Brats

I returned to the world of Laurel & Hardy with this 1930 short: 

Laurel & Hardy appear as children due to movie magic = aces. Last night I wasn’t in the mood for a feature film; thankfully, something that’s 20-minutes long-like Brats was-fit my mood better. I’ve dug their shorts and feature films, silents and “the talkie era.”

Brats is distinctive as it’s dual roles for Laurel & Hardy; they also portray their children. This is done by both them interacting w/ oversized sets and camera tricks. Besides the silliness of grown adults portraying little children, at first you think that the men are a married couple, but a photo on a mantle plus a line of dialogue reveals this not to be true. That photo… is of Jean Harlow! Is it a three-way polyamorous relationship?! The children-also called Stan & Oliver-cause plenty of mayhem at home one evening by acting childish, much to the dismay of their parents.

The production design was swell; this helped the viewer believe in the wacky conceit. Both parents and children suffer many pratfalls and bumbling about. The adults can’t handle either a game of checkers or a game of billiards, while the kids have a run-in w/ hot liniment fluid, alphabet blocks, and a mouse brought to life via animation.

I’m predisposed to this style of humor anyhow; I was delighted that the short allowed for different humor from the duo due to the concept. It’s been a delight to see more from Laurel & Hardy in the past 5 or 6 years.

 

The Leopard

The Leopard (Il Gattopardo) (1963)

Runtime: 186 minutes

Directed by: Luchino Visconti

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon, Paolo Stoppa, Rina Morelli 

From: Several different Italian and French companies

Would people be AGHAST that this was my first Luchino Visconti film? For the newer followers, I haven’t viewed much classic cinema as of late but in the thirteen (!) years I’ve been on Letterboxd, what’s been reviewed has run the gamut. It’s everything from The Room and Birdemic to some cinephile musts from the likes of Kurosawa, Tarkovsky, Fellini, Bergman, John Ford, Fritz Lang, Ozu, Truffaut, etc.

Yet, I imagine a few of the serious scholarly cinephiles will be surprised that Visconti was a blind spot until last night. A few weeks ago, the FXM movie channel during their retro block (meaning, unedited movies & no commercials) played The Leopard; despite a 3-hour runtime of a motion picture concerning a topic I knew little of-the unification of Italy in the 1860’s. I shouldn’t have been concerned when there was time last night to play the DVR recording.

To copy & paste the plot description currently on Letterboxd: “As Garibaldi’s troops begin the unification of Italy in the 1860s, an aristocratic Sicilian family grudgingly adapts to the sweeping social changes undermining their way of life. Proud but pragmatic Prince Don Fabrizio Salina allows his war hero nephew, Tancredi, to marry Angelica, the beautiful daughter of gauche, bourgeois Don Calogero, in order to maintain the family’s accustomed level of comfort and political clout.”

The film takes its time as the story slowly unfurled, presenting a tale where the particulars of Italy’s unification isn’t necessary-a viewer is not required to do even a bit of Wikipedia research beforehand, although that could be done for those curious beforehand or after viewing. The film was a rapturous experience as the end of an era is coming & Burt Lancaster’s Prince has difficulty accepting that truth. On the other hand, young cad nephew Alain Delon is more ambitious and probably will succeed in this new Italy, along with Don Sedara, a precursor to what later would be a Mafia Don.

The rest of the cast was also swell: Claudia Cardinale (a belated RIP to her; I never noted the death of this European starlet last fall) as the stunning lady from a rival family who is married to Delon for political reasons. There’s also Terence Hill in a supporting role, so early in his career that he’s billed under his birth name of Mario Girotti.

The showstopper is a long ballroom scene 45-minutes in length where my attention never wavered-rather, it highlighted several key components: there’s the lush score from Nino Rota, the great costumes, the lavish sets. Then, the film’s conclusion was note-perfect. The Leopard was well worth the long journey. Fascinating was that Visconti (who was from a noble family himself) and Lancaster (his hiring was forced on the director by the producers) initially did not get alone but after Ol’ Burt bowed up & yelled at the director, suddenly they were pals for the rest of Visconti’s life. Undoubtedly, in the far-future I’ll view another film from a great director I shouldn’t have overlooked for so long.

The Beastmaster

The Beastmaster (1982)

Runtime: 118 minutes

Directed by: Don Coscarelli

Starring; Marc Singer, Tanya Roberts, Rip Torn, John Amos, Joshua Milrad

From: MGM

Hey
Beastmaster’s
On

Last night, Shudder’s 24/7 streaming channel played this motion picture between last year’s Deathstalker & the original Deathstalker-appropriate. Now is the time to discuss what for people middle-aged like me growing up in the United States was a film that didn’t light the box office on fire but found its legs on cable television, where several channels-including HBO-had it in constant rotation for years.

