Justice League The New Frontier

• Title:  Justice League The New Frontier
• Director:  David Bullock
• Voice Director:  Andrea Romano
• Date:  2008
• Studio:  Warner Brothers Animation
• Genre:  Action, Animation, Drama
• Cast:  David Boreanaz, Neil Patrick Harris, Kyle MacLachlan, Lucy Lawless, Phil Morris, Kyra Sedgwick, Brooke Shields, Jeremy Sisto, Miguel Ferrer, Robin Atkin Downes
• Format:  Widescreen, Color Animation
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

"It was Korea -- it changed everything." -- Hal
"Wars have a tendency to do that."  -- Ace


"We've got to know what these Martians want from us.  And since we can't find them here on Earth, we're going to Mars."  -- Col. Flagg
"Outstanding."  -- Hal


"I thought I could make a life for myself here among you humans.  I thought I didn't have a choice.  But there is one now.  There's just too much hatred here, too much ignorance, too much mindless conformity, I'm leaving."  Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz, John Jones)
"Have a nice trip, some of us don't have that luxury."  -- Batman

Set in 1952 - 1954, the Korean War has just ended, and McCarthyism is in full swing.  And Super Heroes are at the top of  McCarthy's "persecute" list.  Superman and Wonder Woman sign loyalty oaths, but after witnessing a brutal attack on the women of  a Korean village towards the end of  the war, Wonder Woman quits and returns to Paradise Island.

Meanwhile, Hal Jordan is on the journey to becoming an hero.  Justice League - The New Frontier briefly gives us Hal Jordan's Silver Age Origin story.  It also gives us Martian Manhunter's origin story and weakness (fire).  But, Wonder Woman leaves, and Barry Allen publicly gives up being the Flash, though he doesn't reveal his secret identity.  Batman's a fugitive, and Superman's a government tool.

Meanwhile, a new villain called the Center rears it's ugly head.  Eventually the Justice League heroes will have to work together to defeat the menace (the living creature once known as Dinosaur Island), and with this defeat -- are able to form the Justice League.  It other words, this is a origin story for the League too.

I really enjoyed this story -- the characterizations were perfect Silver Age DC Heroes:  Superman, Batman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter.  Even Robin briefly appears.  Sufficient time was spent on each hero, telling us precisely who they were and who they care about - as well as their methodology.

That the villain is called, "The Center" (or possibly the Centre), seems weird these days with such polarization pushing the political spectrum to radical thinking, especially on the right.  But I couldn't help but think of  a line by Yeats, "the Center cannot hold".  I Googled it, and here's the first stanza of  the poem:

The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)


Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

Man, was Yeats depressed. Anyway, in New Frontier, the center is a giant bloby thing, a living island, with dinosaurs on it that it consumes for food. During it's attacks on Cape Carnival the dinosaurs become very handy weapons. But it's the heroes of the Justice League, including new hero, Green Lantern, and The Flash, working together that unite to defeat the villain.

Overall, I really liked it. Great cast (though Lucy Lawless has a really bad American accent as Wonder Woman when she fights one of her Amazon sisters on Paradise Island). Superman seems rather taken with Wonder Woman by the way, though he also is close to Lois Lane - who knows who he is.

I bought the two disc special edition, and there are some excellent documentaries on the DVD. The history of the Justice League (aka Justice League America, or simply, JLA) from the Golden Age to the ModernDay was pretty much priceless - I always love learning comics history. The villains history could have been a bit better documented and flushed out. But at least there was some nice documentaries on the discs.

Recommendation: See it! A must for DC fans.
Rating: 4 of 5
Next Film: Same Time, Next Year

Justice League Doom

NOTE:  Review contains SPOILERS Be WARNED!!!

• Title:  Justice League Doom
• Director:  Lauren Montgomery
• Voice Director:  Andrea Romano
• Date:  2012
• Studio:  Warner Brothers Animation
• Genre:  Action, Drama, Animation
• Cast:  Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly, Susan Eisenberg, Nathan Fillion, Carl Lumbey, Michael Rosenbaum, Claudia Black, Paul Blackthorne, Olivia D'abo, Alexis Denisoff, Phil Morris, Robin Atkin Downes
• Format:  Widescreen, Color animation
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

"When we fought before, I broke the bat; today I break the man." -- Bane to Bruce Wayne

"No, you weren't afraid, not really.  You were dosed with a synthesized version of  the Scarecrow's fear gas.  Because will is the source of  your strength."  -- Batman
"And fear is the enemy of  will." -- Green Lantern, Hal Jordan

Justice League Doom brings back most of  the original cast from the original Justice League animated television series, only substituting Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern Hal Jordan, rather than GL Jon Stewart or introducing Guy Gardner.  There is also a stellar cast of  "guest stars" as the Leaguers greatest foes.

Vandal Savage uses Mirror Master to obtain secret files from the Batcave - files that Batman created with plans to bring down any of  the main Justice League members in case they went rogue.  The villains then begin to attack and defeat the League members.  Mirror Master gets Flash to put his hand inside a Schrodinger's cat box to rescue an old woman.  Flash ends up with a bomb in his wrist that will explode if  he stops, de-accelerates, or does nothing when the timer runs out.  Cheetah fist-fights Wonder Woman, but poisons her with her finger nails so everyone she sees looks and sounds like Cheetah.  GL Hal Jordan is sent to a Salt Mine to rescue some hostages from a militia group and the rescue goes wrong - a woman who is a dead ringer for Carol (Hal's former girlfriend) is killed.  Even running into Star Sapphire doesn't help Hal realise he's been set up.  Martain Manhunter is slipped a poison that caused him to sweat Magnesium, which bursts into flame, even under water.  Superman is shot in the chest with a Kryptonite bullet.  Bane takes Bruce's parents out of  their graves.  A groundskeeper (not Alfred) reports this to Bruce, who goes out to investigate in civilian clothes.  He's jumped by Bane, who beats him up, then drops him into his mother's (new) grave, and buries him alive, with her skeleton in her coffin.

Bruce, stranded underground, takes the keys out of  his pocket and starts to pummel the coffin lid.  He's about to give up, when he turns and sees his mother's skeleton staring at him -- and he renews his attack and escapes.  It's a very eerie and spooky image -- but it's also something that is just "so Batman" and "so Bruce" -- he cannot ever give up on the oath he swore to his parents that faithful night when he was only eight years old.

Once he's escaped, Batman contacts the other Justice League members to get them out of  their immediate danger, then they meet to find out what's going on.

Meanwhile, Vandal Savage has gathered the villains together to take out the Justice League, so he can put a secondary plan into motion.  Once the various villains report their success -- they insist on joining Savage in his plans.  Savage's plan is to fire a missile into the sun, causing a massive solar flare which will destroy the sunward side of the Earth as well as send out an EMP that will fry anything electronic.  The Justice League arrives, and each member fights his or her oppisite number villain.  However, despite the assistance of Cyborg, Savage's missile is fired.  Superman and Green Lantern attempt to stop the missile at the sun, but fail, giving the League seven minutes to figure out what to do.  They come up with something -- and Earth is saved.

I really liked the first part of  the story -- that Batman would have contingency plans for taking out everyone in the League (though his plans were non-lethal)  is both scary, and yet fitting with his personality.  I would have liked to see more of  a sense of  the League's sense of  betrayal though -- not only that Batman would do that, but that he'd keep detailed records of  his potential plans.  After  the  Justice League saves Earth, they discuss what to do with Batman, and it's Clark who tells Bruce that he was right, then asks what safety valve exists for Bruce -- Bruce responds, "The Justice League".  In other words, he's created an equal and balanced system.  But, I would have liked more.  More storyline, more background, especially for the villains, even more dialogue between the Leaguers (and between Alfred and Bruce.  Alfred appears and then suddenly disappears, before just as suddenly appearing again.  It was very frustrating).  With six heroes and seven villains, including Savage, plus the opening gambit with the Royal Flush Gang, the film really should have been longer than 76 Minutes, and more flushed out.

I also felt the film fell a little flat at the end.  It sort of  turns into, "Of course the Justice League will win," and really loses momentum.  There's some great stuff  with Superman and Hal in space as they try to stop the missile and fail, but there's still no real sense of danger -- in part because Savage's plan is just too big.  I like the more subtle villains with subtle plans (like Lex Luthor becoming the US president -- which he did in the DC Universe).

Still, it was great to see the re-united Justice League cast together again.  I'd like to see Doom as the pilot for a new Justice League series, but I doubt it will happen.  Still, one can hope.  I will admit it was great to see the Legion of  Doom appear threatening instead of  as a joke, though. If you're a DC fan you'll enjoy this!

