Citizen Rules...Cinemaesque Chat-n-Review

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Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

Director: Howard Hawks
Writer: Jules Furthman (screen play)
Cast: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth, Richard Barthlemess, Thomas Mitchell
Genre: Adventure, Drama

"At a remote South American trading port, the manager of an air freight company is forced to risk his pilots' lives in order to win an important contract."

I liked this and I think it has a lot of strong points, and one weak point. The strong points first:

The movie does something I love and does it very well...world building. I felt like I was immersed in this exotic world of Barranca, surrounded by rain and fog and tropical jungle. I like it that the film mostly stays in the rustic looking hotel/bar/pilot center, that added to being in a different world feel.

Hawks makes his films look real! Especially for 1939, when so many other directors would have went for cheap looking studio sets, but not Hawks! I was blown away by the opening scene of the approaching boat in the dark stormy night. When the man on the deck holds up two fingers and then the camera shows us two other men in the cabin of the ship, that looked real...then we hear the horn do two blast...nice touch.

The port of Barranca shot at night with that ever present fog looked great...totally impressive with the establishing shot done with a wide angle crane shot that really shows off how detailed the set is. It looked real to me. Loved the birds flying off the building, too cool.

If this wasn't enough visual realism, the actual scenes of planes in flight really made the film special. A well done shot is the take off in the rain, of one of the planes and we see it splashing through deep puddles on the runway. That really put me into the mind set of dangerous-by your seat flying.

The most impressive flight scene was the take off from the remote spot with the sick boy and doctor aboard. OMG! that's a real plane taking off and dropping down the side of a step canyon.

I liked Cary Grant and as Raul pointed out it's a very different Cary then we usually see. In the early 1930s he did some similar roles, and the more pensive attitude fits him to a tee.

I also liked Thomas Mitchell, this was more of a serious role for him and he handled it well. I liked the 'heavy' in this, the pilot that no one liked, played by Richard Barthelmess. Allyn Joslyn who played Les Peters, was good too. I knew his face, but always forget his name.

Nice to see Rita Hayworth, my oh my does she have screen presences or what!

The one weak point was Jean Arthur. I do like her, in fact she's one of my favorite comic actresses from the 1930s. But she was ill cast here. I don't think she fit the tone of the movie, with it's darker fatalistic view on life. Her style is more light and charming.




You can't win an argument just by being right!
I'm not surprised you are proud
I was blown away by that performance. Made me rush out and buy the music.




The Big Sky (1952)

Director: Howard Hawks
Writers: Dudley Nichols (screenplay), A.B. Guthrie Jr. (novel)
Cast: Kirk Douglas, Dewey Martin, Elizabeth Threatt
Genre: Western


"The success of the journey focuses on keeping the Indian girl alive as well as themselves to complete trade with the Blackfeet."

I wasn't a big fan of this one. Though it does do a lot of things right...which I'll get to, but first my dislikes.

I really hated the character of Boone (Dewey Martin), he rubbed me the wrong way. I don't know if it was more the actor's fault? or how the part was written? But whatever the reason, Boone stunk up the movie. I even hated his hair! Which looked like Frankie Avalon from a surf movie.

The opening scene with the happy-go-lucky fist fight between Boone and Jim (Kirk Douglas) was daft!...And the film lost me right there. I don't believe a rough and tumble fur trapper like Kirk Douglas finds it amusing to be smashed in the jaw, then gets up with a smile on his face, only to be smashed again, and still smiles about it?

Then seconds later it's hugs for everyone, like fighting is such a manly, male bonding sport. Same thing happened in the jail too. No motivation for a fight, no consequences. That's the same stupid idea that John Ford throws into some of his movies, which keeps me from being a big fan of his.

Liked: Once again Howard Hawks puts great effort into building a world that looks real. Hot damn! that was a real boat going down the river and those mountains were the Tetons. Very impressive outdoor cinematography.

Also to the movies credit the Indians were portrayed pretty fairly, well except the toothless & crazy Poordevil, that was a lame Indian caricature...but mostly the encounters with the Blackfoot and the Crow were well done and the Indians were presented as people and not moving targets, like so many other films do.




You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
School of Rock (2003)
Director: Richard Linklater
Writer: Mike White
Cast: Jack Black, Mike White, Joan Cusack
Genre: Comedy, Music

++

I expected to hate School of Rock because (1) I knew it wasn't going to be my type of music, and (2) I don't like Jack Black, but I went into it with an open mind, and I was pleasantly surprised when I actually liked the movie.

Jack Black was still kind of a goofy character in School of Rock, but it worked well in this movie. I even watched another Jack Black movie that I liked recently. I watched The Holiday (2006) for the Directed By Women countdown, and I liked him in that movie too. I think he could be a much more respected actor if he would just choose better movies.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.


