FilmFanatic.org

Synopsis:
In Czechoslovakia during World War II, a shy, bumbling railroad dispatcher (Vaclav Neckar) is more concerned with losing his virginity than with spotting espionage on passing trains.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Black Comedy
• Coming-of-Age
• Eastern European Films
• Trains and Subways
• Virginity
• World War Two

Response to Peary’s Review:
As Peary notes, this Oscar-winning foreign film — “one of the landmarks of the brief Czech film renaissance” — offers a “beguiling mix of comedy… and jolting tragedy.” Full of “likeable, quirky characters, a strong sense of locale… and a great deal of charm,” the film functions as both a blackly humorous historical vignette and an ironic commentary on the travails of male adolescence. As in Jerzy Skolimowsky’s Deep End (1971), the story centers on a naive young teenager who is so obsessed with sex that it colors his entire impression of the world around him — and who is so distressed by his inability to “perform” sexually that he takes drastic action. The ultimate message, as Peary notes, is that males can “perform great acts of heroism… yet consider themselves failures as men if they get too anxious in bed to please a pretty flirt.”

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Vaclav Neckar as Milos
  
• Milos’ charming yet tortured romance with a fellow conductor (Jitka Bendova)
  
• “Ladies’ man” Hubicka (Josef Somr) stamping the date up and down the legs of a willing young woman
  

Must See?
Yes. This is a must-see foreign gem.

Categories

• Foreign Gem
• Oscar Winner or Nominee

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

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review

Synopsis:
A group of elderly people facing eviction from their dilapidated apartment building take drastic action by murdering anyone who tries to force them to leave.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Black Comedy
• Elderly People
• Serial Killers

Response to Peary’s Review:
As Peary notes, this “weird little sleeper” by independent filmmaker Larry Yust — “extremely well acted by the veteran cast” — effectively blends “horror, comedy, and social drama” while showing “true respect for the resourcefulness of the elderly.” Peary laments the brutal nature of the murders, though he concedes that most victims are “heartless, arrogant people”. The final scene of the movie is surprisingly satisfying.

Redeeming Qualities:

• A rare pre-Cocoon (1985) film with spunky elderly people as the leads
  
  

Must See?
No, but this unusual film is worth seeking out.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings Review

Synopsis:
Meek stagehand Polly Browne (Twiggy) takes over the leading role in Sandy Wilson’s musical The Boy Friend when its star (Glenda Jackson) breaks her leg.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Actors and Actresses
• Glenda Jackson Films
• Ken Russell Films
• Love Triangle
• Musical
• Play Adaptations
• Underdog

Response to Peary’s Review:
This creative play-within-a-play adaptation of Sandy Wilson’s musical — a “takeoff of Warners’ Depression Era musicals where performers smiled through the sad storylines and lyrics” — showcases Ken Russell’s ability to add a unique spin to any project he’s involved with (Peary argues it’s his “best film”). It’s dizzying, colorful, and fun to watch: Tommy Tune’s tap-dancing is a wonder to behold:

the “production numbers are excitingly innovative”:

and it’s hard not to hope that everything works out between Polly and her secret crush, Tony (Christopher Gable).

As Peary points out, this film — which has “endless doses of wit, spirit, and charm” — is “much underrated”; other reviews are inexplicably scathing.

Redeeming Qualities:

• Twiggy as Polly Browne
  
• Tommy Tune as himself
  
• Vibrant cinematography and sets
  
  
  
• Fun, Busby Berkeley-inspired musical numbers
  

Must See?
Yes, as one among many unique entries in Ken Russell’s ouevre.

Categories

• Important Director

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Spinning Image Review
• DVD Savant Review
• NY Times Original Review
• Roger Ebert’s Review

Synopsis:
Lieutenant Thursday (Henry Fonda) is sent to a remote outpost in the west, where he attempts to impose strict military discipline on a troop of cavalrymen. Meanwhile, his teenage daughter (Shirley Temple) struggles to adjust to life outside the city, while Captain York (John Wayne) tries to maintain peace with Cochise (Miguel Inclan), leader of the local Apaches.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Anna Lee Films
• Cavalry
• Henry Fonda Films
• John Ford Films
• John Wayne Films
• Native Americans
• Ruthless Leaders
• Shirley Temple Films
• Victor McLaglen Films
• Ward Bond Films
• Western

Response to Peary’s Review:
John Ford’s classic western (the first in his “cavalry trilogy”, followed by She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950) is well-acted, beautifully photographed (by cinematographer Archie Stout):

and deals sensitively with difficult issues. Ford effectively shows the tensions — and fatal mistakes — that can occur when seasoned veterans such as Wayne’s Captain York are forced to follow the ill-advised orders of proud yet clueless leaders (who are later lauded as heroes).

