Mini Mini Reviews #2

“The Omega Man” (1971) – More or less, it’s a lame version of “The Last Man on Earth,” that exchanges all of its subtlety and tension for over the top goofiness and really poor effects. Grade: D+

“Moonstruck” (1987) – A very heartwarming romance with one of the more honest performances out of Nicholas Cage, while also proving how multi-talented Cher can be. Grade: B

“Cleopatra” (1963) – This should be the dictionary definition of extravagant and box office failure. The history behind “Cleopatra” is far more interesting than the movie itself, though that might be due to the four-and-a-half hour runtime. I wouldn’t have nearly as much problems with the film if it wasn’t the longest film I’ve ever watched and nothing about the film justifies that runtime. Grade: C

“The Death of Stalin” (2017) – A nice palette cleanser after “Cleopatra,” “The Death of Stalin” feels like the Russian equivalent of “Dr. Strangelove” focusing on incompetent idiots having to deal with problems they were never prepared for. Great dialogue, wonderful performances, and a hilarious pace that never lets up. Grade: B+

“Cornered” (1945) – A man travels to Argentina to find the Nazi who killed his wife, and the film utlimately becomes more about stopping that same Nazi from controlling some crime syndicate or something. It started out great and Dick Powell’s performance really captures the grief and pain he’s going through, but somewhere along the way the film loses its focus. Grade: C+

“Scoob!” (2020) – One of the best children’s movies in the last year, “Scoob!” is colorful, funny, loyal to the source material, and most importantly, fun. It takes Scooby-Doo to a more personal level than he’s ever been while still having a great sense of humor about it all. The opening is touching and the ensuing sequence where they remake one of the classic Scooby-Doo moments is great to see. Even though it’s aimed for little kids, there’s enough here for older fans of Scooby to enjoy this movie. Grade: B

“A Ghost Story” (2017) – Is it cliche to call this film haunting? One benefit I’ll give “A Ghost Story” is that, in the case of other thought-provoking indie films like “Under the Skin” I’d normally be bored out of my mind with so little happening in the film and even less pontificating. And while there are some annoyingly slow or nonsensical moments in “A Ghost Story,” the film really does drive home how distant, cold and worrisome death can be. It certainly has some bizarre artistic choices, but those choices do lead to a point that makes the whole piece worth it. Grade: C+

“Candyman” (1992) – This is a supernatural horror film way ahead of its time. Much like “The Twilight Zone,” “Candyman” uses myths and legends to talk about issues that plague society, and especially societies that often get unheard, especially in the 1990s. Wonderful writing, spectacular performances, some impressive cinematography, and horrifying effects, this one shows why the myth of Candyman has stuck with us for so long. Grade: A-

“I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang” (1932) – For 1932, this film is as politically charged and controversial as Hollywood could be, taking a long, hard look at the dehumanization of the criminal justice system and how it defines those who have been in it. This film is brutally honest and horrifying for its time, but surprisingly thrilling, especially due to Paul Muni’s gripping performance as a man caught up in the mechanisms of a corrupt and petty form of justice, and how that changes him from the inside out. Grade: A+

“Horse Feathers” (1932) – Not the best Marx brothers comedy, but this one is certainly worth watching if only for the climatic football game where the brothers go all out. At times, it feels like a cartoon in how energetic and absurd they get. Grade: C+

“Gattaca” (1997) – A thought-provoking piece of speculative fiction, “Gattaca” explores every aspect of how humanity would change if we went all in on the genetic manipulation, both the good and the bad, especially how that would make the best of us possible but also create a new form of descrimination against those who didn’t have their genetics changed. It’s an effective triumphant story, sold by Ethan Hawke’s emotional performance, with some eye-opening world building. Grade: B+

“The Yearling” (1946) – This is your standard, run-of-the-mill boy and his dog story, except that it’s a baby deer instead of a dog, complete with a coming-of-age story about the boy fighting for his home and growing up a little faster than expected. The best part is certainly the boy’s father, played by Gregory Peck, who has the same likable charm we’ve come to admire from him in works like “To Kill A Mockingbird” and “Roman Holiday.” Grade: C

“Murder by Contract” (1958) – This is a barebones film noir about a hitman with a strict code that he adheres to, with a strange sense of superiority that gives him a rather cool edge. Aside from a memorable soundtrack and the coolness of the main character, this is your basic film noir. Grade: C+

