TRASH IN MY EYE Reviews: Historical

Showing posts with label Historical. Show all posts

Monday, November 25, 2024

Review: "GLADIATOR II" Happily Chases the Ghosts of the Original

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 52 of 2024 (No. 1996) by Leroy Douresseaux

Gladiator II (2024)

Running time: 148 minutes

MPA – R for strong bloody violence

DIRECTOR: Ridley Scott

WRITERS: David Scarpa; from a story by Peter Craig and David Scarpa (based on the characters created by David Franzoni)

PRODUCERS: David Franzoni, Douglas Wick, Lucy Fisher, Michael Pruss, and Ridley Scott

CINEMATOGRAPHER: John Mathieson (D.o.P.)

EDITORS: Sam Restivo and Claire Simpson

COMPOSER: Harry Gregson-Williams

DRAMA/HISTORICAL

Starring: Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Derek Jacobi,Yuval Gonen, Rory McCann, Matt Lucas, Alexander Karim, and Peter Mensah with Connie Nielsen and Denzel Washington

SUMMARY OF THIS REVIEW:

“Gladiator II” is slavishly devoted to its predecessor, 2000's “Best Picture” Oscar-winner, “Gladiator,” sometimes to its detriment.

The new film's lead, Paul Mescal, carries this film with help from Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, Alexander Karim, and with a delightfully nutty turn by Denzel Washington.

Ultimately, “Gladiator II” does stand on its own because of big action set pieces, heart-stopping gladiator combat, and a crazy final duel.

Gladiator II is a 2024 drama and historical film from director Ridley Scott. It is a sequel to the Academy Award-winning “Best Picture of the Year” (2000), Gladiator. Gladiator II focuses on a soldier-turned-slave who must look to his past if he is going to return the glory of Rome to its people as his late grandfather once wished.

Gladiator opens sixteen years after the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Rome is ruled by the corrupt twin brothers, Emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger), and the corruption is so terrible that the city of Rome seems near collapse.

Meanwhile, General Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal) lead's the Roman navy in an invasion of the North African province of Numidia. Acacius is unaware that Numidia is the home of Marcus Aurelius' grandson, Lucius Verus Aurelius (Paul Mescal), who now goes by the name “Hanno.” During the battle, Acacius orders the killing of Hanno's wife, Arishat (Yuval Gonen), and Hanno is taken prisoner.

Hanno is sold to Macrinus (Denzel Washington), a stablemaster who owns and trains gladiators, and Hanno proves to be a talented gladiator. In him, Macrinus sees an opportunity to position himself next to power in Rome, so he offers Hanno a path to revenge against Acacius. However, Acacius' wife is Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), the daughter of Marcus Aurelius, and she is starting to believe that she recognizes this alluring stranger who calls himself Hanno.

In anticipation of seeing Gladiator II, I decided to watch the original film, Gladiator (2000) in its entirety for the first time since I first saw it in a movie theater with some friends back in May of 2000. I have to be honest, Gladiator II is not nearly the film that Gladiator is, and that's okay.

Gladiator II is a very good film on its own. The “battle for Numidia,” which is in the film's first act, is as exciting and as gory as I expected it to be. The gladiatorial events in the new film are quite nice, although admittedly not as nice as the original's.

As the lead in Gladiator II, Paul Mescal as Hanno/Lucius is not as powerful as Russell Crowe was as Maximus Decimus Meridius in Gladiator. Crowe stood astride that film, using his dominating screen presence to carry Gladiator's straightforward, sword-and-sandals, revenge tale to box office and Oscar glory. Gladiator II does not give Mescal a straightforward, sword-and-sandals tale of revenge. The Rome of this new film is a hot mess of corruption, led by two homicidal narcissists. The Roman emperors of this film, Geta and Caracalla, are not as lusciously evil as Joaquin Phoenix's Emperor Commodus in the original film. They are simply petty, murderous, vain, egotistical tyrants. Thus, Hanno/Lucius' revenge story is overshadowed by the hot mess that is Geta/Caracalla's Rome, which is complicated by the shifting schemes of Denzel Washington's Macrinus.

Still, Mescal manages to make Hanno/Lucius the center of Gladiator II, even as director Ridley Scott and screenwriter David Scarpa chase the ghosts of the original film. Mescal brings balance to Hanno/Lucius rage with thoughtfulness and humility that truly makes the character not so much the lone hero, as he is one-of-the-people and a man of the people who can start Rome on a path to redemption.

Gladiator II is also helped by the fact that Denzel Washington, as Macrinus, delivers a dominating performance that makes his supporting character a co-lead. Paul Mescal may be a rising star, but Denzel Washington is the kind of established movie star and Hollywood icon whose presence is fuels a film's theatrical push.

Gladiator II won't get out of Gladiator's shadow, but its wild battle scenes and crazy gladiatorial spectacles combined with some key performances should allow the new film to casts its own shadow. Besides, if you have seen Gladiator, dear readers, you know that you are itching to see Gladiator II.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Monday, November 25, 2024

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Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Review: First "GLADIATOR" Film is Still Rockin' the Colosseum

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 50 of 2024 (No. 1994) by Leroy Douresseaux

Gladiator (2000)

Running time: 155 minutes (2 hours, 35 minutes)

MPAA – R for intense, graphic combat

DIRECTOR: Ridley Scott

WRITERS: David Franzoni, John Logan, and William Nicholson (from a story by David Franzoni)

PRODUCERS: David Franzoni, Branko Lustig, and Douglas Wick

CINEMATOGRAPHER: John Mathieson

EDITOR: Pietro Scalia

COMPOSERS: Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard

Academy Award winner

DRAMA/HISTORICAL

Starring: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Richard Harris, Derek Jacobi, Djimon Hounsou, David Schofield, John Shrapnel, Tomas Arana, Ralf Moeller, Spencer Treat Clark, David Hemmings, and Tommy Flanagan

Gladiator is a 2000 historical epic film directed by Ridley Scott. At the 73rd Academy Awards (March 2001), the film won the Oscar for Best Picture of the Year 2000. Gladiator focuses on a Roman general who is reduced to slavery, becomes a gladiator, and takes on a corrupt Roman emperor in order to exact vengeance upon him.

Gladiator opens in the year 180 AD in the region known as Germania. Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) prepares to end his 17-year campaign against the barbarian tribes in their final stronghold in the region. The Roman general, Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe), a Spaniard, intends to return home after he leads the Roman army to victory against the barbarians. After the battle, Emperor Aurelius tells Maximus that he does not wish to make his own son, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), the next emperor because he is unfit to rule. Instead, the emperor wants Maximus, who is like a son to him, to succeed him and act as the regent who will restore the Roman Republic.

After secretly murdering his father, Aurelius, Commodus proclaims himself the new emperor. After Maximus spurns his request for loyalty, Commodus has Maximus arrested and orders him executed. Commodus also has the Spaniard's family murdered. After foiling the attempt to execute him, Maximus, badly wounded, is unable to save his family. Maximus is later found and sold into slavery and becomes the property of Proximo (Oliver Reed), a man who trains slaves to become gladiators whom he forces into fighting in gladiatorial events.

Meanwhile, in Rome, Commodus decides to stage 150 days of games, including gladiatorial events held at “The Colosseum.” Seeking newfound wealth, Proximo enters his gladiators, which now include Maximus and Juba (Djimon Hounsou), an African Maximus has befriended. Fate has brought Maximus to Commodus. Now, the general who became a slave is now a gladiator who just might save Rome when he exacts his vengeance upon the new emperor for murdering his family.

In anticipation of the upcoming, Gladiator II, I decided to watch the original film in its entirety for the first time since I first saw it in a movie theater with some friends back in May of 2000. Since then, I have re-watched parts of Gladiator of during cable broadcasts more time than I can remember, but I felt that it was time to watch the entire thing again and commit a review.

