“I’m going home.”
|
Synopsis: |
|
Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:
Review:
Curiously, however, Renoir adds comedy into the mix — and while there’s nothing wrong with approaching serious topics like war through comedy, one wonders exactly what it achieves here, other than opportunities for slapstick: … or perhaps highlighting the absurdity of the entire situation.
Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:
Must See? Links: |
“Damn all women. They take you up to heaven, and then they drop you.”
|
Synopsis: |
|
Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:
Review:
… and leading into more details of their collectively aimless existence, which consists of a resistance to work, an inability to care for offspring, and an overall air of pugnacious rebellion. (“Give me a gun and there’d be nobody left standing.”)
When Accattone falls for Pasut, we vacillate between believing he’ll instantly exploit her, and wondering if she may be the woman who finally turns him “straight”.
Regardless, there’s very little here to give one much hope about the state of post-war Italy and its poverty-stricken inhabitants. Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:
Must See? Links: |
“It’s against our religion; we’re devout cowards!”
|
Synopsis: |
|
Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:
Review:
Everything about this silly flick is predicated on one’s appreciation of the Stooges’ humor:
… and one’s enjoyment at seeing them in an anachronistic western environment.
The biggest highlight of the film is Nancy Kovacks as sharp-shooting Annie Oakley, who comes to the rescue with a grin of delight time and again.
Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:
Must See? Links: |
“We should be able to do everything — to see everything in this beautiful world — at least once, shouldn’t we? That’s right, isn’t it?”
|
Synopsis: |
|
Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:
Response to Peary’s Review:
… “Richard Jaeckel is perfectly cast as a bald, psychopathic soldier”:
… “and, surprisingly, Derek’s direction (so awful in his films with Bo) is often interesting, particularly when using superimposures and freeze frames.”
Indeed, in his debut film, Derek seems to be having plenty of creative fun with all sorts of cinematic tricks, making this a visually intriguing outing above all else. Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:
Must See? Links: |
“Tell her the roses were your idea.”
|
Synopsis: |
|
Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:
Review:
Unfamiliar viewers should note that the film takes place just after WWII, not the Vietnam War, as one might think from Judy Collins’ folksy music playing across the credits. Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:
Must See? Categories
Links: |
“I can’t be brave all the time; only in small doses.”
|
Synopsis: |
|
Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:
Review:
POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT He points out that “Caron’s Jane doesn’t have the baby because she is against abortions per se (at one time she takes pills to cause a miscarriage) but because her baby’s birth will be a means of injecting ‘life’ – figuratively and literally – into her dreary existence.” While she “loves the people in her boardinghouse,” they “are all lonely, unfulfilled, and unhappy” — what you might call “deadbeats.”
Peary writes that in this non-MGM film, Caron “revealed a sexual maturity that her fans were unprepared for,” looking “like a real woman for a change” and “more appealing than ever.” Moreover, “there was something enticing as well as admirable about this woman who refuses to marry the man who impregnated her, or let a quack male doctor give her an abortion so he can pay his bills, or get an abortion though it would guarantee the love of Toby [Bell], the man she loves.”
Indeed, Caron’s nuanced, highly empathetic performance grounds this film, reassuring us that Jane herself will be okay no matter how others around her treat her (which is often quite shabbily). It’s a harsh film but a daringly frank one, and well worth a look. Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:
Must See? Categories
Links: |
“Teach us public health, so we can teach the villages we liberate!”
|
Synopsis: |
|
Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:
Review:
The film’s production history says most of what one needs to know about how it emerged, and why; as noted on Wikipedia:
There you go. The dialogue and delivery are at least occasionally laughably bad, for those who enjoy that sort of thing:
Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:
Must See? Links: |
“Long hair on boys is one of the things wrong with this country, if you ask me.”
|
Synopsis: |
|
Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:
Review:
There’s not much to this simple story other than Douglas interacting with various people in his hometown, including a couple of girls he meets while swimming out at the lake:
…. and a pot-smoking old woman (Amy Stuart) who for some reason gifts Douglas with a creepy mummified baby.
Wright doesn’t have much to do except look and act like the reasonable parent in the family (albeit with a secret of her own):
… and Virginia Christie (in her final role) comes and goes quickly as the wife of a senator.
Douglas does bring some needed energy to the film, but his enthusiasm is not enough to save this one from obscurity. Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:
Must See? Links: |
“Good boy, Eustis!”
|
Synopsis: |
|
Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:
Review:
… and the rest either getting into hijinks with his moronic friend Jerry (Tony Bill):
… or for some reason trying to get Gleason to hook up with Weld.
None of these characters or relationships make much sense — and they’re certainly not compelling. While this film is purportedly about Gleason and McQueen’s enduring friendship, it’s challenging to see why we should care about them. Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:
Must See? Links: |
“I’m sick and tired of the kind of life I lead.”
|
Synopsis: |
|
Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:
Review:
Indeed, both Wood and McQueen undergo significant character arcs in this film, with time and space given in the pacing of the screenplay to show the inner shifts occurring for each of them. McQueen is at first presented as a self-absorbed hustler living with an equally narcissistic showgirl (Edie Adams) whose apartment is littered with evidence of her love for herself (and her dogs):
… while Wood is literally smothered on all sides by her domineering Italian family, who want to monitor her every move.
It makes sense that both Wood and McQueen would gravitate towards a less extreme, more balanced existence of some kind — but meanwhile, Wood’s pregnancy needs taking care of, and we’re shown the extreme challenges of this situation in a pre-Roe v. Wade world. While the movie’s tone is a bit uneven — veering from more serious drama to slapstick (i.e., how clumsy both Bosley and Wood are during dinners with their respective families) — this remains overall a well-filmed drama with good use of authentic New York location shooting. It’s worth a one-time look. Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:
Must See? Links: |
