KISS ME DEADLY (1955) revisited

February 12, 2012

 Greetings again from the darkness. This one showed up near the finish line of the classic Film Noir era, and has some features that make it stand out: unusual female characters, a quasi-parody feel, and a twisty ending unlike others from the genre. Based loosely on the Mickey Spillane pulp novel, the screenplay comes from A.I. Bezzerides, who is best known as the creator of the TV series “The Big Valley”. The biggest impact comes from director Robert Aldrich.

Aldrich (pictured below) is a bit under-appreciated in Hollywood history having also directed Whatever Happened to Baby Jane; Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte; The Dirty Dozen; and The Longest Yard (the good one). Here he turns up the intensity on the Private Investigator story by having Mike Hammer (a terrific Ralph Meeker) be quite a bit more forceful and aggressive than Marlowe, Spade and the other famous movie PI’s.

The film starts quite abruptly with one of the more fascinating beginnings in all of cinema. A panicky woman is running barefoot down a highway at night, wearing nothing but a bathrobe. That woman is Cloris Leachman (her screen debut) and she nearly causes Hammer to wreck his pristine Jaguar. Their relationship doesn’t end well, but it leads to a very unique torture scene that is almost entirely out the viewer’s sight line. Still, we quickly realize Hammer is in some deep trouble and he’s not the kind to let it be.

Two other very interesting female characters are part of the story: Gaby Rodgers plays Lily Carver as a conniving trickster, and Maxine Cooper (pictured below with Meeker) is outstanding as Velda, Hammer’s trusty assistant and maybe more. Ms. Rodgers and Ms. Cooper have other common ground. They soon disappeared from Hollywood films as both married powerful men in the business. Rodgers married the famous songwriter Jerry Lieber, who wrote many Elvis Presley hits. and Cooper married an Oscar nominated writer, Sy Gomberg.

 The cast features many prominent and recognizable actors of the time including Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Wesley Addy, Nick Dennis, Jack Elam, and Jack Lambert. There is also a Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid connection. Strother Martin has a brief scene as does Percy Helton (as the Medical Examiner). In the Butch Cassidy movie, Martin is the colorful Bolivian payroll supervisor who hires the boys, and Helton is “Sweetface” who gives away their hiding place. Another note on Helton: he had one of the longest acting careers in history 1915-1978 (which was 7 years after his death).

If you love films from the 40’s and 50’s, then this is a must see. It certainly has a place in Film Noir lore (say that three times quickly), and also has numerous other points of interest. Keep in mind that it was filmed at the height of the Atomic Bomb era … when scare tactics were the norm.

watch the trailer:

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Posted by David Ferguson

SAFE HOUSE

February 12, 2012

 Greetings again from the darkness. The action-thriller-spy genre can be quite fun when handled properly. The “Bourne” franchise and Salt come immediately to mind. What we have here is a ho-hum game of cat and mouse between CIA Agents elevated somewhat because they are played by Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds. It’s ho-hum because of the simplistic and predictable script from writer David Guggenheim.

To offset this formulaic script, director Daniel Espinosa leans heavily on near non-stop, frenzied action sequences. Luckily he has DP Oliver Wood (first two Bourne movies) to bring intensity and variety to the action. Denzel plays the veteran rogue agent who turns himself in to a U.S. Consulate after a decade off the grid. We learn he is a U.S. traitor of the worst degree. Reynolds plays a rookie agent on asignment to a going-nowhere “safe house” in South Africa. To say the action is lacking on his assignment is a bit of an understatement. That is, until Denzel is transferred to his site.

We learn a few things in this movie. First, “Safe house” is evidently CIA verbiage for “all hell breaks loose” in the form of massive gunfire and violent deception. Second, if you are an agent in charge of escorting one of the world’s most dangerous men, you would prefer your bosses not send the two of you into a crowded soccer stadium to pick up a GPS device. Things are likely to go wrong. Third, it’s not wise to walk in on Denzel when he is in a bathroom stall. Fourth, if you are Ryan Reynolds, your on screen girlfriends can be as beautiful as your real life girlfriends, and no one raises an eyebrow.

The film does remind us that it’s always cool to see Sam Shepard and Ruben Blades. Where have you been hiding Mr. Blades (pictured)? The rest of the strong cast includes Brendon Gleeson and Vera Farmiga as dueling Langley operatives, Liam Cunningham as a (surprise!) bad guy, Robert Patrick and Joel Kinnaman (from “The Killing“) as agents, and Nora Arnezeder as Reynolds’ hottie.