“Da 5 Bloods” (2020) – Describing “Da 5 Bloods” as a strange mix of “Do the Right Thing,” “Apocalypse Now” and “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” would not do this film justice. Much like all of Spike Lee’s best work, this film captures a great pain that is timeless in its relevance, in this case the mistreatment of black soldiers during the Vietnam War and how situations have not improved much since then. Most of this is sold through the tortured performance of Delroy Lindo, a man teetering on the edge of clarity and insanity, and a brilliant fusion of Fred C. Dobbs and Colonel Kurtz. It is eye-opening, impactful, thrilling, visually stunning, and it is Spike Lee in his element. Grade: A

“Underworld U.S.A.” (1961) – If “Mildred Pierce” is the perfect Mother’s Day film noir, then “Underworld U.S.A.” is the perfect Father’s Day noir, about how far one man will go to avenge his old man. What really hits home is that, while we never get to see the father alive, we see just how much he impacts our protagonist (Cliff Robertson) in his day-to-day life, making this a tribute to how much a father influences his son’s life in invisible ways. Grade: B

“San Francisco” (1936) – Aside from the spectacularly executed earthquake special effects and model use that followed that scene, nothing too extraordinary about “San Francisco.” Other than wanting to slap Clark Cable for being the most insensitive, smug, selfish prick on the planet, and that apparently D.W. Griffith co-directed it, which would probably explain why the film wants us to sympathize with the most unlikable man on the planet. Grade: C

“Tokyo Godfathers” (2003) – “San Francisco” could have learned a thing or two from this movie about taking characters that should be unlikable or despised and giving them dimensions, trauma and redemption. Everything about this movie flows together so perfectly, especially the broken homeless family healing each other through actions even they didn’t know they had in themselves. Grade: A-

“A Matter of Life and Death” (1946) – The best way I can describe “A Matter of Life and Death” is as a reverse “Wizard of Oz,” where real life is filled with bright technicolor and new opportunities to explore and love, and the fantastical is shot in black-and-white and is shown to be a dreary, monotonous bureaucracy. If you enjoy “Wizard of Oz,” you should definitely give this one a try. Grade: A-

“The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner” (1962) – Certainly the most angsty, rebellious British film I’ve ever seen. It shows a darker, more honest look at the impoverished side of Britain and the hardships that those people carry. Grade: C+

“I was a Male War Bride” (1949) – One of the better examples of a love-hate relationship I’ve seen in Hollywood movies, where both partners (played by Cary Grant and Ann Sheridan) constantly try to one-up each other in the most showoff-y way possible, which gets on the other’s nerves, while always going out of their way to help the other whenever possible. It is odd that the titular plot of the film, about Cary Grant having to pose as a war bride, only comes in the last 40 minutes, but this light screwball comedy still works throughout. Grade: B

“Chariots of Fire” (1981) – On the complete opposite end of the spectrum from “Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner,” this film is all about proper Englishmen and devotion to that prim and elegant lifestyle above all else. Still, the most interesting thing about “Chariots of Fire” was the soundtrack, mostly because the electronic 80s music feels so strange when used for a film set in the 1920s. Grade: B-

“Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” (1956) – What pushes this film above other 1950s sci-fi movies is a few things. Ray Harryhausen’s effects work on the flying saucers breathes new life into something we often take for granted now, the final battle on Washington D.C. still holds up surprisingly well, especially when combined with other effects that aren’t stop motion, and the romance between the two leads (Hugh Marlowe and Joan Taylor) is charming and never overbearing, making the two leads some of the more likable protagonists in any 1950s sci-fi movie. Grade: B

“The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” (1958) – Going in, I thought the only thing of note was going to be Ray Harryhausen’s stop-motion effects, but there are a few other stand out things about this epic fantasy. Namely, Bernard Herrmann’s score is as good as any of his music for Hitchcock’s films, atmospheric and adds a new sense of scope to the many monsters Sinbad must defeat. Still, the Harryhausen’s effects steal the show and take on a life of their own, especially with so many different monsters here, such as a two-headed bird, multiple cyclops, a swash-buckling skeleton, and a fire-breathing dragon. Grade: B

“OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies” (2006) – To be a truly great parody, you have to love what you’re parodying. “Cairo, Nest of Spies” might be the best parody since “Airplane!” because it doesn’t just nail the aesthetic, camera techniques, green screen effects and fight choreography of the James Bond movies, but the views and attitudes of the time period too, putting Bond’s gross misogynistic and insensitive views on full display to show just how out of date they are, without having the dimwitted, backwards spy who doesn’t know any better come across as unlikable. This spy parody blows all of the Austin Powers movies out of the water. Grade: A

Mini-Mini Movie Reviews

I picked a weird time to stop reviewing films. Apparently when this website stops publishing, a pandemic begins.

