “the mission”) and over-simplified. Without sufficient character development this one didn’t really touch my heart as the writer and director intended.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
This animated adventure story quickly captured my attention with its creativity and richly coloured vibrant images that include bizarre and fascinating mythological Japanese spirits. An excellent musical score heightens the action; positive environmental and morality messages are embraced. SA centres about a 10 year old girl, Chihiro, who initially, is a rather sullen brat but has to accept responsibility and learn some manners in a spirit world bath house to rescue her foolhardy parents and return to human society. I found the dubbed in dialogue (for USA audiences) too saccharine and juvenile for my liking, and would have preferred the original Japanese with subtitles. SA might appeal most to adolescents and lovers of comic book fantasy.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Well balanced with laughter, tenderness and poignancy this is an excellent multi-level romantic tale of pretence bound by conflicting cultural traditions. Within a middle class Chinese family Director Ang Lee contrasts Western individuality with Eastern conformity and subservience to authority. The characters are appealing and affable and one cannot but feel sympathy for their situations. Chinese-American Wai Tung’s attempts to hide his homosexual relationship from his Taiwanese parents comes unstuck at the hilarious and sometimes uncomfortable wedding banquet. Ang Lee has triumphed over stereotypical expectations and pushed cultural boundaries by crafting a message of tolerance and acceptance due to the power of love. Four and a half stars.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Werner Herzog went to great lengths to film the disastrous 16th century contact between insatiable Spanish conquest seekers and Peruvian Indians. There’s much to like and dislike about his efforts. Positives include spectacular Amazon rain forest and river scenery shot with scary reality, and a study of illogical obsession and madness in a defining performance by Klaus Kinski, as the maniacal Aguirre, fanatically leading a rafting quest to find El Dorado. Negatives are an often stilted dialogue and an ambiance of hopelessness defined by ongoing murder and brutality, some of it in the name of the church. Less important is the facial appearance of Kinski who with shoulder length blond locks poking out from under his Conquistador helmet is about as Spanish looking as Bob Hope and the spotlessly clothed and coiffured female leads.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Almost light-heartedly, Akira Kurosawa has crafted the ultimate thinking man’s samurai in Sanjuro, who rises to every move of his enemies to outwit and out battle them. It’s really a spoof on the genre, with plenty of laughs once you can wrap your head around the idea of a grumpy older samurai ensnared between two inept factions. In a sequel to Yojimbo, Tashiro Mifune is again the unkempt and bad-mannered masterless warrior who would rather laze about, drinking and eating. He does use his swift sword when necessary to devastating effect, but actual battle scenes are short lived and relatively few. The plotting is complicated, but it’s not required to understand all the details to enjoy the to and fro of the dialogue and action.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Through a chance meeting, a young French musicologist Stephane (Romain Duris) is invited into a Romanian Gypsy community. He’s seeking a Gypsy vocalist whose singing was a favourite of his father. Befriended by the hot blooded and violin playing Izidor, the village chieftain, Stephane is the “outsider”, who soon becomes attracted to the Gypsy way of life which includes a lovely dancer, Sabina, fiercely independent and an emotional volcano. With unexpected and often bawdy humour, joyous toe tapping music, and vibrant colour this is a delightful film despite dark themes that include discrimination, revenge and ignorance. It’s a good story infused with passionate and fiery feelings for life and a simmering tension that eventually explodes.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Grieving Queensland farmer John Waldring (William McInnes) encounters non-English speaking Tahmeena (Monic Hendrickx) an Afghani woman under unusual circumstances. She’s been beaten and needs help. The growth of their loving relationship is moving; Under John’s protection Tahmeena’s physical and mental wounds heal and she slowly helps to release John from his anguish. However, as the reasons for Tahmeena’s predicament gradually become more defined, so too do her hunters which leads to a thrilling conclusion. The film’s unusual title refers to a jig-saw puzzle that is a metaphor for John’s on going grief, and, like a puzzle, Director Peter Duncan little by little slots the pieces of this intriguing and sensitive story together.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Director Jean-Luc Godard has made a movie so original in design, characters and feeling that it’s effect is jarring, but I was spellbound by its innovations. Shot in the buildings and streets of Paris, Michel (Jean Paul Belmondo) and Patricia (Jean Seberg) are so into themselves they can’t see what’s going on around them. Michel, a car thief and a killer (almost by accident), is running scared but professes a toughness he doesn’t really have and, as she learns of Michel’s criminal nature, Patricia seems oblivious to it and to the consequences of her duplicity. How could these two be so naïve and amoral? Reflecting on the film’s title and today’s anti-smoking attitude it’s ironic that Michel is almost continuously puffing on a cigarette like his hero Humphrey Bogart.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Hooray for the multitude of “wavelengths” out there; there’s cinematic entertainment for everyone. However, as a retired secondary teacher, my frequency wasn’t attuned to this adolescent flick and I didn't empathize much with the Wes Anderson directed over-the-top, dark high school fantasy. The central character, Max (well acted by Jason Schwartzman), is obnoxious and rude, and most of the time an unrelenting gallah! As a precocious 15 year old nerd going on 30, he is repulsive even though he shows a glimmer of humanity at the end. He carries a schoolboy crush for Primary teacher (Olivia Williams), twice his age, to the extreme while cultivating an unlikely friendship with a self-made steel tycoon played by deadpan Bill Murray. Warped!
(Maybe) - review by Jack
A humungous film—in undertaking and direction – that dramatises the power of obsession in both the Irish protagonist, Fitzcarraldo, and the Director, Werner Herzog. Despite numerous set-backs, (the brilliant 1982 documentary “Burden of Dreams” tells this account) Herzog persisted over a period of three years to film a story about the singleminded efforts of a mad dreamer, Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald (Klaus Kinski), to inspire local Indians to (literally) haul a steamship over mountainous Amazonian terrain to access rubber trees. Sound crazy? It was. Wild haired and eyed Kinski gives a bravura performance as an opera fanatic entrepreneur who won’t be deterred from his goals. Opera excerpts, staged and from recordings, enhance the bizarre premise.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
An unconventional film about two men’s devoted friendship and their mutual love of Catherine over a period of about 20 years beginning in Paris just prior to WWI. The essence of a femme fatale Catherine is independent, fleeting and impulsive; her youthful exuberance reflects a joyful aliveness, ever immersing herself in life’s pleasures. Though more level headed and able to commit to lasting relationships, two writers, Parisian Jules and Austrian Jim, are captivated by Catherine’s magnetism and are ultimately swept into a destructive vortex. This is Francois Truffaut’s buoyant and vibrant ode to life, filled with episodic scenes of a happy and witty nature between the three leads. Be prepared to shed usual expectations of cinematic romance.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Toshiro Mifune stars as an itinerant samurai, Sanjuro, who becomes “the bodyguard” in Akira Kurosawa’s brilliant black comedy merging the American wild west with the Japanese warrior genre. It’s set in a small and bleak ‘bad-ass’Japanese town divided by two warring factions in 1860; enter arrogant and cynical, but cool, Mifune. He’s superb, emotionally indifferent, speaking only when necessary and conveying his character by deft control of his expressions and body movements. The stylized violence is wonderfully choreographed, there’s plenty of twists and unpredictable turns and the photography is outstanding. Kurosawa added a new dimension to the theme of a solitary cowboy-samurai coming to the rescue of a beleaguered town.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
A highly original and bizarre in-your-face screenplay by Charlie Kaufman who is acted by Nicholas Cage in the film. Performances are excellent especially Chris Cooper as the dentally challenged orchid thief John LaRoche, but as a dark comedy with violence, I didn’t find it tickled my funny bone. The difficulties of being a creative screenwriter and the persona of the characters are believeable until the Kaufman brothers follow Susan (Meryl Streep) to Florida and she turns nasty. I didn’t see this coming and though it satisfied the screenwriter’s aims it just didn’t seem plausible she’d go to that extreme. It’s a cerebral film that often crisscrosses in time and has received many plaudits, but I didn’t much like it. Maybe it needs a second viewing.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
An often ridiculous and sometimes slap-stick semi-thriller features a giant acrobatic mutant killer serpent-fish creature that rises out of the Han River to gobble up Seoul residents and a rather bonky family who try to rescue one of their members from the monster. Taken as a whole, it’s a mish-mash of horror, dark humour, drama and action while the special effects used to bring the “the host” beast to life are excellent. Writer/director Bong Joon-ho never lets the film take itself seriously, but he does throw some political darts by attacking Government misinformation and cover-ups, American interference and environmental carelessness. It drags a bit in the middle but held my interest, and you might find this Korean entrant into the genre just suits.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
An intense movie to view when you’ve “got it all together” and ready to be emotionally challenged. In spite of some dark humour generally this romantic drama is depressing as we view the marriage meltdown of a Danish couple making a sudden visit to Prague. Close-ups of their expressive faces underline a breakdown in communication between emotionally distant Christoffer and his wife Maja after 14 years of matrimony. Gradually we become aware of the reasons for the disharmony that are largely related to the purpose of their trip. The film’s mood is distressing because director Ole Christian Madsen gives us little hope for a reconciliation, but there are many subtleties and details of human behaviour that are somehow rewarding. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
East (China under Chairman Mao) meets West (Balzac and Mozart) and the victor is clearly the latter in this politicized romantic drama about the liberating force of books to effect thought and action. Two young urban bourgeois men are sent to an isolated mining village to be re-educated in communist doctrine. They are attracted to the local tailor’s lovely granddaughter, but ironically, it’s these men who do the educating by reading to the seamstress from Western authored banned books (plus a few bars from a Mozart violin sonata). The mountain scenery is stunning, the story compelling, and the message is clear without moralizing or accentuating the horrific excesses of the Cultural Revolution. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
In the 80’s our ABC broadcast the weekly Midwest American radio program “APHC” on a Sunday afternoon and I often enjoyed Garrison Keillor’s whimsical production from the Fitzgerald theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota. The film celebrates those nostalgic shows with a gentle mix of country music, and homespun humour from a group of Hollywood stars including Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Woody Harrelson, John C Reilly and Lindsay Lohan. Anchored by MC Keillor himself, additional humour comes from behind the scenes Kevin Kline, a dim-witted security head. Though light on plot, director Robert Altman’s last film is rich in stage entertainment and centres about the show’s last night demise, our fleeting nature of existence and fresh beginnings.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
