Three films a day

#73, 7/30 – Adam’s Rib (1949) (dvd)

I’m pretty sure I didn’t know that Ruth Gordon—or, rather, The Ruth Gordon of Rosemary’s Baby and Harold and Maude fame—wrote screenplays, too. But obviously she did, because she’s got a co-writing credit on this one.

And what did I think of the script? I was rather happy with it, because it didn’t seem very dated at all. And why’s that? Duh. Respect is timeless.

Yeah, I hate to repeat myself so soon, but it’s just dumb luck that I saw this movie a couple of days after I caught Some Like it Hot. This is a script which was probably handled more adroitly in 1949 than it would be handled now. (Although, to be fair, while Mr. and Mrs. Smith wasn’t exactly a masterpiece, it very suddenly came to mind as a pretty competent, somewhat goofy cousin of Adam’s Rib.)

Anyway, I definitely liked it. It’s got moments of pure Hepburn/Tracy chemistry which would be worth the time even if the movie were flat out terrible. And it certainly isn’t so that’s all the more reason to be happy about it.

#72, 7/28 – Some Like It Hot (1959) (dvd)

Just before I put Some Like It Hot in the DVD player, I’d happened across J.R. Jones’s justly harsh takedown of the moronic breed of SNL alumnus tripe which passes for mainstream “comedy” these days. And I suppose that’s why when Jerry and Joe go back and forth about the advisability of Jerry’s intention to marry Osgood, I had to chuckle. Although I’ve only seen the (depressingly unfunny, uninteresting and uncool) trailer to the latest Adam Sandler movie, I find it very telling that there’s a good chance that Billy Wilder and I.A.L Diamond had more funny, subtle and poignant things to say about gay marriage than a movie which came out nearly 50 years later.

Telling, and reassuring, actually. Because (assuming my read on certain scenes in the movie is correct), it reaffirms to me that people who respect human beings just do. No matter when they lived. This is why I don’t buy the “product of its time” argument for movies and scenes which were clearly racist, sexist, or homophobic. Respect is timeless. And sometimes I think Hollywood often forgets how to make a comedy which is both funny and respectful of humanity. Which I find sad. Because I think a comedy which joyfully puts down and dehumanizes people isn’t actually funny. It’s just mean.

Some Like It Hot’s a pretty good movie, if you ask me. And I’m really quite happy that it’s not mean at all.

#71, 7/24 – Factory Girl (2006) (nqpdd)

As I’ve said before, there’s a part of me which is just inherently against biopics. Some win me over, yes (Marie Antoinette and The Aviator being two recent examples), but I can’t handle most of them because they tend to be cut from the same, really boring cloth.

And Factory Girl is, well, a blueprint of everything I dislike about biopics. Rampant and ridiculous speculation. Overly simplistic cause-and-effect storytelling. Fantasy presented as something approaching factual. And so on and so on. It’s really just dreadful.

None of this is to take away from Sienna Miller, though. I thought she made a vibrant Edie Sedgwick in a movie which I really don’t think was up to her level. I sincerely hope her upcoming performances build on this one, and that she’s given something better to work with. Because I like Miller a lot. But this film? Ugh.

#70, 7/22 – Anatomy of a Murder (1959) (dvd)

Two words: Lee Remick.

One more word: Wow.

I have to be in the right mood to get into a courtroom drama, which is probably why it took me so long to finally watch this in its entirety. I’d seen bits and pieces before—the scene where panties are first mentioned in the courtroom, for instance—but I’d never seen it from start to finish. I think it’s a great ride, thanks in large part to the fantastic cast (you never could go wrong with George C. Scott, Eve Arden, Ben Gazzara, or Lee Remick) and a solid script.

I’m trying to remember back to when I distinctly didn’t like James Stewart because I can’t imagine why I ever felt that way. I think it was largely due to a belief that the Stewart persona was, well, a bit too hokey. But I’ve come around on this, somehow. Largely thanks to three of the movies he did with Hitchcock (Rope, Rear Window, and Vertigo), actually.

This is right up there on my list of favorite Otto Preminger movies, tied perhaps, with the sadly underrated Carmen Jones.

#69, 7/21 – The Lady Vanishes (1938) (dvd)

I guess I’m trying to get through some of the Hitchcock films I’ve unfairly left on my unwatched list all these years. (Does this means I will finally watch one or both versions of The Man Who Knew Too Much? Maybe!)

I definitely should have seen this one forever ago. I thought it was fun, with a lively and humorous script, and a great piece of entertainment from beginning to end. And in certain parts it reminded me more than a little of my favorite whodunit comedy, The Thin Man.

#68, 7/21 – A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash (2006) (dvd)

I got deeply interested in oil and energy a few years ago while I was half-watching a movie.