Over the last two months of silence, I’ve taken on some new responsibilities that have kept me away from film reviews, mostly a new job that allows me to work from home. And while I’ve been focusing all of my attention on that job, that didn’t stop me from watching the occasional film, including over 20 films I’d never seen before.

And while I don’t quite have the time to write full length reviews on all of them (including some that I watched over two months ago), I do feel like I should give my thoughts on all of them, even if it’s just one sentence on each. So I’m going to try something new by offering you some mini-mini-reviews. I’ll try not to make this a regular thing, but can’t make any promises.

“Paprika” (2006) – Imagine if “Inception” was animated by Miyazaki and was more of a psychological thriller about making literal dreams into reality, and throw in some anime insanity and you’ve got “Paprika.” Grade: B+

“Falling Down” (1993) – All it takes is one really bad day for some people to snap, and “Falling Down” pushes the envelope of how one man going on a rampage against the society could be any of us, pulled together by an off-the-wall performance from Michael Douglas. Grade: B+

“Crime Wave” (1954) – “What do you want? Christmas every day?” is one of the greatest and most quotable movie lines that no one talks about. Grade: B-

“Red Dragon” (2002) – A much scarier depiction of Hannibal Lecter than “Silence of the Lambs,” while never shying away from what makes him such a likable villain in the first place. Grade: B

“Monkey Business” (1931) – Aside from “Duck Soup,” this might be the best Marx Brothers film, with many memorable slapstick moments and gags that play so well with everyone stuck on a cruise ship. Grade: B



“Sanjuro” (1962) – Not the best Kurosawa film, and certainly a downgrade from its predecessor, “Yojimbo,” but it is serviceable as a lighthearted period piece about rival feudal gangs trying to seize power. Grade: C+

“Address Unknown” (1944) – If the Twilight Zone had been made in the 1940s, I could see the plot of this movie being an episode – how, with the right motivation, anyone could have been convinced to see the same views as the Nazis. Doesn’t work as well today, but at least it was killer cinematography. Grade: B

“Your Name” (2016) – This one gets confusing, going from a lighthearted comedy about supposedly random body swapping to a convoluted tale about time travel and spirituality. Beautifully animated and the characters are quite likable, just don’t think about it too hard. Grade: B

“Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” (1956) – One of the most twist-and-turn filled film noirs I’ve ever seen, this one constantly kept me on my toes, having you love and hate pretty much every single character. Grade: B+

“Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance” (1972) – Far more violent than I ever expected it to be and filled with a lot of odd creative choices that had me scratching my head. Grade: C-

“Night and the City” (1950) – The main character is one of the most detestable, loathsome people I’ve ever seen in a movie, and yet is somehow quite charming in his passion and enthusiasm, so convinced of himself that you can’t help but love him. One of the strangest but most watchable dynamics of any film noir. Grade: B+

“Collateral” (2004) – One of the more effective thrillers in recent memory, with a brilliant cast, a sharp script that hits every moment perfectly with its atmosphere, and never a dull moment. Grade: A

“Exorcist III: Legion” (1990) – The most underrated psychological horror film ever made, “Exorcist III” even surpasses the original “Exorcist” in many ways, with a wonderful crime piece that’ll keep you guessing, pitch perfect atmosphere, scares that are worth it every time and some wonderfully creepy acting from Brad Dourif, who could be the villain in every movie ever and I wouldn’t complain. Grade: A-

“Wicked Woman” (1953) – The most memorable part of this film noir is the opening theme song, performed by a guy who sounds like he’s melting. Grade: C+

“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (1953) – One of the best performances from Marilyn Monroe and one that perfectly blends music and comedy, only being outclassed by “Singin’ In the Rain” in that category. Grade: A-

“The Candidate” (1972) – I feel like this one was building up towards its final moments, where the whole picture becomes clear as a farce about people wanting to be politicians for power and fame and nothing else. Other than that, quite forgettable. Grade: C

“Victor/Victoria” (1982) – This one was a lot funnier than I thought it would be, though I should have expected as much when it was made by the same guy who directed “The Great Race.” Lots of great moments for Julie Andrews and Robert Preston. Grade: B

“Superfly” (1972) – “I’m Your Pusherman” is a surprisingly addictive song that this movie loved to death. Grade: B-

“Fallen Angel” (1945) – It makes for a fascinating companion piece with “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt,” as both are about Dana Andrews being convicted with a crime they may or may not have committed, while someone else may be pulling the strings of the crime. Grade: B-

