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Galaxy Quest (1999) (***, sci fi, comedy) (1-17-00) (D.- Dan Parisot; Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Daryl Mitchell, Enrico Colantoni, Robin Sachs) A fun romp. A sci fi show Galaxy Quest went off the air years ago. In the present the crew/cast is still hacking out a living starring at cult Galaxy Quest conventions, showing films from the series, answering questions and signing photos at $15 a pop. If you have never been to one of these, the opening sequence captures the off-the-wall atmosphere perfectly. I mean, where else can you go and see an alien every direction you turn. And these aliens range from the tacky to as good as anything you see in films.

The cast includes Captain Taggert (Allen) who thinks more of himself than he does of others; Gwen (Weaver); Dr. Lazarus (Rickman), a hard suffering alien who hates one of his lines ever so much and is doomed to repeat it forever; Tech Sergeant Chen (Shalhoub); and Fleegman (Rockwell), who will shortly be joined by a nameless individual who didn't need a name because he was killed off in one of the numbered episodes. Gwen has a job only slightly less demanding than the women on the original Star Trek, but, as we discover, she is going to do it right.

The premise is that the cast is at loggerheads and a group of peace loving aliens led by Mathesar (Colantoni) comes up and asks for their help in negotiating a peace with a warring group of aliens. The cast has seen this play acting nonsense before and reacts accordingly. They err. It is for real. The aliens, who are completely literal, have watched their TV show for years and believe it to be a documentary of the Quest's exploits. And so who better to save them? They have even built a ship to the show's exact specifications--cheesy décor and all. The film is about the crew being drawn into this war and trying to live up to their image. However, the story is only a framework on which to hang the reactions and interactions of the crew. The film makes great fun of many of the early TV conventions, and there is little doubt that Taggert is modeled after William Shatner. However, you don't need to be a Trekkie to enjoy the film. The acting is good, the interactions neat, the FX good or not as required, and the humor droll to slapstick.

Of course, the original Galaxy Quest shows are tacky, and so is the real space ship "Protector"--it was an exact replica of the original TV model complete with some rather dangerous sections where the only purpose had been to look cool on TV. The aliens aren't tacky, since they are real. However, even here the film has great fun with an enemy General as a fearsome reptilian creation (courtesy of Stan Winston Studios). As an aside, the engineering plans used by the teenagers are no less sophisticated than those you can buy for any of the Star Trek space craft and the teenagers' knowledge of details and episodes is typical of many fans. As with many of the space backdrops, these are real and supplied by astronomers, especially shots from the Hubble telescope. Beginning

Game, The (1997) (****, suspense, thriller) (D.-David Finscher; Michael Douglas, Sean Penn, Deborah Kara Unger, Carroll Baker, Armin Mueller-Stahl) DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT let anyone tell you about this film beforehand. Except for this review, which I guarantee will give nothing critical away. In my opinion, Game is very likely the best thriller of the season. Nicholas Van Orton (Douglas) is a business magnate. Distant. Cold. Ruthless. And also brooding on his 48 th birthday about the fact that his father committed suicide in his 48th year. Into this sterile existence comes his dysfunctional brother, Connie (Penn), with a birthday present: a certificate to Customer Recreation Services (CRS), which is an individualized game. Something that will "make life fun". "An experiential book-of-the-month club." Intrigued, Nicholas takes a look. The deal is much more than it looks. Mephistophelean comes to mind. Much more as Nicholas' life begins to disintegrate. But enough of plot.

Game is one of the most viciously effective, mentally unbalancing films in a long time. The director and writers (John Brancato and Michael Ferris) know how to insinuate the story past our mental defenses. Sounds, music, editing, acting, even tiny visual details all conspire to raise our levels of tension, dread, and paranoia. It took me hours to unwind afterwards. As with many thrillers, it does not hold up well to a logical post mortem, but in the dark it doesn't matter! Even towards the end when my mind was saying they should have tightened this up, I nearly ripped the armrest off the chair.

Superbly disturbing. Relentlessly unbalancing. Superbly acted and put together. Now that I know the plot, I can hardly wait to go back and watch it for the details and see how tightly it fits together. I don't expect to be disappointed. I highly recommend that you see Game in a theater where a big screen, all the visual details, and a good sound system can have maximum impact. As an aside, Game reminds me very much of a specific 1980 film. If you can't think of the film afterwards, you probably haven't seen it. Drop me a line, and I'll let you know what it was. I cannot give the name here, since it would give too much away. (10-22-97) Beginning

Gate of Hell (1953) (***1/2, historical drama) (12-31-03) (D.-Teinosuke Kinugasa; Machiko Kyo, Kazuo Hasegawa, Isao Yamagata, Koreya Senda) Set in a beautifully rendered 1200 feudal Japan, an uprising is put down with the help of a faithful young samurai warrior, Moritoh (Hasegawa). For his loyalty, Moritoh sacrifices much. Due to a misunderstanding and failure to put qualifiers on a wish granted, a married woman Lady Kesa (Kyo) then becomes the object of his desire. Stalking may be a new term, but the practice is ancient. Her maintaining her honor brings this three-cornered affair to a tragic conclusion.

While Moritoh may be a great warrior, this does not make him a great human being and we watch his dissolution into obsession and dishonor. Lady Kesa does all the right things after an initial failure to communicate in an effort to protect herself and her husband. While I can think of a better way to resolve the final shame, especially for a samurai in a male dominated society, what transpires does have a certain logic. This is indeed the gate of hell and no one involved remains untouched.

The color cinematography, the costumes, and the sets are stellar. Many of the scenes are rendered with the stillness of a Noh play. Oscars for Costume Design and Best Foreign Film. Beginning

Gaslight (1944) (***, thriller) (D.-George Cukor; Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, Joseph Cotten, Dame May Whitty, Angela Lansbury, Terry Moore) Dated (although largely because the topic has since been beaten to death), but well done story of wife who thinks her husband is trying to drive her insane. Lansbury's debut as a sexy maid. For those of you who may only know Lansbury from TV's Murder She Wrote, she was very believable. Excellent atmosphere, period piece, and performances. (4-3-95) Beginning

Gattaca (1997) (****, sci fi) (D.-Andrew Niccol; Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law, Alan Arkin, Loren Dean, Gore Vidal) Written by Niccol. Gattaca is the best science fiction film in years. Intelligently scripted, beautifully filmed, and perfectly acted. As close as today's newspaper. As with the best sci fi, Gattaca deals with current, controversial issues in a safe futuristic setting. The time is the near future and the changes in genetic engineering, which we are not discussing seriously enough now, have arrived at their logical conclusion. Children are engineered. Start with the parents' egg and sperm and tweak the traits. Intelligence. Longevity. Good health. Hair and eye color. What parent could resist doing what is best for their child? Of course, in this period of societal transition a few children are still conceived naturally. These are known as In-Valids and God Children and this genetically inferior group is your underclass: the low skilled, under paid, under employed and, probably, the unemployed. Class jumping doesn't work because everywhere you turn your DNA is checked. Vincent (Hawke) is an In-Valid who wants more; in spite of a few genetic weaknesses, he has the drive and ability to accomplish it. His goal: The Stars--by way of a space flight from his employer Gattaca.

No matter how tight a system (blood tests just to get into work, urine tests regularly, and skin and hair samples taken from your work place), humans have an extraordinary capacity to outwit Systems--especially when money is involved. Vincent buys another man's identity. Jerome (Law) who is genetically perfect, had the misfortune of being fatally damaged from a perfect society's standpoint by being crippled in an accident. This leads to one of the most fascinating symbiotic relations in cinema where the two men have to work together to circumvent the system. The interactions between Law and Hawke are perfect. Initial distrust. Acceptance. Growing respect. Ultimately a bond far stronger than that of two brothers.

A murder investigation and a romance (Thurman) begin to threaten the fragile balance of the identity scam. These moments of crisis arrive at the time that Vincent-Jerome is within days of achieving his goal and it turns out to be a long, tense week.

The film is beautifully nuanced. Even among the perfect, a strong caste system has developed based on levels of perfection. Determining the genetic potential of a prospective mate has become as important as our current educational and personal backgrounds. The little mating games played around DNA are believable and very human. Additionally, there are some finely choreographed interactions between the many castes: the perfect, the in-valids, the older transition generation of non-engineered people, and the engineered but still not quite perfect young people, whose presence are a cautionary tale about complete control over nature. Finally, Vincent-Jerome's explanation of his success has just the right ring of truth about the human spirit.

The Vincent-Jerome and Thurman chemistry is very believable. For her he is desirable, mysterious, and potentially dangerous, which adds to his appeal. For him, she is exotic and beyond his wildest dreams.

The cinematography is magnificent and the staging suitably disorienting. The workers' dress and their work areas are so surrealistic that they could have come out of Fritz Lang's Metropolis.

We thought the end might have been streamlined. However, each of the scenes added something to the story and we could not come up with better alternatives.