A lightly drawn plot and somewhat blithe, but not particularly humourous, look at one male’s middle-age loneliness and his attraction to a much younger woman. Grumpy, handsome and balding Jacques (Jean-Pierre Bacri), a sound technician, and recently divorced, hires Laura (Émilie Dequenne) to clean his messy apartment. She’s sexy in a vacuous sort of way, a free-spirit, but shallow and changeable. He succumbs to her advances and deludes himself that the relationship will somehow work. As always, Berri is an expert at characterization and the performances of the two leads are terrific. This out of the ordinary film is worth seeing because though the outcome is predictable, the route to it is not. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Another Claude Berri directed winner, this one is based on a true story about French resistance led by a courageous couple in Lyon who attempt to outwit the Gestapo during the Nazi occupation of France. In due course, Lucie Aubrac (Carole Bouquet) puts her life at risk to put a bold plan in place to rescue her husband Raymond (Daniel Auteuil) who has been sentenced to face a firing squad. The plot is also about their war time love, and Berri highlights their devotion to each other which is linked to the suspense created by their dangerous defiance of German rule. It’s larger-than-life material based on two average people whose love of their country brings about extraordinary responses to a threatening situation. Well acted and photographed.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
This political drama should remind us that some governments will continue to have unjust policies and enforcers to keep those policies in effect. Here it’s 1980 when oppression and torture are used to shore up the system of apartheid in South Africa. Col. Nic Vos (Tim Robbins) is the anti-terror chief who represents the minority white population whose life of privilege is under threat. Patrick Chamusso (Derek Luke) an oil refinery foreman is apolitical until he and his wife are tortured and jailed under the direction of Vos. Patrick is radicalized, joins the military wing of the ANC (African National Congress) and becomes committed to blowing up the refinery. Meant to be provocative, it isn’t and the story is rather predictable and forgettable.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Set in German occupied Czechoslovakia this understated and quirky coming of age comedy-tragedy partly concerns a naive teenage apprentice train dispatcher, Milos, attempts to lose his virginity. With slight regard for the 1944 war situation, much of the action (sexual) takes place at a quiet village railway station where little of importance happens until Milos agrees to be involved in blowing up a German munitions train. COT is eccentric yet subtle, slapstick with genuine humanitarian touches; it manages to be both funny and compassionate while expressing a political point of view to the then (1966) Soviet occupied country.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Set in Rome in 1800, Giacomo Puccini’s adaptation of a tale of tragic love, jealousy, lust, torture, betrayal, murder and suicide—is just about everything you might expect from grand Italian opera. The embodiment of evil, Baron Scarpia (John Shaw), chief of police is contrasted with the beautiful singer Floria Tosca (Eva Marton) the lover of painter Mario Cavaradossi (Lamberto Furlan). Eva Marton’s passionate acting and powerful soprano voice excels, amply satisfying Puccini’s challenging demands. I especially thrilled to her warm Act II prayer Vissi d’arte, vissi d’amore (“I lived on art, I lived on love”). The sets are stunning as well as the early 19th century costumes and, overall, the performance excellent and exciting.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
A Martin Scorsese directed woman’s journey of self-discovery and empowerment told with ups and downs, laced with both threatening and hilarious situations and ultimate deliverance. Ellen Burstyn portrays Alice Hyatt, the hardworking compliant mother of Tommy, an unconventional adolescent. Without warning Ellen gains an independence for which she is ill equipped. She is forced to rely on her own ingenuity and good sense, digging deep into her character after her domineering husband is accidentally killed. Scorsese secures rich performances from supporting cast especially Diane Ladd as outrageously outspoken Flo, waitressing in a diner with Alice and Harvey Keitel (Ben) a devious and menacing love interest. Four and a half stars.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
There’s a special emphasis on food preparation and presentation—quite a feast for the eyes—as well as searches for love, hence the title of this East-West familial clash. Director Ang Lee focuses on father-daughter interactions in which widower father and master chef Chu’s stern mores and inability to express his feelings frustrates and distances his three live-in adult daughters. Each plans and hopes to be the first to leave the household. The interweaving of food and love themes in four interlinked stories setting Western style individual freedoms against Eastern subservience to the family is terrific. However, sometimes speed reading is required in this fast paced dialogue loaded comedy drama.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
In this Opera Australia’s production, Johann Strauss's 1870’s frolicsome comedy operetta has been transposed from Vienna to New York city and the songs are in English instead of German. It’s witty, easy on the ear and quite a delightful farce about practical jokes, long considered revenge, mistaken identities, and the potency of champagne. The colourful sets evoke the 1930’s and the timing and singing of the cast excellent, and taken all together the winsome qualities of this clever operetta far outweigh the silliness of the story.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
What a moving description of a man, government clerk Kanji Watanabe, who, discovering that his existence has been of little importance, sets about to give his shallow life meaning and productively make the most of the little time he has left. Told in two parts, the second is set at Watanabe’s funeral and uses flashbacks as seen through the eyes of his astonished work mates of him battling against entrenched bureaucratic indifference to achieve a difficult goal. Master Director Akira Kurosawa used this technique because he wants us to consider whether they, and we, might learn by Watanabe’s example. Once again Kurosawa has demonstrated that he was a supreme storyteller. Ikiru means “To Live” and this is a highly deserving film “To See”.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Initiated by Stalin in 1938 to awaken Russia’s population to an invasion by Germany, AN is a blatant example of nationalist propaganda. Director Sergei Eisenstein (The Battleship Potemkin) selected the 13th century period when Teutonic knights invaded Russia and warrior Prince Alexander Nevesky successfully led an army against the aggressors. Eisenstein used sound for the first time and Sergei Prokofiev provided a dynamic score, especially poignant during the decisive battle at frozen Lake Peipus in 1242. Thousands of Red Army soldiers dressed as Teutonic knights and peasants and nobles of the Russian army were used during the filming which was a huge undertaking, the structure of which has since been copied by other directors.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Director Francois Truffaut’s compassionate and perceptive ground-breaking cinematic exploration of a troubled adolescent, Antoine Doinel. Shot in Paris in black and white, the cramped apartment and decrepit classroom of Antoine including other city locations are realistically depicted without comment. Antoine’s parents are finding making ends meet difficult; they can’t relate to him let alone want him very much. It’s no better at school; Antoine’s misdemeanors are harshly dealt with and he decides he has no option but to escape to a life on the streets and petty crime. Truffaut’s direction is impartial and nonjudgmental, the acting without melodrama, the cinematography excellent and the movie experience poignant.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
An exceptional film that could have been an ordinary ‘made for the screen soapy’. Debut director Robert Redford has created a family under stress brought on by the accidental death of the older son. The perfections and blemishes of the three leads, Timothy Hutton, Donald Sutherland, and Mary Tyler Moore soon become obvious. Unable to communicate through their emotional blocks, each develops through learning. Redford gave each an opportunity to look into themselves to query their own intentions as well as the motives of others to try to enhance their own ways of treating a disturbing situation. That not all learn to make the required adjustment is hard. OP is an intelligent, insightful, and emotionally invigorating film.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
In spite of good acting from the two leads, this Gallic farce was neither funny nor very amusing. The premise that a man (Daniel Auteuil) would continue to put his romantic relationship, his finances and possibly his livelihood under threat in order to rescue an irrational love sick supercharged suicidal young man (Jose Garcia) is hardly believable. This silly romantic comedy also doesn't work because there's very little chemistry between any of the likely lovers, and often situations seems contrived, forced and artificial.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
It’s entertaining to watch past Hollywood stars (Peck, Gardner, Astaire), but this plodding film is past its time. It’s overly melodramatic, the script dull and, knowing that the end of the world for humans is at hand, it lacks the expected tension and inevitable terror. I like “Waltzing Matilda”, but is it the only Aussie theme that USA audiences would be expected to relate to? Despite melodic variations, it is repeated so often it gives (for me) a sense that Australians must be rather ‘simple’. However, the camera work is excellent and Gregory Peck is very good in his role as Commander Dwight Towers. Two and a half stars.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Like Umberto D this is another neorealistic story of surviving in post WWII Italy made by director Vittorio De Sica. Viewers will find it difficult not to empathise with the protagonist, Antonia Ricci, who for want of a stolen bicycle faces a grim future for his family without the means to continue his job posting flyers. With his son Bruno, their frustrating search of the streets of Rome produces bitter lessons and tragic consequences. If you like (black and white) films that are shot in real locations with untrained actors that reflect a gritty socioeconomic reality and powerful humanism, then TBT is a classic you should see. Winner of many awards, the film has inspired other directors.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
This long (2 DVD’s) and mostly satisfying and provocative cinematic experience explores more than how a work of art develops. Director Jacques Rivette gradually, yet forcefully probes beneath the surface of both the model and the artist revealing their troubled souls. The unfolding of their unpredictable relationship requires much patience on the part of the viewer who is likely to be left reflecting on more questions than answers. The acting of the three principals is outstanding: Michel Piccoli is the aging painter Edouard Frenhofer, his stunning model Marianne is played by Emmanuel Beart, and Jane Birkin is Frenhofer’s younger wife Liz, a former favorite model. A film to challenge your sensibilities. Four and a half stars.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
The subject matter, the last days of a hedonistic old man who’s attracted to an eye-catching twenty something woman, could be loathsome. It isn’t. Stay the course. Though it concerns an unlikely relationship, losing people you love and dying, this cinematic experience is enriching. Aging Maurice (Peter O’Toole) is shrewd, witty, charismatic, and well past the point of caring what others think of his appearance. Jessie, the object of his desire, is immature, boorish, out of her depth and used to being treated badly. However, they find in each other something they need. The movie’s title that becomes Jessie’s pet name derives from a painting by Velázquez in which the nude goddess, her back to observers, examines her face in a mirror held by Cupid.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
You know this film is going to be wild when Melanie Griffith as Lulu adopts the distinctive “black helmet” bobbed look emulating Louise Brooks, the gorgeous ‘20s flapper’. (Check out the silent classic Pandora’s Box for the real “Lulu”). This off beat road movie and high school reunion cum thriller pairs Charlie Driggs (Jeff Daniels), a coat ‘n tie conservative masking rebel tendencies, with the very sexy and seemingly irresponsible Lulu. The unpredictability of their screw-ball high-jinks makes for amusing fare until off-the-rails and sinister ex-con Ray Sinclair (Ray Liotta) turns their quirky romance into a nightmare. The suspense becomes edge-of-your-seat and we’re headed for a bruising confrontation. Will it be deadly too?
