Coraline

Coraline (2009)

Runtime: 100 minutes

Directed by: Henry Selick

Starring: Various voices, including Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Ian McShane and Keith David

From: Focus/Laika

Featuring dowsing rods, snow globes, circuses, & women Russ Meyer would love. All of this was a surprise to me. Yes, when I went to a cineplex in Orlando to view Coraline (the 2-D version, before anyone asks), it was to see a film never seen by me before. Some may be AGHAST at this revelation yet it was a treat to view the movie on the big screen and during this time of year. Through cultural osmosis in the past decade and a half, the basics of the plot were known by me. This foreknowledge did not ruin the experience for me; neither did the reminder that this was based on a story by… Neil Gaiman, he of those allegations I won’t mention here.

Most are presumably at least a little familiar w/ the film even if they were like me before last night, so no need to dwell too long on the plot specifics. As the titular Coraline discovers an alternate universe that seems to be a respite for her humdrum Oregon life as her parents are preoccupied w/ work instead of her as this Other World seems to be the perfect version of her life she desires, is it a spoiler to say that this is a dark fantasy and thus our eleven-year-old protagonist goes through a harrowing journey?

Even if there weren’t that many surprises, it was a story well-told and I was engaged throughout. It was a delight experiencing both the audio and visual component theatrically; while I enjoyed the score, the stop motion animation was at times stunning & always looked lovely. It helped accentuate the difference between Coraline’s world and the mirror universe she discovers. There are some rather eccentric characters she encounters; this includes one of a pair of burlesque performers who was designed to be a woman that Russ Meyer would love. That was quite the decision; for certain, Laika women are different from Pixar women!

As time-consuming as the process is, it is appreciated by me that stop motion animation is a style that hasn’t faded away & in fact a small studio in Oregon can be successful making a feature-length film released every several years. I’m an old man so this film came out deep into my adult years; now, I finally can comprehend why some kids found it to be nightmare fuel. However, anyone can enjoy this quirky yet charming & macabre movie.

I’m glad that Fathom Events has been playing this film across the United States for the past few weeks now; the only trailer they show is a teaser for the new Laika movie Wildwood which was just an announcement that its release is next year. Missing Link did far worse than the other Laika films at the box office-despite my attending it-but without a doubt I’ll view Wildwood theatrically in 2025.

Mayhem!

Mayhem! (Farang) (2023)

Runtime: 99 minutes

Directed by: Xavier Gens

Starring: Nassim Lyes, Loryn Nounay, Olivier Gourmet, Chananticha Chaipa, Vithaya Pansringarm

From: Several different French companies

While not a Thai movie, it was still nice to see a quality action film set in Thailand. For about a decade there was this whole run of genre efforts from that country, and not just those that starred Tony Jaa. Suddenly, that scene seemed to vanish. In fact, a messageboard discussion about this topic spurned me to view this film, a French production which was mostly filmed in Thailand.

We follow Sam, a criminal just released from the slammer on probation. He tries to turn his life around, despite the badgering of his former cohorts who expect his return. An event happens and Sam flees to Thailand. Five years later, another event happens while Sam is attempting to provide for his girlfriend & her daughter. The first hour does not have much action but the story does a nice job of building for the release of the final act.

That final act: it has Dudes Getting Wrecked ™ and as this was directed by Xavier Gens of Frontier(s) fame, of course there are bloody/gruesome moments where the claret really flowed. The style was on the flashy side but the action (usually) wasn’t irritating to watch. The plot isn’t revolutionary… which is a relief in this case. Insufferable modern tropes like “subverting expectations” or “shades of grey” or “unnecessary humor” thankfully were not present here. Instead, the plot was fine and it didn’t need to be more than that. Plus, Vithaya Pansringarm of Only God Forgives fame as a prominent supporting role. Personally, this is MUCH preferable to the smugness and pretentiousness of Only God Forgives!

As has always happened for years now, a picture like this will get compared to The Raid and John Wick. Of course this doesn’t reach those heights; that said, Farang-its original title, Thai slang for “Westerner”-is better than some examples I have come across through the years.

 

Yokai Monsters: Along with Ghosts

Yokai Monsters: Along with Ghosts (Tokaido Obake Dochu) (1969)

Runtime: 78 minutes

Directed by: Yoshiyuki Kuroda/Kimiyoshi Yasuda

Starring: Kojiro Hongo, Pepe Hozumi, Masami Furukido, Mutsuhiro, Rokko Toura

From: Daiei

Bizarre monsters in feudal Japan helping a little girl along with some human do-gooders… I was entertained. October of 2021 I saw the first film in this trilogy and the second the following March. Both were weird and quirky but enjoyable yet there is no good reason for me to not conclude the trilogy from Japan’s Daiei studios until last night. The impetus for finally doing so: a mutual commented on my review of Daimajin that they made the entire trilogy concurrently and they were rather similar to one another. It will either be months or years before I see the sequels but they then referenced the Yokai Monsters films, requiring me to mention that this is the one I hadn’t tackled before.

