Citizen Rules...Cinemaesque Chat-n-Review

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Ha I'm spelling/grammar challenged...or as I like to say spellin'-special. Thanks for the catch, I will edit
Assumed it was a case of the incredibly unhelpful predictive text or auto-correct tbh. Have removed that comment now too. Maybe your next watch should be Silence Of The Lambs now?




Scarlet Street
(Fritz Lang, 1945)
Director: Fritz Lang
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea
Genre: Film Noir

At the heart of this film is one idea: 'everyone screws someone else over, and pays for it in the end.'

What a great cast:
Edward G. Robinson (Chris Cross), plays a vastly different role than the one that made him an iconic tough guy in Little Caesar (1931). He fits perfectly into his role as the meek, little man, who's brow beaten by his wife and escapes his misery by dreaming of becoming a painter.

I felt bad for him, especially when his wife threatened to throw away his paintings, that he loved so dearly. Those paintings play a much bigger part in the film, than might first meet the eye.



Dan Duryea
(Johnny) made a successful career out of playing slimy, tauntingly snotty, bad guys. He became the guy everyone loved to hate and he's so good at. He's great here as a sociopathic hustler and two-bit con man, who likes to slap his girlfriend around.

Joan Bennett (Kitty, 'lazy legs') likes to get slapped around! It's bizarre how her and Johnny go together like a black & blue bruise. I thought Joan Bennett was a stand out in this. She's a knock out for sure but she has a certain careless, self-destructive attitude that just works wonders for the film.



Forced Perspective is used to great effect by the cinematographer. Notice how tiny and weak Edward G. Robinson looks in this scene.

I loved the way Fritz Lang defines the characters by their actions. Lazy legs, is too lazy to work so she has to engage in questionable actives by using men. We see her laziness in the record that plays over and over, and in the way she throws her cigarette into a pile of dishes, and when she gets a stick of gum she careless dumps the wrapper on the floor.

Mostly I love the story itself, it's genius. Everyone screws everyone else over....and in the end they all pay for it. Many Noirs have one main theme but Scarlet Street has multiple themes:

The missing husband detective... and the way each tried to con the other. Johnny's ultimate fate, which I found actually sad, despite all of his negative qualities. The way Chris (Robinson) finally ends up is fitting as it fits the way he lived his life. And the whole commentary on art, hype and value, and how the truth of it was skewed, that was pure cleverness. Amazing.





Assumed it was a case of the incredibly unhelpful predictive text or auto-correct tbh. Have removed that comment now too. Maybe your next watch should be Silence Of The Lambs now?
I like to be able to blame it on auto correct, but nope, I was just too lazy to look up lamb. But I had a hunch it was wrong.

You know what? Even though I knew Moe Howard was in the film, I didn't recognize him at first. Only at the police station scene, when he helps with the snazzy composite photo, did I ID him.




Walt Before Mickey (2015)
Director: Khoa Le
Cast: Jodie Sweetin, Jon Heder, Thomas Ian Nicholas
Genre: Biography, Drama

This sounds awesome, even if I find Jodie Sweetin totally annoying...never been that crazy about Thomas Ian Nicholas either, but the subject matter interests me, will be adding it to my watchlist and hoping that it's as pleasant a surprise as Saving Mr. Banks was.




Harry and Tonto
(1974)

Director: Paul Mazursky
Writers: Paul Mazursky, Josh Greenfeld
Cast: Art Carney, Tonto the cat, Ellen Burstyn, René Enríquez
Genre: Drama, Adventure, Comedy

The more I think about this movie, the more I like it. Often movie watchers get 'programmed' to respond to highly dramatic events in the movies they watch. There's nothing extra dramatic happening in Harry and Tonto. What it offers is something more substantial, an introspective look at an old man with no job and no place to go. Harry is intelligent, he's learned...he's a retired teacher who reads voraciously and has a lot to say. Sure he's stubborn but he's earned the right to be so. Harry knows who he is, but the world doesn't care.

When his old apartment building is torn down, he begins to shuffle from point to point, much like a ship a drift. Until he reaches a point where he takes charge of his journey. This movie is about that personal journey, it's a life journey that starts for Harry at age 70.



The director/writer Paul Marzusky told Art Careny (Harry) that if he took the role, he'd win an oscar...and he did. Art Careny is best known from that famous 1950's TV sitcom The Honeymooners. Here Art plays a vastly different character from the goofy Ed Norton.

Harry knows who he is, but life has put him a drift. It looks like he will plop himself down at his son's house and become part of the furniture. But Harry want's more than that. So he goes on a road trip with no particular destination but with the hopes of experiencing more of life.

You know, they just don't make films like this anymore. This was made in the earlier 1970's when film making often focused on humanity as opposed to latter films that just churned out entertainment for entertainment's sake. Harry and Tonto still has something important to say, if only we will open our ears and eyes.




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You know I keep thinking you were in the film noir hof...I think you would have enjoyed it, we had lots of great films. My nom was Scarlett Street. I remember you saying both you and your wife liked it, which of course I'm glad to hear

Have you seen Dan Duryea in many other films? He often plays that sleazy snobbish type gangster.



I did watch Scarlet Street because of that HoF.

It looks like I've only seen Winchester 73 with him, but I don't remember his performance.

I see he was in a movie called Criss Cross. I found that funny since Edward G. Robinson plays Chris Cross in Scarlet Street.



I thought Dan Duryea was a riot in Winchester 73. He was the wacky bad guy who came into conflict with the hero of the film.


