A Summer's Tale

A Summer’s Tale (Conte d'ete) (1996)

Runtime: 113 minutes

Directed by: Eric Rohmer

Starring: Melvil Poupard, Amanda Langlet, Gwenaelle Simon, Aurelia Nolin

From: A few different French companies 

A year ago, I saw my first Eric Rohmer picture; it was 1986’s The Green Ray. Despite multiple people leaving comments on my review noting some other films of his that I should seek out, it took a full year to finally pull the trigger. My sincerest apologies to everyone; what an utter fool I was… and still am. A Summer’s Tale is not only one of the most-viewed films from the director judging by Letterboxd, someone specifically recommended this.

Our lead Gaspard (a young man who just earned a degree) has a problem I wish could be my problem also: he’s alone in the seaside French town of Dinard and he has THREE attractive French women interested in him! First, there’s the on-again/off-again girlfriend Lena, who isn’t in Dinard yet. He befriends waitress Margot and there are multiple scenes full of dialogue like it’s one of the Before films. Then, there’s Solene, who is more romantically interested in Gaspard. 

I was charmed more than expected from the picture. It was more interesting and thought-provoking than you might expect when you hear it’s about a cad who has the “difficulty” of choosing one of three different suitors. The movie was had acres of interesting dialogue as it was fascinating learning about Gaspard along with how different Lena, Margot, and Solene are. As Dinard looks like a lovely town, it was a treat to discover that most scenes were filmed outdoors. Furthermore, of course there weren’t complaints from me when the first seven minutes contained exactly zero lines of dialogue-instead, we viewed Gaspard living a solitary existence while on holiday.

Whether or not it was the intent for the viewer to become upset with Gaspard’s indecisiveness and the missed signals that constantly pass by him—that was my opinion. Admittedly, it is a harsh take once you learn that Rohmer viewed this as a largely autobiographical film, although some of it was events he witnessed—according to him, anyhow, not everything Gaspard did was done by the director himself. Whether or not the director is a fan of sea shanties is unknown by me; one is heard in the film, for those that still ache that the brief revival of those several years ago quickly faded away.

That said, one of the women seemed like an obvious choice; who was selected of course won’t be revealed by me. Summer was a laidback tale, yet one that was endlessly riveting. It’s a guarantee that it won’t take another year until a third Rohmer is viewed then reviewed.

The Octagon

The Octagon (1980)

Runtime: 103 puzzling minutes

Directed by: Eric Karson

Starring: Chuck Norris, Karen Carlson, Lee Van Cleef, and many others

From: American Cinema Productions/Estudios Churubusco Azteca

Featuring CHUCK NORRIS ASMR

While this technically wasn’t a request, a mutual commented on my review for Enter the Ninja that this picture deserves mention concerning the topic of “ninjas became popular in the United States during the 80’s.” Despite knowing of the movie for ages, its mixed reception was why I never gave the movie a shot until now. After viewing… Lord is the plot not always the easiest to follow and the curious decision was made to let the audience hear the inner monologue of the lead character, both whispered and echoed.

My rating is kind considering how nonsensical the story is, full of supporting characters. A ninja camp is followed alongside Norris becoming mixed up with a rich lady who is targeted by A-holes. Honestly, the plot does not need further description; rather, I’ll note such things as:

Richard Norton made his film debut here, appearing in a pair of scenes; a belated RIP to him

A famous face I won’t reveal appeared briefly. His presence was quite the surprise

The score from Dick Halligan was quite the hoot, totally en vogue for the period.

A supporting character named DOGGO is quite funny 45 years later

Lee Van Cleef wears an ascot 

The movie needed more of him

Every bit of dialogue between Chuck’s Scott James and Karen Carlson’s Justine (the rich dame) was awkward. Whether or not that was intentional…

The action was fine and sometimes rather bloody. That helped the film

Chuck has sex with another lady as both fear they will pass away the next day when they visit the titular Octagon. 

What it is won’t be revealed here. If you must, look at Wikipedia

As flawed as the movie is-and it’s not the best I’ve seen from Norris-I was still tickled pink. There are worse Chuck pictures out there, for certain.

Inspector Clouseau

Inspector Clouseau (1968)

Runtime: 96 interminable minutes

Directed by: Bud Yorkin

Starring Alan Arkin, who unwisely was Clouseau. In addition, there's many random actors, the only one of which I recognized was Barry Foster

From: MGM 

A review requested months ago. Yes, I am a heel for not fulfilling requests MUCH sooner. I’ll try to complete the few I remember still having during the rest of June. I never know whether to name people or not but another Letterboxd user asked me for a review. They don't like it either. Their rationale: this infamous “Inspector Clouseau film without any of the people responsible for the rest of the franchise” effort makes even the worst efforts directed by Blake Edwards look not so bad in comparison.

Note that I’ve never viewed the two Steve Martin efforts as Clouseau nor the one from the 90’s w/ Roberto Benigni. However, the poor reputation that Inspector Clouseau film has is warranted. Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers feuded so The Mirisch Corporation (who made The Pink Panther then A Shot in the Dark) went on with the character despite the lack of Sellers, Edwards, nor other critical components like Inspector Dreyfus, his assistant Francois, Cato, nor the iconic music from Henry Mancini. 

