FilmFanatic.org

Synopsis:
Renowned filmmaker Federico Fellini pays tribute to the European clowns of his childhood in this pseudo-documentary.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Anita Ekberg Films
• Clowns
• Documentary
• Fellini Films

Response to Peary’s Review:
Fellini’s “comical yet elegiac tribute” to European clowns is clear evidence of the “profound effect” they had on his work. As Peary notes, it’s remarkably easy to see “the parallels between clowns… and the absurd characters (midgets, drunks, the handicapped)” peopling all of Fellini’s films. There are many touching and/or enjoyable scenes in the movie (which originally aired on television); my favorite is the opening circus act, which manages to convey the pure slapstick enjoyment audiences at the time must have felt.

Ironically, Peary notes that as a boy, “Fellini didn’t like clowns because they reminded him of sad aspects of reality”; here, we see how radically his appreciation changed over the years.

Redeeming Qualities:

• Many memorable sequences
  
• Nino Rota’s score

Must See?
No, but it will certainly be of interest to Fellini fans.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review

Synopsis:
Four vignettes tell stories of erotic perversion throughout the ages.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Episodic Films
• Historical Drama
• Sexuality

Response to Peary’s Review:
As Peary notes, this episodic soft-core film by Polish director Walerian Borowczyk is “occasionally erotic but mostly boring”. The most notorious of the four vignettes tells the story of Countess Bathory’s infamous taste for bathing in virgins’ blood; it generates pure terror in its literal recreation of exactly how she went about doing this. The opening sequence is also powerful, telling of a nubile teenager who is seduced by her cousin into performing fellatio on him while the tide rolls in. The second vignette, which shows a pious young woman masturbating with cucumbers, holds some prurient interest, but the fourth — about Countess Lucrezia Borgia’s incestuous relationship with her brother and father — should have been scrapped altogether.

Redeeming Qualities:

• Paloma Picasso (daughter of Pablo Picasso) as the “Bloody Countess” Bathory
  
• Sensuous cinematography

Must See?
No, though it’s worth a look simply for its notoriety. It was apparently the second biggest box-office hit in France the year it was released.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Moria Review

Synopsis:
Jeremy (Robby Benson), an aspiring cellist, falls in love with Susan (Glynnis O’Connor), a new student at his high school.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Coming-of-Age
• First Love
• Glynnis O’Connor Films
• New York
• Robby Benson Films
• Teenagers

Response to Peary’s Review:
As Peary notes, this “sweet, well-acted, unexploitative teenage romance” is notable for introducing stars Robby Benson and Glynnis O’Connor (real-life lovers) to the screen. Director Arthur Barron perfectly captures the nuances of first love, and handles Jeremy and Susan’s lovemaking scene with tenderness and taste. I like the fact that the screenplay allows us to see so much of Jeremy’s quirky life before he first spots Susan, indicating that this busy, independent young man is not especially pining for just any girlfriend, but instead falls truly in love with Susan.

Redeeming Qualities:

• Glynnis O’Connor as an atypical, self-possessed young beauty
  
• Jeremy’s awkward attempts to woo Susan
  
• A sensitive, honest portrayal of teenage sexuality emerging from mutual love and respect
  
• Interesting on-location camera work in New York
  

Must See?
No, but it’s recommended.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• ReelFilm.com Review

Synopsis:
When a young man (Jan-Michael Vincent) is rejected as a Marine during WWII, he’s sent back home from bootcamp wearing an infamous “baby blue” uniform. Along the way, he inadvertently swaps uniforms with an AWOL Marine (Richard Gere), and fools the small town he arrives at into believing he’s a war hero.

Genres:

• Glynnis O’Connor Films
• Military
• Mistaken or Hidden Identities
• Richard Gere Films
• Small-Town America
• World War Two

Response to Peary’s Review:
This compelling sleeper deals with the shame many young men felt when they were found “unfit” to serve in WWII. As Peary notes, director John Hancock — best known for helming Bang the Drum Slowly (1973) — effectively shows how Americans tend to be “intolerant” and “blindly jingoistic”, glorifying “undeserving heroes” rather than taking the time to “calm down and learn what’s really going on.” Unfortunately, while the film is mostly successful, its denouement — which Peary curiously neglects to comment on — fails to resolve a number of issues, and it seems as though there is a substantial chunk of the story missing. However, fine performances from the supporting cast — especially Richard Gere in an early role as a white-haired young Marine who knocks Marion out and steals his uniform — make this one worth seeking out for a one-time look.

