F

Fabulous Baker Boys, The (1989) (**1/2, comedy, drama) (D.-Steve Kloves; Jeff Bridges, Michelle Pfeiffer, Beau Bridges, Elie Raab, Jennifer Tilly) Formulaic, but well done, melodrama about two brothers (Bridges) and their fading twin piano musical act. To liven things up they hire a promising beautiful singer (Pfieffer), who ultimately puts their act on the map and brings a long simmering feud to a head. The Bridges are perfect in their interactions, which one suspects has true touch of reality in both their mutual respect and disagreements. Pfeiffer is superb, and Baker Boys put her on the map. Her rendition of "Makin' Whoopee" atop a piano is sexier than anything you are likely to see in any other ten films. (4-28-97) Beginning

Face/Off (1997) (***--my wife rated it lower, action, thriller) (D.-John Woo; John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, Gina Gershon, Robert Wisdom, Dominique Swain, John Carroll Lynch, Harve Presnell) As in most action films, suspend your credibility and accept the premise. A sociopathic and psychotic master terrorist Castor Troy (Cage) and his brilliant paranoid brother Pollux (Nivola) have been hunted ruthlessly by FBI agent Sean Archer (Travolta) since 1991. Archer gets them, but there is a little unfinished business of a massive bomb somewhere in LA. As Troy lies comatose and the uncooperative Pollux sits in a maximum security prison that makes the Bastille look like a vacation, there is only one way Archer can find the bomb. He assumes Troy's identity by means of a high tech face/voice transfer (remember, suspend belief). The bad news is that Troy manages to get Sean's identity along with his wife and daughter (Allen, Swain). It now only remains for Sean/Troy (Cage) to regain what is his from Troy/Sean (Travolta). Accept the premise and it works!

Fans of the violent Woo will not be disappointed. Face/Off has Woo's signature choreographed balletic violence with its slow motion, ammunition utilization similar to WWII, and mano a mano gun in your face stand offs. The chapel scene with the doves is a marvelous juxtaposition of symbols of love and salvation coupled with death and destruction. The mirror scene was beautifully executed. Although, to paraphrase my wife on the ending, it must be a man thing. After being bested several times by the real Troy, the only reason for the real Sean to set up another direct confrontation with the real Troy would be testosterone, not brains! Finally, you can have too much of a good thing. Even Woo's beautifully choreographed violence goes on too long. At 140 minutes, Face/Off would have benefited greatly from one less battle, although which one to pick to eliminate might have been a difficult choice.

However, besides the violence, Woo has a fascinating underlying subplot. We have epic evil versus good, but here the bodies of good and evil are exchanged. If clothes make the man, then what happens when actual identities are reversed. Face/Off does a credible job of exploring this as the gifted Cage and Travolta switch personae. Suffice it to say that the effect on each is not totally pleasing to the characters. Both are outstanding at projecting their true selves while maintaining the formal appearances of their nemesis. This interplay is the high point of the film and could only be carried off by two superb actors. The subject of twin images is replayed repeatedly. It may be no accident that the names of the two villains are Castor and Pollux. The release date during the sign of Gemini might also be a little in joke. (6-30-97) Beginning

Fail-Safe (1964) (****, drama, war) (7-24-00) (D.-Sidney Lumet; Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Fritz Weaver, Dan O'Herlihy, Sorrell Booke, Larry Hagman, Frank Overton, Dom De Luise) Based on the novel of the same name by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler. The film opens with a truly disturbing scene of a bull fight—a recurrent nightmare of Gen. Warren Black (O'Herlihy). This film represents the recurrent nuclear nightmare that my generation grew up with and captures the uncertainty and terror of the time perfectly. Due to a technological glitch, the US inadvertently launches a squadron of B52 nuclear bombers against the Soviet Union. They have passed their fail-safe point and cannot be recalled. The only recourses are to follow through with everything we have and try to flatten Russia before they can respond or help the Russians shoot them down. The President (Fonda) with his advisers weighs these options in the short time available—this is pre ICBMs.

The film builds to the shattering climax as the clock ticks towards doomsday. Since many will not have read the novel, I will give nothing further away.

The film is chilling. Truly disturbing. Well acted. Beautifully filmed in black and white. Frighteningly claustrophobic. Almost glacial in its inexorable predestination. A lot of the details about personal decisions and behavior just feel right. For those who didn’t live through this time, the film does a good job of capturing the fear and paranoia.

Some will be surprised to find the cold blooded think tank expert Groeteschele played by Walter Matthau; he actually did do a number of serious films. Groeteschele was clearly patterned after people from the Rand Corp. Rand coined such words as "megadeaths" and asked such unthinkable questions as how many millions could we afford to lose if we launched a first strike?

If the plot line sounds familiar, the savagely satirical Dr. Strangelove was based on the same book. In neither Strangelove nor Fail-Safe would the Air Force give technical assistance. Thus, the limited stock footage for Fail-Safe. In Strangelove, the AF found the accuracy of Kubrick’s mock B-52 cockpit so good that they suspected a leak. Beginning

Fail Safe (2000) (***, cold war thriller, drama) (10-23-00) (D.-Stephen Frears; W.- Eugene Burdick (novel and screen play), Harvey Wheeler; Richard Dreyfuss, Noah Wyle, Brian Dennehy, Sam Elliott, James Cromwell, John Diehl, Hank Azaria, Norman Lloyd, Bill Smitrovich, Don Cheadle, George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Doris Belack, Grant Heslov, Tommy Hinkley) Stark chilling TV adaptation of the Fail Safe film. But it isn’t the original film. George Clooney masterminded doing a live production of the classic film. The acting is solid, the black and white cinematography of the original is still perfect, and the atmosphere of growing fear and dread is well captured. The TV version made a few plot changes (most less than completely satisfying in my opinion) and for the two hour TV limit had to make a few concessions.

Viewers tend to be divided largely into two camps: those who saw the original and those who didn’t. For those unfamiliar with the original, the production is electrifying and horrific. For the others, it was good, but just not up to the original in suspense and acting. However, the remake was still a depressingly good adaptation—not for the squeamish.

I think the introduction of the boy was a weakness. Given what Clooney was presented with, I cannot rationalize his final decisions.

Why did they remake a stellar film? Probably for the challenge of doing it live and well. Also, is spite of the changes in the world politics, it reminds us of the horrific dangers of one slip. Additionally, Fail Safe is one of the few films of this class that readily lends itself to a live stage production. The few cold stark sets necessary require minimal stage changes. Their live production was very well done.

Review based on the taped TV version where it was possible to zip through the interminable ads to help maintain continuity and tension. My recommendation is to go out and rent the original, but the TV version without ads is certainly worth a look. Beginning

Fallen (1999) (10-4-99) (***, horror) (10-4-99) (D: Gregory Hoblit; Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Donald Sutherland, Embeth Davidtz, Elias Koteas) As the film opens, we see Hobbs (Washington) in dire trouble scrambling through the snow. His voice over begins "I want to tell you about the time I almost died…". Flashback. Hobbs is a cocky, very good homicide detective. He manages to catch a serial killer and enjoys watching the monster executed. Only all is not so simple. The killer seems positively jocular, leaving this earth with a riddle and the song line "Time is on my side" on his lips. Afterwards the killings resume, and Hobbs is taunted by the killers. We are privy to information that Hobbs is not and watch as he slowly unravels the true nature of the enormously powerful evil.

Fallen is an excellent example of the fact that you don't need wall-to-wall gore, violence, and mega buck special effects to create a good thriller. Real horror is psychological. With little explicit violence Fallen is truly creepy and conveys growing horror by innuendo, disturbing camera work, and good acting. The film also has scenes of great power. The build up to and the chase down the street is beautifully choreographed and electrifyingly tense. The film actually does provide enough information for you to figure out Hobbs' strategy, but some people will find such obtuseness unnecessary. Considering all things, the end does make complete sense. The acting is good and Washington's part is first class which is essential to the success of the film. His transformation from arrogance to growing disbelief and finally fear is fully believable.

As with most thrillers, the plot doesn't bear close scrutiny, but Fallen has a minimal number of holes and those are largely used for plot development. In our opinion, a major weakness was Davidtz. She was much underutilized. As written, the film could have almost completely dispensed with her. Also, I think Sutherland's part keeps promising more information and plot depth than he delivers--unnecessarily misleading.

So if you like your horror disturbing, cerebral, and with minimal violence, give Fallen a look. As an aside, there is certain critical similarity between Fallen and Hitchcock's Torn Curtain. If you haven't seen Torn Curtain, check it out. Beginning

Fall of the House of Usher, The aka Chute de la maison Usher, La (1928) (***1/2, horror) (6-11-01) (DW.- Jean Epstein; Jean Debucourt, Marguerite Gance, Charles Lamy, Fournez-Goffard, Luc Dartagnan) Luis Bunuel apprenticed under Epstein and is an uncredited codirector. This was his last film with Epstein. The recently restored gem of horror isn’t for all tastes, but if it meshes with your mind correctly, you are in for a singularly disturbing evening. Apparently, it follows the Poe story closely. Allan (Lamy) comes at Sir Roderick Usher’s (Debucourt) request. Roderick is concerned for the health of his wife, Madeleine (Gance). His wife’s welfare is the least of his worries. Roderick, the last of the Ushers, is as mad as a hatter. His mansion is shunned by the locals as if he were Dracula himself (the analogy here is significant). Not a lot happens, but what does is absolutely and surrealistically chilling, both mentally and physically. The mansion isn’t listed in the credits, but is as integral a part of the film as the stunningly deranged performance of Debucourt. By the end, you feel that you have had as close a brush with insanity as you would ever want. The sets, the ambiance, and the cinematography set you on edge, and with each scene you become increasingly disoriented and disturbed. The film is silent with French title cards and an English voice over. The musical score composed in 1980 by Rolande de Cande, like a needle in your spine, is as integral a part of the horror as the cinematography. Review based on the recent DVD release by All Day Entertainment (available at Sneak Reviews). Don’t let this being silent (it isn’t with the music) or black and white turn you away. Modern horror films could use more of Epstein’s style. Beginning

Fantasia (1940) (****, animation) (6-19-00) (Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra: narrated by Deems Taylor, Production supervisor: Ben Sharpsteen ; Walt Disney-production supervisor) Walt Disney's marriage of classical music and animated images. It still has the power to amuse, awe and entertain. At the time it was truly revolutionary and even today the animation is magical. The modern integration of music and visual images has become so commonplace that we don’t even think about, but in 1940 Disney brought world-class images and the best sound to date in groundbreaking stereophonic sound ("Fantasound"). It was planned to be a work in progress with each revision having additions and deletions. Unfortunately, it arrived near the start of the war, and theaters were unwilling to invest in the expensive upgrades; the public, as a whole, did not accept it. In spite of that many in the past two generations were influenced by the images of this film.

Fantasia has been reviled and revered. From being a corruption of the purity of classical music to a bringer of culture to stunning integration of sound and image. The images range from the sublime to the ridiculous. From the abstract to the horrific. In the eight sequences are included "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" with Mickey Mouse as an over eager apprentice out of his league, "The Dance of the Hours" with tutu-clad dancing hippos and sinister capped alligators, "Rite of Spring" with a Jurassic earth, "Pastoral Symphony" with a whimsical mythical setting, and "A Night on Bald Mountain" with images still seared on my mind from my childhood.

For most of us, only some work perfectly and some fall flat. However, which ones do which is highly individualized. Watch it all and decide for yourself. You might want to fast forward through the verbal interludes.

As an aside, I have shown much of it to my almost 3 year old granddaughter. She loved the mythical creatures (Pegasus, centaurs) of the Pastoral. She was delighted by the cavorting hippos and alligators. So even for a three year old, these are ****! She was entertained by, but ultimately lost interest in, the more abstract "Nutcracker". She was puzzled by and unsure how to interpret the Apprentice. Review based on the rereleased VHS tape where the sound and images have been remastered. Beginning

Fantasia/2000 (2000) (***1/2, animation) (6-19-00) (D.-Pixote Hunt, Hendel Butoy, Eric Goldberg, James Algar, Francis Glebas, Gaetan Brizzi and Paul Brizzi; Narrators: Steve Martin, Bette Midler, James Levine, Itzhak Perlman, James Earl Jones, Angela Lansbury, Quincy Jones and Penn & Teller; Music performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra) Here 60 years after the original is the second installment of Walt Disney’s work in progress. In keeping with Disney’s vision of a state of the art film presentation for Fantasia, the original release of Fantasia/2000 was in IMAX. Regrettably I missed it in Richmond. It was apparently magnificent. My review is based on the 35 mm version currently showing at the Regal. As I understand it this is a limited 4 week engagement. Don’t miss it.

