Topic: Antares' Short Summations

[Antares]

Man of the Century (1999) 82/100 - Many, many years ago, I caught about 20 minutes at the end of this indie film on IFC. It's quirky little gimmick intrigued me, so I programmed my VCR to record it, the next time it played on IFC. Alas, sometime before the film aired again, a power outage cleared the VCR, and it never got recorded. IFC didn't play it again, and I forgot about it. Today, I found it on YouTube and this is pure delight if you love silent films, pre-codes, screwball comedies, musicals and film noir. That's right, it covers five styles of film making and watching it, you can tell that the cast and crew are having a wonderful time making it. It clocks in at a quick 77 minutes, like a lot of films in the early days of sound, and this keeps it from overstaying its welcome, with the one note gimmick. So, what is the one note gimmick?

Gibson Frazier, (Who wrote the screenplay alongside the director Adam Abraham), plays Johnny Twennies, a reporter on the New York Sun Telegram. The story takes place at the end of the 20th century, but Twennies is a character right out of an F. Scott Fitzgerald or Ring Lardner story from the Roaring Twenties. He wears a tailored suit, constantly smokes cigarettes he selects from a gold cigarette case, his hair is slicked back, hidden under a fedora that shows he's a man of style too. But the kicker is that every utterance out of his mouth seems as if it was culled from any one of a 1,000 screenplays from the 30's and the 40's. And this is what gives this movie it's charm. It's obvious that Frazier and Abraham did a lot of research into the lifestyle which encompassed our country in that time frame and they managed to use those colloquialisms to great comedic effect. I can count at least half a dozen times I laughed out loud and long at some of the lines used. Sure, there are moments that could have been cut earlier and being an indie, a few retakes of scenes that just missed the mark, but I thoroughly enjoyed this film, from beginning to end. This is the type of film homage that works! I look forward to a re-watch to see if I missed any jokes or references that flew by me the first time. If you love old black and white films, I wholeheartedly recommend you spend 77 minutes with this little film, it will definitely put a smile on your face. And, you get a number by the great Bobby Short at the end.

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]

All About My Mother (1999) 85/100 - The film ended about 15 minutes ago, and I've been sitting at my keyboard trying to come up with reasons why I enjoyed so much. But the words just aren't emerging. I could mention some of the great camera shots that Almodovar or whomever the cinematographer was, came up with. I could also mention the subtle, but sublimely beautiful score, which acts as a gentle guiding element to the story. But I think most of the credit for how good this film is, rests with the performance of Cecilia Roth. Every moment she is onscreen, her performance just engulfs you. She's 100% believable as the mother whose son is taken by a tragic accident on his 17th birthday. I would have rated this even higher had a bit more of the screenplay delved into her pain and more of the contents of Esteban's notes. This is only my second Almodovar film, I really need to see more.

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]

Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) 75/100 - After finishing the film and submitting my rating on Criticker, I noticed that I've seen a lot of films by Robert Wise. He made films in almost every genre and was pretty successful in most of them. This is another finely crafted drama that looks and sounds great, but, at times, it seems as if there's just a tad too much on the plate. You've got the post-war angst alongside racial tension, with a huge helping of noir as the main course. But for a 96 minute film, it kind of dragged at times, and had a character whom I could not understand why she was there, Gloria Grahame. She sleepwalks though her short role and it appeared to me, was there just to pad out the film length. Robert Ryan, as always, is great and I was very impressed with Harry Belafonte's performance, who could have rivaled Sidney Poitier, if he did choose to do so. In essence, this film should have worked for me, but it only held me for brief moments, then it would just meander along. I doubt I'd re-visit it in the future.

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]

Trouble in Paradise (1932) 75/100 - Only my fourth film by Ernst Lubitsch, and I'm still kind of dumbfounded as to why he's so revered. It's a cute film, with a few moments that made me chuckle, but all in all, it's a screwball comedy in its embryonic form, and nothing more. I think it suffers for two reasons. Not enough Miriam Hopkins and too much Kay Francis, who is kind of a doormat. Had the role of Madame Colet been played by someone like Mary Astor, it would have improved the scenes between her character and Gaston. Herbert Marshall was fantastic in the lead role and I was happy to see both Charlie Ruggles and Edward Everett Horton working together. Whenever I see them I'm reminded of the Rocky and Bulwinkle show, a favorite from my youth.

