Chop Shop (Ramin Bahrani, 2008)
- In the shadows of Shea Stadium and the U.S. Open tennis tournament in Flushing, New York, there is a community where crime is a way of life. Specifically, the crime of breaking down cars for parts and reselling them to others in some form of auto repair business is the subject of the film
Chop Shop which in many ways feels like a documentary. The lead actor is young Alejandro Polanco who either gives one of the greatest performances by a child in film history or is very natural in front of a camera basically playing himself. Ale's dream is to live with his sister Isamar (Isamar Gonzales) and run a lunch truck in the neighborhood, so he saves all his money in order to purchase a truck from his friend's uncle.
Chop Shop is reminiscent of early Italian neorealism and uses its locations and amateur cast well. It's certainly an original film, but I was left feeling somewhat wanting by the simplicity of this heartfelt slice of life. Holden highly recommends it, so you may want to check it out.
Fear of Fear (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1975)
+ - This is another simple film but Fassbinder uses some basic techniques to really draw you into the story of pregnant woman Margot (Margit Christensen) who's beginning to fear for her sanity just as she did after her first child was born. Her husband doesn't seem interested, but his family, who lives upstairs, thinks that she's dangerous when, after she gives birth, she begins drinking early in the day and pays little attention to her kids. Eventually she's diagnosed as schizophrenic, but this certainly may not be the case. This resembles a '60s British kitchen sink drama spiced with Fassbinder touches including characters who seem to be manifestations of the lead character's psyche and an interesting visual motif where Margot's first-person sights are filmed in a different manner than other scenes. I'd say it's about par for the 20 Fassbinder films I've watched so far.
Moon (Duncan Jones, 2009)
- This makes three "simple" films in a row, although each one is totally different in subject matter and technique.
Moon is basically Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) and a robot named GERTY (voice of Kevin Spacey) alone on a desolate Earth's moon where they work together to harvest helium-3 and send it back to Earth as a power source which solves our energy problem. However, shortly before Sam's three-year stint is up, an accident occurs which changes Sam's perspective on what is real.
Moon is a mini-masterpiece of old school effects and a chance for those who love Rockwell to get their money's worth of his acting ability. It is a well-conceived and intelligent film, but it's also sometimes very low-key and at 97 minutes, it may well run too long considering what's actually on screen. Even so, it's a worthy addition to the canon of significant science fiction films.
The Friends of Eddie Coyle (Peter Yates, 1973)
- Well, after these comments and ratings so far, I hope that Holden (and Used Future) still have some positive vibes for me.
I have mixed feelings about this flick. I love the cast and it's got the same kind of gritty feel as
The French Connection, but it's often borderline catatonic and seems to go out of its way to tell its story in almost subliminal ways. In other words, it's basically
The Anti-French Connection or something close to the first part of that movie played out over 100 minutes. There's little doubt that what actually happens to Eddie Coyle (Robert Mitchum at his pathetic best) and his "Friends" is the stuff of Shakespearean tragedy, but I just don't especially dig on the director's choices in the way he stages it. Others disagree, so I suggest you decide for yourself.
All the Right Moves (Michael Chapman, 1983)
- It's been a long while since I've seen this high school drama which centers on football and how it can take a young man from a nowhere future in a stagnant Pennsylvania steel town to the chance of "becoming someone", but it still packs plenty of entertainment. The photography is especially eye-catching, but what would you expect when the director is a DP used by Scorsese and Philip Kaufman on some of their best films? Although the plot is a little too obvious, it gets mileage out of the young cast (Tom Cruise, Lea Thompson, Chris Penn), and Craig T. Nelson is solid playing a somewhat two-faced character. This is one of those R-rated films which would be rewritten down to a PG-13 nowadays and it's all the better for it being made when it was.
The Breakfast Club (John Hughes, 1985)
- OK, I'll admit this could be just the slightest overrating, but for the most part, it delivers plenty of drama and comedy, even if the presentation (for example, the musical montages) is occasionally facile. Its heart is in the right place and the transition of the "club" members from aloof "enemies" to good friends is believable, especially since they have to unite against the totalitarian tactics of the teacher (Paul Gleason) who's responsible for their "Saturday school". You probably all know who the students are, but just for the heckuvait, we have the Princess (Molly Ringwald), the Athlete (Emilio Estevez), the Brain (Anthony Michael Hall), the Basket Case (Ally Sheedy) and the Criminal (Judd Nelson).
