This week’s best movie in theaters is the suspenseful German historical drama Barbara. In No, Gael Garcia Bernal stars as the regular guy who brainstormed the guerrilla advertising campaign that dethroned Chilean dictator Pinochet. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is a pleasant comedy and a showcase for Jim Carrey. I admire Steven Soderbergh’s psychological thriller Side Effects, starring Rooney Mara, Jude Law and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Emperor, with Tommy Lee Jones as Gen. Douglas MacArthur leading the American occupation of Japan, is historical but plodding.
I haven’t yet seen Walter Salles’ Jack Kerouac movie On the Road, which opens today, or Sunday’s HBO movie Phil Spector. You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.
My DVD/Stream of the week is the most under-appreciated Big Movie of 2012, Zero Dark Thirty, director Kathryn Bigelow’s inspired telling of the hunt for Bin Laden.
Turner Classic Movies is showing a couple of my guilty pleasures this week. The 1958 Terror in a Texas Town is a lousy movie with an wonderfully implausible climax where the good guy (Sterling Hayden with a Swedish accent) take on a gunfighter with a harpoon. An even worse movie, 1964’s The Outrage tried to remake Rashomon with a Mexican bandit – and landed Paul Newman the #8 spot on my list of Least Convincing Mexicans.
On March 3, Turner Classic Movies will be broadcasting the most historic flop in Hollywood History, 1980’s Heaven’s Gate. Last year, a restored version of Heaven’s Gate screened at the Venice Film Festival and was released on DVD by Criterion Collection. A new generation of American film critics revisited the film, and, surprisingly, some have praised it. The movie has always had its fans in Europe.
Heaven’s Gate starred Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, Jeff Bridges, Sam Waterston and Isabelle Huppert, plus hundreds of extras and horses. It is a revisionist retelling of Wyoming’s Johnson County Wars of 1890 – sinister capitalists hire assassins to claim economic power at the expense of hardworking immigrants. It is three hours and thirty-nine minutes long.
Upon release, Heaven’s Gate was not popular with moviegoers, and consequently was financially unsuccessful. It was also trashed by critics, most notably by The New York TimesVincent Canby. Roger Ebert wrote, “It is the most scandalous cinematic waste I have ever seen, and remember, I’ve seen Paint Your Wagon”.
Here’s why Heaven’s Gate is historically important. In 1967, Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate kicked off the American New Wave. After the low-budget Easy Rider made gazillions in 1969, Hollywood studios granted funding and artistic freedom to directors like Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Bob Rafelson and Roman Polanski. This resulted in masterpieces like Chinatown, Five Easy Pieces, The Conversation, Jeremiah Johnson, The French Connection, The Last Picture Show and Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter. Deer Hunter, a three-hour Vietnam War epic, won five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Cimino.
To make his next picture, Heaven’s Gate, Cimino sucked $44 million (an immense sum for the era, equivalent to $120 million today) out of United Artists. When the film grossed only $3 million in the US, United Artists was forced to merge into MGM. So Heaven’s Gate single-handedly killed a major Hollywood studio. If that weren’t bad enough, it was also the final straw in a series of artistically driven financial flops, and the studios tightened the leashes on directors and became more risk averse with scripts, thereby bringing an entire era, the American New Wave, to a close.
I have always deeply admired The Deer Hunter, and I eagerly saw the original cut of Heaven’s Gate when it was released 33 years ago. At the time, I found it to be boring, confusing and self-indulgently overlong.
Last year, I took another look at the 2012 restoration of Heaven’s Gate. It is a very ambitious film that contains many visually arresting and especially beautiful shots. It is interesting to see Sam Waterston play a bad guy for once and downright glorious to see the 26-year-old Isabelle Huppert naked. So much for the good news.
Much of Heaven’s Gate is literally dark (as in hard to see the action). Cimino overused smoke and fog, which also obscure the action. Blending together in sepia tones, the immigrants are hard to tell apart and speak in a babel of European languages. Because of the sound mix, it’s very difficult to comprehend much of the dialogue. The politics of the film is laughably heavy handed. The plot is confusing at times and often put on hold for set pieces that do not advance the story, most notably a bizarre roller skating sequence. There are several other scenes which are equally silly, which I won’t spoil for you, but which are described in the Ebert review linked above. The ponderous length of the film is staggering. I still found Heaven’s Gate to be a brutal, if occasionally unintentionally humorous, viewing experience.