Gladiator is a great film because it recalls what Hollywood has always done well, historical epics that are more epic than they are history. The screenplay is a collection of familiar tropes (sword and sandals); stock characters (the crazy usurper; the put-upon woman; the wronged hero); and beloved settings (the Roman empire). The script is really nothing to write home about. The cast and crew and the director and his creative cohorts are the people who turn Gladiator into one of those truly great films that gave the twentieth century a grand Hollywood send-off.

Gladiator is probably director Ridley Scott's slickest and most polished Hollywood film. The film's narrative heart beats strong because Scott gets the best out of his film editor, film music composers, production designer and set decorator, and cinematographer. Everyone pulls together to make this film a visually sumptuous masterpiece, the kind that pounds audiences until they stop resisting and give into the bliss of a grand cinematic epic made in a true Hollywood style.

However, I think the actors are the true heart of Gladiator, delivering performances that make even the least famous of them seem like movie stars. Richard Harris is philosophical and earnest as the doomed Emperor Marcus Aurelius, while Joaquin Phoenix turns what could have been a clownish role into an unpredictable, but alluring reptilian super man-beast, the usurper Emperor Commodus. Oliver Reed, in his final role, made Proximo real and really lovable. And it's sad that Djimon Hounsou as Maximus' steady, philosophic friend, Juba, got almost no love from the various movie award-giving organizations.

The king – or emperor, if you will – of Gladiator is Russell Crowe. Maximus Decimus Meridius is one of Crowe's finest roles, even if it isn't one of his most subtle, graceful, and profound performances. Crowe carries this movie, and Gladiator defeats its own warts because Crowe is its true and one and only Gladiator. Crowe is the center and the beating heart of Gladiator, and the passage of a quarter-century has not changed that. Gladiator remains a great work of Hollywood cinema because it has what the great works of Hollywood must have – a movie star that radiates enough light to blind us to the blemishes of film with ambitions to be great.

9 of 10

A+

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

NOTES:

2001 Academy Awards, USA: 5 wins: “Best Picture” (Douglas Wick, David Franzoni, and Branko Lustig), “Best Actor in a Leading Role” (Russell Crowe), and “Best Costume Design” (Janty Yates), “Best Sound” (Scott Millan, Bob Beemer, Ken Weston, and John Nelson), and “Best Effects, Visual Effects” (John Nelson, Neil Corbould, Tim Burke, and Rob Harvey); 7 nominations: “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (Joaquin Phoenix), “Best Director” (Ridley Scott), “Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen” (David Franzoni-screenplay and story, John Logan-screenplay, and William Nicholson-screenplay), “Best Cinematography” (John Mathieson), “Best Film Editing” (Pietro Scalia), “Best Music, Original Score” (Hans Zimmer), and “Best Art Direction-Set Decoration” (Arthur Max-art director and Crispian Sallis-set decorator)

2001 BAFTA Awards: 4 wins: “Best Film” (Douglas Wick, David Franzoni, and Branko Lustig), “Best Cinematography” (John Mathieson), “Best Production Design” (Arthur Max), “Best Editing” (Pietro Scalia); 10 nominations: “David Lean Award for Direction” (Ridley Scott), “Best Screenplay-Original” (David Franzoni, John Logan, and William Nicholson), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (Russell Crowe), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Joaquin Phoenix), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Oliver Reed-posthumously), “Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music” (Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard), “Best Costume Design” (Janty Yates), “Best Sound” (Ken Weston, Scott Millan, Bob Beemer, and Per Hallberg), “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (John Nelson, Tim Burke, Rob Harvey, and Neil Corbould), and “Best Make Up/Hair” (Paul Engelen and Graham Johnston)

2001 Golden Globes, USA: 2 wins: “Best Motion Picture-Drama” and “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard); 3 nominations: “Best Director-Motion Picture” (Ridley Scott), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Russell Crowe), and “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Joaquin Phoenix)

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Saturday, June 29, 2024

Review: "GODZILLA MINUS ONE" Recalls the Original Spirit of Godzilla

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 26 of 2024 (No. 1970) by Leroy Douresseaux

Godzilla Minus One (2023)

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan; Language: Japanese

Running time: 124 minutes (2 hours, 4 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for creature violence and action

DIRECTOR: Takashi Yamazaki

WRITER: Takashi Yamazaki (based on characters owned by Toho Co., Ltd.)

PRODUCERS: Gô Abe, Kazuaki Kishida, Keiichiro Moriya, and Kenji Yamada

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Kôzô Shibasaki

EDITOR: Ryûji Miyajima

COMPOSER: Naoki Satô

Academy Award winner

SCI-FI/DRAMA and HISTORICAL/WAR

Starring: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Sakura Ando, Munetaka Aoki, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Yuki Yamada, Yuya Endo, and Sae Nagatani

Gojira Mainasu Wan is a 2023 Japanese historical war drama and science fiction film written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki and produced by Toho Studios. It is Toho's 33rd Godzilla film and 37th entry in the Godzilla film franchise. The film's English-language title is Godzilla Minus One, the title by which I will refer to it in this review.

Godzilla Minus One won the Oscar for “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” at the 96th Academy Awards earlier this year (March 10, 2024). The director, Takashi Yamazaki, was one of the four men who each received an Oscar statuette for the win. In Godzilla Minus One, a former kamikaze pilot is struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder when the giant monster of his nightmares returns to attack post-war Japan.

Godzilla Minus One opens in 1945, near the end of World War II. Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) lands his Mitsubishi A6M Zero at the Japanese base on Odo Island for repairs. Shikishima is a kamikaze pilot (the military units that flew suicide missions for Japan during WWII). The base's lead mechanic, Sōsaku Tachibana (Munetaka Aoki), deduces that Shikishima had fled from his suicidal duty by pretending his plane had technical issues. Later that night, Godzilla, a large dinosaur-like creature, attacks the island garrison, and only Shikishima and Tachibana survive.

Shikishima returns home to find his parents were killed in the bombing of Tokyo. Plagued by survivor's guilt, he begins supporting a woman, Noriko Ōishi (Minami Hamabe), whose parents also died in the bombing. With an orphaned baby girl, Akiko (Sae Nagatani), left in Noriko's custody, Shikishima forms a kind of family unit. He even finds employment aboard a minesweeper tasked with disposing of naval mines from World War II. Still, Shikishima can't leave the war behind and is reluctant to ask Noriko to marry him.

Meanwhile, the United States' nuclear tests at the Bikini Atoll leaves Godzilla mutated and empowered. Baptized within the horrific power of the atomic bomb, Godzilla now re-emerges, more powerful, and begins to battle Japan on land and sea. Can Shikishima emerge from his guilt and help save Japan from a monster that can unleash the power of a nuclear weapon?

North American audiences are familiar with the modern, rebooted version of Godzilla that stumps around the Legendary Entertainment's “MonsterVerse” an American multimedia franchise that includes a suite of movies that began with 2014's Godzilla and includes the most recent hit, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024). In Japan, Godzilla also received a modern reboot, known as the “Reiwa era,” and that began with the 2016 film, Shin Godzilla. Godzilla Minus One is the fifth film from this era.

Godzilla mainly appears in three major sequences in this film, and they are absolutely awesome. The initial one, the attack on Odo Island, is as good any dinosaur attack depicted in Jurassic Park (1993) and its sequels or Jurassic World (2015) and its sequels. The second sequence, when Godzilla attacks Ginza, a district in Tokyo, took my breath away. I believe that the Ginza attack probably earned Godzilla Minus One the votes it needed to win its special effects Oscar. This film's Godzilla is the old-fashioned one that looks like the man-in-a-suit original from the early Godzilla films, beginning in the mid-1950s. However, modern special effects takes the classic and gives him more character, making him more a force a nature than a mere monster.