See Gattaca on the big screen if you get a chance or letterboxed on the biggest TV you can get. See it with friends for the pleasure of the post discussion. (2-23-98) Beginning

Gazebo, The (1959) (**, humor) (D.-George Marshall; Glenn Ford, Debbie Reynolds, Carl Reiner, Doro Merande, John McGiver, Mabel Albertson) Quirky little black comedy that never gels. Ford is a TV producer/writer and his wife (Reynolds) is a rising stage actress. A little black mail. An untimely death. A body that won't stay put. You know the ingredients. An example of comic noir where a small mistake starts the problem, and every attempt at extrication only digs the pit deeper. In noir, the pit is tragic, while in comic noir the result is humor. In spite of pleasant actors and a fine nervous-wreck peformance by Ford, the humor is never black enough or the situation never unhinged enough to be either really funny or dramatically satisfying. A pleasant diversion if nothing better is on. Rumors had it that Reynolds and Ford were an item at the time of the filming. Review based on a nice letterboxed print on TMC. (1-19-98) Beginning

General, The (1927) (****, classic, comedy) (D.-Buster Keaton; Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Glen Cavender, Jim Farley, Frederick Vroom) Classic silent slapstick comedy. Union spies steal The General, Keaton's train, and race North trying to destroy communications and rail lines. Keaton pursues, ends up rescuing his former girl friend, and saves the Confederate army in a major battle. The plot is secondary to a series of superb sight gags built around Keaton's Keystone Cops' antics. Keaton gorgeously orchestrated the collisions, breath taking near collisions, and comic intertwining of several steam engines, two armies, assorted artillery, and a sword whose blade keeps popping out at inappropriate moments. One cannot help but marvel as some of the superbly choreographed sequences unfold. A classic scene is where he lights the fuse on a rail car mounted mortar, which then, through a series of misadventures, ends up pointed directly at his engine and he cannot shake it. His superb facial expressions are also a delight as when he accidentally fires a cannon straight up and one gets to savor watching the light come on as he recognizes the pending consequences. Keaton's comedy was very physical, and he was clearly a superb athlete. Even Marion Mack's role required considerable physical ability and a resiliency to hard knocks. As an aside, The General is based on a true incident where a band of bold, resourceful Union spies commandeered a train and steamed North, only to be pursued and eventually captured by an equally brave and determined group of Southerners after one of the most harrowing true pursuits on record. Disney did a comedic remake in 1956, The Great Locomotive Chase. While the dated story line does interfere somewhat with modern enjoyment, The General is a must see for anyone who enjoys classic slap stick comedy. (3-22-93) Beginning

Buster Keaton's The General at the 12 Virginia Film Festival (11-1-99): This is one of the great pieces of silent slapstick to which many modern films and cartoons owe homage. For a full review.

At the film festival discussion afterwards many interesting tidbits were provided. The film cost one million dollars to make--their dollars, not adjusted for inflation. That is a real steam engine that you seeing falling through the burning bridge--worth a cool $60,000. Keaton wanted to make the film in the South where the original event on which the film was based took place, but the absence of narrow gauge railroads in the South in the 20s necessitated making the film in Oregon. Keaton never smiles in his films. They tried one film where he smiled, and the test audience disliked it so much, he never smiled again in film. Indeed, if you watch Sunset Boulevard, where he has a small part, he doesn't smile there either.

If you have ever wondered why many of the silent films seem so accelerated, this is frequently an artifact. The early films were recorded at 16 frames per second, but modern films show at 24 frames per second. If shown without correction, the old films are sped up by 50%. However, many of the earlier film makers used the rate of filming to speed up and slow down the action. The early film makers were masters of setting pacing in their in films by varying speed. Watch closely in a good silent and you see a wide range in speeds--all done for artistic purposes. At one extreme was Mack Sennett who routinely used accelerated action in his Keystone Cops comedies. However, Keaton always ran his films at the correct speed.

General's Daughter, The (1999) (***, drama) (7-19-99) (D.-Simon West; John Travolta, Madeleine Stowe, James Cromwell, Timothy Hutton, James Woods, Clarence Williams III, Leslie Stefanson) Taut, well-drawn drama about murder of young Army Captain Elisabeth Campbell (Stefanson) on a Georgia military base and the attempt of CID officers Paul Brenner (Tavolta) and Sarah Sunhill (Stowe) to catch the perpetrator. The little complications: Elisabeth was the daughter of the base commander, Gen. Joe Campbell (Cromwell), and the General is fixed for a run on national politics. The consequence of an ugly outcome would be devastating to his political future. In this steamy hothouse environment, no one is as they seem, least of all the deceased captain. Early on, Travolta is asked the loaded question "Are you a soldier or a policeman?" He will be sorely pressed in answering it. The plot is complex and you cannot sort out the perpetrator from the clues, but it is not that type of crime film. The cinematography is beautifully stark, eerie, and dark, befitting the topic, and the music appropriate. In particular, passages from the "Magic Flute" and "Carmina Burana" are used with devastating effectiveness. The chemistry between Brenner and Sunhill is pleasantly acid tongued and it is not at all obvious the directions it will take. The interchanges between Col. Robert Moore (Woods) and Brenner are beautifully orchestrated. The remainder of the ensemble cast do fine jobs. Brenner is about to discover that there are things worse than murder and "When you find that out, then you will know everything."

The story is told as a series of revelations and flashbacks. Much like turning over a rocks where each succeeding one reveals an even more disgusting denizen of the dark.

The films suffers from having to dilute the roles of the numerous characters to get the story into the film and from the complexity of the story told originally. However, my wife, who has read the novel, generally enjoyed the movie but encourages me to read the book. The novel has much more of the superb interplay between the characters. For complexity, it makes the movie look like Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Finally, there are numerous differences in plot between the novel and the film, so don't hesitate to read the novel, which she felt was excellent.

The film is reasonably graphic and brutal, so be forewarned. Beginning

Get Carter (2000) (**, crime, drama) (9-17-01) (D.-Stephen T. Kay: Sylvester Stallone, Miranda Richardson, Rachael Leigh Cook, Rhona Mitra, Johnny Strong, John C. McGinley, Alan Cumming, Michael Caine, John Cassini, Mickey Rourke) A reverential remake of the classic Get Carter with Stallone replacing Michael Caine as Carter and the much older Caine playing one of the older characters. Carter was one of the director’s favorite films and it shows. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. The film has been Hollywoodized to ruin. The revised plot is incoherence and ultimately too soft. The flashy and unnecessary action sequences ruin the gritty realism of the original. It’s too bad because Stallone does a very credible Carter and with the right script this could have been an admirable remake. The director uses the outstanding Carter theme.

For those unfamiliar with the plot, the brother of mob heavy Carter dies while DWI. Carter doesn’t like the smell of it and goes to investigate. His persistent digging reveals that all is not as it seems as various low lifes rise to the surface like marsh gas in a swamp. Critical in the remake is the brother’s wife (Richardson) and teenage daughter (Cook). The director so liked the chemistry between Stallone and Cook that he increased their interactions over the original script. Review based on the DVD with a supplementary director’s commentary track. I listened to part of this, but didn’t find it particularly noteworthy.

Recommendation: Skip this version and rush out and rent the stellar original, which has been rereleased. The original DVD is exceptional.

Get Carter (1971) (****, crime, noir, drama) (10-9-00) (D.-Mike Hodges; Michael Caine, Ian Hendry, Britt Ekland, John Osborne, Tony Beckley, George Sewell) Review based on the excellent just released DVD available at Sneak Reviews. Jack Carter (Caine) is an enforcer for the London mob. His brother’s accidental death in Newcastle does not ring true, and he goes up to investigate. His boss doesn’t want him to go. "I smell trouble, boy." Prophetic is an understatement. Carter steps into a quagmire of sex, deceit, and violence. The hard boiled noirish character of the film is revealed clearly by the book that Carter is reading on the train. Carter is handsome, cold, cunning, amoral, ruthless. Someone you would never want to cross. Old Testament comes to mind. A point not considered carefully enough by some. Caine’s portrayal is excellent. The ending is stunning.

Get Carter is stark, lean, efficient, brutal, realistic, and very disturbing. The cinematography, editing, plot development, music, and acting are unbalancing from the opening shot. The bleak, grimy Newcastle setting is an integral part of the film. The edginess never lets up through the final frame. You are never quite sure what you are seeing, what is important, what isn’t. Just like in real life. However, here knowing the difference is important, even essential to survival.

The film is a deeply unsettling view of the underbelly of society that most of us hope we never encounter. It is quite sexually explicit, even by today’s relaxed standards. In fact, we wondered if it was actually shown in this form in the US at the time of its release.

The only problem we had is that some of the English dialogue was quite hard to understand, and some of it is critical. This is no doubt a problem that the English have with some of our films.

The DVD has a recent running commentary on the film by the director, the cinematographer and Caine. Stellar. The film was the director’s first (for which he was paid $12,000 for directing and writing it) and was done in 36 weeks with maybe 40 days of actual filming for about $750K. Yet Get Carter has been rated number 16 in the top 100 British films. In one scene there is an acid exchange between Caine and the chauffeur (Hendry). In real life, Hendry (the chauffeur) was a heavy drinker and envious of Caine. In the race track scene, he came well oiled and the exchange with Caine was so vitriolic that the director eventually called off the shot for another day. On reviewing the take, the director realized it was perfect and that is what you see. The director is very intuitive, rarely uses story boards, and is quick to adapt to local settings. The marching band was completely alien to him. London doesn’t have them. However, he thought that it was so unique that he had to have it in the film. It works. The director also likes to pepper his films with little in-jokes about the story. For example, in one gaming parlor, a sign shows up that says "The Game…. Is Final". Caine’s story on the real hit man’s comments to him is quite insightful; I won’t give any more details, but it does remind us of the remark about cannolis in The Godfather. In another scene as the director was setting up a shot where Caine had to drive, he was informed that Caine couldn’t; he didn’t have a license. This is after Caine’s part in Alfie where he played a chauffeur and "drove" all the time; actually, as is common in such scenes, the car was towed. In fact, on a closed street with your own cars, you can drive without a license; Caine can drive, so that is him pulling the car up in one scene.

Another fascinating point is that the film comes with two openings. One is the director’s version, while the other had the dialogue dubbed with a less heavy London accent and another sentence to make the film "clearer for American audiences". The one you watch without the commentary is clearly the better since it does not give away a critical fact. Also, after you watch the film, be sure to go back and look carefully at the passengers on the train.

If you are into bleak, atmospheric gangster movies, do give the original Carter a look. However, do remember one of the reviews that was not favorable to the film and said watching it was like "drinking a quart of gin before breakfast." Carter truly is strong stuff. Beginning

Get Shorty (1995) (***, crime, drama, black humour) (D.-Barry Sonnefield; John Travalta, Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito, Rene Russo, Dennis Farino, Delray Linde) Based on Elmore Leonard's book of the same title. Entertaining, stylish piece of black humor that japes Hollywood and human nature. Chili Palmer (Travolta), an avid film buff and Florida loan shark, ends up in Hollywood to collect from a client who thought he was very rich and cleverer than everyone else. One out of two isn't bad. Chili meets a producer and decides that going into the film busness would be great, especially since he has one fascinating topic for a film (oddly enough its about a guy who makes off with a lot of mob money and is being chased by a loan shark), but he is still writing the ending. Hackman is in for some big bucks to a local gangster who is also a self-styled movie producer. To make the film they need the really big-name star Shorty (DeVito), who also happens to be Russo's ex who is Hackman's on again/off again girl. Now throw in a bag of money in an airport terminal and Mr. "Bones" (Farino), who is Chili's well-hated boss. What transpires is a frenetic game of musical chairs, money, and film rights where everyone is trying to leave everyone else with the short end of the stick. However, in this game those without chairs have a tendency to end up with the booby prize, a morgue slab. Lots of snappy dialog, amusing plot twists, entertaining characters. Don't expect to see much of DeVito who, in spite of the star billing, has only a minor roll. A fine way to spend an entertaining evening, but Shorty doesn't have much staying power. "Look at me." I suspect you'll enjoy it.