Anyway, here’s your chance to see for yourself: March 3 on TCM.
Turner Classic Movies is celebrating the Oscars with its annual 31 Days of Oscars, filling its broadcast schedule with Academy Award-winning films. On this Thursday through Sunday, the TCM lineup is especially rich, including these gems:
Seven Days in May: “I’m suggesting Mr President, there’s a military plot to take over the Government of these United States, next Sunday…” John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate) is a master of the thriller, and his 1964 Seven Days in May is a masterpiece of the paranoid political thriller subgenre. Edmond O’Brien’s performance is best among outstanding turns by Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Frederic March and Whit Bissell.
A Place in the Sun:One of the great films of the 1950s. Montgomery Clift is a poor kid who is satisfied to have a job and a trashy girlfriend (Shelly Winters in a brilliant portrayal). Then, he learns that he could have it all – the CEO’s daughter Elizabeth Taylor, lifelong comfort, status and career. Did I mention Elizabeth Taylor? The now pregnant girlfriend is the only obstacle to more than he could have ever dreamed for – can he get rid of her without getting caught?
Anatomy of a Murder (1959): Otto Preminger delivers a classic courtroom drama that frankly addresses sexual mores. James Stewart is a folksy but very canny lawyer defending a cynical soldier (Ben Gazzara) on a murder charge; did he discover his wife straying or is he avenging her rape? Lee Remick portrays the wife with a penchant for partying and uncertain fidelity. The Duke Ellington score could be the very best jazz score in the movies. Joseph Welch, the real-life lawyer who stood up to Sen. Joe McCarthy in a televised red scare hearing, plays the judge.
All this and more! There’s Double Indemnity one of the masterpieces of film noir, Marlon Brando’s tour de force in On the Waterfront, the great trial movie The Caine Mutiny, the historically important Easy Rider (and one of my Best Drug Movies) and the political classic All the King’s Men. If you’re looking for an epic, you can try out The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia on your big screen TV. For a comedy, there’s Tootsie.
And don’t miss an overlooked great Jack Nicholson performance in The Last Detail.
The best new movie is Steven Soderbergh’s psychological thriller Side Effects with Rooney Mara, Jude Law and Catherine Zeta-Jones. In Stand Up Guys, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin play old mobsters gearing up for one last surge of adrenaline. Quartet is a pleasant lark of a geezer comedy with four fine performances. The charmingly funny Warm Bodies has made my list of Zombie Movies for People Who Don’t Like Zombie Movies. The pretty good horror movie Mama (with Jessica Chastain) can send chills down your spine without any slashing or splattering.
Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook are on my list of Best Movies of 2012 and all are nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. The French language drama Amour, also nominated for Best Picture, is a brilliantly made film about the end of life – it’s also an almost unbearable viewing experience.
If, like me, you worship the spaghetti Western, the Quentin Tarantino blockbuster Django Unchained is gloriously pedal-to-the-metal, splattering exploitation. The intelligent dramaRust and Bone is the singular tale of a complicated woman and an uncomplicated man. Ang Lee’s visually stunning fable Life of Pi is an enthralling commentary on story-telling.
Skip the unoriginal mob movie Gangster Squad, which wastes its fine cast. Also pass on the lavish but stupefying all-star Les Miserables, with its multiple endings, each more miserable than the last. The FDR movie Hyde Park on Hudson is a bore. The disaster movie The Impossible is only for audiences that enjoy watching suffering adults and children in peril. I have not seen Movie 43 – it is the most critically reviled movie in a looooong time.
My DVD of the week is the underrated 2012 thriller Deadfall.