The Jazz Singer (1980)

Director: Richard Fleischer
Writers: Samson Raphaelson (play), Herbert Baker (screenplay)
Cast: Neil Diamond, Lucie Arnaz, Laurence Olivier
Genre: Drama, Music, Romance


"The son of a Jewish Cantor must defy the traditions of his religious father in order to pursue his dream of being a popular singer."

I know some say Neil Diamond wasn't the greatest actor in this movie. But I liked him. He had this honest quality about him and I believed he was his character, and that's all important.

The Jazz Singer, is a story that gives us a lot of insight into Orthodox Judaism. It's not a splashy movie, it seems more sincere than showy. The best part was Neil Diamond's music and he has a lot of great songs featured in the movie.



I didn't know Laurence Olivier was in this until I seen his name in the opening credits. But...I didn't see him in the movie! Until I realized he was playing the old Jewish-Polish immigrant who was a Cantor. Wow! what a performance. I would have never guessed that was Olivier if I hadn't seen his name first.



As much as I liked Neil Diamond in this, I couldn't stand his love interest, Lucie Arnaz. Even when I was a teen I couldn't stand her. She grates on my nerves, which didn't help the love scenes any! No!....Neil don't do it! don't kiss her, yuck!

Luckily Lucie is a small part of the movie. I did enjoy the story, except the part where Neil breaks up with his wife and starts a new romance. It was all so sudden...They needed to show him grieving about the break up some. As the way it was shown, he breaks up and then immediately hops into the arms of Lucie, ugh. His wife instead should have been a childhood sweetheart that he was engaged to, but clearly incompatible with. It just seemed so cold heartened the way the wife ends up.


Neil Diamond is my favorite singer, and The Jazz Singer is one of my favorite movies, so I'm glad you liked it, but I have to disagree about a couple of things.

First, I liked Lucie Arnaz as Molly. I thought she was a lot of fun, and she brought out a fun side of Jess. I loved watching her learn about his Jewish ways, and her reactions to things that went wrong. She saw his talent, and she wanted him to follow his dream and succeed.

The second thing that I disagree with you about is the breakup with his wife, Rivka. Before Jess went to California, we could see that he was already growing apart from her. She didn't want him to go, and she didn't want him to follow his dream. He had already realized that they wanted different things. We see him growing closer to Molly as he grows further apart from Rivka. It was Rivka's choice to leave him, so I didn't feel sorry for her at all.



I won't dance. Don't ask me...
I was blown away by that performance. Made me rush out and buy the music.
True. Exactly how CR said, J. Fox didn't played Ray, he became Ray



I won't dance. Don't ask me...
Jack Black was still kind of a goofy character in School of Rock, but it worked well in this movie. I even watched another Jack Black movie that I liked recently. I watched The Holiday (2006) for the Directed By Women countdown, and I liked him in that movie too. I think he could be a much more respected actor if he would just choose better movies.
Youre right about The Holiday. He acted there very good. Before I watched The Holiday I associated Jack Blach only with poor comedies.



I expected to hate School of Rock because (1) I knew it wasn't going to be my type of music, and (2) I don't like Jack Black, but I went into it with an open mind, and I was pleasantly surprised when I actually liked the movie.

Jack Black was still kind of a goofy character in School of Rock, but it worked well in this movie. I even watched another Jack Black movie that I liked recently. I watched The Holiday (2006) for the Directed By Women countdown, and I liked him in that movie too. I think he could be a much more respected actor if he would just choose better movies.
I haven't seen The Holiday. I might check that out before the deadline for theDirected By Women countdown is over.

I showed my parents School of Rock and they liked it too. I should show them Coal Miners Daughter.




Sorcerer (1978)

Director: William Friedkin
Writers: Walon Green (screenplay), Georges Arnaud (novel)
Cast: Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Thriller

"Four unfortunate men from different parts of the globe agree to risk their lives transporting gallons of nitroglycerin across dangerous South American jungle."

This was amazing on so many different levels that I don't know where to begin!

Beautiful filmed! And I don't mean the lush jungle and I don't mean fancy camera work...I mean each scene starts with an establishing shot that looks like an award winning National Geographic photo. Being a long time still photographer myself, I noticed how special the camera shots were set up.

This is one of my favorites shots:


Look at how the camera is set up to shoot through a window that gives an illusion of a picture frame around the photo. I love that diagonal line that runs from the soldier in the foreground to the plane debris, to the plane in the background landing. That gives depth....Damn! that shot alone says so much. The soldier is kicked back casually drinking a soda pop while holding a gun... we can see the remnants of a crashed plane that no one has bothered to clean up...as another plane lands in this forgotten out of the way hell hole place.

The entire movie was like that and for me that was even better than the story. I was in a visual heaven!

The story itself was sophisticated. It sort of reminded me of The Guns of Navarone or The Dirty Dozen, where a rag tag band of misfits must go on a dangerous mission and risk their lives....but this is way different in that there are no heroes here and that's rare for films like this. The four men involved here are despicable. It's not like their rouges but still have a good side, they're murders and hardened thieves. The film makes an analogy that they've been sent to hell on Earth and there's no happy ending for these condemned men.

