Topic: Antares' Short Summations

[Antares]

Spotlight (2015) 88/100 - I thought I'd never utter or type these words...I've lost my love for films. I've spent a lot of money amassing a large collection of DVDs, which mostly sit in folders, unwatched. Over the last few years, I've bemoaned the fact that a majority of the films coming out of Hollywood are complete crap. A couple of nights ago, I was searching through the Redbox website, and after meandering throughout all the cinemuck, saw Spotlight. I've been pretty much out of the loop as to what's been coming out over the last year, but I knew that this had won the Oscar for Best Picture. I grew up in Massachusetts during the time frame of these atrocities and having attended Catholic schools for 12 years, thought this film might be the one that restores the fire in the dying embers of my film flame... it did. I love a good "journalist investigation" film and this has to rank up there with some of the best. After I finished the film, I went on Criticker and read some of the reviews there. I was surprised to see so many people trashing it, from what I felt, was a misunderstanding of what the film was made for. It's purpose wasn't to make a groundbreaking, technical masterpiece, nor was it made to stir up the crimes of the Catholic church. It was made to show how important a Free Press is to OUR freedom and security. We live in a world where everything is being crammed into either a 15 second sound bite or a 140 character Tweet. It's all disposable information and that's what the corporations, who have taken over our country want. If it's disposable, it's also desensitizing and an apathetic and passive populace is easy prey.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

[Antares]

Concussion (2015) 64/100 - How do you take such a fascinating subject, one which deals with a huge corporate entity trying to smash an individual and his reputation, and make such a boring movie? The moments when the film is dealing with the science and Omalu's search for the reason for retired NFL player's dementia is riveting. But either the producer or the film company decided that women wouldn't probably go to see it, so they focus over half of the film's length, dealing with Omalu's romance to his number one supporter. It's a shame that Will Smith's outstanding performance, is mired in this muck of a meandering subplot. If you want to learn more about this subject, watch the PBS Frontline episode League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis. It tells the story, from beginning to end, how, not only Bennett Omalu, but Ann McKee charted all the head trauma being inflicted upon NFL players during their careers. It's a fascinating documentary that every parent, who wonders, whether or not to allow their children to play football at a young age, should watch. Oh, and one more thing... Luke Wilson to play Roger Goodell? Wilson had maybe six lines of dialog in the whole film, mostly at press conferences or when they're holding the concussion summit. They couldn't find an actor with blondish hair instead, I mean, Goodell's character is pretty much a minor role in this screenplay and they couldn't even get that right.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

[Antares]

The Magnificent Seven (2016) 40/100 - How do you take a screenplay written by Akira Kurosawa, which many consider to be the story for one of the greatest films of all time, and spawned a re-working in Hollywood, that is nestled in many people's top ten westerns of all time, and make it so vacuous, cartoonish, predictable & mind-numbingly boring? I was about 20 minutes into this film and a dilemma was developing in my mind, do I continue, or just cut my losses now, before I waste another 2 hours plus on a bad film? I made the wrong choice. This was, basically, a comic book superhero film, set in the 19th century west. Absolutely no character development, the building of the team, takes less than 15 minutes of screen time. What made the two classic films of the past so great, was the initial indoctrination of each member of the seven. What made each man good enough to be included in this small team, in such an adventure. Here, for example, a Comanche warrior named Red Harvest, states that "The elders have said I'm on a different path", and he's accepted. The classic knife versus gun duel, from the original western, is over in a blink of an eye, so there's no suspense to the scene at all. In the original, James Coburn barely speaks, yet you know he's one badass, and you probably shouldn't mess with him. Here, his character is an asian ninja, dressed in Levis, and wielding more mini-swords and knives than you could imagine, and he has a propensity to mumble the few words of dialog given to him. But the pièce de résistance on this pile of pig vomit, has to be the performance of Peter Sarsgaard. I couldn't tell if he was drunk, high or just completely disgusted that he agreed to be in this film. Usually, he's a really good actor who can seize upon something in the characters he plays. But in this role, he's almost seems like he's screaming at the director, "Cut!, that's good enough, mail the check to my agent."

If you want to watch a film that takes the theme of robber baron - vs - homesteaders, then just find Kevin Costner's Open Range. It's a longer, more detailed film, that manages to fly by much faster than this train wreck.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

[Piffi]

Great to have your reviews back! Keep'em coming!