Alan Arkin was fine on the rare occasions I’ve seen him in the past-another problem I need to fix-but his version of Clouseau was just weird, off-putting and lacking the charm that Sellers brought to the role. The direction and music are OK although pale in comparison. The plot—“episodic” is a common term used in other reviews; that is not a lie. It is nonsense revolving around an organized crime gang and their eventual usage of Mission: Impossible face masks, but boy does much of the film fall flat.

There are a few chuckles along the way; in totality, though, Clouseau (both the film and the character as portrayed in the film) was tiresome and not enjoyable to watch. Before anyone speculates, I do NOT have heat with the individual who made this request. In fact, it did make me appreciate Sellers in the role even more than before. Moreover, while some do like the film, others may feel the same that I do—they should take my review as a word of warning before deciding to ever give Inspector Clouseau a shot.

Mysterious Skin

Mysterious Skin (2004)

Runtime: 105 harrowing minutes

Directed by: Gregg Araki

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Brady Corbet, Michelle Trachtenberg (RIP), Elisabeth Shue, Bill Sage

From: A few different independent studios

A belated RIP to Michelle Trachtenberg. My apologies for not tipping my cap to her several months earlier; understand that it seemed appropriate to see a highly regarded movie she had a prominent role in, yet it was from a controversial filmmaker I hadn’t seen anything from before and even before stumbling upon a huge spoiler, the reviews here described “a tough watch” without elaborating upon as to why. 

Recently, I found out why; besides “YIKES,” it solidified the belief that “the right time” needed to be selected to view a movie revolving around difficult, “the horrors of real life” topics. Furthermore, it is appropriate for Pride Month as one of the lead characters is an out homosexual, and many homosexual activities are shown w/ an unflinching view.

As for Trachtenberg, unfortunately I never saw any of her TV work and in cinema, only the bad Black Christmas remake and the truly repulsive Cop Out. There were rumors as to why she passed away-the revelation that it was due to complications of diabetes-but that may have been a side effect of her liver transplant… it raised even more questions but of course it’s none of my business what health maladies she suffered from late in life—it is heartbreaking that she passed away at the age of 39.

Concerning Mysterious Skin… like many of you have proclaimed, it’s possible the film will never be seen again by me. The viewer is introduced to Brian Lackey and Neil McCormick as children; the former blacked out one day (he couldn’t account for 5 full hours) then later saw a UFO one night. The latter… that is the spoiler I heard; thus, I’m not too upset by hearing it—what happened to Neil was of course extremely upsetting. My hope is that no one reading this has ever dealt with such trauma but the odds suggest it is possible—while there’s been other sorts of trauma in my life, that specifically, no.

Neil as an adult (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is sexually promiscuous while Brian (future Oscar-nominated director Brady Corbet) is obsessed w/ UFO’s. The journey that both take separately from each other is followed. I won’t reveal the rest of this voyage; thus, I’ll note that the performances from the cast were at least fine and usually were good to very good: Gordon-Levitt, Corbet, Michelle T., Elisabeth Shue, Mary Lynn Rajskub, etc. A critical asset: the ethereal score and a soundtrack that matched it.

Hearsay tells me that the film is accurate in expressing the opinions & feelings of those that survived the trauma depicted; in my mind it is a justification for how blunt and uncomfortable Mysterious Skin is, especially in the denouement. It’s an effective film that stands a good chance of never being viewed by me ever again. Notwithstanding, I was still glad to have tackled a highly-rated picture, view something highly-rated from Michelle Trachtenberg, and eventually I’ll review a second motion picture from Gregg Araki.

Two More Shemp Shorts

Hokus Pokus: 

(Short # 115 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

Insurance fraud occurs, but thankfully it wasn’t “the three saps;” rather, a blonde named Mary is faking wheelchair use for a payout. After this deception is revealed, the viewer discovers that the Stooges are neighbors downstairs-what irony that this happens when the trio attempt to do the right thing and help someone in need.

There are routines both old and new—both Moe and Shemp act like their baby brother Curly; there’s amusing routines revolving around both Shemp’s failed attempt to set up a wooden table and the boys shaving each other—their faces, I mean. Then, the second half occurs; eventually, the two shall meet, but only in the final minute. 

We now see that they have the blue-collar job of “hanging posters.” They meet Svengarlic, a hypnotist. It is alright to use the term Svengali in general in terms of describing a master manipulator, especially for a hypnotist. That said, if you didn’t know, its origin is from the 1894 novel Trilby, where Svengali was… an obvious and negative Jewish caricature. Let’s quickly move on!

He hypnotizes them to walk on a flagpole-it’s a horizontal pole, many stories up a building. Of course that goes askew. While not even the funniest effort released in 1949, Hokus Pokus is still a pretty good time. After all, there are such novelties as Vernon Dent getting to do a slapstick routine w/ Shemp where plenty of slapping occurs.

