Thief's Monthly Movie Loot - 2021 Edition

I still don't see it on your Profile page or the Home Page birthday list. What is the date?

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August 5

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Hey Thief, what do you think of BadLieutenant's suggested change back on the Corrie for Shawshank to have a more challenging tone, so that when

I don't remember if I ever read that, but that's a different film for sure. If that were the case, it would kill or neuter the main themes of the film.

From the late 1940s to 1991, the USA and the Soviet Union were involved in a tense, geopolitical stand-off as both countries try to proclaim superiority and influence around the world. This decades-long period was marked by the constant fear of attack or retaliation from one country to the other, but also for the rampant paranoia that "foreign ideals" might permeate and "impurify" the country. That fear is what director Stanley Kubrick latched onto when making this hilarious comedy, which is now considered one of the best comedies of all-time.

Dr. Strangelove follows the attempts of the US government to stop a nuclear bombing to the Soviet Union after a paranoid general closes off his base and orders a group of B-52 bombers to proceed. The film stars Slim Pickens as the pilot of one of the bombers and George C. Scott as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But the most notable performance(s) perhaps is Peter Sellers in a triple role as Captain Mandrake (who is unwillingly barricaded with the crazy general), President Merkin Muffley, and the titular doctor and war expert.

I saw this for the first time a couple of years ago and, although I liked it a lot, I didn't feel I *loved* it as I was expecting. However, as I was preparing for an episode of my podcast dedicated to Kubrick, I wanted to give it another shot and it was certainly an improvement. The film is so pointedly funny and sharp in its critique, without losing the focus of what it is. The way that Kubrick manages to satirize and make fun of the incompetence of both sides is masterful, and the film is full of quotable lines.

Peter Sellers is excellent in all three roles, but I think his best work is as President Muffley, with an excellent combination of deadpan delivery and genius improvisation. But still, as good as Sellers is, George C. Scott steals every moment for me. His whole performance is hilariously over-the-top, and it's only made more hilarious when you know the circumstances behind it. There's hardly a moment that he's on screen that I'm not at least chuckling at his body language or expressions.

Ultimately, I love the way Kubrick unabashedly makes fun of our situation as a society, and with this, he doesn’t pull any punches. He just lets it drop like a bomb on all of us.

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For those that listen, the latest episode of Thief's Monthly Movie Loot, Episode 43, is out and is definitely Kubrickian... because me and guest Nathan Abrams (film scholar and author) talk about the great Stanley Kubrick.

Thief's Monthly Movie Loot 43: The Kubrick Loot (with Nathan Abrams)

Spotify users can check it out here, while Apple Podcast users can check it out here.

This was also my reaction after my first viewing. I was expecting it to be "funnier" somehow. Many viewings later, it's one of my favorite films and the fact that I once considered it "not funny enough" is baffling to me.

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They say a dog is man's best friend. Loyal companion, trusted protector, undeniable friend. We usually try to decipher and interpret what our dogs are trying to say as a way to extend that connection. But what if you could communicate with your dog, what will he say? really, really say to you? And what if you both were stuck in a dystopian apocalypse? How will that relationship work? That is a small part of what this odd 1975 film explores.

A Boy and His Dog follows Vic (Don Johnson), a teenager living in post-nuclear America along with his dog Blood (Tim McIntire), with whom he can communicate telepathically for reasons that are brushed over with the above quote. Vic and Blood spend their days scavenging the desert-like land for food and women to rape. Yep. Chalk that up on the "problematic" column, to put it mildly.

But the thing is that Vic has been raised alone in this wasteland, with no moral compass and no societal structure. So instead of taking it as a story of protagonists and antagonists, or characters that I should root for, or whose actions I could/should/would endorse, I took it as a story of just people inhabiting this savage world. To push it further, Blood's "persona" is 100% cynical and misanthropic. Kinda like a more raw Brian Griffin.

Things get complicated for Vic when he falls for Quilla (Susanne Benton), another young survivor that likes to follow her own way, which leads into more bizarre occurrences. If that description doesn't let it show, this has got to be one of the oddest watches I've had. Yes, from the problematic premise, to the way the characters behave and operate, and how all the events unfold. But I would be lying if I said I wasn't mesmerized by everything in it.