Turner Classic Movies is celebrating the Oscars with its annual 31 Days of Oscars, filling its broadcast schedule with Academy Award-winning films. In the next week, the especially rich lineup will include Double Indemnity, A Place in the Sun, Seven Days in May, All the King’s Men, Anatomy of a Murder with its great jazz score, On the Waterfront, The Caine Mutiny, Easy Rider, The Last Detail, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia and Tootsie.
Okay, here we are, and I’m recommending a zombie movie and a horror film. In the charmingly funny Warm Bodies, Rome and Juliet meets Beauty and the Beast in a zombie movie. The pretty good horror movie Mama (with Jessica Chastain) can send chills down your spine without any slashing or splattering. In Stand Up Guys, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin play old mobsters gearing up for one last surge of adrenaline. Quartet is a pleasant lark of a geezer comedy with four fine performances.
The Oscar Nominated Short Films are in theaters only for another week. Last night I saw the Live Action and Animated Shorts. If you can see just one, I recommend the Live Action Shorts, especially Curfew.
Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook are on my list of Best Movies of 2012 and all are nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. The French language drama Amour, also nominated for Best Picture, is a brilliantly made film about the end of life – it’s also an almost unbearable viewing experience.
If, like me, you worship the spaghetti Western, the Quentin Tarantino blockbuster Django Unchained is gloriously pedal-to-the-metal, splattering exploitation. The intelligent dramaRust and Bone is the singular tale of a complicated woman and an uncomplicated man. Ang Lee’s visually stunning fable Life of Pi is an enthralling commentary on story-telling.
Skip the unoriginal mob movie Gangster Squad, which wastes its fine cast. Also pass on the lavish but stupefying all star Les Miserables, with its multiple endings, each more miserable than the last. The FDR movie Hyde Park on Hudson is a bore. The disaster movie The Impossible is only for audiences that enjoy watching suffering adults and children in peril. I have not seen Movie 43 – it is the most critically reviled movie in a looooong time.
My DVD of the week is my pick for the very best film of 2012, The Kid with a Bike.
Turner Classic Movies is celebrating the Oscars with its annual 31 Days of Oscars, filling its broadcast schedule with Academy Award-winning films. Don’t overlook the overlooked film noir thriller The Narrow Margin or the WW II spy thriller The Fallen Sparrow with John Garfield and a 22-year-old Maureen O’Hara.
Try to catch the Oscar Nominated Short Films – in theaters only for this coming week. The pretty good horror movie Mama, with Jessica Chastain, can send chills down your spine without any slashing or splattering. Quartet is a pleasant lark of a geezer comedy with four fine performances.
Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook are on my list of Best Movies of 2012 and all are nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. The French language drama Amour, also nominated for Best Picture, is a brilliantly made film about the end of life – it’s also an almost unbearable viewing experience.
If, like me, you worship the spaghetti Western, the Quentin Tarantino blockbuster Django Unchained is gloriously pedal-to-the-metal, splattering exploitation. The intelligent dramaRust and Bone is the singular tale of a complicated woman and an uncomplicated man.
Ang Lee’s visually stunning fable Life of Pi is an enthralling commentary on story-telling. Denzel Washington stars in Flight, a thriller about the miraculous crash landing of an airliner and the even more dangerous battle against alcoholism. Skyfall updates the James Bond franchise with thrilling action and a more shopworn 007 from Daniel Craig.
Skip the unoriginal mob movie Gangster Squad, which wastes its fine cast. Also pass on the lavish but stupefying all star Les Miserables, with its multiple endings, each more miserable than the last. The FDR movie Hyde Park on Hudson is a bore. The disaster movie The Impossible is only for audiences that enjoy watching suffering adults and children in peril. I have not seen Movie 43 – it is the most critically reviled movie in a looooong time.
I haven’t seen the Pacino/Walken/Arkin geezer mob film Stand Up Guys or the inventive zombie movie Warm Bodies, which open this weekend. You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.
My DVD of the week is the deliciously pulpy neo-noir The Paperboy.
Today Turner Classic Movies begins its annual 31 Days of Oscars, celebrating the Oscars by filling its broadcast schedule with Academy Award-winning films.
