Three Days of the Condor

Three Days of the Condor (1975)

Runtime: 117 minutes

Directed by: Sydney Pollack

Starring: Robert Redford (RIP), Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, Max von Sydow, John Houseman

From: Paramount

RIP Robert Redford

A star of his magnitude, my paying tribute couldn’t be delayed even a day. Actor, director, activist, champion of independent film, founding the Sundance Film Festival… his accolades don’t need further explanation from me, except that he lived a long, fruitful life. Years past, I’ve reviewed a trio of films among his most popular: Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, The Sting, and All the President’s Men. All three are great and didn’t need another review from me; those movies should be seen by those who haven’t yet.

Yet, despite my viewing of some classic 70’s paranoid conspiracy thrillers in the past, Condor was one not seen by me before. There was no better time than now-thankfully it is a very good motion picture. Redford was Joe Turner, a codebreaker at the CIA who works at a clandestine location in New York City. Literature is read to discover if info is hidden in the printed word. He notices an obscure novel is translated in a few random languages despite awful sales.

He's literally out to lunch one day as the rest of his office is executed. Now he’s on the run; desperation forced him to randomly form a relationship w/ Faye Dunaway… an awkward and in fact occasionally (or perhaps more often than occasionally) uncomfortable relationship, it was. At least the two leads were quality in their roles, although arguably Cliff Robertson (as a superior) and especially Max von Sydow as a scholarly hitman type were just as memorable and portrayed the most fascinating characters.

Condor-the codename that Redford’s Joe Turner has in the CIA-was both exciting and measured in its pacing, allowing for action, quiet character moments, and the lead’s attempt to solve the mystery while avoiding capture at the right moments to make this enthralling for its almost 2-hour runtime. Naturally, of interest to me would be both the cynical 70’s nature of the plot and the awesome jazz-fusion soundtrack from longtime Sydney Pollack collaborator Dave Grusin, still alive today at the age of 91. 

Redford was the highlight; what a leading man. Even when the romance with Dunaway’s Kathy can be best and most kindly be charitably described as “of its time,” I was invested in his plight, thrilled when he used the 70’s version of hacking to his advantage, disappointed when he made a mistake against his foes, but was happy when he outwitted them. It was bittersweet realizing that this along with some other movies featuring him should have been reviewed here already. At least many here have seen more than me and can even better appreciate the career he had. Those that enjoy 70’s paranoid conspiracy thrillers should at least give Three Days of the Condor a shot.

Oh, and not only does this take place around Christmas, New York City is presented well, whether on familiar streets full of businesses & dwellings, or grungy alleyways.

The Boogey Man

The Boogey Man (1980)

Runtime: 82 minutes

Directed by: Ulli Lommel

Starring: Suzanna Love, Ron James, Nicholas Love, Raymond Boyden, John Carradine

From: The Jerry Gross Organization

By now, many people will know why it is timely to review a movie concerning a haunted mirror. Elsewhere, I laughed that such a motion picture would be inspired by Ulli Lommel’s most famous directorial effort. What a bizarre career in the cinematic industry he had… acting in several Fassbinder movies, then directing off-and-on for many years—somehow resulting in him becoming (according to reliable sources) an atrocious director in the 2000’s, creating ½ star efforts where he never shot more than one take per scene. How that happened is beyond my comprehension.

What an opening to The Boogey Man: the opening synth song (what an interesting soundtrack) combines both Tubular Bells and the Theme to Halloween. A little boy and even more little girl watch Mom make out with her lover outside via window. She puts her stocking on his head & he looks like Francis Dollarhyde during the final act of Manhunter! They get caught, the boy (Willy) is literally tied up, the girl (Lacey) cuts him free, probably not expecting him to kill the stepfather. The rest is 20 years after the murder; Lacey has a family but Willy is a mute.

It's awhile before that mirror shatters and the murders begin; that’s one way to interpret the old canard concerning broken mirrors & bad luck. While trauma & grief in horror now comes off as tiresome, in older movies it usually seems more tolerable. That includes The Boogey Man, believe it or not. The movie takes its time in presenting the characters; both Willy & Lacey are clearly troubled by the past. Many won’t like that Lacey’s husband is the gaslighting type, nor will some like that he’s a police officer. 