The world that the characters live in is brutal and relentless, and the things that happen are disturbing and bleak, and yet, director L.Q. Jones manages to walk a tightrope between that and a darkly comical tone that... kinda worked? The direction also effectively moves from taut tension at the dangers of the place and the intrigue of wondering WTF will happen next.

Johnson and Benton are solid in their roles, but McIntire's voice work is a real treat. The oddball last act also introduces Jason Robards, in case you needed another reason to check this out. But the main reason I would recommend this is just because of how unapologetically odd, bold and bizarre it is, down to its last line.

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Winter of the Braves (or Kruty 1918) follows the events of the Battle of Kruty in the middle of the Ukrainian-Soviet War. The battle put a small unit of 300-400 soldiers, most of them volunteer students, against a Bolshevik force of thousands, as Ukraine fought for independence and freedom. But much like the character in the above quote said, this freedom does not come without blood.

As I keep watching films for my birthday month, this is the only category from my "loot" to which I didn't get any recommendation. As I browsed for Ukrainian films, I realized why. There aren't many available. So as I browsed my different streaming services for something, anything, I stumbled upon this, and thought, why not?

The film is, for the most part, competently shot and directed. However, some of the fight sequences are poorly choreographed and it's not easy to tell who's who or what's what. Plus, I'm not sure if it was my screen, but during some night scenes, it was really hard to see what was going on.

In addition, even though most of the performances were OK and serviceable, most of the characters were uninteresting, which led to me not being that interested in what happened. There's a love triangle that left me shrugging most of the time, because of how inert it was portrayed.

Finally, the tone of the film is very nationalistic, very "rah rah, Ukraine!", which was also a bit off-putting and eye-rolling. The bottom line is that, despite some decent production values and some things on its favor, I wasn't really feeling this and wasn't really invested into it most of the way.

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Jason Goes to Hell is the ninth entry in the Friday the 13th franchise; a franchise that had proclaimed in 1984 that Part 4 was "the final chapter". By the 1990s, with horror and slasher interest waning, producers were looking for ways to either revitalize the franchise or end it for good, so that Jason wouldn't be gettin' up and walkin' around any time soon.

The film starts with Jason back in Crystal Lake, more or less retconning/ignoring the events of Jason Takes Manhattan, as he is ambushed by FBI and SWAT agents. Even though they literally blow him up to pieces, Jason's soul or essence, starts transferring from human body to human body wreaking havoc.

I'll start by saying that the premise of Jason's soul transferring, although interesting and a bold attempt to do something different, feels at odds with the usual mythology that has been with the franchise from the beginning. Sure, this is not a franchise that's been known for sticking to a strict continuity, but still... since Part 1, Jason has been drowned, stabbed, hacked all over his body, poked, burned, and drowned again and again... and his soul had never thought of transferring to another body. So you understand why that feels pulled out of a hat.

But the new twists doesn't end there. We also find out that Jason can only be truly killed by a blood relative, but also that Jason can regain his original monster-y form by possessing a blood relative. Enter Jason's half-sister, Diana Kimble (Erin Gray), her daughter Jessica (Kari Keegan), and infant granddaughter Stephanie, all of which Jason starts looking for in order to "come back to life".

If it sounds stupid, nonsensical, or at the very least "borrowed", it's because it is stupid, nonsensical, and well, "borrowed" (Halloween, anyone?), which again makes the film feel less like a Friday the 13th film and more like a weird, half-baked monster film. Not only is the premise weird, but the logistics of how Jason and this half-assed mythology works doesn't quite hold up.

But I would be lying if I didn't say there's some fun to be had with the stupidity of it all. This is the second or third time I watch this, and I admit there is a certain campiness to everything that makes you at least chuckle, plus there are some creative kills here and there, which is one of the main reasons why people watch this. Does it make a lot of sense? Hell, no. Is it a bit fun? A bit, yeah. Is Jason gonna be gettin' up and walkin' around any time soon? For better or worse, you're damn right he will.

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Democracy is defined as the method of government by which a group elect their representative by the votes of the majority. However, when there is only one candidate to the position, the process is usually seen as "rigged" or maybe even "empty". That's why usually, a democracy is viewed more positively when there are more than one candidate at play (you know, apples and oranges). This unique comedy from Alexander Payne transposes that dilemma to high school.

Set in Omaha, Nebraska, Election follows Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon), a successful and over-achieving senior student determined to become president of the student body. But when Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick), the social studies teacher who oversees the student body and who resents Tracy for several reasons, realizes she's running uncontested, he starts manipulating the proceedings to prevent her from winning.

