080 - Near Dark

Synopsis: Teenage vampire romance 

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Actors: Jeanette Goldstein, Lance Hendriksen, William Paxton, Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright

Date: 1987

How viewed: Lovefilm

Rating: 3/5

David Meyer says:
This is an astounding, subversive treatment of a classic theme: love between a vampire and a mortal, set for maximum weirdness in the modern rural wasteland of a Western suburbia. 

I say:

I'm not a particular fan of vampire movies (except perhaps the old Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee ones), and Near Dark failed to hold my attention, until 2 set-pieces around the middle of the film (in the bar, and the shoot out at the motel) and then it just flagged again until a scene near the end. Of course the storyline doesn't really hold together (it's about vampires after all!!), so that while I can accept that they only survive by drinking blood, their immortality, and that they can't go out in the sunshine, I don't understand where their superhuman strength comes from, or why no one seems to have noticed that a number of normal folk are being killed each night and drained of blood (oh, and can you reverse vampirism with a blood transfusion??). The film felt strangely un-menacing (the Tangerine Dream soundtrack didn't help) and it's so annoying when the story requires ridiculous coincidences. However, in addition to the aforementioned set-pieces I did like the fact that the vampires actually did burn up when exposed to the sun, shots of various cars and vans speeding across the Kansas/Oklahoma scenery, and there were a few arresting images (like the one shown above) - otherwise nothing much to write home about.  

079 - Lolita

Synopsis: Man's obsession with teenage girl

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Actors: James Mason, Peter Sellers, Shelley Winter, Sue Lyon

Date: 1961

How viewed: Bought on Amazon

Rating: 2/5

David Meyer says:
A serious, cruelly funny, slow British art movie of a Russian novel about the core of the American Experience. 

I say:

For someone who has not read the book or had seen the film (or films) just the word Lolita conjures up visions of old men seducing young girls, or vice versa. So, Kubrick's 1962 film comes as a bit of surprise, as it is not the least bit erotic, leaving everything to the imagination, and is also, in places, surprisingly funny, if you enjoy Peter Sellers hamming it up mercilessly as several characters in a similar vein as in Kubrick's Dr Strangelove, and pick up on the double-entendres (although I'm not sure how many were intended as such!). However, reading the reviews reveal how hampered Kubrick was by the censorship laws of the time. Nevertheless, his version of the story, in which there is no backstory for Humbert Humbert (James Mason as always seems somewhat suave rather than repulsive), Lolita's age is never mentioned, (she's 12 in the novel, is played by Sue Lyon who was 14 but looks at least 16), and extends Quilty's role enormously, rather dilute the story. So, generally pretty disappointing, though I did like his huge station wagon (not a double entendre by the way!). 
   

078 - Vernon, Florida

Synopsis: Documentary about the odd inhabitants of a small town in Florida

Director: Errol Morris

Actors: none

Date: 1981

How viewed: Rented from Lovefilm

Rating: 2/5

David Meyer says:

The director's voice is never heard, no questions are asked, and Morris encourages his subjects to talk on and on. At first it's maddening, then hypnotic, then, as comprehension dawns, inspiring. 

I say:

I think, without the introduction by Nick Broomfield, I would have found this little documentary somewhat strange and extremely boring. However, Nick Broomfield talks about it being groundbreaking in its style, allowing the characters Morris choses to film to ramble on at length, to echo the feelings of emptiness and timelessness of the town, and one needs to understand its place in cinematic history. Nevertheless it is not a barrel of laughs, or hugely engrossing, and I fell asleep several times (but re-watched it in case I missed something exciting - I didn't). The main character is a chap who goes out in the woods shooting turkey, waiting for days listening for their distinctive gobbling call and/or tracking their footprints. He proudly shows his board of turkey trophies - feet and beards!! Elsewhere the local policeman sits in his patrol car waiting to catch speeding drivers, and old men talk about water, and God, how sand grows, and show us their tortoise and possum. Hmmmm. However, I realised how valuable it is to have these non-main-stream films put into context by experts in the field - do you remember Alex Cox's introductions to the films shown on Moviedrome?