“Dark City” (1998) – Perfectly blends together film noir and science fiction without ever feeling overwhelming, with some wonderful production design of philosophical questions that were better addressed in this movie than they were in “The Matrix.” Grade: B+

“Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx” (1972) – Now this was more like it – still ultraviolent, but puts that violence to good use without ever coming across as grotesque or raunchy. Just a good ol’ samurai facing impossible odds and that’s really all I asked for. Grade: B-

“42nd Street” (1933) – Back when musicals were more of a spectacle than a story, “42nd Street” stands out for its elaborate dance numbers, unique cinematography and fun songs. I can see why this is often regarded as the first really great musical. Grade: C

“7 Faces of Dr. Lao” (1964) – You know, I could get behind the whole mystery comedy aspect of the movie with a mysterious stranger coming to town and using his powers to make everyone’s lives better, but then they had to make almost half of the film a western about land disputes and fighting the old west with newspapers. You know your movie is strange when the western aspects are weirder than one guy playing seven different roles, including Medusa, Pan and a talking clay-mation snake. Grade: C+

“The Crimson Kimono” (1959) – A surprisingly progressive film for its time, setting the tone for the buddy cop genre that would come 30 years later and discuss the trouble that come with interracial couples a decade before “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner” would do the same thing. Still, it’s more of a police procedural than a film noir with some bold editing and camera techniques that makes this stand out from all the other films during this time period. Grade: B-

Movie Review - "Manhattan" (1979)

Despite what the plot might tell you, "Manhattan" is a love letter to the city it is named after. It is about a one-sided love affair between Woody Allen and a city that never sleeps – how New York made him who he is and why he can’t live without it. The culture, the diversity, the attitude of the city is wrapped up so much in Woody Allen’s life that he can’t imagine a world without New York. But he’s also so committed to having only one love in his life, in this case he loves a city more than anything else, that he bumbles through the other loves he could have, including the love of a 17-year old girl (Mariel Hemingway) and his best friends’ mistress (Diane Keaton).

What sells "Manhattan" is the beautiful black-and-white cinematography of the city. Each shot gives the city its own character, never focusing on the people but rather the architecture or billboards or fireworks, always to breathtaking effect like Brooklyn Bridge cast in the fog. The love that Allen has for the city is put on display like one of the paintings in the Museum of Modern Art that Allen and his uppity friends would discuss. While this just as much of a reflection of Allen trying to separate himself from the city, the film takes an artistic look at how New York is a simple town, where everything is black-or-white, and Allen discovers that life doesn’t share that same quality.
 
Final Grade: B+

Movie Review - "Dolemite" (1975)

“Dolemite” really is like if Ed Wood tried to make a Blaxploitation movie – a pimp, drug-dealing, comedian, kung-fu master tries to make a living in Hollywood despite the police and FBI constantly on his backs and an evil drug dealer trying to take his club and brothel, and there’s also a plot about arming a crazy priest for war in there too. The production values are non-existent, a lot of shots going on for about a minute longer than they need to, many pointless shots of kids playing in the parking lot or a long subplot involving a heroine addict, and a level of incompetent filmmaking that even a child could pick up on, like the boom mic in a lot of shots or the reflection of the camera man in every window (and there’s a lot of them). And then there’s our lead, Rudy Ray Moore, who fights everyone like he was Bruce Lee without ever actually landing a punch with the physique of someone who really loves his sweets. 

And yet, despite all of these flaws, there’s an undeniable charm to “Dolemite.” 

The film knows that it is not good and doesn’t care. What it does care about is making something for those wouldn’t normally be up on the big screen – the faces that aren’t instantly recognizable or the bodies that wouldn’t get a second glance. “Dolemite” is made by those people, for those people, giving they can look up to just like anyone else should be able to when they go to the movies. The inexperience behind the screen gives “Dolemite” an honesty that is both hilarious and oddly likable, like anyone learning a new craft with all of their bold visions of what they’d like to do. This film throws everything that it can at you – kung fu, gang violence, sex, comedy, car chases. It rarely sticks, but more than anything else with this movie, it’s all about the attempt.

Final Grade: C+

Movie Review - "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" (1970)

“Beneath the Planet of the Apes” is the most unnecessary bore I’ve ever seen. Not only does it repeat all of the same notes as the first “Planet of the Apes” for the first half of the movie, but does so without any sense of grandeur. Despite having a new man from our time, Brent (James Franciscus), discovering everything we already knew, he never looks any more interested than he would at the DMV, while never giving us any sense of a character or likability. It also certainly doesn’t help that he looks exactly like Charlton Heston, like the filmmakers wanted us to impose our feelings about Heston’s character onto Brent.

The film gets better in the second half, introducing the now-famous worshippers of an atomic bomb, but even then their behavior is wildly inconsistent and clashes with the ape storylines that it feels like it was taken from a different movie. And for what? An even bleaker and more depressing ending than the first film. At least that ending was shocking and put a new light on the entire movie. But this is just shocking for the sake of a shock. No reflection from the apes after getting undeniable evidence that there was an advanced civilization before them, no mutant trying to be anything more than cruel and manipulative or ever putting up a fight in the end, and no redemption for what’s left of humanity in the face of destruction. There is no message here other than humans are terrible, which shows how little thought was actually put into this movie.

Final Grade: D+

Movie Review - "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974)

Even in 2020, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is hard to watch in the most gut-wrenching way a horror movie can be. Not every horror film can be as brutal or sickening as this time capsule about mutilation or its depraved look at insanity and the trauma it can create. Every moment I was either uncomfortable or wanted to turn off the movie, but only because of how thick the gruesomeness is and how it loves every second of violence and craziness. It often feels like the tapes a serial killer would make of what he did to his victims, and to do that in 1974 when the slasher genre hadn’t been created yet makes this one of the most important horror films of all time. It sets the standard for unsettling horror films to come and makes every horror film made before it look tame by comparison. It is difficult to watch because that’s how horror should be.

Final Grade: B

Movie Review - "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" (1974)

"Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" opens with a powerful Mexican crime lord putting a $1 million bounty on the head of our titular character and seemingly the entire crime world getting in on this. You would then think this would lead to many shootouts of one man against thousands while trying to bring down the crime world, or many terrible people trying to hunt one man who might have been wrongfully accused of a crime he didn't commit. But if "Alfredo Garcia" does one thing better than anything, it is subverting expectations.

Rather than a loud, epic gangster showdown, we get a quiet, leisurely western about a bartender (Warren Oates) falling in love while trying to hunt down a man who never fully know. In that regard, the film is servicable, Oates performs well as a man slowly learning what really matters in a world that is so quick to discard him. But given that this is a Sam Peckinpah film about a worldwide manhunt, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed. "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" does leave a lot to be desired, even as a reflective neo-western.

Final Grade: C 

Movie Review - "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" (1970)

I love Roger Ebert more than any other film critic. But "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" proves he made the right choice by picking film criticism over screenwriting.

Let's be honest, the only reason "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" is still remembered today is because it was written by Roger Ebert. It wasn't the only musical about sex, drugs or Hollywood at the time, and beyond those elements, this film has more in common with a porno than a Hollywood production. The whole thing is supposed to be a satire of Hollywood and its superficiality and the dirty side they only talk about at parties, but its all so over the top goofy that the satire loses its meaning. One minute our three main female leads are having a blast as the next big musical hit, and then the next minute one of them is sleeping with her uncle, another has her boyfriend get beat up by a boxer, the other is sleeping with her friends boyfriend, while that same boyfriend tries to kill himself in front of both of his former lovers.

It all screams of a desperate, almost laughable, soap opera that can't make up its mind about being a drama or a comedy and doesn't so either very well. What should be funny is murdered by all the sudden drastic shifts in tone, especially near the climax, while the serious moments are so poorly performed that you'd think it was done by a comedy troupe, or porn stars who can't emote to save their lives. Any attempt at subtlety is ruined by the ending, when a narrator we've never heard before gives us the moral each character was supposed to learn (including the dead ones), though the film never indicates if those characters learned these lessons (especially the dead ones).

"Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" is everything ridiculous about the 1960s and early 70s rolled up into one movie - drugs, hippie music, sex, struggles for individuality, sending a message to "the man." Except that everything is dialed up to its most extreme that it all comes across as obnoxious, making it impossible to take any of this seriously. In that regard, this is certainly a porno comedy that speaks to its time. Beyond that, just be glad Roger Ebert didn't write more movies like this one.

Final Grade: C- 

Movie Review - "Suspiria" (1977)

"Suspiria" is a vibrant, methodical nightmare, crafted by a master of cinematography and color. It tells the tale of Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper), who has moved from New York to a prestigious European dance academy, where every student or teacher she meets is more foreboding than the last. As the night comes though, more tragedies befall the academy, including maggots raining down on the students and murder, all while the teachers and headmistress start showing their distaste for Suzy. One of Suzy's friends, Sara (Stefania Casini), can't figure out how she keeps hearing footsteps in the middle of the night, and starts to suspect that these murders aren't mere coincidence, but the work of witches.