[Antares]

A Fistful of Dollars (1964) 74/100 - I do find it difficult going into watching this film, without comparing it to Kurosawa's Yojimbo. But this time, I made an effort to view it with a clean slate, as if I'd never seen that film. But as hard as I tried, I just couldn’t do it. At this juncture in their respected careers, the two directors are very far apart in level of artistry. There are moments where Leone shows signs of the brilliance that would come to the forefront, in the next few years. But here, the screenplay kind of just plods along, and it does come across as a pale version of Kurosawa’s seminal film. One scene that really doesn’t work is the cemetery scene. All these bullets are flying through the air, yet the two soldiers just “sit” there calmly, as if nothing is going on around them. At what point does either side realize they’ve been duped by Joe? But on the other side of the coin, the scene with the exchange of Marisol and the Baxter’s son, plays out more tragically in Leone’s film, while Kurosawa played the similar scene comically in Yojimbo. When you get down to it, it’s a great place to begin the ascension of the spaghetti western over the next few years. And Leone will set the bar higher and higher, with each successive release. I did find myself, raising my review by a few points over at Criticker.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

[Antares]

For a Few Dollars More (1965) 77/100 – I’ve always felt that this was a worthy sequel to Leone’s first outing A Fistful of Dollars. But whereas, that film was “adapted” from an outstanding screenplay by Akira Kurosawa, Leone’s first attempt has troubles with pacing and some murky plot lines. A few changes here and there and it probably would be considered a bonafide classic of the Spaghetti western genre. But what holds it back is its length, which could have easily come in at less than 1:50 minutes. A better choice to play the villain, as Volonte is almost cartoonish at times. I can understand why he wasn’t around again, for the next Leone outing. A few less double-crosses, and finally, the ridiculous theme of Indio and the marijuana cigarettes, which kind of got annoying when repeated for the umpteenth time. So that’s about all the complaining I’ll do because when it shines, it radiates. Lee Van Cleef steals every scene when his character is onscreen. I firmly believe that if he had played the main Baxter role in Fistful, that film would have been better. He just exudes badassery in every glance, smirk or motion. And you can almost sense that Eastwood sees this, and will emulate a lot of what Van Cleef does in this film, on the next one, when they are paired up again. Morricone’s score is once again, every bit as important as any of the characters. It’s fluid, and when the need arises, subtle in its conveyance of the atmosphere and mood of the story. One thing I did notice this time, which I never noticed in my previous viewings, was one mistake Leone made in the screenplay, concerning the El Paso bank robbery. When Mortimer uses the acid to open the safe, and opens the heavy safe door, Leone goes in for a close up of the contents. If you look closely, most of the paper cash is Confederate notes, which would be worthless eventually. There’s no time frame associated to any of the story, so I can’t understand why Leone chose to do this. There’s no mention of the American Civil War in the plot, so it seems out of place in the screenplay.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

[Antares]

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) 90/100 – If I only had to rate the first hour and fifteen minutes, plus the final fifteen minutes, I would be hard pressed not to give it a perfect score. On this viewing I really paid attention to Leone’s gift for framing his shots. He was only rivaled by Kurosawa, as both had vision that transcended other directors, and made them in my eyes, artists. It’s true that the western was a dying genre, and for the most part, it was on life support. But I do believe that it was accelerated along in its demise due to Leone making the two greatest westerns back to back. There was never going to be anyone else talented enough to reach the strata that could attain peer level on either of those two masterpieces. This being a re-watch, probably my fifth or sixth time, I did notice the vast difference in the added vocal tracks of Eli Wallach & Clint Eastwood, on the re-inserted scenes which found their way on the cutting room floor, for the American release. I’m kind of amazed that whoever did those tracks, didn’t added a bit of bass boosting to Wallach’s, and the opposite boost in treble to Eastwood’s. They both sounded aged in the delivery of the lines, and both could have used some equalization help to make the tracks less haggard in sound. On this re-watch, I did have a bit of a problem with the pacing, as I found myself fast forwarding through some of the film’s middle section. This section has always been an issue with me, because there are two scenes, which really don’t add anything to the story, and always slow the action down to a crawl. The first is the scene with Tuco’s brother, the priest. It should be there to add some exposition to what made Tuco become the man and outlaw he grew up to be. But it just serves as a way for the brother to admonish him, for not being at their father’s side at the time of his death. The second scene, is probably one of the favorite scenes for most viewers, but has always made me yawn, the bridge. First, Blondie and Tuco get off their horses, and Tuco looks at his tattered map, proclaiming that they only need to cross the river, to get to their destination. It’s quiet; they start to walk a few paces and are then halted by Union soldiers. They are then taken a few more steps, past a small tree to the left, and the shot opens up to reveal an entire army of soldiers and artillery over the expansive vista of the river. They’ve taken maybe twenty steps from the dismounting of the horses, to this spot, and should have been able to see the army ahead of them. They’ve both just spent time in a Union prisoner of war camp, they know the Union army is nearby, and they don’t tread warily at this point? What follows is about twenty minutes of exposition, by a Union captain, as to why both armies are there, and why it would be beneficial to both armies, if the bridge wasn’t there anymore. All, just so Leone can blow up the bridge, which as a special effects scene is dazzling, but not necessary to the storyline. I still love this film, but with each successive viewing, it tries my patience more and more. Ironically, the next film, Once Upon a Time in the West, another investment in extended personal time, just seems to breeze by.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

[Antares]

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) 100/100 – This film is perfection for me. I’ve watched it at least ten times in my life, and this time, because I watched it on an ultra 4K television, was the best. This is where Leone hit his high water mark in his directorial canon, be it story, dialog or cinematography. There are so many outstanding shots in this epic, that if you blink, you might miss them. One of my favorites is this shot, showing Jill McBain (Claudia Cardinale) heading out by horse carriage to Sweetwater, and the family that awaits her.