(Excellent) - review by Jack
An example of Neorealism, I googled the meaning: It’s a film characterized by “difficult economical and moral conditions of post-World War II Italy, reflecting the changes in the Italian psyche and the conditions of everyday life: defeat, poverty, and desperation”. Director Vittorio de Sica casts a nonprofessional actor as Umberto D whose shortened name evokes his loss of stature in an uncaring society. He’s a former middleclass government worker, now retired, who is unable to make ends meet on his pitiable pension. This sympathetic portrayal, without sentimentality, of a dignified man whose only true friend seems to be his dog is a simple story with sad implications. However, Umberto bravely deals with his tribulations and I was touched.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
If you like classy cuisine, then you’re bound to salivate when delicious dishes emerge from the Paradise’s restaurant kitchen. Especially savour the wordless demonstration of how to make a perfect omelet. More than scrumptious visual victuals, BN is the connection between food and relationships. Mix two Italian immigrants, Primo, a genius chef, but hot tempered, and his pragmatic brother Secondo, a restaurateur trying to rescue their failing enterprise. Add three love interests, the successful owner of an Italian eatery and a hint of 50’s star Louis Prima. Slowly develop these juicy characters with humour and simmering tension. It’s a recipe for success or disaster or something in-between. What kind of taste will the film’s resolution leave with you?
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Don’t be put off (or put on) by the many sex scenes, this powerful and moving story is about commitment and love and the lack thereof. Tomas (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Sabina (Lena Olin) have an amorous relationship without emotion that enables each to glide above the responsibilities that love brings until Tereza (Juliette Binoche) enters Tomas’s life and the unbearableness begins, but ever so tentatively. Set in Prague in 1968, director Phillip Kaufman uses actual news footage of the Russian invasion that realistically incorporates Tomas and Tereza’s involvement in the street demonstrations. Escape to Geneva ensues, but in a portent of promise and an acceptance of trust, the couple return to occupied Prague and a heartening, but excruciating finale.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Bergman’s wry appraisal of the complications of love is as charming as its varied love-sick characters. The polished intricate story line of mixed-up romantic attachments blending sophisticated farce with mannered comedy, is set in upper class Sweden around the turn of the 20th century. The male leads are characterized as juvenile, egotistical and conceited while the women are depicted as strong willed and more witty and introspective. Petra the maid even advances pre-sexual revolution views, first amorously teasing her suitor and then is more than happy to hint for a literal “roll in the hay”, perhaps rather alarming for mid 1950’s audiences. Though many Bergman films have a bleak out-look, the same themes are treated here in a comic way.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
So many jewels sparkle in F & A’s crown: Exquisite cinematography, (Every detailed and richly coloured scene is as well done as Stanley Kubrick‘s period piece Barry Lyndon.) funny, mystical, suspenseful, and philosophical with a choice music score, thought stimulating dialogue, superb characterization and acting and a complicated, but fascinating lengthy narrative. The tangled web of dealings in a rich theatrical family is set in a large Swedish town in 1906, as seen though the eyes of one of the children, ten year old Alexander. And what a range of emotions are displayed: love, hate, generosity, selfishness, happiness, fear, innocence, remorse, pleasure, pain, acceptance and repudiation. A powerful Bergman masterpiece that begins and ends with a party!
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
If you are attracted to movies of great sentimentality, then you are bound to like this one. So get the hanky on the ready. I wanted to see Marianne Sagebrecht again after her sparkling performance in Bagdad Cafe, but her understated humour is not on offer in this one. Instead, she and her husband (Maximillian Schell) are Holocaust survivors and their life in Antwerpt continues to be deeply affected by the experience. It’s the connection between Chaja (Laura Fraser), their early twenties daughter, a lapsed Jewess, and Simcha, a four year old Hasidic Jew that’s likely to generate tears. That the plot is overstated and rather contrived might be an understatement. Still, it’s worth seeing Ingrid Bergman’s look-alike daughter, Isabella Rossellini and be reminded of the film’s humanitarian message.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Intensely dramatic, similar to the exaggerated acting of the silent era, this adaptation of Dostoevsky’s tragic novel is, at times, both tender and disturbing but well worth watching despite its length. Except for Japanese faces and speech, Director Akira Kurosawa’s sets and costumes look like the location could be just about anywhere in the snowy western world of the 1950’s rather than Hokkaido. Ironically, the compassionate “idiot” (Matsayuki Mori) is treated as one because he thinks of others before himself, identifies with any suffering he encounters, and always communicates the truth. As the ultimate in goodness, he’s not easy to believe in and at the end one of his two love interests (Yoshiko Kuga) declares herself to be the “real idiot” for failing to realize what could have been.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Ever since its release this seminal epic has profoundly influenced many directors and spawned various versions of the same theme, namely the recruitment of a team of specialists to achieve a specific goal. Here samurai are hired to assist farmers in defending their 16th century village from repeated bandit attacks. Though more than 3 hours in length, it’s necessary to gradually unfold the griping story and, not without humour, develop the characters of the samurai and farmers, while defining their social roles and obligations. Director Akira Kurosawa also explores the place of the individual in society through rebellion against social tradition using innovative plot devices and brilliantly composed and photographed action scenes. A great movie of great humanity!
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Not just another universal loss of innocence story, when it happens, there is a life destroying impact. Set in a Catholic boarding school during the Nazi occupation of France in 1944, two boys, Julien Quentin and newcomer Jean Bonnet, form a strong friendship in spite of adolescent rivalries and prejudices. Julien’s top of the class abilities are challenged by Jean, and the intellectual gifts and curiosity that sets them apart from their classmates assist in their bonding. Julien’s understanding that their friendship is under threat builds slowly and in one brief defining moment a glance is all that is needed to annihilate the bond. Blink and you’ll miss it. The full realization of the shattering effect of that glance is shown at the conclusion by a sustained focus on Julien’s anguished face.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Step back in time—to 1542 and a small hamlet in central France—and see the grime and sweat, and almost smell hard working agrarian villagers and their livestock. Enter the man who says he is Martin Guerre (Gerard Depardieu) after a nine year absence. Martin’s lovely wife, Bertrande de Rols (Nathalie Baye) is overjoyed at his return, and their relationship blossoms, until Martin’s identity is questioned. It now becomes a conflict between a strict moral code upheld by law and human choice and conduct. Will what seems right and natural succeed over what is inappropriate and contrived? Maybe after all the arguments are made and a verdict is reached, it’s survival that counts most of all. Watch and listen to Bertrande to find out.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Without the comic talents of Gerard Depardieu and Pierre Richard it’s doubtful this Gallic farce would be watched much today. Together these “chalk and cheese” accomplices (compères) form an unlikely team of wantabe dads “hunting and gathering” (excusez moi C. Berri) Tristan, a run away teenager, who may have been fathered by one them 17 years earlier. The ridiculous unsophisticated plot, laced with non-stop zany shenanigans, includes brawls with each other and run-ins with Nice gangsters and a teen motorcycle gang. The wacky and witty dialogue embraces perceptions of masculinity, parenting an angst ridden teenage boy, and coping with fatherly responsibilities and aspirations. It’s fast paced madcap fun that entertains.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
I believe it’s difficult to make good comedies. Take note, Moonstruck is better than excellent, it’s close to flawless. What makes it great? Sparkling dialogue delivered by engaging actors, none better than Cher as Loretta, a feisty independent Italian widow--Terrific romantic sub-plots centred in a loving, but slightly dysfunctional Italian family--Operatic extracts by Puccini—And “A big-a pizza pie” moon which Dean Martin reminds at the start that when it “hits your eye” that’s love. Somehow this lunar magic tempers potentially damaging amorous affairs, tensions and resentments. Director Norman Jewison has conjured up a wonderful ambiance that is humourous, warm and resonates with a loving spirit without being sentimental.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Loosely based on Greek mythology, the story of the ill-fated romance of Orpheus (a guitar strumming singer and cable car driver) and Eurydice (a beautiful country girl) is retold. Despite several sinister scenes (Death chasing Eurydice) and being aware that the couple’s love is doomed from the start, it’s nevertheless a mostly fun, colourfully costumed and ecstatic display of bossa nova dance rhythms, singing and sexual allure set during the Rio de Janeiro carnival. However, the “happy” slum dwellers’ poverty is glossed over and racial stereotyping prevails. Is it entertaining? Yes, especially if you like lots of samba dancing and a cute ending. Intellectually satisfying? Not much, but the film did introduce a new kind of music to the world.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
If you can sit through the I-wonder-where-this-is-going initial half hour, then you’ll be treated to a terrific nail biter. Several formidable obstacles on a hazardous road to a South American oilfield threaten to block two trucks carrying unstable nitroglycerin needed to extinguish a raging well fire. Will the hand picked volunteer drivers, desperate to each earn a $2000 reward, reach their destination or blow themselves up trying? The men’s fears, hidden or openly expressed, intensify the journey’s suspense. One driver, ruthless and seemingly undeterred by the dangers is Mario (Yves Montand) who also shows little respect for women, and blissfully steers his truck to the lilting strains of a Strauss waltz in the film’s ironic conclusion.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Fairy Tale of 1900 more like it. Odd concept living one’s whole life on a passenger liner, and being born (in 1900) able to play the piano without peer is yet harder to swallow. Even Mozart needed lessons from his father! Still, the implausible story line as told by trumpet player Max has fascination, like peeking in on a sideshow circus tent. Tim Roth as 1900 is a suave idiot savant pianist if there can be such a person. He has all the right moves and looks, but never really lets us in on his raison d'être. The jazzy music is cool (I enjoyed the fanciful hyperbolic Jelly Roll Morton scenes and stride piano), the period costuming and shipboard photography excellent, but altogether it’s just too weird-schmaltzy to take seriously.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
The music (Beethoven’s countrified 9th symphony) and colourful desert landscape (Arizona) a movie doth not make! RA is a screwball comedy that doesn’t work because it wobbles from approximations of real people to ludicrous comic book exaggerations leaving the audience not knowing what to anticipate from one scene to the next. Neither the acting talents of Holly Hunter nor a young and trim looking Nicholas Cage can sustain this most uneven and unfunny attempt at caricature believability. As an early Coen Brothers film (’87) it might only be worth a cinema buff’s viewing to search for creative comic links with the far superior O Brother, Where Art Thou? made 13 years later.