This is a silly sword and sorcery film w/ a standard plot: evil wizard Rip Torn (sporting a hysterical prosthetic nose) wishes to sacrifice the unborn son of the King, the unborn son is saved but he grows up unknowing of his parentage, he becomes a hero & is on a trek to vanquish the villain while teaming up w/ a variety of different pals. Nothing wrong with a standard plot & archetypes—in fact, more modern movies would be better off not “subverting expectations” or especially inserting unneeded “humor.” Just follow the archetypes instead; they’ve endured for a reason. The new idea here is that the hero can communicate with animals and even see through their eyes.

Yes, The Beastmaster can be nitpicked to death. Among the fantasy names, John Amos is known as SETH. A “black panther” is clearly a tiger painted black. The animal sidekicks are a black eagle, the black tiger, and… a pair of FERRETS, cute critters that I know from some friends in college can be kept as pets. However, I won’t nitpick the movie-instead, The Beastmaster was a cheesy good time where each animal assists our heroes on several occasions in creative fashion.

Marc Singer was decent in the role (so was Tanya Roberts) but more memorable were Amos as the main sidekick and Torn as the evil bastard. Originally, a real-life evil bastard was to play the heel but as he did often, turned down the role due to money disputes—Klaus Kinski. As stated recently in other reviews, I’ve come to appreciate practical effects, sets, & locations compared to digital and greenscreens. California and Nevada deserts presented the appropriate vibe for this genre.

Mix in cinematography from an actual Oscar winner (John Alcott), a score from Lee Holdrige that was appropriate for this fantasy, & some creepy moments you’d expect from the guy that gave us the Phantasm movies… Beastmaster was fun even for a middle-aged adult like me. Did it need to be a full 2 hours long? That can be debated.

Neither sequel has ever been tackled by me—hearsay tells me that both are bad yet I imagine that especially the second could be hysterically bad. There’s better than a 0% chance that’ll be tackled one day in the far-future

Night Tide

Night Tide (1961)

Runtime: 85 minutes

Directed by: Curtis Harrington

Starring: Dennis Hopper, Linda Lawson, Gavin Muir, Luana Anders, Marjorie Eaton

From: AIP

In the first of two reviews I'm posting tonight, I discuss this interesting romantic fantasy horror flick: 

After years of thinking that I should finally view Night Tide, the trigger was pulled last night. It’s a film I’ve known of for ages-after all, it stars Dennis Hopper-his first starring role-and features a plot where his Navy man fell in love with an attractive dark-haired woman named Mora (understandable) who performs as a mermaid at a Venice Beach, California carnival but as this is a romance picture which can be described as either a fantasy or a horror movie-or perhaps both…

The strongest aspect are the spooky, dreamy vibes Night Tide has throughout. Even at the time, Venice Beach possessed unique vibes & attracted eccentric sorts. Mora lived right above an amusement hall that included a merry-go-round, to list but one example. Director Curtis Harrison and co-star Marjorie Cameron worked with/knew the likes of Kenneth Anger, Maya Deren, and Aleister Crowley-no surprise the film would have a different flavor and style to what was common at the time. Colorful characters are present, including a former ship captain who is Mora’s godfather and a fortune teller… excuse me, “clairvoyant.” As there’s also a carnival shown at night, the vibes are exquisite. Some will undoubtedly appreciate the occasional queer vibes that are present.

The story always fascinated, featuring moments and plot points that are surprisingly dark for the early 60’s. Night Tide feels both ahead of its time & fresh even 65 years later. Harrington was also inspired by the likes of James Whale (he knew Whale late in his life) & Val Lewtin-great inspirations. Hopper was aces as the lead, and so was Linda Lawson as the alluring Mora; the cast was nice, although the only other face I recognized was Luana Andrers in a supporting part. The jazzy score-particularly the scene in the Blue Grotto night club in the opening minutes-was also exquisite.

Spooky Seasons past, the thought has crossed my mind of viewing Night Tide then; I done goofed by not doing so-it’s a nice tonic and something different from a standard horror movie.

Thirteen Days to Die

Thirteen Days to Die (Der Fluch Des Schwarzen Rubin) (1965)

Runtime: 98 minutes

Directed by: Manfred R. Kohler

Starring: Thomas Alder, Peter Carsten, Serge Nubret, Metta Roongrat

From: Rapid Film/SNC/Metheus Film

Tubi really does has everything.

I never know if people I follow on Letterboxd want to be mentioned by name; this person I'm referencing now reviews mainly obscurities from around the world. They are the one who via their reviews informed me of the German Krimi films, the Winnetou movies and other genre efforts from that part of the world. Their glowing review of Thirteen piqued my interest; furthermore, that’s also how I know that this has a Eurospy flavor, although it was based on an old German pulp novel character named Rolf Torring-i.e. Ralph Tracy in the English dub.

The film is otherwise impossible to track down in English so I was delighted that Tubi recently, they added the film in widescreen, even if some frames are missing occasionally and a line of dialogue in the conclusion is randomly muted. Tracy and his two even more buff buddies are in Thailand, assisting a Prince with locating a stolen royal necklace. Of course, the scenario is much more complicated than it first appears, at times becoming a convoluted plot that was expected for the genre. The necklace holds secrets, one of the villains is an evil geologist-a phrase you’ll never hear me utter again-and a treasure hunt occurs.

