Back on track - a review of two classics: The Graduate and High Noon

Steve Hackett at the Arcada Theater, 9/21/13

Well, I think I have finally recovered my week off, which was really spectacular. It's always nice to go home, even if it puts me way behind on my movie watching. Not only did I go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as I mentioned, I also ate my way through the East Side of Cleveland, going to favorite places like Tommy's (nothing else like it anywhere) and Melt Bar and Grilled. On my way driving back to Minnesota, I took I minor detour to St. Louis to see Dar Williams (you're not surprised are you?). I blame a friend of mine who said you only live once, so don't have any regrets. What's nine hours out of your way when you get to hear good music? Dar was playing the Duck Room at Blueberry Hill in the Loop, which was a much better location, size-wise, than the other two venues where I saw her. The audience was totally into it and you felt like you were with old friends. I don't want to be pushy, but if you haven't tried listening to Dar after my previous mention, you really should, just to shut me up. I would recommend her best of collection, called "Many Great Companions", it gives a great overview of her career, it's in the car right now. Opening for Dar was Angel Snow; she endeared herself to the crowd because she actually didn't tell us who she was until about halfway through her set when someone yelled out "What's your name?", she couldn't believe she hadn't told us. It was just her and her guitar and a bunch of original songs. She was really good, and I hope she makes it to Minneapolis at some point in the future. If you get a chance to see her live or listen to her stuff, I don't think you'll be disappointed. I ended the trip with a stop in St. Charles, Illinois, a lovely town along the Fox River to see Steve Hackett. Steve (we're on a first name basis) was the guitarist for Genesis during their progressive rock period in the 1970s. I have never seen him and this was the perfect opportunity: he was doing Genesis songs and St. Charles was actually on my way home. So, while Fridays and Saturdays are normally movie nights for me, last week they were filled with music.

9/28/13 The Graduate, Best Director, 1967

It's kind of fitting (although totally serendipitous) that The Graduate had such a great soundtrack by Simon and Garfunkel, it ties in nicely with the singer-songwriters I talked about earlier. 1967 was a great year for movies: Camelot, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Cool Hand Luke, Doctor Doolittle, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner among others. I've heard about The Graduate forever, it's talked about as a movie of a generation, with Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson, a "cougar", (although I don't think that term was invented 45 years ago) and Dustin Hoffman as recent college graduate, Benjamin Braddock, who has no real idea of what he wants to do, despite the recommendation of his father's friend "Plastics". Mrs. Robinson and Benjamin fall into a rather emotionless affair, which eventually wanes as Benjamin falls for Elaine (Katharine Ross), Mrs. Robinson's daughter. Oh, I didn't mention, Mr. Robinson is the partner of Benjamin's father, making everything a little awkward. I liked this movie a lot (I was ready to be disappointed, fearing it would not live up to the hype), but it was funny, well-acted, well-written, and the direction/filming kept me interested. Mike Nichols won Best Director (he has also directed Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? which is great if you like a lot of screaming, I couldn't stand it; Working Girl, Silkwood and others). I'm not sure what to call the technique, but he liked to obscure the scene, either by lighting or having a character's face hidden or framed by an object, he also used what I can only describe as a use of perspective that was interesting. Bancroft is wonderful as the emotionally vacant, cynical Mrs. Robinson who seduces the young Braddock, played by the stammering, searching and bemused Dustin Hoffman. The exchange between Bancroft and Hoffman when she begins her seduction is worth the price of admission. If you watch this, you will see a lot of familiar faces, including Buck Henry (later of Saturday Night Live fame), Norman Fell (Three's Company), Alice Ghostley (Bewitched) and William Daniels (Knightrider, St. Elsewhere) amongst others. This is on AFI's list of 100 Best Films.

