Director: Jack Arnold
Cast: Peter Sellers, Jean Seberg, William Hartnell, David Kosoff
The Mouse That Roared opens with a meta-joke that feels lifted from a Zucker, Abrams, Zucker film, however it predates the ZAZ films by three decades. Therein lies the fundamental problem with The Mouse That Roared, a comparatively forgotten movie that is between Duck Soup and Dr. Strangelove on the evolutionary scale of film comedy. It is funny, but its jokes rarely produce raucous laughter because their brilliance has been dimmed from frequent use in modern comedy. Like Duck Soup it follows the travails of a fictional country and like Strangelove it features three outstanding performances by the chameleonic Peter Seller, however the similarities run deeper than those superficialities. What these movies share is an ability to deliver scathing political satire and broad vaudevillian comedy in the same film without creating a tonal imbalance.
The Mouse That Roared follows the travails of a bankrupt fictional country Fenwick, who decide the best way to get out of debt is to declare war against the US, immediately surrender and wait for the US to give money to Fenwick's post-war rebuilding effort. It's a sharp premise and one that leads to some excellent jokes about US Foreign Policy and some prescient insights about Cold War Paranoia years before The Cold War began. There is a tacked on a romantic subplot and a lame twist at the end. If this movie were released today I doubt I would be as charitable with my grade, but this was clearly a groundbreaking film when it was made and it deserves to be rewarded for that.
Monday, August 12, 2013
Sunday, August 11, 2013
O.C. and Stiggs - 1985 - 1.5 Stars
Director: Robert Altman
Cast: Daniel Jenkins, Neil Barry, Jane Curtin, Paul Dooley, Jon Cryer, Cynthia Nixon, Dennis Hopper
A director with a career prolific and varied as Robert Altman is bound to have some bombs, curiosities or plain forgetful movies. O.C and Stiggs is a combination of the three, certainly a bomb, it is mostly an inconsequential movie that possesses the vivaciousness and structure of cult comedies, but is too scatter shot to create a satisfying whole.
Cast: Daniel Jenkins, Neil Barry, Jane Curtin, Paul Dooley, Jon Cryer, Cynthia Nixon, Dennis Hopper
A director with a career prolific and varied as Robert Altman is bound to have some bombs, curiosities or plain forgetful movies. O.C and Stiggs is a combination of the three, certainly a bomb, it is mostly an inconsequential movie that possesses the vivaciousness and structure of cult comedies, but is too scatter shot to create a satisfying whole.
Technology has increased the availability of older movies and this has led to some critics re-assessing the back catalog of auteurs. One prominent re-assessment of O.C. and Stiggs I found was by Nathan Rabin in his series My Year of Flops. In his review Rabin posits that O.C. and Stiggs was a "Secret Success" because Altman snuck sly class commentary into what was on the surface a frivolous teen sex-romp. Rabin's take is a charitable one, while OC&S does have a message its satire is so leaden it feels more like Altman slyly snuck a teen comedy into a clumsy satire than the opposite. The film opens with a staple of the genre, our smart-alecky duo O.C. and Stiggs prank the household of the square Schwabs while they are distracted by their own company's ad on TV, where Randal Schwab states amongst other things doesn't tolerate "the continent of Africa". That joke is funny, but it is hardly subtle and neither is much else in the film. Altman seems to think that he can replicate the ideas of great satire by possessing the vitriol that motivates great satire, but ultimately his commentary about class warfare is about as sophisticated as his two teenage protagonists.
O.C. and Stiggs is interesting in the margins, it has to be by the fact itself that Robert Altman directed it. However Altman has directed many films that are interesting in a lot more places than the margins and I can only really recommend this film to people who are Altman completists or those that want to perform an autopsy on an interesting failure.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Jaws - 1975 - 5 Stars
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Roy Schieder, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss
I am not quite sure how this happened, maybe I have a deep-seated fear of sharks, but I lived on planet earth for 24 without seeing Jaws. Sure, I knew about Jaws. I knew more about Jaws than some movies I had seen. I knew Roy Schieder said "You're gonna need a bigger boat", I've heard the John Williams score hundreds of times in montages, at sports games, during awards show. I knew some details of Jaws's infamous troubled production and I knew it was the first summer blockbuster and an undeniable classic.
Despite the above knowledge, I didn't know what to expect when I actually watched Jaws. It's odd to experience art once you have seen its progeny. Many times when watching classics I find myself thinking "I understand why this is important, but it's been improved upon so much." Throughout the first half of Jaws I felt that way. The first act oscillates between first-rate shark attack set pieces and generic exposition that features clunky dialogue and overly familiar character types. Some of the latter works, like the iconic Robert Shaw nails on the chalkboard scene and some doesn't like the intimate look at Roy Schieder's domestic life.