While there isn’t as many monsters seen as you might expect (or hope) the film was still a good time at least for me. The crux is that the feudal version of the Yakuza murder a praying old man on sacred ground. They then go after his granddaughter-a little girl-because they want something in her possession. She is not only helped by an older boy and a wandering young man, the titular monsters get their revenge for those bastards spilling blood on their sacred grounds.

Some may think there’s a dearth of monster action or even just monster appearance and thus it is unsatisfying. Valid, although disappointment didn’t cross my mind as there’s some action with the girl’s adult protector doing battle against the heels and overall was an entertaining yarn. There were some nice sets that represented the woods; they set the mood for the domain of the Yokai; what delicious revenge they dished out.

The trilogy’s second entry-Spook Warfare-is the best in my eyes as the creatures do battle against “a Babylonian vampire” but all three are weirdly amusing. After all, the first two feature such monsters as a woman with a Stretch Armstrong neck and my personal favorite, the sentient lampshade w/ one leg, a face and a giant tongue that always hung out of its mouth, because Japan. The strangest you see here is what is best described as a giant brown pile of hay w/ googly eyes. Sadly, that only appears in one scene, yet left a lasting impact w/ me. Yes, I know Miike made a Yokai film in 2005; there’s something else that likely won’t be visited by me for a long, long time.

Daimajin

Daimajin (1966)

Runtime: 84 minutes

Directed by: Kimiyoshi Yasuda

Starring: Miwa Takada, Yoshihio Aoyama, Jun Fujimaki, Ryutaro Gomi, Ryuzo Shimada

From: Daiei

A Japanese period drama where a stone Golem-like figure crushes vile villains? Yes, please. I’ve known of the Daimajin trilogy for years now; this seemed an opportune time to check out the first in this series from the Daiei studio, made when kaiju pictures were all the rage and an idea to possibly have an ice giant face Gamera instead was made into its own trilogy where a stone giant admittedly based on the Jewish Golem legend is an avenging hero.

In feudal Japan, some evil A-holes overthrow the rightful rulers of a region, sending his children & bodyguard in exile. A decade later, the citizens in the area are miserable as the A-holes treat their subjects like slaves. Due to circumstances, it takes awhile but after even more injustice happens, the titular Daimajin comes alive like Peter Frampton and its rampage was truly satisfying.

The film was a serious drama which was done solidly due to the quality production values and filming in some scenic locations. When the kaiju action hits and divine spirit confronts the heels, though… it was impressive miniature work & impressive SFX buttressed by a nice Akira Ifukube score that soared during this climax. It can be argued that the movie has folk horror elements (a kid has visions of a skeleton and ghosts in the forest, it has an evocative opening, the village performs a ritual to placate the stone giant) so I was glad to view it at this time of year but it can be enjoyed in any month.

Horror in the High Desert

Horror in the High Desert (2021)

Runtime: 82 minutes

Directed by: Dutch Marich

Starring: Suziey Block, Eric Mencis, David Morales, Tonya William Ogden, Errol Porter

From: Luminol Entertainment/Maya Aerials

It is faux documentary/found footage time. Those are still around currently even if the boom that happened after Paranormal Activity has greatly slowed down from its heyday. High Desert was selected as there have already been two sequels made and by modern subgenre standards, the overall rating on Letterboxd is good. 

The setting is the High Desert region of Nevada, around the town of Ely. It is in the middle of nowhere and features more than just sandy areas due to the climate and geography. A survivalist named Gary goes missing; a documentary chronicles the investigation into his disappearance. It’s a movie that came out in 2021; no wonder then that only a few actors are ever seen on camera, and never together in the same scene. The first hour is full of talk as the characters set up the final 20 minutes and we get to know Gary, a loner who possibly was “on the spectrum.” I was never bored but the viewer needs to be patient as the plot slowly unfurls before you; one valid criticism is that more than once, I thought, “Hey, wait a minute now” when it came to story details.

Be that as it may, when the final 20 minutes do hit, it was a satisfying payoff to all the buildup. Let me assuage any fears from you knowing that the Horror in the High Desert has a self-contained story which has a unambiguous conclusion. The setting of the final act and its implementation inspired both tension and scares, finally providing an explanation as to what happened in the Nevada desert miles from civilization.

Don’t expect those reviews anytime soon, but even if it’s years later I would be willing to check out all the sequels in what has become a franchise. I doubt this will become like the Bad Ben franchise, which somehow has SIXTEEN entries (?!)-there’s still intrigue as to how they expend the High Desertiverse.