Warren William with Loretta Young in EMPLOYEES ENTRANCE
I’ve recently discovered the actor Warren William, whose movies from the early 30s remain fresh today. On August 30, Turner Classic Movies will be broadcasting sixteen Warren William movies. Although he is not well-known today, William was “King of the Pre-Code”, starring in 25 movies between 1931 and 1934, many with the sexual frankness and moral ambiguity that was to be erased by the Production Code. His leading ladies included the likes of Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Loretta Young, Ann Dvorak and Claudette Colbert.
With his striking features (including a prominent and noble nose) and his deep and cultured voice, William was a natural for the newfangled talkies. William excelled in the Pre-Code movies because he could play deliciously shameless scoundrels who would use their wit and position to exploit everyone else, especially for sex, power and money. His characters are fun to watch because they take such delight in their own depravity. But in 1934, the new Production Code meant that movies could no longer allow his characters to have sex and otherwise behave badly and get away with it.
My recommendation among TCM’s offerings this week is the 1933 Employees Entrance. William plays a department store manager who is viciously ruthless with his competitors and suppliers. He abuses his own employees and is indifferent to the resultant suicide attempts. He uses his position to have sex with a young employee (Loretta Young), even after she marries someone else. And he keeps a floozy on the payroll to distract another executive (his putative supervisor) from meddling in the business. And for all 75 minutes of Employees Entrance, William’s joyously despicable character is richly enjoying himself. If you’re looking for the triumph of Good over Evil, this isn’t your movie.
One of my favorite movies is 1932’s hilarious political comedy The Dark Horse, in which William plays an equally ruthless and amoral campaign manager. He is such a scoundrel that he must first get sprung from jail to teach his dimwitted candidate to answer every question with “Yes…and, then again, no.” He describes his own candidate (the gleefully dim Guy Kibbee) thus: “He’s the dumbest human being I ever saw. Every time he opens his mouth he subtracts from the sum total of human knowledge.” (Unfortunately, TCM is not showing The Dark Horse this week.)
Ever the sexually predatory cad on the screen, the real life William led a quiet life and was married to the same woman for twenty-five years until his death.
William Demarest and fellow Marines comfort Eddie Bracken in HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO
On June 30, Turner Classic Movies is broadcasting six classic comedies by the great writer-director Preston Sturges. Sturges’ masterpiece, of course, is Sullivan’s Travels, a fast-paced and cynical comedy about a pretentious movie director who goes out on the road to be inspired by The Average Man – and gets more of an adventure than he expects.
The brilliantly funny Hail the Conquering Hero is one of Sturges’ less well-known great comedies. Eddie Bracken plays a would-be soldier discharged for hay fever – but his hometown mistakenly thinks that he is sent home a war hero. Hilarity ensues. All the funnier when you realize that this film was made in 1944 amid our nation’s most culturally patriotic period.
TCM’s other Sturges choices are thigh slappers, too: The Lady Eve, The Palm Beach Story, The Great McGinty and Christmas in July.
Turner Classic Movies is broadcasting the under appreciated Fat City (1972) on June 18. Stacy Keach plays a boxer on the slide, his skills unraveled by his alcoholism. He inspires a kid (a very young Jeff Bridges), who becomes a boxer on the rise. Keach and Susan Tyrrell give dead-on performances as pathetic sad sack barflies. Tyrrell was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
The great director John Huston shot the film in Stockton, and Fat City is a time capsule for the Central Valley in the early 70s.
If you like suspense, you will want to check out Diabolique, to be broadcast by Turner Classic Movies on May 12. The headmaster of a provincial boarding school is so cruel, even sadistic, that everyone wants him dead, especially his wife and his mistress. When he goes missing, the police drain the murky pool where the killers dumped the body, and the killers get a big surprise. Now the suspense from director Henri-Georges Clouzot really starts.
A master of the thriller, Clouzot was nicknamed the French Hitchcock. In an achingly scary scene from Clouzot’s The Wages of Fear, two truck drivers try to get a long truck around a cliff side hairpin curve – and the truck is filled with nitroglycerin. If you like Diabolique, you’ll probably also like another domestic murder – this time set in Paris – Quai des Orfevres.