The Bride Wore Red (Dorothy Arzner, 1937)
- Romantic bauble, made by the most-successful female director of her era, tells the story of peasant singer Anni (Joan Crawford) who becomes the subject of a sociological test when a count (George Zucco) sponsors her two-week stay at a posh hotel to see if the only difference between the Rich and the Poor is luck. She attracts two men there, one a rich man (Robert Young) who's already engaged and the other a simple postman (Franchot Tone). As the two weeks draw to a close, Anni finds she enjoys the rich life and decides to try to get the rich guy, but obviously, a series of complications arise. It's all professional enough but certainly no great shakes. The original play was about a prostitute and Luise Rainer was cast in the lead, but after M-G-M head Irving Thalberg died, Louis B. Mayer took over and said they had to clean up the script. Arzner remained as director, but Joan Crawford was recast.
The Violent Years (William Morgan, 1956)
Cult Rating:
- Watching this film about female juvenile delinquency, you'd swear that it's an Ed Wood flick, and yes, he did write the script, but journeyman editor Morgan actually directed the flick, so that's why the staging and acting are slightly-better than they are in Eddie's flicks. Four high school girls led by Paula (Jean Moorhead) get their kicks by robbing people and pulling jobs for an older woman (Lee Constant) on occasion. However, their crimes are increasingly becoming violent and murder ensues. Apparently, the reason why Paula and the other girls have become antisocial is because their parents spared the rod, never took them to church, never taught them to be courteous, and in Paula's case, never even paid as much attention to her as mom does her minks and favorite "charities". The whole thing is laughable, so obviously it's good for some laughs, especially the clothes (a Wood fetish) and the utter sanctimoniousness of Wood's dialogue, especially as "recited" by the narrator at the beginning and the judge at the end.
Rio das Mortes (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1971)
- This is one of Fassbinder's first examples of trying to make a film outside his self-imposed "anti-cinema" style, and as such, I find it his most-entertaining film up to this point. However, I have to admit that it's this early period which I've seen the least of, but I certainly thought this was more watchable than
Gods of the Plague and
Why Does Herr R. Run Amok?. It's the tale of Hanna (Hanna Schygulla), a woman who claims that she's about to be married to her boyfriend Michel (Michael Konig), but he's only interested in this crazy idea of going to Peru and finding buried Inca treasure. When Michel's friend Günther (Günther Kaufmann) turns up, it only makes Michel more serious about going there with his friend and leaving his woman behind. This is a comedy, and although it doesn't exactly move at a quick pace and it contains only a few laugh-out-loud moments, the entire absurdity of the plot is enough to keep one watching; at least if you like Fassbinder or crazy foreign flicks from the early '70s. Hanna Schygulla looks incredibly healthy in various states of undress.
Used Cars (Robert Zemeckis, 1980)
- Zemeckis' second film as director contains just as many gross and anti-PC jokes as his and co-scripter Bob Gale's screenplay for Spielberg's
1941, but it's obviously much-more modest. It tells of master used car salesman Rudy Russo (Kurt Russell) who'll do anything to make a sale, so of course, he's interested in getting into politics. He works for the "good twin" (Jack Warden) of the car-dealing twin Fuchs brothers whose evil brother (also Jack Warden) owns a nicer lot across the street. There are plenty of other plot points, but basically it's a film where you laugh a lot at nudity, swearing, crashed cars, shotgun blasts, human greed and stupidity and several actors/characters having the time of their lives acting as over-the-top as possible. Kudos to the supporting cast which includes Gerritt Graham, Frank McRae, Deborah Harmon, Joe Flaherty, David L. Lander, Michael McKean, Alfonso Arau, Al Lewis, Woodrow Parfrey, "Miss" Wendie Jo Sperber, Marc McClure, Dub Taylor, etc.)
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