"Suspiria" owes a lot of its inspiration to German expressionist movies, with many scenes where light and shadow are used to brilliant effect, along with haunting camera angles, especially as it nears its terrifying climax. The film is has a slow but satisfying buildup as information is gradually fed to the audience, building up the dread, all while the horrifying atmosphere hangs over every scene, dripping like a slimy haunted house - it doesn't always scare you, but it makes you feel like something terrifying could happen at any moment. It is a visual feast, with the strangest uses of colors I've ever seen, but each used so well that it compliments the strange mystery of the dance academy. As far as Italian horror movies go, "Suspiria" is the best one I've seen to this day.

Final Grade: A-  

Movie Review - "Sounder" (1972)

There's a deeply human and emotional connection with "Sounder" and it's all captured through the brilliance of its characters and actors. From Paul Winfield's performance as the desperate and frustrated father, to the resoundingly powerful role of Cicely Tyson as the mother who has to run the family farm while her husband is sent to prison, and even Kevin Hooks as the confused young man who has to grow up without his father around, the famial bond is not just believable but resounding. Never once did anything feel forced or ham-fisted, but rather a hard earned struggle through the great depression in Lousiana where everything is against this family.

Yet it's difficult to say "Sounder" was always appreciated. Released in 1972, it came hot off the heels of big blacksplotation films like "Shaft" and "Sweet Sweetback's Badass Song." And while "Sounder" isn't exploitative in the slightest, giving a valid and honest look at the black experience in America while also giving a great family cinematic experience, black audiences thought the film hit too close to home and the film never struck well with most audiences in the 1970s. Luckily, "Sounder" has certainly found an audience nowadays that can appreciate it as the truly heartwarming experience it deserves to be.

Final Grade: A- 

Movie Review - "Carrie" (1976)

"Carrie" is the ultimate outlet for teenage angst and anger that I've ever seen. It is both disgustingly accurate to the awkwardness and pains of being a teenager, from public ridicule and making a good impression to bullies and their own anger at the world, and rewarding to see the victims get rewarded and the bullies get their comeuppance in more ways than one. I can't remember a film where I openly despised so many characters, especially the self entitled Chris (Nancy Allen) and Carrie's obnoxiously religious mother (Piper Laurie), only to feel giddy when they're both put in their place.

I believe we all see a little bit of ourselves in Carrie (Sissy Spacek). Maybe a bit sheltered or shy, or perhaps we're confused or mad at the world and don't know any better way to release that anger. She is a teenager afterall. And that makes her horrific loss of innocence all the more impactful and terrifying. The mood so easily shifts between upliftingly pleasant and overbaringly spiteful, especially as it nears its climax, that the horror feels so genuine and heart-wrenching. It is this honest understanding of the teenage experience that makes "Carrie" such an effective horror movie.

Final Grade: B+ 

Movie Review - "Monty Python's Life of Brian" (1979)

 "Monty Python's Life of Brian" just might be the most poignant satire of all time. The film is as enriching as it is hilarious, never attacking anyone's virtue and always with good cheer and irreverence. Even if you've never cared for Monty Python's style of comedy, there are so many insane jokes over insane people that every funny bone will be tickled by "Life of Brian."

As a satire about the story of Jesus Christ and the man, Brian, that people commonly mistake him for, it is a nonstop assault of logic, perspective and parodies. Yet at its core, there is a strange warmth in its struggles to find inner peace for Brian in the face of all those that oppose him. The stand out of Brian speaking to his "disiplces" to try and reason with them and show that doing what other people force on you will never lead to happiness is both touching and uproarious. This is the kind of movie that only Monty Python could pull off so wonderfully - undeniably ambitious and foul, yet also cheerful and insane.

Final Grade: B+

Movie Review - "Five Easy Pieces" (1970)

I left "Five Easy Pieces" feeling the same as I did with "Easy Rider" - unimpressed and uninterested. From the beginning, I hated Bobby's (Jack Nicholson) casual berating of his girlfriend and general distaste for life. Even as his reasons for this behavior become more clear, there was no saving this character, especially when you add in your typical explosive Nicholson outbursts, only this time to people who certainly don't deserve any of this.

Maybe this just has to do with the way I was raised, but I've never enjoyed any movie where a character takes his/her frustrations and anger out on other people. There's never been anyway to justify this awful behavior and shows that our "hero" has no common decency. Maybe that's the point the movie is trying to go for, but at that point it's already too late - I've shut myself off emotionally from that character. If they can't show any emotion to others, why should I show any for them?