Godzilla Minus One is as much an ensemble wartime drama as it is a monster movie. It is not perfect, because it does drag quite a bit in places between Godzilla's appearances. The cast, led by Ryunosuke Kamiki as Koichi Shikishima, personifies the lives of people living and struggling through the aftermath of a defeated Japan. In a sense, Japan's imperial ambitions and overreach brought that suffering on the people. However, dropping two atomic bombs dropped on Japan (on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945) was some other country's decision. Nor is Japan at fault for the monster that Godzilla becomes as a result of the United States' atomic testing in the Pacific.

Godzilla Minus One is a depiction of Japan's post-WWII efforts to save itself from its own actions and the actions of others. I found myself rooting for them in that epic final battle much in the way I root for the U.S. of A in American war cinema. However, Godzilla Minus One is not so much about nationalism as it is about national survival, and it is quite well-made and entertaining, also.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Saturday, June 29, 2024

NOTES:

2024 Academy Awards, USA: 1 win: “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” (Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masanori Takahashi, and Tatsuji Nojima)

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Sunday, March 17, 2024

Review: "KONG: SKULL ISLAND" is a Monster Movie Paradise

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 14 of 2024 (No. 1958) by Leroy Douresseaux

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

Running time: 118 minutes (1 hour, 58 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for brief strong language

DIRECTOR: Jordan Vogt-Roberts

WRITERS: Max Borenstein, Dan Gilroy, and Derek Connolly; from a story by John Gatins

PRODUCERS: Jon Jashni, Mary Parent, Thomas Tull, and Alex Garcia

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Larry Fong (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Richard Pearson

COMPOSER: Henry Jackman

Academy Award nominee

ADVENTURE/HISTORICAL/HORROR and MILITARY/SCI-FI

Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, John C. Reilly, John Goodman, Corey Hawkins, John Ortiz, Tian Jing, Toby Kebbell, Jason Mitchell, Shea Whigham, Thomas Mann, Eugene Cordero, Marc Evan Jackson, Terry Notary, and Richard Jenkins

Kong: Skull Island is a 2017 monster movie, sci-fi military, and period, adventure film directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts. It is a reboot of the King Kong film franchise and is also the second film in the “MonsterVerse” film series following 2014's Godzilla. Set at the end of the Vietnam war, Kong: Skull Island focuses on a group of military personnel and civilian scientists who must fight to escape an uncharted island full of giant monsters that includes the island's king, the mighty Kong.

Kong: Skull Island introduces Bill Randa (John Goodman), the head of the U.S. government organization, “Monarch.” It is 1973, and the U.S. is ending its mission in Vietnam. Randa fears his time is running out to launch a mission to a recently discovered island that has long been shrouded in mystery and legend, “Skull Island.”

He convinces a U.S. senator to fund an expedition to the island, and subsequently recruits a U.S. Army unit commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Packard (Samuel L. Jackson) to accompany him. Also on the mission are recent Monarch recruits, geologist Houston Brooks (Corey Hawkins) and biologist San Lin (Tian Jing). Randa also hires James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston), a former British Special Air Service Captain, as a hunter-tracker for this expedition. Mason Weaver (Brie Larson), an “anti-war” photographer, forces her way onto the expedition.

The expedition begins with thirteen U.S. army helicopters penetrating the fearsome storms that surround Skull Island. Randa and Brooks told Packard that they wanted to map the island by dropping seismic explosives, and shortly after arriving on the island, Packard's men begin dropping the explosives, which does help to map the island. The explosions also draw the attention of a giant ape, which promptly attacks the helicopters. Soon, the expedition is divided into two groups of survivors. One is led by Packard who wants revenge against the giant ape, and the other by Conrad who wants to reach a rendezvous point where they will be rescued. The giant ape, however, is “Kong,” king of Skull Island, and he isn't the only deadly, giant monster on the island.

The “MonsterVerse” is an American multimedia franchise that includes movies; a streaming live-action television series (Apple TV+) and a streaming animated series (Netflix); books and comic books; and video games. It is a shared fictional universe that includes the character, “Godzilla” and other characters owned and created by the Japanese entertainment company, Toho Co., Ltd. The MonsterVerse is a reboot of Toho's Godzilla franchise. It is also a reboot of the King Kong film franchise, which is based on the character, “King Kong,” that was created by actor and filmmaker, Merian C. Cooper (1893-1973).

The fifth film in the MonsterVerse series, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, is due to be released sometime in March, so I have decided to watch and review the previous four films: 2014's Godzilla, 2017's Kong: Skull Island (which is the subject of this review), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), and Godzilla vs. Kong (2021). I have previously seen Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island, but only recently made attempts to review them.

Kong: Skull Island is proudly both a monster movie and a King Kong movie. Like Peter Jackson's 2005 film, King Kong (Universal Pictures), Kong: Skull Island digs into its “lost world” pulp fiction and pre-Code horror movie roots. Kong is as King Kong as any other cinematic version of the character, and the result is an exhilarating film that is fun to watch even after repeated viewings. Most books about writing fiction and screenplays will emphasize that the characters should drive the narrative, but Kong: Skull Island's narrative is driven by its plot, by its other-worldly setting, and especially by its monstrous gods and god-like monsters.

There are quite a few interesting characters in the film. Samuel L. Jackson makes the most of his Lt. Col. Packard, who is driven crazy by his insane mission to kill Kong as a salve for his bitterness about the end of the American misadventure in Vietnam. John C. Reilly once again displays his tremendous character actor chops as the lost-in-time, U.S. Army Air Force Lt. Hank Marlow. Tom Hiddleston is a good heroic lead as James Conrad in a film in which the human hero is not the film's most important character. Brie Larson also shows off her acting skills by chopping out some space for his character, Mason Weaver.

However, the characters are just pawns in the film's plot, which involves surviving Skull Island's various monsters and advancing to the rendezvous point. The setting of Kong: Skull Island is a lost world Eden that is part tropical paradise and part jungle horror, an environment in which the most beautiful place is the most dangerous. The amazing things to see on this island are its deadly denizens, which includes gargantuan spiders, man-snatching carnivorous birds, and seemingly unstoppable lizards that are literally nothing more than perfectly designed death machines. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the practically mute human natives of Skull Island with their dazzling array of face and body painting and eclectic costumes.

At the center of Kong: Skull Island is the film's most important character and element, Kong, himself. He is a thing of beauty, the best special effect in a movie favored with enough impressive CGI to have earned itself an Oscar nomination for “Best Achievement in Visual Effects.” Kong's introduction into the story, a breathtaking display of fight choreography pitting him against a squadron of military helicopters, is as good as the best fight scenes audiences will find in the top superhero movies. Whatever glitches in the overall narrative and character development Kong: Skull Island has, Kong's introduction glosses over. Kong is made king again in Kong: Skull Island, and that is why it is a damn shame that there is not a Kong: Skull Island 2.

[This film has an extra scene at the end of the credits.]

A-

7 of 10

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Sunday, March 17, 2024

NOTES:

2018 Academy Awards, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” (Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza, and Michael Meinardus)

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Thursday, October 5, 2023

Review: "THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF" is Crazy (Literally), Sexy, Cool

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 6 (of 2002) by Leroy Douresseaux

Pacte des loups, Le (2001)

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: France; Language: French, German, Italian

The Brotherhood of the Wolf (2002) – USA title

Running time: 142 minutes (2 hours, and 22 minutes)

MPAA – R for strong violence, gore, and sexuality/nudity

DIRECTOR: Christophe Gans

WRITERS: Stephane Cabel and Christophe Gans

PRODUCERS: Richard Grandpierre and Samuel Hadida

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dan Laustsen

EDITORS: Xavier Loutreuil, Sébastien Prangère, and David Wu

COMPOSER: Joseph LoDuca

DRAMA/HISTORICAL AND HORROR/MYSTERY/THRILLER with elements of adventure

Starring: Samuel Le Bihan, Vincent Cassel, Emilie Dequenne, Monica Bellucci, Jérémie Rénier, Mark Dacascos, Jean Yanne, Jean-Francois Stévenin, and Jacques Perrin

Le Pacte des loups is a 2001 French period film, action and horror movie directed by Christophe Gans. The film was released in the United States in early 2002 by Universal Pictures under the title, The Brotherhood of the Wolf (the title by which I will refer to this film in this review). The film's plot is loosely based on the legend of the “beast of Gévaudan” and a real-life series of killings that took place in France in the 18th century. The Brotherhood of the Wolf focuses on a French knight and his Native American companion who are sent to investigate the mysterious slaughter of hundreds of people by an unknown creature in the county of Gévaudan.