Fantasia/2000 is shorter (76 versus 120 minutes). Given that the IMAX films are generally limited to 45 minutes because of the enormous amount of film involved, this is actually a lot longer than you could reasonably expect. As with the original, the sequences range from the abstract to the whimsical to the demonic. As with the original, different sequences will resonate with different individuals. All of the sequence are new except the refurbished Sorcerer’s Apprentice. I won’t be inclusive below but will just list some of the sequences.

Stravinsky's "Firebird Suite" is an apocalyptic vision with nature’s powers of destruction and restoration illustrated by a blasted landscape. It is clearly intended as the replacement for Night on Bald Mountain. I liked Eric Goldberg's New York stories set to Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue", but my wife thought it didn’t work. On the other hand, she loved the glowing graceful images of the Firebird. Ottorino Respighi's "The Pines of Rome," illustrated by Hendel Butoy is pure fantasy. You want whimsical? Check out the flamingoes.

I could have done without much of the tacky narration. Just let the music and images speak for themselves. Do see it on the big screen with a good sound system. Be forewarned. There will be lots of children in the audience, and children are not discreet about voicing their opinions. I would say from the comments and reactions, the children liked it—a lot. Beginning

Fantastic Voyage (1966) (**, sci-fi) (D.-Richard Fleischer, Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, Edmond O'Brien, Donald Pleasence, Arthur O'Connell, William Redfield) A submarine and surgical team are reduced to microscopic size and injected into a dying Russian scientist to perform life saving brain surgery. Visually interesting with some rather remarkable special effects; it is not at all clear, even now, how some were done. This would be stunning on the big screen. Unfortunately, the plot, suspense, and character development are inadequate, and the movie flounders. Even a six year old could tell you who the Russian agent was after the first few minutes. I ignore the scientific impossibility in this evaluation, although the writers do strain even my open mindedness for subjugating scientific reality for plot development. All atoms, except radioactive ones, are reduced in size and mass. However, radioactive ones can form a critical mass even in microscopic amounts. Academy Awards in Art Direction - Set Direction and in Special Visual Effects. (3-3-94) Beginning

Fargo (1996) (****, docudrama, crime, film noir) (D.-Joel Coen; Francis McDormand, William H. Macey, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, Harvey Presnell) The darkest film noir in white. Another black slice of humanity from the iconoclastic Ethan and Joel Coen (Blood Simple and Raising Arizona). In keeping with the Coen's love of ambiguity, the opening credits claim the story is based on a true incident in 1987 in Minnesota but the end credits have the standard disclaimer that no one in the film bears any resemblance to anyone living or dead. If you know for sure which is correct, please let me know. Macey is a marginally competent car sales manager working for his father-in-law, who considers him only somewhat above dumb. Macey aspires for much more and in his need turns to low lives Buscemi and Stormare. Buscemi is the funny looking talkative one and Stomare's cold silence would drive the Sphinx to insanity. The unlikely pursuer is a 7-month pregnant police officer (McDormand) who waddles through the case. As in any good film noir, everyone's seemingly simple choices lead to complex and brutally far reaching consequences.

The acting is flawless throughout. Macey plays his multiple faces and reactions to the changing situations flawlessly. McDormand (Blood Simple) is excellent as a loving wife, good natured citizen of Brainerd (home of Paul Bunyon), and efficiently laid back police officer. Having watched a good cop interrogate people, all the nuances are just right. She would be absolutely civil and yet leave you with no doubt that she knew exactly what you had done, so why didn't you just confess--and this when she didn't even suspect you of anything. The Mutt and Jeff crime wave were as frightening as they come. They suffer from the typical criminal mentality of happily satisfying their immediate needs and desires without concern for consequences; this makes them less predictable and, thus, potentially more dangerous than someone who behaves logically.

The Minnesota winter is as integral a part of the film as the characters. Stark. Brutal. Unforgiving. The taciturn, stoically accepting inhabitants form the tapestry against which the nightmare unfolds. The film has a continual thread of black humor in the day to day life of McDormand as she follows the case. This might put some off, but I thought that it added balance. Life goes on in spite of what happens. The one glaring fault seemed to be McDormand's interaction with her ex-boyfriend--totally out of place and irrelevant. But the Cohens are very frugal and never waste a scene. Recognizing that, our son finally pinpointed the reason and need for it. We did feel that they missed one great image at the end: the procession of cars seen from behind a red ice scraper. So. Yaaa. Check out Fargo. Be disturbed. Yaaa. (3-25-96) Beginning

Farscape. (5-6-02) I don’t usually review TV shows, but Farscape , which shows Friday evenings on the Sci Fi channel is one of a kind. It isn’t Babylon 5, but it will do in the meanwhile. I saw a few minutes of it over Christmas and thought to myself, who are these bozos? But when the TV Guide critic raved about it, we gave it a chance by watching a few shows. My wife summed it up beautifully when she said it is a cross between Babylon 5 and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Very serious plot lines and political social commentary are intermingled with pure farce. Almost as offbeat in its own way as Twin Peaks was years ago. Since it is on cable, it has a fair amount of cleavage and plot lines and dialogue that wouldn’t make it on prime time. Creighton, an American scientist, is thrown though a worm hole into an alternative galaxy populated by “Peace Keepers” (think George Orwell); sentient organic ships; cheesy robot repair droids; a striking ex-Peace Keeper who either loves Creighton or wants to kill him; an unwelcome guest in his head; an ex-ambassador creature who, besides power aggrandizement and manipulation has a primary activity of eating, and, well, this gives you an idea of his fellow travelers. Campy. Satirical. High energy. Emotionally demanding. If you try, do give yourself a couple of shows to get into the rhythm and become familiar with the characters. Produced by Jim Henson Studios so that will give you an idea about some of the characters. Beginning

Fast-Walking (***) (1982, drama, black humor) (Tim McIntyre, James Woods, Kay Lenz, Robert Hooks) "Fast-Walking" Miniver (Woods) is a prison guard with an interesting code of honor who is hired to assassinate Hooks. Sexy, rich, black comedy with numerous delightfully offbeat characters and situations. Woods is typically outstanding as the well off-of-center anti-hero. McIntyre's performance is excellent as the manipulative, highly adaptable king rat in the prison; you will long remember some of his lines. (2-1-93) Beginning

Fatal Instincts (1993) (**1/2, low humor) (D.-Carl Reiner, Armand Assante, Kate Nelligan, Sean Young, Sherilyn Fenn) At the Movie Palace. A resoundingly low satire of that much loved genre film noir. Emphasis is on several recent films, and you will enjoy it more if you are familiar with the fracturing of the original scenes that come from Basic Instincts, Fatal Attractions, Body Heat, and Cape Fear (especially Scorcese's) to name a few. Having seen Night of the Hunter, Double Indemnity, and a flock of other old film noirs wouldn't hurt either. They reference a number and give a take-no-prisoners, walk-the-plank send off of the whole genre. They even slip in a scene from Groundhog Day--with a skunk. To give a sample dialogue, a slinkily dressed Young meets Assante on the boardwalk. One of her lines includes "You're really stupid, aren't you. I like that in a man." His response fully confirms her assessment. Mile a minute sight and line jokes kept me on my toes and prevented me from being bothered by the ones that fell flat like a lipstick smeared cigarette run over by a garbage truck. For economy many characters do double duty such as Assante who is both a lawyer and a cop (You have a right to remain silent. Do you need a lawyer?) or the skunk that replaces the rabbit and child parts in Fatal Attractions. Simultaneously sophomoric and an insightful butchering of many of film noir's sacred cows. Overall, I enjoyed it and had some truly heavy duty belly laughs. (11-29-93) Beginning

Fear (1990) (**, horror) (D.-Rockne S. O'Bannon, Ally Sheedy, Lauren Hutton, Michael O'Keefe, Stan Shaw, Dina Merri, John Agar, Marta DuBois) Fascinating concept reduced to near banality. Interesting to watch and Monday morning quarter back with far more interesting plot lines than were used. A psychic, Sheedy, very successfully helps police by being able to see crime scenes as they are happening. Unfortunately, she mentally stumbles into a murder in progress by a killer who is also a psychic and uses his talents to extract even more pleasure from his victims. He can sense her presence and delightfully accepts the challenge of cat and mouse with defeated lose all. A young detective aids her in the search. A potentially nifty touch is their romance. She suffers from the grievous fault of being able to read the mind of anyone she touches with all the potential ramifications. Think about it. They blow this one too. Some of the remote viewing and the killer's recognition of her existence are well handled. The ending, which could have been powerfully believable, is just another deus ex machina. Hopefully someone will go back and do this one right, as it deserves better. Made for theater release, but only appeared on cable. (1-25-94) Beginning

Femme Fatale (2002) (***1/2, noir, thriller) (2-24-03) (D.-Brian DePalma; Rebecca-Romijn-Stamos, Antonio Banderas, Peter Coyote) The title sounds like a film noir. It looks and feels like a film noir. You are sure of this when the opening is set to Double Indemnity playing on the TV. It isn’t really. It looks like a heist film. It isn’t really. It looks like a Hitchcock style thriller. It isn’t really. Watching it I had the feeling it was very European in the disjointed elliptical way they frequently tell stories. It isn’t really. What it is, you can decide for yourself. I will say that my wife, daughter and I spent dinner afterwards discussing it. We all agreed that it was a film that we were definitely going to see again. Clearly, the first viewing only gives you the structure, and at least one more viewing is required for you to sort it out.

The film begins with the statuesque Laure (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) involved in a jewel heist. However, this is a DePalma film, so nothing is as you expect. Things do go bad and Laure runs, but she isn’t just a beautiful body. I won’t say where or how, but it does involve a mistaken identity, a sexy paparazzi Nicolas (Banderas), a loving ambassador (Coyote), blackmail, intrigue, sex, murder, and much more.

DePalma is a superb visual stylist. Femme showcases his virtuoso skills. Every frame is rich with detail. Much of what you see is important even when you don’t know it. DePalma is uneven; however, even when he is misfiring, his films are always worth watching. Femme is purring on all cylinders.

Warning: The film has a lot of sex and nudity. Also there is great divergence in the views on the films—bimodal. Loved or hated. I can understand the reasons of those who hate it, but the film says something different to me than they interpret. Beginning

Ferris Buller's Day Off (1986) (***1/2, humor) (D-John Hughes, Mathew Broderick, Jeffrey Jones) Reviled (actually too weak a word) by some critics as an anarchistic plot to overthrow the American family. It dares to suggest to children the radical, mistaken idea that some adults are misguided, unreasonable, and overbearing. Further, it suggests that adults can readily be manipulated by a sharp teenager. Horrors! Personally, I thought all teenagers knew these facts instinctively. This is the story of the adventures of a too bright high school senior and his friends when they decide to cut class one fine day. The beginning setup is a delight, gets a bit preachy and falls apart in the middle, but ends with a high spirited grand finale. The interplay between Bueller (Broderick), his parents, his older sister, and the school principal (Jones) is priceless. Jones, in particular, has mastered the pompous self serving monorail bureaucratic mind set persona perfectly. Memorable scenes include the death bed opening, the stunning StarWars non-sequitur take off at the parking garage, and the school bus/music at the end. Beginning

Few Good Men, A (1992) (***, drama) (D.-Rob Reiner, Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Pollak) A hazing punishment of a marine on Guantanamo Naval Base by two other marines leads to his death and a court marshall of the two marines. Moore as a JAG investigator smells a rat at a much higher level than two foot soldiers, but the free spirited, plea-bargain-everything-away Cruise is given the defense. The battle lines are drawn when the hard as nails commander (Nicholson) stonewalls and brushes the two off. Moore's prodding and the two marines' absolute conviction of their honorable actions finally extracts the steel inquisitor hidden under Cruise's flippant surface. In spite of a predictible courtroom sequence and some holes in the logic used to move along the dramatic narrative, the plot holds together acceptably well. However, what makes the movie are the superb performances by Nicholson, Cruise, Moore, and the outstanding supporting cast. Nicholson, in particular, is a superb scenery chewer and needs plenty of dental floss after Men. While questions of honor, justice, and responsibility are raised, the treatment is not deep and the issues are largely left to the audience to sort through afterwards. Well worth seeing for the effective staging and the crackling performances. (2-22-93) Beginning

Fierce Creatures (1997) (****, comedy) (D.-Robert Young, Fred Schepisi; John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin) Written by John Cleese and Iain Johnston. A bawdy, low, British farce. I loved it. A reuniting of the A Fish Called Wanda crew. While not a sequel, many of the elements and character traits are recognizable. Klein is a money hungry business tycoon with one demand: 20%+ per year return on every investment. In a hostile take-over, he gets a low key little zoo. Good hearted, but desperate, Cleese get the manager's job. The opening is his explanation to the staff AND their charges of the cold hard facts of life. The staffs' response leads to a delightful long running gag. To ensure the zoo's success, the tycoon sends his worthless, testosterone-pumped son (also Klein) along with a new acquisition, Willa (Curtis), to oversee management. Curtis describes her character as a "corporate slut" as her body and dress seems to confirm.

