REGARDING HARRISON
A Video Review of "Regarding Henry"
Copyright 2002 Glenn Walker
Harrison Ford is one of the best living actors today. Everything he appears in bears a certain standard of quality and his skill as an actor is always top notch. Such is the case with Regarding Henry.
Unlike other actors in similar roles; Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, Tom Hulce in Dominick and Eugene, Sean Penn in I Am Sam, Adam Sandler in all his films; there’s an unwelcome urge to laugh at the mentally challenged. Here, with Harrison Ford, that doesn’t happen. Here you can only marvel at his performance.
Ford stars as Henry Turner, an evil lawyer (is there any other kind?), who is shot in the head and goes into a coma. Upon awakening and rehabilitation he becomes a new man, a kinder, gentler and much better husband and father. We watch him confront his past and his sins and make a new start.
Annette Bening as Henry’s wife and Mikki Allen as his daughter hand in equally excellent turns. Bill Nunn as Bradley the physical therapist gives the performance of his life and makes you wonder why we haven’t seen the like since.
This is an excellent film that should not be missed.
Thursday, January 29, 2004
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
"Poster Girl for Psychopaths"
"POSTER GIRL FOR PSYCHOPATHS"
Reviews of "Return to Oz" and "The Craft"
Copyright 2002 Glenn Walker
Tired of renting Moulin Rouge for the umpteenth time when you can’t find anything good to watch at the video store and you’re bright enough to know better than to ask a clerk what’s good? Here’s a good themed double feature for a night of popcorn, cuddling and good movie entertainment; two wonderful performances of the princess of psychotherapy, Fairuza Balk.
RETURN TO OZ
First thing you've got to do is forget everything you know about the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. This isn't a musical and Fairuza Balk is no Judy Garland (hell, most of the time Judy Garland was no Judy Garland - without a handful of pills and a swig of vodka, that is). Now there are elements of that film in Return to Oz like a head trauma leading Dorothy to a dream of Oz but that's about it. It is more based on the works and images of L. Frank Baum than the 1939 musical. It begins with Dorothy going off to the nuthouse because of her obsession with Oz and during a rainstorm she escapes into Oz. Most of the Kansas scenes and the Nome King, the Wheelers and Mombi might be too frightening for the little ones (might send 'em off to the nuthouse with Fairuza) but still a must see.
THE CRAFT
She goes from running away from witches to becoming one. Not an unexpected step however considering Fairuza is a Wiccan and owns a witchcraft shop in LA. The Craft solidifies her career as an adult actress and unfortunately is probably her best work to date. She plays a disturbed young girl, who along with three equally outcast friends, uses witchcraft to get what they want out of high school. Eventually getting boyfriends and hurting taunting classmates escalates to murder and more. Fairuza is especially frightening here - she's the ultimate psycho girlfriend. Watch it with the lights on.
Check them out, it’s a good night’s entertainment… much better than that damned musical… again.
Reviews of "Return to Oz" and "The Craft"
Copyright 2002 Glenn Walker
Tired of renting Moulin Rouge for the umpteenth time when you can’t find anything good to watch at the video store and you’re bright enough to know better than to ask a clerk what’s good? Here’s a good themed double feature for a night of popcorn, cuddling and good movie entertainment; two wonderful performances of the princess of psychotherapy, Fairuza Balk.
RETURN TO OZ
First thing you've got to do is forget everything you know about the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. This isn't a musical and Fairuza Balk is no Judy Garland (hell, most of the time Judy Garland was no Judy Garland - without a handful of pills and a swig of vodka, that is). Now there are elements of that film in Return to Oz like a head trauma leading Dorothy to a dream of Oz but that's about it. It is more based on the works and images of L. Frank Baum than the 1939 musical. It begins with Dorothy going off to the nuthouse because of her obsession with Oz and during a rainstorm she escapes into Oz. Most of the Kansas scenes and the Nome King, the Wheelers and Mombi might be too frightening for the little ones (might send 'em off to the nuthouse with Fairuza) but still a must see.
THE CRAFT
She goes from running away from witches to becoming one. Not an unexpected step however considering Fairuza is a Wiccan and owns a witchcraft shop in LA. The Craft solidifies her career as an adult actress and unfortunately is probably her best work to date. She plays a disturbed young girl, who along with three equally outcast friends, uses witchcraft to get what they want out of high school. Eventually getting boyfriends and hurting taunting classmates escalates to murder and more. Fairuza is especially frightening here - she's the ultimate psycho girlfriend. Watch it with the lights on.
Check them out, it’s a good night’s entertainment… much better than that damned musical… again.
Thursday, January 22, 2004
"The Cat's Meow" 2001
WE’LL NEVER KNOW
A Video Review of "The Cat’s Meow" (2001)
Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker
This is the stuff of Hollywood legend. The Cat’s Meow is the story of a yachting trip in 1924 where movie producer Thomas Ince dies of mysterious circumstances. The legend holds that super-publisher William Randolph Hearst, whose yacht it was, shot Ince and then used his considerable wealth to cover it up.