One of the most appealing aspects: the exotic Thai setting. Whether it’s Bangkok, rural areas, the jungle or abandoned ruins, the flavor of the country during the 60’s was expressed. Some cultural traditions and Thai martial arts were even presented. To echo the thoughts of that mutual, not only was a Black actor cast as one of Tracy’s pals (more on him at the end), a Thai actress was the lead girl rather than a European w/ artificially darkened skin. Metta Roongrat-besides having a great name-did a nice job as the lead girl. Horst Frank of The Cat O' Nine Tails fame was quality as the aforementioned evil geologist.

Thirteen Days to Die was a fun picture in a setting I loved featuring sleazy henchmen, good action beats, a tiger, spy devices, poison, a rubber crocodile, and even a pet chimpanzee. Thomas Alder-as Tracy-was an actor I wasn’t familiar with but Peter Carsten (of Dark of the Sun fame) was a jacked white friend of Ralph Tracy while Serge Nubret was the jacked Black friend. Nubret is best known as a bodybuilder who was in Pumping Iron as he competed in Mr. Olympia that year. Even a decade earlier, he was ripped.

In recent years, I’ve rarely used Tubi despite the amazing selection it has, including movies like this that are otherwise difficult to track down. The platform will be used more often by me; besides it having other Eurospy movies that were recently added, who knows if one day some awful people decide to change or even shut down such an esoteric service.

Furies

Furies (Thanh Sói - Cúc dại trong đêm) (2022)

Runtime: 109 minutes

Directed by: Veronica Ngo

Starring: Dong Anh Quynh, Toc Tien, Thuan Nguyen, Rima Thanh Vy, Ngo

From: Netflix

I don’t believe it either that I saw 2019’s Furie (a Vietnamese martial arts jam) 5 years ago already. This prequel has been on my Netflix watchlist for the past 3 years; about time I gave this a shot. I liked rather than loved Furie & the same goes for Furies. The plot conceit is different: an origin story, but for Furie’s villain.

In the 90’s, a poor teen girl in a rural village is sexually assaulted; in Ho Chi Minh City, she is saved by a lady who trains badass women who are a vigilante group that protect the fairer sex. They take out drug dealers, traffickers, and other scumbags; it became even easier to root for those young, pretty women as they kicked ass and engaged in one of my favorite genres, Dudes Getting Wrecked ™

One extended action scene is best described as “the world’s greatest PS4 cutscene” but at least it made me laugh uproariously, even if that wasn’t the intent. Otherwise, this was an interesting tale which featured nice drama featuring damaged characters coinciding with the enjoyable action beats. The most interesting detail: the star of Furie (Veronica Ngo) returned here, playing a different character in a supporting role, but she was the director, co-writer, and co-producer.

As for direction, I’ll give her props for the surplus of neon lighting, mainly during the action scenes. Mix in such moments as split-screens and the film at least wasn’t drab to look at. Sure, it starts to become nonsense in the final act but overall, Furies is still preferable to much of the gruel that Netflix produces. It’s also better than the movie that Ngo was apparently in briefly (The Last Jedi) but I’d rather not re-litigate why I’m not a fan of The Last Jedi!

Dhurandhar

Dhurandhar (2025)

Runtime: 214 minutes (not a misprint)

Directed by: Aditya Dhar

Starring: Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Rampal, Madhavan

From: B62 Studios/Benetone Films/Jio Studios

I was hoping to see more than two movies from India in the month of March; alas… I’ll try to see one at the least in April but before my Netflix subscription lapses (given that they’re raising prices AGAIN, it might be some time before I rejoin that platform) in a few days, this popular Indian Hindi spy thriller needed a viewing. The lengthier sequel to an already lengthy first film is still on cinema screens for the next few days in my area but something 229 minutes long is a lot even by my standards. However, I still want to eventually check out the sequel at home.

Inspired by a few real-life events, an agent named Hamza goes undercover to study then infiltrate the gangs in Karachi, Pakistan to topple a terror network plotting to terrorize India. Of course, I’m greatly simplifying the scenario and not discussing the revenge killings, the drama among the gangs in Karachi, the political machinations, the gruesome violence-including something straight out of a Miike movie-the romance, the shootouts, etc.

The film still had what I stereotypically expect from Indian cinema: OOT moments, slow-motion, men with beards and/or mustaches smoking cigarettes, etc. There are even a few song-and-dance numbers, although the dancing was always organic to the scene. Much of this installment leans towards the crime drama aspect rather than the terrorist angle. One day in the future, I’ll check out its sequel (The Revenge); the first installment was an exciting crime drama full of characters which never become tired or confusing despite the 3 ½ hour length, filled with the Indian flavor that makes the country’s cinema unique.

That includes a catchy score/soundtrack. I was happy to have seen a role from a legend in that country’s film world—Sanjay Dutt. He portrayed a grizzled old badass rather well; I was amused after the fact to learn that the earworm tune which played during his first scene was from a film he did in the 90’s.