Category: Movies Page 45 of 48

A Middle-Ager In “Love”: “Gloria”

On March 12, 2014

The excellent Chilean film Gloria (2014), by Sebastian Lelio, concerns a woman in her (late?) 50s who desires a man, acquires one, and then suffers because of his curious behavior. Intercourse takes place right away, followed by pleasurable hanging-out, followed by the overcautiousness and divided attention of Rodolfo, the near-elderly “boyfriend.” For Gloria, the heroine, a mini-disintegration goes on, and her conduct is sometimes repellent. When a reasonably strong person is agonized is a concern here, and the simple uplift at the film’s end amounts to very little. But it is there.

The picture is like an extended artistic short story, with enticing cinematics (everything from the cinematography to the white peacock). The middle-aged nudity is ugly, though; Gloria does the full frontal. In truth, this is part of the evidence that actress Paula Garcia (Gloria) goes the whole nine yards for her stellar role, but I wish Lelio had not required her to go that far.

She does an extraordinary job of acting, however—now amiable, now solemnly bitter—and Sergio Hernandez is unbeatable as sheepish, unthinking Rodolfo.

(In Spanish with English subtitles)

Frank Capra’s “American Madness” Is A Gem

By EarlD

On March 9, 2014

In Movies

American Madness (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tom Dickson (Walter Huston) is a bank president who nobly considers depositors his friends and is unconcerned about profit. Though serious about banking, he is the most humane of businessmen—and the hero of Frank Capra’s Depression-inspired film, American Madness (1932).

The madness of the title is a foolish run on Dickson’s bank by depositors terrified by a big loss of money owing to an embezzler named Cluett (Gavin Gordon). Dilemmas befall the bank president: he begins to fear losing both the bank and, as it happens, his marriage.

Hollow optimism about human nature—Capra’s familiar trait—finally springs up in the film, and there is an inconsistent tone (which is why Madness is a semi-comedy). Yet Robert Riskin’s script is a pretty effective character study, not incisive but humanly appealing. Too, it’s beguilingly smart, filmed by a dedicated and likable craftsman who worked well with his actors.

Sympathy For The Naughty Kennedys – “The Kennedys” Miniseries

By EarlD

On March 6, 2014

In General, Movies

Français : Logo de la minisérie THE KENNEDYS. Français : Logo de la minisérie THE KENNEDYS. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

To me, one of the best “movies,” if you will, of 2011 aired on TV and was eight hours long (eight episodes long). It was The Kennedys, a docudrama not entirely free of blandness but also workmanlike and discerning.

Greg Kinnear is good as JFK, Tom Wilkinson terrific as Joe Kennedy Sr. in all his corruption. As the elegant Jackie, Katie Holmes looks the part but histrionically lacks conviction. The show’s focus is always on the mark, with the Cuban missile crisis covered vividly and painstakingly. An air of sympathy and compassion never goes away even as hagiography never intrudes.

The Kennedys is available on DVD.

Dr. Samuel Mudd Is “The Prisoner of Shark Island” (1936)

By EarlD

On March 4, 2014

In General, Movies

The Prisoner of Shark Island (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The John Ford film, The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936), is about Dr. Samuel Mudd, who treated the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth shortly after Booth murdered Lincoln and was consequently arrested for conspiracy to assassinate (!) and sent to serve a life sentence in the Dry Tortugas.

When a decent man is victimized by the authorities—this is the message conveyed. As the terrible incidents roll, also conveyed are all kinds of values (and virtues): courage, persistence, belief in God, marital love and, despite the country’s injustice to Dr. Mudd, patriotism. Plus there is military pride, as demonstrated by Mudd’s crotchety father-in-law, an elderly Southern colonel (Claude Gillingwater). Today both he and Mudd would be seen as politically incorrect (yawn): the doctor, you see, is a decent, estimable SLAVER.

Prisoner is still riveting, and I agree with film critic Otis Ferguson about the strength and worth of the prison escape sequence. Nunnally Johnson’s script provides more depth than we generally get from Ford’s Westerns, even if the old American movies never enabled us to feel the ineradicable wound of life. Their unpleasantness was limited.

“Iron Man 3”: Semi-Comedy

By EarlD

On May 20, 2013

In General, Movies

For a man who has threatened a major-league terrorist, Tony Stark—a.k.a. Iron Man—certainly leaves his house unprepared for the savage aerial attack that constitutes Iron Man 3‘s first large-scale action sequence. Where are the robotic guns? It should be understood, though, that the movie’s narrative is fundamentally for children. Everything else, I would say, is for grownups as well as children, which is good news. Shane Black’s film is faulty but fun, a relentlessly commercial family pic (made by Marvel/Disney—again, relentlessly commercial). Predictably, Robert Downey Jr. is unerring in the title role. The one-liners he spouts are only part, albeit the most important part, of what makes IM3 a semi-comedy. Guy Pearce and Sir Ben Kingsley can also be funny. The film is close to being a laugh-fest with explosions.

Another thing: there may be a mini-message in the film—terrorists are invariably ULTRA-villains (Guy Pearce, this means you).