Enough plot. Such as it is, many of the surprises arise from the unexpected juxtaposition of images; so no more plot. How funny is it? I tread on thin ice since humor is so individualized. Many critics panned it. Others find it uneven. It can be tasteless. It is politically very incorrect in the sexual interactions of Curtis and Cleese (but it cuts both ways). However, my wife, daughter, and son also thought it hilarious. Some scene are so funny that we had to wipe tears from our eyes to watch. We still laugh as we go over different parts. It is uneven, but if it were as consistent as the best parts, they would be carrying bodies from the theater.

The scene in the hotel room with the tycoon is a masterpiece of farce and comic timing that harks back to the best Chaplin and Marx Brothers. The juxtaposition of the closet and room scenes are fabulous, and the amazingly disparate elements ultimately all fit. Several other bedroom scenes are not slouches either--and they involve only one person. The ending with the antics of the costumed zoo keepers is a stitch.

The characters and their chemistry generally work well. Some of the things that I like about Fierce is that Cleese, despite his at times bumbling character, is basically a nice guy with some brains, and Curtis is no slut. The response of the zoo keepers to their irrational problem is realistic in its own warped way. Kline as the son didn't work for me at the beginning, but from the spider on, I liked his portrayal. We have all known people like Palin, who are so enamored with themselves that they just won't shut up, although rarely does this trait lead to such catastrophically black-humored consequences. And the animals are as cute as bugs' ears.

In real life, Cleese is a trustee at a zoo that specializes in endangered species, which is very similar to the one portrayed. At one of their meetings after dinner, Cleese brought up the question of what it would be like for a ruthless tycoon (a subject he had long wanted to write on) to get control of their zoo. As everyone laughed, he knew he had his story. For the film, Cleese had to bond with the animals. When he asked how best to do it, he was told to place his well worn T-shirt with them to familiarize them with his scent. Apparently, the press had reported another piece of under apparel, but it was a T-shirt. Yes, it works, and Cleese was very fond of the ring tailed lemur.

As a final warning, do watch out for the "Piranhas Of The Veldt". (2-4-97)

Note on Fierce Creatures. We went back and watched A Fish Called Wanda again. Many critics have claimed that Fierce just didn't live up to the same standards. Wanda is a hoot with many fine scenes, but for me it isn't anywhere near as riotously funny as Fierce. Beginning

Film Related Christmas Gifts: If you have a film freak, here are a few suggestions for that person who has everything. All are at Sneak Reviews. They sell Wallace and Gromit videos at about $10 per tape or $25 for all three. You can also get a delightful Wallace and Gromit T shirt (see Wallace and Gromit) for about $16. For Pulp Fiction fans, they still have a few really jazzy Ts left--black with the movie marquee poster on the front. If you have someone with really off the wall tastes or whom you want to nail, they have a bundled Ed Wood triple feature, which includes his infamous Plan 9 (see last week's reviews), Glen or Glenda, and Bride of the Monster. I'm not sure how much they are paying you to remove them from the premises. Actually, they list at about $36. Beginning

Final (2001) (***, mystery, sci fi?) (11-25-02) (D.- Campbell Scott; W.- Bruce McIntosh; Denis Leary, Hope Davis, J.C. MacKenzie, Jim Gaffigan, Jim Hornyak, Maureen Anderman) I’m giving this a guarded ***. I really enjoyed the style and the setup, but I thought the internal logic very weak. My wife, on the other hand, has arguments as to why what she saw held together logically. So I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt and let other viewers decide on their own.

Bill wakes up a mental hospital with only fragmented memory as to how he may have gotten there. An old 53 Ford, a quarry, someone dying, and an intense feeling that he has been frozen for 400 years, and now that they have revived him they plan to kill him. Only one problem, it is 1999, a week after his memories of the quarry. Speak of paranoia. His first words are “What am I doing here?” A question he and the viewers wrestle with for the remainder of the film. All this is brought out through interactions with his psychologist Ann. Given what he strongly suspects, Phil’s behavior is not irrational.

Leary, who is a savage anti-establishment comic does a fine job of conveying the emotional depth, fear, and suspicion of a man thrown into an untenable situation who is trying to logically sort out what is going on. Davis makes a nice foil for him as she clearly bonds to this very unusual man.

The film is beautifully moody and disorienting through a combination of editing and a superb guitar score by Guy Davis. The viewer is as uncertain as Bill. How does it play out? Rent the movie.

Review based on DVD from Sneak Reviews. There are no extras. This is an ultra low-budget film from the Independent Film Channel Production and a clear example where style and good acting can overcome a meager budget. Beginning

Final Countdown (1980) (***, Sci-fi, thriller) (D-Don Taylor; Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, Katherine Ross) What should have been just another ho hum Sci-fi, manages to pull a rather sharp looking rabbit out of the hat. The U.S.S. Nimitz is sucked into a time warp and ends up in the Pacific Ocean just before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The tightly drawn tension builds around their stunning discovery of where they are and the obviously quite profound decision as to what they should do. While the cast does a good job, the real stars are the Nimitz and the Navy fliers. The dogfight between a Mitsubishi Zero, the finest fighter in the world in 1941, and a modern jet as well as the juxtaposition of the onrushing waves of hundreds of Japanese aircraft of every type (probably the largest carrier borne air strike of its kind at that time) and the opposed air might of a single modern aircraft carrier are absolutely mind boggling-- rarely has the impact of a mere 40 years of technology improvement been so frighteningly contrasted. My daughter, about 11 at the time, was so thunderstruck that she converted our basement into an aircraft carrier and planned to become a Navy flier. Beginning

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) (***, animation, fantasy, sci fi) (11-12-01) (D.- Hironobu Sakaguchi, Moto Sakakibara; voices by Donald Sutherland, Ming-Na, Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, Peri Gilpin, James Woods, Keith David) A revolution in animation. The year is 2065 and following an invasion by “phantoms” 30 years earlier humans are hanging on only by the skin of their teeth in a few barrier cities. Their final hopes lie in either scientists Drs. Akira Ross (Ming-Na), Sid (Sutherland) and a motley crew of soldiers, or the military might of General Hein (Woods) and his Zeus Cannon. Guess who’s right. The film is a hodgepodge of New Age, mysticism, and shoot ‘em up. It throws in a genocidal war and a romance to round out its themes. It steals shamelessly from other films with Starwars, Aliens, Starship Troopers, and Five Million Years to Earth being particularly prevalent. Final Fantasy is based on the video game series of the same name, but since each game has completely different characters and plot, don’t expect any overlap here either. The story is not without interest, although it is most likely to appeal to teenagers.

What gives the film its *** rating for me are the visuals. First of all much of the conceptualization is stunningly imaginative and beautiful. Second, the film achieves near photorealism, especially in the actors. The film opens with a stunning recurrent dream sequence that becomes progressively more detailed as the film progresses. The reflection in the water was awesome. The cg animation is absolutely extraordinary. When I saw the trailers in the theater, it took me several seconds to realize that the humans were cg, not real! There are many places throughout the movie where you could easily believe you were watching real actors. Blemishes, freckles, age lines. And Aki’s hair moves with a reality that is unbelievable. It should. It incorporates friction, gravity, and inertia as she moves—for every hair. Some have complained the hair looks coarse and unrealistic. Up close they are right. Up close, it does looks somewhat too coarse. For a good reason. Her head has only half the number of hairs as a real human head. This was the computational limit for cost and speed the director could manage. However, except for the very closest shots when you are paying close attention, the effect is nearly perfect. You will notice everyone else has short hair that doesn’t move. General Gein’s long flowing coat was given the same mathematically correct treatment, and looks equally good. The other place where the animation is stellar is in the movements, both large and small, of the characters. Walking, running, jumping look perfect. Hand movements are stellar. Of course, because the world is cg, nothing in terms of views, creations, camera angles, and lighting is forbidden.

The DVD was on one night rental, so I didn’t get to explore all of the options. However, it has supplementary tracks with a voice over by some of the production crew and another with the director (in Japanese). I assume the Japanese is subtitled, but I didn’t get to it. The production audio, which I got about a quarter of the way through was interesting. The same woman was used for the stop motion filming of the dainty Aki and the take-charge female trooper Jane (Gilpin). To create the difference, she wore high heels for Aki and tennis shoes for Jane.

The voices were generally good. Ming-Na was good as Aki, and I particularly liked Sutherland and Woods. Woods always manages to project a hyperintensity, take-no-prisoners personality, even not seeing him.

So if you are a fan of cg, animation, sci fi, and go into it in the right mood not expecting too much plot, Final Fantasy is a fascinating ride. Review based on the excellent DVD at Sneak Reviews and Beyond Video. Beginning

Firm, The (1993) (***, drama suspense) (D.-Sydney Pollack, Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Holly Hunter, Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Wilford Brimley, Gary Busey, Hal Hoolbrook) Let me begin by pointing out that their dinosaurs are distinctly substandard. Now for the substance. Based on John Grisham's bestseller, which I have not read. Reportedly there are substantial differences between the book and the movie. Crisp suspenseful story about top Harvard law graduate (Cruise) who is hired by small Memphis law firm with an offer that he cannot refuse, even when his wife (Tripplehorne) gets some bad vibes. With all the seductive trappings of power, money, and prestige, it takes lean, hungry Cruise a while to recognize that no one ever enjoys their golden years of retirement--associates seem to die young, unexpectedly, and violently. Soon Cruise finds himself caught between the Feds, the Mafia, and an overpowering desire to control his own destiny without breaking the LAW. Taut, generally well told story with you not at all sure whether he is going to catch the brass ring, the lead slug, or the steel jail bars. Some plot elements are not very believable, and the chase sequence at the end seemed a bit contrived to conform to modern expectations. While I found Tripplehorne's limited range a weakness, she was perfect in some places. But why quibble over a few details? The net effect is to keep you as taut as an overwound clock. The remaining cast was generally superb. Hackman was Cruise's jadded mentor in the firm; it is always a pleasure to see how a superb actor makes it look so effortless. Busey's brief but delightful part as a seedy private eye and Hunter as his sexy, but very capable, secretary are both excellent. Brimley as the lethally avuncular head of security and Harris as the FBI agent also deserve kudos. (7-6-93) Beginning

First Wives Club, The (1996) (**1/2, comedy) (D.- Hugh Wilson Bette Midler; Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton, Maggie Smith, Jessica Parker, Dan Hedaya) Three wives (Keaton, Midler, Hawn) are dumped and replaced with 'sweet' young things by their husbands. The wives decide to 1) Get what they deserve. 2) Get even. Boy, do they! This has been called a male bashing film. Don't believe it. The males get their due. The film has some delightful moments. The chemistry between the three principles is superb (in real life, all three are just about 50), and they clearly have a ball. The slapstick on the building is riotous. In actuality, Keaton hates height and claims she wasn't acting--she WAS terrified. The financial finessing is deftly and humorously handled. Unfortunately, the script isn't up tp the cast. It is uneven, and the tie-everything-up ending just doesn't have any bite or humor in it. In spite of Clubs' weaknesses, it is always a pleasure to watch these three pros belt out their lines, chew the furniture, and literally climb the wall. Beginning

First Snow (2006) (***1/2, drama, psychological thriller, noir) (6-10-08) (D.-Mark Fergus; W.-Mark Fergus, Hawk Osby; Guy Pearce, J.K. Simmons, Piper Perabo, Rick Gonzalez, William Fichtner) A thought provoking low budget psychological study directed by the writer of Iron Man. A study in fate or predestination or whatever you want to call it and how one man deals with it. Jimmy Starks (Pearce) is a wheeler dealer huckster usually on the legal side of the line. He is ambitious and conflicted, in part for reasons we learn in the film. A chance accident and the need for repairs at a nowhere pit stop in the barren plains of New Mexico, leads to a fateful reading by fortune teller Vacaro (Simmons). The title is prophetic. Without giving anything away, ultimately the news is not good and it sends Jimmy into a self destructive tailspin, making many fateful decisions as he goes along.