077 - The Wild Angels

Synopsis: The life, loves, fights and deaths of a gang of Hell's Angels

Director: Roger Corman

Actors: Peter Fonda, Nancy Sinatra, Bruce Dern, Diane Ladd, 

Date: 1966

How viewed: Rented from Lovefilm

Rating: 3/5

David Meyer says:
Corman both romanticises the biker life and finds it bereft of worth. Corman understood anti-heroes like nobody's business. 

I say:

My, we've come a long way in the last few decades! So, here we have a film about a gang of Hell's Angels in the 1960's, led by Peter Fonda (in almost an exact copy of his role in Easy Rider 3 years later). The gang 'want to be free' - free to ride their motorbikes and party and not be hassled. But it all seems pretty tame, even for the 60's - yes, there's hints of sex (consentual and non-consentual) and drugs, but no rock n roll (the sound track is completely out of place tinny surf music), and indeed the scenes of the gang riding through the fantastic Californian scenery and canyons at times looks like an impressive travelogue. There's a sense of disillusionment (Fonda feels his best friends death is 'all his fault') and an oblique reference to the ongoing Vietnam war, but generally it just seems to be about partying and fighting (it must have been galling for Bruce Dern to have to play dead during the drinking and orgy scenes!!). Interesting to see Diane Ladd looking exactly like her (and Bruce Dern's) daughter Laura Dern in David Lynch's film 'Wild at Heart', and the guy who plays the preacher (Frank Maxwell) looks awfully familiar as well. From a 21st century viewpoint the most disturbing thing now about the film is probably the widespread use of the swastika, and easily the most impressive is the scene at the end as the gang ride through town with the coffin to the cemetery as the townsfolk look on. 

076 - Le Mepris (Contempt)

Synopsis: Screenwriter's marriage disintegrates during film production

Director: Jean-Luc Godard

Actors: Brigitte Bardot, Jack Palance, Michael Piccoli, Fritz Lang

Date: 1963

How viewed: Rented from Lovefilm

Rating: 3/5

David Meyer says:
Godard understand cinema perhaps too well; his insights into how camera movement and even light itself can provoke emotion led him to abandon narrative early in his career.

I say:

Le Mepris (aka 'Contempt') is a key film in the French 'New Wave' of the 50's/60's - a movement in which directors such as Jean-Luc Godard broke the mould by introducing techniques such as fragmented discontinuous editing, and long takes, using portable equipment to produce a documentary style. As a result it's rather difficult to watch films like this in terms of simple story-telling - you probably need a few viewings to catch the mood and start to sit back and and enjoy it - but on first viewing it's pretty irritating! Le Mepris is a film about the making of a film  of The Odyssey - the real life director Fritz Lang (Metropolis, M) plays himself (is himself, or plays a part?), who clashes with the producer (Jack Palance) who wants something more commercial and asks a writer (Michael Piccoli) to re-write the screen-play, partially, one senses, because he fancies his wife (Brigitte Bardot). There's a long, long, long middle section where the screen-writer and his wife interminably discuss and argue whether he should take the job and/or go to Capri where the next scenes are bring shot. They go, it doesn't turn out well. The film seems riddled with indecision, you just want someone to make their minds up about something so that the the plot can move along - but perhaps thats exactly what the New Wave were revolting against! As straightforward storytelling it didn't do it for me though. Best bit - the house in Capri where they film. Worst bit - the dubbing into English, very strange.

  

075 - Hell is for Heroes

Synopsis: A handful of US soldiers hold the line against 'the Krauts' in WWII

Director: Don Siegel

Actors: Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Bobby Darin, Fess Parker, Harry Guardino, Bob Newhart

Date: 1962

How viewed: Rented from Lovefilm

Rating: 2/5

David Meyer says:
Uneven, enthralling and unique ... a genre treasure, the last of its kind, a thinking war movie.