At the beginning of The Brotherhood of the Wolf, Old Thomas d'Apcher (Jacques Perrin) recounts a fantastic fable/story of his youth. It is France of 1765, and the King sends two envoys to the Gevaudan province (which no longer exists) to investigate a series of brutal murders of which the locals believe is committed by a mysterious beast. The envoys are the Chevalier Gregoire de Fronsac (Samuel Le Bihan), a naturalist, and his companion, Mani (Mark Dacascos), a Mohawk Iroquois shaman of New France (Canada). They arrive in Gevandan to find the provincials bigoted and superstitious, even in the midst of the death all around them.

Among the colorful cast of characters include a mysterious and powerful priest, Henri Sardis (Jean-Francois Stevenin), and a sly and dangerous one-armed hunter, Jean Francois de Morangias (Vincent Cassel). The young Thomas d’Apcher (Jeremie Renier) becomes a hunting companion of Fronsac and Mani. Two strong female characters compete for the attentions of the virile and intelligent Fronsac: Marianne de Morangias (Emilie Dequenne), Jean Francois’s beautiful younger sister, and the nubile and hypnotic courtesan Sylvia (Monica Bellucci). As Fronsac and Mani pierce the veil of mystery and terror that covers the province, intrigue and deceit surround them, and the beast continues to kill.

Directed by Christophe Gans, The Brotherhood of the Wolf bends genres as easily as the film’s beast tears through its victims. Horror, thriller, western, martial arts, and mystery, the film is filled with suspense, terror, romance, eroticism, and political intrigue. It is at times intoxicating and mind bending and at other times, languid and thoughtful. It is difficult to categorize, but the movie is largely fantasy and action, but different from most of the movies that both genres recall.

Fronsac is a man of reason who sees a human conspiracy behind the killings that is darker and more insidious than any beast of Hell. Still, this man of science also understands the mystic worldview and belief system of his friend and blood brother, Mani. Fronsac is enlightenment’s soldier against the backward and ignorant peasants and nobles of Gevaudan. The provincials fear the ways of a city like Paris, and Sardis and Jean Francois resent the capital’s intrusion into their world. They disdain the confidence and intelligence of the King’s envoys. The beast is a physical manifestation of the provincials superstitions, isolationism, hatred, and evil that feeds upon the populace, and the creature resists the authority of the government.

The movie’s creature is a computer-generated image (CGI); at its best is fearsome. At its worst, the creature, especially during some daylight scenes, is hokey. However, Gans wisely holds revealing the beast in scenes that go by so quickly that we rarely get a good look at it. Sometimes, just the unseen beast’s roars, growls, and footsteps are enough to set the heart racing.

Le Bihan as Fronsac is strong and strongly confident. He is the romantic lead upon which the audience hitches its wagon. When he and Mani arrive early in the movie, after the film’s opening murder, they appear in a driving rainstorm, masked minutemen with the presence of demigods. Mani’s assault upon the villagers recalls fight scenes from The Matrix, but his are down to earth and more physical, more visceral; the threat of danger to him from the attackers is much greater. Decascos is mostly very good on the screen as Mani, though a few bits of his screen time are a little flat. When Gans unleashes him late in the movie, Decascos is a beautiful force a nature, a small storm in human guise tearing through his antagonists.

Vincent Cassel’s Jean Francois is the serpentine equal to Fronsac. He dominates all of his screen time, except for his scenes with Fronsac, in which both must share the screen. The movie nearly bursts from having to contain both their magnetic presences. They alone are worth the price of admission, but the rest of the cast, both veterans and newcomers, make the most of their roles.

Although a little long, The Brotherhood of the Wolf is wonderful; a dark horse, it is one of the best films of the year 2001. Gans and his screenwriting partner, Stephane Cabel, created a script that melds raw action with social intrigue, and the result is quite an accomplishment. The Brotherhood of the Wolf is plainly good entertainment. Not quite high art, it is eye candy that is very smart and very fun.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Edited: Wednesday, October 4, 2023

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Thursday, September 28, 2023

Review: "American Graffiti" is Still Crusin' to Rock 'n' Roll 50 Years On

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 45 of 2023 (No. 1934) by Leroy Douresseaux

American Graffiti (1973)

Running time: 110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)

MPAA – PG

DIRECTOR: George Lucas

WRITERS: George Lucas and Gloria Katz & Willard Huyck

PRODUCERS: Francis Ford Coppola and Gary Kurtz

CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Jan D'Alquen (D.o.P.) and Ron Eveslage (D.o.P.)

EDITORS: Verna Fields and Marcia Lucas

Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/HISTORICAL/MUSIC

Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Wolfman Jack, Bo Hopkins, Manuel Padilla Jr., Beau Gentry, and Harrison Ford

American Graffiti is a 1973 coming-of-age, music-driven, comedy and drama film directed by George Lucas. Lucas, who co-wrote the screenplay with the husband and wife team of Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, based the story on his experiences in the cruising, and street-racing, and rock 'n' roll cultures of his youth. American Graffiti focuses on a group of teenagers and their adventures over the course of one summer night in 1962.

American Graffiti opens in the Summer 1962. The location is California's central valley, apparently in and around the city of Modesto. There, through a series of vignettes, we watch as a group of teenagers enjoy the last evening of their summer vacation.

For recent high school graduates and friends, Curtis “Curt” Henderson (Richard Dreyfuss) and Steve Bolander (Ronny Howard), this is their last night in town before they board a plane the next day and go “back east” for college. Steve doesn't believe that he can achieve the goals his wants by staying home, even if leaving means parting from his girlfriend, Curt's sister, Laurie (Cindy Williams). However, Curt, who has recently received scholarship money from a local business group, isn't sure that he wants to leave. Besides, tonight, he wants to chase the mystery woman who has caught his eye, a blonde driving a white Ford Thunderbird.

Curt and Steve's two friends are also having a big night. The first is John Milner (Paul Le Mat), the central valley drag-racing king. He has just learned that someone wants to challenge him for his crown, a confident ladies' man named Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford). Meanwhile, the second character is the unpopular, but well-meaning Terry “The Toad” Fields (Charlie Martin Smith), who has just come into possession of Steve's car. He is supposed to protect it until Steve returns from “back east” for Christmas. Tonight, however, Terry hopes the car will help him land a date. Meanwhile, in the background, the popular disc jockey, Wolfman Jack (himself), plays an array of rock 'n' roll hits.

As “DVD Netflix” prepares to shutdown, I've been racing to catch up on certain films that I have never seen or have not seen in a long time. I recently decided to sample some films in which 2023 is the fiftieth anniversary of their original theatrical releases. That includes such films as Walt Disney's Robin Hood, (hopefully)Woody Allen's Sleeper, and the Bruce Lee classic, Enter the Dragon.

As a kid, I was aware of American Graffiti long before I ever saw it. I was and still am a huge fan of American Graffiti director, George Lucas's most famous film, Star Wars (1977). So, as a kid, I read every article I could find about Star Wars, and they often mentioned his two earlier feature-length films, THX-1138 (1971) and American Graffiti. [I also vaguely remember the release of the sequel, More American Graffiti.]

I also knew that a few film and television stars that I liked had starred or appeared in American Graffiti, specifically Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, and Harrison Ford. Besides that fact that American Graffiti was a George Lucas movie, Ford was the other reason I most wanted to see the film.

