Sleeping Beauty

Yes, I reviewed the 1959 Disney classic, which I hadn't viewed since I was probably a little kid: 

Yep, I have Disney+ for the next month—Hulu, too. That will help me view a wide variety of films for the month of February, which was a silent goal I’ve had in mind since before the month began. What I’ll view on those platforms won’t always be “the popular” choices, although I may check out some beloved pictures I somehow haven’t tackled before. 

Sleeping Beauty is one I recall seeing when I was really young-although the details were quite hazy. Of course I recalled the three good fairies and due to the pair of films, the evil Maleficent. Without having seen those movies, I’m a little puzzled as to why they devoted one, let alone TWO pictures to a figure that curses an entire kingdom and damned an infant to die on her 16th birthday just because she’s “The Mistress of All Evil.” In any case, at least three good fairies have the plan to raise baby Aurora in the forest as-I suppose-a trio of women who could have a polyamorous relationship w/ each other; they certainly argued as if they were in a relationship!

To be less frivolous, the film is simply charming, great for all ages. Some moments are a little silly but that doesn’t seem too critically important when there’s a lovely soundtrack-based on the ballet from Tchaikovsky, some nice songs (especially Once Upon a Dream… heard often), a prince that proved to be a classical hero in the final act, a likable heroine in Aurora-even if they were a bit bland due to the circumstances-and charming good fairies who have three distinct personalities.

But naturally, it was the stunning animation & its aesthetics which were stunning. Only a few minutes in, seemingly all the colors of the rainbow were shown, literally making me utter, “wow.” Animators worked on the movie for the entirety of the 50’s; that effort is apparent. Regrettably for Disney, the storybook visuals and the story wasn’t enough for people at the time-the movie wasn’t a raging success and led to Disney’s animation department going down the toilet for a full three decades, only experiencing a renaissance starting with The Little Mermaid. 

Thankfully, the passage of time has allowed for Sleeping Beauty to be reevaluated, its attributes shining brighter. The animation (it looked amazing in “just” an HD stream. I can’t wait for a 4K release in the future—that should be a stunner) and Maleficent are good enough reasons alone to give this a shot if you love classic Disney animation and hadn’t seen this before—or like me hadn’t viewed it in at least 3 decades.

Yes, We Have No Bonanza

We're still deep in the 1939 era here: 

(Short # 39 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

Featuring a morbid gag involving a donkey. The animal doesn’t actually die, but they’re in the woods looking for buried treasure so they can pay off the debts their girlfriends have with their evil boss, who is also a bank robber. Guess who found the treasure that was buried in the woods… there’s a routine revolving around a stick of lit dynamite that lands by Yorick the donkey. Moe and Curly don’t realize their dog moved the stick away from the donkey. Kaboom, and there went flying the rack of meat they were going to eat… but they thought it was pieces of Yorick! Alas, Poor Yorick indeed.

Otherwise, it was a standard, hilarious tale where the first few minutes are the Stooges singing/dancing with their dames-they work at the same saloon-then they’re yelled at by their boss, then the action moves to a nice indoor set where rocks are thrown & they believe a jackass is blown up. That was funny but the laugh quotient increases during the final few minutes when they confront the villains, the heroes succeed, and Curly utters the title at the end... a rare Rick Dalton point at the screen moment.

As this features everything from a Hamlet reference to a wooden horse becoming involved in a chase w/ an automobile-a lasso is the reason why-Yes, We Have No Bonanza is a swell time.

Cross of Iron

Cross of Iron (1977)

Runtime: I saw the 132 minute version

Directed by: Sam Peckinpah

Starring: James Coburn, Maximilian Schell, James Mason, David Warner, Klaus Lowitsch

From: Several different West German and British companies

I’m finally fulfilling a request made late last year. In the comments to my review of Peckinpah’s Convoy (reviewed almost three months ago) this film was brought up, then I stated how it was never seen by me before. This mutual gave a strong recommendation to do so. For some reason, the versions available for streaming in the United States are a few minutes shorter than the full 132 minute cut I was able to track down… nevermind how. 

It's a World War II from the perspective of the Germans-in this case, the Russian front. Those not familiar w/ history, the Nazi campaign in that country went about as well as Napoleon’s attempt more than a century ago… i.e. not well. The crux is on the conflict between James Coburn’s Steiner and his new superior, Maximilian Schell’s Stransky. The latter is an aristocrat who puts on a façade of a brave, great soldier but it later proves to be all bluster; Steiner-on the other hand-is a cynical realist who doesn’t always follow protocol.

The opening credits alone are distinctive: images of war and the Nazi Party are shown over the sounds of a German lullaby. The end credits are an interesting spin on this. The Russian land is shown to be muddy and dreary; the color palette of the exteriors were usually either green or tan. The battles themselves were utter chaos, bedlam where (as expected for the director) occasional bloody moments were shown. There’s also long dialogue scenes between a few different characters; they weren’t boring due to content and the performance of the actors. There’s even dream sequences which this commenter said were the only ones ever done by Peckinpah.