The yachting trip was to celebrate Thomas Ince’s birthday and other notable guests included Hearst’s mistress actress Marion Davies, Charlie Chaplin and Louella Parsons. It’s quite a cast of characters and played by quite a cast of actors.
Edward Herrmann is Hearst. He’s a longtime character actor well known for playing mostly real people and also most disastrously Herman Munster. He plays the power mad millionaire with human emotional flaws despite the man’s almost demonic Citizen Kane reputation. It is a considerable performance. The only thing that ruins it is the occasional lapses into that fake Herman Munster laugh.
One person who impressed me was Eddie Izzard as Charlie Chaplin. I had previously only known him for his stand-up comedy act that he usually performs in drag. In The Cat’s Meow he is skilled and very serious, quite a turnaround from how I normally perceive him. Anyone else out there with similar pre-perceptions might want to check him out in Shadow of the Vampire and The Secret Agent from 1996.
Kirsten Dunst as Marion Davies shows yet another side of her formidable skills. What on the surface appears to be a silly girl Dunst always proves each part she plays to be much deeper and substantial. Ince is done by a restrained and subdued Cary Elwes in a masterful piece of work. It’s rare that an actor can show such skill with so little room. Also blink and you’ll miss Joanna Lumley from "Absolutely Fabulous." She’s mostly background but when she speaks she shines.
Jennifer Tilly’s Louella Parsons appears at first ridiculous and sad. She thinks highly of herself but offers little to show she’s anything but shallow and stupid. After the dirty deed occurs she shows an inhuman degree of wile in obtaining a lifetime position with Hearst’s newspapers through blackmail. Tilly plays evil quite well.
The Cat’s Meow represents director Peter Bogdanovich’s return to real movies rather than lesser projects for television and cable. He had a rash of quality hits in the 1970s with PaperMoon, one of my all-time favorites What’s Up, Doc? and the Oscar winning The Last Picture Show although most people nowadays probably know him as Dr. Melfi’s therapist on "The Sopranos." It’s good to have him back.
The script is by novice writer Steven Peros who is currently adapting "Around the World in 80 Days" for a new try at the big screen. He certainly shows a lot of promise here. The story as purported by The Cat’s Meow has Charlie Chaplin having an affair with Marion Davies and Thomas Ince shot by Hearst who mistakes Ince for Chaplin.
It’s certainly a possibility but the facts have never come out as to what really happened on that yacht. Most of the folks who were there are gone now and they never really talked about it except in insinuation. Perhaps Hearst’s power still rules from the grave. We’ll never know. The Cat’s Meow is only speculation but it’s good speculation. Check it out.
A Video Review of "The Cat’s Meow" (2001)
Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker
This is the stuff of Hollywood legend. The Cat’s Meow is the story of a yachting trip in 1924 where movie producer Thomas Ince dies of mysterious circumstances. The legend holds that super-publisher William Randolph Hearst, whose yacht it was, shot Ince and then used his considerable wealth to cover it up.
The yachting trip was to celebrate Thomas Ince’s birthday and other notable guests included Hearst’s mistress actress Marion Davies, Charlie Chaplin and Louella Parsons. It’s quite a cast of characters and played by quite a cast of actors.
Edward Herrmann is Hearst. He’s a longtime character actor well known for playing mostly real people and also most disastrously Herman Munster. He plays the power mad millionaire with human emotional flaws despite the man’s almost demonic Citizen Kane reputation. It is a considerable performance. The only thing that ruins it is the occasional lapses into that fake Herman Munster laugh.
One person who impressed me was Eddie Izzard as Charlie Chaplin. I had previously only known him for his stand-up comedy act that he usually performs in drag. In The Cat’s Meow he is skilled and very serious, quite a turnaround from how I normally perceive him. Anyone else out there with similar pre-perceptions might want to check him out in Shadow of the Vampire and The Secret Agent from 1996.
Kirsten Dunst as Marion Davies shows yet another side of her formidable skills. What on the surface appears to be a silly girl Dunst always proves each part she plays to be much deeper and substantial. Ince is done by a restrained and subdued Cary Elwes in a masterful piece of work. It’s rare that an actor can show such skill with so little room. Also blink and you’ll miss Joanna Lumley from "Absolutely Fabulous." She’s mostly background but when she speaks she shines.
Jennifer Tilly’s Louella Parsons appears at first ridiculous and sad. She thinks highly of herself but offers little to show she’s anything but shallow and stupid. After the dirty deed occurs she shows an inhuman degree of wile in obtaining a lifetime position with Hearst’s newspapers through blackmail. Tilly plays evil quite well.
The Cat’s Meow represents director Peter Bogdanovich’s return to real movies rather than lesser projects for television and cable. He had a rash of quality hits in the 1970s with PaperMoon, one of my all-time favorites What’s Up, Doc? and the Oscar winning The Last Picture Show although most people nowadays probably know him as Dr. Melfi’s therapist on "The Sopranos." It’s good to have him back.