Recommendation:  See it, especially if  you're a DC fan.
Rating:  4 out of  5
Next Film:  Same Time, Next Year or Justice League New Frontier

Sabrina

• Title:  Sabrina
• Director:  Billy Wilder
• Date:  1954
• Studio:  Paramount
• Genre:  Romance, Drama
• Cast:  Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, William Holden
• Format:  Standard, Black and White
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

"Oh, I'm not telling you that you have to be a cook as she was, or that I want you to marry a  chauffeur like me, but you know how I feel about it.  Your mother and I had a good life together, we were respected by everyone.  That's as much as anyone can want in this world.  Don't reach for the moon, child."  Fairchild, Sabrina's father


"It's all beginning to make sense -- Mr. Tyson owns the sugar cane, you own the formula for the plastics and I'm supposed to be offered up as a human sacrifice on the alter of industrial progress -- is that it?"  -- David


"So strange to think of you being touched by a woman - I always thought you walked alone."  -- Sabrina
"No man walks alone by choice."  -- Linus

Sabrina, cannot in truth be called a "romantic comedy", because the storyline is, in many ways, quite dark, though the second half  of  the film does turn into a typical romantic triangle.  Hepburn is Sabrina, the daughter of  the chauffeur, living on the very large, Long Island estate belonging to the Larrabee family.  She's quite young, and quite taken with David (Holden), the younger of  the two Larrabee brothers.  David, however, barely knows she exists.  When Sabrina sees David romantically involved with another woman, she gets so upset, she decides to commit suicide.  And even though she's scheduled to go to France for cooking school the next day, she goes to the garage, starts all the cars, closed all the doors and tries to kill herself, after leaving a note for her father.  Sabrina is rescued by Linus (Bogart) the older Larrabee brother, and nothing more is said about what happened.

After the incident, she's sent off  to France, and cooking school.  In France, at first, Sabrina can think of nothing but David, and even her classes don't distract her.  And given that the classes start with "How to boil water" and "how to crack an egg" - you can't really blame her for being bored.  But soon she's taken under the wing of  and old baron who teaches her about style, and grace, and she returns to New York two years later and outwardly changed women - full of  style and sophistication.  But, inwardly, she's still obsessed with David.  Upon learning he's engaged, she still plans to ensnare him.


Sabrina's plans, however, are somewhat derailed by Linus, the older Larrabee (Humphrey Bogart), who's arranged his brother's marriage to a sugar cane heiress to cement a business deal to make bullet-proof plastic from sugar cane.  (Don't ask, just like you don't want to try and figure out how the daughter of the chauffeur can afford the prestigious Cordon Blue cooking school in France).  Linus arranges his brother's match, but playboy David thinks that this is one girl he's not interested in.  And when he sees Sabrina in all her finery at the train station, he's hooked.  But, Linus, most to save his business deal, and partially because he's also intrigued by this sophisticated woman in his midst, also starts to date Sabrina.


And thus, we have the triangle, who will end-up with Sabrina?  Like many movies from the 1950s, it's the men in her life -- her father, the two brothers, and the two brothers' father, who seem determined to make Sabrina's choice of  a husband for her, rather than letting Sabrina choose.  Still, it is a good movie anyway, and the first time I watched it I was genuinely surprised who she ends up choosing after all.


Billy Wilder directed Sabrina, which accounts for it's dark tone, and I'm not just talking about the black and white filming.  Wilder's direction is incredible, especially his use of  deep focus and shots of the characters completely isolated from each other, surprising in a romance (but not surprising coming from Wilder - an accomplished Film Noir director).  Even in what would normally be a very romantic scene, Linus and Sabrina boating, she's on one end of  the boat, he's on the other.  The boat's only about 15 feet and the two "lovers" are sitting as far apart as they could possibly get without one of them being in the ocean.  When Sabrina confront Linus in his office - the lighting is used to great effect and further isolates the characters.


Recommendation:  See it! (At least once)
Rating: 3.8 Stars Out of  5
Next Film:  Same Time, Next Year

Running Scared

• Title:  Running Scared
• Director:  Peter Hyams
• Date:  1986
• Studio:  MGM
• Genre:  Action, Comedy
• Cast:  Billy Crystal, Gregory Hines, Jimmy Smits
• Format:  Color, Widescreen
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

"I don't mean be a cop, I mean quit, retire, be a regular person."  Danny
"Regular people suck."  -- Ray
"Maybe.  But they hardly ever get shot at."  -- Danny


"Careful gets you killed in this business."  -- Captain Logan


"47-63 -- Pursuit has left the Interstate, now we're on the L."  -- Danny

Running Scared is a fast, funny, buddy cop drama with plenty of  action, shootouts, and a great car chase on an elevated train track.  The film is mostly set in Chicago (and filmed on location in Chicago and Stokie, Illinois) with a brief  interlude in Key West, Florida (also shot on location).  Detective Danny Costanzo (Crystal) and Detective Ray Haughes (Hines) are two wise-cracking, wild and crazy Chicago cops.  They bust a drug pusher with $50,000 and figure they can use him to get to Julio Gonzales (Smits) a drug kingpin with aims of  becoming the first Hispanic godfather of  Chicago.  While taking the pusher, Snake, in; the two cops: stop at the aftermath of  a jumper, stop by the funeral of  Danny's Aunt Rose, and nearly get mugged until they point out they are the cops.

Once Snake has been taken in to the station house, they convince him to wear a wire to set-up Gonzales.  However, the planned bust turns into a disaster, when not only is Snake killed, but Danny and Ray walk into a  DEA investigation and mess it up.  Their captain, Logan, is ticked and gives the two detectives a month of  forced vacation.  Did I mention it's the middle of  winter?  Danny takes part of  his inheritance from his Aunt Rose and he and Ray head to Key West for some R & R.  Danny even considers buying a bar in Key West and retiring there, giving up being a cop.

However, before the two cops can retire they have to return to Chicago.  Once in Chicago again, they decide to finish the Gonzales case.  Again, the two become wild, though Danny also starts becoming careful because he's actually given his notice to retire in thirty days.  Both the captain and his partner point out that, "Careful gets you killed."

Meanwhile, Danny's ex-wife, Anna, has told him she's getting re-married to a dentist.  Danny, clearly still in love with her, isn't happy about the idea.

Detectives Costanzo and Hughes continue to work the drug case, now saddled with training their replacements, the two narcotics officers from the messed-up DEA bust.  There is a fantastic car chase with Ray and Danny in their new undercover police car, a yellow taxi cab, which goes from the airport, down I-190, and on to the L tracks.  The L chase feels like a roller coaster ride and is a lot of  fun.  The filming of the chase is also extremely well done.  However, Gonzales decides to get rid of  the two officers; his men find their car while they are on stakeout and flip the car into a garbage truck and crushes it.  The detectives, however, are fine.

Then Gonzales takes Danny's ex-wife hostage, demanding his stolen cocaine (which Hughes and Costanzo found at the airport) as ransom.  The climax of the film is in a building identified as the Illinois State Building (but it looks like a really nice shopping center).  Anna is in one glass elevator, and Danny has to take the other.  Meanwhile, Ray sneaks in the back way, discovers all the county sheriffs tied up and has to use the window washing equipment to get into the building.  There's another huge shoot-out and Gonzales is killed.  In the end, both Danny and Ray decide to stay in Chicago and continue to be police detectives.

Overall, this is a fun film.  In definitely has roots in "Beverly Hills Cop", "The French Connection", and other buddy cop films of  the time, but it's still fun.  Crystal and Hines have a great relationship; and the film is full of their wisecracks and jokes.  Neither appear to be realistic Chicago cops; but the film is enjoyable to watch.  The car chase on the L is also a definite must see.

Recommendation:  See it!
Rating: 3.5 Stars out of 5
Next film:  Sabrina

Royal Wedding

• Title:  Royal Wedding
• Director:  Stanley Donen
• Date:  1951
• Studio:  MGM
• Genre:  Musical, Romance
• Cast:  Fred Astaire, Jane Powell, Peter Lawford, Sarah Churchill, Keenan Wynn
• Format:  Standard, Technicolor
• DVD:  R1, NTSC

"Do I look like a gentleman?" -- Jaime, Anne's father
"Jaime, you look like a banker." -- Tom
"But do I look like a gentleman?" -- Jaime

Tom (Astaire) and Ellen (Powell) Bowen are a brother-sister Broadway act, with a hit show, "Every Night at Seven".  Their show is so successful that their agent gets a call from England, an offer for the two to open their show in London in time for the summer Royal Wedding (of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip).  Aboard the steamer ship bound for the UK, Ellen meets Lord John Brindale (Lawford), and the two begin to date once the ship reaches England.  Meanwhile, on the first day of casting and rehearsals in London, Tom bumps into Anne Ashmond (Sarah Churchill), and they also begin to date.  Eventually, the show, "Every Night at Seven" also opens in London.  Tom has one of  his contacts check out Anne's American fiance' who had returned to Chicago then failed to contact her - turns out he's now married.  This frees up Anne, and she proposes to Tom.  Meanwhile, Lord Brindale has also proposed to Ellen.  At first, Tom and Ellen are reluctant to marry and break up the act.  However, with "wedding fever" in the air because of  the Royal Wedding, they quickly change their minds and the film ends with the double wedding of  Tom and Anne and Ellen and John.