When the second half occurs, the plot becomes increasingly crazed & irrational. That said, it was still quite entertaining, especially during the bonkers finale which at least had some originality. I laughed at that, along with the random teenage cannon fodder or that even a little boy wasn’t immune to the spirit released from the mirror. Hilarious is that the musical cues were a sign that this would unapologetically rip off both Halloween & The Exorcist… not a coincidence either is that the farmhouse much of the film takes place at suspiciously looks like 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York…

Despite the flaws, I was amused by this claptrap which combined many old ideas & some new ones into a burgoo stew of a supernatural slasher which contained a decent amount of atmosphere. It was also nice seeing John Carradine for a few scenes. A key detail to note: the film was a family affair. Lommel’s then-wife Suzanna Love (to steal a line from a mutual, Not Daisy Edgar-Jones) was the adult Lacey, while her on-screen brother was portrayed by real-life brother Nicholas. She is a DuPont heir and apparently that’s where the money came from to allow Lommel to make some of his movies independently. Besides me giving her flowers for delivering a fine performance here, she co-wrote this and three other movies w/ Ulli divorcing him in ’87.

Wait a minute… is that why (at least judging by IMDb ratings) the quality of his movies went downhill after 1987? Did I crack the code? In any event, I do know of Boogeyman II, a strangely meta sequel which could give me plenty to talk about-such as it apparently using more flashback footage than Silent Night, Deadly Night Part II!-but apparently is atrocious so it’s not a must, especially when there might be other rancid films reviewed in the near-future.

Three More Stooge Shorts

Hot Ice: 

(Short # 165 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges) 

I'll have a review of a feature film tonight... it will be posted a few hours later than usual, due to the cockeyed schedule I have this week.

Perhaps I am a little generous in just giving Hot Ice a passing grade. After all, it sort of awkwardly combines the opening few minutes from The Hot Scots (the Stooges apply to be “yardmen” at Scotland Yard, not knowing it means “they pick up the trash in the yard” with Crime on Their Hands, a short which had film noir elements-you see someone murdered, an event that never happens in the Stoogeiverse-and this version lost most of those elements. Heck, their wardrobe between the new and old footage obviously doesn't match if you're paying even a bit of attention.

Yet, I still laughed again as they looked for the Punjab Diamond, and still laughed that Shemp accidentally swallowed it, and still laughed that a gorilla somehow became involved. That old footage felt sillier in this context and the new ending was so oddly flat... yet that unintentionally made me laugh and there was a quality new bit where they search a lady's purse & pull out various weapons, including dynamite, a hatchet and poison. Sometimes, something as simple as that can win me over.

Blunder Boys: 

(Short # 166 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

The last worthwhile Three Stooges short starring Shemp. I can’t proclaim this with 100% accuracy as there’s only 4 more after this he appears in. However, there’s a strong degree of certainty just from the fact this the last wholly original Shemp short-there’s no stock footage and it’s a new story. Heck, it could be the final very good effort period, given the few Joe Besser efforts I’ve seen and the poor reception the Besser era has among fans.

Furthermore, this is a spoof of Dragnet. At least some will be familiar from the 1987 comedic spoof of the property; while it’s unimportant for the viewer to know this to enjoy Blunder Boys, Dragnet was originally a police procedural drama revolving around LAPD Detective Joe Friday, who investigates cases in a realistic milieu. Friday is attached to the phrase “Just the facts, ma’am”… although that is a misquotation and he never said that exact phrase anywhere. It was a TV show on several occasions, most prominently from 1951 to 1959, then from 1967 to 1970.

Instead of star-franchise creator Jack Webb as a master of his craft, we first see the trio in the Army; they bungled their way to success. Then, off to college to major in criminology; despite their usage of fancy $10 words, they in fact blundered their way to barely passing, then more blunders occurred w/ their first case, involving a slippery cuss known as The Eel.

Along the way there are funny pun names, new routines, some running gags, absurd scenarios (such as the boys entering a women’s Turkish bath), and more magic that reminded me of the Good Old Days with these good old boys, no matter who the third Stooge was. This featured a few other lasts; that includes the final appearance of Al Thompson-a supporting actor who appeared in several dozen shorts for the preceding 20 years-and the last short released when Shemp was alive. This was filmed in early ’55 but released November the 3rd of that year; he died from a heart attack 19 years later. I’ll give a better eulogy once his final appearance is reviewed soon.

The final few years of the Stooges at Columbia don’t have a great reputation; at least Blunder Boys is well worth seeing for those that like Howard, Fine & Howard yet haven’t tackled this yet.

Husbands Beware: 

(Short # 167 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges) 

Believe it or not, they even remade Brideless Groom. As that’s one of the most famous Stooge shorts (partially due to its public domain status and partially due to Groom being one of the best they ever did, full stop) an explanation of how it was “inspired” by Buster Keaton’s Seven Chances and permanent bachelor Shemp was forced to marry a lady to earn a huge inheritance. 