9/28/13 High Noon, Best Actor, Best Film Editing, Best Music scoring of Dramatic or Comedy Picture, Best Song, 1952

Oh Gary Cooper, how you vex me. Everyone who has watched movies or television over the last 60 years has heard of this movie and maybe even knows a little about the storyline, but I wonder how many people have actually seen it. Gary Cooper is Will Kane and the movie starts with Kane and Amy Fowler (Grace Kelly) getting married by a Justice of the Peace. Will is the outgoing Marshal of Hadleyville; he and Amy are leaving town, looking for a more peaceful life, except an old foe is headed back to town and Will feels obligated to stay and try to protect his friends in the town. File this one under 'no good deed goes unpunished' because his intention is not appreciated by most of the townspeople or his new bride. Amy is a Quaker and believes in non-violence, and she doesn't want to be a widow less than 24 hours of getting married; some of the townspeople are kind of short-sighted and don't appreciate Will's efforts to make the town safe. Basically, the poor guy is on his own. One of the cool things about the movie is that it follows the events of the day in 'real-time', so the action takes place in a little over an hour and that adds to the tension of watching the clock tick down to 'high noon'. If you're read my previous entries on Gary Cooper, you know he and I have a complicated relationship, and that is not helped by this movie. I get that the Marshal would be expected to be very stoic and somber, but there are more than a few moments where Cooper is so stiff, but he won Best Actor for his efforts; Jose Ferrer was nominated for his role as Toulouse-Lautrec in Moulin Rouge and he was excellent in that; I also saw Sir Alec Guinness in The Lavendar Hill Mob, which I did not love, I have not seen the other nominees. Grace Kelly was hardly in the movie and honestly, not very memorable, not when compared with To Catch a Thief. The actress, who played Kane's previous love and was also the lover of Frank Miller, the bad guy, Katy Jurado, was very good and very memorable, and I think she should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actress. What I did really like about the movie was the way it ended, that was priceless (but I'm not going to tell you how it ended, you'll have to check it out yourself). So, you're asking...should I watch it? Yeah, go ahead, it's on the AFI list of the best 100 movies, and it is a classic, it won't kill you and the soundtrack (which also won an Oscar) was also quite nice. It's family-friendly and you can judge for yourself. I am glad I watched it, and I don't have to do it again.

An anniversary of sorts

I'm a couple of days late and probably more than a few dollars short, but I just realized that it is the one year anniversary of the blog. Did anyone bake a cake? Maybe I'll go crazy and have a glass of sparkling water and a cookie. One whole year, and I just passed 3,000 viewers. It surprises me because I thought only my friends would read it, and it's hard to sustain something like this, at least I thought it would be, and some movies are harder to review and write about than others. Other reviews pretty much write themselves. It's funny how often my friends ask my opinion on movies, any movies, and then related to the blog, what's my favorite so far, what's the biggest surprise, etc. So, in honor of the blog being one year old, I thought I would give some of my highlights and my disappointments.

Biggest surprises:  A year into the process and I still think Departures is one of my favorite movies. It's a Japanese foreign film and I found it graceful and and tender and very respectful of its subject matter. Crash also took me totally by surprise, and it is not graceful and tender, but still extremely powerful, but hard to watch at times. I was glad I did. I had routinely beat up on Gary Cooper as being wooden and uninspiring and just awful in movies that I really didn't like anyway. That changed with Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. It was playful, funny and I enjoyed his performance immensely. Nowhere in Africa was another foreign film that blew me away. Set in Africa during World War II, it was poignant and triumphant and an homage to a different kind of pioneer spirit. There have been a lot of other movies that I liked a lot and recommend, but these four stuck out in my mind (I probably could list more, but I'll stop for now).

Biggest disappointments: The Hours seemed brutally long and I seriously thought about stopping the movie and admitting defeat. It would be nice to say my persistence paid off, but the only pleasure I take in finishing the move is that I didn't jump into oncoming traffic. Read Mrs. Dalloway instead. The Private Lives of Henry VIII was disappointing because I had seen the movie years and years ago and thought it was great, so either I was somehow brainwashed because it was in black and white and ipso facto a 'classic' or I was just young and naive. Take your pick, but a second viewing was torture, and I think I fell asleep at some point, although I woke up long enough to watch the ending. Charles Laughton is much more tolerable in Mutiny on the Bounty. Federico Fellini's 8 1/2, I'm just going to say I didn't get it and leave it at that.