Royal Wedding seems, in part, to be drawn from parallels to Astaire's own real life -- he got his start first in vaudeville and then on Broadway, with his sister Adelle as his dance partner.  When she left the stage to marry, he wasn't sure what to do, before someone (thankfully!) suggested Hollywood, and the rest, as they say is history.  But by having Powell and Astaire playing brother and sister, rather than having them romantically linked, there's a playful side to this film that is enjoyable.  Some of  the scenes between the two are quite fun, and more of  their teasing and kidding each other could have vastly improved the film. The problem with the film is that MGM and Arthur Freed apparently love to play with toys and don't know when to put them away.  In one number, Astaire dances with a coat rack / hat stand and various pieces of  gym equipment in the steamer ship's gymnasium while waiting for Ellen to show for rehearsal.  In another, the floor Ellen and Tom are dancing on tilts wildly as the ship navigates rough waters.  And, finally, this is the film where Astaire dances on the walls and ceiling of  a room (as well as Anne's photo).  Astaire was a gifted, fluid, and graceful dancer -- yet in the "dance on the ceiling" routine, he looks uncomfortable and like he can barely manage the moves -- it's painful to watch.  Astaire doesn't need tricks - I wish MGM would just let the man dance in his later films (this is also why I much prefer Astaire's early work, especially when he was paired with Ginger Rogers).

Also, my copy of  this film is in horrible shape.  There's a "outdoor" scene between Powell and Lord Brindale which is very muddy and overly red.  Some restoration work wouldn't come amiss at all.

Finally, Powell sings three solos in this film -- and she can't sing.  I just don't enjoy her singing voice at all.  I will say, though, that her few dance scenes with Astaire, despite make-up and costumes that seem designed to make both her and Astaire look terrible, are good.  I  do think Jane has better chemistry with Astaire than Eleanor Powell did.  The Astiare/Powell brother/sister act is fun.

List of  Musical  Numbers

• "Every Night at Seven"  -- Astaire, Vocals; Astaire and Powell, Dance
• Musical number and dance, no vocals (Astaire dances with hat stand, gym equipment)
• "How Could You Believe I Love You"/"I'm a Liar" - Astaire and Powell, vocals and dance
• "You're the World to Me" -- Astaire with Anne's photo, dances on walls, ceiling
• "I Left My Hat in Haiti" -- Astaire, vocals and dance segues to production number
• "Lovely Day for a Wedding" -- Background

Recommendation:  It's OK, but disappointing

Rating:  3 of  5

Next Film:  Running Scared

Cabaret

• Title:  Cabaret
• Director:  Bob Fosse
• Date:  1972
• Studio:  Allied Artists (DVD released by Warner Bros.)
• Genre:  Musical, Drama
• Cast:  Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Joel Grey
• Format:  Technicolor, Widescreen
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

"You can't stand Maximilian because he's everything you're not!  He doesn't have to give English lessons for three Marks an hour, he's rich!  And he knows about life, he doesn't read about it in books.  He's suave and he's divinely sexy.  And he really appreciates a woman!" -- Sally
"Oh screw Maximilian!" -- Brian
"I do." -- Sally
"So do I." -- Brian


"It's also an established fact, Herr Ludwig, there's also another well-organised group of  which you're obviously a member; the International Conspiracy of  horses asses!"  -- Brian

Cabaret as a film reminds me of  quote from Bax Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge:  It's the story of a time, it's the story of a place, [and] it's a story of love.  However, the love stories in Cabaret are more complicated and end less happily than the story in Moulin Rouge.  Set in 1931 in Berlin, Cabaret is the story of  the people that meet, come together, and leave at the Kit Kat Klub - a wild cabaret.  The main story is about Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli), an American Cabaret singer who wants to be an actress, Brian (Michael York), a British student who comes to Berlin with no money and teaches English to survive, Maximilian, a married, bisexual German Baron looking to fine anyone to fill his bed, Fritz a friend of Brian's who's hiding a few major secrets, and Natalia a rich Jewish woman who falls for Fritz. At the club, the all-knowing EmCee (Grey) rules.

The film draws you in slowly to it's story of  these diverse characters.  Sally, especially, is a fascinating young woman. The daughter of  an ambassador, she claims, she may have grown-up with wealth and privilege, but she  finds herself with a two-room apartment in a boarding house, working all day and singing at the Cabaret all night.  Sally drinks, smokes, and fools around.  In some ways, she's the female counterpart of  Joe Gideon in Fosse's other classic, All That Jazz.  And Sally has no problems letting everyone know just how willing she is to sleep with men to get whatever she can.  Quite by chance, she meets Brian, and the two become friends then lovers.

However, before long the two meet Maximilian.  Sally immediately begins sleeping with him, simply because he showers her with gifts and money.  Brian, who had explained to Sally that he had slept with three women before and all were disasters, and has now fallen for Sally, is also taken under Maximilian's spell, especially when the three of  them spend a "dirty weekend" together at Maximilian's country house.

Brian also meets and befriends Fritz, a shy German, who comes to him to learn English. Fritz falls for Natalia, another of  Brian's students but it's Sally who gives Fritz advice about how to get Natalia interested in him, since she keeps turning him down flat.  Eventually, Natalia calls Sally to her house and confesses she is also in love with Fritz but the relationship is impossible.

Throughout the film, the action is intercut with the entertainment at the Kir Kat Club, all introduced by the mysterious EmCee, including Sally's musical numbers.  The Club will put anything on the stage -- female dancers and singers; female mud wrestlers; a parody of  German folk singers; a duet between the EmCee and a guy in a Gorilla suit dressed as a ballerina.  Nothing is scared and everything goes at the Cabaret.  However, when the film does cut to the Cabaret, often whatever's on stage parallels the dramatic storyline.  This intercutting is Fosse's true genius.

When Sally discovers she's pregnant, she tells Brian, also telling him she will have to sell the fur coat Maximilian gave her to pay for an abortion.  When Brian asks who the father is - Sally insists she doesn't know.  And considering she's been sleeping with Brian, Maximilian, and other men she's picked up at the club, she honestly does not.  Brian proposes, and insists that he doesn't care -- he'll help her raise the baby no matter what.  They can return to Cambridge, and he will get his teaching Fellowship.  At first, Sally agrees.

Meanwhile, Fritz and Natalia's relationship is at an standstill, and Natalia insists it can't continue.  But Fritz admits to Brian that he's secretly Jewish.  When he came to Berlin, on the papers he filed, he had listed his religion as Protestant, but he isn't.  Brian convinces him to tell Natalia.  Fritz does that, and Sally and Brian witness the wedding.

However, despite Brian's wishes, Sally is full of doubt.  She spends a night at the Cabaret, having an unheard conversation with the EmCee.  When she returns to Brian that night, she's without her fur coat.  Brian badgers her until she admits she did have the abortion.  Brian is livid - and decides to leave her.  Before long, he's returning to Cambridge.  Sally goes back to the Cabaret, and that night belts out a triumphant version of the film's title tune, "Cabaret".  We finally see just how much Sally loves the stage, as she comes to life on stage, more glowingly alive than at any part previously in the film -- and this for an independently spirited woman who is the exact opposite of a shrinking violet.  However, Sally's pure happiness on the stage will be short-lived, the film ends with reflections seen through the glass side divider of  the Cabaret stage of  the Nazis in the audience.  Soon the lives of  everyone in the film will be in danger; and most of  them, even Sally will probably  be dead.  It's a haunting ending.

There is also a chilling scene earlier in the picture, on the way back from their dirty weekend, Maximilian, Brian, and Sally are at some sort of outdoor German festival.  There, a Hitler youth stands and sings "Tomorrow Belongs to Me", a patriotic German song.  At first alone, soon others stand and join in.  By the end of  the song, nearly all the young people in the audience are standing and singing.  Most of  the older people remain sitting, however.  It's a frightening visual and auditory illustration of  exactly what is happening in Germany.  Brian, seeing the display, gathers Sally and Maximilian and leaves.

In another scene, Brian gets in an argument with his German co-boarders at Sally's boarding house.  He goes out in the street and a Nazi party member tries to foist a Nazi paper on him.  Brian refuses it, yells at the Nazi, then knocks over the flag.  He's beaten senseless for his trouble.

The owner of  the Kit Kat Club had also kicked some Nazis out of  the club -- he's also beaten senseless for his actions.

But the brilliance of  Cabaret is in it's use of  intercutting -- the songs that Sally or the EmCee or both sing at the club are often intercut with and reflect the dramatic plot; but they don't illustrate the plot.  This isn't a musical where plot points are sung - it's almost as if the music of  the club is the background to the storyline.  And the club is a wild place, a place of  the underworld, but a place of ships passing in the night.  Also, throughout all the club numbers and performances - the audience sees figures walking between the camera and the Cabaret stage, almost as if  we are in a club and people are moving around.  There is also the sound of  talking, clinking glasses, clapping, laughing, etc.  The people moving between the camera and the stage also provides a wipe point for editing.

List of  Musical Numbers

• Mien Herr - Liza Minnelli
• Everybody Loves a Winner - Liza Minnelli
• The Money Song (Money Makes the World Go 'round) - Minnelli and Grey
• Two Ladies - Grey
• Tomorrow Belongs to Me - Hitler Youth (and it's terrifying)
• Cabaret - Liza Minnelli

Recommendation:  See it!

