Alexander Payne is, in my opinion, the filmmaker whose films best portray quotidian American life and regular "middle America" sorts of people.
Before I Wake (2016) Dir. Mike Flanagan A few years after losing their only son in an accident, a couple become foster parents to a troubled but sweet young boy who has bounced around the foster system and some of whose earlier placements have ended in weird tragedies. Initially the couple bond well with the child and after a short while he starts to manifest strange abilities centered around him seemingly conjuring things from his dreams into the real world. This manifests itself initially in benign apparitions like butterflies but soon evolves into something far more dangerous and scary. I really like Mike Flanagan's work and think he is the most interesting director working in modern day horror. I found this inferior to both "Hush" and "Ouija 2: Origin of Evil" and about on par with "Oculus", but it does share those movie's best traits, which is attention to characterization instead of a more narrow focus on cheap thrills and allowing the audience to get to know the protagonists before they are presented with the Big Bad. Unfortunately the horror aspect of this film feels underwhelming, which is also not helped by the uninspired design for the monster and some cheap-looking special effects. Kate Bosworth, Thomas Jane and little Jacob Tremblay (who shot this film prior to his star-making turn in "Room") are all quite good in their respective roles.
They Live is undergoing a minor resurgence in recognition recently, so I decided to see it again. They Live (1988) Formerly in the middle class, John Nada gets squeezed out of Denver and ends up homeless in LA but remains a believer in hard work and the American Way. The shantytown he lives in gets aid and lectures from the local church, a church Nada finds out is a front for a revolutionary movement. After the church is raided by the cops, Nada goes in and loots a box. He is disappointed when he sees it's only sunglasses. Then he puts a pair on. The movie is about the Reagan era, but it feels even more relevant now because there is more attention paid now to the point one percent who control so much of the world wealth. And the film's "quality" has aged well too - the not very special effects and the endearingly amateur acting just makes it feel workmanlike and earnest. This is a blue collar leftist movie. The scary part isn't the aliens, but the humans willing to work for them, particularly the police (who I've never seen portrayed as menacingly). Because it wears its ideology on its sleeve, there is a danger in over-analyzing something meant to be a little fun thing. It's nature as a movie demands a single point of weakness in the enemy that a single heroic Mr Everyman Noman could attack. More dangerously, the film implies that revealing the enemy to the people will make the people rise up, and I don't think that's the case.
The Broken Land (1962) Dir. John A. Bushelman A stranger rides into a small town which is governed with an iron fist by its Marshall. A newly arrived young woman seems to know said Marshall and when the Marshall finds out about her presence there, he tries to run her out of town. Eventually the Marshall's actions unite the newcomer, the woman, a somewhat simple store clerk and a local rapscallion who has been hauled in and out of jail countless times by the lawman in an effort to oppose his power. A fairly conventional, early 1960s western with a straightforward plot. Otherwise noteworthy for featuring one of Jack Nicholson's earlier film roles as the aforementioned rapscallion.
We watched this largely on account of your recommendation. Overall, pretty satisfying. A couple of small quibbles: It didn't really ring true to me in the end that Claire shared Ray's infatuation. OK, maybe she doesn't set him straight -- I'm not available -- but his interest in her is palpable and she's mostly fairly aloof. The other thing is that ( again ) the establishment is portrayed as the bad guy. This is a pretty standard Hollywood riff. Not saying it doesn't happen, but it's a little pat and thus wearisome..
The Void (2016) Dir. Jeremy Gillespie & Steven Kostanski Towards the end of his shift, a cop finds a disoriented, wounded and bloodied individual on the edge of the road. He takes the wounded man to the nearest hospital, which is a rundown place that is on the verge of being shut down and is only working on a skeleton crew. To complicate matters further, one of the few staff members in attendance is the cops estranged wife. Shortly after his arrival, things turn weird when another nurse suddenly attacks and murders a patient before attacking the cop too and then hooded figures appear all around the hospital who attack anyone among the staff or patients who tries to leave. Two newcomers appear who explain that something supernatural is going on that can be traced back to the hospital. This reminded me a bit of "As Above, So Below", though it's not nearly as good as that horror film was. They rely more or gore and special effects make-up here than on slowly constructing a terrifying, claustrophobic atmosphere. The make-up and prosthetics work is quite good by the standards of low-budget horror, but otherwise this is a fairly forgettable film.
The Stranger Wore a Gun (1953) Dir. André De Toth A Confederate spy who works for a unit of bushwhackers has a crisis of conscious as he witnesses the razing of Lawrence Kansas. After the war, he is still struggling with his association with that crime. After having to flee Louisiana upon being recognized, he ends up in Arizona, where a female friend has set him up for a job working for another former Confederate who wants him to help steal a large money shipment from the local stage and freight company. He starts working for the freighter in the hope of gathering intel, but in the interim, the violent true nature of his employer is revealed and the recollection of the war crimes he witnessed forces him to question his allegiance. Far from terrible, but not even close to being my favorite Randolph Scott western. Shot for 3D, which means that some scenes are a bit weird when watched in 2D. Some of the wagon races are pretty impressively shot. Features both Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine in supporting roles.
