Mean Streets

"Mean Streets" is a love letter to director Martin Scorcese's youth in New York City. It has its thrilling moments, but for me it was mostly hollow. Perhaps I've seen too many that are influenced by or rip off "Mean Streets". Thus now its impact is dulled. Juvenile characters committing juvenile acts, with an oppressive Catholic sheen. It was amusing to see Robert De Niro sporting long hair in this youthful role. Unfortunately, one can perceive the ending to this story from miles away. No one's smiling by the time the credits roll.


Written 7/13/10

Badlands

"Badlands" is atmospheric and unpredictable. The gritty side of the story is hard to take at times. Murder upon murder are depicted onscreen. But director Terence Malick's filmmaking is always imaginative. What might be an everyday story of two young lovers on the run from the law is instead here a tone poem, vast and mutable as the horizon.


Written 6/29/10

The American Friend

This is filmmaking without a net. Some of director Wim Wenders' choices puzzled me for days. But I don't mind this - I appreciate his daring. Dennis Hopper's crazed performance is transfixing. I had no idea what he was doing with this role; a lot of it seems improvised. "The American Friend" is a curious film that will not appeal to all, but if you are daring in your tastes or if you have a special appreciation for 1970's cinema then you ought to give it a look.


Written 5/22/10

Escape from Alcatraz

The first 15-20 minutes really drag with slow and excessive exposition. Perhaps when the film premiered in 1979 Alcatraz wasn't so well known, but as a modern viewer I found the explanations about the prison (i.e. everyone saying again and again, "No one escapes from Alcatraz") to be tedious. But the film soon picks up. Clint Eastwood is outstanding in the lead role. The story presents enough twists that it remains compelling to the end. Not something I'd watch again and again, but definitely worthy of one viewing.


Written 5/18/10

The Friends of Eddie Coyle

This film is enjoyable enough while it plays, but I found it didn't wholly resonate with me. After the end credits, I was on to the rest of my evening, with nary another thought about the film. Despite this, Robert Mitchum is excellent as the title character. His performance here makes me want to check out more of his work. Definitely a "guys" movie, this. Female viewers are likely to get bleary-eyed, particularly if they have an aversion to gangster/heist films.


Written 2/11/10

Marjoe

"Marjoe" is deeply disturbing. That the subject of this documentary would continue his "preaching", deceiving vast crowds of people with his presumed genuine speech and actions, then collecting their cash offerings at the end of the night is sickening. Sure, he's playing a role, a character. The filmmakers obviously love their access. They love drawing back the veil and exposing the hypocrisy. But they present no meaningful answers, no solutions. Thus the viewer is left in this mire of void: contemplate Marjoe, another in a long line of pulpit con men, fallen from grace, his words hackneyed through and through.


Written 2/11/10

The French Connection

This film has a curious power. Perhaps most notably it contains an amazing car-chasing-a-train-sequence that is not to be missed. I do feel that the villains were poorly cast. But the "good guys" Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider sizzle enough to make up for their less than stellar counterparts.


Written 12/11/09

Opening Night

I found it impossible to care about Gena Rowland's character. The "issues" she faces as the stage factor she plays in "Opening Night" are egotistic and highfalutin. So you can't find the character you're trying to play, huh? Why don't you just quit the role? She bored me with her fish-like flopping around and incessant drinking. This circular saga didn't resonate with me. The film's length - 144 minutes! - certainly doesn't help.


Written 11/10/09

Paper Moon

Peter Bogdanovich had a vision for this film, and he executed it expertly. The casting is superb. The story veers into dark corners at times, but a winning human spirit triumphs. Fun to see a real life father-daughter act in parallel roles onscreen.


Written 11/10/09

Punishment Park

Of course this is heavy-handed -- it's an unflinching satire of the Vietnam war-era battles between the "squares" and the "hippies" in the U.S. Director Peter Watkins' filmmaking here is ever-imaginative and gripping. Some of the dialogue is repetitive, sure, but the film thrusts viewers into such a believable alternate reality that flaws in the execution are forgivable. Since the release of "Punishment Park" in 1971, countless viewers have believed the film to be a factual documentary. It is that convincing.