I see he was in a movie called Criss Cross. I found that funny since Edward G. Robinson plays Chris Cross in Scarlet Street.
That is weird. There was a rap group by two teens in the early 90s called Criss Cross, I wonder if they were fans of either movie?.....Ahh, I doubt it.




I'll See You in My Dreams (2015)
Director: Brett Haley
Writers: Marc Basch, Brett Haley
Cast: Blythe Danner, Martin Starr, Sam Elliott
Genre: Drama, Comedy Romance

About
: A well to do, widower Carol (Blyhte Danner) who once was a singer with a beautiful voice, but now is retired and spends her days alone with her dog, has a life epiphany. With some encouragement from her three girl friends, Carol decides after a 20 year hiatus to take the world on and relaunch her singing carer, as well as reaching out to her estranged daughter, and starting a new romance with Sam Elliot.

Review: I'll See You In My Dreams is an OK film. It seemed like something made for the Hallmark channel, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact sometimes smaller, simpler films are the best. The director made this film in just 18 days and he also wrote the script in just 2 weeks. That's quick! And, well it kind of shows too.

I liked Blythe Danner in this and Sam Elliot is well, Sam Elliot and you either like him or you don't. I liked him OK.




There are some plot holes and unevenness in the movie but if you're not real picky there's some charm here too. Though at times this is a bittersweet film dealing with getting old and loosing loved ones, so it's not always a feel good film.

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Harry and Tonto
(1974)

[font=Arial Narrow]Director: Paul Mazursky
Writers: Paul Mazursky, Josh Greenfeld
Cast: Art Carney, Tonto the cat, Ellen Burstyn, René Enríquez
Genre: Drama, Adventure, Comedy
This movie is already on my watchlist because I always wanted to confirm in my mind that the Oscar Carney won was a sentimental/lifetime achievement thing rather than really the best performance of the year. Was Carney really better than Jack Nicholson in Chinatown, Albert Finney in Murder on the Orient Express, Dustin Hoffman in Lenny, and Al Pacino in The Godfather Part II? Personally, my favorite lead actor performance of 1974 wasn't even nominated...Gene Hackman in The Conversation. But your review has definitely bumped this film up on my watchlist.




I'll See You in My Dreams (2015)
Loved this review and will be adding it to my watchlist...Blythe Danner is amazing and is always worth watching...something tells me that people who saw Hello My Name is Doris will have a head start here.




2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Writers: Stanley Kubrick(screenplay), Arthur C. Clarke(novel &screenplay)
Cast
: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester
Genre: Sci-Fi Mystery


This film needs no introduction! Everyone has heard of it.
In 1963 master film maker Stanley Kubrick released his genius on a sci-fi short story by another genius, Arthur C. Clarke. The result took the next 4 years to complete but when this film hit the theaters in 1968, the movie industry would never be the same.

Initial audience reaction was less than stellar. At the film's premier over 200 people got up and left the theater during the movie... including Rock Hudson who's reported to have said, "Will someone tell me what the hell this is about?"...Rock might not have 'got it', and either did the critics who panned 2001...But the film became an instant cult hit with the younger generation, some who reportedly did drugs while viewing the movie for the ultimate space trip.

My thoughts: I hadn't seen this film in decades and I remembered nothing of it, so in a way it was like watching it for the first time. I did have the advantage that I had read the novel so I did know what was going on, in what could be otherwise a very confusing movie.

I was blown away by the sheer beauty of the film! The sets look so real, and this was done in the mid 1960's even before men had landed on the moon. The attention to detail is amazing as in the special effects. Maybe most impressive was: for the first time in sci fi movies a director had taken great effort to get the science right. As with all of Kubrick's films, the cinematography is skillfully done thus creating a visual triumph.

The soundtrack too which uses classical music, is the stuff of legends. The Blue Danube is used for the second act which takes place in Earth orbit and at the moon. This classic waltz by Johann Strauss sets the mood for the second act, with its lightness and beauty, thus making the vision of man's journey into space seem ethereal. This balances well with the darker soundtrack that comes towards the films climax....Then there's the famous 2001 theme song, which everyone knows.

The film does slow down in the third act, when the astronauts are on the way to Jupiter, the movie slows to a crawl. Each scene is done slowly and there's a good reason for that. Kubrick is giving us the feel for space, where task are tedious and time can seem to stand still.

This is truly one of the all time great achievements in movie making.
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This movie is already on my watchlist because I always wanted to confirm in my mind that the Oscar Carney won was a sentimental/lifetime achievement thing rather than really the best performance of the year. Was Carney really better than Jack Nicholson in Chinatown, Albert Finney in Murder on the Orient Express, Dustin Hoffman in Lenny, and Al Pacino in The Godfather Part II? Personally, my favorite lead actor performance of 1974 wasn't even nominated...Gene Hackman in The Conversation. But your review has definitely bumped this film up on my watchlist.
He was great, but not better than Jack in Chinatown, at least.



Glad you watched 2001 CR, because I wasn't even thinking of it for the upcoming Sci-Fi list. I'm going to give it another shot as my first couple of viewings were torturous.



In re-viewings I was intrigued by the way "Dave's" breathing inside his space helmet is used when his struggle to dismantle HAL begins. It's so intense and conveys every feeling the movie is trying to convey at that point - with breathing rather than background music.
I wonder if this was the first time this was done or were there previous instances.



2001: A Space Masterpiece .... even I've seen that one cue: "shock horror, Chyp has seen a movie" comment from MM