(Don't bother!) - review by Jack
Bizarre (“amusingly or grotesquely strange or unusual”) is a term that could well serve as a new genre name for some films (like this one) difficult to classify. WM doesn’t fit well as a horror (not scary), supernatural, or musical movie, but embraces elements of all three. This sometimes bawdy and often disturbing thriller pits Christianity against Paganism and neither comes off well in the memorable chilling climax. Edward Woodward as Sgt. Howie is a sexually repressed Christian policeman trying to solve the mystery of a child’s disappearance on Summerisle. What he discovers are fertility rites, Celtic deities, and townspeople garbed in costume and masks merrily singing and dancing their way to a May Day human sacrifice. Maybe “cult film” is indeed the best description.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
What a clever, boring film! The premise of the film is that everyone and everything is inherently connected, so a seemingly minor event can have a ripple effect sparking a major catastrophe or benefit. A quirky group of unrelated Parisians randomly interact producing a plethora of extraordinary happenings, such as when Russian tourists ask a shop girl to clean their photo on which pigeon poo has randomly fallen and she discovers the man under the dropping is her long lost lover. Lovely Audrey Tautou, a store clerk, helps to provide a fleeting focus but her part, like those of the other characters, is small and when all is shown and done, there isn’t really much of story, just lots of happenstances. Two and a half stars.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Upon learning that Frenchman Claude Berri (Jean de Florette, Manon Des Sources), was the director I knew that this was a must see film; I wasn’t disappointed. Character development is one of his great strengths and here we quickly become enmeshed in the shortcomings of four Paris misfits, Camille, Franck, Philibert and Paulette. We grow to accept and empathize with them for who they are, watching their tenuous relationships with one another transform into a unifying strength summarized by film’s French title, Ensemble, C'est Tout (“It is all together”) which makes more sense than Hunting and Gathering. While not in the same league as the two other Berri films, this one is well balanced with humour, romance and emotional engagement--a feel-good goodie!
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Integrity is put to the test when businessman Gondo (Toshirô Mifune) must decide whether to go ahead with a costly commercial coup or sacrifice his future by paying out a huge ransom to a kidnapper. Besides this brilliant character study, Director Akira Kurosawa explores issues that include the conflict between company loyalty and humane values, and a ‘haves and have-nots’ social commentary reflected by the film’s title. Overlaying this is the suspense created in the second half by a competent step-by-step search for the kidnapper conducted by the police using forensic techniques. Both a morality play and thriller, viewers are treated to a multi-layered drama and a fine work of cinematography
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Beautifully shot on the desolate Mongolian steppes, a goat herding nomadic family copes with daily subsistence chores including wolves threatening their livestock and pressures to adopt a tempting city lifestyle. Six year old (?) Nansal, the eldest of three siblings finds an abandoned dog while tending goats; her attempt to keep the dog over her father’s wishes is a unifying thread that weaves through the unhurried story. After packing up all their belongings and leaving their summer foraging spot, only a circular footprint of yellowed grass remains where their round yurt (house) had stood. This close-knit house-hold will “reincarnate”, but into what kind of existence? Be lulled by this gentle and uplifting lament for an impending loss of a way of life.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Bouquets for director Clint Eastwood! John Wayne would ‘turn in his grave’ if he could see Eastwood’s anti-war polemic about Japanese soldiers defending their island fortress against the might of attacking American forces near the end of WWII. Viewed from the defenders perspective the sub-titled Japanese dialogue adds realism to an honest portrayal of the outnumbered combatants and their reactions to looming defeat and likely death. In a not so realistic, but poignant scene, Japanese soldiers tearfully respond to an American mother’s concerns read from a letter found on her dead GI son. The letter reminds them of their own mothers’ anxieties and cares as indeed it reminds us of the shared bond of soldiers’ mothers everywhere during the time of war.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Akira Kurosawa’s early magnum opus is pure Hollywood film noir packaged in post war Tokyo! The prickly dialogue reads like a detective novel of the 40’s and, like the insufferable heat wave in the film, the tension and action gradually warms up after a slow burn start. Rookie cop Murakami (Toshiro Mifune) is thwarted by several women in his attempts to track down his pick pocketed Colt revolver in the possession of a straydog minor felon who has begun to commit serious offenses. Lifestyles that incorporate nature are contrasted with the oppressive, stultifying city life in Japan after World War II. Ironically it’s experienced detective Sato (Takashi Shimura) who guides Murakami away from his old-fashioned sense of honour towards redemption. Four and a half stars.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Master Director Akira Kurosawa has made a wonderful mind bending film that tries to unravel the truth of an event without providing a straight forward solution. Using a series of flashbacks, four witnesses describe the death of a samurai, each observer laying guilt on themselves and casting themselves and the other participants in distinctive colours. Each account of the truth differs. Is Kurosawa saying that more important than what has actually happened is the perception we have of ourselves and the way others view us? Brilliantly shot in black and white, the simple uncluttered scenes (and story) make perceptive use of light and shadow reflecting (past?) Japanese culture as told from the ruins of Kyoto’s 8th century Rashomon Gate.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
A masterpiece! This spectacular black and white French 3 hour epic romance explores the stage world and human relationships and concludes, paradoxically, that both are satisfying and deficient. Set in mid 19th century Paris, the crowded street scenes, costuming and sheer number of extras are staggering. Its complex plot revolves around Garance, a free spirited and sophisticated courtesan who mesmerizes four men -- a criminal king-pin, a Shakespearean actor, a member of the Aristocracy and a pantomime actor, all distinctly drawn and very well acted. The latter, as Baptiste, is especially engaging in several miming scenes showing his artistry was more than equal to the great pantomime star Marcel Marceau. Full of life, the film is larger than life, and left me both satisfied and shaken at its conclusion.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Peter Greenaway is one audacious Director. While recognizing that he is a gifted film maker, I don’t necessarily have to like his films. I disliked this historical drama about child exploitation that uses a pageant format incorporating a play within a play. Despite the extravagant 17th century church like settings and costumes, fine acting, Baroque choral music, and satirical dialogue there are numerous stomach turning scenes in its three acts. Overall the effect is just too odious and too confronting for me. If an abhorrence rather than an enjoyment is what Greenaway wants from his audience, (and I believe it is) then he’s hit the mark, and for that I congratulate him.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Adapted from John Guare’s successful Broadway play, it begins by turning a chance event, like accidentally bumping into a friend far from home, on its head. ‘Have-not’ con artist Paul (Will Smith) makes an unlikely connection with two ‘haves’, art dealer Flan (Donald Sutherland) and his wife Ouisa (Stockard Channing), a certainty. Fascinating though they are, these three outstanding performers (and impostors) aren’t always easy to empathise with. Their story, largely set in chic New York city venues, is told through a series of flash-backs using clever dialogue bursting with thought provoking ideas such as when Ouisa says, “I am bound -- you are bound -- to everyone on this planet by a trail of six people. . . How everyone is a new door, opening into other worlds."