The script is by novice writer Steven Peros who is currently adapting "Around the World in 80 Days" for a new try at the big screen. He certainly shows a lot of promise here. The story as purported by The Cat’s Meow has Charlie Chaplin having an affair with Marion Davies and Thomas Ince shot by Hearst who mistakes Ince for Chaplin.
It’s certainly a possibility but the facts have never come out as to what really happened on that yacht. Most of the folks who were there are gone now and they never really talked about it except in insinuation. Perhaps Hearst’s power still rules from the grave. We’ll never know. The Cat’s Meow is only speculation but it’s good speculation. Check it out.
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
"Mule Skinner Blues"
A TRAILER PARK FULL OF TALENT
A Video Review of "Mule Skinner Blues"
Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker
Mule Skinner Blues is the story of Beanie Andrew and his quest to make a horror movie in his Florida hometown using the talent pool of his neighbors to put it all together. His efforts are documented by director Stephen Earnhart.
Inspired by a film crew that came to his town to shoot a music video Beanie found an old video camera and became a self-taught movie director. Together with peculiar hometown writer Larry Parrot he comes up with "Turnabout is Fairplay" in which Beanie gets to live out his fantasy of crawling through the mud in a gorilla costume. I'm not making any of this up.
The cast is rounded out by Miss Jeannie who is a aspiring yodelling country singer and two rival guitarists Steve Walker and Ricky Lix. Mule Skinner Blues takes us inside their lives and those of many more trailer park residents as the horror film comes together. Most of them seem like they have sprung live from the heads of either John Waters or Richard Linklater but believe it or not they are real.
The movie travels the road from amusement to sadness to triumph as we follow these folks over a few years and finally see the debut of "Turnabout is Fairplay." This must be seen to be believed and it's pretty entertaining too. Proof positive that anyone can make a movie.
A Video Review of "Mule Skinner Blues"
Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker
Mule Skinner Blues is the story of Beanie Andrew and his quest to make a horror movie in his Florida hometown using the talent pool of his neighbors to put it all together. His efforts are documented by director Stephen Earnhart.
Inspired by a film crew that came to his town to shoot a music video Beanie found an old video camera and became a self-taught movie director. Together with peculiar hometown writer Larry Parrot he comes up with "Turnabout is Fairplay" in which Beanie gets to live out his fantasy of crawling through the mud in a gorilla costume. I'm not making any of this up.
The cast is rounded out by Miss Jeannie who is a aspiring yodelling country singer and two rival guitarists Steve Walker and Ricky Lix. Mule Skinner Blues takes us inside their lives and those of many more trailer park residents as the horror film comes together. Most of them seem like they have sprung live from the heads of either John Waters or Richard Linklater but believe it or not they are real.
The movie travels the road from amusement to sadness to triumph as we follow these folks over a few years and finally see the debut of "Turnabout is Fairplay." This must be seen to be believed and it's pretty entertaining too. Proof positive that anyone can make a movie.
Thursday, January 15, 2004
The Maltese Falcon
NEAR PERFECT
A Video Review of The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker
The third screen version from 1941 of Dashiell Hammett’s "The Maltese Falcon" is quite possibly the best film noir ever made. Not only is director John Huston’s screenplay nearly word for word identical to the novel the film has a nearly perfect ensemble cast.
The famous story involves private investigator Sam Spade on the track of both his partner’s killer and an elusive jeweled statuette called the Maltese Falcon. Where the 1941 version succeeds over its predecessors is in the casting. Hammett’s work is about off the wall, colorful characters that just weren’t properly brought to life previously.
Humphrey Bogart is Sam Spade. He plays it with a cynical disconnection almost giving the effect of not actually living his life but watching and enjoying the ride. The female lead is Mary Astor one of the few actresses to make the leap between silents and talkies successfully. Her Brigid O’Shaughnessy isn’t as tough as she should be but still exquisitely done.
The skill demonstrated here is immaculate. Gladys George as Spade’s partner’s sexy wife Iva, Barton MacLane as big time prick Dundy, Peter Lorre in one of his most famous roles as Joel Cairo - all wonderful and flawless in their parts. I didn’t care much for Lee Patrick as Effie but that’s just my personal preference. I found her foxy but unconvincing at times, not as charming as previous Effies.
The parade doesn’t stop there. Sydney Greenstreet is the sinister fat man Kaspar Gutman perhaps his most memorable role, Ward Bond famous for TV’s "Wagon Train" plays amiable cop Tom Polhaus and film noir veteran Elisha Cook Jr. known as Hollywood’s lightest heavy is the decidedly evil Wilmer Cook. Blink and you’ll miss the director’s dad Walter as Captain Jacoby. As I said this is a perfect ensemble cast.
It’s rare that such a combination of perfect script and cast happens but when they do it’s a joy. Add in the beautifully fitting score by legendary composer Adolph Deutsch and you’ve got possibly one of the best film noirs ever made and probably one of the best of that decade. 1941’s The Maltese Falcon is a masterpiece.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)