One morning in 2004, my TiVo found and recorded a fairly underwhelming Stanley Kramer film with Faye Dunaway, Jack Palance, and George C. Scott called Oklahoma Crude. And while I was, as I said above, half-watching this 1973 thing—which was obviously set many years before that—about people rallying and fighting over oil, I wondered to myself “wait, just how long has this been going on, anyway?”. That is, just how long has crude oil had this kind of value? When did it become so strategically important that violence was used to secure it? You’d think I’d know for sure, having been a history major and all. And I did have a ballpark idea. (I was off by a decade. All things considered, that’s not bad.) But I wanted to know more about the ins and outs of oil history and I didn’t know where to look.

A few months later, with my questions and the interest never far from the surface, I spotted a book on display in Barnes & Noble which I snatched right up. And it definitely helped stoke the interest. I actually never finished reading it because I got too depressed by the story of Ken Saro-Wiwa to keep going, but it gave me a clear enough picture, anyway. And I kept on looking and watching and following and discovering.

Eventually I ran into the idea of Hubbert’s peak and the possible end of cheap energy and that became the central and most interesting piece of my energy education. By the time I saw The End of Suburbia—which feels so long ago now—I wasn’t quite at the point where I felt confident enough to talk about everything. I’m confident enough now (really, just ask the poor person who heard me go on and on about Cantarell the other day), but this blog isn’t the proper space for me to go on and on about it. Like I could, believe me.

A Crude Awakening is about as one-sided as The End of Suburbia, but somehow I prefer it all the same. It’s all old hat to me at this point, because there wasn’t a single point or argument in this film I haven’t heard before (and although the counter-arguments were largely unaired, I know them, too), but it’s pretty well done. I think I watched it because I’m hoping to find a balanced documentary which presents what I’ve come to know soberly without too much doomer rhetoric or breezy optimism.

Alas, I’m beginning to think such a thing probably doesn’t exist. Although it doesn’t get too doomy, really, I think A Crude Awakening’s more likely to incite despair than interest and activity, which is a shame. I’d still recommend it for anyone who wants to understand the basic ideas behind the energy issues we may be facing in the future, but I’d definitely suggest following it up with some more reading and discussion.

#67, 7/18 – Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society (2006) (dvd)

I don’t consider myself to be a big anime fan but I’ve a deep love for Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, one of the most strangely rewarding television shows I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching. And like the tv show, Solid State Society, which takes place about two years after the events of Stand Alone Complex’s Second Gig, is very much an experience I find worthwhile.

But don’t ask me to explain the narrative cohesively. Couldn’t do it if I tried.

Which means it’s like all the other Stand Alone Complex installments, really. It’s not that it’s incoherent so much as they plot was never the focal point, anyway. What makes Stand Alone Complex always worth the time is the characters and the connections they have with one another. Subtext and emotion, as voice actor Mary Elizabeth McGlynn said in an extra on the DVD (which, yes, is where the subject came from). And, yeah, that really does about cover it.

#66, 7/16 – Psycho (1960) (dvd)

No, your eyes do not deceive. I’d really never seen Psycho before.

Yeah, that is a little weird, especially considering the Hitchcock phase I went through just after college where I watched probably a dozen of his movies in a little over a month. How come Psycho was one I gave a pass to? I’d always believed I wouldn’t be impressed by it, honestly, so I figured I’d get to it eventually, but it wasn’t very high on my list.

Can’t say I disagree with that decision now. I really don’t understand the big deal. Of course, to be fair, I walked into the film knowing everything that was going to happen, anyway. I mean, who hasn’t been exposed to the major twist in Psycho? And who doesn’t know about the shower scene? And knowing those things meant I was simply along for the ride to see the stuff which led to the most famous parts of the movie. To catch it all in context. (I’ve had that happen before, with Kiss Me Deadly, for instance, but somehow I came through that movie thoroughly in love with it.) And while it’s decent enough context, I didn’t find it very compelling. I’m a little sad about that, really.

I definitely needed to give it a shot. But it’s nowhere in my top five of Hitchcock films.

Hell, it’s nowhere in my top ten.

#65, 7/14 – Climates (2006) (dvd)

I am, again, in one of my phases where, for some reason, I have a hard time writing down my initial impressions of the movies I see. Like it’s that flipping hard. Write a few paragraphs about what you thought, press “publish” and you’re done. Easy, right?

Well, in my defense I have been fairly busy, but I always say stuff like that when I fall behind. If I’ve had enough time to watch three movies in the last week, well, I’ve certainly also had the time to write little blurbs about them, too.

So I’m not gonna use the busy excuse this time. No, I will blame my slackness on Connie Falconeri… from Bensonhurst. Whenever I have free time in the evenings, I’m catching up with her. Sad, yes. But I kind of love that character for some reason. And that sad little show’s about all my brain can really handle at the moment.

Seriously.

Anyway, when I put the very, very quiet Climates into my DVD player last weekend, it really felt quite alien. I needed to stop the movie about five minutes in because I realized I’d zoned out at some point and wasn’t sure what on earth was going on. You can allow yourself to miss every other sentence if you’re watching an exceedingly ridiculous, repetitive tv show on your TiVo; it’s a little bit more difficult when you’re trying to get your head into a Turkish movie.