Continuity error (courtesy of my wife): When Travolta and Russo arrive at Shorty's mansion, they park on the wrong side of the street. When they come out, his van is parked facing in the opposite direction. The director needed it positioned that way for a shot, but didn't correct the lead in, which on its own showed a visually interesting arrival that he was probably unwilling to sacrifice. (12-4-95) Beginning

Get Smart (2008) (**1/2, comedy, action) (7-25-08) (D-Peter Segal; W-Tom J. Astle, Matt Ember; based on the characters by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry; Maxwell Smart: Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson, Alan Arkin, Bill Murray, Terence Stamp) The opinion is divided on this and I think it depends on how you approach it. I was a fan of the original TV show and always enjoyed the droll humor and how the bumbling egocentric fool Maxwell Smart managed to come out on top, generally as much by luck or with the intervention of Agent 99 rather than through any innate ability. In the current film, newly minted Agent 86 Smart (Carell)is neither a fool nor an incompetent agent. Most of his problems arise from bad luck rather than lack of talent. He is a fine martial artist, shoots well, and is extremely athletic. So we end up with an action movie with a few set piece classic Get Smart messes. We also get a very able Agent 99 (Hathaway) who starts out considering Smart a liability and ends with an emotional bond.

The movie has a few great belly laughs, a few classic one liners, and lots of action. If I wanted an action film, I would go to an action film and not what I considered should be predominantly a comedy.

Carrel does a fine job as Smart, and we see what could have been accomplished had they kept to the original style. Hathaway makes a fine modern Agent 86, and Arkin makes a good, hard suffering Chief. Probably worth an evening rental, but not theater fare.Beginning

Ghost Breakers, The (1940) (***, classic, comedy) (D.-George Marshall; Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard, Richard Carlson, Paul Lukas, Anthony Quinn, Willie Best) Dated but classic Hope comedy about radio investigative reporter (Hope) who gets involved with Paulette who inherits haunted Cuban castle. Uneven, but with a few riotous scenes and a steady stream of Hope's droll humor. However, he is also good at physical comedy as his exit from the steamer trunk shows. A good introduction for the young to Hope's unique style of comedy. Fans of Quinn will find him so youthful as to be all but unrecognizable. (1-27-97) Beginning

Ghost in the Shell (1995) (***1/2, adult animation, sci fi) (10-11-99) (D.-Mamoru Oshii. Produced by Yoshimasa Mizuo, Shigeru Watanabe, Ken Iyadomi and Mitsunisu Ishikawa. Art direction by Hiromasa Ogura. Written by Kazunori Ito. Based on the 1989 serialized comic by Masuamune Shirow). And now for something completely different. Warning: this is not your kid's Saturday morning cartoons. The film has nudity and graphic violence. First, let me say that this is the only piece of Japanese animation that I have seen. The time is 2029 (by no small coincidence 10 years after the setting for Bladerunner). The place is freewheeling hyperkinetic Hong Kong. The world is wired and many people are part machine and part human. The physical part is the shell, but what makes you human is the intangible ghost (soul, essence, whatever you want to call it), which can be transferred from host to host. Secret government organizations are into information gathering and dirty tricks. Major Motoko Kusanagi in Section 9 leads an elite battle-intelligence group. She is largely mechanical and worries over her humanity or lack thereof. Her group ranges from largely human to largely mechanical--herself. This feature is by Darwinian design; any attack on the weaknesses of one might not get the "genetically different" others. The plot revolves around their attempts to capture the "Puppet Master", who controls humans with false memory and motivations.

The plot is murky and hard to follow, but the visuals and aurals aren't. Once I got over watching animation to portray live action, I found it fascinating. The film uses a mixture of classical cel animation, computer enhancement, and computer animation, and the effects are stunning. The freedom from the physical restraints of cameras and physical reality are regularly used to produce mind altering visuals that can only be approached in real filming by the best directors with the most sophisticated camera and editing techniques.

The plot does appear to be roughly at a level of The Matrix. The atmosphere is dark, brooding, introspective, noirish. The film has much in common with Bladerunner in terms of the mixing of human and cybernetics and the treatment of the different classes. As with Bladerunner, too much happens without explanation for you to grasp what you have seen on the first viewing. At least one more viewing is essential for me to sort out whether it works and what I really saw.

The film draws from many films and many genres. The cloaking device clearly was influenced by Predator. On the other hand, the recent Entrapment appears to lift the dive from the top of the skyscraper right out of Ghost.

My review is based on a DVD using the English dubbing. I have read that to understand what is actually happening, you need to use the subtitled version with the Japanese actors doing the voices for emotional content. There is a lot of dialogue and a lot of action; neither my wife nor I could keep up with subtitles and action simultaneously on our first viewing. We'll try again next time. Beginning

Ghosts of Mars, The (2001) (*1/2, Sci fi , horror) (4-30-02) (D.-Jim Carpenter; Ice Cube, Natasha Henstridge, Clea Duvall, Pam Grier, Joanna Cassidy) There is a saying about how to do a shad planking. A shad is a very bony fish. You nail the shad to the board, place it in front of a good fire, wait for it to cook to a golden brown, throw the shad away, and eat the board. I think Ghost is similar; you throw the movie away and watch the extras on the DVD. The best part was the making of short and some of the voice over commentary by Carpenter and Henstridge. However, I must confess, I didn’t watch all of the latter. I will say that for reasons I cannot understand, Roger Ebert gave it a thumbs up!

Ghost is a standard by-the-numbers horror flic. The most interesting thing about it is the structure that is told from a variety of flashback views. On partially terraformed Mars, a police squad led by Melanie Ballard (Henstridge ) goes out to pick up a murderer, Desolation Williams (Ice Cube), at the remote mining colony Shining Canyon. When they get off the train, they discover that the colony has somewhat fewer occupants than it should and the remaining are mostly possessed and distinctly hostile to any living humans. There are a few humans left, but they aren’t any too friendly either. So we get the cat and mouse as the creatures stalk the humans, the humans fight with each other, and the real source of the problem becomes known. Most of the story is told in flash back.

Carpenter has done some good movies such as the much underrated, The Thing. But Ghost has little style, no shocks, and negligible believability; I cut movies like this slack since you have to accept the world into which you thrown. However, even making that concession, the film fails. An odd structure and a few visual tricks don’t save it. The best parts are where the train is moving through the Marscape, and the unbalancing sound track composed by Carpenter and played by Anthrax and Backelhead.

There is a nice piece of aikido where Henstridge takes down a large muscular man. On the commentary, she remarked with awe that the fight coordinator taught them and they really worked. They do. When I teach children’s karate, on a good day one of my 70 pound green belts can slam me to the floor and immobilize me in exquisite pain.

Incidentally Henstridge got her start as the alien invader in Species where she showed far more skin than acting skill. Her acting is not great but a lot better. One of the great lines in the film is after Henstridge relates this horrendous and convoluted tale, and one of the panel asks matter-of-factly “That’s all you have to tell?”

Carpenter is very fond of New Mexico and the film was shot at Zia Publeo outside of Albuquerque. They used a gypsum quarry for the film, which was shot entirely at night. Thus, no New Mexico is visible. Red dye was sprayed over everything to give it the red color. As Henstridge said, when it rained there was a real mess. In spite of the fact that the film was shot with what appeared to be windy conditions, real wind storms shut down shooting more than once. Being a New Mexican, this is no surprise. That is not a model of Pam Greir’s head on the hill. Pam is actually attached, which required some contortions and clever camera angles. They couldn’t get a good enough model. Review based on the DVD release. Beginning

Giant (1956) (****, epic, drama) (D.-George Stevens; Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Carroll Baker, Jane Withers, Chill Wills, Mercedes McCambridge, Dennis Hopper, Sal Mineo, Rodney (Rod) Taylor, Earl Holliman) At the Movie Festival. Available at Sneak Reviews. The Eastern filming was done in our very familiar Albemarle county. Lets not confuse great drama with great entertainment. However, if you are into sprawling family dramas, Giant will make your day. Giant sprawls for about 3 hours and 20 minutes, but I never found it dull. The plot: boy (cattle baron Hudson) meets girl (spoiled Virginia belle), chases her until she wins him, takes her home to bleak Texas ranch. She has falling out with domineering sister. She meets egocentric cowhand who is the bane of Hudson life (Dean) and inherits piece of Hudson's ranch and ends up a rich oil baron. She takes a very un-Texas like interest in the welfare of their resident Hispanic workers. They have twins (boy and girl) and girl. The boy is Dennis Hopper--I CANNOT see him here. Children grow up totally at odds to the expectation of their parents. WWII comes and goes. Everyone gets filthy rich. One of the children marries an Hispanic woman. Crisis comes when Dean takes up with the youngest daughter as a substitute for Taylor, whom he has long lusted after and as a way to get at Hudson. Dean's dreams come crashing down. On the way back from Dean's downfall, Hudson and the women, including the Hispanic daughter-in-law and her child stop at a diner. The racist proprietor grudgingly serves them. However, when Hudson objects to him not serving an elderly Hispanic couple, he beats Hudson senseless leaving him lying in the salad. The family goes home and the movie ends.