Written 9/8/09

What's Up, Doc?

A classic caper comedy that is guaranteed to lift your spirits. By the time the film ramps up to its sequence of ceaseless sight gags and, eventually, a brilliant car chase through the streets of San Francisco, you will be hooked. Ryan O'Neal is outstanding as a needy nerd, and Streisand is sweetly mischievous. The supporting cast provide laughs all around. Don't sleep on this one!


Written 8/7/09

The Sting

This is light and fluffy entertainment. There's no great social message in "The Sting" -- it's all about having a good time. Robert Redford and Paul Newman are re-teamed with the same director they worked with on "Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid". "The Sting" is a stronger picture. Both Redford and Newman expectedly exhibit rakish charm. Newman even regularly refers to Redford as "kid", perhaps out of habit from their last project! The two are obviously comfortable working together and this is a great asset to the storytelling. At the end of viewing "The Sting" you probably won't remember much. This one's not about what sticks - it's about enjoying the present moment and then gliding back into your everyday life.

The Exorcist

Images from "The Exorcist" will remain with me until the end of my days. It is truly frightening. I had managed to avoid viewing this until now, as a 31 year old. I don't care for horror films and among that genre's vast offerings, almost 40 years on from its making this one is still notorious for its darkness. While viewing this, it got to a point where whenever the mother was running upstairs to check on whatever the demons possessing her daughter were up to I had to press and hold the fast forward button. Too heavy for me. Even skipping past those moments, I managed to be creeped out plenty. What gets lost in all the hoopla about the gore, the depiction of a possessed child, and the spiritual battle depicted onscreen is that "The Exorcist" is a tremendous film. The pacing of the storytelling is revelatory. The editor deserves many plaudits. The actors are brilliant and never campy. It's just that I hope to never see this again. I'm too sensitive, which means I'm unable to allow these images a home in my mind.

Best Boy

A touching, intimate portrait of a unique family facing an inevitable period of change. The filmmaker is tender and never exploitative, despite his challenging subject: a mentally challenged adult. "Best Boy" is an enlightening documentary filled with vitality and heart-warming moments.


Written 7/25/09

The Conversation

Absolutely outstanding in every regard. "The Conversation" is saturated with imaginative camerawork, skillful editing, haunting sounds, and studied performances. The story twists and turns in a dizzyingly Kafka-esque fashion, but Francis Ford Coppola deftly navigates a purposeful course. "The Conversation" is a rare work, reminding viewers that film can indeed be art.


Written 6/30/09

All The President's Men

Taut, suspenseful, and worthy of all its plaudits. This is fine, measured filmmaking. Both Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman shine as investigative reports who decide to get to the bottom of the Watergate scandal. Their work is probably well known now to anyone even casually interested in U.S. political scandals, but at the time of this film's release it must really have been a revolutionary gong. President Richard Nixon and his administration are savaged. Jason Robards rounds out the excellent cast, playing the seen-it-all-before boss of the newsroom. He is winning as an ally (and occasional nemesis) to Hoffman and Redford's impassioned upstarts.

Two-Lane Blacktop

I am a longtime fan of the Beach Boys, and Dennis Wilson's involvement in this film always piqued my curiosity. Finally available on DVD, "Two-Lane Blacktop" is not as brilliant as I had hoped. Dennis does as well as you could expect given that he and James Taylor - his co-lead - are non-actors. Wilson is at least somewhat believable as "The Mechanic", a brooding car-obsessive who is rarely required to speak. Taylor, unfortunately, tends to limit the film. I just don't buy him as a badass race car driver. He's too mellow even when trying to act tough. And the less said about Laurie Bird the better; she is a miserable screen presence. Nevertheless, there are a few atmospheric moments which provide intrigue. Vintage car enthusiasts will find more to love here.


Written 6/21/08