WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[MichiganJ]

Hands down the best movie (so far) of '09 is the stop-motion animated film Coraline. It is absolutely wonderful, and I'm shamed that I missed it on the big screen. Director Henry Selick deservers his very own Academy Award, and the one for best director, too. (While I'm doling out the awards, Best Costume and Art Direction should go to this film, as well). On DVD the film is presented in both 2D and 3D, and while the 3D provides some added dimension, the 2D offers crisper colors. But the film is so good, you'll want to watch it twice in a row, anyway. (Do yourself a favor, on the second viewing, periodically pause the video. Each single frame is a work of art.)

The film is about a girl and her parents who move into a new home. The parents are distracted because they have a writing deadline to meet. They pay little attention to Coraline, who soon discovers a secret door, which leads to a duplicate house with parents that pay close attention to their beloved little girl. Don't buy, it, though. It's a trap!

Creepy and somewhat intense, the film is probably not suitable for very young kids, but when they get a little bit older...

Dakota Fanning provides the voice for Coraline, and is terrific, as is Terri Hatcher as mom and the very creepy "new" mom.

[feaito]

I watched "Nicholas and Alexandra" (1971) and since I'm reading a book which tells the story of five of Queen Victoria's granddaughters, including Empress Alexandra of Russia, it was very interesting to see this Award nominated film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. Michael Jayston and Janet Suzman star as the Imperial couple and they do a very fine job. I totally believed them as Nicholas and Alexandra. Very well made biography, beautiful and realistic sets and costumes; there's very fine attention to period detail in every aspect. Irene Worth is excellent as Maria Feodorovna.

I also watched Otto Preminger's "Whirlpool" (1950) with lovely Gene Tierney as perturbed kleptomaniac manipulated by the shady character played by José Ferrer. Intriguing Noirish film, with good performances by Ferrer, Tierney and Barbara O'Neill. Richard Conte plays Tierney's husband and I'm biased against his performance, because I don't like him. I don't know what it is with him, but I dislike his face, his expression; can't warm to him as an actor.

Today I was in a Biopic state of mind because I watched two of Susan Hayward's best known films:

"With a Song in My Heart" (1952) A glossy, sort of schmaltzy Technicolor biography made by Fox about Jane Froman's life. Susan Hayward gives a beautiful performance and there are very tender and moving moments during the film, especially after Miss Froman's accident, but it just doesn't look real. I feel it's very Hollywoodized, but good entertainment anyhow, with beautiful costumes, musical numbers and great standards sung by Jane Froman. Thelma Ritter plays her usual wisecracker sidekick -at which she excels-, Una Merkel has a small role as a nun and David Wayne and Rory Calhoun play the two men in Jane's life. David Wayne is particularly good as her first husband. A very young Robert Wagner has a small role as one of Miss Froman's fervent fans. Lyle Talbot and Leif Erickson, bot have small roles in the movie.

High production values and a very handsome film to look at.

“I'll Cry Tomorrow” (1955). This one’s totally the opposite of the previous film and it also stars Miss Hayward in an Oscar nominated performance. Filmed in black and white and widescreen, it’s a gritty, harsh film, that wouldn’t have made this way if Mayer still had been around MGM. It’s clearly a product of the Dore Schary reign: A realistic, dramatic, no-holds barred biopic of Lillian Roth’s life. Not so many musical numbers here, but more of the human aspect of Miss Roth’s journey to hell and degradation; alcoholism, abuse, violence et al. Very powerful and one of Miss Hayward’s top performances ever. Richard Conte plays a totally despicable character and he does it right; he’s better when he plays mean characters. Well, I’m prejudiced because I don’t like the actor. Eddie Albert helps Hayward to overcome her alcoholism (I feel that his role is somewhat reminiscent of the one he played in “Smash Up The Story of A Woman” (1946) another great drama about an alcoholic entertainer). Jo Van Fleet is superlative as Hayward’s ambitious stage-mother. Don Taylor plays one of her husbands. Excellent biopic.