The opening beautifully flashes forward to the end, lacking only a few critical details. The story is in the getting there and what it means to the protagonist. Once again, this is one of those films that the less said about plot the better. The acting is excellent with Pearce portraying a man whom you don't particularly like but you can relate to his humanity and suffering. Simmons is pivotal and his final statement at the river frames the ending perfectly. His girlfriend (Perabo) is the right match of love, concern, and independence. His friend and work mate Ed (Fichtner) is the voice of reason.

The film is shot in New Mexico, much of it in Albuquerque. Given the scarcity and unreliability of snow, one wonders if the director had a brainstorm when the weather forecasted one of the infrequent snow falls and filmed critical parts for incorporation into the story. Albuquerque does get snow like that, but you cannot count on even one a year blanketing the city and mountains as we see in the film.
I look upon the film as having parallels with the stages of dying. It gets ***1/2 stars because my wife and I continued to discuss what happened, why he behaved the way he did, what was he really thinking long after fade to black, and where was his noir moment? For us a mark of a superior film. DVD available at Sneak Reviews.

As an aside I couldn't recognize the actor playing Vacaro. Yet Simmons plays Asst. Police Chief Will Pope on The Closer, which I watch faithfully. Gonzales is the easily recognizable Ben Gonzales on Reaper. Beginning

Fish Called Wanda (1988) (***1/2, low brow humor) (D-Charles Crichton; John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Cline). If slap stick isn't your cup of tea, run, do not walk to the nearest exit. Pure ribald, unadulterated, uproariously funny slap stick. Such a collection of brain damaged, sexually blinded males you will be hard pressed to find. After losing stolen bank money, Curtis and Klein attempt to retrieve it through the barrister Cleese. For the pragmatic, amoral Curtis seduction seems promising. Curtis manipulates Klein and Cleese like puppets using her exceptional (and believable) sexuality. Klein is delightful as her Nietzsche misquoting, insanely jealous partner who isn't about to let Curtis enjoy a romp with Cleese--even though it is the only thing that stands between them and the money. Cleese is delightful as the priggish barrister who is brought low by a well turned leg and other parts. The fish scene will double you up on the floor in either laughter or pain. Sexy, funny, offensive. What more can I say? Beginning

Fisher King, The (1991) (***, drama) (D-Tommy Gilliam; Jeff Bridges, Robin Williams, Mercedes Ruehl, Amanda Plummer)). I am not a Gilliam fan. Brazil was pretentious and Munchhausen was an incredible bore. If you don't go into this one looking for the meaning of life, but just as a delightful story with totally offbeat characters, you will have a fabulous evening. All the acting is consistently superb, the dinner scene was a riot (literally); Williams is off the wall and his love interest (Plummer) is a superb Chaplinesque flake; Bridges is stunningly mercurial (e.g. the opening scene in the radio studio) and a perfect straight man for Williams; and Ruehl is delightful and incredibly sexy as Bridges' hard suffering companion. The plot defies description in a short space, but it turns out not to be as surrealistic as I had expected. The demons haunting Williams and Bridges are rationally believable. The cinematography is extraordinary. To quote my daughter, "The red knight was awesome".Beginning

Fistful of Dollars, A (1964) (***, Western) (D.-Sergio Leone; Clint Eastwood, Gian Maria Volonte, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy, Mario Brega, Carol Brown) The first and least satisfying of Leone's "Spaghetti Western". Kurosawa made an American western set in feudal Japan (Yojimbo). Leone made an American western based on Yojimbo, which was filmed in Spain. I suppose in the grand scheme of things this makes sense. Stylish, black humoured, violent. Populated with a superb collection of low lifes. Stunning cinematography and superb sound track by composer Ennio Morricone. Both Kurosawa and Leone love facial closeups as windows into men's souls and for the thoughts (frequently the last ones) passing through their minds. As with Yojimbo the actors all have great faces. If you want the plot take Yojimbo, replace Samurai with gunslinger and you pretty much have it. Dollars gave Leone, Eastwood, and Morricone international reputations almost overnight.

Eastwood's use of the cigars was his idea. Leone wouldn't even pay for them. They were the cheapest, ugliest ones Eastwood could find. He cut them in half to make them look worse. Eastwood commented that they were so bad that they put you in the mood for a killing. Prophetic.

Dollars is not as tight as Yojimbo, and especially pales after you have seen the original. Also, for me, Leone made it too close to the original. There are even some scenes carried through from Yojimbo that are inappropriate. For example, after a brutal fight where none of the bad guys survive, Eastwood slashes the room up with a machete to make it look like a tremendous sword fight occurred. Fine for feudal Japan but not so good when all the bodies sport bullet holes!

Review based on the video tape. Be forewarned. Part of the original movie is missing. The key scene when Eastwood rolls the barrels was cut. Also, I think that something was missing from the graveyard fight. I thought the only place we had to worry about such butchery was on commercial TV! See Last Man Standing. (1-30-95) Beginning

Five Came Back (1939) (**1/2, adventure) (D.-John Farrow, Chester Morris, Lucille Ball, Wendy Barrie, John Carradine, Allen Jenkins, Patric Knowles) A respectable survival film where 12 people from different backgrounds are thrown together when their plane crashes in the South American jungle. Only five can escape. The plot revolves around who will and why. If I hadn't known that Lucille Ball was in this, I would never have recognized her in this romantic, dramatic role. Incidentally, the sepulchural Carradine of many later movies didn't look any different in 1939he clearly should have gotten the portrait done sooner. (4-19-94) Beginning

Five Million Years to Earth (1968) (****, sci fi) (D.- Roy Ward Baker; James Donald, Barbara Shelley, Andrew Keir, Julian Glover) An unexploded bomb in London subway excavation. Only it isn't. What a dismal title! The only reason that we watched it was because of a critic's recommendation. In spite of the critic, we still expected to flip it off after the first 5 minutes or less. Wrong!!! A classic example of how a fine cast and a well written story with delightful twists can overcome a most meager budget--probably comparable to some new cars. Every time we said, "Well, after that twist, it will now settle into a standard formula", they pulled another logical, but completely unexpected twist. The end cannot hold up to the rest, but still highly recommended for students of the genre. Controversial concept of some. Originally released as Quatermass And The Pit, known in the U.S. as The Creeping Unknown and Enemy From Space. Beginning (re-reviewed 11-3-97)

Flatliners (1990) (***, horror, suspense) (D.-Joel Schumacher, Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, William Baldwin, Oliver Platt, Kimberly Scott) I'm not quite sure how to categorize Flatliners. Med students interested in after death experiences medically kill each other and then bring them back to life after various delays. The name comes from when the heart and respiratory monitors give a flat line. The longer the delay before resuscitation, the more disturbing their experiences and the more severe the flashbacks. The demons that plague them are not at all supernatural, and the plot itself is shallow and doesn't deserve better than **. However, Schumacher has a way with images and puts on the screen one of the most visually disturbing movies in recent years. I'm not sure how this plays on video, but it is very unnerving and disorienting on the big screen. (9-27-93) Beginning

Flesh and Fantasy (1943) (**1/2, drama) (D.- Julien Duvivier; Charles Boyer, Edward G. Robinson, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Benchley, Betty Field, Robert Cummings, Thomas Mitchell, Charles Winninger) Three part supernatural thriller. Uneven, dated, and not completely successful, but stylistically interesting. Field is ugly duckling who hides behind Mardi Gras mask during encounter with Cummings. Robinson tangles with horror of fortune teller's tale. Boyer is circus high wire star haunted by images of Stanwyck and his own death. Linked together loosely by Robert Benchley's disbelief of the supernatural. (10-2-95) Beginning

Flight of the Innocent (1992) (***1/2, crime, drama) (D.-Carlo Carlei; Manuel Colao, Salvatore Borgese, Federico Pacifici, Giusi Cataldo, Lucio Zagaria, Massimo Lodolo, Francesca Neri, Jacques Perrin) A spectacular film debut of director Carlie. The film tells the story of a young Sicilian boy (superbly played by Colao) whose family is massacred in a gang war. The boy then spends the remainder of the film fleeing the other gang who wants no survivors, and trying (in a way that makes good logical sense to his youthful mind) to make amends for his family's transgressions. While considered crisp and flashy, but ultimately superficial by some critics, I have a different view. I vacillated between ***1/2 and ****. Think of Flight as Fellini (master of the gaudily surrealistic) meets Peckinpah (originator of operatic slow motion blood baths). Personally, I find Fellini too self-indulgently abstract. However, Flight works for me since the director uses Felliniesque imagery to make a very concrete point. One is seeing the world not through our eyes but through the eyes of the young boy. Of course things are going to be distorted and sometimes unrealistic. Indeed, I am reminded of the superb short story Chickamauga by Ambrose Bierce seen from the viewpoint of a very young deaf-mute child in the middle of a hellishly battle between Confederate and Union troops; it takes a while for us to piece together what we are seeing since it is filtered throught the child's mind.

A movie like Flight ultimately works or fails depending on whether it manages to bypass your surface intellectual safeguards and make a direct connection to those deep primordial emotions and feelings that civilization tries to suppress but evolution hangs on to so tenaciously. If successful, you are just swept away in the flow of the film regardless of lapses in plot, logic, and other faults. In short, can the director play mental aikido? Aikido is a martial arts where you use your opponents' strength and energy against them; a little pressure here, a little pull there and a 100-pound woman can throw a 200-pound man across the room and then totally immobilize him in the most exquisite pain. For me, Carlie is a natural master of filmatic aikido. I was mesmerized within the first few minutes. Even in the postmortem, I realized that points that I thought were errors were, in fact, correct when interpreted by the boy. (8-28-95) Beginning

Flight of the Phoenix (1966) (***, drama) (D.-Robert Aldrich, James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, Ian Bannen, Hardy Kruger, Ernest Borgnine) A solid adventure, drama. A plane crashes in the desert. The plot hinges on the personalities, conflicts, and coping mechanisms once the survivors realize that no one will rescue them. A bit stylized in places but overall intriguing premise and outstanding performances. The most interesting character is the sergeant. My family and I argued vigorously over which, if any, of several of his actions were morally defensible. Surprisingly, my wife, an army brat, came down on an opposite view from my mine. Our disreputable son agreed more with her than with me. (3-3-94) Beginning

Flightplan (2005) (***, suspense, thriller) (9-28-05) (D.-Robert Schwentke; W.-Peter A. Dowling, Billy Ray;Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Sean Bean, Marlene Lawston, Matthew Bomer) A tight, stylish, relatively nonviolent, psychological thriller. The less said about some movies, the better and this is one of them. Kyle Pratt (Foster) is returning her dead husband to the US from Germany. She and her daughter Julia (Lawston) are on an enormous air bus whose engines she designed. A sealed plane. A fateful disappearance. And you have the setting for an evening of suspense. Even after Executive Decision, I had no idea how many places you could hide in one of these planes. The acting is good with Foster carrying the film on sheer adrenaline. The reponses of the crew and passengers largely believeable. My wife and I disagree over whether she was too overwrought, but this is a detail. Those familiar with Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes will note some similarities in plot and style. However, this is a modern version, so don’t read too much into the original.