I say:

A somewhat pointless and predictable war film about a squad of 6 soldiers left behind to face the advancing German army. The story builds via a number of scenes: a slow beginning with the battle-weary soldiers expecting to be going home, the arrival of the weird looking Steve McQueen (staring eyes, silent, and clearly shell-shocked), the move to the front, the  squad being left to hold the line whilst the rest of the company is temporarily moved elsewhere, the schemes to try and fool the enemy into thinking the full company is still present, the mis-guided attempt to attack the Germans ensconced in a pill box, the return of the company, and the final assault. There's a strange sub-plot about a young Polish guy who wants the join the squad and turns up on the front-line, it's annoying when actual footage is inserted, and whilst the likes of Fess Parker (best remembered as Davy Crockett!) and Harry Guardino look the part, the inclusion of Bobby Darin (who was a huge pop star in the 1950's and is surprisingly good in this film) and Bob Newhart (the comedian) are unexpected!  The film ends suddenly, like this blog (they ran out of money, I ran out of ideas!).

074 - Hard Boiled

Synopsis: Shoot 'em up video game

Director: John Woo

Actors: Yun-Fat Chow, Tony Chiu Wai Leung, Teresa Mo, Anthony Wong

Date: 1993

How viewed: Rented from Lovefilm

Rating: 2/5

David Meyer says:
John Woo creates the most poetic, lyrical, technologically impossible, rhythmic, orgasmic, skillfully edited, widely imitated action sequences in the history of filmmaking. 

I say:

Guns, fast cars, kung fu, origami, jazz, the Hong Kong skyline, neon, yachts, sharp suits, and explosions - what more could you possibly want? Well, some sort of coherent story line would help! Otherwise this is just 2 triad gun-smuggling gangs and the police all shooting each other (and innocent passers by) with guns that rarely need reloading, and it is relentless - the body count runs into the hundreds, all of whom die beautifully choreographed deaths flying through the air in slow motion - unless of course they are the heroes who somehow avoid the hail of bullets fired straight at them! I know that, in its day, it was revolutionary, and pre-dates all the current video massacres and action films, but that doesn't save it from being an extremely boring comic book film. 

073 - In Which We Serve

Synopsis: Lives and loves of 3 Royal Navy sailors during WWII

Director: Noel Coward, David Lean

Actors: Noel Coward, Bernard Miles, John Mills, Richard Attenborough, Celia Johnson, Joyce Carey, Kay Walsh

Date: 1942

How viewed: Rented from Lovefilm

Rating: 3/5

David Meyer says:

Never a voice is raised, never a plot point is overemphasised, never anything so gaudy as an overdone action sequence is permitted to ruffle the calm, smooth tone.

I say:

A terribly, terribly British propaganda film about the courage of all the ranks (and their wives at home) serving on a Royal Navy destroyer in WWII. Noel Coward produces, directs, stars and probably makes the tea (well, probably not). The film follows the history of the ship, from being built and commissioned just as war breaks out, through various scraps, until it is sunk, with only about a third of the crew surviving (rather a bold move for a wartime propaganda film!). The stories of 3 men (upper, middle and lower class - hints of those sketches in 'That Was The Week That Was' with Corbett, Barker and Cleese!) are told in flash-back as they cling to a life raft awaiting rescue (the message being that everyone needs to pull together in the war effort). Some of the action stuff is great, and Bernard Miles, John Mills, and the wives (Celia Johnson, Joyce Carey, Kay Walsh) are all believable characters, but, for me, Noel Coward in his role as Captain of the HMS Torrin, is the only jarring aspect of the film, with his clipped tones, and stiff upper lip - it just doesn't ring true. Lots of propaganda ('There'll always be an England', and the like) obviously age the film, but nevertheless some of the bravery, fear, grimness, and dignity of what it must have been like, come through, especially moving are the arrival of telegrams at home with the families not knowing whether it will be wonderful or terrible news. Apparently the film is based on Lord Mountbatten's experiences and his speeches to the crew are taken word for word. The ending though is somewhat weird, with the surviving crew being re-allocated to other ships, the Captain shakes hands with them all to say goodbye - it seems to go for ages, and at the end Noel wanders off, leaving 4 officers, who sort of stand there embarrassedly, and then also wander off! 