However once the film gets into the open water, stranding our three heroes on a boat as they hunt for a man-eater the film eliminates its clunkier elements for a propulsive action sequence that is impeccably staged, shot and acted. It's one of the longest sustained pieces of action in any film I can remember, yet it feels familar because it regularly morphs into different sub set-pieces as our characters try and out power and out smart a shark using all the tricks they have available. It's a bravura sequence that is still as thrilling as anything I have seen from dozens of films and filmmakers that have been directly influenced by Jaws. I have no idea why it took me so long to see this film, but I am glad I did and its status as a classic film is well deserved.
Cast: Roy Schieder, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss
I am not quite sure how this happened, maybe I have a deep-seated fear of sharks, but I lived on planet earth for 24 without seeing Jaws. Sure, I knew about Jaws. I knew more about Jaws than some movies I had seen. I knew Roy Schieder said "You're gonna need a bigger boat", I've heard the John Williams score hundreds of times in montages, at sports games, during awards show. I knew some details of Jaws's infamous troubled production and I knew it was the first summer blockbuster and an undeniable classic.
Despite the above knowledge, I didn't know what to expect when I actually watched Jaws. It's odd to experience art once you have seen its progeny. Many times when watching classics I find myself thinking "I understand why this is important, but it's been improved upon so much." Throughout the first half of Jaws I felt that way. The first act oscillates between first-rate shark attack set pieces and generic exposition that features clunky dialogue and overly familiar character types. Some of the latter works, like the iconic Robert Shaw nails on the chalkboard scene and some doesn't like the intimate look at Roy Schieder's domestic life.
However once the film gets into the open water, stranding our three heroes on a boat as they hunt for a man-eater the film eliminates its clunkier elements for a propulsive action sequence that is impeccably staged, shot and acted. It's one of the longest sustained pieces of action in any film I can remember, yet it feels familar because it regularly morphs into different sub set-pieces as our characters try and out power and out smart a shark using all the tricks they have available. It's a bravura sequence that is still as thrilling as anything I have seen from dozens of films and filmmakers that have been directly influenced by Jaws. I have no idea why it took me so long to see this film, but I am glad I did and its status as a classic film is well deserved.
Life of Pi - 2012 - 4 Stars
Director: Ang Lee
Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, C.G. "Eye" Tiger
SPOILERS BELOW
Life of Pi, adapted from Yann Martel's eponymous novel begins with the framing device of Pi, the film's protagonist, as an adult telling his life story to a Canadian journalist (Rafe Spall), early in the film Adult Pi (Irrfan Khan) tell Spall's character and by proxy the audience that his story will make them believe in God. This is a bold claim from the character, but an even bolder claim from director Ang Lee. It's such a brash proclamation that it that immediately heightened my contrarian instincts to the point that I wanted to not believe just to spite the director.
The bulk of the Khan's story is the harrowing tale of a shipwrecked Pi who must survive on a lifeboat with a tiger, hyena, zebra and orangutan. The CGI animals are beautifully designed and while I generally dislike anthropomorphic animals, these animals are dangerous and instinctual, but still have agency as characters in the story. Lee's real coup during these sequences is to generate real suspense when Pi is in peril even though the film's framing device tells that audience that Pi survives this wreck.
The film takes a while to get going and at times the first act feels like a generic Disney fable, but once Pi gets on the raft, the film is suspenseful, engaging and beautiful*. Occasionally I broke Lee's spell by asking myself stupid nitpicky questions like "Why doesn't Pi kill the man eating Tiger with his flare gun and live off tiger meat for weeks?" The film opens with a brash declaration, but what follows is an thrilling, earnest, spiritual film that didn't convince me to believe in God, but opened me up to believe the film's true message; a message about the power of storytelling and mythology and why it has been present in all of human society.
*While the CG work is magnificent, Life of Pi, a film shot largely on green screen, winning the best cinematography Oscar is bullshit.
Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, C.G. "Eye" Tiger
SPOILERS BELOW
Life of Pi, adapted from Yann Martel's eponymous novel begins with the framing device of Pi, the film's protagonist, as an adult telling his life story to a Canadian journalist (Rafe Spall), early in the film Adult Pi (Irrfan Khan) tell Spall's character and by proxy the audience that his story will make them believe in God. This is a bold claim from the character, but an even bolder claim from director Ang Lee. It's such a brash proclamation that it that immediately heightened my contrarian instincts to the point that I wanted to not believe just to spite the director.
The bulk of the Khan's story is the harrowing tale of a shipwrecked Pi who must survive on a lifeboat with a tiger, hyena, zebra and orangutan. The CGI animals are beautifully designed and while I generally dislike anthropomorphic animals, these animals are dangerous and instinctual, but still have agency as characters in the story. Lee's real coup during these sequences is to generate real suspense when Pi is in peril even though the film's framing device tells that audience that Pi survives this wreck.
The film takes a while to get going and at times the first act feels like a generic Disney fable, but once Pi gets on the raft, the film is suspenseful, engaging and beautiful*. Occasionally I broke Lee's spell by asking myself stupid nitpicky questions like "Why doesn't Pi kill the man eating Tiger with his flare gun and live off tiger meat for weeks?" The film opens with a brash declaration, but what follows is an thrilling, earnest, spiritual film that didn't convince me to believe in God, but opened me up to believe the film's true message; a message about the power of storytelling and mythology and why it has been present in all of human society.