However, it isn't the story that counts as much in such a film as it is the individual moments. The vignettes that stick with you long after the plot. Giant excels in vignettes. Our first views of Dean (his last film), who is a mass of contradictions, ego, narcissism, greed, arrogance, and insecurity, are fascinating. Him sitting in the bosses limo is such a cultural icon that it appears on T-shirts. His downfall is one most of the most memorable, and understandably, self-destructive sequences put on film. The Texas prairie and the house (mansion, not farm house) as well as its transformations over the decades are as integral a part of the tapestry of the films as any of the characters. Giant is also one of the first big films to deal up front with racial issues. Footnote: Growing up in Albuquerque in the 50s, I never noticed discrimination such as shown in Giant. Hispanics were in the majority and restaurants, hotels, etc seemed fully integrated. The one exception I remember was a private swim club, which excluded Hispanic members. However, this was a big city in New Mexico not rural Texas.] Another superb scene is the study in perception and contrast at the end where Taylor is so proud of her husband for having stood on principle on an issue that he was culturally ambivalent about that she can barely contain herself. Hudson, on the other hand, has always won what he wanted. To have been beaten, even by a burly Korean Veteran half again his size and forty years younger, is so ignominious, and he truly cannot understand Taylor. The irony is compounded by the fact that the diner sat nestled among a forest of Hudson's oil wells (the land probably rented from Hudson), and Hudson could crush him financially like a scorpion under his cowboy boots.

There is one sequence that had me almost rolling in the aisle. Hudson and Taylor are sitting reading in their living room--the idyllic family setting--when their two 17 or 18 year old twins enter. Their body English leaves no doubt that this is not a casual visit. The son efficiently cuts the wife out of the living room to make his pitch while leaving the daughter to present her case to her favorite father. Of course, each child knows how to manipulate their parent and does so with unabashed enthusiasm. Each parent, fully aware of the game, indulges their child by agreeing to intercede with the other parent for something each child wants but the other parent vehemently opposes. Although Hudson qualifies his agreement by stating that he cannot convince the mother, but he will try to "soften her up". Then comes the masterful climax. The parents are lying on their beds talking. Each is maneuvering to soften their spouse up for "the pitch". Each is so intent on the kill that neither realizes what the other is doing until they hear the whisper of the axe. A riot of miscommunication, double meanings, sly smugness with perceived success, and shock at the realization of what they having been agreeing to. Perhaps this was not so enjoyed by those without children or spouses, but I was in stitches.

So if you like sprawling miniseries type films with excellent acting and want to see an Oscar winner (direction), check out Giant. Enjoy. (11-14-95) Beginning

Girl With A Pearl Earring (drama, romance, ****) (6-29-04) (D. Peter Webber; W.-Olivia Hetreed; Book: Tracey Chevalier, Scarlett Johansson, Colin Firth, Tom Wilkinson, Judy Parfitt, Essie Davis, Cillian Murphy, Alakina Mann, Joanna Scanlan) It is 1665, the year the famous painter Johannes Vermeer created his stunning Girl with a Pearl Earring. Much of the beauty of the painting is in its subtle ambiguity. Clearly much is going on judging from her expression and posture, but we can only speculate. As with many great paintings, a second earlier or a second later in the composition, a little more detail of place, and all would be clear. And it would become just another so-so painting. Little is known of Vermeer and nothing of the model; the film is a fictionalized account of the origins of this painting. A young woman, Griet (Johansson), from a destitute family is brought in as a domestic in the Vermeer (Firth) household. The wife (Davis) is insecure and always pregnant. The house is ruled with an iron hand by her mother (Parfitt), who recognizes that their station is dictated by the successful marketing of her son-in-law to rich patrons, in particular the crude but appreciative Van Ruijven (Wilkinson). Griet has a flair for art, a skill that does not go unnoticed by the introspective Vermeer. And so the creative wheels are set in motion to the heating friction of the household and the conflicting demands of the principals. Is it a story of the creation of the painting? Is it a romance? Is it a longing for the unrealized and unrealizable potential of Griet in her society? It is all of these and more, much more. Like the painting itself, the story is elegant in composition, subtle in execution, exquisite in color, and deeply moving and provocative. Rest assured this is not some tawdry little tale. The painting would not permit it.

The film is magnificent. The acting is stellar and largely understated, where you infer what everyone is thinking mainly from their expressions and demeanor. Johansson and Firth make the movie, but it wouldn’t work without the supporting cast, especially Parfitt and Davis. The cinematography is stunning. Everything has the feeling of being put together by a Dutch master. Countless frames could be printed and hung on your wall. Much of the dialogue has ever so much conveyed in so few words; the brief exchange over the cleaning of the windows say everything about the personalities involved. And the music. Masterfully moody and evocative. And the final frame, perfect. Beginning

Gladiator (2000) (****, action, drama) (6-5-00) (D.- Ridley Scott; W.- David Franzoni, John Logan, William Nicholson; Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Richard Harris, Spencer Treat Clark) The year 180 AD. Marcus Aurelius (Harris) and his legions under General Maximus (Crowe) stand poised to crush the last of the Germanic resistance. Maximus is a well oiled killing machine at both the strategic and individual level. However, as with the philosopher-emperor Aurelius, he is tired of death and destruction. Maximus longs only to return to his farm, wife and child, but the dying Aurelius has one last request of Maximus. Assume control of Rome as prefect and return it to a republic. This last wish is to override passage of power to his unsuitable son, Commodus (Phoenix). Commodus is vain, self centered, narcissistic, brutal, and with animal appetites worthy of a Nero. The wish of Aurelius is not to be, and ultimately Maximus arrives as a slave and gladiator in the coliseums of Africa. His training serves him well as he fights his way to a position where revenge becomes possible. The remainder of the film is filled with battles and political intrigue worthy of the Borgias.

The film works perfectly on all levels. The plotting is superb, suspenseful, and well developed. The acting is first rate. Crowe is suitably brooding, introspective, and yet with a believable underlying steel that kills with total ruthlessness. Nielson as Lucilla, Commodus' sister, manages the delicate balancing act of one who knows that the continued existence of herself and her son depends on how skillfully she can juggle her brother. Phoenix is perfect, delicately handsome, a seething mass of insecurity, animal cunning, and murderous ruthlessness. Reed as Proximo, the gladiator owner, is richly nuanced as he coaxes his men on to yet greater feats, and carries his own completely believable background. Even Lucius (Clark) as Lucilla's son manages superbly nuanced performances, especially in the history lesson, where he tries in childlike wonder and mounting horror to comprehend what is really being said. The bit players do a first-class job. The fight scenes are brutal and chaotic, just like they would seem to the participants in real life. The physical re-creation of Rome is generally gorgeous, especially the coliseum--a masterpiece of special effects and modern make over.

The film is long, but at 2.5 hours, it doesn't seem long. Everything belongs. Many interpersonal scenes are beautifully handled with the right amount of time. For example, the first meeting between Maximus and Lucilla is loaded with all sorts of past and present issues. The tension is palpable and you wait expectantly to see how certain critical issues will play out. Even the throwaways work. When Lucilla slaps her brother it is perfect. The scene with the gladiators gambling with the cobra, a few seconds, shows how cheaply life is valued, especially when you know that in minutes you might eat a sword. The brief exchange between Maximus and his officer about their beaten foe surrendering is both insightful about human nature and completely prophetic. The little touch which indicates that Maximus plans to keep on living --again seconds, but it says everything. Even the discordant recurring images that appear from the opening ultimately makes perfect sense.

The build up to the initial battle is somewhat lengthy, but necessary. You have to establish how Maximus and his men view each other, the nature of the armament, and the aftermath on the terrain of previous battles. When Maximus says "Unleash hell" we now watch with horror as our expectations are realized. The battle again reminds us that there has never been such a thing as civilized war. It is horrific and dehumanizing.

"Rome" was largely built around a coliseum in Malta. Only a quarter of it had survived, but by digital effects you get flawless 360 degree sweeps of 40,000 screaming fans--most computer generated. True, the background is not always in focus, but the background is not where you are supposed to focus your attention. Only a few places outside the coliseum did I find the images marginal. The silk sun screens over the bleacher were apparently standard.

I don't know whether the scene actually shows up in the film, but one of the tigers actually managed to get on Crowe during filming. Tigers incidentally like to sleep during midday when directors like to film. They finally solved the problem by running the horses around before filming to get the tigers' attention. Finally, Reed died of a heart attack near the end of filming. One of his scenes is created by a combination of other footage with digital magic and a new voice over. I have no idea where it was.

Let's not look too closely at the history. The death and transfer of power to Commodus actually could have been close to what was seen. However, Commodus was apparently a mighty fighter and was there during the campaign. The Commodus of the film was actually a nice guy compared to the real one. In the film, Commodus merely lusted after his sister, loved the gladiator games, and killed those who clearly stood in his way. In reality, Commodus slaughtered with ruthless abandon all that he felt might pose threats. Indeed, he died of poison at the hands of his underling who could feel the hot breath of impending disaster. As to sexual preferences, the real Commodus kept a harem of 300 women and 300 boys. As in the film, the real Commodus was a very accomplished fighter who fought in the arenas and even lived with the gladiators--there is ancient speculation that he was in fact the son of a gladiator rather than of the more cerebral Marcus Aurelius. As an aside one reviewer was incensed by the thumbs up to live since it is historically inaccurate; the thumb was actually enclosed in the fist. But Scott, who is a stickler for accuracy, certainly knew this and adopted the accepted convention that would be recognizable by the audience and not block the story flow.

So if you are in the mood for a rousing swords and sandals saga, rush right out and see Gladiator on the big screen. While the film is brutal and bloody, it is not as bad as the subject matter would suggest due to skillful suggestion. Beginning

Gods Must Be Crazy, The (1981) (***1/2, comedy) (D.-Jamie Uys, Marius Weyers, Sandra Prinsloo, N!Xau, Louw Verwey, Michael Thys, Nic de Jager) A Coca-Cola bottle dropped from an airplane lands amid a group of peaceful African bushmen. Its miraculous appearance and indestructibility in their rockless desert leads to incorrect assumptions about its origins and subsequent disruption of their society. One of the bushmen, N!Xau, takes it upon himself to return it and sets off on an oddessy to, what to him, is the end of the earth. Gods was considered racist by some. I disagree. N!Xau was clearly a mirror used to reflect the insanity of modern civilization. He is beautifully unperturbed as he watches in wonder as the hyperkinetic "civilized" world careens madly around him for no discernible purpose other than movement. Balancing N!Xau is Weyers, an exceptional slapstick comic. Normally a rational human, he becomes totally discombobulated around eligible women, and Prinsloo as the new school teacher is certainly worthy of his attention. Poor woman, because manifestations of his affliction include being tongue tied and extraordinarily clumsy. For example, during a courting call he nearly levels the one room school house in seconds in a gorgeously choreographed Chaplinesque masterpiece. The trip with the brakeless truck is also pure delight and reminiscent of the best Keystone Cops. N!Xau is an actual bushman and, as I understand it, was paid in cattle, not in money that would have been useless to him. (9-27-93) Beginning

GoldenEye (1995) (***, action) (D.-Martin Campbell; Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Izabella Scorupco, Framke Jansson, Gottfried John, Joe Don Baker, Judi Dench) A visual experience best seen on the big screen. For Bond fans, a long awaited and enjoyable addition to the genre. Bond films traditionally had two signal features: the action packed sequence before the credits and then some of the most stunning credits/rock scores put to film. Neither disappoint. Tina Turner's "GoldenEye" by Bono and the Edge is a perfect complement for the visuals, which actually do fit into the plot. While Bond films once had a near lock on spectacular action sequences, it is becoming increasingly difficult to come up with something new. Nevertheless, the sky diving sequence does get your attention in spite of its impossibility. The tank chase and the train confrontation are also noteworthy.