As of yet, she doesn’t know the tragedy that has befallen that family, and what that tragedy portends for her future. In the above shot, you see the famous Twin Mitten buttes, plus another butte to the right. All three buttes are cast in shadow, with the one on the right, with just a touch of sunshine on top, and her carriage is basked in brilliant sunshine. Now either this was one of the luckiest coincidences in film history or Leone was such a gifted artist, that he waited for this shot to materialize. From an allegorical viewpoint, you could see this as Jill heading into the darkness of her future. She will meet three larger than life men, who will alter her destiny. All three are dark, mysterious, foreboding and ominous in scope. The small amount of sunshine on the third butte could also signify that that only one man will survive by the end of the film, which is what happens. I’ve only heard this shot described as Leone paying homage to John Ford and his famous trilogy of westerns with John Wayne. But I’d like to think that what I see in this frame is what Leone intended.

I think the reason that this film resonates more strongly to me, as opposed to its predecessor, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, is that GBU plays out solely like an action western. Once Upon a Time in the West is the closest any western ever came to an operatic experience. It’s Wagner’s Die Walküre with guns and horses, or Bizet’s Carmen in a desert train station. And it works because you finally have a strong female lead as one of the major roles in the story. It’s what is lacking in GBU, and what makes this the much more rounded film in Leone’s canon. And you can tell that Leone knows it’s probably his last western, and he meticulously crafts every scene like it’s a portrait, leaving no one a chance to surpass his brilliance. At times, I was reminded of the famous Remington paintings, depicting the west in all its sagebrush glory.

If I could change one moment, one small thing, it would be in the closing moments, after the final duel.

(click to show/hide)

Frank turns away from Harmonica after he is mortally wounded. He drops to his knees as he realizes he’s going to die. Harmonica walks over, and Franks falls slightly to his left side, leaning on the ground as he looks up at Harmonica. In my change, Frank stays on his knees as Harmonica wheels around him to look him squarely in the face. Then he stuffs the harmonica into Frank’s mouth, just as Frank had done to the younger Harmonica, all those years ago.

It would have bled irony, and given more time for Frank to realize who Harmonica was, as he fell forward into the dust of eternal darkness.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

[DSig]

you are right all around ... this is a brilliant film

[Achim]

Strong agreement from me as well. Especially the near silent (almost no Words spoken) opening scenes are wonderful; and then that introduction to Henry Fonda...

[Antares]

Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) 60/100 – When my wife asked me if I wanted to watch this film, her main selling point to me, was that it wasn’t too long. Over the last 15 years I’ve acquired a growing apathy, and sadly, despondency over the quality of films and filmmaking in this new century. If a film’s story doesn’t grab me in the first twenty minutes, I get restless. I can best describe myself as an old school kind of film fan…I like a good story. You can be creatively quirky, use revolutionary camera angles and overload the soundtrack with easily recognizable tunes to try to absorb your target demographic audience. But first and foremost, tell me a story. This film should have resonated with me, it had a great backstory. Unfortunately, the director meanders a bit too much in the beginning, thus leaving little time to develop the foundation for the fraud that the main character perpetrated. Lee Israel has been purported to have churned out close to 400 forgeries, before she was arrested by the FBI. Here, she does about eight and the hounds of justice are already howling at her door. Had less time been used in the beginning of the film, setting up the premise of how much of a bitch she was, the depth of the screenplay could have been deeper and more interesting. By the time the end credits started to scroll you basically just watched one really repulsive and another sadly tragic character, sleepwalk their way into criminal mayhem and misfortune. Too bad, the story of Lee Israel is a compelling one, and should have been given a bit more breadth; it would have made for a much better movie.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

[Antares]