Rating:  4 Stars

Next Film:  Royal Wedding

The French Connection

• Title:  The French Connection
• Director:  William Friedkin
• Date:  1971
• Studio:  20th Century Fox
• Genre:  Action, Drama
• Cast:  Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider
• Format:  Color, Widescreen
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

The French Connection was nominated for eight Academy Awards in 1972 (for the films of 1971) and won five.  It's on the AFI list of top 100 American films, and I bought it because it's a well-known film I had never seen, and to be honest because Roy Scheider is in it, whom I really like as an actor.

I think the film really is a time capsule -- it's hard to tell how revolutionary  the film would have been in the early 1970s, watching it for the first time in 2012.  And it's downright strange how this film seemed more odd to me than favorite classics of mine from the 1930s and 1940s.  However, that doesn't make it a bad film.  It is a very good film, it's just somewhat hard to relate to it.  But it does explain a heck of a lot about 70s television -- I can clearly see the connection between The French Connection and Starsky and Hutch, Streets of  San Francisco or even The Professionals.

The film is based on a real case, one of the biggest Heroin busts in US history.  That case inspired a true crime book called, The French Connection by Robin Moore.  However, according to the various special features on the film, and the short/cut actor commentary most of  the film was inspired by the technical advisers of  the film, Eddie "Poyeye" Egan and Sonny "Cloudy" Russo the two cops who made the case.  Also, the director, Friedkin, and actors Scheider and Hackman spent considerable time doing research, preparing, and following Egan and Russo around on the streets of  New York.  That research combined with Friedkin's background in shooting documentaries certainly added to the feel of  the film.

The film does have a gritty, down and dirty, realism to it.  Hackman's Poyeye Doyle is not a nice guy -- one of  the issues I had watching the film was not just the swearing but the racist language used in the film.  However, even with all his faults - Doyle is a good cop.  He and Buddy "Cloudy" Russo have the highest number of convictions in the Narcotics department of the Brooklyn, New York, NY police department.  Cloudy (Scheider in only his second film role) holds back Doyle, occasionally playing good cop to Doyle's bad cop.  But really, both are good cops -- though realistically grim, gritty, tough, and nasty.

The plot involves tracking a case trying to catch a French godfather who's sending in multi-million dollar Heroin shipments into New York every six weeks or so.  He uses a French actor to get a car in to the US, and the drugs are hidden in the rocker panels (floor boards under the car doors) of  the car.  But it takes a while for Doyle and Russo to put together what's going on -- and I had to watch the film twice to figure it out (though the second time I had one of  the two commentaries on, so I wasn't paying as close attention to what was going on, on the screen).  The film shows the cops on long stakeouts and tails where not much happens until they spot one of  the principals meeting a known drug kingpin.  This gets them two wiretaps, which leads to the Frenchman calling to set-up a meeting.  Before long, the case is coming together.

One of  the best scenes in the film is a cat-and-mouse scene between Hackman and The Frenchman at the heart of  the case on a subway.  The two jump on and off and on and off a subway car - but in the end the Frenchman escapes.  However, he puts a hit on Doyle.

This leads to the other big scene in the film, and the one it's famous for -- the car chase.  The chase starts when a sniper shoots at Doyle, hitting an innocent woman, and causing havoc.  Doyle finally gets to the roof, finds the guy's rifle, then sees him fleeing the building, and gives chase on foot.  When the sniper jumps a elevated train, Doyle commandeers a car and gives chase.  The chase is pure chaos and incredibly done considering it was all practical.  No computer-generated effects here, and no carefully plotted storyboards either.  Just a gifted stunt driver, a car with a siren, and a few (though not enough) blocked streets.  Most of the exciting parts of  the chase were stunts, however, at one point a civilian car pulled out and hit Hackman while he was driving the car as fast as possible.  Hackman was pushed into a metal support beam for the L.  Fortunately, no one was hurt in the incident.  However, the chase was put together in pieces:  a stunt driver named Hickman; Hackman actually driving with a camera car besides him; Hackman driving with a cameraman in the car.  A stunt woman played the woman with the baby carriage that Doyle nearly hits.  Meanwhile, on the train, the sniper is causing panic - taking over the train, shooting a train worker, and causing the driver of  the train to have a heart attack, before crashing the train itself  into another train.  But the sequence is breath-taking.  The chase ends with Doyle cornering the sniper on the stairs to the L station (which go sharply up because it's an outdoor elevated train and station), and he shoots the now unarmed sniper in the back.

The film doesn't have a lot of exposition explaining what's going on -- it trusts the audience to follow along for the ride.  It's also not a film filled with stunning visuals, or "movie moments", rather it's a grim, gritty, dirty, realistic-looking, almost documentary style of  film.  The film is so rough at times it's almost uncomfortable to watch it. But it's also stunningly compelling - and Hackman and Scheider are both brilliant.

Throughout the film there's a huge, brown, Lincoln - by the end of  the film it's almost menacing.  Doyle and Russo manage to confiscate the car, get it stripped at a police garage, and finally when they've almost given up, locate the Heroin in the rocker panels (the floor boards under the front doors).  When the French actor shows up to claim his car, they give it back, complete with the Heroin so they can make the bust.  I honestly don't know where they got a second, identical brown Lincoln, but the one they had was trashed.

The cops follow the Lincoln to an abandoned building, there's a shootout and total chaos.  But the brilliant bit is the ultimate end  -- Doyle enters the building alone in search of  the Frenchman.  Russo, after aiding in the capture of  the bad guys, goes in after his partner.  Doyle's so tense he nearly shoots Russo, but Russo warns him off  with, "It's me, it's me!"  FBI agent Mulderig isn't so lucky -- thinking he's the Frenchman, Doyle shoots him.  But the last shot, of  Doyle walking though this dark, mucky, dirty, corridor-like building, walking into the distance, then there's a gunshot, and the screen goes black.  That's brilliant, and makes the film worth watching and re-watching.

There is character in the film, and an interesting relationship between the two cops, but really I could have done with a lot more of  that.  Still, definitely worth the time to watch, and re-watch, and own.

Recommendation:  See it!
Rating:  4 Stars
Next Film:  Either Royal Wedding or Cabaret which I also recently bought

Roman Holiday

• Title:  Roman Holiday
• Director:  William Wyler
• Date:  1953
• Studio:  Paramount
• Genre:  Romance, Comedy
• Cast:  Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck, Eddie Albert
• Format:  Standard, Black and White
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

"I could do some of  the things I've always wanted to do."  --Ann
"Like what?" --Joe
"Oh, you can't imagine.  I'd like to do just whatever I like, the whole day long."  --Ann
"Things like having your hair cut, eating gelato?" --Joe
"Yes, and I'd like to sit in a sidewalk cafe, and look in shop windows, walk in the rain!  Have fun - and maybe even some excitement." --Ann


"The news can wait until tomorrow." -- Ann

"She's fair game, Joe, it's always open season on princesses." -- Irving

Roman Holiday is Audrey Hepburn's first film.  It could have also been easily called, 'The Princess's Day Off', because that is what the film is really about.  Hepburn is Princess Ann, on a whirlwind tour of  European capital cities.  Her schedule is booked by the second, and everything is planned to the last detail - even the words she'll say when accepting or refusing gifts, giving good will speeches and addressing the press.  And young Ann is quite, quite sick of  it.

Upon her arrival in Rome, Ann falls into hysterics and is given a drug to calm her down.  But, instead of sleeping, she sneaks out to have some fun.  Ann collapses on a bench, completely limp and out of  it.
She's discovered by Joe (Peck), a reporter, who doesn't recognize her.  He sees her as a drunk young lady in trouble.  He tries to get her into a cab, but she's so out of  it, she doesn't remember her own address.
So he takes her home to his apartment.  He lends her pajamas, and offers his couch (she takes his bed).  No impropriety occurs, and the next day, Joe goes off to his job at the American News Service.  There he discovers the big news is that the Princess Ann has taken ill, and cancelled all her appointments - and Joe recognizes the girl in the papers as the girl in his apartment.

He talks to his boss, and promises an exclusive and personal interview with Princess Ann.  His boss offers $1000.00 for the story.  When he adds that he can provide candid pictures as well, the price jumps to $5000.
Joe returns to his apartment and finds a recovering Ann.  He lets her have a bath and change again, gives her some money, and sees her off.  Then he calls his friend, Irving (Albert), a photographer, and promises him a cut of the deal.  Irving agrees to find out what the story is, and will meet Joe later.  Meanwhile Joe, follows Ann, without letting her know.  He bumps into her, and promises her a holiday, then takes her to a sidewalk cafe, where Irving meets them.

Ann and Joe, with Irving in tow, tour the tourist spots of  Rome, and Ann has the time of  her life just being normal.  He even takes her to a dance on a barge in the river.  There, Ann, dances with the barber who cut her hair and invited her to the dance.  But her country has called in their secret service to look for Ann, and they find her on the barge.  A fight breaks out but Joe, Ann, and Irving all manage to escape.  Finally, Ann decides she must go back to her duties and after a couple of nice hugs with Joe, has him drop her off  within walking distance of  her hotel.

Joe decides he can't impose on Ann's privacy, or embarrass her, and tells his editor there's no story.  He tells Irving he can sell the pictures if he wants, though he wishes him not to do so.

