Here

Here (2024)

36% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 113 reviews)

Runtime: 104 minutes

Directed by: Robert Zemeckis

Starring: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul Bettany, Kelly Reilly, a variety of people in small roles, including family members of the director

From: Tri-Star/Miramax

Not the cheeriest movie to view on Election Night, but... while not as awesome as the way I spent that night 4 years ago (details at the end) it was still nice to go out, see Here, return home, and type the review on OpenOffice-this is where all the reviews are written. It was a distraction from worrying about something that wouldn't be determined for hours.

As for director Robert Zemeckis, the BTTF trilogy I knew but have only seen a few others, not all of which were reviewed here. Forrest Gump-some talent from that returned here-was last tackled more than 25 years ago and Beowulf was only witnessed theatrically in '07. I thought those were OK then—who knows now. General hearsay tells me that it's a blessing not to have watched his Pinocchio or his The Witches. As this was a wild idea that could only be done by an older prominent director, I was intrigued for something different... and was hoping for something more enjoyable than Megalopolis!

The idea is indeed crazy—in hindsight, not a surprise the story's source was a graphic novel. Throughout history (but mainly since 1900 and mainly involving the family that included the leads Tom Hanks & Robin Wright) the camera is stationary, whether we see dinosaurs briefly in the opening, Native Americans in Pre-Colonial times, the late 1700's that inexplicably included real historical figures, and from the house's inception, a static shot into the living room, with the expected items-including a TV-in the foreground & a front window in the background. In a film like this, the look at most of the characters will be rather fragmented so broad strokes are painted.

You can criticize if you wish; the static nature, the AI that was used to de-age the actors (it's a surprise this has not caused an uproar), the saccharine nature, the needle-drops and other signposts signifying which decade we're in, etc. People closer to the director's age are more likely to be charmed. All this said, Here is not a cynical picture and wears its heart on its sleeve. These days w/ modern Hollywood or even independent cinema, earnestness is appreciated. Unexpected was the nonlinear structure-I'm still undecided how well that idea worked-and the presence of dark moments; not only is death present, so are bitter bullies or otherwise characters who were disappointed by unfulfilled dreams, by failures, by the bad breaks in life.

Naturally, a movie with such a unique structure will be polarizing; the scores from Letterboxd mutuals are all over the map. Myself: flaws aside, Here was a good time as I was amused by the history of that plot of land and how one of the 20th century residents turned out to be a fictional inventor of a famous product. Unlike too many modern films, I wasn't irritated or annoyed by insufferable moments. Instead, I appreciated that this different gimmick was used & the end result wasn't a disaster. The low critical scores aren't fair, IMO.

As for what I saw during Election Night 2020, I went to a drive-in and saw a tremendous triple-feature: Godzilla vs. Megalon, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and Destroy All Monsters. Not everyone feels the same way, but watching movies and discussing them serve as a nice respite from “the real world.”

Fun in Acapulco

Fun in Acapulco (1963)

Runtime: 97 minutes

Directed by: Richard Thorpe

Starring: Elvis, Ursula Andress, Elsa Cardenas, Paul Lukas, Alejandro Rey

From: Paramount

In this early posting (so I can go out and do things which will distract from the Presidential election) It is time to clear space off the DVR again. While the DVR is only half-full, there’s too much that’s been sitting on the device for months. As absurd as this sounds, Fun in Acapulco was recorded in August… of 2023! A large number of Elvis movies have been tackled through the years; this was as corny as most of them yet I’ll be kind & say that this was “fine.”

The King played a gringo in the Mexican resort city who gets hired at a hotel; there’s rivalry with Alejandro Rey, romance w/ Ursula Andress (get this, her initial appearance is of her in a bikini) & plenty of songs are heard; naturally, they have a Latin flair-the conclusion features Presley sings in Spanish-and like most Elvis movie soundtracks, the tunes are rarely better than “serviceable.” That is basic, although there is a tragic backstory for our lead Mike Windgren. He was a trapeze artist (!) but of course there’s a tragic accident, and wouldn’t you know that Moreno is a cliff-diver, which factors into the climax.