Cross of Iron (Stransky desires the Iron Cross military metal) was a swell recommendation as it was always a fascinating “war is hell” picture whether it was focused on the dialogue or the action. As that commenter proclaimed a few months ago, the World War II tank scene was especially well-realized. As it’s Peckinpah during this period, the shoot was fraught w/ difficulty. According to Wiki, the director found that he liked local Yugoslavian fruit brandy which was as powerful as Everclear! Yes, the shoot went long… the West German producer (Wolf C. Hartwig) made plenty of genre and exploitation films but had money issues during this attempt at a big release.

For its issues, Cross of Iron was still enjoyed by me. It’s always nice seeing Coburn, Schell, James Mason and/or David Warner in a motion picture. I do know the movie has a sequel, 1979’s Breakthrough; different director but a few characters and supporting actors from this return. Apparently it’s not that good but as it has Richard Burton, Rod Steiger and Robert Mitchum…

 

Two More Three Stooges Shorts

First, We Want Our Mummy: 

(Short # 37 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

Curly’s the star of this short which spoofs King Tut and his alleged curse once his tomb was found in 1922. In this case, an Egyptologist is missing so the trio are detectives that are hired by a museum to find both him and the tomb of King Rutentuten; no words on if he’s a funky tut… in the museum itself is a wacky gag or two plus the start of an onslaught of puns… e.g. Curly uttering, “I have an uncle in Cairo… he’s a Cairo-practor.” 

Once in Egypt Curly sees a mirage in a great routine then the boys literally fall into the tombs; this was an impressive set, full of hidden rooms, secret passageways, and foils that were or weren’t dressed in garb. While the Stooges did not spend much time beating each other up, it was irrelevant in this case between all the pithy bon mots, the antics in the desert, then attempting to avoid the villains in the catacombs.

The number of laughs throughout is why the rating is so high. In addition, this was the first instance of an occasional trend where a short would have Howard, Fine, & Howard interact w/ horror elements… typically someone dressed up as a ghoul, like the faux mummy presented here. While it was more prevalent during the Shemp era, a few Curly shorts featured those elements as well.

Second: A Ducking They Did Go: 

(Short # 38 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

Nostalgia plays a role in my rating this rather highly. It was one of the shorts present on one of the three official VHS releases in the late 80’s that my parents purchased. Thus, there’s been fond memories for the majority of my life. Yeah, there isn’t too much slapping around or head-bonking done by Moe to his buddies; that was irrelevant in this case when the silly story entertained me. 

The boys are poor & starving, so they attempt to steal a watermelon, only for it to end up on the head of a cop after an errant throw. They escape & come across a duo who turn out to be peddling fake memberships to a duck-hunting club. Via circumstance, they sell memberships to the police and even the city’s mayor. Later at the hunting lodge, they are told by “Paul Revere” (Curly’s description of the old man holding a lantern) that “there haven’t been wild ducks here for years.”

The last portion is set on a nice indoor set w/ trees & a small water tank to represent the woods and a small pond. There’s both decoys and later legitimate ducks present. Laughs are had where Curly runs afoul of a particular mallard, a duck is on Moe’s back so Larry accident lands a bullseye on Moe’s hindquarters, Curly points a jammed shotgun at Moe’s face, etc. There’s funny dialogue as well.

It is awkward how it reuses the ending of A Pain in the Pullman for its ending and that denouement makes less sense here than it did there. Even so, A Ducking They Did Go will forever entertain me.

 

Four Frightened People

Four Frightened People (1934)

Runtime: 78 minutes

Directed by: Cecil B. DeMille

Starring: Claudette Colbert, Herbert Marshall, Mary Boland, William Gargan, Leo Carillo

From: Paramount

This was hokum for sure, but at least entertaining hokum. The Criterion Channel currently has a collection of Claudette Colbert films; as I haven’t seen too much of her work (despite her role in making It Happened One Night a classic) and Cecil B. DeMille usually creates grand spectacles. The film is only 78 minutes in length; the original cut was longer-of course it’s long gone by now.

Whether or not it was the intent for Colbert and Mary Boland to be much more likable than the dumb men portrayed by Herbert Marshall and William Gargan, but that’s how it plays in 2025. They were the titular four frightened people who escaped (well, Claudette was literally dragged along by the jerk males, even though they loudly boasted that they weren’t sexually attracted to her!) from a boat that has the bubonic plague. They end up on a Malayan island-actually filmed in what is now the state of Hawaii-so the quartet plus a guide are forced to walk through the jungle for days to reach the next ship.

The movie is foolishness where Colbert is supposed to not be a stunning beauty because she’s a dowdy schoolteacher from Chicago who-gasps-wears glasses. Hilariously, her character (Judy Jones) claims that her great-great-great grandfather was John Paul Jones… the Revolutionary War Naval commander, not the Led Zeppelin bassist! Naturally it’s not the most enlightened look for Jones to suddenly come out of her shell and be bold.. by in part, letting her hair down, having her glasses broken, and due to contrived circumstances, dressing “sexy” after bathing in a waterfall! 

