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Month: November 2006

David Holzman’s Diary (1968)

David Holzman’s Diary (1968)

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“The noted French wit Jean-Luc Godard said, ‘What is film? Film is truth 24 times a second.'”

Synopsis:
A young filmmaker named David Holzman (L.M. Kit Carson) decides to “figure out his life” by creating a documentary of his everyday actions.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Documentary
  • Satires and Spoofs

Review:
The inherent irony of this early mockumentary — a prescient forerunner of “reality TV”, YouTube, blogs, and all other forms of self-promotion through digital media — is that, in his attempt to lampoon the banality of everyday life, director Jim McBride ultimately creates a movie which is, in a word, boring. While there are some clever cinematic techniques and a few moments of levity (David being hit on by his lusty neighbor; David obsessing over the mysterious girl who lives across the street), ultimately it’s annoying to watch this narcissistic young man try to capture every moment of his humdrum existence on film — and when he films his naked sleeping girlfriend (Eileen Dietz) against her wishes, you’ll want to throttle him! Even at 74 minutes, this innovative yet uninteresting film — more effective in theory than in practice — is too long.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

  • A creative lampoon of “cinema verite”
  • An effective depiction of filmmakers as narcissistic voyeurs
  • Louise Levine as Holzman’s hilariously lusty, deep-voiced neighbor, “Sandra”
  • Some clever cinematic techniques (such as the long, long traveling shot of elderly people sitting on benches in a park)

Must See?
Yes, but only for its place in cinematic history.

Categories

  • Cult Movie
  • Historically Relevant

(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)

Links:

Wavelength (1967)

Wavelength (1967)

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“Nothing is real… and nothing to get hung about.”

Synopsis:
A camera slowly zooms in on empty room while people come and go, ultimately ending on a photograph of waves.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Experimental Films

Review:
In this notorious minimalist film, director Michael Snow utilizes jump cuts, flashbacks, repeated shots, different film stock, filters, and other cinematic devices to create a technically innovative yet ultimately tedious piece of underground cinema. While watching what appears to be (but isn’t) a 45-minute single zoom shot, we are subjected to the sound of a single sine-wave, ranging from its lowest note (50 cycles per second) to its annoyingly shrill highest note (12,000 cycles per second). The film ends with a cloying play on words, as the camera focuses on a photograph of ocean waves. In honor of Peary’s no-holds-barred, highly personal approach to film criticism — and at the true risk of appearing gauche — I’ll admit I wish that Snow had bothered to incorporate a bit more interest into the narrative of this ground-breaking yet “difficult” film. Given the extreme amount of cinematic manipulation he uses, Snow can’t (or shouldn’t) legitimately argue that he was aiming for any kind of narrative purity. I dare you to watch this film — best seen as an experiment in form rather than a cohesive narrative — at home without touching the fast forward button on your remote control; but I won’t blame you if you do.

Note: To watch the entire film in 2.5 minutes, click here. It’ll be the fastest viewing of a GFTFF title you’ve ever experienced!

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

  • An original, if boring, piece of avant-garde film making.

Must See?
Yes, once, simply for its historical importance.

Categories

  • Historically Relevant

(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)

Links:
Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977)

Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977)

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“Everybody’s taking something, or they’d never make it ’til morning.”

Synopsis:
Schoolteacher Theresa Dunn (Diane Keaton) cruises New York bars at night looking for sex and excitement, and finds herself in increasingly dangerous situations.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Character Studies
  • Diane Keaton Films
  • Richard Brooks Films
  • Richard Gere Films
  • Sexuality
  • Teachers
  • Tuesday Weld Films

Review:
Based on the real-life murder of 27-year-old schoolteacher Rosanne Quinn, this cinematic adaptation of Judith Rossner’s bestselling novel was released the same year as Woody Allen’s comedic paean to life and love in New York — Annie Hall (1977) — and features its Oscar-winning eponymous heroine (Diane Keaton) in a radically different role. As in Annie Hall and many other films of the time (i.e., Paul Mazursky’s An Unmarried Woman), Looking for Mr. Goodbar deals with single females exploring their sexuality during the heyday of women’s lib. Indeed, once she gives herself the opportunity to sleep with any and every man she sees, Theresa takes advantage of this to the nth degree — but ultimately it’s more painful than liberating to watch her encounters with a series of unbearably chauvinistic men, including her married professor (Alan Feinstein) and a jealous player (Richard Gere).