Elvis actually didn’t film in Mexico; the film’s Wiki page explains the whole preposterous story but it’s due to no fault of his own. That was unfortunate—still, there’s a decent amount of footage from Acapulco and this was an easy watch. Heck, there’s even a kid sidekick who wasn’t an irritating annoyance. It is nice that some prominent Hispanic roles in this movie were filled by Hispanic actors. At the same time, the most famous/best song on the soundtrack was Bossa Nova Baby—yes, people were supposed to ignore that it’s Brazilian instead of Mexican.

One last note: like she did in a few Elvis movies, Teri Garr (RIP) had a bit part. Sometime soon, I’ll pay tribute by reviewing a movie starring the late actor.

 

The Face Behind the Mask

The Face Behind the Mask (1941)

Runtime: 69 minutes-heh

Directed by: Robert Florey

Starring: Peter Lorre, Evelyn Keyes, Don Beddoe, George E. Stone, John Tyrrell

From: Columbia

The first of several film noirs this Noirvember is a film new to me. The Criterion Channel added both the Columbia Noir collection and the Noirvember Essentials collection; the latter is a great way to dip your toe into the genre if you know precious little about where to stop. The reason why a film new to me was selected: a few mutuals have already viewed it & gave positive reviews. Peter Lorre as the lead was also enticing.

He portrayed lead Janos Szabo; like Lorre in real life, Szabo emigrated to the United States from Hungary. The American Dream became a nightmare after he was badly burnt in a hotel fire. At first it wasn’t so bad; at least Szabo was treated fair when first arriving; a police officer helped him out and he got a job washing dishes right away at a hotel café. After the blazing inferno, though—Janos doesn’t react well to seeing his damaged face; no wonder when employers discriminate against him and everyone is horrified at his appearance. To think that the one guy who doesn’t care is a sick hoodlum named DINKY. Lest you think that’s the wackiest name, an important character is JEFF JEFFRIES.

As American healthcare is little-improved from then to now, it meant that the cost to fix the damage to his face would be prohibitively expensive--actually, let me not joke about the United States and healthcare on the eve of the Presidential election, where I fear things will be worse than in 2020, no matter the result. I especially better not broach the topic of immigration… this is why Janos turns to a life of crime and eventually affords a Mission Impossible-like mask which looks just like him. The makeup department did a swell job in both the burns we briefly see and the Uncanny Valley look of his masked face. There’s also nice direction & cinematography.

It must have been a cliché even in 1941 for someone with a “different” appearance to find a love interest who is blind, but at least this makes Szabo sympathetic and Evelyn Keyes was likable as his girlfriend Helen. This early effort in the genre isn’t the most hard-boiled tale yet it is still compelling due to Lorre’s great performance and the film centered around humanity & relationships rather than crime. Those that are fans of Peter Lorre stand a good chance of enjoying this motion picture. It’s 69 (nice) minutes long, furthermore.

 

Happy Godzilla Day

Last night I revisited 1964's Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster so it could be discussed today. I had to pay tribute somehow: 

Happy Godzilla Day, everyone. A film involving The Big G needed to be viewed given that the original Gojira made its debut on November 3, 1954. Instead of revisiting Gojira or even seeing one of the few pictures from the franchise that remain unexperienced, instead it was one I saw years ago but speculated could be rated differently by me. Turns out, that was true.

Ghidorah was rushed into production because Kurosawa’s Red Beard had a protracted production; true story. What a wacky story they created. The “human moments” included a woman claiming to be a Venusian who warns of King Ghidorah destroying Earth, a princess from a fictitious country (where the people dress as if they’re from the 1700’s) who is a target of assassins, and what a duo of reporter Naoko & her police detective brother. This time around, I less minded that there’s no kaiju action until the second half of the picture when they created all those plot threads in the first half.

The second half does deliver; the introduction of Ghidorah is epic in terms of the EFX and the always quality score from Akira Ifukube. As typical, the destruction of all those miniature sets are unforgettable due to the stellar work of Eiji Tsuburaya. The monsters doing battle against one another proves to be aces, no doubt aided by the direction from the great Ishiro Honda. Those veterans to the franchise helped me swallow this nonsense & have fun w/ the debut of arguably Godzilla’s most famous villain.