Fuelin' Around: 

(Short # 116 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

The Stooges enter the Cold War. I say this as there's drama with another country after World War II, even if that country is fictional--the Communism is implied. In this instance, their blue-collar job this time is “carpet installers;” this job is performed at the quaint suburban home of a Professor Sneed, working on “super rocket fuel” for the federal government. Spies w/ foreign accents (from the country known as “Anemia”) believe that Larry is Sneed & Moe/Shemp are his assistants.

Understandably, to save themselves plus Sneed & his daughter, they play along, which at least was explained to the audience. They Stooge around, both in the house and in Anemia’s laboratory. There are funny puns and routines, whether new or modified. A task as simple as “the trio pace around a room” was turned into a funny bit; so was Shemp being pulled in two different directions; a dummy was used to wonderful effect. 

If you ever wanted to know what a Lynch-directed Stooge short would have been like… I realize how bizarre it will sound to mention the late David Lynch in the world of these performers. However, others have done so and once I describe the plot, not only will you understand why this is like no other that the Stooges did, but its polarizing nature will be obvious. Mix in Emil Sitka, Christine McIntyre, & Vernon Dent—no wonder I felt lifted by Fuelin’ Around.

 

Predator: Killer of Killers

This is the new anthology that just debuted on Hulu yesterday... or Disney + if you're also subscribed to Hulu like I am for the next month. Regrettably, like typical for modern cinema, my opinion is lower than many others, for one specific reason: 

A return of me offering dissenting opinions, this will be. Rarely is it enjoyable for me to go against popular opinion-yet at the same time I don’t want to like to myself or all those random people from literally around the world who read my (average, IMO) writings. I liked Prey rather than loved it yet the idea of an animated Predator anthology where the Yautja is inserted into three different eras that franchise fans have clamored for in the past.

Yes, the movie feels like fan fiction at times although that is not automatically a negative. It was interesting seeing the title creature in the time of Vikings, interesting w/ samurai in Japan and finally in World War II. Plot quibbles could certainly be made; however, what ultimately ruined the experience for me is a detail that likely most will vehemently disagree with, but here we go… I HATED the animation; my brain summarily rejected it and my heart sank at the realization that the entire film would have this aesthetic. 

Clearly, a trailer was never viewed by me; otherwise, I wouldn’t have even bothered. If that opinion isn’t enough to leave you steaming, note that it reminded me of Flow, a movie I haven’t seen and never will see as the trailer told me that the animation looked HORRIBLE and no way would I enjoy viewing it. Yes, on the night of the Oscars this year I learned the story of how it was made; this detail does not sway my opinion. As unpopular as this opinion will be, the animation looks janky, unnatural, and totally unappealing.

It's a crying shame, as if it didn’t make my eyes bleed, the rating would be higher. The three stories are all interesting and especially in the Viking tale, graphic gore and devastating deaths are presented. Plus, it was nice to hear the voice of an 80’s genre fave—moreover, the Benjamin Wallfisch score was perfectly acceptable.

As most will (& already have noted that there is) not an issue w/ the aesthetics, you’ll hopefully have a better time than I did. As Prey was something in the “like” rather than the “love” category and Badlands will hopefully be good but the trailer did not fully sway me—at least there is the first two Predator movies and it is easy for me to pretend that most of the others do not exist.

 

Cruel Gun Story

Cruel Gun Story (Kenjû Zankoku Monogatari) (1964)

Runtime: 87 minutes

Directed by: Takumi Furakawa

Starring: Jo Shishido, Chieko Matsubara, Tamio Kawaji, Yuji Odaka, Minako Katsuki

From: Nikkatsu

A movie that spawned many profile pictures for messageboards & Discord. Many likely will recognize the distinctive-looking Japanese man bleeding from the head but still wearing glasses, smoking a cigarette, holding a pistol, and looking like an utter badass. That’s Jo Shishido from Cruel Gun Story; not only is it currently the main banner for the movie on Letterboxd, the image is the one attached to the Criterion Channel listing of the film.

It was about time for me to view this Japanese noir picture. Shishido is sprung from prison by the Yakuza for a daring armored car heist, the vehicle just having left the horse racetrack. Yes, in fact this was reminiscent of The Killing. The plan requires the murder of more than one cop (think of that how you will) but Jo is somewhat painted with a sympathetic brush—he has a sister in a wheelchair-after an accident-and attempting to cure her is his driving motivation.

As expected, despite how well the scheme is planned out, a spanner will be thrown into the works, something will go askew. Of course, where in the chain that the link breaks and the stakes are raised won’t be disclosed by me. It’s a film with the noir flavors that people enjoy, along with a groovy score, plenty of shootouts, double-crosses (sometimes even triple-crosses), memorable characters, and a darker than Hollywood at the time flavor. In fact, the movie is cruel and people die at the hand of a gun, no matter who is wielding it.

As downbeat as the film can be, Cruel Gun Story was an enthralling story, which was less than 90 minutes to boot. The picture is more than just one remarkable image.