Hell Bent for Leather

Hell Bent for Leather (1960)

Runtime: 82 minutes

Directed by: George Sherman

Starring: Audie Murphy, Felicia Farr, Stephen McNally, Robert Middleton, James Westmoreland

From: Universal

Yes, I watched this because of the Judas Priest song of the same name. I found Leather in The Bowels of the Internet when other Audie Murphy pictures are easier to track down because within the past few years it showed one night at the New Beverly Cinema and the title amused me. Back in early 2020, I mentioned how my first Murphy movie (No Name on the Bullet) was viewed because right before that, both my mother and father viewed another of his pictures on TV because it starred him. That’s bittersweet because this is when Mom started to become sick & I had no idea at the time this is what would eventually kill her later in the year.

It was nice to see Murphy as the hero in a film instead of being cast against type as the villain in No Name on the Bullet. He was a real-life badass soldier in World War II and parlayed that into a movie career for a time. Murphy was not a master thespian by any means but at least was fine the two times I’ve seen him. Hell Bent has a simple plot where a murderin’ SOB named Travers steals our hero Clay’s horse. Clay walks into town and people think he’s Travers. Things escalate from there and Felicia Farr becomes involved. The Alabama Hills (an area shown in the Ranown Westerns that Budd Boetticher/Randolph Scott did) play a prominent role here.

Clay is not the most dynamic character nor did Murphy deliver the most dynamic performance. Be that as it may, this was still an entertaining yarn where-for example-the US Marshal isn’t quite the heroic character that we stereotypically see in genre fare. There are colorful characters in a lovely California setting so this plus the solid direction from B-movie veteran George Sherman made this a good time even if this was not the most imaginative Western I’ve ever experienced by any means. Some familiar faces of the time made a good impression, especially Robert Middleton in a small but fiery role and Stephen McNally as the desperate, menacing Marshal.

It’s a shame that Murphy suffered from PTSD and tried to advocate it as a serious condition in a time when many didn’t believe it… then died in a plane crash in his late 40’s. In any case, I’m up for viewing some of his other work in the future.

Nosferatu the Vampyre

Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)

Runtime: 107 minutes

Directed by: Werner Herzog

Starring: Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani, Bruno Ganz, Roland Topor, Walter Ladengast

From: Several different West German/French companies

The Dracula tale is old-hat to me by now but done with Klaus Kinski as Nosferatu as in the famed 1922 movie directed as a Gothic delight by Werner Herzog—yes, please. The film's on Prime and as it seems now that at least once a year I need to see a version of the Dracula tale that has the expected players (Van Helsing, the deranged Renfield, Jonathan Harker, Mina, Lucy, the Borgo Pass, etc.) + there's the upcoming Robert Eggars movie in December; made sense for me to give this a shot now. This film pays tribute to the 1922 movie via various homages; the new movie likely will be even more faithful.

The film I was enraptured with from beginning to end as the story slowly unfurls. Even if the beats were familiar, filming in Europe was an asset. As well as various adaptations have brought the continent in the 19th century to life via sets and whatnot, there's something to be said for filming in actual locations (a Dutch town substituting for the German town, what's now the Czech Republic substituting for Transylvania) and using natural lighting in these scenic locations. A major highlight here was the apparent witchcraft done by Herzog to make both the daytime and nighttime scenes looks rather resplendent. 

It was a well-filmed production with scenic locations throughout, a nice score from Popol Vuh/various opera/classical tracks, and most importantly, the performances. You definitely have to separate the art from the artist w/ Kinski but he nailed Nosferatu as a grotesque monster who nonetheless still felt tragic as he bemoaned his immortal, inhuman curse. Isabelle Adjani was more than a pretty face as Lucy, a gal who had to get s*** done on her own as men were men there (OK, they usually still are) who don't believe the “hysterical” woman. Bruno Ganz was also memorable as Harker.

As this included both religious faith and Nosferatu's connection with the plague/rats, this further made this oft-told tale feel distinctive rather than a rehash. This is why Nosferatu the Vampyre is worthy of viewing no matter how many other Dracula adaptations you've experienced.

The Blob (The 80's Remake)

The Blob (1988)

Runtime: 95 minutes

Directed by: Chuck Russell-no relation

Starring: Shawnee Smith, Kevin Dillon, Donovan Leitch, Jr. Jeffrey DeMunn, Candy Clark

From: Tri-Star

Heck, might as well start my Spooky Season right now.

As explained in previous years, I never follow the usual “Hooptober” voluntary lists that Letterboxd users participate in where they choose their films based on various guidelines. Is there even one this year? That’s irrelevant to me anyhow; I view whatever passes my fancy as horror or appropriately spooky movies/shorts/cartoons/what have you are seen from now until Halloween, the official list to be posted in early November.

This was selected as a few months ago I saw the OG Blob and it’s 50’s silliness which was nevertheless charming and had the hilarity of “Steven” McQueen playing a teenager when he was 28 at the time and looked to be at least 30. Several then suggested that I needed to check out its 80’s remake from Chuck Russell-no relation. One step ahead of you—there were thoughts of seeing both last October (!) so that’s why the remake has been on the DVR since then, finally deleted last night.