OMG! the special effects were huge, I don't recall ever seeing any practical effects done on this grand of scale. I mean they blow up an oil well with a monstrous fire ball!....and the trucks over the river on a swinging bridge, damn that was real! Real trucks, real bridge, real river in the real jungle! I've never seen anything like that before.

Everything is so impressive in this film. I could tell those jungles were real and not on a studio lot as I've been to the tropics and that's what they look like.

No CG here, and we'll never see a film made this big! It must have cost a fortune, the detail is amazing.

++




What's Up Doc (1972)

Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Writers: Buck Henry & David Newman (screenplay)
Cast: Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars
Genre: Comedy


"The accidental mix-up of four identical plaid overnight bags leads to a series of increasingly wild and wacky situations."

This is a proper screwball comedy! Made by a very young Peter Bogdanovich. I watched some of the DVD extras including a mini documentary on making the film which was shot at the time it was made. Peter looked like a kid! And to think he already had The Last Picture Show under his belt when he made What's Up Doc.

I heard that Bogdanovich was a fan of Bringing Up Baby and that film inspired this one. It's easy to see that too with Ryan O'Neal as the nerdy professor who doesn't have a clue to what's going on and Barbra Streisand as the wacky strong willed woman who pursues him and pursues and pursues.

Madeline Kahn was my favorite character she just slays them in this, she's so good! I laughed out loud at some of the gags...but when we get to the third act which is a wild chase through the streets of San Francisco I was amazed! Damn that was so well done and those are all real stunts done on the streets of the city, wow! When you see the cars drive down the steps in the park, look at what the taxi cab does...it bottoms out on a step and takes out a huge chunk of cement! I later read that Bogdanovich did that without permission and that scars on the steps are still there today. Loved the comedy bit with the two men trying to carry a huge sheet of glass across the crowded street, that's classic screwball!




Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

Director: Robert Benton
Writers: Avery Corman (novel), Robert Benton (screenplay)
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander, Justin Henry
Genre: Drama


"Ted Kramer's wife leaves her husband, allowing for a lost bond to be rediscovered between Ted and his son, Billy. But a heated custody battle ensues over the divorced couple's son, deepening the wounds left by the separation."

I really liked this one...Dustin Hoffman is very natural and personable on screen, he makes an easy to like character that I could totally relate to. I thought he did a great job of acting...So did Meryl Streep, and wow she was actually pretty in this and young! I liked the way her character was written also very believable. She was really good at the way she portrayed a flaky, unhappy woman who's kind of screwed up and but not all together the bad guy.

Someone said that both sides were represented equally sympathetic in the movie, I don't think so. I felt Merly's character was 'the walking wounded' someone who's going to lose it no matter who she's with. I didn't like her character on a personal level and I think that's what the movie intended?

ABOUT THE ENDING
As much as I liked the movie, I disliked the happy ending where Meryl seemingly out of nowhere says he can keep the child. That really disappointed me, as I was expecting a strong ending with the court system screwing him over just because he was a man. I would have loved to see the film end on his face as Meryl and the kid walk down the hall and out of his life.





What's Up Doc (1972)

Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Writers: Buck Henry & David Newman (screenplay)
Cast: Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars
Genre: Comedy


"The accidental mix-up of four identical plaid overnight bags leads to a series of increasingly wild and wacky situations."
You picked a great one there, CK! This is one of the great comedies of the modern era-- an anthology of some classic set ups, and some new inventions as well. Much of the film is as good as anything Buster Keaton did.

It's the type of comedy that gets you laughing, and right when you think the gag is over, extends it a little further until you're practically out of breath.

Kenneth Mars was first rate in one of his wacky characterizations. The whole cast was excellent. But it was the writing of Buck Henry, Bogdanovich's direction that made the film. And it's one thing to dream up those gags, but quite another to bring them off.

The large glass pane sequence is an example of a perfect set up and development. The fight at the hotel banquet was another. Also the barrels dumping out onto the street and the guy running away from them, jumping over the wall and landing on some hapless diners, was a riot.

I don't know a comedy like that can be made any more, but I sure hope someone tries!

~Doc



I won't dance. Don't ask me...
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
I agree Meryl looked in this movie very favourably. Me either didn't like hers charackter as much as Hoffmans.

You might like this polish movie about break up of family



Did I recommend The Big Sky to you? I thought you would have enjoyed it more. It made my 50's list.
I think you did recommend it to me at one time. But I never got around to watching it, until it was one of the movies in Director Dissection with Seanc and Rauldc, we were watching Howard Hawks movies and it was one of them. Raul liked it. Sean didn't. Here are links to their write ups on The Big Sky.

Sean's review: The Big Sky

Raul's review: The Big Sky