As several reviewers have pointed out (see links below), many elements of Looking for Mr. Goodbar‘s otherwise provocative screenplay are unnecessarily heavy-handed: Theresa’s conflicts with her Catholic parents come across as overbearingly Freudian, and the flashback scenes to Theresa’s traumatic childhood experiences with scoliosis are derivative. Plus, it’s distressing to watch a film in which you already know the gory outcome — the cumulative effect is one of watching a morality tale-cum-train wreck about the dangers of wanton sexual exploration. This is too bad, because Keaton’s daring performance as a woman unafraid of her own sexual cravings deserves a much more respectful treatment.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

  • Diane Keaton as a rebellious schoolteacher living a double life
  • A realistic, albeit cautionary, look at hedonism in the 1970s

Must See?
Yes. While it’s not an entirely successful film, Diane Keaton’s performance makes it must-see viewing at least once.

Categories

  • Noteworthy Performance(s)

Links:

Algiers (1938)

Algiers (1938)

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“The Casbah rises like a fortress from the sea: colorful, sordid, dangerous.”

Synopsis:
While hiding from police in the Casbah, renowned jewel thief Pepe le Moko (Charles Boyer) falls in love with a beautiful Parisian woman (Hedy Lamarr) who reminds him of home.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Cat-and-Mouse
  • Charles Boyer Films
  • Detectives and Private Eyes
  • Hedy Lamarr Films
  • John Cromwell Films
  • Star-Crossed Lovers
  • Thieves and Criminals

Response to Peary’s Review:
Unlike most reviewers, Peary doesn’t dismiss this “irresistible, hot-blooded romance” as simply a scene-for-scene remake of 1937’s Pepe le Moko — which it is. In fact, if you watch the films too closely together (as I did), it’s actually somewhat disconcerting to recognize the same exact dialogue and settings being played out all over again; and you’ll wonder why director John Cromwell went to all the bother. Nonetheless, as Peary notes, Algiers remains a “dark, exotic, highly atmospheric film” with “memorable screen lovers” in a “faraway world” — and if you can forget its predecessor ever existed, chances are you’ll find yourself caught up in the romance and excitement of this classic adventure.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

  • Hedy Lamarr in her American film debut
  • Genuine screen chemistry between Boyer and Lamarr
  • Joseph Calleia as Inspector Slimane — cool and confident as he hatches a plot to capture Pepe
  • Beautiful black-and-white cinematography by James Wong Howe

Must See?
No, but it’s worth a look as the movie which inspired cartoon character Pepe le Pew’s infamous non-quote (it was never in the film): “Come with me to the Casbah!”

Links:

Geisha, A / Gion Bayashi (1953)

Geisha, A / Gion Bayashi (1953)

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“Geisha don’t lie — they talk business.”

Synopsis:
After taking on 16-year-old Eiko (Ayako Wakao) as an apprentice, geisha Miyoharu (Michiyo Kogure) and her new protege find their positions compromised by men (Seizaburo Kawazu and Kanji Koshiba) who demand more than geisha traditionally provide.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Feminism and Women’s Issues
  • Japanese Films
  • Kenzi Mizoguchi Films
  • Mentors

Review:
Throughout his career, director Kenzi Mizoguchi exhibited an uncanny sympathy for the plight of women in male-dominated Japanese society. While his most famous works (The Life of Oharu, Ugetsu Monogatari, and Sansho the Bailiff) were historical dramas set in the distant past, Gion Bayashi — a staunchly realistic depiction of life for geisha in post-WWII Japan — is a notable exception; yet it fits clearly into his ongoing depiction of noble females who must cope with debasing situations. Most Americans became familiarized with the life of Japanese geisha — a term which translates roughly into “artisans” (not prostitutes) — either through Arthur Golden’s 1997 novel Memoirs of a Geisha or its disappointing 2005 cinematic adaptation by Rob Marshall. Marshall’s film is lush and beautiful yet ultimately empty, replacing Golden’s detailed evocation of life in a geisha house with an insipidly melodramatic story of unrequited love, and a romanticized view of female subjugation.

