Month: November 2021

While I didn’t necessarily need to see another version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this one does have some clever takes on the story. Paul Massie’s Jekyll is a submissive, repressed homebody whose wife is cheating on him. His Mr. Hyde persona is clever and conniving, allowing him to live solely for hedonistic pleasures, including trying to steal back his wife from his best friend. The sets and costumes are attractive period pieces and the makeup setting the two personalities apart is effective. 

In the beginning, this is just another incapacitated woman being terrorized film. As a member of that genre, it’s an acceptable entry. Susan Strasberg is a wheelchair-bound woman who is summoned to her father’s home only to be told he’s gone despite there being sightings of him on the estate. It’s a spooky setting where there are questionable motives and potential villains amongst the home’s denizens. But, the third act then turns everything on its head and it becomes an unexpectedly different but complementary tale. I personally was taken by surprise and that doesn’t happen often for me with films. 

My Rocky extended marathon called for continuing through to the Creed sequel/companion series. Apollo Creed’s born-out-of-wedlock son Adonis turns to Rocky to become a world champion boxer. This feels a lot like a rehash of the original Rocky, though with less 70’s gritty realism and more bigger budget 2010s shininess. Michael B. Jordan is appealing as the lead and plenty capable of taking on the boxing reins. I like the chemistry between him and Tessa Thompson as his love interest though her character touches a bit too much on being a manic pixie dream girl. The interactions between Jordan and Stallone are also probably the best father-son iteration of the entire series.  

After coming into an inheritance, small town boy Eric Linden dreams of living it big in New York City. Unfortunately his free-wheeling cousin is more than happy to relieve him from the burdens of having so much cash. At a party thrown on his first night in the big city, someone winds up dead and he and his new love interest, Joan Blondell, find themselves on the lam. Luckily it’s a Pre-Code film and things aren’t always as dire as they seem. Joan is spunky and street-smart, passing on her wisdom and love of the city to the naïve Linden. It’s a quick paced little dramedy, that even includes Humphrey Bogart in a small role, where you can’t help but root for the cute kid while also cringing with every dollar he hands over to Cousin Gibby.

Technically Buster Keaton’s foray into talkies, this film is less a movie that stars Buster Keaton and more an MGM showcase that features him. Anita Page has just won a Kansas beauty pageant, so she, her mother, and Keaton as her agent are soon on a train to capture Hollywood. The fact that I can so easily describe the plot shows what a generic 1930s film this is and how out of their element the studio was in having Buster in their film. There are few physical gags, a whole lot of time is spent on a love story between Page and Robert Montgomery, there are musical numbers with no humor in them whatsoever and the end is just sad with little hope for a happy future for Buster’s character.

This is a monster flick wrapped up in a murder mystery. After the death of a woman and her artist-boyfriend is ruled a murder-suicide, his father believes the truth is being suppressed and works to clear his son’s name. Their village has experienced seven mysterious murders in the last five years and someone, or something, is responsible. I truly dig the special effects the Gorgon brings to the film: the lovely undulating snakes in her hair, the creepy makeup, her gorgeously lit green dress, and of course the hardening of her victims as they turn to stone. There’s a bit of borrowing from other monster flicks to create the mythology of the modern Gorgon, but it’s extra satisfying that she’s a woman grappling with the changes in Edwardian society.  

Denzel Washington is an ATF agent sent to investigate an explosion that sunk a New Orleans ferry. Because of his skills at astute observation, he’s recruited to join a top secret unit that is able to see into the past in order to solve crimes. Added to the puzzle is a woman (played by Paula Patton) whose body was discovered in the river moments before the explosion. It’s a time-twisting action-thriller, solidly acted by Denzel, where he is trying to stop a criminal by observing the past. There are plot holes to be sure and the science is often hand-waved aside when it becomes too problematic. Tony Scott directs it similarly to The Taking of Pelham 123 with lots of super fast action and shiny, pretty lights, though to its benefit, it’s less frenetic than that later film. 

I have a lifelong crush on Rock Hudson and it just continues here. He’s an American millionaire whose Italian girlfriend, Gina Lollobrigida, has decided she is sick of waiting for him and prepares to marry someone else, so Rock changes his plans and visits Italy in July instead of the usual September. Unbeknownst to him, the majordomo who looks after his Italian estate (played wonderfully by Walter Slezak) turns the villa into a hotel whenever Rock is away. It’s a hilarious romp where the older couple is forced to contend with the presence of a gaggle of teenage girls and the college-aged boys they attract. There’s also tons of beautiful Italian scenery to view while also watching Rock outmaneuver the boys while dealing with his own hypocritical views when dealing with the female of the species.