Month: May 2022

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Mr Hublot (2013)/The Magic Pear Tree (1968)

In a steampunk designed world, Mr Hublot’s orderly existence is disrupted by the sudden appearance of a homeless dog into his life. The animation style is similar to other Oscar nominated ones from this era, computer animation in muted tones. Luckily the turns in the short story and the characters have a real sweetness to them, especially, I imagine, for animal lovers, which make it stand out.  Animals

Similar to the peculiar 1971 animated short winner The Crunch Bird, the entire premise for The Magic Pear Tree is just a set-up for a singular not very funny joke. A handsome guest travels to his friend’s castle and goes through an elaborate ruse in order to get with his friend’s wife. Late 1960s-early 1970s film is already one of my least favorite eras of films and these shorts don’t go far to improve that impression.

Oscar Winner: Best Short Film, Animated (Mr Hublot)

Oscar Nomination: Best Short Subject, Cartoons (The Magic Pear Tree)

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The Last Performance (1929)

Magician Conrad Veidt has been waiting for the 18th birthday of his young assistant Mary Philbin so they can marry. Before that happens, she falls in love with his new apprentice Fred MacKaye, a turn of events Veidt did not prepare himself for. The heartbreak, and the events that follow, remind me of the couple of Lon Chaney films I’ve seen. This film is interesting on its own, but is thoroughly anchored by Veidt’s magnetic performance.  Horror

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Pinky (1949)

Jeanne Crain portrays the title character, a light-skinned Black woman sent to the North by her grandmother to attend nursing school where she managed to pass for white and fell in love with a doctor. Now returned to the South, she must come to terms with her heritage and the decisions she made. It’s very strange that a white actor was cast to play Pinky when there were multiple light-skinned Black actresses clamoring for the role, but even beyond that Pinky as a character feels completely removed from all parts of her background sans a loyalty to her dedicated grandmother Ethel Waters. Waters also remains a one-dimensional character; her kindheartedness, especially as shown to the white woman whose shadow she lives under, being her one overlying trait. Regardless the film does not offer a positive view of the South where a white woman is to be protected but a Black woman is to be attacked and disbelieved.

Oscar nominations: Best Actress in a Leading Role; Best Actress in a Supporting Role (2)

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A Most Violent Year (2014)

During the violent 1980s, Oscar Isaac runs a New York heating oil company that he inherited from his corrupt father-in-law, fighting pressures from multiple fronts: his trucks are being robbed regularly, he’s struggling to complete a time-sensitive deal to buy a new property, and the District Attorney’s office is breathing down his neck on potential charges of price fixing, tax evasion, and other illegalities. Isaac plays a believably tortured hero against a cast that is almost universally less heroic and much more ruthless, including wife Jessica Chastain. It’s weirdly a very competent film, but also mostly forgotten by the time the credits roll.  Crime

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Heat and Dust (1983)

Told through parallel tales, Julie Christie travels to India guided by the letters of her great aunt Greta Scacchi written almost 50 years earlier. I’ve long wished to visit India and this Merchant-Ivory production makes it both more gorgeous and more foreboding to the novice traveler. I far preferred the earlier story though the obvious similarities between the two makes for interesting comparing and contrasting. Aside from what I’ve gleaned from movies, I don’t know a lot about the British Raj and this provides a window into its heyday and its aftereffects.

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Something of Value (1957)

In this simplistic view of Kenya’s Mau Mau uprising, childhood friends Rock Hudson and Sidney Poitier are forced onto opposite sides of the conflict. While I love both of the actors and neither of them are bad here, the film does not make best usage of their talents nor do I think their chemistry comes together in ways to enhance the weak story. I respect that the film tries to present both sides of the rebellion, but it might have been a case of being made too soon as events were still unfolding when the film was made and in modern times especially, it seems to lean a little too heavily onto the side of the colonialists.

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The Green Years (1946)

Sent to live with his Scottish Protestant grandparents after the death of his mother, Irish orphan Dean Stockwell finds solace in the companionship of his kind great-grandfather Charles Coburn who encourages the lad in his dreams of becoming a doctor. I continue to be fascinated with how self-possessed and competent Stockwell was in his young roles. His struggles and relationship with Coburn in the first half of the film is the best part of the production. It unfortunately drags somewhat after the character grows up, but the film holds some interest whenever it comes back to Coburn’s clever Scotsman.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actor in a Supporting Role; Best Cinematography, Black-and-White

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Lonesome (1928)

Lonely telephone operator Barbara Kent meets and falls in love with lonely factory worker Glenn Tryon when they each decide to join the throngs at Coney Island for the Fourth of July holiday. A very sweet romance emerges in the bustling amusement park with the same thrilling crowds threatening to pull them apart. A mostly silent film, the inclusion of three talking scenes does not add any value to the film though I do think the first one where they have their first conversation together could have maybe worked. On the other hand, the few colored scenes enhance the excitement of being in the park at night.   Romance

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Moulin Rouge (1952)

Unexpectedly this isn’t about the famous Parisian cabaret, but instead focuses on the life of one of its more famous early patrons, the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, told mainly through his relationships with women. The result is a fairly standard biopic, with its typical stretches of the truth, that is greatly improved during the few glorious scenes set in the titular club. Jose Ferrer plays the tortured artist, and his father, quite impressively, especially when noting the efforts required to portray someone of a much shorter stature. The transition montages of Toulouse’s art does at least give the viewer exposure to the prolific artist’s work.  Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Win: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color; Best Costume Design, Color; Best Costume Design, Color

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actor in a Leading Role; Best Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Director; Best Film Editing

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Edge of the City (1957)

Newly arrived in New York, army deserter John Cassavetes finds work as a longshoreman where he is befriended by supervisor Sidney Poitier drawing the ire of racist bully Jack Warden. The interracial friendship between Cassavetes and Poitier is a lovely thing to behold as is the relationship between Poitier and wife Ruby Dee. It’s the only movie of Poitier’s I’ve seen where a Bahamian accent pops out on occasion.

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