My DVDs of the Week celebrate the late cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond. The Hired Hand is one of his overlooked masterpieces. Visions of Light is a documentary about his art of cinematography. Both are available on Netflix DVDs.
On January 21, Turner Classic Movies is playing Pushover, one of my Overlooked Noir. An amoral cop (Fred MacMurray) decides that, if he can double cross BOTH the other cops and the criminal, he can wind up with the loot AND the gangster’s girlfriend (“Introducing Kim Novak”).
Samuel L. Jackson and Walton Goggins in THE HATEFUL EIGHT
By now, everyone should understand what you’re going to get in a Quentin Tarantino movie: 1) lots of very harsh and extremely stylized movie violence; 2) lots of witty dialogue before and after the violence; and 3) references to other movies that Tarantino loves. A classic example of Tarantino cinema, The Hateful Eightdelivers on every count.
If you aren’t entertained by gratuitous violence, then don’t go to this movie. The splatter quotient is high.
The Hateful Eight starts out like the great epic Westerns of the 50s and 60s, complete with dazzling vistas and a score by Ennio Morricone (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly). But soon we are inside a single room with a bunch of scoundrels (some more lovable than others) and entangled in a Spaghetti Western plot – constructed to set up the action set pieces. And the violence is so over-the-top that much of it is both shocking and funny.
Those scoundrels are the spine of The Hateful Eight. It’s always been easy to conclude that Samuel L. Jackson was put on this earth to deliver Tarantino dialogue. Now it’s clear that Walton Goggins serves the same existential purpose. Goggins shot to cult fame by playing the loquacious, crafty and manipulative hillbilly crimelord Boyd Crowder in TV’s Justified. Goggins has the rare ability to project a complete absence of personal bravery, a quick-witted resourcefulness and be very, very funny while he’s doing it. The very best aspect of The Hateful Eight is that it evolves into a Samuel L. Jackson/Walton Goggins buddy movie.
And then there’s Jennifer Jason Leigh, always one of our most interesting actresses. In The Hateful Eight, she plays an extreme sociopath who can absorb an alarming amount of physical punishment. Her character is a malevolent and seemingly irrepressible force of nature, and Leigh’s performance is another reason to see this movie.
Jennifer Jason Leigh in THE HATEFUL EIGHT
I saw the regular 2 hours and 48 minute version of The Hateful Eight, projected on the digital system that most theaters now use. There is also a “Roadshow” version , which was shot on and is projected from 70 mm film. The Roadshow version also has a musical overture, an intermission and few minutes of extra action. It all adds up to three hours and 6 minutes. While this three hours and 6 minutes version is playing on 12 screens in the Bay Area, only two of them are the 70 mm projection.
I found the The Hateful Eight to be a hoot-and-a-half, but then I love Tarantino and have a high tolerance for movie violence. The Wife stuck it out like a good sport (“Tell me again why I wanted to see this?), but then she’s a Walton Goggins fan from Justified. If you liked Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained, you’ll probably like this one, too.
Not just a compelling movie, The Revenant is an experience for the audience and a marvel of filmmaking. Oscar-winner Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu (21 Grams, Babel, Biutiful, Birdman) may be the director doing the most groundbreaking work in today’s cinema, and The Revenant, with its long shoot in hostile conditions, is his triumph over the seemingly impossible.
The Revenant is based on the historical episode of mountain man Hugh Glass, who was fur trapping in the Missouri River watershed of the Dakotas in 1823, when the area was completely unspoiled and inhabited only by nomadic bands of Native Americans. Glass was severely injured in a bear attack, left for dead by his companions and crawled 200 miles to safety. A “revenant” is a re-animated corpse, and Glass essentially returned from the dead.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays Glass, and his performance is extraordinary. For one thing – the most obvious – DiCaprio is a human piñata who actually must stand and then submerge in a freezing river, get bounced around by a CGI bear, chew on raw bison liver, crawl across uneven ground, and on and on; he takes a licking and keeps on ticking. And, in at least two-thirds of the movie, Glass either isn’t able to speak or has no one to talk to. So DiCaprio must convey his terror, grief, determination to survive and seek revenge with his physicality.
There are also solid performances by Tom Hardy (being villainous) Will Poulter and Domhnall Gleeson (a good year for him – also Ex Machina, Brooklyn and Star Wars).
There probably isn’t a more overused word in the current culture than “awesome”. But it’s precisely the right word to describe the depiction of Glass’ ordeal. The dazzling scenery as photographed Iñárritu‘s equally brilliant cinematographer Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki is awesome, as is the overall filmmaking challenge. In particular, the bear attack and an extended one-shot of a Native American attack with the camera moving by and forth among the combatants are brilliant and unforgettable. Showing off, Iñárritu even throws in an actual avalanche as a background shot.
The result is an utterly authentic film. Now I think I know what it looks like when a bear attacks and when an Indian band raids. DiCaprio shows us convincingly how it looks when a man grieves.