The director and writers manage to capture the look and feel of the best Bonds yet successfully update it for the 90s. Its all here. Campy villains and villainesses, satellites, death rays, beautiful women, fast cars (a brand new stock BMW, that replaces the Aston Martin), great futuristic machines, chases, crashes, explosions, etc. In my opinion, Brosnan is a very acceptable Bond. Some have suggested he may be too pretty for the part. He isn't; I have it on very good authority--my wife. The venerable weapons expert, Q, is back dealing death and destruction in seemingly innocuous packages. Do check out the phone booth. M has been replaced by an iron lady (Dench) who gets along with the somewhat misogynist Bond no better than M. She has a great line to James, "If I want sarcasm, I'll talk to my children." Xenia (Jansson) has an over the top ball as a sado-masochist who likes her love making rough, even if it kills her lover--actually, if it does, so much the better. Bean makes an adequate villain, but the Russian General Ourumov (John) is great and so funereal that he gives John Carradine a run for the title "most sepulchrally gaunt". The film does sport a body count approaching that of a small nuclear war, but the violence is largely stylized and cartoonish.

If you are wondering how they got that marvelous antenna, it is the radio observatory at Arecibo, Puerto Rico. A must see if you visit the island. The HUGE dish is actually build into a crater which helps support it. Aiming is done by moving the overhead detector rather than the dish. When they work on the dish they wear snow shoe like shoes to distribute their weight so they don't fall through the thin metal surface.

Even on the big screen, it is difficult to impossible in many places to tell computer generated special effects from models and matte paintings. However, the tank is not a special effect and does give rise to continuity errors. It alternates between being covered with debris and being as pristine clean as if it just left Max's Tank Wash and Wax. (2-26-96) Beginning

Golden Voyage of Sinbad, The(1974) (***, fantasy, adventure) (D.- Gordon Hessler, John Phillip Law, Caroline Munro, Tom Baker, Martin Shaw) Starwars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, it isn't. However, I really enjoyed this when it came out as did my son. After watching it again, time has not dimmed our memories. Good clean fun in the style of the old Saturday matinee cliff hangers. A daring seafaring captain, a beautiful slave girl, an evil sorcerer, and a terrorized kingdom set the stage for an epic struggle between good and evil. Throw in some of the most breathtakingly stop action miniature footage to ever grace the screen by that sorcerer, Ray Harryhausen, and you have all the ingredients for a delightful no brainer evening. If you're not in it for the plot, Sinbad is worth watching for the animation alone. While some of the monsters look a bit moth eaten, their movement s are still outstanding. Regardless, the battle with the six armed goddess Shiva wielding six swords against a battery of humans has to be seen to be believed.. Even the shadowing looks real. The transformation of the ship's masthead into a living creature is no slouch either. In short if you are at all enamored by special effects, Sinbad has real magic. I have heard that Harryhausen was interrupted by the doorbell when he was choreographing the goddess. On returning from the door, he couldn't remember which of the six arms he had been moving, and he had to redo the sequence. Certainly believable. Avid Dr. Who fans will enjoy trying to pick out an almost unrecognizable Tom Baker. Fortunately he just has a few characteristic mannerisms and ways of saying things. (2-8-94) Beginning

Gold Rush, The (1925) (comedy, classic, ****) (D.-Charles Chaplin, Charles Chaplin, Mack Swain Georgia Hale) At Sneak Reveiws. On July 17, 1897, the arrival of the S. S. Portland at Seattle with almost a million dollars in gold from the Yukon started the great Klondike gold rush stampede. Before it was over a few years later, it had become a monument to man's courage, spirit of adventure, heroism, greed, and stupidity. Over 100,000 people tried to reach the Yukon. Few found wealth, but many instead found suffering, incredible hardships, disease, maiming, and death. Chaplin's silent classic pays homage to this epic period. It was a box office success and is still proclaimed by many as the finest comedy ever made. Perhaps I am a curmudgeon in a small minority; however I find that Gold Rush is funny, even riotous in places, and has some fabulous sight gags, but it is overall tedious and at times truly depressing. This was, in part, Chaplin's intent. His style of deliberately mixing humor and pathos was fully developed by 1925. However it does not make for great comedy. Believe it or not, Chaplin was inspired by the Donner Party disaster where the Donner party became snowed in on their way to California and resorted to murder and cannibalism to survive. This shows in the frequently mean spirited tone. Chaplin struggles into the Klondike during the Gold Rush in search of fame, fortune, and love. The starving winter with his "feast" on his shoe is a pantomime classic. Chaplin and Big Jim (Swain) even go so far as to make a wish on one of the nails as if it were a wish bone, and the shoe lace pasta is a true gem. Later when starving Big Jim sees Chaplin as a giant succulent chicken, it is almost "good bye Charlie". But the movie just hits too close to reality too often to be funny overall. The savagery and indifference of these hard, disillusioned people is just too much. Also, in keeping with Chaplin's style, the love interest is unrealistic and unsatisfying. Nevertheless, a must see for anyone interested in cinema, but don't expect a good comedy.

Chaplin spent four disasterous weeks in mid-winter Alaska attempting to make this movie. A combination of nature and artistic stagnation led to it finally being shot on a Hollywood stage. Chaplin even abandoned his opening scene of the piteous miners struggling single file up the snowy pass in favor of poorer quality, but real archive footage. This poignant clip is of the brutal 40 degree grade up Chilkoot Pass. To further compound the horror of the trail, each miner was required by the Canadian government (justifiably to prevent mass starvation during the winter) to carry in a ton of food and supplies. By all writings, Dante's Ninth Circle of The Inferno was a Sunday School picnic in comparison to this frigid hell of nature and man's inhumanity to man. Amazingly, with the exception of the rich man's all-sea route, Chilkoot was one of the easiest and least lethal land routes. The 33 mile Chilkoot trail is now a grand, demanding summer trek. However, even now it is strewn with items frantically abandoned nearly a century ago by miners desperate to survive by lightening their burdens. [Archie Satterfield, Chilkoot Pass, Alaska Northwest Books, Anchorage, Seattle, 1973, revised 1987]. (10-4-93) Beginning

Golem, Der aka Golem, wie er in die Welt kam, Der (1920) (11-18-02) (D.- Paul Wegener; Paul Wegener, Albert Steinrück, Lyda Salmonova, Ernst Deutsch, Otto Gebühr, Lothar Müthel) This is the third version of the film by the same director. is based on a 16^th century Jewish legend where the Rabbi (Steinrück) of persecuted Jews animates a clay statue (the director) to protect them. As with many examples of those willing to make bargains with powers to get what you want, what you get may be like the witches prophecies: more than you bargained for. The Golem has a great deal in common with Frankenstein’s monster. The Rabbi’s daughter also has a love interest with the Emperor’s knight that has some potentially interesting consequences to discuss afterwards.

The is one of the classic examples of German expressionism in film. Brought to you by the same studio that made The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, clearly has a bigger budget and could afford to use larger more realistic sets. Nevertheless, the film has dark shadows, stark sets, and dark corners of the human mind. The cinematographer was Karl Freund who later directed the marvelously expressionistic The Mummy.

The review is based on the recent showing of a restored print on Turner Classic Movies. The film stock was much contrastier than later in the silent era, the style not as good as just a few years later, the acting tended to be your classic overdone silent style, and the story line a warning fable. As such the film is more likely to be of interests to those interest in film history and early horror films. Beginning

Goodbye Girl, The (1977) (***1/2, comedy) (D.-Herbert Ross, Marsha Mason, Richard Dreyfuss, Quinn Cummings, Paul Benedict, Barbara Rhoades, Theresa Merritt) A delightful Neil Simon comedy about an ex-dancer (Mason) and an aspiring actor (Dreyfuss) who share an apartment. Open hostility between this very odd couple turns to mutual respect and finally a very believable romance. Dreyfuss received Academy Award for Best Actor and Mason was justifiably nominated for Best Actress. Modern women may find Mason's behavior old fashioned, but a rewarding evening nevertheless. (7-26-93) Beginning

Goodfellas (1990) (****, docudrama, crime) (3-1-99) (D.-Martin Scorsese; Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, Frank Sivero, Catherine Scorsese) Based on the life story of Henry Hill as told to Nicholas Pileggi and published in the book Wiseguys. A fascinating study in deviant psychology. At a 146 minutes the film is long, but it doesn't seem to be. Liotta plays Hill who, even as a kid, lusted after being one of the Mafia members down at the corner. As an enterprising young lad he inserted himself into the local operation, and we watch his rise and fall. We get a very good look at the character and nature of the operation. In real life Hill is currently in the witness protection program somewhere

Henry enjoys his work. Numbers running, extortion, theft, a little strong arm. He loves the adrenaline rush of getting away with it. He enjoys the perks. Money, the best food, the best suits, the best women. But most of all he likes the respect/fear shown by others to him. Here is a man who knew exactly what he wanted out of life, worked for it, got it, and revels in it.