As out of practice as I may be, I rather enjoyed much of Climates once I remembered how to concentrate (and I could only stay focussed for short periods). I’m sure my favorite moments are going to stay with me for quite some time, though. In particular I will always remember two simple, beautiful scenes in the earlygoing—things which reminded me of Bergman or Antonioni (and coming from me that’s a big compliment) and which really pulled me in. There’s a scene which starts on a motorcycle which made this movie worth my time all by itself.

That I don’t think the film held its momentum consistently is not a put down, because it’s a difficult thing for a movie of this nature to do. The beginning of the movie and the end—the parts where Isa and Bahar are together—are what work for me. As necessary as the middle may have been, it didn’t quite hold my attention as well. And, frankly, this may have been mostly my fault since I’ve been so easily distracted recently and a film which demands I pay it full attention is probably not going to hit me with fullest possible force.

In all seriousness, I plan to watch it again. Soon. Because my goodness was it beautiful to look at. I just couldn’t keep my mind on it the whole time.

#64, 7/10 – Roberta (1935) (dvd)

I get distracted pretty easily sometimes. In the case of Roberta I was thrown into a rather odd thought loop once I noticed that Hermes Pan—a man so cool he’s got two Greek gods in his name—was the assistant dance director. Now, I’d run into Hermes Pan before (because he’d worked on a number of films I’m rather fond of, including all the Fred-and-Gingers I’ve seen) but every time I come across him I sit and wonder “wait, was that his real name?”. But before just now I’d never bothered to check. I just sit there and wonder and only half pay attention to what’s going on. (For the record, it was his real name. Well, mostly. IMDB lists his birth name as Hermes Panagiotopoulos. Awesome.)

Anyway, since part of my addled brain was lost in Hermes Pan pondering, Roberta needed about half an hour to finally win my undivided attention. All it took was the most effective and wonderful Fred-and-Ginger routine I’ve seen yet. Seriously, when they tap dance to “I’ll Be Hard to Handle”, it’s just electric. All I wanted to do was stop the movie and watch the scene again (though, much to my surprise, I was able to wait until I’d gotten through the whole thing ‘til I watched it again.) Aside from absolutely addictive stuff throughout Company:Original Cast Recording (like seeing Vera-from-Alice absolutely own “Getting Married Today” and, for my money, the “Another Hundred People” sequence is even better), I don’t think I’ve seen a more wonderful scene this year.

I actually rented it just to see “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” and the performance was simple and enchanting though it mostly made me think of how much I really love the Platters’ cover.

#63, 7/9 – Open Hearts (2002) (dvd)

I have a not-so mild fascination with Dogme films. While none of Festen, The Idiots, Fuckland, or Security Colorado—to name the first four which came to mind—are what I would ever call “perfect”, they’ve all got fascinating bits in them which made them worth the time (more or less. It’s worth noting that watching The Idiots nearly killled me).

Of course Open Hearts, like The Idiots and Festen, comes from Denmark and I’ve gotta say, the Danes have a knack for these little dramas in tight spaces. In fact, Open Hearts bears a passing resemblance to Lars von Trier’s Breaking the Waves since each centers around a tragic paralyzing accident which forever alters a young couple’s lives. I’m not going to bother saying much else about the two, though, if only because I think the directors were interested in different things, and the similarities in plot seem fairly incidental.

I watched this largely because Bier’s later film, Brothers, really impressed me a year ago (yeah, even though I put Open Hearts in my queue right after watching it, it took me this long to get to it) and I’m happy I took the time to see it. I think I slightly preferred Brothers (which I found slightly more emotionally involving, for some reason), but I think that’s almost certainly because I saw it first.

#62, 7/7 – Elevator to the Gallows (1958) (dvd)

I was a bit slow to pick up on where this film was actually going. I mean, sure, the first several minutes clued me in to the significance of the title, so I knew where it would all end up. But I spent a good deal of time in the early going wondering why the story kept following a thread which seemed so very tangential. Fortunately once the movie showed its hand about fifty minutes in, all my questions were answered and I enjoyed the rest of the ride quite a lot.

It’s a nice piece of work from Malle. The French were very good at these sorts of films which juggle crimes of passion, police investigations, and interesting twists of fate. I think Clouzot probably did it a touch more to my liking three years earlier with Les Diaboliques, but this is definitely one of my favorite pre-New Wave films.

#61, 7/1 – Knocked Up (2006) (tofw)

The first word I used to describe Knocked Up after I saw it was “sweet”, and a day later I still can’t think of a more apt word. It had its heart in the right place and I think it did a good job of humanizing all the major characters, which is the easiest way to win points with me.

Another easy way to win points with me? Make me nostalgic for one of my favorite television shows. I absolutely loved seeing Jason Segal and Seth Rogen hanging out together, and don’t think the appearance of James Franco slipped by me either, people. All the Freaks were there. Well, except Busy Phillips. Because she’s too, um, busy hanging out with Linda Cardellini at County General, I guess.

I like this little crowd Judd Apatow seems to have assembled. More please.