Favorite Genre: I honestly have to say that forced to pick a favorite genre or type of movie is not that hard: documentaries hands down. In fact, I have done a few posts just on documentaries. A good documentary, even on a topic or point of view with which I disagree, is still thought-provoking, entertaining and sometimes will induce a brief and quiet crying spell, like Undefeated or Invisible War. Invisible War did not actually win the Oscar in 2013, but to me, it should have because the consequences of that film are still being felt today in the US Senate and House of Representatives. The documentary on the DeBolt family was equally inspiring and made me laugh.

One of the hardest parts of writing a review for me, is to decide if I want to give a full blown synopsis of the movie or focus on my 'feelings' of it, or my reaction to the movie receiving the award that it did. If it's a well-known movie, like the Wizard of Oz, I may be more inclined to talk about the awards or the wave of nostalgia that I experience when watching it. I try to give you an idea of the story line up to a certain point without giving away the ending or critical plot points that add (or detract) to the film. It's not perfect and it's definitely not an exact science. You can probably tell when I struggle with writing. I also realize that I have different tastes in movies, which is why I mainly watch them by myself, most of my friends are not interested (of course, I have broken out of my stuffy, elitist mode periodically, most recently for The Heat and 2 Guns, and I'm not even ashamed of it). I'm still determined to complete this task I have set for myself, and I have 707 movies to go. Watching such a broad spectrum of films, silent films, early color films, actors in different roles, etc., fits into my holistic view of things; it's important for me to understand the whole picture, who influenced whom, who is copying whom, where do the lines blur. Here's to a successful and fun first year. More to come.

Mr. Deeds goes to the Easter Parade...well, sort of

What I really enjoy about this little project of mine (some might say 'compulsion', or even 'obsession') is that I am watching so many movies that I would probably never, ever watch. Some are very disappointing, but others have been pleasant surprises. Over this long holiday weekend, I have about 8 movies to watch, and have finished two of them, and they fall under the 'pleasant surprises' category, very pleasant surprises.

7/4/13 Easter Parade, Best Original Musical Score, 1948

Right away Easter Parade opens with a musical number with Fred Astaire and the ensemble singing 'Happy Easter' as they stroll up and down the avenue. My first thought was, oh crap, this is going to be so cornball, I'm never going to make this without laughing my head off. Oh, how cynical the 21st century has made us. It was great, Astaire singing and spinning, and the parade of Easter bonnets was wonderful. In fact, after watching the movie, I was a little surprised that it wasn't even nominated for best costume, because the hats alone would be the envy of Ascot and the Kentucky Derby. The movie was set in 1912, an era which had very different standards in dress and formality than today, or even 1948. Anyway, Astaire rolls from one number to another, playing drums, dancing and singing, and I was hooked. Irving Berlin (White Christmas) wrote the songs. Astaire plays a dancer (Don Hewes), whose partner, Nadine Hale (Ann Miller) decides to go solo with the Ziegfield Follies. Hewes believes he can take anyone and make them a dancer (think Pygmalion/My Fair Lady with a quick step), and in walks Hannah Brown (Judy Garland). Garland really gets to show her comedic timing, I hope I don't have to draw attention to the fact she can sing. Watching her and Astaire dance was really fun, and Ann Miller was no slouch either. As I watch so many of these movies, I try to think of them in the context of can parents watch this movie with their kids, and will kids groan at the thought of watching it? You can definitely watch this with your kids (or grandkids if you've got 'em), think of it broadening their horizons beyond comic book violence and crash 'em and smash 'em films. I'm sure I sound so ridiculously old-fashioned, and in some ways, I probably am, but I don't think that there are a lot of movies made today (save for the slew of animated films released every holiday season) that can be watched as a family. If you like this, you may also like Anchors Aweigh with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra.

