Month: March 2022

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Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982)

In 1975 inside a five and dime store in a small Texas town, the members of a James Dean fan club are reuniting on the twentieth anniversary of his death. Through a series of flashbacks, especially from that summer Dean filmed Giant in a nearby town, the secrets and personalities of the group are revealed. Based on a play, the film is very stagey with all of the action taking place solely in the store. There’s no attempt to age the characters and they even wear the same costumes throughout the film, which requires a bit of adjusting to at first. I had been wanting to watch more of Cher’s earlier films and she, as well as the other actresses, carry the film rather impressively. My only complaint were a couple of scenes that required real anger to be portrayed by Sandy Dennis and Kathy Bates that came across as histrionic. My favorite of the group was surprisingly Karen Black. She carries off her role with regality and knowledge that she can move on from the relationship cycles the other women will remain caught up in.

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Caesar and Cleopatra (1945)

The acting in this telling of the relationship between Julius Caesar and Cleopatra is weird but interesting. Vivien Leigh’s Cleopatra is of course gorgeous, but she portrays the queen as a weak, petulant child. In response, Claude Rains’s Caesar is a smirking father figure, manipulating the impulsive Cleopatra to his own gains. The film is pretty to look at, but it also boring. The action is dull with the most interesting parts spoken instead of shown.

Oscar Nomination: Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color

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Moolaadé (2004)

In a remote west African village where battery operated radios and the occasional outside visitor are the only connections to the world beyond, one woman causes upheaval when she offers protection to four young girls who escape a genital mutilation ceremony against the wishes of the village elders. For such a dark, intense subject, the film does not get bogged down by bleakness. The village and its denizens are colorfully portrayed and fully realized with interactions and relationships that intertwine. But in the end, it doesn’t shy from presenting a thorough indictment of the practice and the necessity for change no matter the risk to the society built around it.

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She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

On the verge of retirement, captain John Wayne is ordered to have his men escort two women, Mildred Natwick and Joanna Dru, to a stagecoach travelling back East while also being on the lookout for Cheyenne and Arapaho, riled after Custer’s defeat. This is very standard Western fare that took me quite a long time to get through. The various young men, two vying for the affections of Dru, all came across as interchangeable to me. Victor McLaglen does provide some welcome comic relief from the dull proceedings. I also enjoyed the small presence of Natwick, though wish more had been done with her role.  Western

Oscar Win: Best Cinematography, Color

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Almost Christmas (2016)

Recently widowed Danny Glover reunites his four adult children and their families for the five days leading up to Christmas. I’m a sucker for Christmas movies, willing to at least check out almost any of them. Unfortunately this particular one isn’t worth it. Even with a pretty good cast, it’s just another dysfunctional family getting together for the holidays that doesn’t stand out from a very large field of similar films. It reminds me a lot of a lesser Soul Food, but set at Christmas.  Holiday

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Paradise Now (2005)

Two childhood friends living in Nablus are recruited to carry out suicide bombings in Tel Aviv. On the day chosen for the attack, they make it through the military checkpoint, but are forced to flee from guards, separating for the remainder of the day with neither knowing what happened to the other. It’s a delicate, human telling of the two young men’s histories and the conditions in their lives that lead them to this point without necessarily glorifying the choices they have made.

Oscar Nomination: Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

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The Tender Trap (1955)

Womanizing theatrical agent Frank Sinatra’s idyllic life is disrupted when he falls for young actress Debbie Reynolds who has her entire life mapped out, starting with getting married by her next birthday. Sinatra’s role here reminds me a lot of his character in Come Blow Your Horn and a lot of the same criticisms hold true, though he’s not quite as old in this film. Reynolds is adorable, but her character is at best exceptionally naïve and there’s little reason for the two of them to get together. Celeste Holm, as one of Sinatra’s many girlfriends, is a highlight as the most sensible and put together character in the entire film.   Musical

Oscar Nomination: Best Music, Original Song

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Wagon Master (1950)

A Mormon wagon train, led by Elder Ward Bond, hires horse trainers Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Jr. to lead them to the San Juan River valley. Along the way they add more members to the caravan: a medicine show troupe and a family of murderous robbers. I liked this one a whole lot better than my previous John Ford watch. His cinematic vistas seem to be more majestic in black and white. There’s also a wonderful casual camaraderie between Ford regulars Carey and Johnson, lending credibility to their characters’ relationship.  Western

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Period of Adjustment (1962)

On Christmas Eve, newlywed couple Jim Hutton and Jane Fonda, without prior warning, arrive at the home of his Korean War buddy Anthony Franciosa, whose wife has just left him. Already unsure of the commitment they’ve made, the newlyweds get a firsthand look at the future they have in store for themselves. I really went into this thinking it was supposed to be a comedy, but it’s nowhere near. The men are universally awful. Hutton deserts Fonda within minutes of arriving at the home. Franciosa readily admits that his wife was homely when they met and he only married her for her money. He also calls his son a sissy and destroys his favorite toy to teach him how to be a man or something.

Oscar Nomination: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White

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Hive (2021)

With her husband still missing after the Kosovo War, Yllka Gashi’s Fahrije is alone left to care for her two children and father-in-law. With few prospects in a disapproving patriarchal society, she concocts the only plan she can think of, to market homemade ajvar, hopefully with the support of the many war widows in her village. Even before she tries to recruit the other women in her scheme, there’s a connectedness between them, helping each other get through their shared predicament. Based on the true story of one Kosovar village, Gashi brings a quiet determination to her headstrong character, resolute in helping her family survive while also still struggling with the questions of her husband’s fate .

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