In spite of the claustrophobic setting, this is a film that should be seen on the big screen. Do stick around for the credits as, after watching those, I couldn’t decide how much of the interior of the plane I had actually seen and how much was computer generated. If they weren’t computer generated, I suspect that the computer-generated images were used to direct the camera filming. Finally, as with most suspense, there are holes. However, as long as they don’t pop into my mind during the movie as I clutch the arm rest, I don’t count them against a film. I didn’t think of most of them there.

Flirting with Disaster (1996) (***1/2, comedy) (D.-David O. Russell; Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette, Tea Leoni, Alan Alda, George Segal, Lily Tomlin, Mary Tyler Moore) If you like droll, off-the-wall humor and truly weird people and situations, not to be missed. A bedroom farce dragged through the counter-culture 60s and set in the 90s. Stiller is adopted and desperately seeks his birth family. This obsession leads to a cross-country odyssey with wife (Arquette), their unnamed 4-month old child (this does make sense), and social psychologist (Leoni)--leaving behind only his neurotic adoptive parents (Segal and Moore). This strange crew, with some additions, moves from disaster to disaster to reach Alda and Tomlin in isolated Antelope Wells, NM. As Stiller finds, some question are just too expensive to ask. The cast is uniformly excellent, and the director has impeccable comic timing--he lets you see the setup and savor the punchline just long enough before delivery. Camel Walk in the closing credits is dead on. R rated. Strong sexual content. Beginning

Flying Serpent, The (1946) (**1/2, sci fi, horror) (12-27-99) (D.-Sherman Scott (Sam Newfield); George Zucco, Ralph Lewis, Hope Kramer, Eddie Acuff, Milton Kibbee) I have two excuses for this review. First, I like to slum periodically with a grade Z 40s/50s sci fi horror. Second, I picked up this DVD thinking it was the much more highly rated Q (AKA The Winged Serpent). Mad Zucco wants to preserve for himself Aztec treasures that he has discoved in San Juan, New Mexico (trust me, this doesn't look like New Mexico). Helping him is a blood thirsty winged serpent. Basically this is a remake of The Devil Bat. The plot is bad, the story is full of lines and scenes that are so bad they are funny, the creature is a hoot, and the acting poor. While not up to the standards of Plan 9 from Outer Space, Sepent has it moments. So if you are into slumming old Sci Fi/ horror, do give Serpent a look. Beginningy

Foley Editors--Things to Look For When you watch the credits rolling by at the end, you will notice the term "foley editor". The foley editor handles much of the sound editing. It turns out that just picking up normal sounds on the microphones does not alway create a realistic effect. This is equivalent to a film of a real event not looking real and having to be generated on film by trick camera work, lighting, angles, and editing. In sound for example, the sound of real footsteps rarely sounds right. So the foley editor creates the sounds (by a variety of tricks that would look familiar to the sound effects on the old radio shows) and synchronizes and superimposes them on the film. Breaking glass is another common foley effect. If you have ever thought that sounds were not synchronized with the action on the screen, you may have been looking at a poorly synchronized foley effect. A particularly amusing gaffe occurs in the film If... where the students knock on a door, but the knocking continues after they stop. According to Microsoft's Cinemania 1995 (taken from James Monaco's Film Glossary), the term foley became popular in the 1980s although the foley editing dates way back. (4-24-95) Beginning

Following and The Man Who Wasn’t There: A Comparison. (12-17-01) I once went to watch the southern rock group Molly Hatchet at TRAX. They had a young totally unknown warm up band beforehand. The young men came in gaunt, intense, hyper. They knew they only had a few minutes to make an impression and they went at it 150% —everything they had plus some. Look at me their performance screamed. I’m somebody. Then came Molly Hatchet. Sleek. Well fed. Self assured. They had arrived, and they knew it. They were totally professional, and gave a great show. However, they lacked the near psychotic intensity of the warm up band. After watching Nolan’s Following and the Coen brother’s The Man Who Wasn’t There, I was left with many of the same thoughts. Following was Nolan’s first picture and it has the intensity, the look-at-me feel of the warm up band—indeed, much like the Coen’s first film Blood Simple. In contrast the Coen’s Man was polished, sleek, beautifully machined. They knew they had arrived and could do what they wanted. I review these two noir films below along with a totally unrelated thriller Forgotten. Beginning

Following (1998) (***1/2, crime, noir) (12-17-01) (D.W.-Christopher Nolan; Jeremy Theobald, Alex Haw, Lucy Russell, John Nolan, Dick Bradsell, Gillian El-Kadi, Jennifer Angel) For those of you who remember the stellar Memento, Following is Nolan’s first film. Black and white (69 minute) and shot with a single almost completely hand held camera. As shown by both films, there is no doubt that Nolan is preoccupied with the nonlinearity of human thought, the unreliability of memory, and the desire to see and interpret things in our own world view. Theobald plays a young man who, at the beginning, is describing to another man how he arrived at his current situation. Although he doesn’t recognize it, he is insecure, socially maladjusted, and largely incapable of human contact. He has made up for this by following people at random. But only once, just to see what they do. A harmless enough exercise that he justifies as providing inspiration for his writing. However, this is film noir, and a simple moral transgression is like the first bits of snow sliding down a treacherous snow-packed over-burdened mountainside. Sweeping up more and more snow, rocks, trees and anything else in its path as it accelerates down in a wall of destruction. The story is classic noir. A dark dangerous world where nothing is as it seems. Especially noteworthy is the Mephistopholean Cobb (Haw) who philosophizes on and justifies his actions. I won’t give any more plot away as, like Memento, much of the pleasure is in watching the plot unfold and trying to figure out what is really happening as opposed to what you see and hear. Oh, yes. Did I forget to mention that the retelling of the story is very disjointed as the young man assembles the pieces in his own mind in the order he thinks important rather than chronologically? The film is put together beautifully and the acting appropriate.

Review based on the DVD available at Sneak Reviews or Beyond Video. The film has a fascinating supplementary track with a voice over of the film by the director. There are low budget and no budget films. Following is a no budget film. No permits. No sets. The young man’s apartment actually belongs to the actor (and producer) playing him. The woman’s apartment belongs to Nolan’s parents. There is a certain irony here as his apartment was actually burgled before the film was made. The centerpiece bar (and other locations also) was selected for certain distinctive stylistic elements that allowed instant recognition of location as you are thrown from one disconnected scene to another. Although not explicitly stated, I suspect one of the reasons they were able to get it was because the real owner played the owner in the film. Well. The bar had an old safe that was used to good effect. However, it was a relic and no one knew the combination. So a little crafty editing allowed it to disgorge its contents. The director also points out one major continuity error—we didn’t notice it. Existing light or single point lighting was the order of the day. But then this has historical precedent. The original film noirs were ultra low budget films that acquired much of their distinctive lighting from the need to light it quickly and light it cheaply—frequently with one light. In summary, an excellent addition to the DVD and a fascinating view of a gifted director and guerrilla film making. The other item on the DVD is the film reassembled in chronological order. I don’t think this was necessary, but for those who like to watch it unfold in the normal order, it will be interesting. I believe that we are looking at the birth of a genuine talent and my reference to the gifted Coen brothers is not accidental. They got their start doing the ultra low budget noir. Blood Simple. Beginning

Forbidden Planet (1956) (****,50's Sci fi) (D-Frank McLeod Wilcox, Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Warren Stevens, Earl Holliman) A classic in the evolution of science fiction. While many of the special effects look tacky now, they were fantastic in 1956 and won an Academy Award. Even now some of the scenes (the matte overlay in the planet core) still look great. Based loosely on Shakespeare's The Tempest but with a much darker side. A relief ship visits a planet where an exploratory party disappeared 20 years earlier. The sole survivors are Morbius (Pidgeon) and his voluptuous daughter (Francis) who is elated to see young males for the first time and promptly begins instinctive courting rituals--to the horror of her father and the captain (Nielson). Morbius tries to get them to leave in order to avoid the fate of the earlier expedition members, who were literally torn limb from limb by an invisible force. The ship and crew, along with the amorous attentions of the captain and his first officer to the daughter, disrupt Morbius's carefully contrived world, and death and destruction once again reign. Comic relief ala Shakespeare is supplied by a drunken cook and a droll robot, Robby (Star Wars pays tribute to him). While the plot shows its age, some of the acting verges on awful, and Leslie Nielson (the bumbling detective of Naked Gun fame) is hard to accept as a sex symbol, some elements of the plot are truly effective. The battle for the ship and the climax are still gut wrenchingly effective. As an aside, Morbius' name is probably a takeoff on Morpheus, the god of sleep. The original Star Trek takes ever so much of its basic plot line and style as well as the characters from Forbidden Planet, and all Trekies who have missed Forbidden Planet should rush to the nearest video store. A few interesting asides: The authors abysmally misjudged scientific advance with the moon being reached in the closing years of the twenty first century. There is also the amusing technical gaffe of a planet 100 million miles away being seen to explode when it actually does rather than roughly a minute later, which is how long it would actually take for that light to get there. For all serious students of science fiction, this is a must see. (10-12-92) Beginning

Forgotten (1999) (***, crime, thriller) (12-17-01) (D.- Ben Bolt; Amanda Burton, Paul McGann, Karis Copp, Zara Turner, Kathryn Howden, Gwyneth Strong, Ian Hogg, Adrian Rawlins, Geraldine Alexander, Christopher Villiers) Complex. Cerebral. Moody. Taut. Disturbing. A fascinating walk on the dark side and complexity of human nature. This three part, three hour English TV miniseries keeps you thinking and guessing about who did what to whom right up to the last minute. The disappearance of the young Harvest queen in a small English town precipitates a crisis in numerous lives. At the center is the picture perfect family of book seller Ben Turner (McGann), his wife Natalie (Turner), and young daughter Emily (Copp). The presentation of Ben is nuanced, rich; a man much more complex than this current life would indicate. Throw in a new boarder, Rachel (Burton), with her own secrets and a variety of individuals with different agendas and you have the set up. About half way through the first hour we thought the film was going to be transparent. Far from it. Convoluted with boxes within boxes. Each new scene reveals new aspects of character and plot until by the end you race head long towards the climax trying to figure out who is guilty of what and how it will wrap up. Forgotten is good as a series and especially DVD or tape since it allows pausing and rehashing what you have seen and trying to figure out what exactly is happening. I am very vague about plot as I do not wish to give anything away. However, as with many European films, my wife and I are still discussing what we really saw about one of the characters at the end. Well acted throughout with the young Copp more than carrying her part. Marred only by the need for a few too many coincidences to set the plot in motion. Strong implications of violence and some sexuality. Excellent DVD available at Sneak Reviews with the film broken into the actual cliff hanging sections so that you get the original TV feel. There is no additional supplementary material. Beginning

Forgotten, The (2004) (**, suspense) (10-22-04) (D.-Joseph Ruben; Julianne Moore, Dominic West, Gary Sinise, Alfre Woodard, Linus Roache, Anthony Edwards) My wife liked this one a lot more than I did. Once the direction of the plot became clear, it was all downhill for me, although Moore did a credible job. The basic plot is that Telly Paretta (Moore) lost her son 14 months earlier in a plane crash and is still grieving. She can remember him so clearly. Wham. One day, she finds out from her husband (Edwards) and her shrink (Sinise) that it is all in her mind. She is suffering post stress psychosis from another traumatic event. Or is she? The answer to that question is the film. A potentially very exciting premise with suitable moody cinematography that ruins any good will built up in the first few minutes. Incidentally, if you have seen the trailers for the movie, you already know more than you should about where it is going. Beginning

Food Movies. I review a couple of food movies. BigNight and Tampopo. Neither can be considered main stream, but both have great charm and are unique. But do be prepared to have to go out and eat immediately afterwards. (5-11-98) Beginning