The next morning, Ann, again in the beautiful white gown of  a princess, has her press conference.  She coldly gives her practiced answers.  Except once - when asked her favorite city on the tour, Ann replies, Rome.
She sees both Joe and Irving at the press conference.  During the receiving line, she shows nearly no emotion, using the same kind responds with them as with the rest of  the ladies and gentlemen of  the press.  Irving, hands her an envelope of  the pictures, saying they are commemorative pictures of Rome.  Ann leaves the press conference.  All in attendance left - and Joe is left, alone, walking out of  the hotel.

Roman Holiday is a fun picture, though a bit slow.  Audrey Hepburn is really good, expressing both emotion and lack of emotion, as she alternately experiences every day things for the first time, or does her princess act for the press.  Peck is a man who's caught - he feels something for Ann (though in my opinion he's much too old for her) but knows they are from different worlds.  In a way, the film is about isolation, Ann's behind the walls of a palace, and Joe's in the middle of a bustling city.  Though Joe has a friend in Irving, and his poker buddies seen at the beginning of  the film.  It's enjoyable to watch.

Recommendation:  See it.
Rating:  3.5
Next film:  Royal Wedding

Robin Hood Men in Tights

• Title:  Robin Hood Men in Tights
• Director:  Mel Brooks
• Date:  1993
• Studio:  Columbia / Tri-Star
• Genre:  Comedy
• Cast:  Cary Elwes, Richard Lewis, Amy Yasbeck, Tracey Ullman, Megan Cavanagh
• Cameo Cast:  Patrick Stewart, Dom DeLuise, Dick Van Patten, Mel Brooks
• Format:  Color, Widescreen
• DVD Format:  R2, PAL

"Let me introduce you to my best friend, Will Scarlett." -- Little John
"Scarlett is my middle name.  My full name is Will Scarlett o'Hara. ... We're from Georgia." -- Will

"And why should the people listen to you?" -- Prince John
"Because, unlike some Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent."  -- Robin

"We're men, we're men in tights.  Tight, tights!
Always on guard, defending the people's rights.
When  you're in a fix, just call for the men in tights."  -- "Men in Tights", song and dance number (Cast)

Robin Hood:  Men in Tights came out as a parody of  Kevin Costner's Robin Hood:  Prince of  Thieves, but actually also parodies the classic 1938 Adventures of Robin Hood starring Errol Flynn.  There are also some references to the ITV series, Robin of  Sherwood (aka Robin Hood - the one starring Michael Praed and Jason Connery).  But with a new Robin Hood film in theaters (Starring Russell Crowe, and directed by Ridley Scott) and a new Robin Hood TV series (starring Jonas Armstrong and Richard Armitage) - this parody actually almost seems to work better now than when it was originally released.  Some references no longer really work, but Cary Elwes is the perfect Robin Hood.

In this version of the tale, Robin is captured in the Holy Land during the Crusades, and thrown in a dungeon.  There he meets Asneeze, who help him get free.  The two led a revolt freeing all the prisoners.  Thankful to be freed, Robin promises to look up and help Asneeze's son, Achoo, when he arrives in England.  In England, Robin finds his family's castle being repossessed and the local villages being burned.  He vows to rescue England from tyranny.  Soon he's put together a merry band:  Achoo, Blinkin (Robin's family's blind servent), Little John, and Will Scarlett.  In a parody of  Flynn's Robin Hood, Elwes' Robin brings a wild boar (rather than deer) to Prince John's feast.  He sees Marion, and they fall for each other.  After a fight with John's men, Robin, rescued by his men returns to the forest and begins training the villagers.  Also, in a scene straight from The Adventures of  Robin Hood, John decides to lure Robin into a trap with an archery contest.  As in the Flynn film, Robin arrives at the archery contest, dressed as an old man.  But it is John's archer who splits Robin's arrow.  Shocked, Robin checks the script to see -- and discovers he gets another shot.  He uses a patriot target-seeking arrow, and blows up the another arrow.  Robin is captured and John threatens to hang Robin, if Marion doesn't marry him.  She's about to do it, when Achoo saves the day, shooting Robin loose from the hangman's noose.  King Richard (Patrick Stewart) arrives and knights Robin.  Robin and Marion are "quickly married" by Rabbi Tuckman (Mel Brooks), and start their new life.  Robin appoints Achoo the new sheriff of Rottingham.  At first the villagers protest, "A black sheriff?"  But Achoo responds, "Why not - it worked in Blazing Saddles," -- why do I get the feeling Brooks was waiting the entire film to use that line?

Elwes has a pencil mustache, like Flynn's from The Adventures of  Robin Hood, and the costumes are also vintage the 1938 movie.  Several scenes from the 1938 film are also parodied, notably Robin bringing the deer/boar into the Prince's feast, and the archery contest scene.  Also, Robin has a habit of starting long speeches - which quickly bore his audience.  In one, he starts, sounding like Flynn, and ends, sounding like Churchill.

From Robin of  Sherwood - we get the opening sequence of  the flaming arrows being shot from English longbows (in silhouette).  Also, the character of  Achoo, seems to be drawn from Nazzar, though he's a lot more chatty.

But, Robin's jibe that, "at least I can speak with an English accent," is aimed straight at Kevin Cosner - who's really awful accent (and inability to do one) was a major problem in Prince of  Theives.  Unfortunately, though Elwes does an English accent perfectly -- most of  the rest of  the cast is American and sounds it.  The worst is Richard Lewis, who just does a bad job as Prince John.  (What is it with Prince John, anyway?  Nobody seems to get him right!  I swear, Doctor Who had the best Prince John I've seen in the story "The King's Demons").  But yeah, Robin Hood should definitely not sound like he comes from Iowa, and that was the trouble with Cosner's film.

However, though funny in parts, and filled with some excellent honest-to-goodness sword-fighting scenes, this isn't the classic Mel Brooks of  The Producers, Blazing Saddles, or Young Frankenstein.  I did like that it drew on all the Robin Hoods to date, and, again, with two new Robin Hoods out there, it's worth watching again, but overall a bit disappointing for Mel Brooks.

There is a lot of  excellent music in the film -- the Robin Hood Rap is fun, the title number of  We're Men, We're Men in Tights, is hilarious, and even Marion's Theme is quite sweet.

Yes, I do have an R2 version of  this film.  I couldn't find an US/ R1 / NTSC version anywhere when I bought it.  However, you can now find the film as part of  the boxed set of  Brook's films.

Recommendation:  It's OK, but not stellar.
Rating:  3 out of  5 Stars
Next Film:  Roman Holiday

Roberta

• Title:  Roberta
• Director:  William A. Seiter
• Date:  1935
• Studio:  RKO
• Genre:  Musical
• Music:  Jerome Kern
• Book and Lyrics:  Otto Horbach
• Cast:  Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Irene Dunne, Randolph Scott
• Format:  Standard, Black and White
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

"But underneath, she's a pearl."  -- John
"And a pearl, so I'm told, is the result of a chronic irritation on an oyster." -- Huck


"John, every day you act worse - but today you're acting like tomorrow." -- Huck

Roberta is another RKO musical where Fred and Ginger play second fiddle, this time to Irene Dunne and Randolph Scott.  And to make things worse - Irene Dunne sings, four numbers, two that aren't even in English.  And she can't sing.  Dunne has this awful, trying to sound soprano, warbling sort of voice that's about as irritating as nails on a chalkboard.  And unlike Follow the Fleet, which also has the problem of regulating Fred and Ginger to supporting cast behind Randolph Scott, Roberta has no comedy elements hardly at all.  The plot revolves around a fashion house matriarch, Scott's Aunt, who dies, and a question is raised as to who will inherit her fashion house and continue to make it a success.

Fred Astaire, as Huckleberry (or Huck), is an Indiana band leader, as well as singer and dancer.  He and his band, the Wabash Indianiaians, head to France for a gig.  When they arrive, the owner of the club claims he wanted "Red Indians" and refuses to hire them.  Wondering what to do, they head to Paris, hoping to find someone who can get them a gig.  John (Scott), a member of the band, and friend of Huck's, has an Aunt, Mimi, who runs the Roberta fashion house.  They head there and John and Mimi have a happy reunion.  John also meets, Stephanie, Mimi's assistant, who he's quite taken with.  Mimi is about to help them out.  Meanwhile, the band, including Huck, is waiting downstairs.  Getting restless they begin to play signals to get John's attention.  As they are playing, Huck sees Ginger on a balcony.  Their eyes meet.

However, rather than follow the plot of  Fred immediately falling for Ginger and trying to woo her -- when he gets upstairs to find out why John is taking so long, he finds Ginger putting on a accent and claiming to be a European countess.  Once they are alone, however, it turns out that the two know each other, they grew up together, and "Countess Scharwenka" is Ginger's stage name.  Huck asks her to get his band a gig.  She does.

Soon, as I said, Mimi dies, leaving her salon to John -- even though he knows nothing about fashion or design.  John approaches Stephanie (Dunne) and tries to give her the business, but she refuses.  The two end-up as partners.  They have issues, but eventually put on a musical fashion show together.  By the end of the film, John's proposed to Stephanie (after a few misunderstandings, as in all romances), and Huck and Liz (Rogers) are also together.