7/5/13 Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Best Director, 1936

Well, I feel silly writing this review because just last week I wrote a scathing review of A Farewell to Arms starring Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes, and here I am, watching another Gary Cooper movie (I just picked it up at the library, not even paying attention to who was in it, just that it won an Oscar). I was not looking forward to this 116 minute cinematic experience at all. Oh, happy, happy day! The Gary Cooper in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town was NOT the same Gary Cooper in A Farewell to Arms or the other Gary Cooper movies I have watched in the past several months. Someone turned Pinocchio into a real boy! Maybe it was Frank Capra (he won for Best Director, and directed It's a Wonderful Life with James Stewart), maybe it was the script, or Jean Arthur, his leading lady, I don't know, but it was a fabulous surprise. Postcard poetry writer and tuba-playing Longfellow Deeds is from small-town Mandrake Falls when it is discovered that he is the sole heir to $20 million (in 1936 dollars, can you imagine what that would be like today?). Longfellow has a refreshingly honesty that lacks pretension or any need for ostentation, he plays tuba in his own farewell parade and frets about who will replace him in the town band. Of course, everyone else is out to exploit him, mock him and otherwise get over on Longfellow, including Babe Bennett, ace reporter played by Jean Arthur (I don't think I have ever seen Jean Arthur before, which is a shame) and the lawyers for the late Martin Semple, Longfellow's beneficiary. Corny Cobb, who is supposed to keep Deeds out of trouble, reluctantly begins to admire and appreciate Deeds' way of seeing life and his pure motives. Deeds becomes something of a laughing stock thanks to Babe's articles (he is unaware that she is duping him), and his quick temper; on several occasions he resorts to punching people out. After a hostile encounter with a struggling farmer (this is 1936, the middle of the Great Depression), Deeds has a great idea to give farmers another chance at running their own farms (kind of like homesteading), reminiscent of the scene near the end of It's a Wonderful Life with George giving away the bank's money. This act leads to the circle of lawyers sending him to a mental hospital and challenging his mental capacity. The trial scene sort of reminded me if Miracle on 34th Street. There are some very funny moments, like when two elderly sisters from Mandrake Falls say that Longfellow is 'pixilated' leaving the court and the observers amused and certain Longfellow is not fit to have a $20 million dollar fortune. I enjoyed this movie more than It's a Wonderful Life, I don't know why, but I did, and it's unfortunate that it doesn't get played more on the classic movie channels. But it may be available from your local library or Netflix, and I suggest you check it out. Would I lie to you?

A Farewell to Arms and a Saturday night

6/29/13 A Farewell to Arms, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, 1932

I have not hidden my lack of understanding regarding the Gary Cooper mystique, and after watching A Farewell to Arms, I still don't get it. Although to be fair, once you add Hemingway into the equation, the odds go way down for me to like anything. Maybe my problem is more with Hemingway, but I had my chance with critiquing Papa in high school, so on to the next thing. A Farewell to Arms is set in Italy, and Gary Cooper plays Frederic Henry, and ambulance drive and Helen Hayes as Nurse Catherine Barkley. Frederic and Catherine fall in love after just one evening together. Adolphe Menjou is Major Rinaldi, Frederic's well-meaning, but clueless and interfering friend, who is a doctor at the hospital where Catherine works. Catherine and Frederic are separated by Rinaldi, who does not approve of their relationship, not knowing that Catherine is pregnant. I tried to watch the movie with an open mind, but it was so hard, Catherine starts off as a seemingly independent-minded woman, but she loses that when she is smitten by Frederic's charms, she then becomes needy and lacking common-sense. The only person who seems to have any brains is Ferguson, a fellow nurse, who knows exactly what is going to happen to Catherine at the hands of Frederic. Frederic, to his credit, tries to find Catherine and goes to great lengths, rowing in the rain and dark and deserting his ambulance company, but he just seems clueless. One of the huge problems with this film may be connected to the transfer to DVD, but the sound was horrible (ironic, in that it won an Oscar for Best Sound) and I had to turn the volume on the television to 48 (normal for my bat-like hearing is 20-23), it was like watching tv with my mom. There were no subtitles, so I missed small bits of dialog. The movie also won for Best Cinematography, and there was some some nice use of shadow and light, for what that's worth. The movie was only 87 minutes long, but it seemed like days. It was a milestone though - only 725 movies left on the Academy list through 2012. Small victories.