The remake (an example where doing a remake was the right call) similar to the original: teens discover the titular blob escaped from a meteorite that crashed in the woods and it causes havoc; naturally, the adults don’t believe such a fantastical tale. The film enhances the plot points from the original and of course the gore/effects are improved with the passage of 3 decades’ time. In fact, this was incredibly gory and filled w/ goopy effects. Those that love seeing those practically, you’ll be satisfied as the crew did a swell job w/ that. The movie’s good pacing and winning script (from Russell & Frank Darabont) played critical roles in my enjoyment.

It is a movie lit well even at night-it takes place in the span of 24 hours and mostly once the sun’s down-filled with memorable characters, including the teen leads that thankfully aren’t foul-mouthed louts nor irksome idiots. It is simply a fun ride for those that enjoy gory 80’s films that aren’t dead-serious yet avoid lame “humor” or winking at the camera-there are amusing moments that are funny. It’s a nice cast where several familiar faces-much to my surprise-and Shawnee Smith as the cheerleader/Kevin Dillon as the motorcycle-riding rebel were the highlights. Mix in a totally 80’s score and this was something that should have been tackled YEARS ago.

After all, this even took the time to present this sleepy California town in October (actually filmed in Louisiana) via the opening credits and establishing shots, which seem to be rare these days. Even after all the horror films experienced by me through my life (not just what I’ve reviewed here on Letterboxd during this time of year), there are still famous, quality examples like The Blob for me to discuss during Spooky Season 2024.

An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn

An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn (1997)

Runtime: 86 agonizing minutes

“Directed” by: Arthur Hiller... but credited as Alan Smithee!

Starring: Many actors and rappers who should have known better

From: Hollywood Pictures/Cinergi

This was even worse than I could have imagined. I’ve known of this infamous misfire since before it came out and its production unintentionally became meta, but more on that later. As plenty of people way younger than me are on Letterboxd and possibly could read this review, an explanation of the old Alan Smithee faux credit needs to be explained.

The DGA used to allow for a director to use that fake name on a project if they were convinced that others messed with his vision and the end product was NOT something they approved of. It’s a fake name they chose because no one would possibly have it, so the entire premise is that a director can’t use Alan Smithee because he’s actually named Alan Smithee—absurd in all the worst ways.

Eric Idle played Smithee, a great editor who was chosen to direct a huge blockbuster starring Stallone, Jackie Chan & Whoopi Goldberg which had studio interference so he stole the print, and this was done as a mockumentary chronicling what happened. In fact, this was total “inside baseball” that the Joe and Jane Q. Public wouldn’t be interested in and definitely not fully understand, and for film fans like us, we’re insulted by how abysmal the movie was, how every decision made was just wrong, how it wasted the presence of many famous faces (usually in cameos), how even the soundtrack was mind-bogglingly bad aside from the Public Enemy songs used.

I’m all for a production that took the piss out of Hollywood and all its problems. However, this garnered exactly ZERO laughs for me, despite its cast. From what I understand, writer Joe Eszterhas crapped out this script in a weekend and apparently had axes to grind. However, even if you read Joe’s autobiography (a lengthy tome, so I hear) like Letterboxd member and my mutual Drew G did, not even that will help you decipher most of the lampooning on screen. It seemed made for only a percentage of those involved in the industry, and who knows if they were even amused by this boondoggle.

What a bizarre cast this has: besides the aforementioned names, there’s everyone from Ryan O’Neal, Coolio, Chuck D. and Richard Jeni to Sandra Bernhard and MC Lyte. And some people appearing as themselves, like Eszterhas (who ultimately played a huge role in this disaster aside from writing the thing), Robert Shapiro (!), Shane Black, and Robert Evans, who played himself as a gross pervert. One key aspect to note is how vulgar and gross the film is. I shouldn’t be surprised, given the writer…

This movie’s credited director was… Alan Smithee! It’s not a stunt move; rather, Arthur Hiller (!) directed this disaster; Eszterhas had the power to edit this himself, which Hiller objected to so he used that credit. Incredible. As the “outtakes” over the end credits aren’t any better, there’s no objective reason why you should ever give this intolerable crap any of your time. Oh, and the perfect conclusion is to mention who has a few scenes as a PI—and is a terrible actor:

HARVEY WEINSTEIN

 

Alien: Romulus

Alien: Romulus (2024)

Somehow, 81% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 310 reviews)

Runtime: 119 incredibly long minutes

“Directed” by: Fede Alvarez

Starring: Cailee Spaeny, the former Isabela Moner, and actors I've never seen before... David Jonsson the only one that left a good impression

From: Poor 20^th Century Studios

Imagine if idiots made a lame pastiche that combined Alien & Aliens…

This will be another of those polarizing reviews where I just don’t get why so many love a new movie. It was only my schedule that prevented me from seeing this sooner. Sure, there always was hesitation with the movie-besides the trend of lousy sequels/reboots/whatever to popular films that has dominated the cineplex in recent years, the director gave me pause. Don’t Breathe was bad and his version of The Evil Dead is just atrocious, sorry to say. By this point, I did understand that not only was there plenty of fan service, the most (in)famous example was spoiled days ago. 