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]

L'Homme qui plantait des arbres (1987) 80/100 - Beautifully crafted animation short with a heart warming story about life and man's purpose on this planet. This definitely hit all the right emotional chords for me as I consider myself not a child of God, but a child of Mother Earth. Our time on this planet is short and how we spend that time is crucial. I've tried to live my life by paying it forward whenever I can. While also trying to adhere to the personal policy of voluntary simplicity, just like the shepherd in the story. The animation is creatively mesmerizing and I can see where Michael Dudok de Wit got some ideas for his Oscar winning animated short film Father and Daughter. It's only 30 minutes long, I think a lot of people here would like this very much.

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 Twilight Samurai (2002) 90/100 - All throughout the film I saw the influences of most of the great Japanese directors, with one exception. No Kurosawa. You get the tragedy of Mizoguchi, the family depth of Ozu and the bushido breakdown of Kobayashi. I don't know why, but for years I thought this was just an anime film, and my disdain for that kind of animation, kept me from watching this hauntingly beautiful and tragic film. It's definitely not a film for those who like a good blood letting in their chanbara escapades. The pacing is drawn out and it lets you immerse yourself into the day to day struggles of Seibei and his small family. You want him to find some happiness as he struggles to provide for his family in the midst of impending civil war and a famine which is ravaging the peasantry. I only wish I got to watch a better copy of the film, instead of the washed out version I found on Hiroyuki Sanada's wall.

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 Colt is my Passport (1967) 78/100 - Economical, yet creative crime film from Japan. It's one part Film Noir, one part Japanese New Wave Crime film and finally, one part Spaghetti Western. My only fault with it lies with Jô Shishido, who I've always felt was the poor man's Tatsuya Mihashi, but lacking the suave good looks. I know it's a shallow criticism but, he looks like a chipmunk whose cheeks are stuffed with chestnuts he's saving for a winter meal. It's distracting as all hell. I think with a better actor in the lead role, this would probably be better known, and carry the same reputation as the more famous films of Seijun Suzuki. I was actually more impressed with Jerry Fujio's performance as his partner. It kind of shocked me when he grabbed the guitar and started to sing, but he had a good voice and had a huge hit in Japan with the following...

His other claim to fame was his very short role as one of the three yakuza whom Sanjuro orders the third coffin for in Yojimbo. He's the one who has his arm chopped off.

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]

Time Bandits (1981) 65/100 - Well, it only took me 39 years to getting around to watching this film, which is surprising because I'm a big fan of Gilliam's work. Had I watched it back in the early 80's, I probably would have liked it much more. But knowing what was to come from him, this viewing left me indifferent to it's place in Gilliam's canon. He's taking that big step away from his past success with Monty Python and charting a course towards his creative destiny. But, he still has one foot anchored rigidly on the Python landscape. As I got past the halfway point in the film, I wondered what kind of film it would have been had Gilliam made it after Brazil, where he reached his zenith. Nothing in that film could be even remotely associated with Monty Python and I think that this earlier film would have been better served had it sunk its roots in Gilliam's single minded creative genius, post-Python and all the tropes associated with that seminal comedy troupe.

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

[Achim]

I have seen Time Bandits when it was still fairly new (on VHS though, not in the cinema), and liked it very much back then. Hence, I have quite a soft spot for it now, having the added nostalgia for it.

But I guess taking a step back I can see your point, about this still being influenced by his earlier material and he had not found his own yet.

