Month: November 2021

Posted on 2021-11-30 | No Comments |

The Brink’s Job (1978)

Inspired by the true story of the Brink’s Robbery of 1950, Peter Falk is a small-time Boston crook who, after successfully robbing a Brink’s armor car with his gang, sets his sights on bigger prey, the Brink’s headquarters. As a heist film, this mostly doesn’t work for me. There’s not a lot of tension in the actual heist, almost everything goes smoothly and as planned. The tension arises more as the noose tightens around the gang, which includes Peter Boyle, Paul Sorvino, and Warren Oates, as Brink’s tries to save its reputation and the gang squabbles amongst themselves. Visually there is a lot done to evoke post-War Boston, but I wish the pacing of the film had been kept throughout to hold my interest.

Oscar Nomination: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration

Posted on 2021-11-30 | No Comments |

The Pick-Up Artist (1987)

In some other universe, there’s a cute romantic comedy starring Molly Ringwald and Robert Downey Jr. Sadly I don’t live in that universe because they have fairly good chemistry together. Instead we have Downey as a New York City teacher who is also a pickup artist. We only see him do his pickup schtick a few times before he becomes smitten with Ringwald who after a very quick fling together doesn’t want to give him the time of day. She’s too busy trying to deal with the debts of her gambler alcoholic father, Dennis Hopper. Way too much time in the film is spent with them trying to deal with the loan shark mobsters after her father than on the love affair. I don’t know why so many 1980s films need to throw criminal subplots into the mix, but I don’t know if any of them ever improved a film.

Posted on 2021-11-30 | No Comments |

Living with AIDS (1988)

A bonus feature to the An Early Frost DVD, this short documentary chronicles the last months of Todd Coleman, a 21 year old man living with AIDS and those who cared for him in various capacities toward the end of his life. It’s sobering to be reminded how, especially early in the epidemic, the simple gift of loving touch was denied to people who were dying and how necessary such services were. The one quote that stayed with me came from his older lover describing how Todd didn’t quite understand the type of love that would have someone stick around when sex more or less went away because he was too young to have experienced love beyond sex. So many, many young men never did get that experience.

Posted on 2021-11-30 | No Comments |

An Early Frost (1985)

As a 1980s made for television film, this is noted for being one of the first to deal with the topic of AIDS, particularly for a mainstream audience. Aidan Quinn is a closed gay attorney living in Chicago with his partner. After an illness takes a turn for the worse and he discovers that he is HIV positive and that his partner had cheated on him, he travels back to his family home, coming out to them simultaneously regarding his sexual identity and his medical diagnosis. It’s a bit of a sanitized version for what many were experiencing at the time, but they do a fairly good job of providing medical information, particularly through Terry O’Quinn’s doctor character, and pulling away from blaming any one individual. There’s also a great supporting cast in his family members (Ben Gazzara, Gena Rowlands, Sylvia Sidney) who provide a mirror to the complicated feelings loved ones, particularly those accustomed to being bigoted on the subject, can experience and how even allies can turn their backs unexpectedly.

Posted on 2021-11-29 | No Comments |

5 Fingers (1952)

During World War II, James Mason is valet to the British ambassador in neutral Turkey. Mason uses his connections to offer information on Allied activities to the Nazis. Based on the true story of an Albanian-born German secret agent, Mason makes an excellent spy for the Axis; he’s a perfect mix of gentleman and self-interested conniver. There are moments of great tension, particularly as the noose begins to tighten, but there’s not enough of that for the spy film. Somewhat shot on location in Ankara, it unfortunately doesn’t make great use of its unusual location.

Oscar Nominations: Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay

Posted on 2021-11-29 | No Comments |

Please Vote for Me (2007)

Who knew that a grade 3 class monitor election in China would have so many parallels to larger national elections, but here we go. There’s the obnoxious, loud-mouthed candidate who creates strife between the other candidates to court chaos. Another candidate buys votes through special class trips and gifts. The third is over her head and not made for the cutthroat competition of school elections. It’s of course a popularity contest where more focus is centered on the competitors’ faults than actual qualifications of the candidates. The parents are all happy to encourage it along and the teacher who set the whole thing up, including picking the nominees, seems all too amused by the whole thing.

Posted on 2021-11-29 | No Comments |

Cuban Fury (2014)

This film is so predictable, you could close your eyes and still know where it’s going to go. Nick Frost was formerly a teen salsa dancer who hung up his dancing shoes after being bullied. Enter sexy new boss Rashida Jones who just happens to love salsa, so no surprise, Nick is soon searching out Ian McShane, his former dance instructor. Chris O’Dowd adds conflict as an unfunny, obnoxious, misogynistic co-worker who also has his eyes on Jones. You don’t even need a beginners’ dance class to dance along to the plot. I do wish when movies show a Big Competition finale that they wouldn’t push the audience into trying to believe that the actors are at the same skill level as the all decked-out professional competitors. Just make it a group with equal skill, we’ll still cheer along, I swear.

Posted on 2021-11-29 | No Comments |

School for Postmen (1946)/Forza Bastia (1978)/Evening Classes (1967)

I’m not sure why I checked out the disc of Tati shorts over the other two feature films I haven’t seen yet, but I think it might have been because of this short. There are a lot of cute sketches here from the training of the postmen in order to cut 25 minutes off their routes to the delivery of the various letters. It’s interesting to see Tati as a character other than Monsieur Hulot and I’m looking forward to seeing the feature length Jour de Fête.

I also watched two other shorts in the set. Forza Bastia was the only other short directed by Tati. It is entirely just footage of soccer fans before, during, and immediately after a 1978 match that ends in a tie. It had been shelved until 2002 and I’m not sure why anyone felt the need to dig it out. I admit to fastforwarding the footage. The other, Evening Classes, was filmed at the time of Playtime. Directed by one of the assistant directors of that film, this waivers between being a comedic sketch of Tati teaching an acting class and him actually teaching comedic techniques.

Posted on 2021-11-28 | No Comments |

Sometimes a Great Notion (1971)

Paul Newman and his father, Henry Fonda, run a family-owned lumber company in Oregon. When the rest of their town’s loggers go on strike, they make the choice to ignore the union and continue their attempts at fulfilling their contracts, no matter the cost. Things get even more complicated when college-educated, half-brother Michael Sarrazin shows back up at the family compound. There is a lot of conflict that propels the movie, both in and out of the home. The Oregon forests and rivers are filmed in stunning blues and greens and the film is sometimes at its best just showing their men at work, but what will never leave me is the most horrifying death scene I’ve ever seen in a movie. It continues to haunt me when I think about it.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actor in a Supporting Role; Best Music, Original Song

Posted on 2021-11-28 | No Comments |

Orpheus (1950)

This modern retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth was somewhat difficult for me to get into at first. Once I decided to ride with it, it enveloped me and kept me enthralled. Somewhat defying explanation, Orpheus is a French poet, married to the beautiful Eurydice, whose life becomes entwined with the Princess and other travelers from the other side, finding himself falling in love with one of them while another falls for Eurydice. The entire film is surreal and dream-like and rather French, especially in the effects that are utilized as various characters commute between the two worlds.