The Revenant is also exhausting – in a good way. As the film opens, we see men creeping through a primordial forest that has been flooded by a river. They are tense and so are we. We can’t tell whether they are hunting or hunted or both. We soon come to understand that their heightened alertness and intense concentration is required to survive a dangerous environment. That level of intensity remains throughout the film, and it wears down the characters and the audience.
History buffs will appreciate that Glass was part of Ashley’s Hundred, an enterprise that included many mountain men (Jim Bridger, Jedediah Smith, Kit Carson) who would later become guides and explorers with central roses in the history of the American West.
I also recommend Sheila O’Malley’s insightful comments on survival movies, in particular the very compelling Touching the Void.
This is one of the very best survival movies. See The Revenant, and make sure that you see on the Big Screen.
The great cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond died last week at 85. He was known as a champion of natural light in filmmaking, a major contribution that he and fellow Hungarian László Kovács brought to Hollywood in the late 1960s. Zsigmond shot The Deer Hunter, Deliverance and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He was nominated for four Oscars, and won for Close Encounters.
Zsigmond shot The Sugarland Express, Steven Spielberg’s first theatrical feature (Duel was a TV movie) and worked with directors Robert Altman, Woody Allen, Brian De Palma and even Jack Nicholson (The Two Jakes). Yet he may best known among cinephiles for his groundbreaking and artistically risky work in McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Heaven’s Gate (two movies that I otherwise don’t care for). He was even on the all-star camera crew for the prototype concert movie The Last Waltz.
To celebrate Zsigmond, this week I am recommending two DVDs – one of his overlooked masterpieces and a film ABOUT his art. First, there’s the 1971 Western directed by Peter Fonda, The Hired Hand. This is a moody, captivating and underrated film – and it looks great, thanks to Zsigmond. The Hired Hand is available on DVD from Netflix.
Second, Zsgimond is one of the artists discussing the art of cinematography in the excellent 1992 documentary Visions of Light; it’s a Must Watch for movie fans. Visions of Light is also available on Netflix DVD. Zsigmond also appears in the fine documentary on 1970s auteur-driven cinema Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘N’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood.
This week, you can set your DVR for two classic film noir classics on January 9. The 1962Cape Fear features Robert Mitchum at his most menacing. Kiss of Death includes Richard Widmark’s breakthrough performance as psychopath Tommy Udo.
On January 11, Turner Classic Movies will present Sullivan’s Travels (1941). The great Preston Sturges created this fast-paced and cynical comedy about a pretentious movie director who goes out to be inspired by The Average Man – and gets more of an adventure than he expects. There has never been a better movie about Hollywood. It’s on my A Classic American Movie Primer – 5 to Start With.
Veronica Lake and Joel McCrea in SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS
The disappointingly empty dramedy Joy traces the story of housewife Joy Mangano (Jennifer Lawrence), who invented the Miracle Mop sold on QVC and became a business success despite the gravity pull of her dysfunctional family.
Why doesn’t this movie work? One pivotal scene illustrates the problem. At this point, her business has imploded, she’s entangled in a hopeless legal morass, and everyone is urging her to file for bankruptcy. She’s facing family disgrace, and she tells her daughter that she’s giving up. But WE KNOW there’s no chance that Joy is really going to give up. We know that Jennifer Lawrence is going to kick ass to a triumphant conclusion. So there’s no tension, and therefore no drama.
Lawrence is very good, and I can generally watch her read a telephone book. The rest of the cast, which includes Bradley Cooper in a brief role, is just fine. But Joy’s slalom course through all her emotionally unhealthy relatives just isn’t very compelling.
Director David O. Russell has previously made two brilliantly entertaining movies with Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro – Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle. This ain’t them.
Keith Richards: Under the Influence is a good enough excuse to spend time with the ever genial Keith Richards. Keith is not just a rock icon and a medical marvel, he’s a great raconteur – ever genial, with an omnipresent cigarette-hacking chuckle.
Keith drops many a nugget while relating his own musical journey and much about American music of which he is a devotee:
About meeting Muddy Waters at Chess Records.
That he considers himself a better bass player than a guitar player.
How the intro licks to Street Fighting Man were recorded when only he and Charlie Watts came early to a recording session to mess around.
How his bass line with Charlie’s drumming sped up the pace to Sympathy with the Devil from a lament to really rockin’.
“I’m no longer a pop star and I don’t want to be one”.
A sharp observation that White “rock” can seem like a march, and “I prefer the ‘roll'”.
His period of not working with Mick Jagger in 1985-89 was “World War III”.
And there’s a VERY funny Johnny Cash-in-a-hotel-room story.
Here’s challenge – try to spell out Keith’s raspy chuckle. It’s something like “Huh-whey-whey-heh-heh”.
Keith Richards: Under the Influence has the feel of an infomercial for Richards’ book and newest solo album. But, no matter, it’s time well spent. Keith Richards: Under the Influence is available to stream from Netflix Instant.