[Antares]

Carnival of Souls (1962) 60/100 - Cult classic? OK, I can see why, but it doesn't make it a great film. To be honest, it reminded of a protracted version of "The Hitch-Hiker" episode of The Twilight Zone from its first season with Inger Stevens. Yet, I can see this film's influence in other films that were to be made in the future. Polanski must have seen it before he made Repulsion and maybe Kubrick was influenced by it in The Shining. The one thing I did like and noticed right from the start, was the homage to silent films every time "the Man" appeared. I don't think I could sit through it a second time, but by the end, I wondered what I may have missed in this viewing. There were some very interesting shots used to depict her losing her grip on reality.

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 Page of Madness (1926) 65/100 - This must have been a hell of an experience to view in 1926. Some truly amazing camera work, but without the use of a Benshi narration, it's just a series of rapid fire edits with no narrative. As I was watching I thought of someone with a deck of cards, rifling through them with one finger and they all had pictures of insane people on 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]

Dementia (1955) 65/100 - After I finished watching this, I perused a few reviews on various websites and a lot of people mentioned David Lynch being influenced by this. I haven't seen enough of Lynch's films to comment either way, but I got a vibe of L.A. Confidential. You get the seedy side of Hollywood, with the gamin being portrayed for a moment as a call girl, the twisted cops following her and the pimp. Was it scary, not at all. In fact, there were moments where I almost turned off the sound, because as talented as Marni Nixon was, hearing her wail like a banshee for minutes on end, started to grate on my nerves. It has its moments, but at an economical 61 minutes, there's just not enough to keep it interesting.

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 American Experience: Freedom Riders (2010) 85/100 - You just can't beat PBS when it comes to making entertaining, educating & enlightening documentaries. For me, this program and their Nature program are the two best shows they offer. This episode delved into the civil rights protest that began in Washington D.C. and ended in New Orleans in 1961. Started by a relatively new group to the movement, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), two small groups of blacks and whites would take a trip through the Deep South on Greyhound and Trailways buses to challenge the segregationist policies that had been outlawed by the Supreme Court in the landmark Brown-vs-The Board of Education case in 1954. Although the southern states had complied in their educational systems to the mandate, separate but equal segregation was still deeply entrenched in all other aspects of daily life in the Deep South. Lunch counters, rest rooms, hotels and in this case waiting rooms in bus terminals were still divided according to a person's racial background. The documentary delves deep into the many aspects of their protest. The training in the beginning to the riders to what seems to them a tolerable level of abuse which would be hurled at them by southern whites. It also touches upon their naiveté alongside their courage to embark on such a trip, without any protection as they plied a non-violence approach to the protest. Looking back at it now, you have to wonder if today's youth could muster up the courage that these people showed, especially once they reached Alabama. If you know nothing about this event from the early Kennedy years, this is a great place to start.

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]

Merrily We Live (1938) 68/100 - It has its moments, but the inconsistencies in the screenplay keep it from coming even close to classic status. The premise would work with a bit better timing by some of the actors. But it's worth it just to watch Clarence Kolb steal every scene he's in. The scene with the staircase is priceless as I thought for sure it was a stuntman standing in for Kolb. But in this one extended scene when he reaches the bottom of the stairs and turns around and you see its Kolb, you're amazed that a man his age, could pull off such a great bit of physical comedy. I'd only recommend this film for his performance, he shows some of the skills that made him such a successful vaudevillian comedian for close to 40 years, prior to his film career.

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]

Ladybug Ladybug (1963) 78/100 - If you were born after 1970 this film probably would not do anything for you and would appear extremely anachronistic. But if you remember those "Duck, and Cover" short films they'd show you every once in a while in grammar school, then this will resonate strongly. Made in the year after the Cuban Missile Crisis, the film deals with the paranoia and fear every one of us lived with in the foreboding days of the Cold War. In some ways, it pre-dates Sidney Lumet's Fail Safe as a psychological treatise on the impending doom off all out nuclear war. But being a small budget indie film, this one builds the tension through small instances of perceived imminent annihilation. It reminded me a bit of The Lord of the Flies and somewhat of an episode of The Twilight Zone. The acting, most of which focuses on children is par for the course in terms of when it was made. Some of the kids are good, some are wooden. The standout performance is from Marilyn Rogers, who should have gone on to bigger and better things.

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