Thankfully, the charms of Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster are better appreciated by me. As this featured Godzilla’s face turn and he remained a hero through the rest of the Showa Era, there’s another reason for someone to tackle this if they are a franchise newbie. You'll never forget the twin fairies translating the argument Mothra has with Godzilla and Rodan to help humanity instead of acting like petulant children and wanting to brawl with each other and not help humans because humans have always attacked them.

Femme Fatale

Femme Fatale (2002)

Runtime: 114 minutes

Directed by: Brian De Palma

Starring: Rebecca Romijn, Antonio Banderas, Peter Coyote, Eriq Ebouaney, Edouard Montoute

From: Warner Bros.

As sometimes occurs, messageboard discussion spurned this viewing. I’ve viewed quite a few Brian De Palma movies in my life, yet most of what he’s done in the 21st century has been a blind spot. Someone recently mentioned viewing 2019’s Domino and liking it more the general reception it received. He then read how De Palma had little control over the story or how the movie turned out--that did sour things a bit. That doesn’t make me want to view Domino but for awhile I’ve had Femme Fatale in my collection (nevermind how) so it was time.

The opening moments is Rebecca Romijn viewing Double Indemnity-a movie that’s a must for Noirvember if you want to participate and haven’t seen it yet; it’s one of the best noirs ever made-set the tone as she lives up to the term Femme Fatale. The first 20 minutes is a heist… at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. The particulars won’t be revealed except that it featured the great camera work and features both the split diopter shots and screens split in two that you expect from the director. This delighted me.

Also, much to my amusement, only afterwards did I realize that it featured a real-life French director (Regis Wargnier) and there was a screening of his film East/West. I haven’t witnessed any of his work; the implication that he brought Rie Rasmussen (a Danish model IRL) to the screening as a much-younger date who wore a barely-there top… hysterical. In any case, the Ryuichi Sakamoto score was a highlight throughout but was a key component in making the heist sequence work rather well.

After that sequence completed, some implausible moments happened, although I could say the same about classic genre examples from the past. The title character caused plenty of grief for both Antonio Banderas and Peter Coyote. It was trashy fun even if there is reason for some to complain about the extended making-out scene between Romijn and Rasmussen and it seemed like setpieces loosely connected together, as impressive as those setpieces could be. Then the long conclusion happened…

I was blindsided then after the movie, realized that it seemed like De Palma was inspired by another director (not Hitchcock; there is a LOT of homages to Alfred in Femme Fatale) and a certain European movie from the 90’s. You’re either on board for those decisions made or the film ends on a sour note. I was amused by what happened; in addition, there’s a bravura ending. The performance of Rebecca Romijn has been called into question. It may change if this ever gets a second viewing but the tone seemed blueprinted to be over the top; in that case she did succeed with that bold performance.

The movie’s flawed even with its long conclusion that recontextualized certain things and cleared up some baffling moments. The stylistic flourishes, the tawdry nature and the score made this worth the watch. I hope that Domino isn’t the last De Palma we ever get; it’d be nice for a master like him to get a better sendoff but given his age and other factors—regrettably, I fear it’s wishful thinking on my part.

Night of the Demon (The 50's Movie)

Night of the Demon (1957)

Runtime: I saw the 96 minute cut

Directed by: Jacques Tourneur

Starring: Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis, Maurice Denham, Athene Seyler

From: Columbia

Night of the Demon was a swell way to shut the crypt on Spooky Season 2024. I use the movie’s UK title rather than the United States title Curse of the Demon for a specific reason. Those pondering why this hadn’t been reviewed by me in the past: the cut available on streaming and shown on TCM is the shorter cut 82 minutes long that played in America as Curse of the Demon. It’s presumption which told me that tracking down the full version-nevermind how-was the way to go. Like the film I saw the previous night (The Seventh Victim) a ”devil cult” is a key plot point; however, this handled that aspect completely different.