During the years 1972-4, documentarian Les Blank hung out and filmed around Leon Russell’s Oklahoma recording studio, and A Poem Is a Naked Person is the result.
This was the period when Russell produced two of my very favorite albums, Leon Live and Hank Wilson’s Back, so I especially enjoyed the music. There’s also a nice snippet of Willie Nelson (pre-beard and pigtails) singing Good Hearted Woman.
In fact, all of the Leon Russell parts (both talking and performing) are great. The problem is that Blank filmed everybody and everything in the neighborhood, including a tractor pull, the demolition of a building and a seemingly deranged and snake-obsessed artist. There’s also a lot of conversation between people who are very stoned. Getting stoned is a lot more fun than listening to stoned people talk.
The documentary’s puzzling title originates from liner notes on a Bob Dylan album.
A Poem Is a Naked Person has been a bit of a Lost Film, until recently only shown at screening where Blank was present. Now you can stream it on Amazon Instant, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
How does a film get listed on my Best Movies of 2015? Essentially, I look for two very personal reactions: 1) I am thrilled by the experience of watching the film (or feel another strong visceral reaction) and 2) I am still thinking about the movie for days afterward.
A few days ago I saw both Caroland Youth. I found each of them to be exceptional films, and I enjoyed and admired them both. But I was thrilled by Youth and am still thinking about it. Youth made my top ten list. Not so with Carol.
It hurts if I think of something else during the movie. It helps to be original (Ex Machina, Wild Tales, Youth, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl). It helps to be authentic (Brooklyn, I’ll See You in My Dreams). It really helps if I think that the movie is timeless and will stand up over time.
It helps if I would watch the movie again, but that’s not necessary. One viewing of a challenging and uncomfortable film like The Look of Silencemay be all that I can stomach. On the other hand, I have a bunch of Guilty Pleasures that I can watch repeatedly without rating them as great films.
There’s no shame in missing my top ten list. I really enjoyed, and heartily recommend Carol, along with Legend, Meet the Patels, The Gift, Amy, Mr. Holmes, Sicario, Black Mass, Gemma Bovery, Spy and Seymour: An Introduction. They’re just not on my list of the year’s best.
Bruce Sinofsky was a filmmaker who actually saved lives. His Paradise Lost trilogy resulted in innocent men being released from death row.
Lizabeth Scott‘s career was launched by her striking looks. Often described as a “smoky blonde”, she proved herself a brilliant actresses playing smoky and smoking blondes in film noir, notably Dead Reckoning,Too Late for Tears and I Walk Alone. My favorite Lizabeth Scott role is in Pitfall. The married protagonist (Dick Powell) falls for her but she’s not the usual femme fatale. She’s not a Bad Girl, just an unlucky one. She has horrible taste in a boyfriend and the bad luck to attract a menacing stalker (Burr), but she’s fundamentally decent. Will her sexual promiscuity be punished at the end of this 1948 movie – and will his?
Comedy pioneer Anne Meara
Anne Meara‘s death was noted in our celebrity-obsessed culture as the loss of Ben Stiller’s mom. But she was – in her own right – a comedy pioneer. In groundbreaking performances with her husband and comedy partner Jerry Stiller in the early 1960s, Meara influenced a whole new comic sensibility. Her peers included Nichols and May, Mort Sahl, Woody Allen and Bob Newhart. She was in the forerunner of Second City, and her sketches evolved into the SNL form of comedy that has dominated since the 70s. She worked mostly in television, and one of her best recent roles was as Miranda’s demented mother-in-law in Sex and the City.
Fred Thompson is best known for his role as an investigative attorney during the Watergate Hearings and for his decade in the US Senate. But he was a pretty fair country actor, too, and my favorite Fred Thompson performance was in the very smart and funny corporate mockudrama Barbarians at the Gate.
Vincent Bugliosi, the Los Angeles prosecutor, secured convictions of the Manson Family for the sensational Tate-LaBianca murders. His memoir of the investigation and trials, Helter Skelter, was adapted into the riveting 1976 miniseries of the same title starring Steve Railsback as Charlie.
Christopher Lee, with his 278 screen credits, is fondly remembered for entertaining roles at the beginning of his career as a horror heavy and at the end of his career as an imposing presence in the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings franchises. My favorite Christopher Lee role is as the bad guy Rochefort (Charlton Heston’s henchman) in Richard Lester’s The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers (1974).
Leonard Nimoy, with Donald Sutherland and Jeff Goldblum in INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
Leonard Nimoy was much more than Spock, with a career highlighted (in my mind) by the chillingly confident and authoritative Dr. David Kibner in the 1978 Philip Kaufman remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Not everybody can be menacing in a turtleneck.
Maureen O’Hara was the durable star chiefly remembered as the Queen of Technicolor and for being forceful enough to match up to John Wayne. I remember her most fondly in one of her first American films, playing against John Garfield in the noirish WW II spy thriller The Fallen Sparrow. She doesn’t look 22 – does she?