Lastly, I saw “Heidi”(1937) with Shirley Temple. Sweet, quite episodic adaptation of the book. Temple is fine as the title character, but it’s Arthur Treacher who steals the show and gets the laughs, as the funny butler. Mary Nash was born to play Frau Rottenmeyer.

[Garbomaniac]

I agree with you! I never cared for Richard Conte. Can't imagine why he was ever a "star." There are so many other talented, attractive people in the world. He must have had connections. But, he was never a draw for me, and he even kept me from watching a film. That is one reason I never saw that movie, even with GENE as a draw.

[jdb1]

I saw a good family drama called Singapore Dreaming (2006)over the weekend on cable.

A struggling family wins a lottery, and is torn by the squabbling of the son and daughter as to the distribution of funds. The movie is highly derivative of the family dramas of English writer/director Mike Leigh. However, the Singapore setting adds an element of interest. The performances, by Chinese-speaking actors, are all very good.

The version I saw was subtitled. There is a lot of English spoken throughout the film, also subtitled for ease of understanding. There are the usual arguments and rivalries of any family drama, along with those big revelation scenes we expect in this genre. But because the family is Chinese, the dynamics are a bit different from what we are used to, and the depiction of life and death in Singapore is fascinating.

A very nice diversion for a summer day.

[mrsl]

feaito:

You hit on two of my faves with Susan Hayward, but I loved her in almost everything she ever did. The only one I saw only once was I Want To Live, I couldn't take that one, she did such a brilliant job.

I agree with you and garbomaniac about Richard Conte. About the only time I liked him was in Full of Life with his Italian Father taking over his life, which I've lived, myself.

Anne

[feaito]

In my opinion Susan was the queen of drama and the direct heir to Bette Davis. It's a pity both ladies did not get along when the worked together during the '60s. My favorite Hayward film is "The Lost Moment" (1947), a truly magnetic film.

As for Richard Conte, now that I recall he also worked opposite Susan in "House of Strangers" (1949), a fine movie starring Edward G. Robinson.I think I tolerated him better in this movie.

[movieman1957]

Champagne For Caesar. delightful comedy with Ronald Colman. Colman plays man with encyclopedic brain determined to win $40 million and take over radio show sponsor's company. Everyone is looking for an angle to trip him up. You won't laugh aloud a lot but you'll smile for 100 minutes.

Colman is elegant and tasteful and charming as always. Celeste Holm is wonderful as woman sent to bring him down. The real surprise of the film is Vincent Price. He is terrific. He is arrogant, fun, evil and almost over the top. Why in the world he didn't get more comedy roles like this is a mystery. Too bad. He was a pleasant surprise.

A UA film on DVD from Netflix was mostly a good print but there were some flaws is the film that was used. At one point it looked like the film was melting but it was short.

Check it out.

[charliechaplinfan]

I took the kids to see Coraline, Michigan J. We were all very impressed. I think my two had a bit of trouble fully understanding it but it didn't matter because the action kept moving.

I've been having a bit of an education about Westerns. I had never seen Rio Bravo or The Searchers in my life, isn't that awful.

I thought the construction of the characters in Rio Bravo was great, the interplay between John Wayne, Dean Martin and Walter Brennan was great, the dialogue sparkled and Angie Dickinson was one of Hawk's better crafted females. Dean Martin was just great, who'd have thought that smooth crooner could be so rough and ready. I'm warming to John Wayne. I read a bit about this film in my book about Hawks, about it being perfect I preferred Red River, that still being my number one Western, so far.

The Searchers made me annoyed that my TV wasn't bigger, the action almost becomes secondary to the landscape. It is a mighty beautiful film and I think this was the film that has made me realise that perhaps John Wayne doesn't play the same character all the time, he's much darker in this. I'm also beginning to recognise that John Ford uses the same stock company of actors.