I finally first saw American Graffiti on television, and though my memory is hazy on the facts, I'm sure I saw it at least a few years after the release of the sequel. I remember liking it, enough that I planned on watching it again. Decades later, this recent viewing is the first time that I've seen the film since that first viewing.

I still like it a lot. I'm still a fan of Ford, Howard, and Dreyfuss, and along the way, I became a fan of some of its other young stars, including Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, and the recently-deceased Bo Hopkins (1938-2022). The truth is that I'm crazy about the Hollywood icon, Harrison Ford, and, as for as I'm concerned, any movie with Ron Howard and Charles Martin Smith as actors is cinematic porn. [Both Howard and Smith are also film directors.]

Watching the film this time, I was initially annoyed by Lucas' method of telling this story in a series of vignettes that constantly moved from one character to the next. The film essentially has four plots that revolve around one of four characters, Curt, Steve, John, or Terry. It took me nearly half the film to realize that the vignettes allow Lucas to depict and to reveal each one of these four young men's goals, conflicts, and fears. This depiction of their inner selves makes them more interesting to me. Not only did I root for them, but I also wanted to know more about them. I wanted to know what was going to happen to them, both in the immediate and far future.

American Graffiti apparently helped launch a wave of nostalgia for and interest in the culture and times of the 1950s and early 1960s or at least an idealized, trouble free, white-washed version of it. The film apparently renewed the ABC network's interest in what would become one of its most popular sitcoms, “Happy Days” (1974-84). That long-running and popular television series also presented an idealized, trouble free, white-washed version of the 1950s and early 1960s.

Thus, as much as I enjoyed this viewing of American Graffiti, and as much as I'm interested in its characters, I done with it. I'm not done with its lovely soundtrack – played in the background so that both the characters and audiences can hear these early classics of rock 'n' roll. These musical recordings make this special night in the summer of 1962 really special. Still, American Graffiti is an ode to George Lucas' memories. It is a cinematic dream he fashioned from the varied experiences of his privileged youth. I don't really relate to it the way I do other films that are also far from my experiences – such as The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) or Licorice Pizza (2021).

I wouldn't call American Graffiti a great film, so much as I'd call it a unique and important American film. Why is it important? Well, American Graffiti is a prime example of the fantasies that the Hollywood dream factory can make of real moments in time. It's George Lucas' story – his story – presented as a fairy tale about one unforgettable night that will never be repeated.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, September 28, 2023

You can buy the American Graffiti film and soundtrack at AMAZON.

NOTES:

1974 Academy Awards, USA: 5 nominations: “Best Picture” (Francis Ford Coppola and Gary Kurtz), “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” (Candy Clark), “Best Director” (George Lucas), “Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced” (George Lucas Gloria Katz, and Willard Huyck), and “Best Film Editing” (Verna Fields and Marcia Lucas)

1975 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Supporting Actress” (Cindy Williams)

1974 Golden Globes, USA: 2 wins: “Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” or “Most Promising Newcomer – Male” (Paul Le Mat); 2 nominations: “Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” (Richard Dreyfuss) and “Best Director - Motion Picture” (George Lucas)

1995 National Film Preservation Board, USA: “National Film Registry”

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Saturday, July 22, 2023

Review: "GOTHIC" is a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Movie (Remembering Julian Sands)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 33 of 2023 (No. 1922) by Leroy Douresseaux

Gothic (1986)

Running time: 87 minutes (1 hour, 27 minutes)

MPAA – R

DIRECTOR: Ken Russell

WRITERS: Stephen Volk

PRODUCERS: Penny Corke

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Mike Southon (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Michael Bradsell

COMPOSER: Thomas Dolby

DRAMA/HORROR/HISTORICAL

Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Julian Sands, Natasha Richardson, Myriam Cyr, and Timothy Spall

Gothic is a 1986 British psychological horror film and historical drama directed by Ken Russell. The film focuses on a group of five people whose activities on the night of June 16, 1816 invite something dark into the mansion where they are staying.

Gothic is a fictional account of the events that happened at the Villa Diodati on night of June 16, 1816. To understand Gothic, there is the need for some historical reference.

English novelist, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (1797-1851); her future husband, the radical English romantic poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822); and their son, William (1816-19); accompanied Mary's stepsister, Claire Clairmont (1798-1879), to spend the summer of 1816 with the English romantic poet, Lord Byron (1788-1824). They arrived in mid-May 1816, and by then, Mary was calling herself, “Mrs. Shelley,” although she was not yet married to Percy. Byron was renting a mansion, the Villa Diodati, located near Lake Geneva, Switzerland. The Shelleys rented a place nearby. Byron's young physician, John William Polidori (1795-1821), also joined the gathering.

This summer of 1816 became legendary in literature. On the night of June 16, 1816, Byron, Mary, Percy, Clairmont, and Polidori entertained themselves with German ghost stories from the Fantasmagoriana, a French anthology of such stories published in 1812. This amusement led Byron to propose that they each write a ghost story. Because of poor weather, the group famously spent three days together creating stories to tell each other. Coming out of that contest were two completed landmark works of Gothic horror fiction.

The first is Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's 1818 novel, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, a landmark in Gothic fiction, Gothic horror, and science fiction. The second is John Polidori's 1819 short story, “The Vampyre,” which is considered the first modern vampire story and also the beginning of the romantic vampire genre. Polidori's short story is also based on Byron's contribution to the ghost story contest, a vampire horror story that he turned into prose, but which Byron did not complete. It was first published in 1819 as “A Fragment,” but is now known as “Fragment of a Novel.”

The film Gothic opens in the summer of 1816. Mary Godwin (Natasha Richardson); her future husband, Percy Shelley (Julian Sands); and her stepsister, Claire Clairmont (Myriam Cyr), arrive at Villa Diodati on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland. They have been invited to spend some time there during the summer by the poet, Lord Byron (Gabriel Byrne), who also introduces them to his physician and friend, Dr. John Polidori (Timothy Spall).

On June 16th, the group is forced to stay inside the mansion as a storm rages outside. Mary, Percy, Claire, Byron, and Dr. Polidori amuse themselves by engaging in a game of hide-and-seek, and later read from Phantasmagoria, a book of German ghost stories Byron purchased. Reading these stories inspires the five of them to hold a séance while gathered around a human skull, during which Claire has an apparent seizure. Later, each member of the group begins to have strange and horrifying experiences, dreams, and hallucinations. Percy believes the group collectively gave birth to something during the séance. That something is a creature that not only manifests their worst fears, but also their worst behaviors. And that creature could destroy them all.

The English actor Julian Sands went hiking in the San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Los Angeles in January of this year, 2023. He was reported missing afterwards, and his remains were later found in the area he was visiting. He is best remembered for his breakout role in the 1985 British film, A Room with a View, which was released in the U.S. in 1986. Although I did see that film, the first film in which I saw Sands was Gothic. It was also the first film I ever watched at the LSU Student Union Colonnade Theater, a movie theater on the campus of Louisiana State University. [From what information I've gathered on the Internet, the theater no longer exists.]

The identification of Sands remains and the subsequent memorials of his life got me to thinking about Gothic, which I had not scene in its entirety since that first time I saw it. I remember not being too crazy about it, but I have been feeling the need to acknowledge Sands' passing, as I was and still am a fan of his.

Also, I have seen a few of Gothic director Ken Russell's films, including the notorious The Devils (1971), which I also saw at the Colonnade. However, the only one of his films that I have previously reviewed for the Negromancer blog is The Music Lovers, his 1971 biographical film about the 19th-century Russian composer, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. So re-watching Gothic is also a chance to acknowledge Ken Russell (1927-2011).