They Shall Not Grow Old (2018) 50/100 - Extremely disappointed in this after reading all the wonderful reviews for this documentary. It came across as second rate Ken Burns and you'll not learn a thing about the war watching it. I do understand what Jackson was trying to do, give the viewer a soldier's insight. But having modern day soldiers read excerpts from long since dead soldiers, accompanied by colorized film stock is not the way to do it. I'd rather see and hear living human beings, who fought in the war give their remembrances. Which is why I suggest you forgo this forgettable documentary and head over to YouTube and watch the best documentary on the first World War, done by the BBC as a television documentary series back in 1964. It's called The Great War, it's hosted by Michael Redgrave and here's a link to a playlist with all 26 episodes. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLucsO-7vMQ00twBJvRZKs1KNUKUVClo6C. At the time it was made there were plenty of ex-soldiers still alive and their recollections are worth the time it takes to watch all 26 episodes. And, you just might learn something more than a Cliff's Notes version of history. To compare the two, the latter is like a banquet with 26 magnificent meals to choose from. The former is a TV dinner.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

[Antares]

The Wrecking Crew (2015) 75/100 - If you grew up in the sixties the music was unparalleled in history. In 1965 alone, you had three major movements just in Rock & Roll. You had the British Invasion leading the charge, surf music on the West Coast and Berry Gordy forging a musical empire in Detroit with Motown. But along side these three movements was a pop hit making machine in Los Angeles which rivaled the Brill Building in New York City in the early sixties. And at the various producer's disposal was a group of musicians whose abilities were second to none. They were called The Wrecking Crew. Phil Spector wouldn't record without them. All of The Monkees hits were instrumentally done by them. Pet Sounds is virtually a Brian Wilson and the Wrecking Crew album. The amount of hit records they played on is mind boggling in its scope. Yet, Hal Blaine, Tommy Tedesco, Joe Osborne, Carol Kaye, Earl Palmer & Bones Howe are names that most music aficionados do not know. A few of the Crew would go on to music careers of their own, with varied success. The most successful was Glen Campbell, who is thought to be by many, one of the greatest studio guitarists of all time. Leon Russell would have a short successful career and Larry Knechtel would become a member of the group Bread in the early seventies. The documentary mainly focuses on the six unknowns I mentioned and while it tells of their history in the recording studio, it offers very little in revelations. And that is why I can only give this documentary a lukewarm rating. It was made by Tommy Tedesco son, and he's really not a filmmaker. He's basically just trying to give his pop some props for what he accomplished while he was in the music business. In a sense, it works, and if you know nothing about this group of extraordinary musicians, you will be entertained and schooled a bit. Though there's one really sad and poignant moment when the Crew's days are long since over and Tommy Tedesco appears on and wins The Gong Show. It brought a tear to my eye to think that Tedesco was desperate for any gig and chose that. He should be remembered, and so should the rest of the Crew. There wouldn't be a sixties without them.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

[Antares]

A Band Called Death (2012) 70/100 – So after I finished watching this documentary, I went on Youtube and found the album. When the last song was finished, it left me pondering what should be obvious questions. Their debut album, or should I say EP, is only 26 minutes long. How could the film makers not spend more time actually playing excerpts from all of the songs on the disc? They seemed to focus only on three songs, and though they are great songs, more depth could have been given to the film by showing how diverse and talented the Hackney brothers were on the entire EP. The film then starts to meander through the history of the two brothers who are still alive and it is here where the film starts to falter. Had they focused more on the stuff from the 70’s and the resurgence in the 00’s, this could have been a really tight documentary. I would have liked to know why the band, after all the rejections, didn’t choose to relocate to New York City, instead of Burlington, Vermont. Their EP was recorded in 1975, two years before the punk invasion of 1977. When the Sex Pistols toured America, it was on the nightly news on three major networks. Why didn’t Death just go to CBGB in 1977? They would have crushed the other famous bands that came out of that seminal punk venue. If you’re into music, then this documentary is worth a look. But if you’re not, the story just doesn’t grab you enough to keep it interesting. After listening to the whole EP, I can tell you this, I never really cared much for punk rock, but it would have been interesting to see what David Hackney would have come up with next. He definitely had talent and one can only wonder what technically crafted music he would have created.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

[Antares]

Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008) 72/100 - An interesting little documentary on the Australian film industry in the 70's & 80's. I would have loved to rate it higher, but the editing in the first 40 minutes or so is like it was done by a teenager drunk with caffeine after downing gallons of Dr. Pepper and direly in need of a sedative or Ritalin. Picture watching the Woodstock documentary edited to be shown as an MTV video. Quick cuts, using two separate screen images, rapid fire montages and talking heads popping in and out explaining what you are seeing. But you are not allowed enough time to absorb what you're watching, because it's on to the next film. It's this need to be flashy, coy and cute at the same time, that detracts from the viewer's experience. It finally settles in after about 45 minutes, and this is when the documentary gets interesting. I remember a few of these films back in the mid-80's when Cinemax would play them in the wee hours of the morning, filling out their daily schedule. It was the perfect time to watch one of these films, and though not all were good, every so often, you found a diamond in the rough. If you grew up on drive-in movies or late night cable schlock, then you'd probably be interested in this documentary. I know I wrote down at least half a dozen films for future perusal.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is