That said, I went into this w/ an open mind as there was near-unanimous acclaim, not just on Letterboxd. The mind was still open even if there was puzzlement at why all the characters appeared to be young adults. There’s an explanation… which crumples apart if you examine that plot point even with a modicum of logic. Romulus is exquisitely stupid, which is one of several ways that this exemplified the worst of modern movie-making. The way that effects are used on the (redacted) character was in fact rather bad, and just a poor idea from the start. Of course, characters whose every 4th word is an F-bomb is usually a turn-off, although not as much as those that are just insufferable caricatures; Romulus has both. The few occasions that Cailee Spaeny dropped an F-bomb meant MUCH more than stupid pillocks who uttered it 100 times!

Too many films now seem to have a 4th act that seems wholly unnecessary; this notably has one, and Lord was that 4th act just laughably dumb. What was miraculous to me: how dark the movie was. No, not as bad as AvP:R but dark in the way that too many modern pictures are—to hide mediocre CG, fake-looking sets or what have you. Compared to how the grungy ship and other areas appeared in Alien, it’s no contest which one is better to look at or feel like I’d want to visit. Heck, this is a film which not only needed more establishment shots, too often the viewer is jarred because the character jumps from Point A to Point B without having any idea what happened… AND there are moments where characters are shown doing something that looks to be important yet there’s not even a line of dialogue to explain beforehand what they’re doing so the viewer has to wait while being confused until it’s finally explained.

Quite frankly, I am baffled as to why Alien: Romulus is receiving so much love. It was not all that enjoyable, fun, or even scary aside from a moment or two. The fan service-including the infuriating use of legendary lines-and general stupidity were further demerits that made me SO happy for the end credits to hit. Some performers certainly tried (whether it be those I know like Spaeny and the former Isabela Moner or the new to me David Jonsson) and at least it sounded rather good. Otherwise, this would receive an even lower score; as is, it is probably a wise idea to just avoid Fede Alvarez for the rest of time as his popularity is just incomprehensible to me.

Fatal Games

Fatal Games (1984)

Runtime: 88 minutes

Directed by: Michael Elliot

Starring: Sally Kirkland, Lynn Banashek, Sean Masterson, Michael O’Leary, Teal Roberts

From: Impact Films

Featuring Nancy Wilson, javelins, 80’s synth, 70’s soft rock, steroids & Margarita’s Mexican Restaurant

Next week sometime I’ll officially start the Spooky Season of viewing horror and related pictures for two months of late summer/early fall vibes up to Halloween. This isn’t part of that; rather, it’s a movie that would have been viewed right after the Olympics if not for the trip to Kansas. You see, the “Falcon Academy of Athletics” trains athletes in several different sports to compete in “The Nationals” for the chance to qualify for the Summer Olympics. To mention the balance beam in the room, no I have never viewed Graduation Day, an earlier slasher that from hearsay is rather similar to this.

The movie is quite stupid, this needs to be declared right away. After all, there’s a coach that coaches multiple disciplines, to list a minor example. The youths are all horny goofs-expect plenty of female nudity/men in their underwear in the opening act. This is nonsense where a mysterious person in a tracksuit and hoodie (which at least is sometimes shot rather well) is murdering members of that academy; there is someone who throws the javelin but is it a spoiler to suggest that’s a red herring?

If the viewer wishes for more than a javelin impaling the poor victims, you are out of luck. The movie is dull too often as these goofball young adults stress out about silly drama & life moments. Yet, I did not hate the movie. After all, there’s a subplot concerning the Academy doctors giving the athletes steroids and “hormones” because “the East Germans and Russians” are doing it also. Sad to say, the Communists did dope up their athletes at the time and I’m too cynical to believe that at least some Americans weren’t doing the same thing. It doesn’t really impact the plot too heavily but at least it was an accurate reminder of the sporting world at the time.

The villain and their motivations—what a plot point at this time in 2024, and those that don’t know what I’m referring to can read the film’s Wiki to find out why but I can’t reveal it here because major spoilers. It’s controversial and I’ll leave it at that. Otherwise, I was at least able to laugh at some of the low-budget charm, the hilarious 80’s synth score (from Shuki Levy!), the appearance of two songs that sounded like 70’s soft rock, the opening/closing credits song is a mediocre version of a tune like You’re The Best Around, a scene at a place known as Margarita’s Mexican Restaurant, and at least in the print I saw on Shudder, frequent fades to black as if they were cutting to commercial break.

Oh, and a few familiar names were in the cast, chiefly Sally Kirkland. There’s also Melissa Prophet in a small part as… NANCY WILSON. I hope this was some sort of blatant nod to Heart rather than a silly accident given that it hadn’t been this long since Heart was popular in the 70’s.

