Month: November 2021

Any good heist film has to have a good heist and this has the granddaddy heist of them all, a heist that supposedly has inspired real life heists across the globe. An entire half hour is devoted to the theft with the only sound provided is the shuffling of feet or the movement of tools, every sound that is being made by or around the thieves but not a word is spoken. The story itself is about a past his prime criminal, played by Jean Servais, who has been worn down by a recent stint in prison. A friend lures him into joining two others in the robbery of an upscale Parisian jeweler for the theft of a lifetime. Unfortunately Jean’s former girlfriend has become involved with a local gangster and nightclub owner who is more than happy to get in the group’s way. It’s a rough and ruthless film with rough and ruthless men filmed meticulously and deliberately by Jules Dassin. 

I’m making a very bad habit of watching these romantic comedy stinkers. Sally Field and Michael Caine have absolutely no romantic chemistry in this film about a writer who is fed up with women he thinks are using him for his money so he creates a ruse when he meets up with a new woman who catches his interest. Caine’s character is actually terribly unappealing as a romantic lead and it’s puzzling how he would have gotten with the likes of Field and Iman. The meet-cute between Sally and Mike happens when they are made to undress and be tied up together at a charity event that gets hijacked. The rest of the movie is just as preposterous as that. It completely squanders the talents of its supporting cast, which includes the likes of Julie Kavner, Steve Guttenberg at his 1980s finest, Peter Boyle, and Jackie Cooper. It’s like no one even bothered watching the movie as it was being filmed to see if it had any potential at all. 

This is a great little noir where detective Cornel Wilde has fallen in love with Jean Wallace, the girlfriend of the gangster he is trying to bring down. The gangster, Richard Conte, has quickly moved up the ranks of his organization through clever and merciless means. The plot revolves around the various activities that got Conte to the top of the heap and has kept him there. It’s a bit like Scarface told from the side of the police. Wilde is an obsessed man, skirting the lines of what is proper while being menaced by Conte’s ruthless and conniving mob boss. Among the cast of characters, there’s a second in command who used to be on top and wants to get back there, a pair of close-knit goons, an adult entertainer girlfriend, and a missing wife. The black and white cinematography is played to perfect effect here with shadows used throughout to create tension, add emphasis, and just fill the film with atmosphere. 

I’m a sucker for 1950s sci-fi horror films, but this is an all-time classic that elevates the genre. Kevin McCarthy is a doctor in a small town in California who is beginning to see many patients exhibiting Capgras syndrome. Unfortunately for the good doctor, this turns out not to be a mass hysteria delusion as much as he wishes it were. For the most part, these pod people look the same as their original counterparts. The horror lies in not knowing who you can trust or where to run when the danger comes from your neighbors and friends. I’ve already watched the 1978 version and I honestly can’t say which one I like better. Their stories don’t really differ very much yet they’re both enthralling bits of story telling.   

At the beginning of this film, this seems like it’s supposed to be a crime drama. Jack Nicholson is a police chief on the eve of his retirement who tags along to investigate a young girl’s murder. After a suspect commits suicide, the rest of the department washes their hands of the case, but Jack has promised the young girl’s parents that he would find her killer and isn’t satisfied. Thus Jack becomes a man on a single minded mission, not caring who or what could get in his way. It’s a study of one man’s obsession, spiraling down a labyrinth of possibilities and unable to move on to the next chapter of his life. It’s also got some great one scene cameos with the likes of Helen Mirren, Mickey Rourke, Lois Smith, Harry Dean Stanton, and Vanessa Redgrave.

I’ve wanted to see this for a rather long time. It’s got the great cast of Annabeth Gish, Bridget Fonda, Phoebe Cates, and Page Hannah as four young women on a road trip to Myrtle Beach, a last girls’ vacation before one of them gets married. It does have the unfortunate usage of Confederate imagery popping up on random occasions and the confounding casting of Gish as fat and undesirable, but for the most part, it’s a fun beach flick of four gals coming to terms with the challenges of figuring themselves out and growing apart as they move on to adulthood. It doesn’t always feel like the film is set in the 1960s, but it does at least have a soundtrack to support the conceit.

Ooh-wee, was this a bad movie. A take on the Cinderella fairy tale, Jennifer Grey is a shoe designer whose big dream is to create shoes for fashion designer Rob Lowe. But she wears glasses and has wavy hair and has a comfortable-looking wardrobe, so of course no one looks at her twice. Only after she meets her fairy godmother who magics a pair of high heels to make Jen’s hair gets slicked back and her eyes become bright blue that everyone falls in love with her. I have no idea what Rob’s character traits are supposed to be. He’s flamboyant, has an Italian sounding name, sometimes has an accent, and is generally just a jerk. There isn’t really any chemistry between the two characters, whether she’s the model Prudence or everyday girl Kelly.  

William H. Macy is a hitman in the family business run by his parents Donald Sutherland and Barbara Bain. He’s suffering from a midlife crisis that affects both his job and his relationship with his wife Tracey Ullman. He meets Neve Campbell in his shrink’s (played by John Ritter) waiting room. It’s yet another take on the middle aged man lusting after a much younger woman trope, though with a decidedly non comedic and more modern take. I definitely watched this for the cast, but the result is quite slow and somewhat maddening in parts. I appreciated the parts that showed the dark spots in the family that illustrated a bit how a family of assassins comes to be. I particularly enjoyed Ullman and Ritter’s performances. Since they’re both known as comedic actors, I was impressed at how subdued and deliberate they come across in a drama.

This movie should have been much funnier than it was. Dan Aykroyd is a mental patient who escapes from a Chicago hospital to fill in for a Los Angeles radio psychiatrist, Charles Grodin, who needs a mental health break. The only funny bits are the few scenes where he’s actually taking calls at the radio station. Mary Gross is also cute as the neglected wife of Charles Grodin. The rest of the film is a nothingburger that just goes through the motions of being a movie. I really have no idea why they even put Walter Matthau in this film. As another mental patient out in the world, he adds some conflict to the plot but it’s a complete misuse of his great talents and mostly just strange.