Fortunately, Mizoguchi makes no such mistake in his film. Time and again in Gion Bayashi, men (without a single exception) are shown exploiting geisha for any of numerous reasons: their personal sexual gratification (Kawazu nearly rapes the adolescent Eiko, while Koshiba calls Miyoharu “cold” for refusing his advances); to advance their business (“renting” the right geisha for one’s clients can help grease transactions); or for cold, hard cash (Eiko’s deadbeat dad refuses to help sponsor her training as a geisha, but comes begging for handouts once she’s successful). In addition, unlike in Memoirs, the geisha “sisters” in this film don’t develop cut-throat rivalries with one another; instead, they understand that camaraderie and empathy is what will help them survive. In perhaps the most interesting scene of the film, Miyoharu sits with Eiko after she has severely compromised their reputations by fighting back during an attempted rape by Kawazu (she bit his mouth so badly he was hospitalized for a month). Rather than chastising Eiko, however, Miyoharu admits that she would have done the same thing. Eventually, Miyoharu becomes a mother-figure of sorts to Eiko, attempting to protect her at all costs from the debasement geisha face in a modern world which no longer respects their work — and it is hard, difficult work — as a noble craft.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

  • Michiyo Kogure’s sensitive performance as the noble Miyoharu
  • Ayako Wakao as the willful young Eiko (a.k.a. “Miyue”)
  • A fascinating, detailed look at life for geisha in post-WWII Japan

Must See?
Yes. Listed in the back of Peary’s book as a Personal Recommendation.

Categories

  • Historically Relevant
  • Important Director

Links:

Butterfly (1981)

Butterfly (1981)

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“It’s right if it feels good.”

Synopsis:
Mine caretaker Jess Tyler (Stacy Keach) is tried by Judge Rauch (Orson Welles) for “improper relations” with his illegitimate grown daughter, Kady (Pia Zadora).

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Con-Artists
  • Courtroom Drama
  • Incest and Incestuous Undertones
  • Mining Towns
  • Stacy Keach Films

Response to Peary’s Review:
As Peary notes, this infamous backwoods melodrama, starring one-time child actress Pia Zadora — best known for Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964) — is “trashy” and “some scenes are impossibly bad and embarrassing,” but it’s “not quite as terrible as its reputation.” Indeed, Pia Zadora is a natural at portraying a scheming, manipulative young sexpot, and the story (based on James M. Cain’s novel) contains a surprising number of interesting plot twists. The notorious “bathtub scene” (in which Zadora successfully seduces Keach) may shock some — but given that these are two consenting adults who’ve never met before (and given later plot developments), it’s not really all that titillating.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

  • “Baby-faced” Pia Zadora, all grown up
  • Orson Welles in a surprising bit role as the local judge

Must See?
No, but it’s worth a look simply for the notoriety surrounding Zadora’s simultaneous reception of the Golden Globe award for “Best New Star of the Year” and the “Worst Actress Razzie.” I suspect you’ll agree that neither was truly warranted.

Links:

Alligator (1980)

Alligator (1980)

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“Well, if I couldn’t get myself killed chasing it, what fun would it be?”

Synopsis:
While investigating a series of mysterious disappearances, a Chicago police detective (Robert Forster) discovers the presence of an enormous mutant alligator (“Ramon”) living in the city’s sewers.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Corruption
  • Detectives and Private Eyes
  • Horror
  • Mutant Monsters

Response to Peary’s Review:
This low-budget sci-fi thriller effectively plays upon the fears generated by “rumors of alligators roaming around urban sewer systems” after tourists return from Florida with live gator babies they no longer want. Screenwriter John Sayles cleverly exploits the unexpected dangers of illicit scientific experimentation (Ramon has grown to astronomical proportions from eating the hormone-riddled corpses of dumped lab animals) while addressing the age-old suspicion about what may happen if you flush live animals down the toilet. The movie’s limited budget shows through occasionally (particularly, as Peary notes, when Ramon emerges onto the city streets), and Sayles’s script is unduly formulaic at times — but for the most part Alligator remains consistently amusing, and just freaky enough to keep you on your toes.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

  • Plenty of enjoyable humor

  • John Sayles’s clever script

Must See?
No, but it’s a fun, surprisingly literate “mutant monster” flick.

Links:
American Gigolo (1980)

American Gigolo (1980)

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“I made you! I taught you everything you know — how to dress, table manners, how to move, how to make love.”

Synopsis:
A high-paid gigolo (Richard Gere) is framed in the murder of a wealthy client, but is reluctant to expose his alibi (Lauren Hutton).