 

Call Her Savage

Call Her Savage (1932)

Runtime: 88 minutes

Directed by: John Francis Dillon

Starring: Clara Bow, Gilbert Roland, Thelma Todd, Monroe Owsley, Estelle Taylor

From: 20^th Century Fox

The craziest Pre-Code movie ever made? Maybe… recently-as you do-a Google search was done to look at lists of the wildest pictures from the Pre-Code era. Call Her Savage was brought up; aside from its salacious plot, the movie is interesting as the second-to-last that Clara Bow ever made before saying “peace out” to Hollywood and retiring to a Nevada ranch. Given all those salacious rumors surrounding her (there’s much more than the infamous one concerning the USC football team), can’t blame her for leaving public life.

What a plot it has: Bow plays a gal named NASA (!) who is the firebrand daughter in a rich Texas family. She literally whips rattlesnakes AND men, breaks a guitar over someone’s head as if she was Jeff Jarrett, gets into physical altercations w/ anyone, etc. Not surprisingly, she has a fractured relationship with dad. Nasa marries someone on a whim to make father upset—this proves to be a mistake. The film has a whole also contains such elements as: fires, whooping Indians (more on that in a moment), prostitution, a shocking death, a scene at a gay bar, attempted sexual assault, a few implied moments that are quite gross, and more.

Wild, this was. There are comedic moments among all the melodrama and Nasa’s out of control behavior. Unfortunately… to borrow a phrase, this movie was baked in racism. Mexican actor Roland portrayed “a half-breed Indian” and without elaborating any further, negative stereotypes of Native Americans are used. My rating of the film does not reflect any approval of these stereotypes or their impact on the plot. Rather, it was the bold performance from Bow which won me over. Whether she was vivacious as an independent woman or vulnerable as an emotional woman, she’s the draw. Roland and Thelma Todd (et al.) were fine but Ms. Clara was the standout.

Whether or not Call Her Savage is the ne plus ultra of its type, I was always entertained, sometimes perversely. Thankfully the movie can be found on YouTube.

Any Number Can Win

Any Number Can Win (Melodie En Sous-Sol) (1963)

Runtime: 121 minutes

Directed by: Henri Verneuil

Starring: Jean Gabin, Alain Delon (RIP), Claude Cerval, Vivane Romance, Henri Virlojeux

From: Several different French and Italian companies

RIP Alain Delon. In the past I’ve discussed several films starring this French star who not only became a sex symbol, he played impossibly cool characters. This includes Le Samourai, which I’ve recently learned was incredibly influential-it wasn’t just Fincher’s The Killer that reminds people of Jef Costello. Other films I dig include Le Cercle Rouge and his small supporting role in the awesome Western Red Sun. Bronson, Delon AND Mifune… holy crap. There’s also the likes of Capucine and Ursula Andress, so that’s one I happily recommend.

Among the selection of pictures I had at my disposal, Any Number Can Win was selected as it’s a heist picture, I knew its other star (the legendary Jean Gabin) and director Henri Verneuil has always been enjoyed by me. The plot sounds bog-standard: Gabin’s Charles is just released from prison and he lives in a house surrounded by high-rises as if he’s either Carl Fredricksen or the family from Big City Greens-yes, I have young nephews. Instead of living a reformed life once out of a slammer, Charles joins Delon’s Francis-his cellmate-to plan a daring heist of a Cannes casino.

Not surprisingly, Delon (normally in jeans and leather jacket as his dress) is asked to cosplay as a playboy as part of the scheme; also not surprisingly, he enjoys that façade a little too much, causing natural conflict. It is an effortlessly cool picture that has a jazzy vibe-and appropriately, a jazzy score-that takes its time but always is enthralling. The heist is effective even if it isn’t the most elaborate by any means-don’t expect any version of Ocean’s 11. For those that are Francophile film fans this should be a swell time. So is those that that enjoy the heist genre. Finally, if you enjoy one or more of the main players, it is likely a fun way to spend two hours.

Of course, a movie like Le Samourai is a great picture to visit or revisit as a Delon tribute. Me, I was happy to finally pull the trigger on a movie that’s intrigued me for months now.

 

A Woman Under the Influence

A Woman Under the Influence (1974)

Runtime: 147 minutes

Directed by: John Cassavetes

Starring: Gena Rowlands (RIP), Peter Falk, Fred Draper, Lady Rowlands, Katherine Cassavetes

From: Faces International

RIP Gena Rowlands. “Shame on me” is my response to this only being the second Cassavetes (Shadows was the only other one; apparently, Rowlands is an extra there) and for not having seen Gena act while she was still alive. That said, this is a point that shouldn’t be dwelled on as at least this mistake was fixed—and holy cow, there were all-timer performances not just from Rowlands but also from her on-screen husband Peter Falk. If you only think of Falk as Columbo…

This is truly independent cinema as even half a century later I’m unsure if a viewer would be able to see a movie so raw and so honest about a topic quite foreign back then—mental illness. Rowlands and Falk seemed like a typical couple in So Cal who have three small children; Gena’s character Mabel happened to struggle with various issues, including general anxiety, alcoholism and other struggles that plenty of us have experienced somehow, including personally. At least that was the picture painted to me from what I had gathered through years of cultural osmosis & time spent on Letterboxd. Turns out, it’s an incredibly blunt and acidic but still enriching experience.