Force of Evil (1948) (***1/2, crime, drama) (D:-Abraham Polonsky; John Garfield, Beatrice Pearson, Thomas Gomez, Roy Roberts, Marie Windsor, Howland Chamberlin) At Sneak Reviews. First rate film noir morality play with superb acting, direction, and cinematography. Garfield, lured by easy money and power, has become a gangster's willing lawyer and confidant. He masterminds a con that will give them control of the entire bookie industry, but with a belated twinge of conscience he feels that he must protect his sickly, estranged, bookie brother (Gomez) from the results. Superbly believable performance by Garfield who has fallen so far that he can not understand how any rational person could turn down this prize that he proffers, and by Gomez who, while he may be slightly on the wrong side of the law, has a crystal clear, even Puritanical, view of the lines over which he will not cross. The other actors are generally first rate and help carry the story to its inevitable conclusion. Unfortunately, the women's roles don't work and appear to have been tacked on. There is the predatory gangster's wife who ends up doing nothing. Garfield's girlfriend seems discordant and completely out of place. Her primary role seems to be as the wall against which Garfield bounces his dilemmas. However, since he is telling the story in voice over, I see nothing gained from the girlfriend that couldn't have been done in the narrative. Nevertheless, Force is a powerful view of the ease with which the weak can be seduced and then justify their actions. While on the subject of real evil, Polonsky (who co-scripted the film with Ira Wolfert) was blacklisted by HUAC in 1951 and didn't make another film until 1969. (9-18-95) Beginning

Foreign Correspondent (1940) (***, war-intrigue) (D.- Alfred Hitchcock, Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall, George Sanders, Albert Basserman, Robert Benchley, Edmund Gwenn, Eduardo Ciannelli, Harry Davenport, Martin Kosleck) Conceptually not one of Hitchcock's best films, but plenty of slam-bang sequences and several truly mind bending Hichcockian setups to sear your mind. Involved in all of this is McCrea as a foreign correspondent caught in the middle of a spy ring, a lovely young woman, her suspicious father (in both senses), and the closing days of peace preceeding England's entry in WWII. The assasination is classic, but the umbrellas just blew my mind. The plane crash is stellar, as is the resulting struggle to survive on the wreakage. The crash is seen from the perspective of the cockpit; you see the ocean rushing closer until the crash and a wall of water smashes into and floods the cockpit. This entire sequence is a seamless single photographic sequence without cuts. Footnote: A rear projector screen of paper was placed in front of a full scale mock up of the plane and cockpit. A water dump tank was situated behind the screen. The on rushing ocean was projected through the screen. When the plane "struck" the ocean as shown on the screen, the tank was dumped. The paper screen was demolished in milliseconds (too fast to catch) and all one sees is the water crashing into the plane. So simple, and yet outstandingly effective.] The luxury trans-Atlantic TWA actually existed briefly just before the war, and the visions of opulence you see are the way it actually was. (5-13-94) Beginning

For the Kids 2 and Trekkies. (1997) (****, conference) On March 21 and 22, Charlottesville was once again host to a Sci Fi convention. The only downside was that it was not very well advertised. However, it should be here again next year so if you are Trekkie, don't miss it. This fund raiser for the UVA Children's Medical Center was both a worthwhile cause and a delightful way to wile away parts of a weekend. We were treated to inside views of some of the past and current sci-fi productions such as Babylon 5, Deep Space 9, Voyager, and the venerable Star Trek. General admission was $25-35/day depending on whether you preregistered, although Saturday gave the most bang for your buck. For the princely sum of $3.00 ($5.00 with a photo) you could have someone (or yourself) dragged off in chains by ferocious Klingon warriors. For those whose tastes run to beautiful leather-clad Klingon women, this can be arranged.

This year's keynote speakers included Michael O'Hare (Captain Sheridan from the first B5 year) or the delightful and very attractive Barbara March, who was unrecognizable as one of the Klingon Duraz sisters in one of the later Star Trek series and film. However, 4 hours worth of make up and a $10,000 outfit did change her appearance a bit. Getting to spend time in jail with these celebrities was not cheap (5 minutes with O'Hare was auctioned off for $400).

Larry and Janet Nemecek provided delightful behind-the-screen views of the making of some of these series and films. For those who missed it, we learned that "Trials and Tribbleations" (reviewed 12/2/96 and on our Web under Tribble Trouble) will probably be rerun this coming fall. Members of DS9 are thrown back in time to the space station when Captain Kirk, Spock, Scotty and crew first encounter Tribbles ("The Trouble with Tribbles"). It was a riot and a beautiful mixing of the two episodes. A few more details about this included the fact that the original negatives were used to create the show. These were so much better than what is usually shown that they had to put a lot more detail into the pictures on the current show. For example, there are places where one sees, but cannot read, signs. With the clearer version they had to have words on the sign which have to be included in the new footage. For example, you can now read the sign in the docking bay that says "Welcome to K-7 Now Go Home". The Klingon uniforms used in the DS9 show were all originals. To give you some idea of the budget, the belt buckles on their uniforms were the large bubbles for bubble wrap packing material that was aluminum spray painted. The Tribbles in both series were largely animated furry toys (wind up then, electric now). The chairs in the bar were no longer manufactured, but they got one original from a private source and duplicated it. The wavy pattern in plastic in the lifts was likewise no longer available. To get this, they digitized the video image, printed it on a printer, and lighted it from behind. It works really well. Also, one of the security extras on the Turbo lift was David Gerald who wrote the original Tribble episode while he was in college.

Add on to this a variety of fun talks (Writing Computer Games, 20 Years of ElfQuest, Design and Costuming, Scripts and Submission Workshop), and you have a great time. My favorite, however, was Inge Heyer's "Treasures from Hubble". She is a NASA data analyzer and presented some of the most breathtaking shots from Hubble along with an excellent general scientific description. Finally, throw in nice collections of fantasy/sci fi art and various knick knacks for sale. For Sci-Fi/Fantasy fans it doesn't get any better in Charlottesville. I assume that it will be back next year, so do keep your eyes open. (3-31-97)

Note added '99. It apparently did so poorly as a fund raiser (poor advertising in my opinion) that it did come back. Too bade

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The (1921) (***1/2, drama, war, classic) (D.-Rex Ingram; Rudolph Valentino, Alice Terry, Alan Hale, Jean Hersholt, Nigel de Brulier, Wallace Beery) While stylistically dated, Four Horsemen is still an effective, bleak, savagely antiwar film. Rated by American Film Institute as one of the top 400 American films now being considered for the top 100 American films--the final selection will be made this summer. Argentinean brothers-in-law and their sons end up on opposing sides in WWI. Valentino is the Frenchman's son and a womanizer after his grandfather's heart; the German brothers are fully indoctrinated into the nationalistic pride of the Fatherland by their father. The film focuses on Valentino's self-centered life style and the consequences of his affair with a married woman.

The film recognizes the glorious, at least initially, excitement of war. However, while people are momentarily blinded by the pageantry of parades and uniforms, there is always a somber Christ-like character predicting the ultimate results of their folly. Even the most jingoistic and materialistic are ultimately brought down by the realties of the human suffering. The film is beautifully photographed, and much of the imagery still sears the mind. The little horrors are frequently as effective as the big events. The final scene in the cemetery is a monument to human stupidity and its consequences.

The film has remarkably little of the extreme overacting characteristic of many early silent films. Heavy tinting and a classical musical score are used to effectively convey the changing moods. (4-13-98) Beginning

Framed (1990) (**, crime caper) (D.-Dean Parisot; Jeff Goldblum, Kristin Scott Thomas, Todd Graff, Abdul Salaam El Razzac, Michael Lerner, James Hong) Done with some style and humor, so it is not a total waste. Caper film about a painter framed by his girl friend for art forgery. Things, of course, are not as simple as they seem, and the plot goes from there. Quite popular with my daughter. Made for cable. (2-7-95) Beginning

Frequency (2000) (***1/2, drama, crime, suspense, sci fi, fantasy) (9-11-00) (D.- Gregory Hoblit; W.- Toby Emmerich; Dennis Quaid, Shawn Doyle, Elizabeth Mitchell, Andre Braugher, James Caviezel, Noah Emmerich, Frank Sullivan, Melissa Errico, Daniel Henson, Jordan Bridges, Stephen Joffe, Jack McCormack, Peter MacNeill) A real sleeper. Frequency is so cleverly written that I cannot give more than a touch of the plot without spoiling it. A disillusioned young police officer, John Sullivan (Caviezel), is slowly self-destructing. A confluence of solar flares lets him start speaking over a ham radio with his father 30 years earlier, which is just before the fireman father dies in a fire. Can the son save the father? Can he repair over 30 years the expanding consequences of his meddling with the past?

The film involves fire fighting, forensics, police detective work, and people who attempt jobs that they were not trained to do. It involves people who are realistic, sufficiently quick witted to exploit opportunity when it arises, and human enough to make mistakes. It involves baseball as a pivotal plot element, but you don’t need to know or like baseball to understand and enjoy the film.

The acting is fine. In particular, it is always pleasurable to watch the under rated Quaid in a film. The one weakness for us was the very end, which is overdone. It all could have been said much more succinctly with no loss. Beginning

Fright Night (1985) (***, horror) (D.-Tom Holland, Chris Sarandon, Roddy McDowall, William Ragsdale, Amanda Bearse, Stephen Geoffreys, Jonathan Stark) A very solid modern Dracula. A teenager becomes convinced, with good reason, that his next door neighbor is a vampire. Sarandon's performance, as the undesirable neighbor who depresses property values, is suavely, seductively evil, especially as he goes about seducing the girl friend. The twist is that the teenager enlists the help of an aging, down and out, horror show host (McDowall) to help combat the terror. McDowall's performance is a delightful blend of disbelief, humor, and finally resilience as he accepts the reality of the monster. He does lack the sexuality of that other well known horror host Elvira, but one cannot have everything. A fun Dracula, if there can be such a thing, that delivers humor along with thrills and chills. The cast looks like they had a good time and the good natured aura carries over. See Vampires. (2-8-93) Beginning

Frankenstein (1931) (****, horror, classic) (7-26-99) (D.-James Whale; Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, Boris Karloff, John Boles, Edward Van Sloan, Dwight Frye, Frederick Kerr, Lionel Belmore) While the film is more likely to instill chuckles today rather than the fear it invoked in 1931, this classic Frankenstein is one of the most influential horror films ever made. Even today the sets, the baroque lighting and cinematography, and Boris Karloff's definitive monster still manage to produce some tingles. In particular, the burning of the windmill at the end is masterful. Based on Mary Shelley's powerful novel, the '31 version was preceded by many earlier versions including the first, and now lost, 1910 version. The story is well known. The ultimate example of scientific hubris where the unbalanced Baron von Frankenstein strives to create life. Due to an error by his addled, crippled assistant Fritz (Frye), his creature is imbued with a criminal brain. A reign of terror results in which the countryside pays the price. Ultimately, this being Hollywood--even in the 30s, the handsome Baron and his bride-to-be Elizabeth (Clarke, selected on the basis of her delicate appearance and great screaming) escape unscathed.

The version you see now includes several critical scenes, such as the killing of the little girl (restored in 1987), which was removed in the US (but not UK) version by the censors. Karloff, in particular, wanted to keep the scene as it was one of the few that gave real humanity and compassion to the monster.

Karloff's monster is one of the most memorable and unique in film. It was a joint collaboration by Karloff and the studios master effects man Jack Pierce. The make up job took 5 hours to apply and 2 hours to remove. The boots elevated Karloff by 7". Thirty pound weights in each boot and steel leg braces account for his characteristic walk. Karloff was physically so traumatized during the filming that he lost 30 pounds, and he damaged his back so badly at the end by carrying Clive that he was later hospitalized. To add insult to injury, the make up job was kept totally secret so Karloff always had to appear with a mask and gloves except while actually being filmed. While the monster is parody today, the effect was so remarkable in 1931 that people ran screaming from the theaters. [Details from Cinemania 1995]

So, as long as you go into Frankenstein in the right frame of mind, you will find it a fascinating film. Beginning

French Connection, The (1971) (****,docudrama, crime) (10-01-01) (D.- William Friedkin; Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Bianco, Marcel Bozzuffi, Frédéric de Pasquale, Bill Hickman) French Connection was nominated for eight and received 5 Academy Awards including Best Actor (Hackman), Best Director, Best Film Editing, and Best Picture. Taut, dirty, gritty police procedural based on the discovery of a French heroin connection by two tough NY cops Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle (Hackman) and his partner Buddy “Cloudy” Russo. Eddie Egan was the actual basis for Doyle and “Cloudy” Russo for Russo. Based loosely on the book by Robin Moore. Shot in a documentary, “you are there” style the film accurately reflects the police procedures including the long stretches of routine surveillance boredom punctuated by life threatening adrenaline rushes. The film shows the actual accidental discovery of the connection by the off-duty Doyle and Russo, the cat and mouse game that followed, and the end game which led to the stopping of a $20M per shipment heroin trade that had been going on for years.

