Movie Reviews
Elysium
What a letdown. From the trailers it looked like it might be interesting. The main attraction was something we haven’t really seen before in a movie: An O’Neill colony. Remember those huge space habitats, concepts that go all the way back to the ‘60s? Put some spin on them, and you’re living on the inside of a donut, or a cylinder. (I was interested because it proves something that I have ... Read more »
The Mountain Eagle (Fear o’ God)
This is the only Hitchcock film that is officially listed as “lost.” (There is someone at the IMDb who claims to have seen it, but I’m dubious.) Apparently it’s not a great loss; Hitch himself said it was a terrible film. Still, since I set out to see all of them, it’s kind of disappointing. It would have been nice, and only an hour of my time wasted …
Since I can’t write a review, ... Read more »
The Captain Hates the Sea
The Captain Hates the Sea (1934) This was 1934’s version of The Love Boat, I guess. Victor McLaglan, John Gilbert, and a lot of the leading character actors of the day embark on a pleasure cruise, where a lot of stories unfold. It was Gilbert’s last film; after this he drank himself to death, a project he had embarked on a long time ago. Ironically, he played a character who was on the ... Read more »
The Pleasure Garden
Hitchcock’s first film (he directed bits of others) is this hour-long trifle. The Pleasure Garden is a theater where Patsy dances, resisting the entreaties of smitten gentlemen. Enter Jill, a girl from the country who gets her pocket picked at the stage door. Patsy takes pity on her, takes her home, sneaks her into the theater … where the little country mouse shows her true colors, ... Read more »
Woody Allen: A Documentary
From the PBS American Masters series, this film is a two-parter that runs about four hours. I could only wish it had gone on longer, because this is by far the best look we have ever had at this real American master. It covers about 18 months, during which he was one of the judges at Cannes (which he wasn’t too enthused about). But the important thing is that it ... Read more »
To Rome With Love
Woody Allen has said that he hates this title. It was forced on him by some semi-literate money goons who didn’t “get” his original one, which was Bop Decameron. (I’ll admit I’m not quite sure I get it, either, though I know it was a reference to a book by Boccaccio.) His second title was even better, I think: Nero Fiddles. Everybody ... Read more »
Midnight in Paris
(OLD REVIEW) This movie is a sheer delight from beginning to end. It’s the best from Woody Allen in a long time, and that includes some pretty good ones lately. Briefly, Owen Wilson (in the sort of Woody part) finds that at midnight he can return to what he thinks of as the Golden Age, the Roaring Twenties in Paris. He is a writer who aspires to better things than the movies he has been ... Read more »
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
(NEW REVIEW) There is one thing in common in almost all Woody Allen’s films, all his characters, and that is money. The people in his movies have it. They seldom sweat the mortgage or how they’re going to feed the children or keep their low-paying job. Some of them are wealthy, but most inhabit that hard-to-define zone between wealthy and middle-class. Upper middle? Lower upper? ... Read more »
Whatever Works
I was a little suspicious of this one. I only saw a few clips from Larry David’s chief claim to fame (other than producing Seinfeld, and I guess I’m the only literate North American who never saw that show), Curb Your Enthusiasm, and I had no trouble curbing mine. He is really at center stage here, and he won me over pretty fast by ... Read more »
Vicky Christina Barcelona
(NEW REVIEW) This is one of Woody’s better ones. The title really translates to Vicky and Christina in Barcelona. It tells of two friends who are summering with other friends—in their palatial villa; Woody’s characters always have friends like that—and become involved with a handsome artist who is still involved with his mercurial ex-wife (Penelope Cruz, who won the Oscar). The dialog is ... Read more »