While Gabriel Byrne as Lord Byron and Sands as Percy Shelley get top billing in Gothic, the film's main focus of this ensemble is Mary Godwin/Shelley, played by the late actress, Natasha Richardson (1963-2009). Gothic is indeed a psychological horror film because writer Stephen Volk's screenplay forces the character to confront their deepest fears and their most troubling desires. Volk also lays bare the characters' relationships, especially the dynamics between Byron and Clair, Byron and Polidori, and Percy and Mary. Volk seems to use Mary to center this, including her own tribulations

Mary has recently delivered a premature baby girl who died, a loss which haunted her (also based on real events). The death of the child is a recurring motif in this film, usually via the sound of small child crying or in the images of vague, doll-like baby corpses. Russell, who was known for being typically over-the-top, uses the raging storm, the characters' ingestion of hallucinogens, and their worst nightmares to create a grand vision of a house haunted by its occupants' craziness, selfishness, and psychological issues. Russell and Volk put Mary Shelley either front-and-center or at least near the most bizarre confrontations (real and imagine) and hallucinations.

Gothic is more about impressions than reality, and to that end, the cast gives good performances. Sands and Cyr are a little overdone at times, but it's clear this screenplay considers them the most troubled. As the film progresses, I appreciate Gabriel Byrne's performance as Lord Byron. I've been watching Byrne for decades over a career full of performances in which one is not like any other, but here, I really believe he is Lord Byron. Natasha Richardson gives Mary Shelley such depth of character that I wish this film was longer so that Richardson could give us more of Mary.

Gothic has excellent production values. The costumes are perfectly fitted to the character's personalities. The lighting and sound bring the raging storm and the raging emotions and madness to life. The art direction and set decoration offer sets that are straight out of a fairy tale dream, although it is mostly for a story that is nightmarish and melodramatic. The hair and make-up sell the madness and troubles of these characters and is a perfect match the surrealistic mood.

And just as soon as it began, Gothic's long nightmare is over, and the light of day returns, but with a foreboding. In real life, the three main male characters would all be dead within eight years of this summer known for being a pivotal time in the history of Gothic fiction. When I first saw this film, I only kind of understood the importance of what it was fictionalizing. Since then, I have become more fascinated with that place and moment in the summer of 1816, and I have become more enamored with this dreamlike film. In a nod to nostalgia, the recent passing of Julian Sands has raised Gothic in my estimation. It's time for me to buy a physical copy so that I can watch it any time I want without bothering with streaming.

6 of 10

★★★ out of 4 stars

Saturday, July 22, 2023

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Sunday, April 30, 2023

Review: Mesmerizing "BABYLON" Sings and F**ks in the Rain

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 18 of 2023 (No. 1907) by Leroy Douresseaux

Babylon (2022)

Running time: 189 minutes (3 hours, 9 minutes)

MPA – R for strong and crude sexual content, graphic nudity, bloody violence, drug use, and pervasive language.

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Damien Chazelle

PRODUCERS: Olivia Hamilton, Marc Platt, and Matthew Plouffe

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Linus Sandgren (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Tom Cross

COMPOSER: Justin Hurwitz

Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/HISTORICAL

Starring: Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jovan Adepo, Jean Smart, Li Jun Li, Olivia Wilde, Telvin Griffin, Flea, Eric Roberts, Max Minghella, Jeff Garlin, Ethan Suplee, and Tobey Maguire

Babylon is a 2022 period film, drama, and black comedy from writer-director Damien Chazelle. The film chronicles the rise and fall of several Hollywood characters as the film industry transitions from silent films to sound films in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Babylon opens in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, 1926. Manuel “Manny” Torres (Diego Calva), a Mexican immigrant, helps transport an elephant. It's destination is a debauched bacchanal (party) at the lavish mansion of Don Wallach (Jeff Garlin), chief of Hollywood's Kinoscope Studios, which produces silent films. It is there that Manny meets a young woman who has given herself the name, Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie). She is brash, ambitious, and declares that she is a “star” from New Jersey, and Manny is quickly smitten with her.

Manny and Nellie soon cross paths with the party's other colorful attendees, including the Chinese-American, lesbian, cabaret singer, Lady Fay Zhu (Li Jun Li), and the Black American jazz trumpeter, Sidney Palmer (Jovan Adepo). All four of them are going to find a place in the ecosystem of Hollywood, playing an important part in making silent films. None of them will be as big as one of Hollywood's greatest silent film stars, Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt), who seems to be married as often as he is starring in a new silent film epic.

But just a year later, in 1927, the first sound film, The Jazz Singer, arrives, and everything begins to change – rapidly. A world of out-sized ambition and outrageous excess starts pretending to be a tad bit more conservative. So will any of the stars of silent film transition to the new world of sound film, also known as “talkies?” Will Jack Conrad remain a star? Is there still a place for Fay Zhu? And what of the newcomers, Nellie, Manny, and Sidney?

For me, Babylon is the film that delivers the way I was told Damien Chazelle's earlier film, La La Land (2016), would, but did not. What some critics saw as overwhelming in Babylon, I see as exhilarating spectacle. In a way, Babylon isn't so much about the end of the silent film era and the beginning of sound films as it is a celebration of Hollywood's glitz and glamour, which has enthralled audiences around the world for over a century. Chazelle treats Hollywood's excess as a wonderful, magical thing. Debauchery is loud, proud, and colorful. Why be conservative and safe when the audience for Hollywood's films want the opposite. Even as silence gives way to sound, films remain weird, wild, and wonderful, even if the people behind them pretend to have cleaned up their act and grown up.

The film's production values: cinematography, costume and production design, sound, lighting, and editing play up the fun part – the hedonism and the revelry. Babylon is one of the best-looking films of this still young century, and when I currently think of the word “cinematic,” I think of it.

The film has a number of good performances, but I will fault Chazelle for a screenplay that doesn't really immerse itself into the characters. This film isn't into the characters the way it dives into the spectacle and the darkness behind the Hollywood film industry and the lifestyle of the people in front of and behind the cameras. As much as they try, Brad Pitt and especially Margot Robbie and Diego Calva cannot really raise their characters above the sound and fury of Babylon. Speaking of sound and fury, Justin Hurwitz's score for Babylon is a thing of magic; it never lets Babylon's narrative, drama, or action fall.

I know that Babylon is a polarizing film among film critics, movie reviewers and audiences. I see it, however, as the work of a highly skilled writer-director, Damien Chazelle, who can do great things in movies. But will he? As far as I'm concerned, he has delivered with Babylon.

9 of 10

A+

★★★★+ out of 4 stars

Sunday, April 30, 2023

NOTES:

2023 Academy Awards, USA: 3 nominations: “Best Achievement in Production Design” (Florencia Martin and Anthony Carlino), “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures-Original Score (Justin Hurwitz), and “Best Achievement in Costume Design: (Mary Zophres)

2023 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Best Production Design” (Florencia Martin and Anthony Carlino); 2 nominations: “Best Costume Design” (Mary Zophres), and “Original Score” (Justin Hurwitz)

2023 Golden Globes, USA: 1 win: “Best Original Score – Motion Picture” (Justin Hurwitz); 4 nominations: “Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy,” “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture” (Brad Pitt), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy” (Diego Calva), and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy” (Margot Robbie)

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Saturday, January 21, 2023

Review: "AMSTERDAM" is a Movie That Follows the Right God Home

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 4 of 2023 (No. 1893) by Leroy Douresseaux

Amsterdam (2022)

Running time: 134 minutes (2 hours, 14 minutes)

MPA – R for brief violence and bloody images

WRITER/DIRECTOR: David O. Russell

PRODUCERS: David O. Russell, Christian Bale, Matthew Budman, Anthony Katagas, and Arnon Milchan

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Emmanuel Lubezki (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Jay Cassidy

COMPOSER: Daniel Pemberton

DRAMA/COMEDY/HISTORICAL

Starring: Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Alessandro Nivola, Andrea Riseborough, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Shannon, Mike Myers, Taylor Swift, Timothy Olyphant, Zoe Saldana, Rami Malek, Ed Begley, Jr., Beth Grant, and Robert De Niro

Amsterdam is a 2022 comedy, period drama, and historical film from writer-director David O. Russell. The film is based on the 1933 United States political conspiracy “the Business Plot,” which involved a secret plan to overthrow the government of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and to install a dictator in its place. Amsterdam follows three friends who seek to uncover the truth behind the mysterious death and apparent murder of a retired U.S. general.