It was so ludicrous, I had to laugh—even if the behavior of the jackass men after she became “sexy” was exactly as “enlightened” as you’d expect. As it’s the 1930’s, even after she becomes a badass who literally spears fish, there’s still melodrama and Judy’s still weepy. Complaints aside, the jungle setting is well-realized, with its exotic smells, unusual sounds for those white people, and plenty of wild animals-including a cobra. Thankfully, I could like this pulpy film that clearly was based on an old pulpy novel.

The Bikeriders

The Bikeriders (2023)

80% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 275 reviews)

Runtime: 116 minutes

Directed by: Jeff Nichols

Starring: Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist

From: Focus/Regency/Universal

I finally saw a movie that was almost viewed theatrically last year. In general, the reviews painted a picture that it wasn’t one of the best pictures released that year. Although, perhaps I still should have—Fox/Disney dumping the movie at the last minute so Focus Features needing to step in instead was ridiculous, no matter what reasons the studio had for doing so.

A sticking point for many: the accents. As sometimes happens, a Tom Hardy voice garnered quite a reaction. In this case (from hearsay; I’ve never viewed The Wild One aside from the clip shown in this film. They made that connection clear) Hardy’s character impersonated an iconic film role during the 60’s-70’s setting of The Bikeriders. Then, there was Jodie Comer’s character Kathy; people on Letterboxd and of course Film Twitter raised Cain about it. Unfortunately for them…

She was based on a real person, <a href=" https://x.com/rvdlovess/status/1813738019809366147">and Comer simply mimicked her… and rather well.</a> That’s a “whoops” for the haters… no offense to the Letterboxd mutuals who feel they are part of that camp!

It is not a movie I loved; after all, it was more a slice of life deal where various characters in the Vandals Motorcycle Club in the Chicagoland area (loosely based on the actual Outlaws Motorcycle Club) were followed for a period of 8 years. It was like they had several leads and no leads at the same time, you know. Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised; it was based on an old picture book of the same name. I can’t proclaim it as aimless; in the final act a point was made concerning these uber-macho man who decided to be part of this outlaw movement. The story had its flaws yet Bikeriders was still a movie well worthy of viewing by me.

Yeah, there’s no shortage of needle-drops and that phenomenon isn’t always my favorite trend; in this case there is no complaint. Besides it being retro tunes, many were new even to me, although it was usually the artist/band I was familiar with. It was a groovy soundtrack, in other words. The movie was full of modern performers whose movies I don’t experience enough of: Comer, Hardy, Austin Butler, Michael Shannon, Emory Cohen, Norman Reedus, etc. What a wacky role Reedus had in the film.

The film is not the home run it could have been; even then, the attempt to tell a serious story revolved around rebels from the past and for my tastes, avoided many of the modern tropes I loathe. As long as the viewer is patient and realize it does come together in the second half when the first half may lead you confused as to its purpose. It addresses masculinity without being “man-hating” (a fear many have over everything now, whether or not they should). If you’re patient, you just might… enjoy the ride.

Nevermind That Sabbatical...

I explain it all below in my review for the first Stooge short of 1939: Three Little Sew and Sews.

(Short # 36 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

So, that sabbatical I was going to take… that has already concluded. In short, February hasn’t started off as the best month so far, and well—the reason why there was no Internet or phone for me for almost 24 hours: something literally exploded! It knocked out power to parts of the neighborhood also, although not where I live. There was zero faith (for good reason) that this issue would have been fixed anytime soon. I was incredibly irritated and frustrated yesterday afternoon but now I feel much better. Besides having those luxuries returned, the other unfortunate moments aren’t that big a deal.

Barring any other calamities in February, my schedule should be back to normal.

The Stooges enter the world of political intrigue. They are in the Navy of a fictional country, albeit as tailors-explaining the title. Curly wears the uniform of the Admiral, leading to him agreeing to lock up Moe and Larry after they attack him. Once Curly orders their release, the trio attend a soiree with a male-female duo of foreign spies, who desire to steal their submarine.

Three Little Sew and Sews was fun as it had the trio in different scenarios and different laughs were earned between the slapstick in those settings and the typical snappy patter. It was funny seeing Curly get revenge on his pals for their prior abuse. This was a nice spotlight for Curly, from a pantomime routine early on, getting seduced by the female spy at the party, another instance of him struggling w/ a couch spring, etc. He also was unforgettable in the sub, which itself was a new playground for gags.

As the submersible went out of control and even flew out of the water at one point, it was a nice bit of visual humor. The ending was unusual yet morbidly hilarious; thus, this piece devoted to international intrigue still entertained audiences at the time even if later in the year, World War II would begin. Naturally, during those years the Stooges would appear in more than a few war-themed shorts during those years, as will be reviewed in the future.