Musical Numbers

• Let's Begin - Fred (singing) and his band (music).  Fred has a soft shoe number with the company.
• I'll Be Hard to Handle - Ginger singing.  Fred & Ginger -- tap, ballroom.
• I Won't Dance -- Fred (singing).  Fred - solo tap.
• Smoke Gets in Your Eyes -- Irene Dunne singing (no dance).
• Lovely to Look At --  Irene Dunne singing (no dance).
• Lovely to Look At -- Fred singing to Ginger.
• Smoke Gets in Your Eyes -- (Music only)  Fred and Ginger,  ballroom dance.
• Reprise -- Fred and Ginger, partner tap.

As stated above, Irene Dunne also has two non-English songs, possibly lullabies, that she sings to Mimi to help her fall asleep for her afternoon nap.

Fred and Ginger's ballroom number, "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes", is wonderful.  It's slowly paced, beautiful, and eloquent.  Ginger shows an incredible sense of  balance throughout the dance.  It's also, conceptually, unusual for a ballroom number, especially a Fred and Ginger number, in that for most of the dance, both the opening and the closing, they aren't touching each other.  They are mirroring, and dancing ballroom moves, but without actually holding hands -- which means Ginger had to have had an incredible sense of balance -- not depending on her partner's strength to hold her up.  The middle of  the dance does have Fred holding Ginger's hand to spin her, as well as moving into a more traditional ballroom hold, but it's an incredible dance to watch.  Plus it is choreographed perfectly to the music.

The reprise is nearly the opposite of  the main dance -- it's very fast paced partner tap.  Fred and Ginger fly through their moves.  Ginger's moving so fast she actually has to hold the skirt of her very long, silky, black gown (the same one from the "Smoke gets in your Eyes" number) up as she dances, though she does hold it in such a way as to not reveal her knees.  After their dance, it's Liz (Ginger) who says to Huck (Fred), "So, you were going to propose, right?  I accept."  Basically, proposing to him!

Not one of  the best Fred and Ginger films by a long shot, but the "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" dance and the reprise tap dance are both worth waiting for.

Recommendation:  If you want the complete Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers collection, see this, otherwise look to one of  their better films.
Rating:  3 of 5 Stars
Next Film:  Robin Hood:  Men in Tights

The Ref

• Title:  The Ref
• Director:  Ted Demme
• Date:  1994
• Studio:  Touchstone
• Genre:  Comedy
• Cast:  Denis Leary, Kevin Spacey, Judy Davis, Christine Barenski
• Format:  Color, Widescreen
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

"Great, I hijack my f...ing parents!" -- Gus (Leary)


"From now on the only person who gets to yell is me, Why?  Because I have a gun, OK?  People with guns can do whatever they want.  Married people without guns, for instance, you -- Do not get to YELL!  Why?  No guns!  No guns, no yelling." -- Gus


"Eat, don't annoy me, it's Christmas."  -- Connie


"I'm in hell.  Connecticut is the fifth ring of hell!"  -- Gus

The Ref opens with a series of shots of Christmas in a Connecticut suburb.  Everything looks perfect, there's even snow and children looking into shop window displays.  But then we meet Caroline and Lloyd Cheshire, who are seeing a marriage counselor.  Their squabbling and put downs of each other are so bad they annoy their marriage counselor.  We also see a cat burglar who is trying to break into a safe in one of the huge homes in the small town/suburb.  The break-in goes wrong -- first he's sprayed with cat urine, then he sets off the alarm, and the cops are alerted.

Gus, as we later learn, is stranded without an getaway car, since his partner was frightened by the alarms and ran off, so he takes a woman hostage in a convenient store, looking for a ride.  He, and the Cheshires never expected what would result.

Like all good screwball comedies, from a simple plot - a criminal trying to escape, huge events occur and the film is extremely funny.  Most of  the film takes place in the Cheshires' house, with a few cutaways to the incompetent police manhunt for the criminal.  (For example, the police chief, who is competent, finds a surveillance videotape of Gus from the robbery.  He shows it to his men once, but is interrupted by a phone call.  When he returns, they've recorded a James Stewart movie over the surveillance footage.)  The Cheshires, with their bickering, arguing, and put downs, drive Gus nuts.  When their extended family arrive for Christmas dinner - the family politics get even worse.  Yet, it the midst of the chaos - Gus' presence allows everyone to get things off their chest.  When Lloyd, who seems to be the calmest one in the group, finally explodes - it's great.  And the honesty, not to mention Gus' prodding, might have oddly enough saved their marriage.  One can see Caroline and Gus giving up their "safe and comfortable" life, moving to California, and opening another restaurant (closing their restaurant several years earlier had started a series of events that was now bringing them to brink of divorce).  Meanwhile, their son, a budding criminal himself, may have been scared straight by Gus - who honestly tells him he doesn't want that type of  life.

The film is laugh out loud funny.  The characters seem very real, if a little over the top.  The sarcastic dialogue is underscored by the sarcastic and ironic nature of the entire film:  this little Connecticut suburb may look perfect, but everyone is hiding secrets, everyone is nasty and mean, and no one treats anyone else with any respect whatsoever.  There is a lot of swearing and bad language, and some adult concepts as well.  However, the film is brilliant.  Denis Leary is incredibly funny, and brings out the best of everyone around him.  I have seen The Ref  more than twice, usually with many years between seeing it, and every time the film surprises me with it's fresh humor.  Also, The Ref  has some heart to it, that's extremely unexpected.  Caroline and Lloyd are already in marriage counseling - yet Gus, as raw as he may be, is a better marriage counselor for the couple than Dr. Wong, the counselor they see at the beginning of  the film.  Gus also manages to get everyone in the family to honestly confront the issues they have with each other, rather than quietly ignoring them and pretending to be nice.  This truly is a brilliant comedy!

Recommendation:  See it! (Not for young children)
Rating:  4 of 5 Stars
Next Film:  Roberta

The Purple Rose of Cairo

• Title:  The Purple Rose of Cairo
• Director:  Woody Allen
• Date:  1985
• Studio:  Orion Pictures / MGM
• Genre:  Drama
• Cast:  Mia Farrow, Jeff  Daniels, Dianne Wiest
• Format:  Color, Widescreen
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

"I'm sorry about the money.  I had no idea." -- Tom
"That's OK, it's not going to be so easy to get along without it in this world."  -- Cecilia
"I guess I'll have to get a job." -- Tom
"That's not going to be so easy, either.  Right now, the whole country is out of  work." -- Cecilia
"Well then, we'll live on love.  We'll have to make some concessions, but so what.  We'll have each other." -- Tom
"That's movie talk." -- Cecilia

"I'm confused.  I'm married.  I just met a wonderful new man, -- he's fictional, but you can't have everything." -- Cecilia

The Purple Rose of  Cairo is set in the 1930s in a small town in New Jersey.  Cecilia (Mia Farrow) is a waitress, and not a very good one at that.  Her husband is a bum, not only in the sense that he's unemployed, which he is, but he treats her terribly -- he beats her when he's drunk, he's disrespectful to her all the time, he takes her wages and spends them on gambling, beer, cigarettes and other women.  And Cecilia isn't even a good waitress - her customers scream at her and tip very little, if  anything.  Her boss screams at her as well.  Cecilia has one escape, one place where she can relax, get away from her awful life, and dream of some place, some thing, better -- the movies.

So once a week, at least, she goes to the local single screen movie theater and watches the movie that's come to town.  And she knows all about the various actors -- their names, their roles, who they're married to and divorced from.  In short, Cecilia is a fan of the movies.  But look at her life:  this is before TV, and the film itself was made before the Internet, computer gaming, or on-line gaming (a "computer game" in the 1980s would have meant an arcade game like Pac-man, or maybe a system attached to the TV with cartridges of games, such as Atari or Intellivision).  Theatre would have been too expensive for a waitress in the '30s (heck it's too expensive for a waitress now) - if her small town even had one.  And, yes, they had radio in the 1930s, but in the major cities like New York, not in small towns, like Cecilia's home in New Jersey.  Besides, maybe she prefers the visual element and the fantasy of  film.

One day, Cecilia catches her husband with another woman -- she tries to leave him, but loses her job as well.  When she bumps into one of  the local "ladies of  the evening" on the street, she realises she has no skills, no job, and no where to go, and she reluctantly goes back to her husband.  But at one point, she ends up at the local movie theater, watching the same film, The Purple Rose of Cairo, over and over and over again.  She's watching the film, quietly crying, when suddenly, the character of  Tom Baxter (Jeff  Daniels) in the film, looks at her and addresses her, before stepping out of  the film to meet her.  Tom and Cecilia run off.

The other actors in the film are perplexed and  try to figure out what to do, being unable to move the story along without Baxter.  The movie house is in a panic.  Audience members are demanding their money back as the actors on the screen do nothing but talk to each other and insult the audience.  The theater owner calls the producer of  the film in Hollywood and RKO (the studio that produced "The Purple Rose of Cairo" in the film). Soon, Hollywood types and the actor who played Tom, Gil Sheppard, are in New Jersey trying to figure out what's happened.  Throughout the film we get snippets of  what's going on, on the screen and with the execs from Hollywood (such as the Tom Baxter character forgetting his lines in Chicago, and eventually Tom Baxter's trying to get out into the real world in Chicago, St. Louis, and Detroit).