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Amateur Sleuths
  • Framed
  • Murder Mystery
  • Paul Schrader Films
  • Prostitutes and Gigolos
  • Richard Gere Films

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary loathes this flashy thriller, calling it a “thoroughly unconvincing, terribly made movie,” and arguing that it was made “solely to arouse viewers unaccustomed to seeing big stars like Gere taking such embarrassing roles.” I disagree. While I don’t think this film is up to the gritty standards of director Paul Schrader’s earlier outings — such as Blue Collar (1978) — he nonetheless manages to convincingly portray the loneliness experienced by a man like Gere, someone who commands top dollars for his services and lives a life of luxury, but ultimately (like all prostitutes) can’t buy his own fulfillment. In addition, the film contains many moments of genuine tension, especially during the final scenes as Gere is trying desperately to find the evidence that will exonerate him. While this isn’t a great movie — ultimately it’s too slick, and the romance between Gere and Hutton is underdeveloped — it’s certainly not the “ugly and dirty” piece of “trash” Peary makes it out to be.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

  • Handsome young Richard Gere in an early role
  • Atmospheric cinematography

Must See?
No, but it’s worth a look.

Links:
Ticket to Heaven (1981)

Ticket to Heaven (1981)

Comments 1 comment

“Bring in the money! Stay awake! Smash out Satan!”

Synopsis:
When a lonely, depressed young man (Nick Mancuso) is inducted into a Moonie-like cult, his friends (including Saul Rubinek as a struggling comic) and family members hatch a plot to rescue and deprogram him.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Cults
  • Escape
  • Psychological Horror

Response to Peary’s Review:
This “real life horror film” earns my vote as the single best movie ever made about cults. Full of many “convincing, terrifying” scenes, the film effectively shows how new recruits are brainwashed — through deprivation of adequate sleep, nutritious food, and privacy — and end up devoting their lives to collecting money for a messianic leader. Fortunately, director Ralph Thomas injects this undeniably freaky material with plenty of levity — primarily in the form of Rubinek’s character, whose humorous presence assures us that things will (hopefully) turn out okay in the end.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

  • Saul Rubinek as David’s heroic friend-to-the-rescue
  • Some truly freaky scenes — i.e., when David tries to take a walk by himself but is followed by a posse of “friendly” cult members
  • Meg Foster — with her “creepy green eyes” — as “Sister Ingrid”, a local cult leader
  • A powerfully realistic depiction of cult indoctrination and deprogramming

Must See?
Yes. This excellent Canadian sleeper deserves wider viewing.

Categories

  • Good Show

Links:

The Tingler (1959)

The Tingler (1959)

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“Remember: if you scream at just the right time, it might just save your life”

Synopsis:
When researching the effects of fear on the human body, Dr. Warren Chapin (Vincent Price) discovers the presence of a creature he names “the Tingler”, which lives in our vertebrae and is rendered harmless by screaming.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Deafness
  • Horror
  • Mad Doctors and Scientists
  • Mutant Monsters
  • Science Fiction
  • Vincent Price Films
  • William Castle Films

Response to Peary’s Review:
As Peary notes, this “pretty good William Castle chiller” features “one of the weirdest (though not one of the best) monsters in horror-film history,” and Vincent Price in yet another deliciously “hammy” Mad Scientist role. The scenes involving a deaf-mute woman (Judith Evelyn) who is “incapable of screaming away her deadly fears” are, as Peary notes, “genuinely creepy”; and while much of the film belongs squarely in campy B-movie heaven, you’ll nonetheless find yourself surprisingly freaked out by the story’s premise. Indeed, many of David Cronenberg’s later films (i.e., The Brood and Shivers) — which base their horror on the notion of unwelcome creatures nesting in our bodies — owe a debt to this earlier movie.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

  • Vincent Price as the cuckolded “mad doctor” who gets his revenge in the end
  • A truly strange-looking “mutant monster”
  • Clever use of a deaf-mute woman as a plausible plot device
  • Some moments of genuine terror
  • An amusing theatrical gimmick — “Percepto” — “whereby, at scary moments, motors would make theater seats “tingle’.”

Must See?
Yes, simply for the notoriety of its corny “theater gimmick” — but chances are you’ll enjoy the film on its own merits, as a uniquely campy B-thriller.

Categories

  • Cult Movie
  • Historically Relevant
  • Important Director

Links: