Kissin' Cousins (1964)
Runtime: 96 minutes
Directed by: Gene Nelson
Starring: Elvis Presley, Arthur O'Connell, Jack Albertson, Glenda Farrell, Yvonne Craig
From: MGM
Oh, this ended up being a more interesting-and a lot more fun to write-review than I was expecting. No one on Letterboxd seems to agree (at least yet) but at least I loved it. That lengthy block of text is below and I'll return tomorrow night.
Before I get to talking about the film, let me give some backstory. Yesterday was the 80th birthday of one Elvis Aron Presley. The reason why I didn't watch then review this film yesterday: like Gary Busey in D.C. Cab, I don't work on Elvis' birthday. Actually, I was busy yesterday, but the made-up story sounds funnier.
Anyhow, like many I think that the music of Presley is great with all the classic tunes and yet I had only seen bits and pieces of a few films and never one from beginning to end. Recently at a store I found a box set of all his Warner Brothers/MGM films (at least the ones they have the rights for at this time) for what seemed like a nice price so I picked that up. Periodically I'll watch a film from there. And I do realize from reputation that most of his acting career consisted of cornball films that are average at best. At least I hope to be entertained and think of him in a positive way instead of his fat bloated days where he ingested massive quantities of drugs daily and had his career mismanaged by Colonel Tom Parker.
Now, onto this film, which I picked at random and I thought it amusing that Elvis plays two characters, cousins who look different as one has blond hair. The plot isn't complex: the government wants to build a missile base on a mountain in the Great Smokey Mountains of Tennessee. Problem is, a backwoods hick family (that's how the movie portrays them) known as the Tatums own and live on the mountain and want nothing to do with the government. A small group of Army soldiers and Josh Morgan (an Air Force guy played by Elvis who grew up in the region) try one last time to convince them, and wacky misadventures happen, including Josh discovering he has a cousin named Jodie Tatum who looks exactly like him except for the color of his hair. Yep, except for some old-school photography tricks where you see both in the same shot it's mostly accomplished by doubles.
The movie is indeed a cornball thing; the Tatum family are not portrayed with a deft touch; they are moonshine-making overall-wearing possum-eating poor white trash; think The Beverly Hillbillies or Hee-Haw for the stereotypes you get to see. I won't break down the plot as it's thin and not that important anyhow, so I won't get into the underdeveloped or unresolved plot points.
The film's quite goofy but at least it's inoffensive (the Tatum clan are portrayed as good-hearted folk who are nice simple people and their fears of the government intruding on them are probably well-founded; the broad jabs at the incompetence of the government/military are amusing and unfortunately accurate too) and there are some legitimate laughs to be had. The songs are decent but they definitely aren't classics by any means. The scenery (when it isn't obvious sets that still have their charm) of California as Tennessee was pretty, too. And, you get to see Arthur O'Connell-a long way from Anatomy of a Murder-as the patriarch of the family, Pappy. Yes, Pappy! Also, there's Jack Albertson before Willy Wonka and Yvonne Craig before she was Batgirl on the 60's Batman show.
Let me mention then some odd things. At random times a whole throng of like 15 or 20 women (known as the Kittyhawks!) who appear from the woods for a gag or a plot point. They do appear in bikinis in one scene and appear in a big dance number at the end so I guess they serve a point. One of them was Teri Garr!
Oh, and Josh Morgan and Azalea Tatum (Craig's character) fall in love. At first I though that was nice then the realization hit: hey, wait a minute, these characters are cousins! Their relationship is explained and they aren't first cousins so I suppose it's OK but it's still kind of weird, ESPECIALLY when you further think about it and realize that Azalea loves a guy who looks just like her brother! You know, the movie is more awkward and surreal than I first realized. Yet, it is a good reason to watch these silly films, to notice strange aspects such as that.
Friday, January 9, 2015
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
War Hunt
War Hunt (1962)
Runtime: 83 minutes
Directed by: Denis Sanders
Starring: John Saxon, Robert Redford, Sydney Pollack, Tom Skerritt, Tommy Matsuda
From: T-D Enterprises
Here's an obscure film I saw late last night. It is most noteworthy for the talent involved, which I'll get into the Letterboxd review below. I will return Friday night, as my schedule doesn't allow me to watch then talk about a film until then.
Runtime: 83 minutes
Directed by: Denis Sanders
Starring: John Saxon, Robert Redford, Sydney Pollack, Tom Skerritt, Tommy Matsuda
From: T-D Enterprises
Here's an obscure film I saw late last night. It is most noteworthy for the talent involved, which I'll get into the Letterboxd review below. I will return Friday night, as my schedule doesn't allow me to watch then talk about a film until then.
I watched this late last night on TCM and this is noteworthy as the first film (aside from a bit part) for Robert Redford, but the same holds true for both Sydney Pollack and Tom Skerritt. Who would have thought back then that later on all three would become famous in the film industry? Hell, there's even Francis Ford Coppola in an uncredited cameo as a dude who drives an Army truck so it's actually four people who would go on to fame and fortune, and that's not even taking into considering the long career John Saxon has had and hadn't even been on screen for 10 years before this role and of course he also became more renowned after the fact.
The setting is the last days, the vestiges of the Korean War and a Private known as Loomis (Redford) joins a new regiment. There's a soldier known as Endore (John Saxon) who is feared by his fellow soldiers for being crazy and well, if he was out on the streets back in America rather than Korea, he'd be a dangerous criminal due to his love of killing; he does solo missions at night and well, him leaving a calling card (using his knife to draw a circle) around the bodies he kills is one of the signs presented that he could even be a serial killer. Obviously war has brought out a bad side of him, and yet his superiors enjoy his success, if not his awkwardness when it comes to military protocol.
Yet, he has a pal... a Korean orphan named Charlie. Sure, he was played by a little Japanese boy but this is a low-budget production so I am glad he was actually from the Pacific Rim. The conflict of the film is between Loomis and Endore and their interest in Charlie, and what will happen when the war ends.
The budget means that this was not an action-packed extravaganza. Rather, this is a drama-a character study-about the toll that war takes on young soldiers and how some have psychotic tendencies that are brought out in the setting. The movie is more than just the convergence of all that talent and yet it's managed to slip through the cracks. Even if the plot could be seen as a little wacky, this is a nicely-acted tale that states its anti-war message well. The wide-eyed neophyte quickly finds out that actual combat embitters people and these men are leading unpleasant lives, waiting until this futility is finally over with. The movie has quality acting-especially by Saxon as the unhinged soldier-and there are several tense scenes.
This quiet moody film does deserve more attention in the genre of anti-war than it has received. I understand it got some attention when it came out but since then... and it's unfortunate.
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
The Sting
The Sting (1973)
Runtime: 129 minutes
Directed by: George Roy Hill
Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning, Eileen Brennan
From: Universal
You know, I swear I once reviewed this once before on this page, way back when. But, when I tried searching for it using more than one method, I struck out. Thus, I figured I should watch this tonight when they showed it on TCM (which is spending Tuesday night's all month showing Redford films) so I could talk about it here and on Letterboxd. That review is below and I'll return tomorrow night.
Each Tuesday night this month (January 2015) TCM is showing Robert Redford movies and this is the first one. I have seen it a few times before (including once on the big screen, like 6 or 7 years ago) but I figured it was time to watch it again and this time talk about it on this site.
I am sure that most of you are familiar with the plot so I'll be brief: Johnny Hooker (Redford) is a grifter, a con-man in the suburbs of Chicago, 1936. He and two other guys pull off a scam... but they rip off the wrong person, a crime kingpin known as Doyle Lonnigan (Robert Shaw). In retaliation one of the trio is murdered. Hooker meets up with Henry Gondorff (a master at scamming people) and eventually they agree to pull off a elaborate parlor trick involving many people and a lot of effort in order to pull a fast one on Lonnigan and it involves staged betting on fictitious horse races.
While I admit the whole scam is rather wacky due to how much exertion and acting that was required to make it work, it's really a moot point when the movie is as well-done as this is, where you want the two charming leads to succeed, the story's so entertaining, there's a panoply of memorable scenes, the entire cast performs really well, the 1930's feeling shines throughout (even in the film-making itself, such as the editing) and of course there's the jaunty ragtime music from Scott Joplin that's unforgettable and it sets the mood also.
In short, the movie is just fun to watch and it is still effective even if you have seen it before, with a quite satisfying ending. It's always engrossing and there are many twists and turns but while it's elaborate it's never confusing, so it can be enjoyed by a wide variety of audiences.
Runtime: 129 minutes
Directed by: George Roy Hill
Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning, Eileen Brennan
From: Universal
You know, I swear I once reviewed this once before on this page, way back when. But, when I tried searching for it using more than one method, I struck out. Thus, I figured I should watch this tonight when they showed it on TCM (which is spending Tuesday night's all month showing Redford films) so I could talk about it here and on Letterboxd. That review is below and I'll return tomorrow night.
Each Tuesday night this month (January 2015) TCM is showing Robert Redford movies and this is the first one. I have seen it a few times before (including once on the big screen, like 6 or 7 years ago) but I figured it was time to watch it again and this time talk about it on this site.
I am sure that most of you are familiar with the plot so I'll be brief: Johnny Hooker (Redford) is a grifter, a con-man in the suburbs of Chicago, 1936. He and two other guys pull off a scam... but they rip off the wrong person, a crime kingpin known as Doyle Lonnigan (Robert Shaw). In retaliation one of the trio is murdered. Hooker meets up with Henry Gondorff (a master at scamming people) and eventually they agree to pull off a elaborate parlor trick involving many people and a lot of effort in order to pull a fast one on Lonnigan and it involves staged betting on fictitious horse races.
While I admit the whole scam is rather wacky due to how much exertion and acting that was required to make it work, it's really a moot point when the movie is as well-done as this is, where you want the two charming leads to succeed, the story's so entertaining, there's a panoply of memorable scenes, the entire cast performs really well, the 1930's feeling shines throughout (even in the film-making itself, such as the editing) and of course there's the jaunty ragtime music from Scott Joplin that's unforgettable and it sets the mood also.
In short, the movie is just fun to watch and it is still effective even if you have seen it before, with a quite satisfying ending. It's always engrossing and there are many twists and turns but while it's elaborate it's never confusing, so it can be enjoyed by a wide variety of audiences.
Monday, January 5, 2015
Dial M For Murder
Dial M for Murder (1954)
Runtime: 105 minutes
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, John Williams, Anthony Dawson
From: Warner Brothers
I do not know when I'll get around to watching more Hitchcock but this is actually a first time watch for me, despite it being a popular title. I now wish I would have seen this sooner. The Letterboxd review is below and I'll return tomorrow night.
Just why they made a 3D movie that was an adaptation of a stage play (by Frederick Knott) and is a dialogue-heavy thing mainly set in one apartment, I cannot explain. I'd still like to see that version to check out the depth of field and all that, but I rented it from the library so it was just the old DVD I got to check out instead of the Blu that has both versions which was released back in '12.
The plot is straight to the point: Ex tennis pro Tony (Ray Milland) is married to Margot (Grace Kelly) but it's an unhappy marriage. She is cheating on him with novelist Mark (Robert Cummings) and when Tony finds out, he concocts what he thinks is “the perfect murder” of his wife and he blackmails Swann (Anthony Dawson) into doing the deed. Things go awry, though. Can Tony think on the fly and still be able to get to the end game? Can Chief Inspector Hubbard (John Williams) figure it all out?
While there was a time or two that I went “Hey, wait a minute...” overall I particularly did enjoy this tale. The setting may sound limiting, but it was never boring; the script is very tight and filmed quite well by a great director with a more than capable cast. It's never dull visually or aurally. The dialogue is always entertaining, my personal favorite was when someone else tried to poke holes in Tony's plans and he explains, “Oh no, I thought of that already, and...” It's oh so fun. However, note that even the perfect murder may look flawless on paper but in execution something unforeseen is bound to happen; sticking to concocting such things on the written page (as Mark does) may be best.
Anyhow, this is a thrilling movie which is an example of "less is more".
Runtime: 105 minutes
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, John Williams, Anthony Dawson
From: Warner Brothers
I do not know when I'll get around to watching more Hitchcock but this is actually a first time watch for me, despite it being a popular title. I now wish I would have seen this sooner. The Letterboxd review is below and I'll return tomorrow night.
Just why they made a 3D movie that was an adaptation of a stage play (by Frederick Knott) and is a dialogue-heavy thing mainly set in one apartment, I cannot explain. I'd still like to see that version to check out the depth of field and all that, but I rented it from the library so it was just the old DVD I got to check out instead of the Blu that has both versions which was released back in '12.
The plot is straight to the point: Ex tennis pro Tony (Ray Milland) is married to Margot (Grace Kelly) but it's an unhappy marriage. She is cheating on him with novelist Mark (Robert Cummings) and when Tony finds out, he concocts what he thinks is “the perfect murder” of his wife and he blackmails Swann (Anthony Dawson) into doing the deed. Things go awry, though. Can Tony think on the fly and still be able to get to the end game? Can Chief Inspector Hubbard (John Williams) figure it all out?
While there was a time or two that I went “Hey, wait a minute...” overall I particularly did enjoy this tale. The setting may sound limiting, but it was never boring; the script is very tight and filmed quite well by a great director with a more than capable cast. It's never dull visually or aurally. The dialogue is always entertaining, my personal favorite was when someone else tried to poke holes in Tony's plans and he explains, “Oh no, I thought of that already, and...” It's oh so fun. However, note that even the perfect murder may look flawless on paper but in execution something unforeseen is bound to happen; sticking to concocting such things on the written page (as Mark does) may be best.
Anyhow, this is a thrilling movie which is an example of "less is more".
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Nothing Lasts Forever
Nothing Lasts Forever (1984)
Runtime: 82 minutes
Directed by: Tom Schiller
Starring: Zach Galligan, the incredibly named Appolonia van Ravenstein, Lauren Tom, Sam Jaffe
From: MGM
Here's a movie with quite the unique backstory, something I explain in the Letterboxd review below. In short, it was unseen for many years for reasons unknown, but even that didn't last forever as it was on TV late last night. Onto the review and I'll be back tomorrow night:
Imagine my surprise when late last year while looking at TCM's website to see what they would be showing this month on TCM Underground, I saw that for the first time ever this movie would be shown to a wide audience, at least in North America. It was last summer that this film got attention. MGM shelved it before it was to be released and for unknown reasons the only way it was to be seen was if you saw it air on European television, as it did a few times. Well, some random person on YouTube got a copy and uploaded it to his page; it only got copyright taken down after articles were written about it. But finally it could be officially shown, albeit at a time (the middle of the night) where many may have completely missed it.
The reason why it got attention-aside from it being rare-is the talent involved. It was produced by Lorne Michaels and directed/written by Tom Schiller, who worked on Saturday Night Live in its early days. It stars Zach Galligan and has an eclectic cast full of old people (Sam Jaffe and Imogene Coca, for example) and has a brief role from Dan Aykroyd and a more substantial part for Bill Murray.
Oh, and it's weird, quite weird. It goes for a 1930's aesthetic and usually succeeds. A lot of it is in black and white but there are some sequences in color. As for the story, it involves an artist who isn't that great but he still tries; however, the society he lives in has become oppressive to such things so he has to work at a tollbooth, before meeting odd people that guide him along the way and it ends up with a bus trip... to the moon. Yeah.
If others got more out of this than I did, that is OK with me. I personally thought that while they got the style down and it is certainly bold in telling a unique story, I didn't think it was effectively told or paced right. Thus, I am not quite sure what the point of it was, besides paying homage to classic films of old, such as Battleship Potemkin); it isn't that funny and it's not exactly an airtight plot either. So I guess I'll have to rate it as average overall due to it being too oddball for my tastes.
At least it's different and plus, it's nice how it's not hidden away anymore.
Runtime: 82 minutes
Directed by: Tom Schiller
Starring: Zach Galligan, the incredibly named Appolonia van Ravenstein, Lauren Tom, Sam Jaffe
From: MGM
Here's a movie with quite the unique backstory, something I explain in the Letterboxd review below. In short, it was unseen for many years for reasons unknown, but even that didn't last forever as it was on TV late last night. Onto the review and I'll be back tomorrow night:
Imagine my surprise when late last year while looking at TCM's website to see what they would be showing this month on TCM Underground, I saw that for the first time ever this movie would be shown to a wide audience, at least in North America. It was last summer that this film got attention. MGM shelved it before it was to be released and for unknown reasons the only way it was to be seen was if you saw it air on European television, as it did a few times. Well, some random person on YouTube got a copy and uploaded it to his page; it only got copyright taken down after articles were written about it. But finally it could be officially shown, albeit at a time (the middle of the night) where many may have completely missed it.
The reason why it got attention-aside from it being rare-is the talent involved. It was produced by Lorne Michaels and directed/written by Tom Schiller, who worked on Saturday Night Live in its early days. It stars Zach Galligan and has an eclectic cast full of old people (Sam Jaffe and Imogene Coca, for example) and has a brief role from Dan Aykroyd and a more substantial part for Bill Murray.
Oh, and it's weird, quite weird. It goes for a 1930's aesthetic and usually succeeds. A lot of it is in black and white but there are some sequences in color. As for the story, it involves an artist who isn't that great but he still tries; however, the society he lives in has become oppressive to such things so he has to work at a tollbooth, before meeting odd people that guide him along the way and it ends up with a bus trip... to the moon. Yeah.
If others got more out of this than I did, that is OK with me. I personally thought that while they got the style down and it is certainly bold in telling a unique story, I didn't think it was effectively told or paced right. Thus, I am not quite sure what the point of it was, besides paying homage to classic films of old, such as Battleship Potemkin); it isn't that funny and it's not exactly an airtight plot either. So I guess I'll have to rate it as average overall due to it being too oddball for my tastes.
At least it's different and plus, it's nice how it's not hidden away anymore.
Friday, January 2, 2015
Stage Fright
Stage Fright (1950)
Runtime: 110 minutes
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Wilding, Richard Todd, Alastair Sim
From: Warner Brothers
I have no time for a proper intro so I'll note that I'll be back Sunday night and here's what I wrote about the film on Letterboxd:
A few days ago I went to the local library to rent a few DVD's of Hitchcock films, all of which I have never seen before. The first one I chose for viewing was this, as it's “lesser-known”, at least by the director's lofty standards.
The plot: A popular entertainer-Charlotte Inwood-(Marlene Dietrich) in an English city accidentally kills her husband, and her lover (Richard Todd) is accidentally seen at the scene of the crime so he has to hide out and he uses his friend Eve (Jane Wyman) to avoid the cops and she does various things to try and clear his name. A detective, a scheming lady that dresses Ms. Inwood and even her parents get involved.
The main thing is that the film has a conceit which of course I won't reveal here for those who haven't seen this before; at the time it wasn't well-received as it was a pretty new thing. In these recent times it's done more often and now that plot point looks better, and in the context of this motion picture it does work.
The movie does feel its length of 110 minutes, the whole thing is rather ridiculous and while not a slight considering his astounding career, it's still lesser Hitch. However, the reason why I rate this the way I do... it's certainly well-acted by a talent cast and there are some great characters, such as Eve's dad (Alastair Sim) and a vivid Cockney speaking lady (Kay Walsh). Of course it was filmed very well and the ending is quite strong. Plus, you get to see Marlene perform.
Those positives help mask the negatives and make this a movie that you may want to check out if you enjoy the director but mainly have only see his most famous works. Many of his famous tropes are here but as typical they are done in a different way so you won't feel like things are stale as you watch it.
Runtime: 110 minutes
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Wilding, Richard Todd, Alastair Sim
From: Warner Brothers
I have no time for a proper intro so I'll note that I'll be back Sunday night and here's what I wrote about the film on Letterboxd:
A few days ago I went to the local library to rent a few DVD's of Hitchcock films, all of which I have never seen before. The first one I chose for viewing was this, as it's “lesser-known”, at least by the director's lofty standards.
The plot: A popular entertainer-Charlotte Inwood-(Marlene Dietrich) in an English city accidentally kills her husband, and her lover (Richard Todd) is accidentally seen at the scene of the crime so he has to hide out and he uses his friend Eve (Jane Wyman) to avoid the cops and she does various things to try and clear his name. A detective, a scheming lady that dresses Ms. Inwood and even her parents get involved.
The main thing is that the film has a conceit which of course I won't reveal here for those who haven't seen this before; at the time it wasn't well-received as it was a pretty new thing. In these recent times it's done more often and now that plot point looks better, and in the context of this motion picture it does work.
The movie does feel its length of 110 minutes, the whole thing is rather ridiculous and while not a slight considering his astounding career, it's still lesser Hitch. However, the reason why I rate this the way I do... it's certainly well-acted by a talent cast and there are some great characters, such as Eve's dad (Alastair Sim) and a vivid Cockney speaking lady (Kay Walsh). Of course it was filmed very well and the ending is quite strong. Plus, you get to see Marlene perform.
Those positives help mask the negatives and make this a movie that you may want to check out if you enjoy the director but mainly have only see his most famous works. Many of his famous tropes are here but as typical they are done in a different way so you won't feel like things are stale as you watch it.
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Happy New Year
I don't have much time to say more than that but I will be back tomorrow night with a review and in 2015, things won't be too much different from 2014; I may not do as many reviews but we'll see about that.
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