A key point to address is that Falk’s Nick obviously has his own mental health struggles which unfortunately are treated differently by society. In the first act, that isn’t so apparent. Nick is a blue-collar husband who admits that his wife is “unusual”, he does NOT think that she’s “crazy” and is offended when others use that phrase. He’s human also so naturally he makes mistakes when he attempts to calm Mabel down during one of her “episodes.” As the plot progresses, though, and the story patiently unfurls before you… I’m afraid of revealing too much and possibly ruining the journey for those that haven’t taken it yet but many themes about society in the 70’s and how a “lively” woman such as Mabel has a metal deterioration due to the way the world treats her.

A Woman Under the Influence is not an easy watch--despite my full 5-star rating (those are rarely given out by me) it is not a motion picture you can throw on via a whim and be happy to enjoy 2 ½ hours of a troubled relationship where a woman is treated badly, both people in a marriage have mental health issues, long extended scenes that are so tense you can cut it with a knife, and children are caught in the crossfire in a movie masterfully directed by Cassavetes-always feeling real. “Suffocating” is an apt term I saw a mutual use in their review. Yet, the only regret I have w/ the film was my failure to give it a shot many years ago despite all the great acclaim it’s had the past half-century.

 

Immaculate

Immaculate (2024)

71% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 200 reviews)

Runtime: 89 minutes

Directed by: Michael Mohan

Starring: Sydney Sweeney, Alvaro Morte, Simona Tabasco, Benedetta Porcaroli, Giorgio Colangeli

From: NEON

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.

Late last night I returned home to Florida; the Southwest flight from Wichita to Orlando (via St. Louis) went fine. Toasted ravioli was had in St. Louis; it was nice to sample some local cuisine. I saw Immaculate on its first day on Hulu yesterday morning not because of its star/producer but rather due to me not having planned for Friday morning viewing, its short 89-minute runtime and my theatrical experience with The First Omen.

To address the crucifix-shaped table in the room-an actual table seen in the film-both Immaculate and The First Omen relate to young American nuns in Italy who enter a convent, only to discover it's a place with incredibly perverted ideas on proper teachings & beliefs The Lord would approve of.

Several plot points are rather similar; due to the stories, that was likely inevitable rather than Omen copying elements from a script that had been around for years and in fact star Sydney Sweeney purchased the script and her production company was one of the several that made this. If she was responsible for the giallo elements (including the usage of a song from The Red Queen Kills Seven Times)... swoon!

The First Omen I do prefer overall in terms of story and all the rest. That said, a pair of similar 70's style horror where First felt rather gnarly due to some genuinely terrifying moments and a scene “inspired” by Possession while Immaculate has some crazy nunsploitation/exploitation vibes-especially in the film's third trimester-Praise the Lord for both going wide release and are modern horror I can enjoy that isn't the “elevated horror” nonsense nor the worst of Blumhouse like Tarot is purported to be.

This feels like an exploitation version of what First did-both are tasty flavors for different reasons. Both films presenting quality performances from their leads were for certain assets. Not everyone will agree with my retro opinions on the horror genre but a double-feature of those modern films would make for a satisfying night.

Robin Hood: Men in Tights

Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)

Runtime: 104 minutes

Directed by: Mel Brooks

Starring: Cary Elwes, Richard Lewis, Amy Yasbeck, Roger Rees, and... Dave Chappelle, but don't let that turn you off

From: 20th Century Fox

I wouldn't have minded seeing Cary Elwes as a serious Robin Hood... not just because he speaks w/ an English accent. In short, this was a film I saw as a kid but never again until this morning via Hulu. As others have noted, this in particular spoofs Kevin Costner's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves—the film was popular at the time but in modern times, the reception has been mixed. Prince was also seen as a kid but the adult revisit has not occurred as of now. At least he has an accent unlike Costner not even attempting one, and he's more than just a comedic actor.

Then again, I remembered enough where that wasn't an issue-and it's more important that you know the basic Robin Hood lore that this lightly pokes fun at. It follows that story involving “The Sheriff of Rottingham” in this case, Maid Marian, Prince John as the heel, Lil' Jon... excuse me, Little John, the archery contest, etc. Yep, the humor could be incredibly silly at times; Dave Chappelle's character was known as “Achoo”, leading to the expected joke. I was able to separate the art from the artist there, BTW. Also, there were more sex-related puns than I recalled; perhaps I should have, given that one of the moments that stuck in my mind was the crude joke involving Robin & Marian behind the screen, and shadows...