Tunes of Glory (1960) Major Jock Sinclair has been commanding his battalion of Scottish Highlanders since they lost their colonel in 1942 North Africa. As someone that rose up through the ranks, he isn't one to be concerned with the details of formality, preferring rowdy drinking bouts with his fellow officers. But now, years after the war ended, the regiment has decided to bring in a new commanding officer, someone who has his own long history with the battalion, and his own ideas on how to run it. An intense psychological study with an astonishing performance by Alec Guinness. It's unusual in the sense that none of the characters are particularly likable or wholly unlikable. Until the ending this seemed like another example of a common story - the overly strict, inflexible and irrational butting heads with the charismatic free spirit. But when it's all over you see that not all the casualties of war are counted among the dead and wounded.
Just one of the guys - 1985 I find myself revisting 80s movies, lately. First, for notsalgia, and second to see the differences in societal norms. I haven't heard "women's lib" in some time. The gender discussion is split in this movie in a couple different threads, femenism, as the premise of the movie, and then the 'gender bender' aspect of it. I find myself appreciating some movies less than I did as a preteen. I still like this one. So if you're ever feeling nostalgic for the good ol' days, I recommend rewatching this.
Les Diaboliques (1955) Dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot The headmaster of a private school for boys is an abusive man who mistreats both his wife and the young teacher he keeps as his mistress. The mistress succeeds in talking the wife into a murder plot over a three day weekend. In spite of the wife having several crises of conscious along the way, they successfully carry out the plot. Only after they have returned to the school, there are strange happenings that suggest that their murder plot might not have been as successful as they thought. I realized that I had seen this Clouzot classic in chunks and portions over the years of watching parts of it as it was broadcast on TV, but I had never watched the entire thing in one sitting. That has now been rectified. It definitely is worthy of its classic status. Famously, the novel this is based on is written by the same duo who also wrote "Vertigo" (as well as the adaptation of "Les Yeux sans Visage"). It's thus not that strange that both stories share similar themes. There is a slightly sinister aspect to Clouzot casting his real-life wife in the role of the abused wife, since there were rumors of him having been abusive himself. I love the almost sweet quaintness of the pancarte at the very end of the movie, encouraging the audience not to spoil the movie for their friends who have yet to see it.
A great film. I'm happy to say it was a selection of mine in the second Big Soccer movie draft back in 2007 -- ten years ago!
The City of the Dead (1960) Dir. John Llewellyn Moxey Against the wishes of both her brother and her boyfriend, a college student goes to a small and isolated town in New England named Whitewood to study its history of witchcraft and burnings at the stake. She arrives in a small town that seems trapped in a 17th century time capsule and is warned away from the place upon her first night there by the local priest. During her stay at the local inn, she discovers that there is more than just legend to the local stories of witches. This is a British production but it was apparently made for the American market. It is set in Massachusets and all of the British cast members use American accents. It's a decent little horror film. The town of Whitewood is obviously entirely set within a stage, but its stripped down design combined with the overuse of the fog machine turn out to be surprisingly effective at creating a creepy atmosphere. The pair of Christopher Lee and Patricia Jessel make for good antagonists. This was released in the U.S. under the name of "Horror Hotel" and was occasionally accused of stealing plot elements from "Psycho", even though the British production was shot earlier than Hitchcock's classic. The plot similarities are striking but also modest enough as to be pure coincidence.
Wiseguy: The Complete First Season, a pretty great TV series for it's time (1987) and place (Network TV).
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) Dir. William Wyler In the aftermath of WWII, three returning soldiers share a plane ride home to their home town of Boone City. Each of them hasn't been home for a while and each of them dreads the initial return to civilian life for his own reasons. Fred is a decorated USAF captain who is returning to the young wife he married just before being shipped off to war and with whom he has only ever shared 20 days of married life. Al, a US Army Sergeant is returning to his wife of 20 years and his two kids who have grown up to be near-adults in his absence, as well as his job at the bank he can no longer relate to. Homer, a Navy sailor who has lost his hands as the ship he was on went down dreads the moment when his fiancee will first see the hooks he now has instead of his hands. This was a great commercial (a box office take of over 20 million dollars back in 1946!) and critical (eight Oscar nominations taking home seven statues) success at the time of its release. It's a bit of a slow-burner but it's enjoyable throughout its runtime of 170 minutes. Probably one of the first films that dealt with the effects of PTSD on returning servicemen. The role of Homer was played by Harold Russell, a non-professional actor who won the Academy Award for best supporting actor for his role in this film. It's a raw performance, one which might not work in most other films, but which fits this movie perfectly.
Gridlocked (2015) Grizzled SWAT team leader David is reduced to regular cop as he recovers from an injury. His new task is to bring spoiled young movie star Brody on a ride along as part of Brody's PR and legal rehabilitation. David brings him to the highly secured SWAT training building as a treat. Then a heavily armed ex-military mercenary group from David's past lay siege to the building. It's interesting at the very beginning because there is some introspective psychoanalyzing of the actor and cop's positions. But this earnestness didn't carry over to the action scene (there being essentially a single hour long one), which made the good guys superhuman killing machines. And that would be fine if it was a fun action movie, but it was very hard and very very bloody. This just didn't come together for me. And while I don't exactly need the good guys and bad guys to wear white and black hats, it would have helped if the protagonist and antagonist weren't nearly twins. I was very confused at a couple of points in the movie.