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Integrity is put to the test when businessman Gondo (Toshirô Mifune) must decide whether to go ahead with a costly commercial coup or sacrifice his future by paying out a huge ransom to a kidnapper. Besides this brilliant character study, Director Akira Kurosawa explores issues that include the conflict between company loyalty and humane values, and a ‘have and have-nots’ social commentary exemplified by the film’s title. Overlaying this is the suspense created in the second half by a competent step-by-step search for the kidnapper conducted by the police using forensic techniques. Both a morality play and thriller, viewers are treated to a multi-layered drama and a fine work of cinematography.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
So bleak and negative, I gave up after 30 minutes, but next day resumed to the end. Reflecting humanity at its darkest and most depressing I persisted because the film instructs; however inhumanely the characters treat each other, they are struggling to survive in a strike affected and vile Brooklyn slum in the early 50s. Only one, Tralala (Jennifer Jason Leigh), actually recognises her misery and what her life could have become though she reacts by inflecting even more pain upon herself. Adapted from Herbert Selby’s controversial 1964 novel of the same name and rated R, the sex doesn’t titillate, here it’s just another expression of denial and hurt. The connected stories aren't comfortable to experience, but when the strike is over, some hope breaks through the gloom.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Start with a Sean Connerly like Czech actor who's a cello playing, sexually active bachelor (Frantisek), a 5 year old doe eyed Russian speaking boy (Kolya) who needs a parent, and you’ve got another variation of the theme of a reluctant adult forced into child minding. It’s all been done before, but this one is set in 1988 Soviet occupied Czechoslovakia, adding a potential conflict with the hated authorities over an arranged marriage that stressed Frantisek has unwillingly accepted to get himself out of debt. The gentle humour is infectious, Kolya is mischievous but endearing, irresponsible Frantisek has to change his routines and overcome cultural differences, and, though predictable, the loving relationship that builds between the two is a joy to watch.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
“On the nose” might be a fitting description, but it’s not necessarily malodorous. Some graphic visuals are stomach turning, yet beautifully filmed and strangely alluring. This tall dark tale about one man’s obsession to produce a fragrance unlike no other is set in mid-eighteenth century Paris (not the most hygienic) and Grasse. Evil apprentice perfumer Jean-Baptiste Genouille (Ben Wishaw), the world’s greatest scent detector must murder virgins to acquire the essence of their odour. His nasty deeds are way out but almost believable, that is until the execution setting becomes the venue for a Guinness Book of Records mass orgy that quite over stretches the properties of any perfume ever made. It’s bizarre entertainment and worth a sniff. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Except for Forest Whitaker’s exceptional performance as Idi Amin, the jagged screenplay (loosely “based on real events”) is mediocre and relies too much on reckless behaviour. Amin comes across as a charming but paranoid tyrant without any clear political motives for the carnage his thugs inflict on enemies, real or imagined. The story unfolds through James McAvoy who as Dr. Nicholas Garrigan, a young idealistic Scottish Doctor out for adventure, implausibly always seems to be well placed to attend to Amin’s needs. The tension increases dramatically when Garrigan realizes he is a party to his boss’s crimes and that his life is in danger. Complete with pounding drums, there’s a real Hollywood finish if you like a triumphal flourish.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Sad but spiritually boosting, this story about the dignity, compassion and gentle courage of Yesterday, a young Zulu woman, cuts to the core of what it can mean to be human. Trying to raise her daughter, Beauty, under poor third world conditions Yesterday learns that she and her husband, a migrant worker, have AIDS. Director Darrell James Roodt realistically and expressively explores this present day scourge of South Africa and the social conditions that impede its eradication. The actors speak isiZulu, and the barren Natal landscape and city skyline of Johannesburg are beautifully captured. One for the heart.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Intrigued by MGM’s list of before-my-time-all-star actors, I nevertheless expected a passé movie. Spot-on! It’s a tedious time tablet trash ‘n treasure, the latter being the outstanding performance of Joan Crawford as a spirited stenographer. Laid-back jewel thief John Barrymore ain’t bad either. Made for Depression era audiences who flocked to see it, the converted stage play’s refined characters are old-fashioned and hammy, the dialogue unreal and boring. Ballerina Greta Garbo tops the exaggerated theatrics, unethical businessman Wallace Berry’s German accent is hardly convincing, and discarded accountant Lionel Barrymore is just too goody-goody. Somehow several disconnected plots become connected, a murder happens, the police are called, some of the hotel’s guests check out and it’s over. Ho-hum.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
What a wonderful unassuming story about a shy nice-guy loser who struggles to overcome his lonely life and find a partner! I saw the low budget Oscar winning film when it premiered in ‘55, but only remembered it stood out from other films of that era and had forgotten its touching, funny and down-to-earth qualities. Ernest Borgnine surpasses as Marty Pilletti, the “fat and ugly” Bronx butcher, nearly resigned to bachelorhood and living with his mother. That is until he meets equally unwanted Clara Synder (Betsy Blair) at a dance hall, except their budding relationship is quickly beset with obstacles. We feel compassion for Marty, but not despair, and hope that this sensitive, caring man with a rough exterior will be rewarded if only he can find the courage of his newly formed convictions. If this film has aged, then it’s only as a carefully made wine would do.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
They don’t make (overrated) movies like this one anymore---thank goodness! However, in spite of the heavy and often tacky stage play dialogue and lengthy melodramatic confessions, I was sucked into the dark plot that includes insanity, cannibalism and homosexuality, the last two rather shocking for 1959 audiences. This pretentious film’s success was due to the stellar acting of Kathryn Hepburn as Violet Venable, an abominable and delusional Southern matron and the beautiful Elizabeth Taylor as chic Catherine Holly, disturbed by what she has seen happen to Violet’s son. Dressed to excite, Taylor does indeed, when she accidentally enters a room of sex starved asylum male inmates--one example of a number of over-the-top oddities. Two and a half stars.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Take heed! This Short Film is LONG on confrontation. You’ll either have your convictions about capital punishment reinforced or shaken. Shown in two halves, each features a brutal killing, one committed by chance by a young drifter, the other sanctioned by the state. The multi-layered film reflects the genius of Krzysztof Kieslowski who resists sentimentality and moralizing, leaving the question of legalized murder for his audience to grapple with. The dialogue is sparse, and the photography imaginative, many scenes of the bleak and soulless city edifices suggesting moral and social decay. See this compelling film to find out if you can you be entertained while being challenged by a social issue’s violent portrayal.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Bizarre, fascinating, and inscrutable are words that come to mind when thinking about Krzysztof Kieslowski’s shimmering celluloid poem. Lovely Irene Jacob plays the duo roles of Veronika (Warsaw) and Veronique (Paris) whose lives are alike and connected. They never quite meet, but feel each other’s presence. When Veronika dies, a puppet master Alexandre Fabbri (Philippe Volter) acts as a continuing link between the two women—very mysterious. Though other-worldly, what could have been frightening and spooky is instead eerily lovely though unfocused and fleeting. Would more viewings reveal a greater depth of meaning or just more parts to an unsolvable puzzle? Or both?
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Be patient! Progress is slow in Travis’s tortured journey of self discovery but it’s well worth the measured pacing, as the viewer gradually understands Wim Wender’s American gothic about alienation and love. At the core, Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) must decide between the fantasy he would like his life to be or the reality of his life as it is. Set against the backdrop of the beautiful, but desolate Southwest desert and Houston and LA cityscapes, the stark cinematography and Ry Cooder’s mournful slide guitar convey the sense of isolation felt by Travis. The story builds on set of reunions which includes his brother, son and abandoned wife, Jane, played by the striking Nastassja Kinski. The final reunion is the most touching, the acting exceptional, and the film emotionally exquisite!
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Without trying to compare the many outstanding past performances and singers of Guiseppe Verdi’s Romantic work of genius, I think this production and especially Angela Gheorghiu’s soprano voice and dramatic interpretation of high society courtesan Violetta Valery is excellent. Who cannot shed a tear or two in her Act 3 emotional outpouring as the tragic ‘fallen woman’, while dying in the arms of her lover? Violetta’s love, Alfredo Germont is sung by a passionate Frank Lopardo while Leo Nucci persuasively fills the role of the interfering snobbish and moralistic father Giorgio Germont. The sets are lavish but rather monochromatic, while Sir Georg Solti’s conducting is outstanding in a score that contains so many famous arias and melodies.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
What fun! Here's a pair of mismatched crims: Gerard Depardieu as Quentin is dimwitted, overly friendly and insufferable and Jean Reno’s Ruby is callous, murderous and shrewd. It’s most unlikely that these two can be partners let alone friends especially when Ruby often shouts “Tais-toi!” (“Shut-up!”) at garrulous Quentin. However this is an excellent comedy pairing, and good laughs abound right from the start when Quentin attempts to rob a Paris moneychanger who’s out of Euros. Later Quentin does some imitations of horse sounds with hilarious results. The formula plot has some unexpected twists and the dialogue sparkles, heightened by the film’s two stars splendid comic timing. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Lots of visual juicy tidbits (40’s fashions, nudity, boxing and other forms of violence, explicit gore, soft porn, lesbianism, Scarlett Johansson, etc.) but ultimately this whodunit is a stomach ache. The dialogue is quite appetizing, but there’s serious indigestion when it can’t be heard clearly as is often the case. The plot, with many subplot side serves, is quite over done and I was left wondering if it all made epicurean sense. Chopped up as it is, it’s not possible until the bloody climax to tie all the seedy ingredients together. However, Hilary Swank is delicious as an adventurous bisexual and Fiona Shaw is the insane icing on a dysfunctional cake. If selected you’ll probably only order once. Two and a half stars.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Bereft of opera house stage, Zeffirelli’s vibrant film shot in Venice is a clear winner. The cast, clothed in Renaissance period dress, and authentic sets come colourfully alive in Verdi’s adaptation of likely author Christopher Marlowe’s (not Shakespeare’s) tragedy. Placido Domingo’s macho presence, strong tenor voice and versatile acting skills soon establish Otello as a heroic Moorish warrior. However, the evil schemes of Iago (Justino Diaz) bring about Otello’s madness as he is consumed by jealousy--“the green-eyed monster”. The object of Otello’s affections, the wronged Desdemona, is sung with passion by beautiful soprano Katia Ricciarelli. One quibble: Some of Verdi’s music and libretto has been cut out to keep the opera at movie length.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
88. Lovely, lavish, and largely ludicrous-altogether a hodgepodge of the uplifting and the inappropriate. Dame Joan Sutherland’s voice, still high-quality at the end of her career, just can’t make up for her visual aspect; her body, too amply fills out her elegant dresses, in a role suited for a much younger woman. The involved political and amorous intrigues of the storyline are not helped by silly dialogue, corny gags and hammy acting. Nevertheless, the turn of the 20th century setting and its choreography, costumes and scenery are brilliant and the main support (Ronald Stevens, Anson Austin and Anne-Maree McDonald) is well cast. Lehar’s Viennese operetta music is sparkling under the direction of Richard Bonynge.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Two nastier people, power broker J. J. Hunsecker and power seeking Sidney Falco you wouldn’t want to know. Lancaster and Curtis give commanding performances you’ll just love to hate: the former as a shrewd syndicated society columnist dominates with menacing glare, steely resolve and vicious put downs delivered with punch-like force, the latter as an immaculately attired but morally grubby press agent never letting decent feelings interfere with his schemes to succeed. Both actors are aided by incisive razor sharp dialogue, and brilliant black and white photography of New York’s 1957 cityscape. Ever reliable Elmer Bernstein’s score is outstanding and little known director Alexander Mackendrick's direction is exceptional. Four and a half stars.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
“Beauty and the Yeast” could be an alternative title. The gorgeous Beauty is Camille, a concert violinist and the ferment causing Yeast is the emotionally isolated Stephane, a master violin craftsman. Title aside, this well constructed and acted sad masterpiece, enclosing a bizarre love triangle, finely reflects the subtleties of the human condition; through restrained expressions and movements and sparse taut dialogue the characters create a compelling psychological drama. Some of Maurice Ravel’s chamber music interacts beautifully with the complex love story. At the conclusion, I was cautiously sanguine about a reformation in Stephane’s makeup. Hard to believe Daniel Auteuil is the same actor who played Ugolin in Jean de Florette. French film making at its best!