As Peary notes, “Ford detractors won’t like his sentiment, Irish humor, chaste romance, and musical interludes, but if you’re a Ford fan you’ll love it all and be inexplicably choked up.” Interestingly, this is a rare early western where the audience is meant to feel sympathy for Indians, rather than viewing them as automatic enemies.

Captain York’s respectful liaison with Cochise hints at the alternate history that might have emerged in America, if only we had taken more time and care when interacting with its original inhabitants.

Redeeming Qualities:

• Shirley Temple in her best “adult” role
  
• Henry Fonda playing against type as a surprisingly unsympathetic leader
  
• John Wayne as the intelligent, diplomatic Captain York
  
• Fine cinematography and location shooting
  

Must See?
Yes. As the first in John Ford’s famed “cavalry trilogy”, this movie is required viewing for any film fanatic. Peary nominates it for an Alternate Oscar as one of the best pictures of the year.

Categories

• Genuine Classic
• Important Director

Links:

• IMDb entry
• DVD Times Review

Synopsis:
When a potter (Masayuki Mori) and his brother-in-law (Eitaro Ozawa) go to the city to sell their wares, they succumb to the temptations of love and excitement. Mori has an affair with beautiful Machiko Kyo (who turns out to be a ghost), while Ozawa runs off to become a samurai. Meanwhile, their wives (Kinuyo Tanaka and Mitsuko Mito) are left at the mercy of a roaming band of samurai, who will either kill them or force them into prostitution.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Ghosts
• Infidelity
• Japanese Films
• Kenzi Mizoguchi Films

Response to Peary’s Review:
As Peary notes, this “haunting, beautifully shot” film contains many of Kenji Mizoguchi’s favored themes: women who are portrayed as “the victims of insensitive men”; men who are chastised for sacrificing “familial happiness for money or glory”; and real-life history blending seamlessly with supernatural legend. A morality play at heart, Ugetsu remains a poignant meditation on the importance of loyalty to one’s spouse above all else. As Peary notes, “among the scenes that stick in the memory are the spooky boat ride across the mist-shrouded water and Mori’s strange homecoming.”

Redeeming Qualities:

• Memorable imagery and effectively eerie supernaturalism
  
  

Must See?
Yes. All film fanatics should see this classic of Japanese cinema.

Categories

• Foreign Gem
• Important Director

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

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Roger Ebert’s review
• DVD Talk Review

Synopsis:
After passively giving up custody of her children, a coal-mining wife (Barbara Loden) wanders into a life of crime with a gruff stranger she meets in a bar (Michael Higgins).

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Character Studies
• Feminism and Women’s Issues
• Heists
• Mining Towns
• Road Trip

Response to Peary’s Review:
This slow, honest film — regarded as “an interesting failure” upon its release — tells of a “passive, unskilled, uneducated, unambitious” woman with little sense of personal worth or agency. The satisfaction Wanda (Loden) finds in assisting her new lover (Higgins) with a bank heist shows how desperately this demoralized woman longs to prove her utility in some way. You’ll be frustrated and saddened when watching Wanda passively accept “the hostility, insults, and demands” placed upon her by Higgins (a total loser), but also intrigued by what will happen next. Indeed, as Peary notes, the grainy film — shot in 16 mm — has “the look and feel of a documentary” made with a hidden camera, thus adding to the feeling that one is watching “real life” unfolding, frame by frame.

Redeeming Qualities:

• Barbara Loden’s understated performance as Wanda
  

Must See?
Yes, for its historical importance.

Categories

• Historically Relevant

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

Links:

• IMDb entry
• DVD Savant Review
• Time Out Capsule Review
• TCM Article

Synopsis:
An expedition team on Keto Island tries to escape from the clutches of a mad scientist (Donald O’Brien) who is turning corpses into zombies; meanwhile, they must outrun the island’s resident cannibals.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Cannibals
• Horror
• Mad Doctors and Scientists
• Zombies

Response to Peary’s Review:
This campy horror flick deftly combines two favored tropes of the genre: zombies and cannibals. Peary (who labels this film “horrible”, and says even the preview turned his stomach) doesn’t bother to explain much of the plot in his review; instead, he simply talks about living in New York City while this film was marketed, and nearly being run over by a “Butchermobile”. Clearly, he chose to include this movie in his book simply because of the notoriety surrounding its release. Note that Zombie Holocaust was the original title of this film; American distributors added extra footage at the beginning and renamed it Dr. Butcher, M.D. — hence the double title.