Meanwhile, Tom is, Pinnocco -like, is enjoying the fun of being a "real" person -- though he's a bit confused about the real world.  But he's convinced he's in love with Cecilia.

The film moves back and forth between Tom and Cecilia's romance, Cecilia's "real" life, and the Hollywood execs trying to figure out what to do.  Gil Sheppard (the actor who played Tom, also played by Jeff Daniels) arrives and meets Cecilia.  Soon Cecilia's in the midst of  a love triangle, or quadrangle if you include her own husband.  Tom tells Cecilia he's fallen in love with her over and over again.  Before long, Gil is also claiming he's in love with Cecilia.

Tom, having discovered his money isn't real, takes Cecilia to the movie theater.  He takes her into the film and brings her to the Copacobana for a date, then takes her for a night on the town, which is shot in a Art Deco, 1930s-style montage sequence.  After their date, he takes her back to the 'real' world.  There, they run into Gil.  Gil also claims to be in love with Cecilia, and that he will take her away with him to Hollywood.  Cecilia is forced to make a choice - and she does, she chooses Gil.  Tom, the perfect romantic hero, goes back into the film.  Gil has her go home to pack, and when she returns to the movie theater, he and all the Hollywood people have gone.

Soon, Cecilia is back in her old life.  And the last shot of the film is her face, lit by the light of  the silver screen as she watches Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dance to "Cheek to Cheek" in Top Hat.  Cecilia smiles, just a little bit, as she watches the film, with a Mona Lisa smile.

Cecilia is a representation of  the audience; and how film writers and producers perceive the audience (this is, after all, a Woody Allen film).  She's not dumb - she knows that actors play the characters in the films she watches, and that the films aren't real.  But the escape they provide is something important - not hope exactly. Because Cecilia also knows, especially after her experience with the fictional Tom and the actor Gil, that no White Knight will ride in to town, and take her away from all this.  But films provide some time away from her awful life - her awful job, her terrible husband, and her boring small town.  In short, it's a chance, for a few hours a week,  to pretend she's someone else, or to pretend there actually can be a happy ending.  It's a brilliant commentary on movies, really.

Oddly enough, one weird thing about watching the film now, is that even though it's a period piece, it does look a bit dated.  I couldn't quite put my finger on why, but it does.

Recommendation:  See it!
Rating:  4 out of  5 Stars
Next Film:  The Ref

The Producers

My internet connection is down so I’m writing this off-line and will post when I can.

Review of “The Producers” (watched on 2/19/2011).

2/20/2012 6:51 PM

•          Title:  The Producers
•         Director:  Mel Brooks
•          Date:  1968
•          Studio:  Embassy Pictures / MGM
•          Genre:  Comedy, Musical
•         Cast:  Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Dick Shawn, Kenneth Mars, Lee Meredith,
• Christopher Hewlett, Andreas Voulsinas
•         Format:  Color, Widescreen
•          DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

"It's amazing, it's absolutely amazing, but under the right circumstances a producer could make more money with a flop than with a hit!"-- Leo

"But if we get caught, we'll go to prison." – Leo

"You think you're not in a prison now?  Living in a grey little room, going to a grey little job, leading a grey little life?"  -- Max

"Leo, how much percentage of a play can there be altogether?"  -- Max

"Max, you can only sell 100 percent of anything."  -- Leo

"And how much of 'Springtime for Hitler' have we sold?" – Max

"Twenty-five thousand percent." – Leo

Mel Brooks' first comedy film, The Producers, is a tour-de-force.  It's laugh-out-loud funny from beginning to end.  The film is so over-the-top and so funny that what could have easily been a very offensive movie is instead a true comedy classic.   The film first introduces Max Biaylystock (Zero Mostel) – a failing Broadway producer who has gone from running six hit shows simultaneously, to having nothing but a run of failures.  The only way he can find investors now, is by seducing little old ladies for checks made out to "cash".  Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder in only his second film ever) is a mild-mannered accountant.  One day, he's sent to go over Max's books and walks in on him playing sex games with an 80-year-old.  To say that Leo is shocked is an under-statement.  But soon Max gets the old lady to leave, and Leo enters the producer's office.  This opening scene between Max and Leo is hilarious – and sets a slightly surreal, out there, quality for the entire film.

In doing the books, Leo discovers a simple accounting error – Max raised $2000 dollars extra for his last play and never invested it in the play or returned the profit to his investors.  This, Leo points out is fraud.  Max convinces Leo to not turn him in.  The Leo has a lightbulb moment, and innocently says that a producer could make more money with a flop than a hit.  The rest of the film is about the two trying to do just that – produce a flop, and keep all the extra money they've raised from their investors.

Leo, being an honest accountant, though a bit neurotic (his reaction when Max takes his "blue blanket" is screen perfection – as is his breakdown in hysterics slightly later when Max threatens him), so Max must convince Leo to do it.  Max seduces Leo with a day in the park, like an extended date, and it really is Max's kindness that convinces Leo what the heck – he wants everything.

Once he has Leo on board, they must find a play.  And they do – "Springtime for Hitler – a gay romp with Adolph and Eva".  They locate the author, the slightly insane German, Franz Liebkind (Kenneth Mars), and buy the play.  Then Max goes to raise money from his little old lady brigade – in a wonderful montage sequence.  Next, it's casting.  The cattle call for Hitler,is both similar to "A Chorus Line" or the opening of "All that Jazz" (tho' it pre-dates both films, but posssibly not the play of "A Chorus Line") and is quite funny.  But it's the audition of Lorenzo St Dubois (Or "LSD") that is brilliant.  Not only is Dick Shawn's performance brilliant, but the song, "Love Power" and the choreography of the audition, with LDS's band, is priceless.  (Another 60s moment is Max's new Swedish secretary (Lee Meredith) – who speaks no English, and when told to "Go to Work" turns on the record player and starts Go-Go Dancing.)

Soon it is opening night.  Remember – Max and Leo want the play to tank.  The play, "Springtime for Hitler" opens with the big broadway production number, that includes everything:  a parade of beautiful chorus girls in elaborate German-style outfits (including beer steins or preztels on the girls boobs – simply hilarious), a rockets-style section in black leather, and a Bugsy Berkley style overhead shot.  Oh – and the columns turn into cannons that fire at the audience.  The number has to be seen to be believed and is SO over the top, (and SO bad) that no description can do it justice.  Audience members are, of course, shocked, and some even walk out.  Max and Leo go over to a nearby restaurant, to drink and celebrate.

Then LSD takes to the stage as Hitler – and before long the audience is laughing hilariously!  That Franz is in the audience and takes this as an affront adds to the choas – especially when he runs on-stage and is hit over the head, something the audience assumes is part of the play.

Much to the shock of Max and Leo – the play is a hit!  They then decide to blow up the theatre, and end up in court.  Leo actually gives a pretty moving speech defending Max and their friendship.  Soon Max and Leo are behind bars, selling percentages of a new play, Prisoners of Love, to the inmates, and rehearsing.

What makes Brooks' The Producers so funny is in the execution.  Merely writing, or reading, a plot summary just doesn't do the film justice – especially the production number, and any scene with LSD.  Shawn is simply inspired.  But all the actors give the performances of their lives in this – which is why it remains one of Brooks best films.

It goes without saying, but I suppose I must, that Mel Brooks is Jewish.  And he himself has said on numerous occasions, that the way to deal with despots isn't in giving speechs, or using rhetoric or psychology – it's in ridicule and poking fun at them.  The film caught some flak when it was made, but it did  quickly win over it's sophisticated audience once people realised the joke.  And, also, the film is very witty and has a lot of faster-paced dialogue and less reliant on sight-gags than many of Brooks' more recent films (tho' the production number has both sight gags and witty dialogue).  Again, one of Brooks' best films, highly recommended.

Recommendation:  See it!

Rating:  5 of 5 Stars

Next Film:  The Purple Rose of Cairo

The Princess Bride

• Title:  The Princess Bride
• Director:  Rob Reiner
• Date:  1987
• Studio:  MGM
• Genre:  Adventure, Romance, Comedy
• Cast:  Cary Elwes, Robin Wright,  Fred Savage, Peter Falk, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Billy Crystal, Peter Cook, Andre-the-Giant
• Format:  Color, Widescreen
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders.  The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia.  But slightly less well known is this - never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line."  -- Vizzini


"We'll never survive [in the Fire Swamp]."  --  Buttercup, the Princess Bride
"Nonsense, you're only saying that because no one ever has." -- Westley


"You know how much I love watching  you work - but I've got my country's five hundredth anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Gilder to frame for it.  I'm swamped." -- Prince Humperdinck

The Princess Bride is one of  my favorite films of  all time.  It's a film I actually owned a copy of on VHS, then replaced with a DVD.  I absolutely adore this film -- it's smart, fun, intelligent and chock full of fun and quotable lines.  The film actually has two storylines -- the frame story of a grandfather (Peter Falk) reading the story of  The Princess Bride to his grandson (Fred Savage) who is home sick.  The growing relationship between grandson and grandfather adds a sweetness to the film, as does the young boy's growing interest in the story.  The main storyline, though, is the story of  Westley and Buttercup, two young lovers separated by fate who simply must end-up together.  However, what prevents the story from sinking into typical romantic comedy is the intelligent, witty dialogue and the simply gorgeous cinematography.  The film pulls itself together in such a way that it just works incredibly well.  It's also shot in a very storybook style, which ranges from castles with interiors that obviously look like sets, to some simply wonderful sunsets, and some great scenery when Buttercup and Westley first meet again. (The wide shots of  the castles are no doubt real ones in Ireland and England where parts of  the film were shot).