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
While recognizing Russian director Sergei Eisenstein’s huge influence and contribution to montage editing, we still have to view this 1925 silent propaganda film from the perspective of the here and now with its many technological advances. Each scene is shown from many different viewpoints (montage), none longer than a few seconds. This creates an unevenness and diminution of narrative, no matter the emotional impact. Thus, I think “Potemkin” is largely one for cinematic students and may disappoint many conditioned by contemporary films. The black and white quality is grainy, but the musical score is excellent (includes Dimity Shostakovich) and there’s impressive close ups of actor’s roughly sculptured faces.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Paul Scofield as Sir Thomas More takes ‘centre stage’ in this remarkable morality drama set in 16th century England. Caught between his loyalty to King Henry VIII and his devotion to the Catholic Church, More doesn’t hesitate to side with the latter. In so doing he places his life and personal integrity on the line and we cannot but admire him. Calmly, yet forcefully Scofield plays a man of wit and wisdom in a dignified and restrained manner. When combined with thought provoking dialogue (and the less satisfactory sanitized period sets and costumes and hair styles too manicured to be anything but mid 20th century) the result continues to justify the many awards bestowed on it. Four and a half stars.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
There’s plenty of thrills and dramatic depth as well as savage violence in this intense character
driven crime thriller that invites viewers to identify with both sides of an vigorous clash of wills between police officer Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) and thief Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro). Not until near the conclusion of the airport hotel scene did I make the connection between The Kronos Quartet and Heat (the music). These jagged raw pounding reverberations composed for the film and played by the Quartet are electric and make Hanna’s closure and McCauley’s recognition of it near the end spark with meaning of his live by axiom: “ . . . allow nothing in your life, nothing that you can’t walk out on if you spot the heat around the corner.”
(Excellent) - review by Jack
88. Stunning! Perfect in every way, a movie for all time as indeed is its predecessor, Jean de Florette. This totally absorbing story of human capacity for good and evil continues 10 years later. The major characters, Cesar, Ugolin, and Manon are fully drawn and as viewers we are challenged to accept them for who they are. In an exquisite scene near the end the aging Cesar is told of a shattering event in his youth of which he was unaware that has shaped the direction of his life; we feel pity for him though he has instigated a grave injustice. Likewise we are sad for Ugolin whose faults and transgressions are not unlike our own while beautiful Manon’s decisive non-violent retribution, done without mercy, is accepted as just.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Seen in historical context, Chaplin’s first talkie, a Hitler satire released before America entered the war in December 1941, only just gets my affirmative nod. Mostly it’s a bore with too many scenes agonizing rather than appealing. At his best in slapstick a few Chaplin gems standout: As a Jewish barber, shaving a customer to the rhythms of a Hungarian Dance by Brahms and as Dictator Hynkel (Hitler) meeting Napaloni (Mussolini) in hand extending and saluting salutations. Despite bouquets for taking such a risk by confronting the public with this anti-fascist, anti-war polemic and the plight of Jews in Germany, Chaplin’s topical comedy is hopelessly outdated now.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Largely set in beautifully filmed yet bleak Russian wilderness landscapes, the tragic story explores the tenuous relationship between two young brothers and their strict, remote father who has returned after an unexplained absence of 12 years. A rather brutal, but caring taskmaster, he appears to be trying to make up for his neglect by compressing life’s lessons into a week long fishing and self discovery trip. Having long suffered a lack of paternal love, guidance and protection each boy deals with their father’s harsh affection in different ways. Though slow paced it’s compelling watching; viewers, like the boys, don’t really know what’s fully going on and anticipate answers will emerge. Wonderful acting, especially by the boys.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
A generation gap movie—in fact several generations in my case! Aimed for the teenage and under 35 rave party market, it’s out of my comfort zone. However, the film’s crude tell-it-like-it-is, but clever dialogue, fast pacing, adept acting, and “Pulp Fiction” like format linking three stories together did make for a quirky and unpredictable attention attracting look-in. In spite of this, the dead-end characters are morally disgusting and if this is how many young people view life in the 21st Century, it’s not a comforting reality. There’s plenty of black humour, so be prepared for profanity, sleaze, sex, violence, drug taking, racial slurs and explicit gore. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
A classic! The complexity of the human condition is beautifully choreographed in this seemingly simple tale about French provincial farmers in the 1920’s. Jean Cadoret (Gerard Depardieu), Cesar (Yves Montand) and Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil) are the central characters who, while exhibiting human failings and strengths, elicit our compassion, disappointment, anger and joy. The story is gripping, and the countryside, village life and often harsh farming conditions are captured with a sensitive touch under Claude Berri’s direction. The dark conclusion left me unfulfilled and troubled, however Cadoret’s daughter Manon has witnessed the injustice and I’m much looking forward to the sequel, Manon des Sources.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Fanny Ardant portrays famous diva Maria Callas during the fantasized (by Director Franco Zeffirelli) last years of her life. It’s a good performance, but hampered by a cheesy script. Still if you like the rich and emotional Callas sound it’s worth a look (and listen). Most memorable are the all too brief scenes of the movie within a movie, the richly coloured and costumed remake of “Carmen” with voice worn Callas lip syncing her glory days. Her infamous temper tantrums are paid homage in a rehearsal scene during which she becomes aware of what she is doing and she collapses with laughter into the arms of her producer, Larry (Jeremy Irons). All in all it’s uneven production, but there’s enough of the Callas legacy to make it appealing.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
This between the wars epic largely set on a US gunboat in China belongs to Steve McQueen as sailor Jack Holman, an inarticulate outsider, who communicates best through subtle body language. The photography is outstanding, and there’s lots of action in the somewhat predictable plot pitting Holman’s strong feelings of right and wrong against outdated values of his Captain and crew, clearly a criticism of the Vietnam war going on then. The Chinese come in for some racial slurs and I found some of the dialogue unrealistic, what I’d call the ‘stylized movie lingo’ of that era. Nobody could mistake this film being anything other than “Hollywood made", but not necessarily its redemptive ending!
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Hmmmm. The Quickflix blurb says “Rockwell gives a thoroughly funny, engaging performance as the outcast Trent, . . .” Engaging maybe, but not particularly funny, and definitely not THOROUGHLY! I had been taken in by those two words “thoroughly funny” and was thoroughly disappointed. As a “heartwarming tale” I did warm to the budding friendship between Trent and Devon but it all evaporated when the heart warmer used extreme violence and threatened to kill her stereotyped ‘upwardly mobile’ father. This contemporary fairly tale’s continued use of violence to solve class misunderstandings and issues of non conformity is unproductive and negative, and only serves to justify the vengeance seekers of this world.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Louise Brooks, as Lulu, the quintessential ‘20s Flapper, is the beautiful centerpiece of this erotic silent German classic. Innocent, yet without morals, her overpowering sexual allure releases human vices causing the destruction of the men attracted to her. Unknown to me before this film, Brooks’ stunning body language, especially her face, convey layers of psychological hues making Lulu unforgettable, enigmatic and relevant to films being produced now. The black and white quality is very good along with the jazzy sound track. Brooks’ rather tragic personal story, Searching For Lulu is included on the DVD narrated by Shirley McLaine. I found this even more fascinating as parallels emerge between Louise’s life and Lulu’s. Four and a half stars.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Black comedies aren’t made any darker than this ebony one. If you can stomach the goings-on at the Le Hollandais restaurant you’ll have to digest a surreal kaleidoscope of vulgarity, brutality and depravity mostly initiated by hateful thug Albert Spica (Michael Gambon). An angry writer-director Peter Greenaway has presented us with an in-your-face morality play about the clash of corrupt moneyed interests and their abuse of power with the refined world of art and culture. Totally uncompromising, this is like no other film you are likely to see, and may be difficult to sit through. However, there are rewards, though some are grotesque. It won’t suit everyone’s “palate.”