Being a fan of this genre, it is quite disappointing to see such an obvious and basic story … even though it has the right look and feel, and a nice match-up of stars. The overload of car crashes, gunfire, and hand to hand combat doesn’t offset the fact that everyone knows early on how this is going to end, and we suffer through quick teases of intrigue regarding the two leads. So even though Denzel makes an enjoyable good guy turned bad, and Reynolds shows he is way above the idiotic Green Lantern, this one just doesn’t offer much more than your average video game.

SEE THIS MOVIE IF: you have a hole that can only be filled with excessive noise, gun fire, car wrecks, blood and frenetic fight scenes.

SKIP THIS MOVIE IF: you are looking for something new in the spy thriller genre

watch the trailer:

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Posted by David Ferguson

TMI (2-11-12)

February 11, 2012

TMI (Today’s Movie Info)

February: Director’s Month

 INGMAR BERGMAN (1918 – 2007) was the son of a minister and many of his films include religious themes. He worked frequently with a small group of Swedish actors including Max von Sydow and Liv Ullman (with whom he also had a relationship and a child).  Woody Allen is huge admirer of Bergman’s work and admittedly set out to make a “Bergmanesque” film with his Interiors (1978).  Bergman (no relation to actress Ingrid Bergman) received nine Oscar nominations (no wins), but did direct 3 Oscar-winning films for Best Foreign Language Film: The Virgin Spring (1960), Through a Glass Darkly (1961), Fanny and Alexander (1982).  His other classics include: The Seventh Seal (1957, famous for the chess match with Death), Wild Strawberries (1957), Winter Light (1963), Persona (1966), Cries and Whispers (1972). Though Fanny and Alexander (1982) was his final theatrical feature, he continued writing and directing for TV and stage until his death.  His famous quote on movies: “No form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our emotions, deep into the twilight room of the soul.”

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Posted by David Ferguson

TMI (2-10-12)

February 10, 2012

TMI (Today’s Movie Info)

February: Director’s Month

 JOHN HUSTON (1906-1987) put together an unusual career as writer, director and character actor … and excelled at all three.  He was the son of actor Walter Huston and father of actress Angelica Huston and actor Danny Huston (with different mothers).  John was writer/director for an impressive string of Hollywood classics: The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), Key Largo (1948), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The African Queen (1951), The Red Badge of Courage (1951), Moulin Rouge (1952).  After a round of directorial success, John returned to acting and was nominated for an Oscar in Otto Preminger’s classic The Cardinal (1963).  He is also left quite an impression with his acting (as Noah Cross) in Chinatown (1974) and The Wind and the Lion (1975).  In the 1985 he directed his daughter Angelica to an Oscar in Prizzi’s Honor, making him the only one to direct his father (Walter in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre) and daughter to acting Oscars.  John was nominated for 15 Oscars, wining for Best Director and Best Screenplay for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.  His final film The Dead was finished and released in 1987, the year he died.  He lived life to the fullest and is often described as a rebel and non-conformist … Hollywood’s version of Ernest Hemingway.  Along those lines, he once said “I`ve lived a number of lives. I`m inclined to envy the man who leads one life, with one job, and one wife, in one country, under one God. It may not be a very exciting existence, but at least by the time he`s seventy-three he knows how old he is”

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Posted by David Ferguson

RAMPART

February 9, 2012

 Greetings again from the darkness. Dirty cops happen in real life sometimes, and in the movies quite often. It can be an intriguing subject to explore … psychological demons, ego, power-mongering, etc. Typically we see it presented as a cop torn between doing the right thing and feeling like he is owed something. Rarely do we see a cop portrayed as beyond hope … so far gone morally that redemption is no longer even a possibility.

Writer James Ellroy (LA Confidential) and director Oren Moverman (The Messenger) present to us Officer Dave Brown, known to his fellow cops (and even his daughter) as “Date Rape” Dave. The moniker stems from a vice incident where Brown supposedly dished out street justice to a serial date rapist. With no proof of his guilt, Brown remained on the force and his rogue manner has now escalated to the point where he is a constant danger to himself and others. This guy has no moral filter for everyday living.

 Officer Brown is played with searing intensity by a Woody Harrelson you have never before seen. As loathsome a character as you will ever find, you cannot take your eyes off of him. He is hated by EVERYONE! Somehow he has daughters by his two ex-wives (who are sisters) and they all live together in a messed up commune where ‘hate’ is the secret word of the day, every day. Most of the time no one speaks to Dave except to tell him to “get out”. He spends his off hours drinking, smoking, doing drugs and having meaningless sex. Heck, that’s just about how he spends his time while on duty as well.  Dave’s behavior and the theme of the movie seem to be explained in a scene when he tells the IA Detective (Ice Cube) that he is not a racist because a he hates “all people equally“.  