This was less than the sum of its parts. The first almost seven minutes are Moe & Larry marrying Shemp’s sisters. They are best described as “fuller-figured” and in stereotypical fashion, they suddenly turn into shrilly harpies who demand their husbands cook them a meal. Them attempting to cook a turkey that still has its feathers on (don’t worry, those feathers were removed… via shaving them off!) was as wacky as expected. That said, an entire short where Moe & Larry suffer further abuse from their new wives could have been a lot of fun.

After that, a truncated version of Brideless Groom which either excludes or edits down all the great moments & routines that made Groom legendary. Laughs are still present but the strongest feeling I got from Husbands Beware: I’d rather revisit Brideless Groom. There is a new ending to Beware, and… “confusion” was my main comment concerning that. At least Emil Sitka got to say The Line on several occasions.

The Invisible Man Returns

The Invisible Man Returns (1940)

Runtime: 81 minutes

Directed by: Joe May

Starring: Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Vincent Price, Nan Grey, John Sutton, Cecil Kellaway

From: Universal

Not only is classic Universal Horror great for this time of year, so is Vincent Price. For awhile now, I’ve heard several different sources praise this first sequel to The Invisible Man; while this doesn’t have as much gleeful joy from a Claude Rains that went bonkers from becoming invisible, this was still pretty good telling a different story that contained many of the same elements.

The younger brother of Rains is a doctor himself; he helped Price become invisible and escape from a hanging. He was falsely accused of murdering his brother. The doctor works on an antidote to make Ol’ Vincent visible again before going bonkers while Ol’ Vincent attempts to locate the real killer. Thankfully, the special effects are great for the time; there are new ways that law enforcement attempt to find an invisible person; likewise, such elements as rain create an obvious outline.

The only other recognizable face for me was Sir Cedric Hardwicke; he was a character that amused me although of course Price was the highlight. Not being able to see Price is irrelevant when he has That Voice; furthermore, it was a fascinating character as he attempts to prove his innocence while his mental health deteriorates. He was more an antihero than Dr. Jack Griffin in the first; this is as Price causes death himself.

There’s a bit of atmosphere in this tale which has a decent score & cast; it also made me realize that Austrian director Joe May is sadly unheralded as a pioneer of German cinema who emigrated to the United States. Probably a reason that he isn’t praised like Lang and Murnau: his work (especially the silent era) is far harder to track down, if it isn’t completely lost. May did a fine job here-in the far-off future I’ll check out more of his work.

While I wasn’t completely sold on the finale, The Invisible Man Returns was still a pretty good time between the revenge plot, some colorful supporting characters, the ticking clock attached to Vincent, the clever attempts to ensnare him. Who knows about the subsequent films in this series-at least the first sequel was solid.

Apaches

This is an infamous 1977 short from the United Kingdom: 

It is about the danger from children playing on rural farms, from the director of The Long Good Friday. During each Spooky Season, there’s been more than fictional movies that are reviewed. I’ve covered cartoon shorts, documentaries, other public safety films, etc. This fall there could be even more variety depending on if certain things can be fit into my schedule. Apaches obviously left an impression on none other than Edgar Wright; he’s recommended the short in the past.

What the title references: six children run around a random British village then mosey their way to a farm, while cosplaying as Apache Indians, to use a term from the time. The reason why this is infamous & traumatized many of the youth in the UK: the children are killed via accidents and no F’s were given. Example: the first kid is run over via falling off a flatbed towed by a tractor. Not only do you see the flatbed run over something, a toy rifle is shattered and there’s some blood shown! I won’t spoil all the deaths but there’s someone who accidentally drinks a mysterious liquid; their subsequent screams due to their poisoning… rather chilling.

As an adult, it is affecting to see children act like typical children on a dreary working farm (complete w/ adults along with cows and pigs) and suffer accidental deaths. During all this, a child narrates their parents holding “a party” & how they don’t like adult parties. The final scene explains what this “party” is. That along with a final text scroll noting actual deaths by children on farms in the UK… blunt, although at the same time the images and messages presented in Apaches were seared into the memory of all the children that viewed it at school.

As it was better-made production-wise than you’d expect from a random PSA, that made this fascinating for a dumb middle-aged American dude like me.