(Excellent) - review by Jack
As the creator of Figaro (of Mozart and Rossini opera fame), the 18th-century playwright Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, caught my attention. However, he was much more than a talented writer and political activist as shown in this witty and rather jocular interpretation of 10 turbulent and adventurous years of his life leading up to the French Revolution. Quite entertaining as a colourfully costumed comedy-drama period piece, nevertheless there are some difficulties: Fabrice Luchini as Beaumarchais doesn’t quite have the charisma needed as a highly intelligent and likable scalawag and the film’s treatment of the prevailing social unrest brought on by corrupt French aristocracy is skewed. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Presented as a collection of opera arias and modern pop, this production in general, and Bocelli in particular, succeeds wonderfully well. Staged in a beautifully lit Pisa square, an appreciative audience warms to celebrated music sung by a superstar tenor whose mellifluous voice has ample emotional pull. In addition there’s views of Tuscany, footage of the Bocelli family and Andrea discussing his art, and several duets that include Italian pop star Zucchero, soprano Nuccia Focile and crossover celebrity Sarah Brightman. My only complaint is not having the option of English subtitles to flesh out the Italian meanings, but who cares when such a moving atmosphere of romance and beauty is created?
(Excellent) - review by Jack
If an opera could win a most multi-faceted award, then this one would be it. The Magic Flute is several fairly tales rolled into one, presented as a singspiel (spoken dialogue and singing), with a dark (evil) pitted against light (good) theme that has elements of farce, allegory, exploration of the cosmos and lots of Freemasonry symbolism. Opera Australia again comes up trumps in this delightful 1987 production featuring Evonne Kenny (Pamina), Gran Wilson (Tomino) and John Fulford (Papagano) in central roles. Their warbling is extra sweet having been translated from German into English, the period costumes glorious, the sets sparse but effective and, as always, Mozart’s music, under the baton of Richard Bonynge, is simply glorious.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
In the French flag, red is Fraternity (friendship and mutual support between people) and is also the colour of love. Director Kryzsztof Kieslowski uses numerous examples of rich warm shades of red
around his two stars: Valentine (Irene Jacob), a beautiful fashion model but somewhat sad, bewildered and unexciting, and Joseph (Jean-Louis Trintignant), a cynical embittered retired judge. Their unlikely and ultimately strong platonic friendship bordering on love gradually develops through a series of encounters resulting in a shared spiritual transformation. This is a joy to watch unfold in this multi-layered cinematic triumph which concludes with chance yet again playing a major role, this time linking the trilogy’s main characters.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
A bright-dark comedy in which white, as represented in the French flag, is Equality. The colour as used by director Kryzsztof Kieslowski expresses both despondency (icy coldness) and promise (purity, lucidity and rapture). The central protagonist, hairdresser Karol Karol, is a pathetic yet comical character, who rises from the bitter disappointment of a divorce from his frosty wife, Dominique, to exact parity in a very unusual way: forfeiting his power and success in the name of love. As in Blue, by focusing on facial nuances, the paradoxical ending is emotionally compelling and inspirational. It is exquisite and should leave viewers much to reflect on.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Julie stoically begins a period of grief due to the loss of her composer husband and young daughter in a car accident. Depressed but unable to commit suicide, she tries to withdraw from all her past connections. However, without intending to, she gradually makes discoveries about herself from new and old relationships that draw her back into the possibility of a fulfilling life. Blue represents Liberty in the French flag, but is also the colour of sadness and despair. Director Kryzsztof Kieslowski uses this colour in striking ways to focus on Julie’s grief and her ultimate redemption. Wonderful music, haunting story and a superb performance by Juliette Binoche as Julie.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Mix a 14th century gloomy Italian monastery setting and a set of grotesque characters with a 21st century-like sleuth, namely William of Baskerville (Sean Connerly) plus a dash of the Inquisition and, I think, you’ve got an intriguing cinematic recipe. Baskerville (surely a Hound) along with his faithful assistant Adso (Christian Slater) use forensic techniques, and Sherlock Holmes logic and deduction to solve a series of shocking symbolic murders of Franciscan monks done try to hide secrets inside the abbey’s library. The cinematography is terrific, paying authentic attention to the harsh conditions of medieval monastic living. Also the plot draws attention to the importance of open minded thinking over superstitious dogmatic beliefs.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
A hunt in on for two rats: one (Matt Damon) who has infiltrated the police and the other (Leonardo DeCaprio) into a mob of Boston gangsters ruled by Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). Both rats are eventually trapped, but as we’re pessimistically reminded at the film’s conclusion when one rat dies there’s always another to take it’s place. Much of the macho, testosterone loaded action is infected with black humour and bullet-ridden violence. As good as Scorsese’s Academy Award winner is -- superior acting sans hammy demonic Nicholson, a well executed convoluted undercover plot quite dependent on mobile phone technology, and clever expletive driven dialogue – you’ve got to decide if watching bloody brutal thuggery has been worth it when you come out the other side. It’s your call.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
To get hard-to-come-by work, difficult-to-live-with Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) cross-dresses as Dorothy Michaels and is hired to act in a TV soapie. As he continues his very successful deception in often funny ways, his character undergoes positive change, especially as viewed by the opposite sex. He gains the trust of Julie Nichols (Jessica Lang) one of the soap stars he plays opposite, and falls in love with her. Revealing his sham near the film’s end, he tells her in a classic line: “I was a better man with you as a woman than I ever was with a woman as a man.” Dorsey has been forced to take into account not only at how people treat each other but also how he has behaved towards people. Richly rewarded after it was made in 1982, the film is a most entertaining way to ponder on human relationships and sexual identity.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Think you’d want to watch a romantic, partly musical, Spanish comedy-farce about infidelity among a hip set of partnered singles? Do the combination of genres sound improbable and/or intriguing? Surprisingly, the often deceitful interplay between the two main couples and idiosyncratic support characters comes together with sharp humour, fast pacing and good acting. Besides catchy pop tunes and well choreographed dancing from the eye-catching actors there’s several memorable giggles: a taxi driver’s baudy tale, a spiteful tennis brawl, and a private investigator’s wild conjectures about the deaths of JFK and Marilyn Monroe. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Two memorable features stand out for me: the excellent black and white cinematography beginning with two contrasting pairs of shoes in the opening scenes and Robert Walker’s portrayal of the psychopathic killer, Bruno Anthony. However, there are too many flaws in the story line, unrealistic and laughable dialogue at times (“She’s dead! Get a doctor.”), and viewers always know that tennis star Guy Haines played by Farley Granger is going to get match point on his wacko opponent. The Hitchcock suspense is there, but only just and it’s not much of a thriller. Very good film for its time (1951), but that time has long gone.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
I found this disturbing Scorsese directed pseudo (dark?) comedy about obsession with celebrity difficult to watch. There is little to laugh about and I couldn’t empathize with the extreme personalities of three of the main characters. With deliberate humourlessness Robert De Niro as Rupert Pupkin, aspires to be the ‘king’ of stand-up comedy. He is totally delusional and annoying with just a hint of menace and fully committed to convincing his hero, Jerry Langford, a TV talk show host, played by Jerry Lewis, to give him a spot on the show. In an unflattering role former slapstick star Jerry Lewis gives a fine performance as a despicable pop idol who barely tolerates his fans. All in all it’s a “squirmer”— but making you feel uneasy was probably the Director’s aim.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
What a brilliant movie! I can’t say enough superlatives about this cinematic masterpiece that captures the oppression of the German Democratic Republic in 1984 set against human courage and compassion. The film examines the rule of fear as exemplified by the Stasi, the East German secret Police, and man’s ability to defeat it in ways that are not predictable. There are periods of gripping tension building to a series of pseudo conclusions before a final heart rending and, I must say, tearful resolution. Don’t fail to see this one!
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Heard of Handel’s Messiah? “Sure!” Almost everyone has. Well this DVD exposes viewers to eight of his other “pop hits” from the 1720’s onwards. The setting is mostly at night in modern London, with operatic stars reminding us that Handel’s words, set to sublime melodies, are just as meaningful now as they were more than 250 years ago. Jonathan Keates provides relevant historical background that emphasizes how popular this man of the theatre was in his time. I highly recommend the DVD as an intro to some beautiful Baroque arias. The only problem is that, at 60 minutes, the musical exposure is all too short.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Sheer lunacy, this lampoon of ‘70s media sexism loosely centres on a TV newsroom invasion by ambitious Veronica Corningstone played by curvaceous Christina Applegate. Will Farrell is the macho, vain and egocentric, but mostly likable, Ron Burgundy, San Diego’s TV news number one anchorman who does not want to share the limelight. Steve Carell as Brick Tamland, the weatherman is dumber than dumb, and is the funniest of the news casting team. There are gags galore, but look for the hilarious subtitled exchange between Burgundy’s dog, Baxter, and a Kodiak bear. Like a 20 second grab of uninspiring news this movie nevertheless entertains, if that makes sense!
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
If you like viewing lots of film noir movie trailers of the 40’s and 50’s featuring many well known stars of the period, then this nostalgia DVD is for you. There is an interesting introduction by Turner Classic Movies’ Robert Osborne about the movie’s background including morality issues filmmakers wouldn’t think twice about now days.