The supporting cast is phenomenal, though most aren’t given but a scene or two. This includes Robin Wright (who nearly matches Dave in the tortured soul department), Sigourney Weaver, Anne Heche, Cynthia Nixon, Ned Beatty, Ben Foster, Ice Cube, and Steve Buscemi. The first hour feels like an Actor’s Retreat as most every scene introduces another familiar face.

 Still, as terrific as Harrelson is, and as deep as the cast is, the film is just too one note and downbeat and hopeless to captivate most viewers. Some of Moverman’s camera work is quite distracting and the sex club scene was pure overkill and unnecessary. Downward spiral is much too neutral a term to describe this character’s path and ultimately, that prevents the film from delivering any type of message. Harrelson had been mentioned as a possible Oscar candidate, but it would not be surprising if the film itself worked to his detriment.

SEE THIS MOVIE IF: you want to see a fantastic performance by Woody Harrelson OR you are just looking for a way to kill that pesky feeling of joy that’s been following you around lately

SKIP THIS MOVIE IF: you need to like at least one character in a movie

watch the trailer:

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Posted by David Ferguson

TMI (2-8-12)

February 8, 2012

TMI (Today’s Movie Info)

February: Director’s Month

 D.W. GRIFFITH (1875-1948) grew up in Kentucky as the son of a Confederate Army Colonel and Civil War hero.  His father’s war stories would greatly influence Griffith’s film career.  Remarkably, Griffith made over 450 short films and 80 feature length films (sometimes at the rate of two per week!). He was celebrated for his visionary and ground-breaking techniques (cross-cutting, split-screen, flashbacks, etc), but was also labeled a racist due to the nature of some of his films.  In 1910, he was credited with making the first film in Hollywood, In Old California.  Many of the biggest silent film stars got their start in a Griffith film: Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, Mack Sennett, Lionel Barrymore. His renowned 1915 historical classic The Birth of a Nation was the first film shown in the White House (President Woodrow Wilson). The film is considered the birth of American cinema, but it also caused race riots throughout the country. In 1920, he became one of the founders of United Artists, along with Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford.  Griffith only made two “talkies”.  After the second, he retired stating “We do not want now and we never shall want the human voice with our films”.  He is credited with the invention of false eyelashes (for use in his film Intolerance: Love’s Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916) … and also credited with the phrase “lights, camera, action”, which is still used today by filmmakers.

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Posted by David Ferguson

TMI (2-7-12)

February 7, 2012

TMI (Today’s Movie Info)

February: Director’s Month

 FEDERICO FELLINI (1920-93) is revered as one of the most influential filmmakers of the twentieth century.  He was married for 50 years to Giulietta Masina (pictured together).  She was his creative muse and was cast in many of his films, most notably La Strada (1954) and Nights of Cabiria (1957).  “Felliniesque” is a film term used to describe baroque, dream-like sequences such as those Fellini produced.  The term paparazzi was derived from the character, Paparazzo, who photographs celebrities in the Fellini classic La Dolce Vita (1960).  He had four films nominated for Oscars as Best Foreign Film: La Strada (1954), Nights of Cabiria (1957), 8 ½ (1963), and Amarcord (1973) … all four won the award.  Additionally, he was nominated for twelve other Oscars (writing, directing).  Speaking (tongue-in-cheek) as a stereotypical Italian lover, he once said “It’s easier to be faithful to a restaurant than it is to a woman.”  Sadly, his wife of 50 years died a mere five months after he passed away.

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Posted by David Ferguson

PINA

February 6, 2012

 Greetings again from the darkness. One can’t help but wonder how differently this Oscar nominated documentary would have turned out had its subject, Pina Bausch, not passed away from cancer just days before filming commenced. Instead of direct insight from the famously creative choreographer, we witness the tributes she earned … dancing from those who brought her work to life.

Director Wim Wenders had planned for years to document Ms. Bausch and her fascinating interpretative dance company. When 3D technology became portable enough to work with, he knew it was time. Unfortunately, Pina was diagnosed with cancer and passed away just a few days later. What we see on screen are re-creations of her work by those dancers who worked so closely with her. The reverence is obvious during the brief statements from the key dancers. Wenders presents these segments, not as talking heads, but instead of live head shots with voice-overs. A very nice touch.