The Conjuring: Last Rites

The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025)

57% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 164 reviews)

Runtime: 135 minutes

Directed by: Michael Chaves

Starring: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Mia Tomlinson, Ben Hardy, Rebecca Calder, Elliot Cowan

From: New Line Cinema

A good time… as long as you don’t believe this as reality. An uncomfortable truth is that IRL, Ed & Lorraine Warren surely seem like charlatans, dishonest in their purported claims of the alleged paranormal events they investigated. Ed & Lorraine probably shouldn’t be lionized like this… at the same time, I’ve seen all the films in The Conjuring Universe (the one about La Llorna apparently doesn’t count) and I at least liked most of them. Films in that style are preferable to most of that elevated nonsense or those new slashers that just feel so smug, as if the filmmakers are either trying way too hard to be “cool” or they feel above the material.

The movie versions of Ed & Lorraine Warren are still likable. The same holds true for them in Last Rites, where the focus is on them and their adult daughter Judy. It’s awhile before they investigate the Smurl family in the eastern portion of Pennsylvania. As always, those alleged hauntings as documented are FAR different than what was portrayed on screen. The Smurls claimed those events happened for FIFTEEN years; furthermore, they did not occur due to a haunted object (the identity of such made me how with laughter; who knew a certain low-budget 80’s horror flick would be influential?) that had previous contact with Ed & Lorraine.

The story they presented was ludicrous; the finale, laughable at times, to be frank. Even so, I still liked this film; an improvement on the third installment, it was. Liking both the Warren and the Smurl family did help—insert your own Vin Diesel joke if you wish. The music was nice, along with hearing 80’s songs that were either familiar or not overplayed to death like you get in most big-budget films of modern times that use them. As sappy as it may sound, both families were nice & charming in their own ways.

That’s why I earnestly enjoyed this movie, despite its flaws & implausibility. The present of some nice scares was of course the other critical reason why I can give this a passing grade. The first two Conjuring movies were better than this, but at least 4 was better than 3. This is the purported last Conjuring movie—but of course this did way better than expected at the box office so already, a prequel was announced. That’s not as bad a way to continue the franchise if they felt it was absolutely necessary. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga will be missed in their roles.

Bad Timing

Bad Timing (1980)

Runtime: 123 minutes

Directed by: Nicolas Roeg

Starring: Art Garfunkel, Theresa Russell (no relation), Harvey Keitel, Denholm Elliott, Daniel Massey

From: Rank Film Distributors

I have the Criterion Channel’s 24/7 service for me finally tackling this film; before last night, it was one of seemingly thousands I’ve known of and have had at least a bit of interest in yet until last night the trigger was never pulled. More Nicolas Roeg needed to be seen by me anyhow. I was always curious over seeing Art Garfunkel in an erotic psychological drama. While he’ll always be best as a legendary musician (I’m hopeful that even the youngest readers will know Simon & Garfunkel), he was fine in the role and in fact casting someone like him was probably a good bold choice, for reasons I can't divulge.

In a nonlinear fashion, we see the passionate romance between psychoanalyst Garfunkel and the younger Theresa Russell-no relation-in Vienna, a pair of Americans who found each other. She OD’s in an apparent suicide attempt & is taken to a hospital; this is investigated, led by Harvey Keitel, dressed like Mr. White but sporting longer hair. The film has great hair between the three leads.

The movie is thankfully fair in treating lead girl Milena’s depression & general mental health struggles. Lead guy Alex has his own flaws; thus, it was easy to comprehend those personalities & why it was full of passion… sometimes love, sometimes confusion, and sometimes combustion. He’s the logical sort who wants to understand while she is a fiery, bold personality more about love.

The film had & has a controversial reputation; the film’s own distributor found it “sick,” the brief theatrical release in the United States was unrated, then it was only 2005 that it had any U.S. home release, via Criterion. I wasn’t quite sure why this was the case myself. A woman attempting to take her own life is always upsetting, along with seeing her deteriorating mental health. There’s a tracheotomy which was gruesome. Then, the final act happened… it all became clear. Remaining vague, I’ll just state that at least one appalling moment happens; for some it may be too much, for a variety of reasons.

I’ll give the movie credit for its boldness in broaching such mature topics and uncomfortable moments w/ an unwavering eye. The editing and how the story was presented played a large role in the movie’s success; so did the interesting score & soundtrack. I’ll always be mystified by the popularity of Tom Waits but as it was just one song from him & I enjoyed the rest… no complaints. While a challenging movie, the journey of experiencing Bad Timing that will be one worth taking for many. The outstanding performance of Russell alone is one reason.