There isn't much nostalgia from me; the rating is mainly due to how often I was amused or laughed. As stated before, comedy is more subjective than other genres; this isn't my favorite Brooks by any means-this is no Blazing Saddles or Spaceballs-but I was still entertained by all the silliness present. There was some humor of its time-I don't mean the jokes that are less “politically correct” today, such as the entire musical number surrounding the “horror” of “manly” men wearing tights—I mean the references to early 90's movies or pop culture in general. Thankfully for me, I'm old enough to recall all those moments.

Robin of Loxley has a family servant who's blind and that was a running joke which worked throughout the entirety; also, a group rap delivers an exposition dump at the beginning and it works also. I was happy to see this again rather than what passes for most modern comedy films these days.

 

Red Dawn

Red Dawn (1984)

Runtime: 114 minutes

Directed by: John Milius

Starring: Many famous faces

From: United Artists

Wolverines!

I had free time today in Kansas (my nephews all have school now) so in the early afternoon today this was streamed on Max as it's a picture never discussed by me before & it was about time I saw a pretty dopey, preposterous film which features politics that many will describe as “questionable” but I'll get to that in a moment. Not a surprise that director/writer John Milius would include references to such historical figures as Teddy Roosevelt, Genghis Khan and famous mountaineer Jim Bridger—I'm sure he loves them all. Whoever came up with the great sight gag of the town's cinema showing old Soviet movies like Alexander Nevsky-brilliant.

Originally this was written by Kevin Reynolds to be a modest anti-war movie. No one was interested; however, once Milius and General Alexander Haig (a member of MGM's board at the time and for a short time Secretary of State under Reagan) entered the picture, this became a tale where World War III due to a chain of events in that film's world-including the dissolution of NATO-that caused some youths in the real-life city of Calumet, Colorado to become self-sufficient in the mountains and do battle against an alliance of Soviets, Cubans, and Nicaraguans. Technically this is also anti-war in presenting how miserable Soviet occupation would be, but... it's wild that MGM rushed this production as they wanted a big summer release.

The movie wastes no time-the invasion happens only a few minutes in. It is trash as we're supposed to root for teens becoming guerilla freedom fighters (directly compared with the Mujahideen at one point... which is awkward 40 years later) and presenting some rather brutal, harsh messages along the way. It's impossible not to address how this seems like a right-winger's wet dream to see cartoonishly evil Soviet villains defeated by brave, patriotic teenagers or young adults using bombs and guns and we're doing it on our own as Europe “is sitting this out.” Believe me, my not giving this a negative rating should NOT be seen as an endorsement of every political message presented here, or even such details as characters, character development, plot progression, or story beats.

That said, this is crap that at least I can laugh at and it has quite the cast of faces that would become famous later (Swazye, Sheen, Thomas Howell) or character actors in small roles (Harry Dean Stanton, Powers Boothe, & Ben Johnson but there's others; Ron O'Neal has a more substantial part) and plenty of action that at least looks nice due to the cinematography and a nice score from Basil Poledouris. My complaints are mostly related to the script; thankfully I can laugh at this jingoism in 2024. I can only imagine how bad the 2012 remake is; whether it copied the mistakes of this or created new ones for “a modern film”, my likelihood of loathing that: high.

The likelihood of someone rating the OG Red Dawn as loathsome: possible. Me, not taking the picture seriously is an asset in this case. After all, the viewer gets to see Lea Thompson & Jennifer Grey firing machine guns, along with planting bombs at places while acting like innocent women—now there's tactics from World War II.

A "I'm in Kansas" Now Update: Featuring a Review of a Chaplin Short

That short is 1916's The Rink, to be exact: 

My trip to Kansas hasn't always been swell (the traffic from Tupelo, Mississippi to Kansas was incredibly hectic) but the time I've spent at my sister's place has had no issues. No kidding, right now I am technically “babysitting” a 6-year-old boy. However, as he's been on a Kindle the entire time... that's why I can write this review currently. I haven't had the time mostly to even thank the people who liked my reviews the past few days by returning the favor—I know everyone can understand why. This short does have a brief appearance of a cat; appropriate, as there are TWO cats where I'm at now.

Tomorrow I might have the time to check out something feature-length. However, no complaints w/ checking out a Chaplin short new to me that not only was less than 25 minutes, there was no intertitles to speak of. The Tramp causes havoc as a waiter at a restaurant then continues the same at a skating rink. Various familiar faces seen in Chaplin's other works (like Edna Purviance, James T. Kelley and Lloyd Bacon are here—and you'll never see more phony beards, mustaches and eyebrows in your life. The decision to do so was... a choice but I understand how different humor was back in 1916.

The short is rough around the edges and The Tramp was a blatant heel at times in his demeanor; that noted, it was still a pretty good time due to the gags. No intertitles were needed as the actions (usually exaggerated) spoke for themselves. There was plenty of pratfalls even without the usage of roller skates, but it is quite impressive to see Chaplin's skills on those. It's not the best Tramp short-that instead would be something like A Dog's Life or One A.M.-yet if you have seen his most famous work and are hungering for more...