The Treasure of the Silver Lake

The Treasure of the Silver Lake (Der Schatz Im Silbersee) (1962)

Runtime: 111 minutes

Directed by: Harald Reinl

Starring: Lex Barker, Pierre Brice, Gotz George, Herbert Lom, Karin Dor

From: A few European companies

How could I not watch a movie starring a character known as OLD SHATTERHAND?

This wasn't originally what I was going to watch; instead it was a popular 90's movie on Prime that was leaving the free tier the end of July and was advertised as being 4K w/ HDR but instead when I hit play it was tagged as just being HD (this isn't the first time this has happened but this is a rant I'll have to write in another review) so in the future I'll just borrow the Blu-ray from someone I know. Another topic is how because I've reviewed a staggering variety of different movies, all sorts of people follow me that see all sorts of motion pictures no matter how niche their favorite genres be. Consequently, I always feel obliged to keep up the rather eclectic mix of pictures.

One mutual in particular has an interest in old West German genre flicks, including the Westerns they made. Yes, West Germans made more than a few cowboys & Indian films and they were shot in locations like what is now known as Croatia. As they did w/ their krimi movies that were based on old stories from the likes of Edgar Wallace, the Westerns were typically based on the works of 19th century German author Karl May... someone who had never been in America at all (let alone the Wild West but managed to fake it well enough to fool people. He wrote a number of novels featuring a white cowboy nicknamed Old Shatterhand-which to me sounds like the name of a Jaeger in Pacific Rim!-who teamed up with an Apache chief named Winnetou. 

It is a standard tale revolving around a treasure map and some dastardly heels-it starts off as a group of a few dozen-lead by Herbert Lom. Shatterhand & Winnetou end up working with quite the motley crew: a young man who is looking for revenge as Lom killed his dad for his half of the map, Karin Dor who unfortunately isn't given much to do, someone who always speaks in rhyme, and an eccentric who wears a bad wig as he was scalped at an earlier time. It has a different flavor due to its origins yet in essence it is a typical Western: shootouts, brawls, whooping Indians, a rousing score, etc. It was filmed in Croatia and believe it or not was a reasonable facsimile of the West. There are plenty of rocky mountains & often provided gorgeous vistas.

I've heard this was the most popular movie in West German the year it came out (no mean feat considering that the likes of Lawrence of Arabia was competition) and it was a fun yarn which I understand hardly has anything to do w/ the book it is based on. Those that are genre fans would be well served to at least give this sauerkraut version a shot.

Lost Highway

Lost Highway (1997)

Runtime: 135 minutes

Directed by: David Lynch

Starring: Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, Robert Blake, Natasha Gregson Wagner

From: October Films

Here we go... this will be another rather lengthy review for me but context is definitely needed. Up to a few years ago the only David Lynch I had seen was Blue Velvet. Finally, I experienced all his theatrical movies up to 1990 and except for Dune I rate all pretty highly; even with Dune that was fine and it's a shame that Lynch was not able to release his version of the film.

Yet I've never seen Twin Peaks (so there's no Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me to discuss; maybe one day...) or anything past that as to be honest, the idea of a movie being hardcore surreal or bizarre is one that gives me tremendous pause. After all, look at just how violently I rejected everything concerning Everything Everywhere All at Once. A bigger fear before last night was that I would have to suddenly not like a director once he went in a different direction and created art that was more about feeling and interpretation than adhering to traditional plot structure. I would feel bad if I had to suddenly rate a Lynch movie as not being good.

If you're wondering how I saw this film, it was in a big way: the local arthouse joint in the Orlando area (the Enzian, a place I've frequented at least a dozen times before) played it. I hadn't been there in a few years so it was nice to return. As it was the 4K restoration that's been touring the country playing at arthouses all over the place-and multiple people have told me that theatrical is the way to experience ANY Lynch-then I'd be a clown to miss out on such an opportunity. In fact, I'm sure some are envious I got to have this as the first time experience.

As for my overall thoughts: now it's realized what a court jester I was for being apprehensive about the film. Weird, yes it was. Utterly impenetrable or insufferable due to the story being incomprehensible on purpose, no it wasn't. I do know that the movie is supposed to be up to interpretation and there are suggestions as to what it could all mean. The Occam's Razor philosophy being used to explain what happened, that's the scenario I'll go with (I won't provide details for those who were like me before last night and haven't had this experience) although I am willing to watch the movie again eventually and further viewings may create more complex theories. For certain, it does seem as if there are several themes present and that is worthy of discussion (as to what it all means or what Lynch was trying to say) w/ any & all Lost Highway fans.