 The earthy elements of water, soil and rock are on full display, as are the street scenes Pina utilized over the years. The dances are brought to life for the first time without Pina’s direction. It’s clear her presence and spirit remain with the dancers. The interpretive dance numbers may not be to everyone’s taste, but the talent of the dancers, and especially the famed choreographer are quite obvious and impressive.

SEE THIS MOVIE IF: you want to witness the lasting impact of a most influential choreographer of interpretative modern dance

SKIP THIS MOVIE IF: you are looking for concrete insight and biographical details on Pina Bausch

watch the trailer:

Leave a Comment » | Documentary | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by David Ferguson

TMI (2-6-12)

February 6, 2012

TMI (Today’s Movie Info)

February: Director’s Month

 CLINT EASTWOOD was almost 30 years old when he got his first big break and was cast in the TV series “Rawhide”.  In 1964, director Sergio Leone picked Eastwood for his “Man with no Name” trilogy of low-budget Italian westerns: A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966). In 1971, Eastwood directed his first film Play Misty for Me, and also starred in Dirty Harry, as a new breed of anti-establishment hero. Clint became a huge international movie star, but never strayed far from his love of directing films. To date, he has directed 33 films and even starred in most of them.  His directorial efforts cross many genres: Westerns, Action, Thrillers, Cop Dramas, Family Dramas, War, Biographies, Comedies, Love Stories, and even Sci-fi.  He also writes music for many of his movies and is quite an accomplished pianist.  After Gran Torino (2008), Eastwood proclaimed himself as retired from acting, but it was recently announced that he will be playing a veteran baseball scout in Trouble with the Curve (2013), directed by his longtime assistant director Robert Lorenz, and co-starring Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake.  Even though his Hollywood career spans 57 years, his Oscar recognition has come relatively recently.  He was nominated for Best Actor and won for Best Director and Best Picture for Unforgiven (1992), nominated for Best Director and Best Picture for Mystic River (2003), nominated for Best Actor and won for Best Director and Best Picture for Million Dollar Baby (2004), and nominated for Best Director and Best Picture for Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

trivia: with Warren Beatty, they are the only two to receive Best Actor and Best Director Oscar nominations for two films. While directing, instead of “cut”, he has been known to say “that’s enough of that s**t”

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Posted by David Ferguson

A SEPARATION (Jodaeiye Nader az Simin, Iran)

February 5, 2012

 Greetings again from the darkness. This one finally made it to Dallas and it’s now clear why it is not only the Oscar favorite for Best Foreign Language Film, but also received a Best Original Screenplay nomination. It’s truly that good … and powerful … and thought provoking. I caught myself changing my mind more than once on some of the issues these characters faced.

The film opens with Nader and Simin (Peyman Moadi and Leila Hatami) in front of a judge to determine if they will be granted a divorce. Simin wants to take their daughter Termeh (Sarina Farhadi, the director’s daughter) to study abroad. Nader doesn’t disagree with the plan, only the timing. He refuses to leave his Dad, who suffers from Alzheimer’s, alone in Iran. In a poignant moment, Nader points out that while his dad may not know him, he still certainly knows his dad. This is the first of a recurring theme throughout … there are numerous ways to look at every issue.

When Simin moves in with her mother, Nader hires Razieh (Sareh Bayat) to be his dad’s caregiver. After a few days, Nader and Razieh have a heated argument and he pushes her out of the apartment. Next thing he knows, she is in the hospital after a miscarriage. She and her husband (Shahab Hosseini) file a claim saying Nader pushed her down the stairs causing the miscarriage. The core of the story is the actions of the key characters during the inquisition process by the judge/inspector. Nothing seems clear cut, and each character’s recall and statements vary from moment to moment.

 A key point is that these are all basically good and moral people. Muslim believers in various stages. None would purposefully sin, yet each is trying to protect something or someone. The script is fascinating in its detail and subtlety. It moves like real life rather than a movie trying to get crammed into a 2 hour window. Written and directed by Asghar Farhadi, the film deserves all accolades and acclaim. Let’s hope it finds an audience in the U.S. We could certainly use more stories and films like this. My reasoning for keeping my comments short here is that I believe this movie is most effective when one can watch this movie with few pre-conceived notions. Let your mind follow its own path.

SEE THIS MOVIE IF: if you want to see one of the best films of 2011 OR you would like an example of superb  and complex screenwriting

SKIP THIS MOVIE: if you prefer movies that don’t require you to engage the decision-making part of your brain (this one keeps you working!)

watch the trailer:

Leave a Comment » | Drama, World Cinema/Foreign | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by David Ferguson

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