While this does lead to a few well-written moments of anger, especially while Bobby and his girlfriend are on the road, "Five Easy Pieces" never drew me in. It is a cold, ugly, uncaring movie that fumbles around with a message about damaged individuals without ever giving a clear answer. Other than the chicken salad sandwich scene, this one you can certainly skip.

Final Grade: D+ 

Movie Review - "Westworld" (1973)

Most people probably aren't aware that there was a "Westworld" movie directed by Michael Crichton, long before the recent HBO series. The movie has the same concepts as the show, an amusement park that simulates the old west and is filled with androids that are simply there for the guests amusement and something goes horribly wrong in the park. And while the show went into more detail about the park's creation and the psychology of the androids, as well as whether or not they're alive, the movie goes for a simple, bare-bones approach, told mostly through a visitor's perspective (Richard Benjamin) as things start to get worse. Why the androids break down is barely touched on, how the park was created is never mentioned, and the idea that the visitors might be harming sentient creatures is ignored. And while there is so much more that the movie doesn't touch on, for a tale about a vacation to the old west gone horribly wrong, the acting and atmosphere really sell the whole experience. I'd certainly recommend the show over the movie, but this is still servicable.

Final Grade: C+ 

Movie Review - "MASH" (1970)

While the television show is more widely known these days, the movie it is based on, "MASH," should never be overlooked. While the plot is the same as the show and retains that dark comedy edge in the face of certain death, the film is stacked with big name actors, such as Donald Sutherland, Tom Skerritt, Elliott Gould, Robert Duvall, just to name a few. This should come as no surprise from a Robert Altman film, especially since the story is so loose and flows from one skit into the next, much like a television show. While this set up the blue print for the show, the atmosphere of "MASH" delivers by being bold, timeless and above all else, important. One of Robert Altman's best movies and possibly the best war comedy of all time.

Final Grade: A-

Movie Review - "Mean Streets" (1973)

I like to think of "Mean Streets" as Martin Scorsese's dress rehearsal for "Goodfellas" - a tale of a young Italian-American in New York that dreams of making a name for himself in the mafia. Like so many of Scorsese's movies, the best part is the vibrant, lively city landscape, where every character feels like they have a life outside of the screen, and "Mean Streets" has all of that in spades. But the best part of this film is Robert De Niro's impressive ability to turn seemingly nothing into the most mesmerizing story you'll hear all day, blowing practically everything out of proportion but doing so with charm and grace that you can't help but hang on every word. A good example of early Scorsese filmmaking, especially for what was to come.

Final Grade: B-

Movie Review - "Jeremiah Johnson" (1972)

Outside of documentaries, no other film has covered man overcoming the ferocity of nature quite as well as "Jeremiah Johnson." While the pace is deliberately slow, it takes this time to show the majesty and awe of these treacherous mountains and how one man (Robert Redford) conquers them with little more than his wits and determination. As simple as all that sounds, Redford's quiet and powerful performance makes this western surprisingly captivating. From the cinematography and soundtrack alone, you can understand why this loner would want go make a name for himself out in this wilderness. I'd recommend this to anyone who is a fan of nature or westerns, especially offbeat ones.

Final Grade: B+

Hundred-Word Review - "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974)

While others are quick to point out the spectacular supporting cast, ranging from the subtle from Wendy Hiller and Anthony Perkins to the wild and eccentric from Lauren Bacall and Sean Connery, and inventive way of interpreting Agatha Christie's murder mystery novel, I found the most memorable factor to "Murder on the Orient Express" to be the cinematography. Filmed inside the tight claustrophobic confines of a train, the camera moves in creative ways to showcase a vast range of angles and long takes, made even better by editing that made the tight space feel vast. Definitely a must watch film.

Final Grade: A-

 

Movie Review - "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" (1974)

The 1970s was the renaissance in filmmaking. It was the first time in over 40 years that Hollywood's many limitations were lifted and filmmakers could tell more brutally honest stories that they never could have before. Instead of campy and overly cliché films like "Hello, Dolly!" and "It Happened At the World's Fair," filmmakers like Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese were pushing the envelope of what cinema could show with movies like "A Clockwork Orange" and "Taxi Driver." Yet, at the same time, filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg found new ways to take capitalize on this graphic nature without sacrificing visual storytelling with "The Godfather," "Apocalypse Now" and "Jaws." This isn't even limited to the most well-known filmmakers, with classic like "The Exorcist," "The Sting," "Chinatown" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." And of course there was a little known film called "Star Wars."