As this is a neo-noir, some tropes from the noirs of old are presented, although some are twisted around. In fact, I will say that IMO one theme is masculinity-and the lack thereof-along with an exaggerated version of the femme fatale. There is a LOT of sex & nudity and I don't want to think that Lynch is just being a perv; there has to be other reasons, such as it was done for exaggeration to prove a point. I won't say this is objectionable although it is unfortunate in hindsight that several people are in this. Robert Blake (as Satan? That allegedly was his rationalization of his character) has a small yet important role; a key plot point is brutally ironic considering the presence of Blake. Despite his being found innocent of murdering Bonny Lee Bakley, I just don't know... there's also having to both see & hear Marilyn Manson; it seems like he has hurt multiple women. Heck, even in a small role is Louis Eppolito, a former NYC detective who did so many bad things for the Five Families of the Mafia, he was sentence to life in prison. None of this impacted my opinion of Lost Highway.

It was great to see the movie on the big screen; it does sound & look excellent after the 4K restoration. As always with the director, the soundscape/soundtrack/songs were in happy harmony w/ each other and helped create the appropriate mood for this dark tale. Also, what a cast; Bill Pullman, Balthazar Getty and Patricia Arquette did stand out with their performances although that's no slight on the other familiar faces that appear... everyone from Gary Busy and Robert Loggia (the latter was the source of the movie's funniest scene) to Natasha Gregson Wagner and in a cameo, Richard Pryor's final film role.

Overall, if you are a fan of this film or you've watched some other Lynch pictures, you need to see Lost Highway on the big screen if at all possible. Admittedly, I do rate The Elephant Man and Blue Velvet even higher but that's mainly my preferences to preferring more traditional storytelling. It'll take months instead of years but yes I will watch all the other feature films of David Lynch.

The Gray Man

The Gray Man (2022)

48 % on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 205 reviews)

Runtime: 122 minutes

Directed by: The Russo Brothers

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Billy Bob Thornton, Dhanush

From: Netflix

You know, I don’t regret this being my first Russo Brothers movie, even if I discovered that “nonstop drone shots” is apparently a director trademark w/ them. I know, that will be a stunning admission to many (there is a small category of middle-aged adults who doesn’t really care for superhero films in general, and moi resides in said category) but then again I am someone who hasn’t subscribed to Netflix in almost a year. While I have the service, at least one Indian movie will be watched-as there are a few mutuals whose viewing habits is filled with pictures from that universe-along with whatever else strikes my fancy. By now I’ve definitely heard plenty of negative reviews here on Letterboxd for The Gray Man, or at least those that proclaim how mediocre it is. The alleged $200 budget and how it was used was a source of much derision.

Another comment I’ve heard is that this is rather generic; admittedly, a plot description of “a CIA mercenary accidentally discovers the agency’s dark secrets so the agency sends assets to assassinate the mercenary” is something to be expected in a DTV action movie from any era. The end result: it reminds me why many modern movies just leave me cold. This had no shortage of traits that are a turn-off: putrid dialogue, action that could be cool but too often is incoherent, bad editing, poor storytelling, plotholes galore, bad CGI (that even affected the fight scenes although the nadir of that was during a plane sequence that was just illogical in general)and lame-ass villains. In this case, the villains part is partially true… Chris Evans as Lloyd was at least amusing although I didn’t love all of his dialogue by any means and he was no Bennett from Commando; the character of Carmichael, though… he was such a lame and laughable bad guy instead of menacing and frightful. I don’t blame the actor Rege-Jean Page, I blame the script.

The cast as a whole was at least fine; it was nice to see the old faces along with watching some for the first time; I’m referring to Jessica Henwick in a rather thankless role (I’d rather not experience either Iron Fist or that poor attempt at mining The Matrix name to see her acting talents), or Tamil actor Dhanush; he was impressive with not a lot of screentime. In the “Chenny” role was Julia Butters and color me thankful that her “child in peril” role was not as irritating as it could have been; plus, it was rather inspired that a 12 year old was a hipster who listened to records of ABBA, Shirley Bassey & Mark Lindsay. 

If only the rest of this would have been as interesting (and I don’t mean interesting in a bad way like Only God Forgives was! Yes I did have nightmarish flashbacks during the opening scenes w/ Ryan Gosling in Bangkok)… instead it’s a shallow story and slight entertainment which is set in many exotic locations but is rather forgettable and my “meh” rating probably means that in the grand scheme of things, I’d rate it higher than the glut of high budget made for Netflix pictures which I presume are mostly lousy. While I could laugh at the homoerotic scene between Gosling and Evans (but it never reached the degree of John Matrix and Bennett), what an awful final 10 or so minutes that almost sank my opinion of this entirely. A franchise, I don’t need this to be.