The loose cannon in this well-oiled life is the psychotic Tommy DeVito (Pesci). Taking exception to a verbal slight from a "made" man, Tommy kills him. Tommy's friends, Henry and James Conway (De Niro), help cover up by hiding the body. A "made" man is protected at the highest levels in the organization. If the killing and the killer are discovered, it is time to check your life insurance policy. This begins the downward spiral leading to the very logical entry of Henry and his wife, Karen (Bracco), into the witness protection program.

The cinematography is great as you would expect. The story is fascinating. If it weren't true, you'd marvel at the plotting and perhaps complain a little about the unrealistic elements. The acting is first rate. Pesci is perfect. He exudes dementia. De Niro, as always, wears his character like a second skin. Bracco is absolutely believable as a woman attracted by Henry's charm and money, yet blind to the warning signs of what he is. Liotta's performance as Henry was spectacular. He beautifully conveys his feelings as to why he does what he does--he just plain enjoys it, and he can rationalize any of his actions. While he likes being alive in the Witness Protection Program, he laments everything that he lost. Indeed, , he enjoyed what he did so much that he was arrested for reverting to his former activities at least once while in the program. In short, Henry is the classic criminal mentality, which is a mixture of adrenaline, lust, the need for short term gratification, and no concern for long term consequences. Fascinating.

One of the marvelous scenes is in the diner near the end of the film. The camera watches the characters talking at the table. As the camera moves away from them showing their increasing distance from each other, the background outside the window claustrophobically closes in on them. For those familiar with cameras, it is quickly clear this cannot be done with just camera work. In fact, the entire diner is on wheels and is actually moving towards the background as the camera is moving away from them. Very effective. As a final aside, Tommy's mother is actually played by Scorsese's mother. Beginning

Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) (****, docudrama) (11-28-05) (DW- George Clooney; W.- Grant Heslov; David Strathairn, George Clooney, Frank Langella, Ray Wise, Robert Downey Jr., Patricia Clarkson, Jeff Daniels) A timely film. I consider this film a must see by high school and college students. It isn’t perfect, but when complemented by two other films (The Front and to a lesser extent Citizen Cohn), it fills a real hole in the education of many. The film is the conflict between Senator Joseph McCarthy and famous newscaster Edward R. Murrow (Strathairn), and ends with the pivotal outcome of Army versus McCarthy hearing, the first televised congressional hearing. The time is the early 50s, the height of the Red Scare. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) is in full hue and cry. Senator Joseph McCarthy began his rise with his 1950 speech where he alleged to have a list of over 200 members of the Communist Party in the U.S. State Department. His self-aggrandizing witch hunts are masterfully orchestrated examples of guilt by accusation, innuendo, association, and even lies. Fear in the country is palpable. Fear of nuclear holocaust, the Russians, the Chinese, and of our own government. Many had to ask themselves if the petition they signed in the thirties, a group they once belonged to, or a view they once expressed was going to come back and lead to public humiliation, loss of job, and destruction of life? McCarthy pushed the envelope of personal destruction.

Murrow was not the only one concerned about the incineration of personal liberties. Other senators, news people and cartoonists (e.g., www.marxists.org/subject/art/visual_arts/satire/block/) vehemently opposed McCarthy’s actions. This is the story of one news group’s public actions against the extremism of McCarthy. Murrow of CBS, famous for his live broadcasts from London during the Blitz, was one of the most respected newscasters in the country, and led CBS against McCarthy. In his pivotal attack on McCarthy on March 9, 1954, Murrow ended with

We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine; and remember that we are not descended from fearful men. Not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were for the moment unpopular.

This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthy’s methods to keep silent, or for those who approve. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. …

What the film lacks is the depth of the personal tragedies brought about by the witch hunts. This was necessary due to the inherent limitations of the docudrama; however, I think that they did spend too much time on pretty, but non-informative, images when they could have slipped in more facts.

The film is rendered in stunning black and white images. The images of Murrow are dead on. Watching Good Night reminds us of how far we have fallen in the nightly news, which mostly isn’t news or editorializing at all but swings from an emphasis on entertainment, personal stories, or overexposure and exploitation of anything resembling news.

As the film makes clear, the dilemma of ideas that conflicted with sponsors’ views was well entrenched and a real problem even at the beginning of TV. The interview with Liberace is a telling point as is Paley’s comment that news is expensive and game shows are a better investment. So perhaps we have just arrived at the inevitable conclusion.

The framing device for the film is Murrow giving a talk at an event honoring his retirement on October 25, 1958. Key portions begin and end the film. Incisive. Provocative. Combative. Insightful. A man who wields words like a master swordsman his blade. This is a scathing indictment of the very audience to which he speaks, and his prediction that history would find “evidence of decadence, escapism, and insulation from the realities in which we live” was all too prophetic.

A brilliant touch is that all of the McCarthy footage that Murrow plays against is authentic. We get to see McCarthy in top form. One gets a real feel for how a demagogue works, and why they can succeed.

A bit that may surprise younger viewers is the ever present test pattern on the TV monitors. There actually was a time when TV wasn’t 24/7 and the networks would frequently broadcast a test pattern when there was nothing else to put on while they were transmitting.

A must see film. I assume that the DVD, when it comes out, will be a gem with extras. My earlier reviews of Cohn and Front are included below.

To see part of the pivotal Murrow broadcast along with his classic ending, check on the video link at the end of the Rutherford Institute article at

http://www.rutherford.org/articles_db/commentary.asp?record_id=369

For those who want more of the REAL thing, check out the documentary Point of Order.

The good, the bad and the ugly (films) (8-13-07) Some films you expect to be good and are bad. Some films you expect to be bad and are good. Some films don’t give you what you thought you were paying for at all. Some films are bad and give you exactly what you were after. I review several films that fall into these categories. See Black Dahlia, The Black Dahlia, and Dementia 13

Good Will Hunting (1997) (***1/2, drama) (D.-Gus Van Sant; Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver, Stellan Skarsgard) Written by Damon and Affleck, this is a labor of love where they crashed at every friend's place they knew while trying to get it together. Fortunately, it was funded in spite of the fact that it has no special effects and no mindless violence. What it does have is believable people with real human emotions and a plot that doesn't insult your intelligence.

Will Hunting (Damon) is a mathematical genius who has been beaten down by life. He has achieved a comfortable low-level existence with working class friends and is unwilling to risk intellectual or emotional failure interacting with others. He is currently pushing a broom at Harvard and in trouble with the law. His working class friends, except Chuckie (Affleck), are not the sort of people to help lead Will out of his problems. A math professor Lambeau (Skarsgard) discovers his genius and plans to nurture him, but the boy needs an attitude adjustment. This is no small feat given his brilliance, which so often manifests itself as manipulation. Lambeau ultimately turns to a troubled old friend, Sean (Williams), for help. The film revolves around Sean and the professor trying to save Will and come to terms with their own problems. In the process of give and take, Will is led to think about his future more seriously, especially when you throw in a love interest in the form of Skylar (Driver).

Films like this are generally pretty simplistic in plot and the outcome reasonably predictable. Success or failure is in the scene details and the quality of the acting. Hunting excels in both. The chemistry between Will and Sean is exceptional as they verbally spar and develop a growing admiration of each other. The Will-Skylar chemistry works. Skylar is clean cut, but rather plain looking--a nice change in a film to have a real looking person. Yet you can see in Will's face and actions that this is no plain Jane to him. To him she is beautiful. The Lambeau-Sean interplay works. They are friends, but have long standing animosities. However, both like the boy and want what they perceive as best for him; the scene where they are arguing over his fate is beautifully nuanced. The Will-Chuckie interactions play well. They should. In real life they are best of friends.

At the end, we are left with the satisfying uncertainties (too many films try to tidy everything up) of how he will apply his new insights. He certainly faces trials, and the outcome is not obvious. (2-16-98) Beginning

Gorgo (1961) (**1/2, 50s Sci Fi) (D.-Eugène Lourié; Bill Travers, William Sylvester, Vincent Winter, Bruce Seton, Joseph O'Conor) A solid classic 50's-style sci fi monster film. Sea monster is captured, taken to London circus, and ... Although Gorgo makes very extensive use of stock military footage, it does have some rather impressive FX of its own. The destruction of London is tidily done, although it goes on a bit too long. Rather unusual for the genre, there is no female lead. (8-25-97) Beginning

Gorky Park (1983) (***1/2, suspense) (D.-Michael Apted, William Hurt, Lee Marvin, Brian Dennehy, Joanna Pacula) Excellent adaptation of Martin Cruz Smith's book. Straight laced Moscow homicide detective Arkady (Hurt) finds himself in way over his head when investigating a bizzare triple murder at a Moscow ice rink. At the opening we see the murder, but the killer is surrealistically fuzzy. As the movie progresses, the scene replays and becomes increasingly clear as Arkady unravels the crime. This is not a simple homicide as Hurt discovers when his persistent efforts flush out the KGB and an American tycoon. Well done suspense, gorgeous cinematography, excellent acting by Hurt, whose sense of honor drives him well beyond rational behavior. Tchaikovsky provides much of the musical accompaniment. The final climactic scene on the snow will be seared indelibly into your visual and auditory memory banks. For another roller coaster ride, try the book. Both are art in their own right, and doing one will not damage your enjoyment of the other. (11-2-92) Beginning

Gosford Park (2002) (**1/2, drama) (1-21-02) (D.- Robert Altman; Eileen Atkins, Bob Balaban, Alan Bates, Charles Dance, Charles Dance, Stephen Fry, Michael Gambon, Richard E. Grant, Derek Jacobi, Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith, Emily Watson) Opinions range from the one given by the man behind us as we left the theater “the most ridiculous plot I have ever watched in my life” to Roger Ebert’s rave **** out of ****. The film is very Altmanesque. Plot is merely there for a rich ensemble cast to hang their personalities on. Overlapping dialogue. Partially heard conversations from which you have to try to sort out what is being said about whom. More like a sociological study where you are the observer trying to pick up the threads of what is going on. A normal Altman film is not easy to follow, but with the English accents, my wife and I were afraid we were going to miss most of the plot for the first 10 minutes.