It's safe to assume that we'll never have another period in filmmaking as experimentally rewarding, freeing or fascinating as the 1970s. An embodiment of this ideal is 1974's "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" and how it updates the tired crime thriller with brutal realism without ever losing focus on the strength of its characters.

In this gritty thriller, a group of four men armed with submachine guns hijack a New York subway train. As the transit authorities and the police slowly find out about the hijacking and the 17 passengers turned hostages, the leader of the hijackers (Robert Shaw) makes his demands - one million dollars in one hour, and for every minute the delivery is late they will kill a hostage. Now it's up to the joint force between subway and police, led by Lieutenant Zachary Garber (Walter Matthau) to negotiate with the uncooperative hijackers and save all of the hostages before it's too late.

"The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" works because of how innocent yet terrifying its concept of an unsuspecting subway car being hijacked plays out as a tense thriller. Anyone of us could be one of those hostages. Yet the hijackers are unflinching and ruthless, dedicated only to their tasks without concern for anyone besides themselves. Each of them is prepared to take another life if it means it'll bring them closer to that million dollars. The slower, methodical pace works to the films' advantage, focusing more on the unforced realism that elevates this above so many other thrillers of its kind.

While the plot is rather predictable due to the formula of this type of thriller, it's the vast range of characters that we end up caring about. From the hostages making an effort to level with their captors and fearing just what they're planning to do even if they get their way, to the police putting everything on the line just to save 17 people, there is no shortage of worthwhile characters doing their best to handle a crisis. But the real standout characters are the classy, methodical hijackers, who have every detail of this convoluted idea planned out and act like this is all a sure-fire deal. They're convinced that they have this million dollars in the bag and wait for everyone else to catch up as their plan unfolds. This level of class and pride in their work makes their realistic nightmare hijacking far more enjoyable than I expected.

Overall, "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" is a different sort of crime thriller worth checking out. Rather than relying on the expected plot mechanics of the genre, it plays with the realistic fears and emotions of this situation while giving us a wide range of characters and superb performances, especially from Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw. It is experimental and brutally honest without ever sacrificing realism, just like many other films from the 1970s.

Final Grade: A

Movie Review - "Dersu Uzala" (1975)

This is another case where the story of how the film got made is better than the film itself. Even though we now praise Akira Kurosawa as the greatest Japanese filmmaker of all time, and one of the most inspirational filmmakers ever, that was not the case when he was making films in the 1960s and 70s. For the most part, Kurosawa's films were hated in Japan because they were "too western," which was really made worse when his previous film, "Dodes'ka-den," was a flop with both critics and audiences. After it failed, no Japanese film studio wanted to work with Kurosawa, basically blacklisting an amazing filmmaker.

At this point, Kurosawa entered a very dark and terrible portion of his career, even attempting suicide at one point because he couldn't make his movies. But eventually, Kurosawa was approached by Mosfilm, a Russian film studio, to do an adaptation of the famous 1923 memoirs of a Russian explorer, Vladimir Arsenyev, as he charted the Sikhote-Alin region in far east Russia and the native trapper he met and befriended along the way, named Dersu Uzala. Kurosawa happily took the job, saying that he had wanted to adapt the memoirs since his career started in the 1930s, but felt it could only work if he could film it in Russia.

The only way Kurosawa could continue to make movies at this point was to work out of a different country entirely and make a film in a language he didn't speak. To me, that speaks volumes of how much Kurosawa loved making movies and his dedication and passion for his craft.

The result is "Dersu Uzala," which adores the vast emptiness and wilderness of the Russian landscape as "Doctor Zhivago" did. Every shot in this film is breathtakingly beautiful, especially when the sun is setting over the cold frozen tundras, showing us how stunning this part of the world can be but also how deadly and unforgiving, which is why these explorers keep coming back.

Other than that, the story is fairly generic as an ongoing tale of survival and exploring the wilderness, though it is not helped by the rather slow pacing at points later on the film as Dersu starts to lose his touch. Supposedly, the role of Dersu was originally offered to Toshiro Mifune, which I think would have made Dersu's strength and resolve far more fascinating. Instead, we get a quiet and subdued Maxim Munzuk, who isn't bad but leaves no impression on me either.

Overall, "Dersu Uzala" is worth watching to see Kurosawa recreate his style and visual storytelling in a vastly different environment and language, but the story itself is rather unimpressive. It is visually rich and surprisingly vibrant, but that's to be expected from Kurosawa. If you're curious to see the type of film Kurosawa made in the darker point of his career and what a Russian-Japanese co-production looks like, "Dersu Uzala" is worth checking out.

Final Grade: C+