Redeeming Qualities:

• A creative marriage of two horror genre favorites
  

Must See?
No, unless you’re a “sex and gore” fan, as Peary puts it — or a fan of bad movies.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• TV Guide Review
• BadMovies.org Review

Synopsis:
In a dystopic future America, drivers compete in a cross-country race, earning points by killing as many pedestrians along the way as possible.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Assassination
• Car Racing
• David Carradine Films
• Dick Miller Films
• Dystopia
• Media Spectacle
• Rivalry
• Satires and Spoofs
• Sylvester Stallone Films

Response to Peary’s Review:
This “ultraviolent comedy satire” benefits from effective direction by Paul Bartel (who makes the violence “too unreal to be sickening”), and a completely tongue-in-cheek approach to its outrageous storyline. With that said, your tolerance will still be severely tested when watching crowds of swastika-flag-waving Neo-Nazis cheering on their favorite driver, or listening to humans of all ages being glibly categorized by the number of points their deaths will solicit.

Peary dislikes DJ Don Steele’s hammy performance as the race’s emcee, arguing that he “nearly ruins the whole thing”, but I disagree. Steele’s cheerful commentary (“Women are still worth 10 points more than men in all age brackets, but teenagers now rack up 40 points!”) simply adds to the surreal atmosphere of this utterly unique, utterly tasteless cult film.

Redeeming Qualities:

• David Carradine as the masked champion, “Frankenstein”
  
• Sylvester Stallone in an early, pre-Rocky film
  
• Some wild and crazy race cars
  
• A scathing commentary on the American public’s lust for violent sports

Must See?
Yes. While critical opinions differ wildly, I believe this cult film is an impressively bold and unique satire.

Categories

• Cult Movie

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Moria Review
• Badmovies.org Review

Synopsis:
Shell-shocked soldiers returning from World War II undergo treatment for a variety of psychological and physical difficulties.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Documentary
• John Huston Films
• Psychotherapy
• Veterans
• World War Two

Response to Peary’s Review:
Originally commissioned by the Pentagon to persuade the American public that WWII veterans were ready to “reenter society”, John Huston’s Let There Be Light was banned for years, presumably because “anyone who saw it would know better than to enlist.” While Peary finds the soldiers’ treatments “ridiculously facile and hokey” and interprets the shell-shocked soldiers’ crying as “phony”, I disagree. It’s true that the treatments themselves are of dubious long-term value, and Huston unfortunately makes no attempt to show anything other than success stories. But these soldiers seem to be in genuine distress, and it’s heartening to see them in the process of recovery, however temporary.

Note: This little-seen film has been of special interest again lately, given the release of a new documentary about returning veterans adjusting to civilian life — Patricia Foulkrod’s The Ground Truth (2006).

Redeeming Qualities:

• A powerful portrayal of shellshocked soldiers attempting to deal with the trauma of their wartime experiences
  

Must See?
Yes. This earnest documentary shows a view of WWII not often told.

Categories

• Controversial Film
• Historically Relevant

Links:

• IMDb entry

Synopsis:
In the 1930s, the burgeoning American labor movement is under threat from large corporations, which will stop at nothing to prevent unionism and collective bargaining.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Documentary
• Episodic Films
• Labor Movement
• Paul Robeson Films

Response to Peary’s Review:
This “legendary political film” — a series of historical reenactments based on reports from the La Follette Senate Civil Liberties Committee, and narrated by Paul Robeson — posits that “major U.S. corporations were involved in a large-scale conspiracy to undermine unionism through the systematic use of terrorism, labor spies, police, and blacklisting.” While the documentary now comes across as “a bit disappointing considering its reputation”, it nonetheless remains a salient example of progressive filmmaking in early 20th century. My favorite vignette shows a flirtatious young cleaning lady whose pastoral working existence is shattered when she discovers one of her clients lying murdered on the floor of his apartment. Indeed, the entire film is framed as a series of contrasts between the “natural” joy people experience in communal existence, versus the corruption, greed, and disloyalty of Big Business.

Redeeming Qualities:

• Beautiful cinematography and powerful editing — especially in the Russian-inspired “Michigan sequence”
  
• The natural, unglamourized actors who portray the workers — what a contrast their faces are with those of Hollywood stars at the time!
  

Must See?
Yes. While naturally one-sided and overly simplistic, this film holds a special place in documentary history.

Categories

• Historically Relevant

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review