Dana Andrews is a psychologist who is a skeptic when it comes to the supernatural; he flies to the UK to help a colleague debunk the cult and its leader Karswell. However, there is in fact a curse, a demon (sorry to spoil but when the demon is literally on the theatrical posters and is shown less than 10 minutes in…) which looks quite impressive, and Andrews becomes the target. There is plenty of interplay between him and Peggy Cummins-the colleague’s niece-who is a believer in all that hocus pocus. There is a bit of casual 50’s sexism from Dana’s character, although not much more than you see in other pictures of the time.

As a random aside, you Kate Bush fans (there had to be at least a few reading this) will be delighted to know the opening of Hounds of Love-the title song from that album-is sampled from this film. The rest of the song has nothing to do with the events depicted in Night of the Demon. In addition, those puzzled by the reference to Dana Andrews and runes… no, he didn’t have them in this movie! Rather, runic writing is a key plot point in Demon.

The film’s more about the threat of the demon than getting to view it in action. Andrews remains skeptical despite the odd happenings and the pleadings of Cummins. Those magical events are presented in a way where his logical reasoning can remain through much doubt. The film delivers plenty of frights & jolts throughout; naturally, Jacques Tourneur’s direction is solid, despite a variety of squabbles w/ the producers. It’d be devilish to give away much more as I was surprised at times with the plot; my familiarity with Niall MacGinnis is limited but he nailed his role as the villain Julian Karswell. The part was more complex and not quite as stereotypical as it appeared at first glance. By the conclusion, the relationship between him and his mother becomes clearer.

It contained many elements appropriate for a viewing on Halloween night. Hopefully everyone had a nice Spooky Season. For those that have followed me these past two months: not only will a full Spooky list be posted during the weekend, but I’ll return to checking out a wide variety of films, from all decades.

 

The Seventh Victim

The Seventh Victim (1943)

Runtime: 71 minutes

Directed by: Mark Robson

Starring: Kim Hunter, Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Isabel Jewell, Evelyn Brent

From: RKO

A last-minute request. Regrettably, another request made for Spooky Season this year (about two months ago) won’t be fulfilled. Then again, it’s never happened where I view everything I had in mind for this time of year. Specifically, a Letterboxd mutual-I never know if they want their name mentioned-left a comment under my review for Isle of the Dead that they expressed surprise I had never discussed this movie.

This is despite having viewed some of Val Lewton’s famous genre efforts and like this, that was directed by Mark Robson. Turns out, not only did this play on TCM about 3 hours after I read that comment, The Seventh Victim was a prequel to Cat People as both feature Tom Conway as Dr. Judd.

This chiller was as enjoyable as the other Lewton I’ve witnessed. Kim Hunter-long before she became an Ape-made her debut here as Mary; she’s a young adult at a boarding school & discovered that her sister Jacqueline has been missing for months. As both their parents are deceased, the resolve for her to discover where in NYC her sister went is as strong as steel. Turns out, there’s a Satanic cult involved! Unlike the days of the Satanic Panic a few decades ago, there actually is a cult; hilariously, it’s in Greenwich Village, always a counterculture haven.

That said, perhaps I shouldn’t snicker at its location. It is a bleak, downbeat film where homoeroticism is bubbling below the surface, for reasons that won’t be spoiled; this might explain the location. While it is not my favorite Lewton production, the film is still pretty good in its chilling, eerie tale which does not have much in the way of occult elements yet earns its scares via different flavors. If anyone reading this is easily bothered by suicide as a plot point… steer clear of the movie.

For reasons unknown, a few scenes were excised by the director and editor; the story did seem choppy at times but it’s especially clear with an ending I’ve seen many call “anticlimactic”; for certain, “abrupt” is a term to use—this doesn’t mean that a character’s decision lost any of its power & potency to affect me and others. As it featured the expected Lewton mastery of light & shadow, The Seventh Victim (the movie offers a haunting explanation of its title in the final act) is well worthy of being tackled if you’re familiar w/ the producer. In other words, it was a nice recommendation even if the person didn’t specifically ask me to watch the movie this year.

The last picture of Spooky Season-that review will come next evening-will be another black and white effort, but this time from the 1950’s.