It is late 1932 and group of upper class English and an American film director meet on an estate for a weekend of shooting. What we end with is a cross between Upstairs, Downstairs and an English murder mystery, although the resolution to the murder is really an afterthought. It is the complex interplay among the members of the upper class, among the servants, and then between the two classes. The lord of the manor, Sir William McCordle (Gambon), is an aging manipulative monster, and his wife, Lady Sylvia (Thomas), how shall we say this delicately, has adjusted comfortably. Constance, Countess of Trentham (Smith) is a gem as the epitome of the wittily worthless upper class.

How you stand on the film will depend greatly on your taste in films. If plot is important, you may be left cold. If a well acted character driven slice of English life is your cup of tea, you will enjoy it. I have a love-hate relationship with Altman’s films. I finally walked out of Nashville and found McCabe and Mrs. Miller superb. For me Gosford falls in between. My wife, who liked Upstairs, Downstairs, enjoyed it more than I did.

Gotham (1988) (***, noir, ghost story) (D-Lloyd Fonvielle; Tommy Lee Jones, Virginia Madsen) An on-the-skids detective (Jones) is hired by a man to keep his ex-wife (who is dead) from harassing him. A made for pay cable movie that demonstrates the increasingly obvious fact that "Made for TV" is no longer the death knell. Dark, brooding, erotic with touches of black humor. Some nice plot twists and especially good chemistry between Jones and Madsen. Not enjoyed by some, but a perennial favorite in our family. Beginning

Grade Z Movie Fix. (6-17-02) It was time for my grade Z sci fi fix. I got it in spades with The Vampire and The Void. Save yourself. Go on without me. Beginning

Graduate, The (1967) (****, dramatic comedy) (D.- Mike Nichols, Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, Katharine Ross, Murray Hamilton, William Daniels, Elizabeth Wilson, Brian Avery, Norman Fell, Marion Lorne, Alice Ghostley) Oscar for best director. The Graduate is the quintessential coming-of-age film of the sixties. It is considered to be the defining movie of confused, undirected, unmotivated youth from my era. I loved the movie when it came out and have not seen it in many years. Thus, it was only with the greatest trepidation that I started it recently with my wife, son, daughter and her husband (ages 22-26--excluding the wife). Surely a movie on this topic would have aged so badly as to probably verge on unwatchable. Wrong!! Everyone loved it. Graduate is topical to today's youth and virtually right on all its observations about human nature. The packaging is different, the travails different (very few people, even in my generation, had to worry about a Mrs. Robinson). Nevertheless, human nature does not change that much. Superb casting and script with Dustin Hoffman in his starring role defining a generation. Insightful, rebellious, poignant at times, and absolutely delightfully funny with humor ranging from sly smiles to real belly laughs. Hoffman is finished with four years of college and everyone else has expectations about what he will do next in his life. The line "Plastics!!" comes from The Graduate. He spends the summer trying to avoid these do gooders and assuming responsibility. Sadly, Mrs. Robinson (Bancroft--who couldn't look more alluring) has very keen ideas about what he should do and carefully engineers them with a little reluctant help from Hoffman. Enter the Robinson's nubile daughter (Ross) and you get Love, Love lost, and Love pursued over all kinds of obstacles erected by the grown ups (who else?). The concluding scene at the church has become virtually a visual icon of my generation.

Young people tend to view the end as the triumph of youth. The director had a far more cynical view, feeling that Hoffman and Ross had succeeded only in priming themselves to repeat the same old errors of their parents. The natural splittingof the screen at the end is as clear a symbol as one can get on the frequently insurmountable gulfs involved in human interactions. I am more sanguine. As with everyone, there are still enormous barriers to them finding fulfillment. Why should Hoffman and Ross get a free ride?

The sound track positively knocks my socks off with the stellarly appropriate sounds of Simon and Garfunkel at their best. The Graduate made "Scarborough Fair," "The Big, Bright Green Pleasure Machine," "Sounds of Silence," "Mrs. Robinson," and "April Come She Will" household tunes. In my opinion, treat yourself and your parents. Go out and rent The Graduate for them. Then enjoy! See also Reality Bites (8-8-94) Beginning

Great Chase, The (1963) (****, action, comedy, classic) (Narrator-Frank Gallop; Buster Keaton, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., Pearl White, Richard Barthelmess, Lillian Gish) On Bravo this month. NOT TO BE MISSED by fans of action films and comedy. 77 minutes of the most breathtaking collection of chases you will ever see. John Woo and Jackie Chan have nothing on these masters from the silent era. No stunt doubles and minimal trick photography--generally apparent when used. I kept saying "I can not believe what I am seeing!" It begins with shots from the 1903 The Great Train Robbery, arguably the first feature film and the first with a major pursuit. We see Griffith's 1910 A Girl and Her Trust, which is a superb example of Griffith's development of modern cutting techniques to tell a story. In Way Down East, we are treated to the rescue of Lillian Gish by Barthelmess from the ice pack, which is breaking up and going over the falls (real, not staged). I can not believe it! My son's comment was "If I were an actor, that is the last film I would do with Griffith." The comedic-dramatic rescue from the moving train in one of the unnamed films has to be seen to be believed. Throw in a fabulous collection of cliff hanger clips including White in Perils of Pauline. Fairbanks in The Mark Of Zorro is such an incredible acrobat and action figure with an extraordinary sense of dramatic and comic timing that you immediately grasp his enormous appeal. Jungle Treasure was shot in the Amazon jungle and has some incredible National Geographics-style documentary footage including piranha. Also, we examined the snake attack frame-by-frame and certainly up to the closeup, it looks REAL. Some of the Mack Sennett Keystone Cops sequences blew my mind. The car/motorcycle chase through and over the hotel equals anything ever done. Scenes from Keaton's masterful The General show his comedic-dramatic genius; however, do see the whole original. Fabulous sound track and instrumental accompaniment composed by harmonica virtuoso Larry Adler. I can not believe what I am seeing! (3-11-96) Beginning

Great Dictator, The (1940) (****, comedy, war, satire) (10-29-01) (D.-Charles Chaplin; Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, Reginald Gardiner, Maurice Moscovich, Billy Gilbert, Henry Daniell) If you can imagine The Marx Brothers meet Schindler’s List sprinkled with some of Winston Churchill’s most inflammatory speeches during the Second World War, you will have an idea of what The Great Dictator is like. This is the first full-length film in which Chaplin speaks. As the world sat poised on the brink of conflagration, this is one of the most savagely perfect pieces of political satire to ever grace the screen. Chaplin plays dual roles of an amnesiac Jewish ghetto barber and dictator Adenoid Hynkel of Tomania. Oakie is unforgettable as Benzino Napaloni of rival country Bacteria. Chaplin had great difficulty getting this film made as, at the time, Germany and Hitler were held in high esteem by some in this country, and the prevailing atmosphere was isolationist. However, by the time of its release, the politics had shifted and it was very well received. I can remember my mother raving about this film and retelling with delight the opening Big Bertha shelling.

Chaplin contrasts the plight of the Jews in the Ghettos with the opulent indulgence, m egalomania, and insanity of the not-even-thinly disguised Hitler and Mussolini. Having seen many newsreels from the time, Chaplin’s ranting speeches are both satirically funny yet frightening in their sheer demonic power; he captured the tone perfectly. The scene with Hynkel doing a ballet with the world globe is a classic. My favorite is the meeting of Hynkel and Napolini where Oakie manages to completely steal the scene from Chaplin, no small feat; the termination at the barber shop will linger with you long afterwards. The supporting cast is excellent with Herring (Gilbert) representing Goring and Garbitsch (Daniell) representing Goebbels. Daniell and Chaplin apparently did not get along well, and this animosity is beautifully exploited in their on screen interactions.

The political treatment of the Jews is as well represented as was known outside of Germany at the time. This is not pretty even at this reduced level. Chaplin commented that had he known the true situation, he wasn’t sure he would have made the film. While parts of the film are dated, if you take it within the political framework of the time, you will be in for a rare treat.

Great Train Robbery. The (1979) (***1/2, crime) (D.-Michael Crichton; Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland, Lesley-Anne Down, Alan Webb, Malcolm Terris, Wayne Sleep, Robert Lang) Rollicking good caper film (the fewer details, the better) based on Crichton's novel about the first train robbery in 1855, which is based on fact. Sutherland, Connery, and Down plan to rip off a fortune in gold from a moving train. Lushly photographed, well acted, suspenseful, and amusing. The cast is obviously having a grand time and so is the audience. No significance, just fun. (2-11-97) Beginning

Greedy (1994) (comedy, **) (D.-Jonathan Lynn; Michael J. Fox, Kirk Douglas, Nancy Travis, Olivia d'Abo, Phile Hartman, Ed Begley, Jr. Jere Burns, Colleen Camp) I like Douglas and Fox who can both be charmingly quirky. Unfortunately, Greedy doesn't give them enough room to show their talents except for a few glimmers that demonstrate what could have been with a good script. Kirk Douglas is an aging millionaire whose relatives grovel at his feet while stabbing each other in the back in the hope of being the honored one in the will when the old man croaks. Sharing is not in their vocabulary, and some of the film's funniest scenes come as they impale each other in the old man's presence in order to gain the upper hand. "It is not enough that I should succeed, others must fail." Douglas is a ruthless "bastard" and delights in playing the cousins off against each other. About the only semi-normal people in these dysfunctional families are the children who say what they think regardless of the will. Everything comes to a head when a nubile young "nurse" (the ex-pizza delivery girl d'Abo) moves in. The cousins see their years of suffering slipping through their grasp and hunt down a long lost cousin (Fox) to try to get him to set things straight. d'Abo has the looks, the voice, and the walk to more than justify the cousin's fears. While having a few good laughs up to this point, the movie then pretty much falls apart as Douglas goes about seducing Fox with the money. After that the movie gets pretty black and depressing, and the ending isn't enough to make up for what I put up with to get there. In fact, the more I think about the ending, the more discouraging I find it.