 

One False Move

One False Move (1992)

Runtime: 105 minutes

Directed by: Carl Franklin

Starring: Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, Cynda Williams, Michael Beach, Jim Metzler

From: IRS Media

This will be the first of several 90's movies I'll be watching in the upcoming days; I am sure that this will be the one which has the least amount of total ratings. It played on TCM last night as part of a deal done each Wednesday night in July where they played independent black cinema. It's a film I've known of for awhile but never have seen; as I enjoyed director Carl Franklin's Devil in a Blue Dress and I was happy to check out something starring both Bill Paxton & Billy Bob Thornton (the second movie in a role featuring him for me)... and the plot sounded appealing to boot.

I recently complained about villains in modern movies—now this movie has some villains worth remembering. Thornton (a co-writer of the script) is more the brute type, a dimwitted yet lethal criminal. Michael Beach has a genius-level IQ and is far more Machiavellian yet no less lethal. Cynda Williams plays Thornton's girl-for a short amount of time she was one of the SIX women who have been married to Billy Bob-who is dragged into the mess yet she isn't an unwilling participant. In the opening scenes it is clearly established how deadly that trio is and their brutal actions result in some gruesome murders in LA. They flee to Arkansas, right to the town where good old boy Paxton is sheriff.

It may sound cliché that two cops from Los Angeles come to Arkansas for the apprehension and there is a culture clash but the movie is far more nuanced than that. One False Move makes some interesting moves when it comes to the story-including a hard pivot in the final act-and it all works in this darker than expected tale. I don't want to give away spoilers but Paxton along with Williams were the most impressive in terms of acting/performance-you'll have to watch the film to find out why. This is more serious and addresses such serious topics as racism and drugs in an unflinching fashion in the framework of a Southern Gothic melodrama. Mix in some incredibly tense scenes and this movie is a gem.

My Apologies

for not posting anything here since Sunday. I saw nothing Sunday night and Monday night was me paying tribute to the late Paul Sorvino by revisiting GoodFellas, which is still a classic. Tomorrow I'll be posting a pair of reviews; unless something goes wrong later tonight, both will feature Billy Bob Thornton, which was not the plan until hours ago.

Street Scene

Street Scene (1931)

Runtime: 78 minutes

Directed by: King Vidor

Starring: Sylvia Sidney, William Collier, Jr., Estelle Taylor, Beulah Bondi, David Landau

From: United Artists

Yes, this was watched last night because the plot revolves around a heat wave. It’s a movie I’ve known of for a long while now but the hot climate that has seemingly enveloped the entire Northern Hemisphere as of late made it seem logical (not to mention topical) to give it a spin. The setting of this movie-in fact, all but a small scene are set on a giant sound stage-is a city block in New York City which is a melting pot filled with many different ethnicities & cultures. Of course, the non-white faces you see are only shown briefly, but that is to be expected in Hollywood. The story is based on a Pulitzer Prize winning play and the stage origins are obvious, although that was fine with me in this case as all the dialogue was riveting to me.

The first 20 minutes introduces most of the characters as they talk amongst each other either on the front step of an apartment building or from the windows and various topics are talked about besides the weather. This presents all their attitudes as such things as an impending birth, bratty children, and an adulterous affair are discussed. Oh, and there’s also plenty of prejudice and well, there is talk of people “hating foreigners” but of course they mean “hating the wrong kind of foreigners”… why does that sound familiar… yep, this along with the way it’s shot made this feel rather modern. Vidor does try rather hard at times to move the camera around to mask the sound stage aesthetic. Anyhow, Sylvia Sidney then shows up and you realize the movie focuses on her. Besides her parents being a part of that affair, a young Jewish man is interested in her…

A shocking moment happened about a half hour in, then it was topped by something even more shocking; it was a word uttered that utterly floored me as appearing in something pre MPAA ratings board. The Jewish characters do have disparaging remarks made about them… from someone expressing shock at Hebrew being read on the page to them being called “your kind.” Then later, the building’s bully pushes around the aforementioned young Jewish man and calls him a… horrible ethnic slur I’ll never repeat here, except that it is THAT one. If that didn’t knock me on my ass, about 10 minutes later Sidney is talking to an Italian man with a rather exaggerated accent and he repeats that slur in reference to the same young man, not in anger but instead in a casual manner as if it’s a word he uses often and he thinks it is OK to say out loud. Giving its usage in the first scene, even at the time it had to be a vile insult. Yet the Jewish characters were portrayed relatively well compared to everyone else (although they also had their prejudices) so the movie should not be judged as offensive against that religion.