This is probably the second time I've seen this, after 1999. But even if I didn't remember it that well, my recollections were positive and seeing it mentioned often as a groundbreaking film sure had me craving for a rewatch for a while. That's why when both Andrew and Apex mentioned it to me via Twitter, I really didn't hesitate.

One of the things that Election does so well is to balance a tone that walks a really tight-rope between dark comedy, serious drama, and socio-political subtext. And depending on your state of mind when you see it, there might be different things that resonate with you. This time, I was more drawn to the whole "symbology" of it all, and how Payne and co-writer Jim Taylor use this high school election as a representation of our electoral system, and our country overall.

From a generally uninterested populace, to candidates that are unexpected and coming "out of left field", to those that have good intentions but are ultimately unqualified, to the over-eager ones that are determined to get there at any cost. But among the things that Election makes clear are that elections are rarely opportunities for change, but just stepping stones in the power ranking; but most importantly, that the whole system is broken and that there needs to be more than a "one man change" every now and then for real change to occur.

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Giant mutant spiders. Whether they're from Earth or Mars doesn't really make much of a difference to the characters, which find themselves in an unexpected and incredible situation. Somewhat like them, I found myself in an unexpected an incredible situation when I realized that this film was... quite a lot of fun.

Eight Legged Freaks follows a group of people from a small Arizona town as they face mutant spiders that are the result of a toxic waste spill. The main focus of the story is Chris (David Arquette), the son of the former owner of the mine that made the town prosper, and Samantha (Kari Wuhrer), the tough sheriff he used to be in love with.

I have to say that I dismissed this film for a long time based on the awful poster, but when Darren recommended it to me, I thought "you know what? I might be down for that kind of silliness". And this delivered way more fun that I was expecting, not only on the strength of its likable cast, but also for the solid execution.

For the most part, the film doesn't take itself too seriously, and manages to find a good balance between thrills and comedy, which reminded me of stuff like Tremors, Critters, or even Gremlins. The special effects might be cheap, but I guess it kinda works for the kind of film it ends up being.

I was also surprised by how solid Arquette was, considering how much he annoys me in the Scream franchise, but Wuhrer also does a fine job. The cast is rounded out by an excellent Doug E. Doug as the town's conspiracy theorist, as well as Scott Terra and a very young Scarlett Johansson as Samantha's children.

So if you like "cheap" creature films, whether it's from the 50s or 80s, give this one a chance. Like our main characters, these spiders might surprise you.

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For those interested, released special episode #7 of my podcast a couple of days ago. This time I do a brief breakdown/analysis of one scene from my favorite film of all time, The Shawshank Redemption:

Thief's Monthly Movie Loot - Special Episode VII (The Shawshank Redemption)

Remember, episodes are also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

It is believed that modern plastic surgery started in the early 20th Century. The two "World Wars" provided enough patients for aspiring plastic surgeons to innovate and, well, "practice" in the reconstructive part of it, to fix or improve the functions of parts of the body that had suffered the consequences of war, while the cosmetic side of it could provide improved or discreet appearance to those that needed it. But these surgeries are only skin-deep and can't fix the emotional and psychological issues that come with war.

Phoenix follows Nelly (Nina Hoss), a former singer trying to pick up the pieces of her life after the end of World War II. A survivor of a concentration camp, Nelly was left for dead after being shot in the face, but undergoes reconstructive surgery in an attempt to regain her normal life. "How do you want to look?", asks the doctor, trying to give her the option to start life anew, but Nelly wants to look "exactly like I used to". But sometimes, the wounds are too deep, too severe, "it's never quite the same".

But Nelly is not ready yet to abandon her past life, and is determined to look for her estranged husband, Johnny (Ronald Zehrfeld), much to the dismay of her friend Lene (Nina Kunzendorf), who assures her that Johnny is the one who betrayed her. The film follows Nelly's attempts to find and reconnect with her husband, perhaps with the hope that Lene's suspicions are false, or maybe to face the hard truth herself in order to move on, and rise from the ashes of her past life.

Phoenix a slow burner, as director and co-writer Christian Petzold takes his time to set the story, and build the characters. The fire you can feel from the three main performances also doesn't let the story feel stuck, but rather keeps it moving, wondering what will happen next. The film is not a thriller, but a more introspective character study as we see them each pondering their next steps, and what to do. How can we reconstruct, or recreate after... this?