Super duper Gary Cooper or not

The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, 3/2/13, Best Assistant Director, 1935

A friend of mine who is a devoted follower of this blog has asked me what is the biggest surprise I’ve had doing this project. I have found that the more movies I watch, that answer gets a little more complex. Some surprises have been very delightful, like the movie, Departures which won Best Foreign Film in 2008 or It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World which was a madcap adventure brimming with great comedians. On the other hand, the more movies I watch, the greater chance I’m going to find those that surprise me at how much I dislike them, like The Hours. The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, which won for Best Assistant Director (an award no longer given) in 1935 falls closer to The Hours’ end of the scale than The Grand Hotel (from that same period). It was actually up for seven awards and only won one; noticeably none of the cast was nominated for a Best Actor award. The movie is set in the early 20th century in British Imperial India and follows the activities of the 41st Bengal Lancers as they try to prevent the uprising of one of the regions. It really focuses on four men, the by the book colonel, Colonel Stone, Lieutenants McGregor, Forsythe and Stone (the latter being the estranged son of Colonel Stone). If you take the story out of the Indian setting, it could actually be set in any war-torn area and era, the American Civil War, the World Wars, the Punic Wars; it’s really a story about a father and son and the development of their relationship: father doesn’t want to show favoritism, so he’s extra tough on his son; son resents this treatment so he does something stupid, etc. Having said this, there are probably many other movies that you can watch and probably enjoy more, like Captains Courageous with Spencer Tracy and Freddie Bartholomew or There Will Be Blood with Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano. The acting in The Lives of a Bengal Lancer was less than captivating and at times more wooden than a stage full of marionettes. Gary Cooper is the big name in the movie, and I know he is an American film icon, but I don’t get it, he’s just so stiff, I don’t think I’ve seen a movie where I have actually believed him in the role or enjoyed it. I’m sure I’ll have more chances to re-evaluate that comment because it seems he was in a lot of Oscar-winners. Some performances and films transcend the era in which they were filmed, this would not be one of them. 

Do Not Ask For Whom The Bell Tolls

For Whom the Bell Tolls, 10/6/12 Best Supporting Actress 1943

Full disclaimer:  Not a Hemingway fan, not a huge Gary Cooper fan, and yet, I didn’t hate this movie. I didn't love it, but it was not as bad as I thought I would be. I actually took a Hemingway/Fitzgerald class in high school and kicked myself for a whole semester, actually that’s not true, a good friend and I had fun mocking one of the 20^th century’s great writers. For Whom the Bell Tolls is the story of an American in Spain to fight with the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. ‘Roberto’ played by Gary Cooper is an expert at bridge demolition and he connects with a group of Republicans, including Ingrid Bergman as ‘Maria’ (sorry, I didn't buy that either) and Best Supporting Actress winner, Katina Paxinou as ‘Pilar’. As I said, I read the book, and I liked the character of Pilar the best, and that would be the same in the movie. There is a passion and fire in Pilar that holds your attention and you want to know more about her (kind of the way Jane Darwell had a quiet intensity in The Grapes of Wrath). Roberto and Maria of course fall in love, but other than that, I won’t ruin it for you. It is interesting to watch this movie about a piece of history that many people do not know. The Spanish Civil War (the Republicans versus the Monarchy/Fascists and Francisco Franco) was a precursor to the World War in Europe, the way the invasion of Manchuria was in Asia. There are parts of the movie that are beautiful to watch, the cinematography and scenery are wonderful. The movie shows how and why civil wars are not easily understood, sometimes you join forces with your enemy against a common foe, but then perhaps turn on your former ally. Politics and war make strange bedfellows.

Sometimes Gary Cooper is so wooden you half expect to strings and a puppeteer, other times you totally believe him and his character. I love Ingrid Bergman, but this just didn’t work for me. Apparently, there wasn't an actual Spaniard in the main cast; in fact, you sometimes hear what sounds like Russian accents (really). Paxinou was a Greek actress. If you’re wondering if you should watch this movie, maybe, if nothing else is in your top twenty and you want to get a high level introduction to the Spanish Civil War and see a great Best Supporting Actress Performance (see the next review for a not Best Supporting Actress nomination), then yes, you should watch it; if you read the book, sure, watch the movie. Otherwise, you’ll survive if you don’t.