Hackman’s portrayal of Popeye is electrifying. The man is driven, ruthless, brutal. Also, cunning, manipulative, and with an absolute hatred of drugs and drug dealers. A man whose psychopathology in many regards differed mainly from those he hunted by the side of the badge he was on. Russo was his alter ego. Brooding, introspective. The stabilizer for Popeye that kept him reined in and from going too far--too often. A perfect team. In reality, Egan had gone through countless partners before teaming with Russo. They worked together flawlessly for 15 years.

How does the film hold up today? I think well. It took me a while to warm up to the documentary style, but once I got used to it, I loved the presentation. The acting is first class, the cinematography stellar, the story line gripping and fascinating. The chase sequence under the El is still one of the best on film. However, don’t expect nonstop action. The film has its own rhythm and pace and doesn’t rush. It also suffers to a certain extent from the Shakespeare-Hitchcock syndrome where watchers have been known to comment that it would be so much better if they didn’t use all those clichés. Well, this is where the clichés originated.

For those not familiar with the plot I will not give too much away. However, I will separate reality and fiction. The modus operandi of Popeye and Cloudy was very accurately portrayed. The actors and director went along on busts and, after they ceased to be totally terrified, Scheider and Hackman even posed as cops and frisked suspects. They did find going into some of the drug shooting galleries to be life altering experiences. There was a chase, but it did not bear any resemblance to what we saw. There was no sniping and apparently no shoot out at the end. The cat and mouse in the subway with Charnier was probably accurate. The car was actually torn apart and restored, and the mechanic doing it in the film was the actual mechanic that did it originally and directed the way it was done. Popeye’s cocktail in the bar was just the way he worked. Egan and Russo have parts in the film. They were both consultants and insured that everything was accurate with one exception. All the police violently objected to the way the chase of the hit man Nicoli (Bozzuffi) ended, stating categorically that no police office would have done that. Nevertheless the audiences loved it and, given public safety, I’m not sure it wouldn’t have happened that way.

The origins of the chase are provided in the DVD. And, yes, a car doing 80-90 mph under the El can beat the train with a top speed of 55 mph. If the chase sequence looks frighteningly realistic, it is because it is. Much of it was shot on open sets and many of the cars you see are innocent bystanders. The only safe guard was a siren and flashing light on the car. It was shot with stunt driver Bill Hickman (who also played Mulderig) driving, the camera man wrapped in mattresses in the front seat, and the director screaming “faster” “wilder” in the back. They actually side swiped a bus so badly, the door wouldn’t open. The police were very cooperative! In one of the few closed set sequences with Hackman driving, someone living in the closed section came out and drove into the action. He made a left turn in front of Hackman who, driving as fast as he could, collided, careened off, and crashed into a concrete pylon: I believe you actually see this collision in the film, but they cut before it hit the pylon as the car was totaled. It also seemed that every time they did a shot, the other stunt cars missed their mark and had collisions. So there was an enormous amount of repair work.

Wherever possible the director shot on the actual locations with existing or minimal supplementary light. This yields the realistic gray, washed out look. Many of the street scenes were “stolen”; that is the sets were not closed, and many of the people you see are not actors, but just people who happened to wander into the shooting. The director used small cameras to keep it unobtrusive and to enhance the documentary feel. To further enhance the documentary feel, Friedkin (who got his start shooting documentaries) would rehearse the actors without the camera crew. Then, during the shooting the camera crew had to play pick up, figuring what to shoot and how. And much of it does feel very spontaneous. It was shot during the coldest winter in recent record, and every one is as cold and miserable as they look. The camera even froze.

The director absolutely did not want to use Hackman, whom he did not feel had the ability to convey Doyle’s strength and nasty character. Hackman, who is a gentle soft-spoken man, wasn’t so sure either, and only grew into the role with practice. The original beating of the knifer was one of the first scenes shot and was a disaster because Hackman could not project Doyle’s violence. What you see is a reshoot much later—he certainly projected it then. Friedkin also didn’t want Rey, but how he got him is a delightful error. As Freidkin freely admits, he was totally wrong on both counts. Scheider got the part because he told off a director at the right time and place.

The two disk DVD contains a documentary “Making the Connection: Untold Stories of the French Connection”, a BBC documentary “Poughkeepsie Shuffle”, deleted scenes with the director’s commentary on his intent and the reason for the deletion, a full supplementary track of the director’s commentary on the film, and shorter tracks by both Scheider and Hackman. The director has restored the film, redone some of the sound effects, and remixed the original monaural sound track. The DVD explains the origins of the “picking your feet in Poughkeepsie” routine. It involved a good cop/ bad cop routine with Popeye trying to associate a rape with the current suspect. The suspects were more than willing to fess up to a little dope compared to the alternative. The DVD explains the significance of the obviously important, but unexplained in the movie, straw hat in the back of the car. Plain clothes officers used it to indicate they were on duty undercover. There are two explanations of the origins of the nickname Popeye, although with Russo’s morose attitude the replacement of his name Sonny with Cloudy is crystal clear. The only down side of some of the supplementary material is that the pieces were made independently, there is significant overlap.

As a final point, Egan was not a nice person. Hackman, a great character kept trying to make him 3D, and the director kept telling him that there wasn’t anything nice about Egan. Even Russo’s comment was that if he didn’t like Egan, who would? The real Russo does try to soften their image by stating that much of what they did was play acting. “You had to convince them [the crooks] that you were crazier than they were.” In summary, they probably don’t make cops like this any more, and they certainly don’t make movies this way any more. Turner Classic Movies recently ran Connection with one of the features on the DVD. So you may want to keep your eyes open to watch it there. Beginning

Frenzy (1972) (***1/2 psychological thriller) (D-Alfred Hitchcock, Jon Finch, Barry Foster, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Anna Massey) This is one of Hitchcock's more memorable later films. There are several scenes where his uniquely unsettling camera work and timing leaves you limp. Note in particular where the secretary goes into the office, and where the girl friend follows the killer up the stairs: outstandingly well orchestrated. Foster is chilling as the absolutely ice-water-for-blood rapist/murderer who ever so calmly goes about setting up his best friend as the perpetrator. Hitchcock's uncanny skill is shown in one sequence where you almost feel sorry for the murderer. Although Hitchcock doesn't explore the consequences, it is difficult not to envision the cataclysmic psychic damage to the protagonist at the end. A Hitchcock must see. (11-23-92) Beginning

From Dusk Till Dawn (1995) (**, horror, crime) (D.-Robert Rodrigues; Quentin Tarantino, George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Juliett Lewis, Ernest Lin, Cheech Marin, Salma Hayek) What do you get when you cross Quentin Tarantino of Pulp Fiction and the adrenaline charged Robert Rodrigues of Mariachi and Desperado? Answer: From Dusk Till Dawn with every imaginable cinematic excess. Start with a violent crime spree of two brothers, one totally psychotic (Tarantino) and the other a violent sociopath (Clooney), throw in a kidnapped family consisting of a fallen away minister (Keitel) and his two teenagers (Lin and Lewis), and end with a supernatural biker-strip bar. Can it get any weirder? Yes. How about Cheech Marin with three parts (border guard, bar hawker, and gang lord). Or maybe famous, knock you dead beautiful, Mexican soap actress Hayek as a stripper with a banana python--using this and Desperado as entry into American films. Dusk shows touches of Tarantino's warped genius (e.g., at the beginning, the convenience store along with their exit). However, on the balance, it lacks a coherent structure, characters for whom you have any real feeling, and a satisfying pay off. It seems too self indulgent. Even the reliable Keitel doesn't generate much heat. Lewis does a much better job as a teenager than an adult, and Clooney is solid with a magnificent tatoo. I understand that this is actually one of the earliest Tarantino scripts, which was dusted off after his success. In spite of its weakness, Dusk does move along in its unpredictable hyperkinetic way, and it will keep you guessing until near the end where it finally becomes familiar. The effects are solid. Not surprisingly for Tarantino or Rodrigues, Dusk is not for the squeamish. See Vampires. Beginning

From Here to Eternity (1953) (****, drama, war) (5-15-00) (D.-Fred Zinnemann; Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra, Philip Ober, Ernest Borgnine, Mickey Shaughnessy, Jack Warden, Claude Akins, George Reeves) For the time, the James Jones novel was considered too foul and sexy to ever make it to film. While the film makes a number of concessions to the censors, it still manages a terse brutal adaptation of Army life at Pearl Harbor on the eve of WWII. In spite of the violence and the lust, the film is almost clinical in its characterization, and its cool detachment actually makes us more appreciative of the characters’ weakness and humanity. A rich cast of characters and complex series of interlocking plot lines makes for a thoughtful evening.

Prewitt (Clift) loves the Army and is a bugler and boxer who won’t box because of an accident in his past. His inept commanding officer (Ober) wants above all else to have a star boxing team and sets about trying to break Prewitt to the ring by making his life intolerable. His tool is Sergeant Warden (Lancaster) a ramrod straight career noncom who is a consummate womanizer and who sets his sights on his incompetent superior’s sleep-around wife (Kerr). Her husband is a rake and she has good reason. Sergeant Warden admires and likes Prewitt in spite of his intransigence, which could ultimately get Prewitt killed if he doesn’t yield. Prewitt finds solace in a young hostess (Reed). They couldn’t call her a prostitute in the film.

Maggio (Sinatra) is an easy going, good-natured young man who crosses sadistic, stockade sergeant Fatso (Borgnine).

The film’s view of women is very sexist by modern standards. What’s fine for a man makes a woman a slut. Younger viewers need to remember this is the way things were then.

Lancaster’s limited range is perfect for the part. Competent. Egocentric. Kerr and Lancaster making love in the surf is one of film’s icons. Incendiary at the time, although the commonly seen still shot belies the briefness of the encounter in the film. It was even spoofed in Airplane!

Clift’s self-destructive Prewitt is beautifully portrayed and, in fact, mirrors his own self destruction. Clift drank his way through the film. In the drunk scene in the road with Lancaster, Pruitt is actually drunk. His failure to claim an Oscar was the beginning of his slide into obscurity.

The film reenergized Sinatra’s career, which was on the ropes at this point. He took the part for $8000 just to get it, and his electrifying performance made him much sought after.

The Army allowed the film to be shot at Schofield Barracks at Pearl only after the novel’s scathing indictment of the Army system was toned down. In the book Prewitt’s commanding officer is actually promoted, while in the movie he gets his just rewards. [Details from Cinemania ‘95] Beginning

Front, The (1976) (****, drama) (D.- Martin Ritt; Woody Allen, Zero Mostel, Herschel Bernardi, Lloyd Gouch, Joshua Shelly) Contrary to its common billing, Front is not a comedy, although it has a few chuckles. Front is a superb period piece that captures the look and feel of the early 50's and the destruction of human life brought on by the witch hunt atmosphere of the McCarthy era spearheaded by the draconian House Unamerican Activities Committee (HUAC). HUAC operated well into the 60s and is one of the black marks on our democracy.

Allen is an incompetent bookie and runs a cash register. He agrees to front for a black-listed friend. This sucks him deeply into the quagmire of TV and congressional politics. Mostel's performance, in particular, is a knockout.

Ritt does a superb job of conveying the enormity of the events by reducing it to the intimate plight of a few individuals. This is far more effective than any more massive or epic treatment could achieve. Even the death is handled in such a way that it is clear that the rest of world goes on in spite of the individual catastrophe. Although the film savages McCarthyism, it still manages to capture the essence of why people joined the witch hunts with some even believing that what they were doing could be moral and patriotic, and how it was carried to illogical extremes.