This film also has some wonderful sword fights.  The fight between Westley and Inigo Montoya is wonderful! I really enjoy it every time I watch the film.  But there's also some wonderful fight scenes between Montoya and the evil Count Rugen.

Overall, the film is just enjoyable.  Simply enjoyable.  It's funny, it's sweet, it's romantic.  The good guys are good because they treat other people nicely and well, and the bad guys - Vizzini, Count Rugen, and Prince Humperdinck are bad guys in part because they treat other people terribly.  Humperdinck's motivation is also to start a war between Florin (his country and home to Buttercup) and neighboring Guilder.  And a bit of wordplay with the names of  the country as well - Florin and Guilder are two coins in a former Netherlands currency.  Florin is also the name of  an old two-shilling coin in the UK that's no longer in use.

If  by some chance you haven't seen this movie, it's an absolutely must-see.

Recommendation:  See it!  Also good for all ages without being overly sweet.
Rating:  5 of 5 Stars
Next Film:  The Producers

The Philadelphia Story

• Title:  The Philadelphia Story
• Director:  George Cukor
• Date:  1940
• Studio:  MGM
• Genre:  Romance, Comedy
• Cast:  Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, James Stewart
• Format:  Black and White, Standard
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

The film opens with Katherine Hepburn throwing out Cary Grant.  Two years later, newspaper headlines announce the upcoming wedding of  Tracy Lord (Hepburn) to a man named "George".  Tracy is a spoiled, self-centered, upper crust, old money, Philadelphia socialite.  She's recently estranged from her father, because he's recently had an affair with a New York dancer.

Grant, an alcoholic playboy, returns to Philadelphia from two years abroad, because he wants to re-kindle his relationship with her, and stop her wedding.  However, he's not completely obvious about what he wants.

Stewart's a newspaperman, a reporter, who dreams of being a real writer, and has written one book of short stories.  But he's currently working at a gossip magazine, and is paired with a female photographer.  He's bribed to cover Tracy's wedding.

Grant and Stewart arrive at Tracy's -- however, the pacing of the film is slow, much slower than is needed for the type of "screwball" romantic comedy that Cukor is trying to build.  I think the film may have been better off in the hands of  Howard Hawks.  Or, for a melancholy feel, Billy Wilder.  But in Cukor's hands, it clunks along.

There are some very funny, witty, clever lines of  dialogue -- but there's also scenes that make one wince, such as Grant insulting Hepburn until she cries -- and he's supposed to be in Philadelphia to woo her back?

Hepburn, meanwhile, starts off as a nearly liberated woman, wearing silky pantsuits, and telling her mother and younger sister, that she dis-invited her father from the wedding because of  his affair.

Meanwhile, Hepburn ends up having an illuminating conversation, not to mention a few kisses with James Stewart, while she's drunk.  The next day, her wedding day, she can't remember exactly what she did.  At first, evidence suggests she slept with Stewart, which ticks off  her fiance', George.  However, Stewart clears the air by explaining nothing happened.  George forgives Hepburn -- but, to her credit, she doesn't forgive him for jumping to conclusions about her and she cancels the wedding.  Then, as she's announcing this to the guests -- Grant, who's feeding her lines to make the embarrassing situation more graceful, proposes.  She accepts, and the wedding goes on -- with Hepburn marrying Grant.  It's also suggested that Stewart's female photographer should marry him, so at least Stewart isn't left in the cold.

The problem with the film -- well, it's almost like a updated "Taming of  the Shrew".  Yes, Tracy Lord is a spoiled, pampered woman who has difficulty expressing her emotions, and thus seems to be an ice queen.  She compared to a "goddess" several times in the film, and never favorably.  However, her abilities at horseback riding, swimming, and sailing suggest she's a true "outdoorsy" woman -- and a woman who doesn't need a man, she needs to be allowed to do her own thing, probably in a career.  I also felt she had much better on-screen chemistry with Stewart's character, a nearly penniless writer, than Grant's -- who's also a spoiled playboy.  Tracy and Dexter (Grant) had split before because they grew bored with each other, and her coldness drove Dexter to drink (his drying out is a sub-plot of  the film), but there's no reason to believe they won't tire of each other again.  Stewart, meanwhile, is an "every man" sort, as always, but his honesty would keep Tracy on her toes, and she probably wouldn't get bored of  him.  And, should she start to take advantage of him -- he'd call her on it.  I could also see Stewart prodding her into opening some type of writing or artsy-related business, such as a publishing house, art gallery, or artist's colony.  Not that Tracy's an artist, but she does have a head for business, and she seems genuinely interested in Stewart's book, not just flattering him.

There are a couple of misses in the film as well - Tracy's ill-fated second husband-to-be really should have been played by Ralph Bellamy-- we know she's not going to marry him, the romantic triangle is between Hepburn, Grant and Stewart, so why not cast the guy who never gets the girl?  Howard Hawks would have been a better directing choice -- and would have ramped-up the pacing of  the film.  The scenes with fast dialogue are some of  the best, but at 112 minutes the film runs a little long, and drags in places.  Hawks could have speeded up the dialogue and the plot (such as in his wonderful His Girl Friday).  And, as much as I like Grant - I don't think the film works with the plot of  Tracy Lord going back to her first husband.  On the one hand it makes her look like an on-screen Elizabeth Taylor, and on the other it seems terribly old-fashioned, almost as if to suggest a woman can't really be divorced.

Recommendation:  Worth seeing, but at times slow.
Rating:  3 out of  5 Stars
Next Film:  The Princess Bride

Notorious

• Title:  Notorious
• Director:  Alfred Hitchcock
• Date:  1946
• Studio:  RKO
• Genre:  Drama, Film Noir
• Cast:  Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains
• Format:  Standard, Black and White
• DVD format:  R1, NTSC, (Criterion Collection, single disc)

"Waving the flag with one hand and picking pockets with the other, that's your patriotism."  -- Alicia


"I've always been scared of women, but I get over it." -- Devlin

In Hitchcock's Notorious, Ingrid Bergman plays Alicia, whose father's been tried for treason, found guilty and jailed.  We later learned that he "died in his cell", which is only marginally better than "shot while trying to escape".  Bergman is indifferent to her father's death, knowing he was a traitor (or as he put it in a recorded conversation - loyal to German and his own pocket) - but seems apolitical.  She is, however, a hopeless alcoholic, even driving drunk.  She meets Devlin at one of her parties, and quickly discovers he's an American agent.  He brings her to his bosses to use as an agent.  Reluctantly, she agrees and the two fly off to Rio.  It's interesting to note that Alicia's friends had also wanted her to take a vacation, but suggested Cuba!!!  Anyway, once in Rio, Alicia and Devlin discover what the job is that Devlin's un-named agency wants her to do.  She's to become romantically involved with Claude Rains' character, a man she knew as a young girl, and someone who seems to be supporting some shady scientists, though to what end is unknown - that is what Alicia is to find out.  Devlin isn't happy about Alicia's assignment, because the two have fallen for each other. Alicia, however, agrees.  She quickly forms an attachment to Rains -- and even marries him.  Devlin, meanwhle, becomes her handler - but gets more and more angry to see the woman he loves with another man.

Despite it's fantastic cast - Notorious is a very, very slow moving film.  Yes, the tension does build up, especially when Rains' mother discovers Alicia is an agent and begins to poison her coffee, but the pacing is so slow as to be irritating instead of suspenseful.  I actually found Rains to be the most fun - it's nice to see him in a juicy "bad guy" role as opposed the to lighter characters he normally plays.  Bergman is excellent as the newly minted tough-as-nail agent, but her easy submission into taking the poisoned coffee (and not realizing there might be a reason she feels so sick) undercuts her strong woman personna.  Grant, of course, rescues her at the end, but the film still has a strange ending (they leave the house, but we don't know, for sure, if Grant got to her in time for the poisoning to be reversed).  All in all - I think Notorious is a good example of a film that would work better as a TV series.  I'd have loved to see a pair of secret agents - one male, one female, who gradually fall for each other - and eventually marry.  It could be especially interesting if the woman still must "honeytrap" other spies as part of her job.  A TV series, however, could gradually work the relationship of  "Alicia" and "Devlin" -- making it more realistic, as well as dealing with the difficulties of a couple in such a dangerous profession.

But, getting back to the film, Grant is fantastic in Notorious - giving a subtle performance, and projecting a core of steel and violence.  I loved that.

Overall, though Notorious has it's good points and an excellent cast, it's like a novel by a great writer who needs an editor and without one writes books which are overly long.  The film really needed to be tightened up, the pacing improved, and the ending needs to be more concrete and less confusing.  Still, I would recommend it.

Recommendation:  See it.
Rating:  3.5 out of 5 Stars
Next Film:  The Philadelphia Story