[mrsl]

I watched National Treasure: The Book of Secrets this a.m. early and I liked it even better than the first one. Coming from the Disney Studio, the language is kept intelligent instead of guttery. This one was a little less wild than the first, but I liked that because it was less outlandish. I also find myself liking Nickolas Cage in these movies more than his usual 'tear 'em ups'. Or his attempts at comedy like Family Man.

The same cast is back with Jon Voight and Ed Harris, but the surprise is Helen Mirren. A few weeks ago I watched her skipping along in silks and satins as Queen Elizabeth, and in this one she's climbing mountains, and slogging through dirty water and fitting in just as well in both scenarios.

Anne

[jdb1]

Interesting weekend for me, as I had fiber optic cable installed on Saturday, and got about a zillion new TV channels to watch. Good thing it was a really hot and humid weekend, and I was going to stay in anyway. (The TV picture is so much better, too).

So last night, on one of the new channels I don't even remember the name of, I saw an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents entitled The Hangover (1962). This was especially interesting in light of all the hooplah surrounding the premier of the new season of Mad Men.

This Hitchcock episode starred Tony Randall as an adman who is beginning the downward spiral into alcoholism. His performance was really compelling, and serves to remind us that although we now think of him primarily as a comic actor, he was also a fine dramatic actor. I had missed the opening credits, so when I saw Randall being solicited by a pretty blonde B-girl in a bar, I was wondering "Who is that girl? She looks like Jayne Mansfield." And so she was, but a much toned-down Mansfield. And she was quite good as the opportunistic, but sympathetic, hooker with a heart of -- well, you know. She wore much less makeup than we are used to seeing on her, and she sported a cute, short blonde hairdo in the style we used to call "the Italian boy."

But this was Randall's show all the way, and he was really good. The only trouble was with the episode itself, which was rather slow. It seemed as though maybe they didn't have a hour's worth of story, so they slowed things down to fill the time. No matter -- Randall was well worth the time. Hitchcock's epilogue was a serious little talk on the evils of alcoholism.

I don't see this episode on YouTube; if it does appear, it's worth a look.

[movieman1957]

Budd Boetticher's "The Killer Is Loose." Terrific little suspense thriller of escaped con coming after the wife of of cop who put him away because the officer accidently killed his wife while being captured. At only 73 minutes it is a tight little drama. Parts of the climax make you want to go "a cop wouldn't so that" but it is pretty exciting.

There was a whole new Wendell Corey I had never seen before. He plays the escaped prisoner. He is creepy and very good.

[Professional Tourist]

Interesting weekend for me, as I had fiber optic cable installed on Saturday, and got about a zillion new TV channels to watch. Good thing it was a really hot and humid weekend, and I was going to stay in anyway. (The TV picture is so much better, too).

So last night, on one of the new channels I don't even remember the name of, I saw an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents entitled The Hangover (1962). This was especially interesting in light of all the hooplah surrounding the premier of the new season of Mad Men.

This Hitchcock episode starred Tony Randall as an adman who is beginning the downward spiral into alcoholism. His performance was really compelling, and serves to remind us that although we now think of him primarily as a comic actor, he was also a fine dramatic actor. I had missed the opening credits, so when I saw Randall being solicited by a pretty blonde B-girl in a bar, I was wondering "Who is that girl? She looks like Jayne Mansfield." And so she was, but a much toned-down Mansfield. And she was quite good as the opportunistic, but sympathetic, hooker with a heart of -- well, you know. She wore much less makeup than we are used to seeing on her, and she sported a cute, short blonde hairdo in the style we used to call "the Italian boy."

But this was Randall's show all the way, and he was really good. The only trouble was with the episode itself, which was rather slow. It seemed as though maybe they didn't have a hour's worth of story, so they slowed things down to fill the time. No matter -- Randall was well worth the time. Hitchcock's epilogue was a serious little talk on the evils of alcoholism.