And, serendipiditously keeping up my New Jersey* theme, as we are between the Sonny Steelgrave arc and the Mell and Susan Profitt arc... Paterson (2016) d. Jim Jarmusch. Not much happens, and the movie is full of small and, at times, beautiful surprises. Paterson is a bus driver who lives in Paterson, N.J. who writes poetry and lives in a small house with a rather flakey and beautiful woman and an English bulldog. He also owns a couple copies of the long poem by William Carlos Williams called Paterson, and several others. I was a bit ticked that, although both multiplexes showed the trailer for this movie, it didn't show up. However, it was a lot more fun being able to cheer the small bits of genius in this movie, and to pause it at times to check out the books on Paterson's shop. What linguistics is in Arrival and mathematics is in Hidden Figures, poetry is in Paterson. Bit disappointed in the absence of the usual DVD extras: commentary would be great here. But it's from the library, so it's not like it cost me much more than a wait. *Wiseguy is actually filmed in Vancouver, which, 30 years ago, looked a lot like parts of Hoboken and Jersey City do today.
Seven Ways form Sundown (1960) Dir. Harry Keller Shortly after arriving at his new posting as a greenhorn Texas Ranger, Seven Jones is sent out on a dangerous mission to capture fugitive lifelong criminal Jim Flood, with only a veteran Sergeant Texas Ranger to help him. At a great cost and due to both luck and skill, he manages to capture the outlaw. On his way back to Texas, he finds out why so many of the communities in which Jim Flood committed his crimes still love and revere him: apart from a homicidal sociopath, Jim Flood is also an incredibly charming individual. A charm so potent that it even threatens to pierce through the young Texas Rangers' initial distrust and dislike of the man. An Audie Murphy western that I enjoyed a lot. Thematically this is very close to "3:10 to Yuma". Barry Sullivan especially is terrific in his role as charming manipulator Jim Flood.
A Man Called Ove Stop me if you've heard this one before: an irascible old man, content to live out his days chasing the young and ill-mannered off his lawn, gets new irrepressible neighbors and is slowly drawn out of his shell. If this sounds like Gran Torino or St Vincent, well, that was my thought as well. This movie is nicely done and is based on the sneaky great book of the same name. But once again, the movie really can't hold a torch to the book. The book features one of the great a-ha moments in modern literature and I knew that a movie was not going to be able to capture the subtley of the book and I wasn't looking for it. Until the movie introduces the relatively minor character who provides the engine to this a-ha moment. When that moment never arrives, I had to wonder why the minor character was even introduced. In the book, Ove writes a letter to said irrepressible neighbor, and the post script is one of the all time great compliments. Reading it, I teared up. And in the movie, the letter is read, probably word for word... except for the post script. This is an omission as great as Peter Jackson leaving out the Scouring of the Shire in LotR. It's huge. And the movie seems a little smaller as a result.
Maybe a lot of it came down seeing it in a theater instead of in my living room, but I preferred Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 to the first..
Here (2011) A San Franciscan is in Armenia working on making Google Maps better. He meets a female photographer returning home. I've enjoyed a few of these movies with gorgeous landscapes and intimate details of outlander life held together with a whisper of a story, but this one never came together for me. The nature of the story was distractingly upsetting and too detailed for this kind of movie. The poetic narration used at a few points was a bad choice. But the landscapes were gorgeous and the details of outlander life were intimate.
Broken Trail (2006) Dir. Walter Hill Near the very end of the 19th century, an older cowboy in Oregon inherits his sister's ranch. Feeling guilty that his sister did not leave anything to her son, the man's nephew, he approaches said nephew with a proposition: he intends to use the ranch as collateral to get a loan so he can buy a large amount of horses to drive to Wyoming, where a representative of the British government is buying the animals in bulk for the Boer war. The proceeds of said drive would then be divided between the two men. After they are on the trail for a while, happenstances makes them the de facto guardians of a group of five Chinese girls who had been sold into sexual slavery. This was a two-episode mini-series made for AMC in 2006. It's not bad. Thematically it is reminiscent of "The Homesman", though not quite as dark and unlike in the aforementioned Tommy Lee Jones film, there is room for conventionally heroic male characters. Robert Duvall is very good in the lead role, a performance that is comparable to the character of Boss Spearman in "Open Range". Thomas Haden Church plays a stoic character by design, but it does mean that Duvall far outshines him with his more charismatic role.
Hidden Figures - 2016 - dir. Theodore Melfi Must see cinematic opus. I wonder how much of the little details of the film were fictionalized for dramatic effect. For example, Octavia Spencer's character moves a connector on the IBM 7090 saying, "That doesn't go there", apparently holding a schematic. It doesn't matter much in the long run.