As good as all the cast is, the strength of the film is Hoss' performance. She effectively enacts the development of Nelly, from the frail, bandaged human being we meet at the start, to the strong, confident woman we see walk out in the last act, in an ending that packs quite an emotional wallop.

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Love is a curious thing, they say. It can spring in the most unexpected places and at the most unexpected times. Which is what happens to middle-aged widower Frank Valente (Anthony Quinn) and fellow widow Rose (Sophia Loren). But what if pursuing a relationship meant hurting the ones you must love? That is the question that hangs above them as they figure out if it's worth it.

The Black Orchid follows the relationship and dilemma between Frank and Rose. You see, Rose's husband was a gangster and her son is held at a work farm for juveniles, while Frank's wife suffered from mental illness and depression, which left him to raise their daughter Mary (Ina Balin) alone. But when Frank starts dating Rose, Mary refuses to accept his decision, which also endangers her own relationship with her fiancée. This, in turn makes Frank wonder if she's about to follow her late wife's path.

My Twitter friend Tom recommended this to me after we had a conversation about Quinn, and the truth is that he's the greatest asset the film has. He portrays Frank with a mixture of confidence and giddiness that you would expect to see in a middle-aged man that hasn't dated in a while. There's a certain playfulness to how his relationship with Rose evolves that evokes the feelings of "puppy love", with nervous dancing and ice cream dates.

The chemistry between Quinn and Loren is also pretty good, going from feistiness from her as she rejects his advances to eventually opening up to him. But aside from their relationship, I also enjoyed their interactions with their respective children. Both Jimmy Baird and Ina Balin were pretty good as Rose and Frank's son and daughter respectively, and their characters added a certain complexity to what could've been an otherwise sappy romantic film.

Unfortunately, even though the film raises questions about deeper issues like mental health, depression, prejudices, and stigmatization, it kinda resolves everything in a too convenient way in a short period of time. Still, it ends up being a charming little film, with some solid performances.

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Those are the closing words from the prologue to this animated adventure film. Told like a parable, it tells us of the mythical circumstances that led to the current state of affairs in this animal world, most notably, why "poor" rabbits have the odds against them. But what the prologue establishes is that despite circumstances being against you, there are always ways to survive and live.

Watership Down follows a group of rabbits as they flee from human "advance" in order to establish a new warren. The group is led by Hazel (John Hurt) and his younger brother Fiver (Richard Briers), who foresees the destruction of their current warren, inspiring them to leave. In the way, they encounters numerous obstacles, from various animals trying to hunt them to other rabbits attempting to enslave them. But what the rabbits have in their favor is their cunning.

This is a film I didn't know much about other than it being animated and about rabbits. So I was surprised to see it was something a bit deeper than your usual animated fare. Intended or not, the story has clear parallelisms to the Bible, as well as other stories about heroic quests. This opening can be compared to the stories of Genesis (i.e. Adam? Cain?) while the bulk of the film also has vibes of Greek epics.

But beyond its symbolism, the film manages to be engaging and thrilling as you find yourself invested in the fate of this group of rabbits. For the 1970s, the animation is great, and the voice-over work is very effective. There are instances where the pace is a bit off and the story meanders a bit, especially as it transitions from the second to the third act, but nothing that detracts much from it all. These rabbits are still full of tricks.

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The name "Delilah" is of Hebrew and Arabic origins. Traditionally, it means "delicate", but it is also said to mean "languishing, lovelorn, or seductive". Assuming you're familiar with the Biblical story, the latter seems more appropriate to the main female character, a woman determined to get back at the target of his unrequited love.

Samson and Delilah follows the two titular characters as they develop a troubled and fractured relationship. Samson (Victor Mature), a Hebrew struggling between the enslavement of his people and his commitment to a Philistine woman, ends up a fugitive when he's seduced by Delilah (Hedy Lamarr), who's resolved to avenge her scorn.

Most people will probably know the story, so it's up to Mr. DeMille to fill the screen with his accustomed spectacle, and I'm happy to say that he delivers in that aspect. The production values, set design, and special effects on this film are top-notch. There is a particular seamlessness to how the fights and the action setpieces occur that is impressive for the time.