Amsterdam introduces Burt Berendsen M.D. (Christian Bale), a physician and surgeon. In 1918, his estranged wife, Beatrice Vandenheuvel (Andrea Riseborough) and her parents, who don't really care for Burt because he is “half-Jew,” bully him into enlisting to fight in World War I. While stationed in France, Burt befriends an African-American soldier, Harold Woodman (John David Washington).

Later, after being severely injured in battle, Burt and Harold are nursed back to health by Valerie Bandenberg (Margot Robbie), an eccentric American nurse and artist who makes art out of shrapnel removed from the soldiers. Burt and Harold befriend Valerie and follow her to Amsterdam, the capitol of the Netherlands. There, they live together and Harold and Valerie engage in a budding romance. First, Burt returns to New York City to be with his wife, and then, Harold returns to begin his career as an attorney.

In 1933, Burt owns his own medical practice that caters to veterans of WWI, and he still remains friends with Harold. Things begin to change for them when they discover that General Bill Meekins (Ed Begley, Jr.), who was important to Burt and Harold during the war, has died. His daughter, Elizabeth Meekins (Taylor Swift), believes that her father was murdered. Soon, Elizabeth herself is murdered, and Burt and Harold are blamed. Seeking to clear themselves, they begin to investigate the mystery surrounding General Meekins before his death, which leads to their reunion with Valerie. She had also returned to America and is living in seclusion with her wealthy brother, Tom Voze (Rami Malek) and his wife, Libby (Anya Taylor-Joy).

The three friends find themselves in a conspiracy involving another retired military officer, Marine Corps General Gil Dillenbeck (Robert De Niro). And everything is heading for a showdown at an event that is very important to Burt, the 14th Annual New York Veterans Reunion Gala.

Yeah, dear readers, the synopsis of the film's plot is a bit longer than I would like it to be. Although Amsterdam's narrative only runs a little under two hours and ten minutes, the film has enough subplots, characters, and settings to fill a television miniseries. Actually, a miniseries version of Amsterdam with the same cast would be orgasmic – well, at least for me it would.

Anyway, most of you, dear readers, are familiar (to one extent or another) with the event known as the “January 6 United States Capitol attack.” On Wednesday, January 6, 2021, a (mostly) white mob attacked the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The members of mob were comprised of supporters of then-President Donald Trump, and they were seeking to keep Trump in power by preventing a joint session of the U.S. Congress from counting the electoral college votes to formalize the victory of President-elect Joe Biden.

That event led journalists, historians, and writers to recall other insurrections and attempts to overthrow a democratically elected U.S. government. The Business Plot is one of them. It has also been referred to as “the Wall Street Putsch” because the people behind it were allegedly wealthy American businessmen. They hoped to overthrow the government of President Franklin D. Roosevelt by creating a fascist organization comprised of World War I veterans that would be led by Marine Corp General Smedley Butler, a hero of WWI and a veteran of several military conflicts. After this military led coup and overthrow of the government, the plotters would install Butler as a dictator.

Butler, upon whom Amsterdam's Gen. Dillenbeck is based, himself is the one who revealed the Business Plot. At the time, some of the press considered the Business Plot to be hoax, although a congressional committee investigating the plot believed that it was discussed and at least partially planned.

Amsterdam is a film that is kind of like a fairy tale version the Business Plot with Burt (ostensibly the story's lead character), Harold, and Valerie as the gallant trio fighting the mysterious bad guys. In this manner, the film is filled with conniving wizards (rich businessmen), evil knights (the killers of Gen. Meekins), and menagerie of oddball characters and creature-types, which is a good way to describe even Amsterdam's heroic trio. As I said earlier, I think that the manner in which writer-director David O. Russell tells this story, it needs to be done in a longer form.

Still, one thing at which Russell really excels is in creating ensemble films featuring a cast that delivers stellar performances which in turn creates the most interesting cinematic characters. He has done that with a large ensemble, as in the case of his highly-acclaimed 2013 film, American Hustle, and with an intimate small ensemble, such as in his Oscar-winning 2012 film, Silver Linings Playbook.

Christian Bale delivers another amazing performance as Burt Berendsen. Margot Robbie is eccentric and delightful as Valerie, and John David Washington is dashing, bold, and stalwart as Harold. Robbie and Washington have excellent chemistry and thus, are convincing as a couple. Anya Taylor-Joy, beautiful and radiant as always, effortlessly slays in her turn as the vain and insecure attention-seeker, Libby Voze. Of course, Robert De Niro, as Gen. Dillenbeck, turns up the heat in the film's most pivotal moments.

Rami Malek, Chris Rock, and Zoe Saldana also shine in key supporting roles, and Taylor Swift's quick spin as Bill Meekins' daughter, Elizabeth, gives the film an early jolt. So the smaller roles help to make Amsterdam that much better as a top notch ensemble film.

In the film, the city of Amsterdam seems to represent a place where people can be their authentic selves while accepting that others must also be allowed to be their authentic selves, even if that might lead to clashes of personality and belief. Amsterdam is not perfect, but it is lovable because of its idiosyncratic way, and that makes me look forward to the next large ensemble film from the inimitable David O. Russell.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Saturday, January 21, 2023

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Saturday, November 5, 2022

Review: Spielberg's "1941" - Raiders of the Lost Invasion (Countdown to "The Fabelmans")

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 67 of 2022 (No. 1879) by Leroy Douresseaux

1941 (1979)

Running time: 118 minutes (1 hour, 58 minutes)

MPAA – PG

DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg

WRITERS: Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale; from a story by Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale, and John Milius

PRODUCER: Buzz Feitshans

CINEMATOGRAPHER: William A. Fraker (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Michael Kahn

COMPOSER: John Williams

Academy Award nominee

COMEDY/HISTORICAL/WAR

Starring: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Christopher Lee, Nancy Allen, Ned Beatty, John Candy, Elisha Cook, Jr., Bobby Di Cicco, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Dianne Kay, John Landis, Michael McKean, Tim Matheson, Toshiro Mifune, Dick Miller, Warren Oates, Slim Pickens, Mickey Rourke, Lionel Stander, Robert Stack, Dub Taylor, Treat Williams, and Frank McRae

1941 is a 1979 comedy, war movie, and period film directed by Steven Spielberg. Although not as popular or critically acclaimed as Spielberg's earlier films, 1941 began to gain in popularity after an expanded version of the film aired on television. 1941 is set almost a week after the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor and finds various California residents in a state of panic about an alleged inevitable Japanese attack on the state.

1941 opens on Saturday, December 13, 1941, at 7:01 a.m. (six days after the attack on Pearl Harbor). Surfacing off the Northern California coast is a submarine of the Imperial Japanese Fleet, commanded by Akiro Mitamura (Toshiro Mifune). Also aboard, as an annoying advisor, is Nazi Kriegsmarine officer, Wolfgang von Kleinschmidt (Christopher Lee). Because he did not participate in the attack on Pearl Harbor, Commander Mitamura wants to destroy something in Los Angeles, in an act or honor. He has decided to target “Hollywood,” although he and his crew are having trouble finding the place.

Meanwhile, in Santa Monica, servicemen from the U.S. Army and Navy have overrun the town. Wayward youth, Wally Stephens (Bobby Di Cicco), is trying to hold on to his girlfriend, Betty Douglas (Dianne Kay). She is the target of the unwanted attentions of Corporal Chuck Sitarski (Treat Williams), a member of a 10th Armored Division tank crew. The crew, which also consists of Sergeant Frank Tree (Dan Aykroyd) and Private First Class Foley (John Candy), is suddenly dealing with its newest member, Private Ogden Johnson Jones (Frank McRae), a Black serviceman!