The swimming pool scene between Douglas and Fox is entertaining and genuinely believable. A classic example of young male testosterone (especially in the presence of two nubile young women) and the adage "Old age and treachery will overcome youth and ambition". Douglas was 78 when the film was shot and in superb physical condition. In real life, Douglas kept telling Fox he could hardly wait for their fight. Fox looking at the glint in Douglas' eyes and seeing what he was up against tried to get the director to delay or alter the scene since "Douglas is going to maul me". (12-12-94) Beginning

Grey Fox, The (1982) (***, biography, western) (D.-Phillip Borsos, Richard Farnsworth, Jackie Burroughs, Wayne Robson, Ken Pogue, Timothy Webber) Ultra-low key and apparently reasonably accurate account of gentleman robber Bill Miner. Miner made a career of robbing stagecoaches for which he ultimately served a 33 year stint in San Quentin. On being released, he did not find working for a living as a clam digger very exciting, but the stages were long since gone. Then comes one of those defining moments. He sees the silent film, The Great Train Robbery (See The Movie Begins, Volume 1).He does everything but lick his lips (actually, on thinking back on it, maybe he did). Who cares whether the bad guys are killed, once again he has a Mission. His subsequent life includes a boozing, aptly named side kick Shorty, and a love affair with a suffragette (Burroughs). Farnsworth is absolutely charming, the supporting characters are entertaining, and the cinematography stunningly beautiful. Ultimately, nothing much happens. But Fox is much more about atmosphere and Miner's character than about plot, both of which it manages well. (1-3-95) Beginning

Grim Prairie Tales (1990) (**, horror, western) (D.- Wayne Coe; James Earl Jones, Brad Dourif, Will Hare, Marc McClure) Dourif is traveling west, is settled in for the night in front of his warm camp fire on a bitter night, and into the light wanders Jones, a scroungy bounty hunter complete with his catch of the day tossed over a horse. The two men begin a night of one-ups-manship trying to out scare each other with horror stories. The four stories, which are the bulk of the film range from the supernatural to the psychological. I don't think any of them really worked. What did work was the interplay between Dourif and Jones. The tension is absolutely palpable between the articulate, soft spoken but clearly efficiently brutal Jones and the apparently mild mannered middle class Dourif, whose mental make up is as nasty as Jones'. It is never clear exactly where their relationship is going, and ultimately it doesn't matter. It is the trip that counts. If any of the stories had been this good, Grim would have been a nifty little film. My recommendation is to check it out using the fast forward to get through the stories. (9-4-95) Beginning

Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) (***1/2, crime, black humor) (D.-George Armitage; John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Alan Arkin, Dan Aykroyd, Joan Cusack, Jeremy Piven) John Woo meets Quentin Tarantino. Cusack is Martin Blank, a very good hit man with an identity crisis--the thrill is gone. A bungled hit puts him into his employers for another job. His very able secretary Marcella (delightfully played by Cusack's sister Joan) thinks his upcoming 10 year class reunion at Grosse Pointe would be perfect R and R. His psychiatrist, hyper nervous Dr. Oatman (Arkin), who took on Blank before he realized his occupation, would like nothing better than to have Cusack away--far away--thinks it an excellent idea. Grocer (Aykroyd) is setting up a hitman union (the reason is believable) and wants Blank or else. Blank is drawn to Grosse Pointe by his ex-flame Debbie (Driver). All of these factors lead to the second half of the film with the interplay between the principals and an assortment of off the wall reunion types.

The cast is outstanding. The chemistry and interactions between Cusack and Driver is believable and delightful. The interplay between Aykroyd and Cusack is like a demented super ball in a handball court. Arkin's small part is a gem. Joan Cusack is perfect as the take charge office manager who knows what's best for her boss and can handle anything up to and including the end. Incidentally, the Woo reference is to Woo's "5 million rounds fired for 5 dead bodies" style used at the end. I plan to see Blank again to catch the lines and nuances that I missed the first time. Written by Tom Jankiewicz, D. V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink, and John Cusack. (5-12-97) Beginning

Groundhog Day (1993) (**1/2, humor) (D.-Harrold Ramis, Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell) I will take flak on my rating. Day generates wide ranging views, and I fall closer to the low side than most. An iconoclastic, egocentric weather man, Phil Connors (Murray), finds himself trapped by a freak snow storm and a time warp in Punxsutawneye replaying Groundhog Day forever. Every morning when the alarm goes off at 6:00 a.m., it is the same day over again. The plot hinges on his initial terror, his exploitation of the situation (imagine what you could do if you could reenact an event as many time as required to get it right), and his reveling in the promise of never being destroyed or punished. Die today, resurrect tomorrow. Go to jail, get out tomorrow morning. He falls in lust with his director (MacDowell) and spends considerable energy trying to seduce her. Ultimately, however, knowledge begets wisdom; there are only so many things that one can repeat for eternity without going stark raving mad, and his choices are quite illuminating. The humor is situational, low key, and charming enough. The major strength is the intriguing concept and Murray's believable transformation. Unfortunately, many of the best punchlines were spoiled by the ads, and the movie isn't riotously funny. A pleasant diversion, but fortunately I didn't pay full fare. In reality, Murray and the groundhog were not on the best terms; it bit him twice--in the same place. Murray felt that this was a bit excessive, even for a groundhog, and never forgave it. (5-03-93) (6-7-93) Beginning

Grumpy Old Men (1993) (***, comedy) (D.-Donald Petrie, Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, Ann-Margaret, Daryl Hannah) First let me begin by saying that I wonder if the humor does not depend on your gender. My wife and daughter thought it was riotous while my son and I thought it was amusing, but not great. My rating is an average of the two. Of course, the talented Matthau and Lemmon are in fine form as two small northern midwestern town next door neighbors with a long, long standing feud (over a woman who is long dead). Their idea of R and R is to play tricks on each on other, many quite nasty. This stable and actually more or less satisfactory arrangement is ripped asunder when a nubile and somewhat eccentric neighbor (Ann-Margret) arrives. Both men discover that there is more to life than ice fishing and feuding over a long dead woman. Now there is a real flesh and blood woman to feud over. The humor revolves around the two men rediscovering life and battling over Ann-Margret. She is vivacious, life loving, and just off center enough to shake both men off the table. Lemmon and Matthau are at top form in their low key droll style of humor. The interplay between these two catalyzed by the comely Margret is believable and enjoyable. Lemmon's father is a delightfully randy old guy whose restraints have long since been eroded by realizations of his own fragile morality and an "I don't have to worry about what anybody else thinks of me" view of life. Incidentally, the fight on the frozen lake was apparently not working out until Lemmon and Matthau just ad libbed it. The fish wasn't even part of the original script. I suspect that people from small towns, especially from the frozen North, will find the cross-section of this lifestyle especially entertaining. Under no circumstance leave until after the final outtakes at the end unless you have already been offended by the old father's mouth. (2-8-94) Beginning

Guilty Hands (1931) (***, crime) (6-24-02) (D.-W.S. Van Dyke; Lionel Barrymore, Kay Francis, Madge Evans, William Bakewell, C. Aubrey Smith, Polly Moran, Alan Mowbray) Old, but still entertaining crime thriller. Ex D.A. Barrymore opens film with claim that there can be a good reason for killing someone and that a smart person could get away with it. He is then presented with a situation where he must try to practice what he preaches. Clever plotting and twists, good acting especially by Barrymore, and nice cinematography make for an interesting period piece. The sound does leave something to be desired, but given the fact that microphones at that time had to be literally on top of their subjects (actors talking into a bouquet of flowers in the middle of their table are a common feature of early sound films), the sound is actually quite good. Beginning

Gun Crazy aka Deadly Is The Female (1949) (***1/2, crime, drama) (D.- Joseph H. Lewis; Peggy Cummins, John Dall, Berry Kroeger, Morris Carnovsky, Anabel Shaw, Harry Lewis) At Sneak Reviews. Early variation on Bonnie and Clyde theme. Top drawer film noir. Stylish and with beautiful orchestrated set pieces. Cummins is femme fatale with a love of the good life without such nasty middle class accoutrements as work. She also lusts after Dall and seduces him to a life of crime. His fall with ever so little resistance is completely believable.

The build up to the bank robbery, the robbery and the get away (about 6 minutes) were shot as one continuous sequence from inside the car. They cleared out the back of a long car for the camera man and mounts, put mikes all over the car, and strapped two mike men with booms on the car. Many of the bystanders were shocked by the "bank robbery" since they did not realize it was a filming. The sequence, which was scheduled for days of takes, was shot in three hours.

You will probably be impressed by what a thriving metropolis Albuquerque, NM was in 1949. And, oh, those beautiful palm tree lined streets! Forget it. Albuquerque wasn't that big, and it is too high and too far north for palm trees. Clearly Southern California.

The success of such a film depends on the interplay between the principals. Dall and Cummins are eminently believable. Their first encounter is like a pair of "wild animals" sizing up and admiring each other as the circus owner later states. [Footnote: There is a good reason for this. The director told Cummins and Dall that he wanted them to approach each other like a couple of dogs in heat, and then just turned them loose on the scene. It works. PBS Documentary on Film Noir.] (10-23-95) Beginning

Guns of Navarone, The (1961) (***1/2, action, war) (8-14-00) (D.-Lee Thompson; Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, Stanley Baker, Anthony Quayle, James Darren, Irene Papas, Gia Scala, James Robertson Justice, Richard Harris, Albert Lieven, Bryan Forbes, Walter Gotell) Alistair MacLean’s novels rarely made the successful transition to the big screen. Navarone is the exception. First rate production, acting, and Oscar winning special effects make for a delightful evening. During WWII, a British garrison on a Greek island is about to be annihilated by a German assault. Only a timely extrication by the British fleet will save them. However, guarding the approach are two deadly radar controlled cannon in the impenetrable protected cliffs of Navarone. Only a stealth commando style assault has any chance of success. The team led by Peck attempts a harrowing night landing and is then supposed to link up with the Greek underground for the final destruction. Those familiar with a MacLean novel will know the plot will be filled with cliff hangers, crosses, double crosses, and evil incarnate. The film does not disappoint.

The team is a mixed bag of ethical, unethical and pragmatic people. No one said war was fought by the rules of the Marquis of Queensbury. Many behave as they do for believably human reasons, and we could easily see ourselves making decisions similar to theirs--but with an ugly scar on our conscience afterwards. As one character says poignantly of another, "He forgot why we were here."

Ultimately everything converges on the guns, which are the focal point of the film. Even today they still dominate the screen, especially coupled with the almost surrealistic dress of the gun crew.

My only regret is that we watched the tape version. The film just came out on DVD and should be stellar. Beginning