072 - The Last Movie

Synopsis: The blurred edges between reality and movies

Director: Dennis Hopper

Actors: Dennis Hopper, Kris Kirstofferson, Don Gordon, Stella Garcia, Peter Fonda, Henry Fonda, Sylvia Miles, Sam Fuller, Dean Stockwell, Michelle Phillips, Julia Adams

Date: 1971

How viewed: Bought DVD from J4HI.com

Rating: 4/5

David Meyer says:

It's clear that Hopper was on the track of something miraculous, but for whatever reasons lacked the courage of his convictions while editing the final third of the film. Or that as a (totally self-destructive) director, preferred anarchy to a more conventionally satisfying conclusion.  

I say: 

On first viewing I found it very difficult to decide whether this film is an indulgent  mess or a masterpiece - and had to watch it again to try and see which side of the fence I came down on. I certainly liked it a lot more the second time - though a lot of it still didn't make sense! Dennis Hopper plays a wrangler with a film crew making a western in Peru - but after a stunt man accidentally dies on set (I admit I still didn't spot that!), he stays on in Peru with a local woman, but then finds out that the locals are making their own 'film', but are shooting each other for real. However, the film itself blurs the edges of what's real and what's imaginary, and is difficult to follow, due to the confusing timeline, the many jump cuts, various side plots (e.g. searching for a gold mine), and other unconventional devices (like the title not coming up until about 30 minutes into the film). The film does not seem to officially be on DVD, but I picked up a copy from J4HI ('Rare, Out of Print, and Lost Cult Film' - http://www.j4hi.com/index.html - well worth a browse!) and I've just realised that someone has posted it on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxNyUCE6kPo. However, both options are somewhat blurred, the sound's not great, and there's no subtitles (I find I tend to turn on the subtitles for everything these days - not just because my hearing may be going, but because the trend for mumbling means you can miss important details!). I also notice that there's also 'an extremely rare' documentary of Hopper editing the film, on youtube called 'The American Dreamer' (Hopper spent years editing the film in an 'unconventionally way in an attempt to break new cinematic ground'). The tagline for The Last Movie says 'Compared to this, every movie you've ever seen is just a film. This is cinema' - and whilst today its disjointed confusing feel would probably not feel out of place, 40 years ago it undoubtedly would have been considered revolutionary. See it at least twice, I think you might start to like it! 

071 - Kind Hearts and Coronets

Synopsis: Disinherited son murders his way to a Dukedom

Director: Robert Hamer

Actors: Alec Guinness, Dennis Price, Joan Greenwood, Valerie Hobson
Date: 1949

How viewed: Lovefilm rental

Rating: 3/5

David Meyer says:
Am adult exercise in irony, crafted to perfection, presented in a flowing, unhurried rhythm. An unmistakeable product of its age: the ultimate - and funniest - British black comedy.

I say:

I'm afraid that once again I find myself out on a limb and not agreeing with the general opinion that this is one of the greatest British films of all time, sorry! I felt it was a rather boring, macabre little tale, with, sadly, few laughs. It recounts how a disinherited member of the aristocracy (Dennis Price) gains his revenge by killing off all those ahead of him in line to become the next Duke of Chalfont. It's all done in a very flat, matter of fact, tone, poking fun at the aristocracy and indeed seeming to approve of their demise! In it's favour, the circular format of the story (the revenger is eventually trapped by revenge) is neat, but mainly it's a vehicle for Alec Guinness to have fun playing all 8 of the members of the family who get bumped off (though they are all rather similar characters, and some are only on screen for a few seconds!). Nice to see the great Arthur Lowe pop up as a reporter in the last scene - though blink and you'll miss him! Overall though, not a bundle of laughs. PS The film's title comes from a line in a Tennyson poem: "Kind hearts are more than coronets, and simple faith than Norman blood' - though not sure how that really fits the film!