I don't see this episode on YouTube; if it does appear, it's worth a look.

It is available via Hulu/IMDb, for those in the USA. This episode is from season one, episode twelve of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, original air date 6 December 1962.

I'm going to try to watch it this evening, thanks jdb1.

[feaito]

Over the weekend I watched three films:

“L’Heure D’Été” (Summer Hours) (2008) The first time I saw this film’s review on the newspaper I immediately wanted to see it. The film critic raved about it and wrote that this film was set in three different moments: during a family reunion between the matriarch of a family (Helene) and his sons, daughter, daughters-in-law and grandchildren –they’re celebrating her 75th birthday; then when they get together again for her funeral; and afterwards when they have to decide about the fate of her estate, comprised of her country house and some expensive objects d’art. The subject of the death of the matriarch, who represented the story of this family, with her life experiences, memories, inherited objects, etc. appealed tremendously to me.

The film is beautifully directed by Olivier Assayas and has some very endearing vignettes, especially everything that is related to Helene’s life and her belongings. There’s a huge sense of melancholy that instills the whole film. Helene is played by French actress Edith Scob (who starred in George Franju’s Cult film “Eyes Without a Face” (1962)). Charles Berling (Ridicule) and Juliette Binoche play her elder son and her only daughter, respectively; the other actor's name who plays the younger son escapes me; Kyle Eastwood (Clint’s son) has a small role as Binoche’s American fiancé.

Wonderful study of the relationships between the members of a family with their family’s past, by means of their belongings.

“Sudden Fear” (1952)

This is one of the best films of the later period of Joan Crawford I have ever seen. She plays a famous and rich Stage authoress who falls in love with a young actor (Jack Palance), whom she previously fired from a stage play she’s producing, because he hasn’t the conventional good looks required by the part. Joan gives a very good performance as a woman who innocently falls in love with this man who sweeps her off her feet, unaware of his real intentions.

There are some beautiful, sweet moments between the two leads, during the first half of the film, that were very believably played by both, in spite of their reported lack of chemistry off camera. I had never seen Jack Palance in such romantic situations and he’s good at it; even reciting some sensitive, romantic, poetic quotations to Crawford. Gloria Grahame skillfully plays a tart involved with Palance. Mike Connors, Virginia Huston and Bruce Bennett are also in the cast. Deft handling of the subject by director David Miller.

“The House on 92nd Street” (1945)

Very involving documentary type of film, set before and after WWII was declared by the US, which deals with German spies on the work in NY City. If you like stories of spies, counter-espionage, mystery and suspense, this one’s definitely for you; very realistically done, with filming on location and actual personnel of the FBI featured in the film. William Eythe stars as an American of German descent who works for Lloyd Nolan (head of the FBI) and beautiful Swedish actress Signe Hasso, plays a scheming Nazi spy. Very good Noir!

[klondike]

Watched Prime Cut last night, for the first time in over 25 years!
I'd call it a "real hoot", but that just wouldn't do it justice.
So many ways to look at this film . . . an indictment of all that's arch & sneaky & shallow about '70's films . . . the supreme (and most surpisingly effective) example of Lee Marvin's perfected minimalist style . . . a slobbering state-fair feast of butchery, both criminal & industrial . . a rollercoaster ride of dacron-clad machismo, casually rampant chauvinism & snarling demographic black humor . . the biggest, meatiest [sorry, couldn't resist] role ever enjoyed by peerless, Nixon-era character actor Gregory Walcott, and, oh yeah!, the screen debut of bright-as-a-button Sissy Spacek, her frequent nudity cast into shadow by her mega-watt, co-ed/Kansas smile - though probably not a performance she'd want to reference in an Oscar speech . .

[feaito]

I watched the German film "Emma's Bliss" (2006), a very well acted and touching story of a man dying of pancreatic cancer who finds love in the person of a carefree, young woman. Very human and devoid of the common places and the artificiality of some other films with similar plots.