The performances "suffer" from the usual hamminess and exaggeration of the times and the genre, but it works for the most part. Lamarr and Mature are not excellent thespians, but they're dependable. I think the best performances came from the "bad guys", played by George Sanders and Henry Wilcoxon, both of which neatly balance the scenery-chewing and mischievousness of their roles with a bit more skill.

For the most part, the film has a nice pace. However, it hits a bit of a rough patch between the second and third act, which is when Samson and Delilah's relationship "flourishes". But as soon as things pick up, it's for the best, and the ending is visually magnificent.

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Here is my final tally for AUGUST 2021:

A film with the number 8 (Eight, Eighth, etc.) in its title: Eight Legged Freaks
A film with a title that starts with the letters O or P: Phoenix
A film from the Criterion Collection whose number includes the #8 (i.e. 18, 480, 812): Watership Down (#748)
A film from the 1980s: The Monster Squad
A romantic film: The Black Orchid
A film set in school: Election
A film from Cecil B. DeMille (born August 12): Samson and Delilah
A film with "Left" in its title (Lefthanders Day, August 13): You Should Have Left
A film from Ukraine (Independence Day, August 24): Kruty 1918
A film with the word "Dog" in its title (Dog Day, August 26): A Boy and His Dog

Freebies: The Shawshank Redemption, Day of the Fight, Flying Padre, Dr. Strangelove, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday



I think that the best first-time watch from that bunch is probably Phoenix, but A Boy and His Dog is close, just because of how much of an oddball that film is.

As for the worst first-time watch, that goes to Winter of the Braves (or Kruty 1918). Like I said on my review, it's not without its merits, but its pretty weak overall. You Should Have Left would be close behind.

August for me:

A film with a title that starts with the letters O or P: Princess Mononoke (1997) This was good, but I wasn't feeling it the same way I felt, say, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. I do love the worlds Miyazaki creates, though.

A film from the Criterion Collection whose number includes the #8 (i.e. 18, 480, 812): Watership Down (1978) (#748) I just put down here what I wrote when Thief kindly asked for my thoughts for his podcast (so, I guess, spoilers for the podcast!): This movie is a cherished childhood favorite. Most likely I watched it on television, because I have no recollection of seeing it in the theaters (and I would have been pretty young when it came out). We probably taped it because I certainly watched it many times. There were certain moments and lines that had a particular impact back then: Fiver’s impressionistic, nightmarish visions especially, but also the soothing ballad “Bright Eyes” (sung, I now know, by Art Gunfunkel), the scene-stealing Kehaar (voiced, I now know, by Zero Mostel), the violent passages in the warrens in the fight between Bigwig and General Woundwort, and, of course, rabbit curses (“Hraka!”). As a kid, the “adult” nature of the storytelling appealed to me; as an adult I appreciate the animation aesthetic (especially the mythological and impressionistic scenes) and the tremendous voice cast (in addition to Mostel, there’s Sir Ralph Richardson and the always-welcome John Hurt). Just a fine piece of entertainment, and maybe my earliest hint that there’s a world of animation beyond Disney.

A film from the 1980s: Come and See (1985) Astonishing, intense, relentless. Having your actors look straight into the camera is a risky device, but it pays off here as a way of forcing the viewer to "participate" directly in the film. It's interesting to me that the director simply stopped making films after this because "Everything that was possible I felt I had already done", and yeah, I can see that.

A romantic film: Cold War (2018)/Atlantics (2019)/The Shape of Water (2017) Covering my bases here with a slew of romances that are interior to other types of stories. Atlantics was the most interesting to me, because of a turn it takes about halfway through that mediates its story about immigration and cultural clashing in a more unconventional way. I did enjoy all of these to one degree or another (and in a weird way, The Shape of Water is kind of the flip side of Cold War. If I ever get around to making the thread I've been considering about offbeat double features, that might make a good one).

A film set in school: The Boss Baby: Family Business (2021) This was my son's pick and, well, I've seen worse.

A film with the word "Dog" in its title (Dog Day, August 26): The Plague Dogs (1982)
Watership Down: I'm an animated film about anthropomorphic animals that's suprisingly dark and violent.
The Plague Dogs: Hold my beer.

Some good stuff there! I guess I should probably rewatch Princess Mononoke? But given my reaction to Spirited Away a couple of years ago, maybe I should wait or acclimate myself.

From your romance films, I've only seen Cold War and The Shape of Water, with the former being the strongest for me. Shape of Water was good, but not great.