*While the CG work is magnificent, Life of Pi, a film shot largely on green screen, winning the best cinematography Oscar is bullshit.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
La Haine - 1995 - 3 Stars
Director: Mathieu Kassovits
Cast: Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé, Saïd Taghmaoui
SPOILERS BELOW
La Haine follows an ethnically diverse group of three French youths in and around their public housing complex the day after a riot in their neighbourhood. It has a sharp, funny screenplay, despite subtitles often stepping on punchlines and features good naturalistic performances from the three leads. The actors are able to capture the bravado of youth and the film manages to walk the thinline of showing our heroes' persecution complex even as they are being persecuted. It's a low budget film, but its lo-fi digital aesethic mainly works, except when Kassovits overcompensates by using showy camera tricks Similarly the plot, which is mainly a small coming of age story about a day in the life of friends coping with their tough life, takes a sharp turn in the last 3 minutes that feels out of place and the work of a director who wanted to make sure his film ended with a bang. The youthful lack of discipline give the film's performances and dialogue it's spark, but unfortunately end up undermining the plotting and camerawork of an otherwise excellent film.
Cast: Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé, Saïd Taghmaoui
SPOILERS BELOW
La Haine follows an ethnically diverse group of three French youths in and around their public housing complex the day after a riot in their neighbourhood. It has a sharp, funny screenplay, despite subtitles often stepping on punchlines and features good naturalistic performances from the three leads. The actors are able to capture the bravado of youth and the film manages to walk the thinline of showing our heroes' persecution complex even as they are being persecuted. It's a low budget film, but its lo-fi digital aesethic mainly works, except when Kassovits overcompensates by using showy camera tricks Similarly the plot, which is mainly a small coming of age story about a day in the life of friends coping with their tough life, takes a sharp turn in the last 3 minutes that feels out of place and the work of a director who wanted to make sure his film ended with a bang. The youthful lack of discipline give the film's performances and dialogue it's spark, but unfortunately end up undermining the plotting and camerawork of an otherwise excellent film.
Universal Solider: Regeneration - 2009 - 3.5 Stars
Director: John Hyams
Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Andrei Arlovski, Dolph Lundgren
A sequel to a not particularly well loved 90's Roland Emmerich Sci-Fi film, I didn't even know that Universal Soldier: Regeneration existed until I saw it mentioned on twitter by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky. In need of a testosterone fix, I threw it on yesterday and it met or surpassed all of my expectations. It is common, especially on the internet, to pine for macho 80's action films while complaining that current shoot em ups ain't what they used to be, however good action movies are still being made; they are just harder to find without the aid of survivorship bias. Hyams's second feature is a sincere throwback to the movies that turned Jean-Claude Van Damme into a superstar 25 years ago; it has a lot of practical effects, doesn't feature the tongue-in-cheek post-modernity of The Expendables and could be set during The Cold War. While all three of the leads have posses the screen presence required from them , the real star of the film is Hyams's direction and fight choreography, which is brutal, easy to follow and creative; one long take in the film's climactic action sequence is remarkable and a works as a companion to the winking opening of 2008's JCVD. If you have never liked a movie featuring Van-Damme or Lundgren, you will not like this film, but if you have liked anything featuring them this well-constructed, entertaining, brawny action flick is better than watching Cobra on TBS for the 18th time.
Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Andrei Arlovski, Dolph Lundgren
A sequel to a not particularly well loved 90's Roland Emmerich Sci-Fi film, I didn't even know that Universal Soldier: Regeneration existed until I saw it mentioned on twitter by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky. In need of a testosterone fix, I threw it on yesterday and it met or surpassed all of my expectations. It is common, especially on the internet, to pine for macho 80's action films while complaining that current shoot em ups ain't what they used to be, however good action movies are still being made; they are just harder to find without the aid of survivorship bias. Hyams's second feature is a sincere throwback to the movies that turned Jean-Claude Van Damme into a superstar 25 years ago; it has a lot of practical effects, doesn't feature the tongue-in-cheek post-modernity of The Expendables and could be set during The Cold War. While all three of the leads have posses the screen presence required from them , the real star of the film is Hyams's direction and fight choreography, which is brutal, easy to follow and creative; one long take in the film's climactic action sequence is remarkable and a works as a companion to the winking opening of 2008's JCVD. If you have never liked a movie featuring Van-Damme or Lundgren, you will not like this film, but if you have liked anything featuring them this well-constructed, entertaining, brawny action flick is better than watching Cobra on TBS for the 18th time.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Top Ten of 2012
The Oscars are today and they have prompted me to make my compulsory top 10 of 2012 list. I have been grinding through 2012 movies the past week and there are still several movies that I'd like to see ( THE KID WITH A BIKE, BARBARA, ELENA, LIFE OF PI, HAYWIRE, etc.). All movies I've seen and had a non-festival release in 2012 are eligible for this very, very, very important list.
Honourable mentions and the top ten after the jump
Honourable mentions and the top ten after the jump
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