The film is especially poignant since the director, the writer Walter Bernstein, and many of the actors (Mostel, Bernardi, Gouch, Shelly) were actually black listed in the early 50s. Indeed, there are many films from the 50s where the credited writers are actually pseudonyms for the blacklisted. (7-1-96) Beginning

Fugitive, The (1993) (****, action suspense) (D.-Andrew Davis, Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones) Since I have never seen the TV show, my review is based solely on the movie. Fugitive never pretends to be anything but slam bang action suspense. At this, it is absolutely masterful. Relentless mind-crushing suspense with a nerve jangling sound track that never lets up. Within the first seconds you are on the edge of your seat, and your muscles don't unknot until long after you get home. For those unfamiliar with the plot, Dr. Richard Kimble (Ford) is unjustly charged, convicted, and sentenced to death for the brutal murder of his wife. In one of the most spectacularly staged crashes in recent memory, he manages to escape and begins his search for the mysterious one armed man who was the killer. He is unremittingly pursued by a Federal Marshal (Jones). Both actors are superb. Ford is introspective, brooding, and mentally and physically light footed as required to survive. Jones is cocksure, egocentric, driven, uncompromising, and absolutely ruthless in his pursuit of legality and of Ford. Jones, too, is exceptionally good as required for a good chase. In one insightful scene, Ford has Jones trapped and shouts "I didn't kill my wife." To which Jones responds, "I don't care." Guilt or innocent or his own safety are totally irrelevant at that point. To reestablish the legal order of the Universe, Ford must be recaptured--dead or alive. Other delightful touches include Jones shifting from profound matters of life and death to donuts with the "little sprinkles on top" in one breath, or his going over a tape to learn why his underlings picked up on something that he missed. He didn't get to be good by ignoring what others offer. You will be thunderstruck by the train-bus wreck (seen repeatedly on the previews, but better on the big screen). They really did wreck a train, but much of what you see (e.g. the engine plowing after Ford) is an 18" high model in a miniature scene so superbly crafted you absolutely cannot tell it from reality. Ford jumping off the bus and the run from the engine were all constructed courtesy of the Introvision process. Ford recently said that he figured he only had a few action movies left, so he was going to make the most ot it. He does. Fugitive has a few plot holes and some of the fist fights look about as real and bruising as two third graders on the playground, but "I don't care." A must see. (8-18-93) Beginning

Full Monty, The (1997) (***1/2, humor) (D.-Peter Cattaneo; Robert Carlyle, Tom Wilkinson, Hugo Speer, Steve Huison, Paul Barber) The Full Monty once again establishes the British as masters of working class humor. An absolutely delightful look at human nature under stress. Sheffield was once a thriving boom town driven by hot steel. The boom has passed, the mills are cold, the once gainfully employed are on the dole. Monty is about five of these lost souls. They range from management to line workers. From educated to only slightly above criminal--well perhaps not slightly. They have one thing in common: they need, or think they need, money to gain respect or some success. Based on stunning logic, they decide the way to get rich quick is stripping--male stripping. Full monty is English slang for buck naked. The term comes from General Montgomery (Monty) who, during WWII, insisted on having a full sit- down breakfast no matter where he was (desert, etc.) or what was going on (e.g. a battle). To put it mildly, these guys are not well qualified for this job. They are old, fat, scrawny, or just not very good looking. However, they are determined and they have spirit. To say more about the plot would ruin some of the fun. Let me just say that Monty is enormously high spirited, the cast is exceptionally talented, the humor runs from wry grins to belly laughs. Most importantly, the director and writer have the greatest respect for their subjects. You never laugh at them, but laugh you do. Bawdy, but not tasteless and with minimal nudity. Unlike many English films, the English is comprehensible to Americans.

The principals are not dancers or strippers. They agreed to do the last scene staged in front of 300 screaming women ONCE and ONLY ONCE. Even that took a lot of brass. What you see is the first and the last take. And I think the ending is perfect. (10-6-97) Beginning

Fury (1936) (***1/2, drama) (3-12-01) (D.- Fritz Lang; Sylvia Sidney, Spencer Tracy, Walter Abel, Bruce Cabot, Edward Ellis, Walter Brennan, Frank Albertson) Lang’s first US movie after he fled Nazi Germany. Magnificently filmed black and white. Timely and scathing indictment of human nature and our capacity to be manipulated by demagogues and emotions and turned into mindless mobs. Tracy is on his way to see his fiancee, Sidney, when he is stopped in a small town as a suspect in a kidnapping. The immediate consequences are horrific as is the long term Old Testament vengeance.

Lang’s setup is masterful and very disorienting. The atmosphere is light, airy. Even the town’s people are presented in a congenial amusing way. This is as it should be. These people are our friends, our neighbors, our coworkers, us. Unfortunately, in the right circumstances these are the very people capable of perpetrating monstrous deeds as we can see in current events from all over the world.

The reactions of the town to the event are ever so believable. What’s done is done. Sweep it under the rug and go on. No sense doing further damage. The governor and his staff react as one might well expect—minimize political damage. The prosecutor is equally realistic. Driven by a justifiable fury, coupled with political aspirations. Interestingly, in the closing credits the film claims that there were 6000 lynchings in the US in the previous year.

The only weakness was the ending. Too soft and pat. However, given the restrictions of The Production Code, I suspect there isn’t any other way they could have ended it.

In summary, a look at the nasty underbelly of human nature. A cautionary tale. Beginning

Future Noir. The Making of Blade Runner (1996) (****, documentary, book) (W.-Paul M. Sammon) Harper Paperback (1966). Blade Runner is one of the most influential and important modern science fiction films. It was placed on the National Film Registry in 1993. At the 1992 World Science Fiction Convention, it was named the Third Most Favorite Science Fiction Film of All Time. The first was Star Wars and the second 2001. Future Noir will surely be the definitive work on Blade Runner. Sammon was in on the development of the film from the beginning, was an intimate to many of the principals, and had direct access to the primary sources. Further, his book is exceptionally lucid and accessible. The book contains many stills from different versions of the film or unreleased shots. It is also carefully annotated and supplies WWW URLs of many additional sources of information.

For readers who have not seen Blade Runner, I most highly recommend it. However, be prepared to watch this dark, disturbing view of the future twice. Even in the original release with Harrison Ford's voice over to help explain things, the film is difficult to follow--the director does not spoon feed you. The only taped version available for viewing now is the director's cut, which omits the voice over and is, therefore, even harder to follow. So you will probably need once just to get the overview and the second time to fit it all together.

Film Noir is an absolutely fascinating story about the origin and development of this film with all of its struggles and personality conflicts. The evolution of the film from its very weak original screen play, through its savaging by the critics, its indifferent public acceptance on initial release in 1982, to its growing popularity (a direct result of video and cable channels hungry for films) and final reconstruction into the currently available director's cut and ultimate resurrection in the theater. Released ten years earlier and Blade Runner wouldn't even be a footnote now. The current version, while it may not be exactly what the director wanted, at least has his beloved unicorn. Future Noir also has a huge number of inside stories and details. It spells out in detail the differences between the releases. It describes how some of the special effects were done, and the details of the stunning Vangelis sound track. It has the continuity errors--some of which were actually missed and others that the director accepted because correction was impossible. In short, no lover of Blade Runner is likely to be able to put Future Noir down! I cannot do justice to the enormous wealth of information and critical analysis, but I will give you a small flavor.

Much has been made of the missing replicate. There were supposed to be six as told by Walsh. One was electrocuted and four were on the loose. Actually there was a sixth, but budget restriction caused her to be written out. Attempts were made to dub (looping) the number electrocuted from one to two, but it never looked right and the director let the error stand.

In Roy's dying speech, the last line is "All those...moments will be lost... in time. Like... tears... in rain. Time... to die." This along with the final synthesis of the remainder of his soliloquy were created by Rutger Hauer minutes before final filming. Hauer told Scott what he was going to do just beforehand, so it was not an ad lib but it was not even rehearsed and no one except Scott knew what he was actually going to say. Apparently, everyone wept as he finished.

The moment where Pris accidentally slipped on the wet side walk and smashed the window on Sebastian's truck was real. She chipped her elbow in eight places. This injury kept her from being involved in the final fight with Deckard. She is an accomplished gymnast and came up with the idea of using acrobatics. That is certainly her doing the backward flip in the kitchen. In the fight, the person doing the acrobatics is actually a man.

Rachel's story about the spider was supplied to the writer by the actress Barbara Hersey from her own childhood memories when the writer couldn't come up with an image. The fish scale was actually an electron photomicrograph of a female marijuana bud.

The dark rainy gloom of the film was not the original intent. However, it was impossible to create the vast future world in the daylight without having some of the rest of the world outside their small set intrude. By doing everything at night in mist and rain, the view was always limited to a small, easily controlled region. So by necessity we have an ambiance that not only works, but makes it inconceivable now for Blade Runner to be without the dark and the rain.

Zhora's final flight and death was shot in the closing moments before the sun came up. It was the first and only time they had to do it. Several cameras were running simultaneously and several serious continuity errors had to be accepted since a retake was impossible. Yes, if you think the body lying there doesn't look at all like Zhora, you are right. It is her stunt double. They just could not do better with the one take. But really who cares? It works. The python is her own pet.

Ford's hand-to-hand with Zhora and with Leon were not done with doubles. All three actors and Hauer were very physical and did much of their own stunt work.

The tortoise image was in the original script, but at the very end. Clearly, the writers and director liked it so much that it had to be included even in a totally different context. The Millennium Falcon from Star Wars is in Blade Runner!

The street scene below Deckard hanging by one hand is a matte painting. The opening "Hades" scene had 7 miles of fiber optics in it. The city set was built on a New York City set that was used for The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep. How appropriate!

Some questions answered by Future Noir: If the replicates life expectancy was four years, why was Roy dying after 3 years? Where did the title Blade Runner come from? In what scene does the rain fall upwards? In what scene was a kitchen sink used? Deckard's sink was also used as a prop in another scene cut from the film. Why doesn't Rachel's lip movement on whether the owl was a replicate match what she says? What scenes used rooms from My Fair Lady?

The web page versions of this review will ultimately have hot links to the different referenced web sites. Beginning

Futureworld (1976) (*1/2, Sci Fi) (D.-Richard T. Heffron, Peter Fonda, Blythe Danner, Yul Brynner) Anemic variation of Westworld. A pair of reporters are invited to a revamped Westworld, a fantasy land where robots and special effects make your wildest dream come true. Lean back. Relax. Nothing can go wrong, go wrong, go wrong... The acting is wooden and the plot development inadequate to name only two of the problems. For 1976 the computer graphics were actually pretty good. (7-7-94) Beginning

F/X (1986) (***1/2 thriller) (D-Robert Mandel; Bryan Brown, Brian Dennehy) F/X (pronounced fex) is the Hollywood term for special effects. Special effects master (Brown) is hired by the government to stage a false murder of a mafia hit man. As in any special effects, nothing is what it seems to be, and Brown ends up as a very bad risk on a life insurance policy. Snappy dialogue, clever plot, suspenseful action, and lots of ingenious F/X makes this a thoroughly enjoyable movie. You will recognize one of killers, Tom Noonan, as the psychopath from Manhunter--there just are not many 6'6" white haired athletic looking males in movies. A most agreeable way to while away a couple of hours. (8-2-93) Beginning

F/X2 (1991) (**1/2 thriller) (D-Richard Franklin; Bryan Brown, Brian Dennehy, Rachel Ticotin, Joanna Gleason, Philip Bosco, Kevin J. O'Connor) F/X was so much fun that you hope for a repeat. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work. The repeat pairing of Brown and Dennehy is enjoyable, but just doesn't have the originality and punch of F/X. Again, a double cross is involved and some of the F/X are clever, but the plot doesn't have the bite of the first, and there just isn't enough new to make up for it. A nice throwaway if you have a couple of hours to burn. My recommendation is to see the original again. Since I saw them in the natural order, I would be curious to hear the reactions of people who see them backwards. F/X might seem derivative and anemic in that case. (8-2-93) Beginning