(Maybe) - review by Jack
Viewed from the present, this well made, crisply photographed, 1944 “classic film noir” is Hollywood camp; the clever dialogue made me chuckle when I should have been ensnared in the tension it must have produced in audiences over 60 years ago. It’s like something out of Raymond Chandler’s private eye fiction of the period, understandable as he and director Billy Wilder co-wrote the screen play. The lead male role seemed just right for Humphrey Bogart, instead nice guy Fred MacMurray is the fast talking, hardboiled insurance salesman teamed with femme fatale Barbara Stanwyck. She dupes him to plot and murder her husband for insurance money only to have Edward G. Robinson predictably help to bring the evil doers down. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
I had no problems with the wonderful singing (except occasional varied sound levels) and the warm orchestral sounds of Mozart’s sometimes dark music. However, I had difficulty adjusting to this 18th century work of genius performed in mostly modern day garb with moody lighting and sparse geometric sets. Three performers stood out. Steven Page’s Leporello was more than just a pathetic comical figure as Don Giovanni’s downtrodden servant. Juliane Banse as Zerlina had the right balance of innocence, sincerity and impetuosity and Gilles Cachemaille’s mean spirited Don Giovanni captured the essence of an evil sexual predator while projecting a certain charisma.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
There are good reasons for the continuing popularity of Leo Delibes’ 19th century ballet which the Paris Opera Ballet School’s youthful dancers skillfully demonstrate in this first-rate 2001 production. It’s bright, cheerful, amusing, energetic, beautifully danced, and includes an unusual quantity of mime and acting to illuminate the story. Teenager Charline Giezendanner dances the difficult principal role of Swanilda who, in Act 2, pretends to be the doll Coppélia come to life. The charming and well-known music completes the shortened tour de force.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
If you are interested in American history then you’ll find this documentary provides a rich and thought provoking look at former US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara told through his recollections, archival film and tape recordings. He evades the hard moral questions and is often fuzzy and unclear about his part in foreign policy decisions, but he is unequivocal when he says: “Our judgments, our understandings are not adequate and we kill people unnecessarily,” a clear indictment of leaders, however well intentioned, who authorize horrible deeds to try to achieve sometimes dubious objectives.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Use of muskets by soldiers in this excellent 16th century historical Japanese civil war epic might sound bizarre for a samurai movie, but it’s true. (European firearms were introduced in 1542 by the Portuguese.) Director Akira Kurosawa has colourfully recreated feudal Japan with its costumes, pageantry and ritual while focusing on the corrupting influence of power. He leaves us with a pessimistic view of humanity and the sense of helplessness felt by “The Shadow Warrior” as he watches ‘his’ army being slaughtered. (Footnote: After 1615 when Tokugawa unified the country the usage of firearms were banned and swords, spears and bows and arrows became the weapons of choice until Commodore Perry re-established contact with Japan in 1854.)
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Anthony Quinn (Zampano), Giulietta Masina (Gelsomina) and Richard Basehart (the Fool) give outstanding performances in this tragic love story set in post war Italy and directed by Fredrico Fellini. It’s a simple and touching story about profound truths using the most uncomplicated and unsophisticated methods. Especially heartrending is brutish Zampano’s realization of his real feelings for the child-like Gelsomina and his utter aloneness after it is too late. With a touch of Chaplinesque pathos this is a sad but uplifting masterpiece!
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Paris is the setting for this sad, but enchanting, reality confrontation between Jesse and Celine and their attempts to recapture the magical happiness of their brief meeting 9 years earlier. Now in their 30’s, bruised and more vulnerable, they realize they’ve missed opportunities to spend a lifetime together as they reveal their fears, dreams and unfulfilled relationships. Memories of wonderful moments in their past resurface in the present releasing strong emotions in this witty dialogue driven film. Guess I’m more of a romantic than I thought, preferring the youthful optimism of Before Sunrise. However, the conclusion of Before Sunset hints that we could see further development of this time-limited relationship, perhaps in 10 years. Hope so. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Gwyneth Paltrow gives an outstanding portrayal of the disturbed daughter of a once brilliant mathematician, played by Anthony Hopkins. Her character courses through just about every human emotion as she tries to come to terms with her father’s death and her own mathematical talents—and a latent fear that she might have inherited her father’s insanity.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
More than a cult classic, this is simply a classic movie in every sense of the word. Though its two main stars, Marianne Sägebrecht as Jasmin and CCH Pounder as Brenda are unglamorous in a Hollywood sense, their warmth and openness are a joy to watch unfold in the desert truck stop Bagdad Cafe. Their budding friendship is beset with misunderstanding and cultural barriers, but it blossoms into a powerful source for positive change. There’s plenty of humour, a great performance by Jack Palance as Rudy Cox, and wonderful music, from a Bach Prelude and Fugue to the signature theme, "Calling You" sung by Javetta Steel. One of my top three all-time films.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Hidden is a multi-layered drama with a thriller surface and a disturbing view of French-Algerian racial tensions lurking underneath. Georges and Anne Laurent are a wealthy, middle class couple who appear to be menaced by an unrevealed stalker who videos their home and sends them the tapes including cartoon drawings that suggest violence. Flashbacks revel Georges’ childhood past harbours events with which he is uncomfortable, and his guilt intensifies when the cartoon becomes real. At the film’s conclusion can you find the meaningful contact in the crowd of mainly school kids?
(Excellent) - review by Jack
This is a sad, but spellbinding philosophical tale interspaced with dark humour, (especially potted blood and grave depths) seemingly without much prospect. Noi is the ‘albino’, an easygoing teenage rebel increasingly made to feel his uniqueness and aloneness in the snow white world of a remote fjord in a north Icelandic village. His dreams of escaping his isolation with his petrol station-café worker girlfriend, Iris, come to naught. But the unexpected intervenes and shatters Noi’s fate and we are left with a trite tourist image that gently washes a warm hope over us.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
There’s plenty of tension between burned out-sports writer Eddie Willis (Humphrey Bogart) and crooked fight promoter Nick Bento (Rod Steiger) who employs Nick as a press agent to promote the fixed rise of Argentinean giant Toro Moreno. This is an uncompromising exposé of the exploitation and manipulation of boxers by their corrupt managers and about as subtle as a punch to the face. Nevertheless, the impact of this well paced and acted 1956 black and white film is decisive and telling.
(Excellent) - review by Jack
Whoa! What a mighty production. If you watch nothing else but Act II, Scene 2 then it would be worth it alone for its music, pageantry, costumes, dancing, and singing. But there’s much more in this tale of Egyptian passion, war, intrigue, jealousy and final redemption: wonderful warbling from Placido Domingo as love struck Radamès, who pines for the Ethopian slave, Aida sung by Aprile Millo, her rival the Pharaoh’s daughter, Dolora Zajick as Amneris and Aida’s warrior father, Sherrill Milnes as Amonasro. One of Verdi’s greatest operas in what must surely be one of the greatest productions of it.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
Despite some slapstick reservations, I liked City Lights and three highlights come to mind: Composer Charlie Chaplin’s music score has some lyrical Classical evocations that compliment many of the scenes. The pseudo-fight sequences are marvelously choreographed, especially Charlie’s quick stepping use of the referee as a screen. And YES, the final scene is tops and a terrific tear tweaker. Perhaps Charlie had little choice but to provide the viewer with a write-your-own-ending ending. “Yes, I see now” this was for the best. Three and a half stars.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
The Beatles once sang & repeated: “She’s so Heavy!” and it fits this 1988 production. Watching the beefy hero, heroine and villains in ponderous darkened sets with gloomy themes of abuse of power, murder, jealousy and revenge is to put at risk any light and cheery thoughts prior to pressing the Play button. Except for a few translations that elicited guffaws because of their silly-seriousness, there was no intended comic relief. Rotund Pavarotti is the champion Manrico and is in fine voice, Eva Marton as Leonora, his plump “woman” is past it, while evil Count de Luna sung by Sherrill Milnes, has stage presence and aging class. But Dolora Zajick as Azucena, the gypsy witch steals the opera with her magnificent performance and makes Il Travatore worth watching.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Da Ponte’s and Mozart’s marvelous magic malarkey! The ridiculous, but well written, libretto about infidelity in any other composer’s hands besides those of Mozart couldn’t be imagined. His utterly sublime melodies combine with blissful singing from each of the six equally starred cast members in this colourfully costumed and simple set designed comic opera. I particularly liked David Hobson’s first act aria “Un aura amorosa” and Yvonne Kenny’s Act 2 touching “Per pieta, ben mio, perdona”. When I watched it the second time it was even better. Well done Opera Australia.
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
There’s a Monty Python streak running throughout this un-even winner, a mostly entertaining satire of NASCAR culture as a sports-movie genre and associated redneck lowbrow amusements. Race drivers Ricky Bobby (Will Farrell), Cal Naughton Jr. (John C Reilly) and Frenchy Jean Girard (Sasha Baron Cohen) and others provide just enough laughs during this rise and fall and rise-again spoof.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
Fifteen minutes into this ill contrived 1967 adaptation of a Neil Simon play I left it to my wife. I found the dialogue silly and the plot irrelevant, the whole thing too far removed from reality. Despite the presence of shapely Jane Fonda and handsome Robert Redford, the couple is mismatched, and lack on screen chemistry. Foolish, flippant fairy floss!
(Don't bother!) - review by Jack
Set in Sydney during WWII, the romantic entanglements of three Sydney beauty salon workers, Claire, Guinea and Deb, are followed in this 1990 four episode made for ABC TV series. Adapted from the controversial 1951 book of the same name, dark themes of prostitution, gambling, rape, infidelity, class privilege, and abortion hold the viewers interest. Well acted, the 40’s sets and popular songs provide a good reflection of the times.
(Worth watching) - review by Jack
A delightfully warm and imaginative French adventure imbedded with comedy, lots of action, drama, music and various sound treats, but without dialogue. However, this works a treat because the animation expresses all the emotions in the characters actions and faces. You’ll love it!
(Not to be missed!) - review by Jack