Eventually, murder happens and once it does, the rest of the movie is the ramifications of that death or deaths. All of it was fascinating seeing all the gossiping characters reveal various faults and errors in judgment just from their dialogue and how they interact w/ each other. In terms of performances, Sidney was the best, although Beulah Bondi also stood out as the most prejudicial person on the block. It was a memorable 78 minutes for sure; Street Scene was my first sound King Vidor film and I’ll be down for watching more of those if they also felt as fresh as this did.

X

 X (2022)

Amazingly, 95% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 205 reviews)

Runtime: 105 minutes

Directed by: Ti West

Starring: Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Brittany Snow, Kid Cudi, Martin Henderson

From: A24/BRON/MAD SOLAR

I never thought I’d see another Ti West movie, but here we go.

Long ago I’ve reviewed a few of his pictures; I won’t link to any of them as all of them aren’t great compared to what I write now. Let me summarize: 

* House of the Devil had some decent performances and the general idea was fine. However, too much of the movie was as exciting as watching mold develop on cheese and when the big bad reveals itself, it was just laughable.
* The Innkeepers would have been better if the two leads weren’t hipster D-bags (why did the guy have a fauxhawk if he was starting to lose his hair?) and it didn’t feel so amateur. I remember especially not being happy w/ Lena Dunham’s cameo either.
* His shorts in VHS and The ABC’s of Death were either more mold growing on cheese-the former-or extremely gross and puerile-the latter.
* The Sacrament made me so mad I thought it’d be the last thing of his I’d ever see. The movie was simply a copy of Jim Jones and Jonestown; that’s a real life story worth knowing but this found footage film (yes) was not only awful overall & so inept that I swear the setting was originally a foreign country before it was switched to Mississippi (as if it’s in the United States, why was there a big deal made about the crew having passports?!), it felt like blatant lazy exploitation of a horrible tragedy.

Yet the one time I saw the trailer for X, it surprised me-using a Foghat song was a good call-and even though I never pulled the trigger on a theatrical viewing despite that thought ran through my mind more than once, that trigger was finally pulled after there was a flash sale on Prime of the UHD version for just a few bucks about two weeks ago. With all that backstory out of the way, did I finally like a Ti West picture?

By now I am sure that people are familiar w/ the plot of how a 70’s porn crew surreptitiously films in rural Texas on the property of a rural couple but things go awry… so instead I’ll talk about the picture as a whole. My reaction was, “Meh.” It started off fine enough-even if the Texas Chain Saw Massacre influence was rather blatant-and I did giggle at the adult film aspects, including the pretentious cameraman (although why did that cameraman also edit X and include those weird flourishes?) but boy did I lose my patience in the second half with the typical Ti West pacing and (even w/ HDR) how damn dark the movie became in terms of visual appearance. What “the big bad” was also made me laugh in a bad way, due to how improbable it was for me.

The 1970’s era is always appealing yet the movie didn’t really wow me in terms of plot, most of the performances or the gore. I’m unsure of the attempt to make Mia Goth a star, although Jenna Ortega once again delivered with the material she was given. After I finally gave this a chance, my main thought was, what was the hubbub all about? 

Technically this is my “favorite” West picture yet I was totally ambivalent about the events that transpired. You can have all the 70’s tunes, religious zealots, cocaine and naked women & yet it was as flavorful as oatmeal At least I learned my lesson to avoid Ol’ Ti for the rest of time as his work is just not for me.

 

To Catch A Thief

To Catch a Thief (1955)

Runtime: 107 minutes

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jessie Royce Landis, John Williams, Charles Vanal

From: Paramount 

Well, at least France is a gorgeous country when it comes to visuals. Last night I decided it was time to check out a popular Hitchcock film I hadn’t seen before; the movie is available on Prime so it was about time.

It’s a movie I wish would have been as enjoyable as the views of both the French countryside and the French Riviera, or the glamorous nature of the two leads, but alas… Grant is a former ace cat burglar (who the movie tries to babyface by noting that he did time in prison then via German bombing he was freed and then he served in the Resistance) who is naturally suspected when a copycat cat burglar pops up in the French Riviera. He tries to investigate as the law is after him, but of course he starts swooning over Kelly; note that it’s about a half hour before she shows up.

Getting to see the two stars together for the only time is neat and all, but in terms of “on the run” movies where there’s tension concerning the lead being captured… this is no The 39 Steps, nor is it North by Northwest either. Things happen but I was mostly “meh” about the events; the “mystery” also was rather predictable to me which didn’t help matters. It’s light in tone-although also light in suspense; overall, this was not terrible by any means yet considering the director and stars, it was natural for me to expect more. Despite some gorgeous visual moments, there is no doubt that there are other Hitch movies I’d rather revisit than this… although it is understandable why others would swoon harder over this than I did.