In Death Valley, the cigar-chomping Captain Wild Bill Kelso (John Belushi) of the United States Army Air Forces aims his fighter plane towards L.A. where he believes he will help fight off a Japanese attack. Everything is going crazy around everyone, and there seems to be a hundred melodramas and subplots. Can Americans stop fighting Americans long enough prevent a real Japanese attack on Los Angeles and the surrounding area?

I recently saw 1941 for the first time in preparation for this review. Although I am a huge fan of Steven Spielberg, 1941 was one of his films that I was not really interested in seeing. I found a DVD copy containing a “restored version” of the film that is almost half an hour longer than the original theatrical release. When I was a kid, 1941 was considered a “box office bomb,” which is apparently not true. The film reportedly did make a profit, but it was not as financially or as critically well received as Spielberg's previous films, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Jaws (1975).

For what it is, 1941 is way too long, even at its original length (1 hour, 58 minutes). Still, it is funny in many spots, and, in spite of a really large cast, all the individual subplots and comic melodramas do come together so that the film does not feel disjointed. I like that 1941 gives me a chance to see some of my favorite actors: Toshiro Mifune, Christopher Lee, Warren Oates, Ned Beatty, and character actors: Dick Miller, Dub Taylor and Elisha Cook, Jr., all of whom are now deceased. Another favorite, Robert Stack, practically steals the film as Major General Joseph W. Stillwell, a character that seems to center the film. And I'm always happy to see Dan Aykroyd.

One thing that really stuck out to me is that much of 1941 seems like a dry run for the action sequences in my favorite Spielberg film, Raiders of the Lost Ark, which would be his next film after 1941. The action in 1941 is conveyed in a humorous mood, and Raiders, more of an adventure film than an action film, features action scenes that are breath-taking, but are delivered with something like a wink and a nod.

Regardless of where it is positioned in Steven Spielberg's filmography, 1941 shows that, as the guy at the helm, Spielberg's most impressive talent may be his ability to gather a large cast and crew and very talented collaborators in order to make really spectacular films that are epic in scope, even in their quite and funny moments. 1941 is not a great film, but there are moments during this movie when it is obvious that one of the greatest filmmakers of all time is the guiding force and the main man behind it.

5 of 10

B-

★★½ out of 4 stars

Saturday, November 5, 2022

NOTES:

1980 Academy Awards: 3 nominations: “Best Cinematography” (William A. Fraker), “Best Sound” (Robert Knudson, Robert Glass, Don MacDougall, and Gene S. Cantamessa), and “Best Effects, Visual Effects” (William A. Fraker, A.D. Flowers, and Gregory Jein)

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Thursday, September 29, 2022

Review: Baz Luhrmann's "ELVIS" Reveals That White People Ruined Presley

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 55 of 2022 (No. 1867) by Leroy Douresseaux

Elvis (2022)
Running time: 159 minutes (2 hours, 39 minutes)
MPA – PG-13 for substance abuse, strong language, suggestive material and smoking
DIRECTOR: Baz Luhrmann
WRITERS: Baz Luhrmann, Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, and Jeremy Doner; from a story by Baz Luhrmann and Jeremy Doner
PRODUCERS: Baz Luhrmann, Gail Berman, Catherine Martin, Patrick McCormick, and Schuyler Weiss
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Mandy Walker (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Jonathan Redmond and Matt Villa
COMPOSER: Elliot Wheeler

BIOPIC/HISTORICAL

Starring: Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh, Kelvin Harrison, Jr., David Wenham, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Luke Bracey, Dacre Montgomery, Leon Ford, Gary Clark, Jr., Yola, Natasha Bassett, Xavier Samuel, Adam Dunn, Shonka Dukureh, and Chaydon Jay

Elvis is a 2022 biopic, musical drama, and historical film from director Baz Luhrmann. The film is an overview and fictional account of the life of Elvis Presley (1935–1977), the singer, songwriter, performer, and actor best known as simply “Elvis” and also as the “King of Rock and Roll.” Elvis the movie examines his life – from his childhood to his rise to cultural icon status – and his complicated relationship with his notorious manager, Colonel Tom Parker.

Elvis opens in 1997 and introduces Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks). After suffering a stroke, he is on his deathbed. His gambling addiction has left him broke, but once upon a time, he was somebody. He was both famous and infamous. He was the manager of Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll.

Early in his life, Elvis Aaron Presley (Chaydon Jay) was a just a kid whose family had moved into a housing project in the white section of an African-American neighborhood in Memphis, Tennessee (1948). Elvis' family was poor, and his father was in prison. Elvis, already familiar with country music, became steeped in the gospel music of the nearby Black churches and also in the rhythm and blues of the Black clubs and music halls on Memphis' Beale Street.

Later (1955), when Colonel Parker meets the now adult Elvis Presley (Austin Butler), he is making waves as a young singer and guitarist. Parker is already partnered with country singer, Hank Snow (David Wenham), when he hears Elvis, a young white artist who sounds black, especially on the groundbreaking single, “That's All Right.”

Soon, Parker is managing Elvis, and the young man's stage performances are making him very popular with young people, especially young women, who are driven crazy by Elvis' salacious wiggling legs, swinging hips, and thrusting pelvis. Under Parker's management, Elvis begins a meteoric rise to stardom, but his stage act is drawing the ire of white people who don't want their kids exposed to Black music and culture. To save Elvis from trouble, Colonel Parker exerts more control over Elvis' music, performances, and life, but what will that do to Parker and Elvis' already complex relationship?

Hard as it is to believe, Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann has only directed six films in his thirty-year career, beginning with his 1992 debut, Strictly Ballroom, which I have never seen. Other than Elvis, I have only seen Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Moulin Rouge! (2001), and I have only reviewed the latter.

Elvis is like Moulin Rouge!, a flashy, fast-moving musical drama with excellent production values. Everything about Elvis is lavish, spectacular, fabulous and beautiful. The production design, art direction, and sets are the most beautiful that I have seen this year and maybe in a long time. The costumes, regardless of the characters' wealth and social status, are gorgeous (the only word I can think of). The cinematography and lighting create a world of fantasy, and the film editing manages to convey the seemingly incalculable number of moods and emotions that Luhrmann wants the audience for Elvis to experience.

The soundtrack is filled with Presley's iconic recordings, including some sung by Austin Butler. There are a number of famous gospel and blues songs performed by their legendary originators. There are also modern jams, some reinterpretations of classic songs, including the work of Elvis.

Simply put, Austin Butler makes you believe that he is Elvis Presley. Butler seems to channel everything that made Elvis an icon and a legend. Even Elvis' ex-wife, Priscilla, and daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, were awed by Butler's performance. For anyone to beat Butler to the Oscar this year, they will have to be as amazing as him.

As for the entire film: Elvis is at its best when it chronicles Elvis' rise before he enters the military service (the U.S. Army 1958-60). When Elvis is close to his Memphis roots and hanging around Black singers and performers, he is happy and so is the film. Post-military, the film is still beautiful to look like, but the film takes a darker turn as Elvis is disconnected from his roots and becomes surrounded by white people, most of whom are parasites. And the ones that are not parasites are manipulators.

Tom Hanks' Colonel Tom Parker is one of the most ridiculously awful and awfully ridiculous film characters that I have ever seen. Hanks' Parker is like a mix of “Pennywise the Clown” from the It films (based on the Stephen King books) and a mangy elf. Parker epitomizes the morass that drags at the film for most of its running time. Hanks' Parker does make one of the film's themes obvious and true. Maybe, Elvis and Parker snowed themselves as much as they snowed each other.

My grade reflects how much I like this film's production values, music, and Austin Butler's performance. Butler is the shining light of Elvis. I could watch him play Elvis Presley again – in a better film.

6 of 10
B
★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, September 29, 2022

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