Month: November 2021

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Return of the Seven (1966)

The first sequel to The Magnificent Seven, this wasn’t as bad as I had expected. It’s mostly a rehash of the original story. Set in the same town the Seven saved in the original, a new enemy has appeared to kidnap all the male villagers to build a church and sanctuary to his dead sons. Yul Brynner is called on by the wife of Chico, one of the original Seven and also one of the kidnapped, to find the men. Unfortunately Brynner is the only one to return from the original cast and the few replacement cast members do not live up to the quality of those original members. Even the score is a re-recording of the classic original.   Western

Oscar Nomination: Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment

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Richard III (1955)

I’m glad I had watched the 1995 film version of the play fairly recently because it was less of a struggle to get through this one being familiarized with the narrative. I’m also really glad that Olivier’s Hamlet was black and white, because the colors in this are really distracting. I expect beautifully detailed castle interiors and instead get bare, cheap-looking sound stages. The costumes are garishly colored and the wigs are ridiculous. Both might be more faithful to a stage production, but film can do better. I much preferred the scenes filmed naturally in the outdoors toward the end. Olivier’s Richard is pretty good. It’s hard not to when he’s a master Shakespearean, but still found Ian McKellen’s superior for gross Machiavellian sliminess.

Oscar Nomination: Best Actor in a Leading Role

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Innerspace (1987)

The concept behind this is rather clever. Dennis Quaid is a disgraced Navy pilot who signs up for an experimental miniaturization project. Due to some mishaps, he and his pod are injected into Martin Short. Unfortunately there is way too much plot devoted to rival organizations trying to steal the miniaturizing technology. Those bits and the chase scenes that ensue are really drawn out and slow. Otherwise, the interactions between Quaid and Short are fun and even manage to wrangle in some of Short’s generally annoying antics. I’m somewhat meh with Meg Ryan’s role as the girlfriend, but the effects are quite good even more than thirty years later.  SciFi

Oscar Win: Best Effects, Visual Effects

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Kon-Tiki (2012)

I checked this out thinking it was the 1950 Oscar winning documentary. Little did I know that there was a more recent Oscar nominated feature film with the same title on the same subject. Thor Heyerdahl grabbed four other guys, built a raft, and decided to travel across the Pacific Ocean to prove that Norwegians populated Polynesia after getting kicked out of Peru. That whole concept feels a bit too yay white colonialism to me, particularly since the theory of a westerly migration is completely false and Thor had no idea what he was doing, not even knowing how to swim. Getting passed all that, it is really beautifully filmed with smooth CGI’ed animals and quite a bit of fraternal bonding. The stakes don’t feel particularly high, especially knowing that the documentary exists, but I’m still looking forward to seeing that film to compare the real life footage to this dramatization.

Oscar Nomination: Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

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Retaliation (2017)

Orlando Bloom suffered the worst of atrocities as a twelve year boy; now as an adult, he is a demolition worker who is forced to come to terms with those horrors as the priest who inflicted them returns to his community. I haven’t seen Bloom in much beyond the Pirates and Lord of the Rings films, but he’s fantastic in this. He’s able to be vulnerable and strong and broken all while there is a rage just boiling at the surface. It’s an incredible performance. The poster and title, though it is also titled Romans in reference to the New Testament book, would make one believe that it’s a film about violent vengeance. Instead it’s a slow burn for Bloom to come to any sort of resolution and the ending felt very false in many ways.

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New Boy (2007)

This movie is so trite and awful I don’t really want to comment on it. A young African transfer student is bullied on his first day of school and experiences flashbacks regarding a harrowing experience he had back home. In the end, he bonds with his bullies because they are all subjected to the idiocy of their incompetent teacher. Oscar bait for short films seems to concentrate too hard on horrible takes on social issues. At least there are occasional good ones to make it worthwhile.

Oscar Nomination: Best Short Film, Live Action

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Canadian Bacon (1995) – Rewatch

Watching this for a second time, it made me wish that Michael Moore had done more feature films instead of his more questionable ‘documentaries’. John Candy, looking cute with longer hair, is a Niagara Falls sheriff, who along with his friends and former weapons plant co-workers, gets caught up in a false flag war with Canada. It’s got a great cast with, among others, Rhea Perlman as his girlfriend, Alan Alda as the President, and Kevin Pollak and Rip Torn as Presidential advisers. There are also comedic cameos from the likes of Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi. I still haven’t figured out if we ever see Wallace Shawn as the Canadian Prime Minister. The whole thing is funny and silly and lampoons both United States and Canadian cultures. There’s also a bit too much perhaps that feels true, with regards to international politics, though I’d love to see Rhea Perlman do more action roles.

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The Woman in Red (1984)

This is very much like a Blake Edwards film where the main character is a middle-aged married man who becomes obsessed with a younger, beautiful woman, caring less what that does to anyone else in his orbit. Fortunately this was directed by and stars Gene Wilder, so it’s a bit more light hearted and charming than one of Edwards’s films. It is also helped by an unforgettable Stevie Wonder soundtrack. Most of the women in the film are unfortunately one-dimensional objects. His wife could be a completely anonymous woman with as much characterization as she’s given and is humiliated with a completely random fondling by her daughter’s boyfriend. Like in the film 10, the object of obsession, played by Kelly Le Brock, becomes less appealing to the man when she is shown to be a real woman with her own sexual feelings and inclinations. The only woman who has much identity is Gilda Radner as a co-worker whom enacts revenge on Wilder after a series of misunderstandings. She’s adorable in the role, both in looks and acting. Wilder is joined by a trio of friends on his misadventures. There is one small bit where one friend played by Charles Grodin is revealed to be gay. It’s quickly waved away, but there is a short tender scene that seems somewhat forward thinking for the early 1980s.

Oscar Win: Best Music, Original Song

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Summer with Monika (1953)

Young adults Monika and Harry meet, fall in love, and run away on his father’s boat together for the summer. When summer is over, reality takes over in predictable and unfortunate ways for the two. Perhaps I’m too old for this type of movie, but I couldn’t get swept away the young love or even in the beautiful Swedish cinematography because I was just waiting for that foot to drop. While Harry is somewhat sympathetic, Monika both before and after their idyllic summer romance comes across as an entitled brat. Reading about Bergman’s relationship with his young actress and Woody Allen’s love for the film unfortunately adds an icky shade across the whole thing as well.

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The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)

A little hyperbolic to say, but this movie should be shown in all schools these days. While questionable in the actual portrayal of Louis Pasteur and the events of his life, it does illustrate the importance of science, being open to having preconceived notions challenged, and vaccinations. It’s hard to get passed the idea that washing hands and boiling instruments would be a questionable to the field of medicine. I’m glad I watched this so soon after Scarface because the comparison really shows Paul Muni’s skills as an actor.  Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Wins: Best Actor in a Leading Role; Best Writing, Original Story; Best Writing, Screenplay

Oscar Nomination: Best Picture

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