Redeeming Qualities:

• Richard Gere as “The Raider”
  
• Glynnis O’Connor as Marion’s understanding new girlfriend
  
• Bruno Kirby as a recruit who can’t wait to fail basic training and get back home to his beautiful wife
  

Must See?
No, but it’s worth checking out.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Roger Ebert’s Review

Synopsis:
A group of regulars meet at the Alamo bar in Texas on the night before it closes.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Character Studies
• Get Togethers and Reunions
• Masculinity

Response to Peary’s Review:
As Peary notes, this unusual little sleeper is “observant, atmospheric, [and] different.” The Alamo’s pathetic barflies — “inconsequential little men” during the day — “have made the bar their personal [nighttime] domain, where they can strut their false machismo and stroke their fragile egos”. Each male character reveals his own worst side during the final night at the Alamo, with the “legendary” Cowboy (Sonny Davis) especially humbled; as Peary notes, this film is indeed a “swift kick in the rear to men who hang around bars bragging about their success with women” when in fact it is the women who ultimately “realize that these men are inadequate.”

Redeeming Qualities:

• A realistic portrayal of men desperately trying to stroke their own “fragile egos”
  
• Lou Perryman as Claude, a blubbering drunk who’s in perpetual trouble with his wife
  

Must See?
No, but it’s worth seeking out.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review

Synopsis:
A martial arts movie star (Bruce Lee) is targeted for assassination when he refuses to join a corrupt syndicate led by Dean Jagger. He fakes his own death and goes undercover to seek revenge.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Bruce Lee Films
• Dean Jagger Films
• Gig Young Films
• Martial Arts
• Revenge

Response to Peary’s Review:
This ridiculously bad kung fu flick — both “messy and too long” — was Bruce Lee’s final movie, compiled six years after his death. It contains some original fight footage (which, as Peary points out, is “the highlight of the film”), but was mostly made with other actors wearing dark sunglasses and pretending to be Bruce Lee. Indeed, the film’s primary enjoyment (and humor) comes from trying to figure out all the strategies used to incorporate Lee’s doubles — in one particularly hilarious instance, an image of Lee’s face is pasted onto a mirror while his double sits as still as possible. Things finally become interesting towards the end of the film, when Lee himself reappears to triumph in a series of enjoyable fights.

Redeeming Qualities:

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in a cameo as a villain
  

Must See?
No, unless you’re a hardcore Bruce Lee fan.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Love HK Film Review

Synopsis:
During the Depression, Max (Bud Cort) accepts a job teaching at a one-room schoolhouse in Saskatchewan, and struggles with loneliness and frustration.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Bud Cort Films
• Canadian Films
• Character Arc
• Depression Era
• Samantha Eggar Films
• Teachers

Response to Peary’s Review:
As Peary notes, this “agreeable, unpretentious” Canadian sleeper “achieves realism by not allowing there to be a solution to any of the problems Cort encounters.” It’s difficult watching Max struggle for acceptance from the town’s impoverished citizens while simultaneously dealing with the bitterly cold prairie winter, unruly students, and lack of pay.

But Cort — always an outsider! — brings an inimitable sense of humor and spirit to his role, and makes the film ultimately about Max’s personal growth and maturation more than anything else.

Redeeming Qualities:

• Bud Cort in yet another “outsider” role
  
• Samantha Eggar as the desperately lonely housewife who Max develops a crush on
  

Must See?
No, but it will be of interest to both fans of Bud Cort and those who enjoy films about teachers.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review

Synopsis:
A group of macho war veterans (led by Cliff Robertson) are ambushed while hunting in the Canadian hills, and return fire. Suspecting a future retaliation, they gather together more army comrades, stock an arsenal of weapons, and head back to the hills for a final shoot-out.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Canadian Films
• Cliff Robertson Films
• Ernest Borgnine Films
• Hunting
• Revenge
• Veterans

Response to Peary’s Review:
While Peary argues that this unusual Canadian action flick is meant to take a stand against “NRA types” who would open fire on the entire world if given a chance, I disagree. Instead, I see it as a freaky portrayal of war veterans whose “instinct” to engage in combat hasn’t left them. While not entirely successful, the film does make us wonder whether Robertson is correct in assuming there will be another ambush, or if the entire venture is a figment of his overactive imagination. As Peary notes, the “unexpected ending is terrifying”.

Redeeming Qualities:

• Ernest Borgnine as Lou
  
• Henry Silva as Zeke
  
• Incredibly tense and violent shoot-out scenes

Must See?
No, but it’s an interesting revenge flick and worth watching once.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Canuxploitation Review

Synopsis:
Lonely widow Mattie Siles (Dana Preu) falls for sweet-talking Trax (David Peck), who wants her money to build himself a still. When his moonshine operation becomes successful, he starts running around with other women — but when he brings Gal Young ‘Un (J. Smith-Cameron) home to live with them, Mattie plots her revenge.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Bootlegging
• Deep South
• Prohibition
• Revenge
• Widows and Widowers

Response to Peary’s Review:
As Peary notes, this “absorbing low-budget independent film” by Victor Nunez — director of Ruby in Paradise (1993) and Ulee’s Gold (1997) — is “poignant yet unsentimental”. Based on a short story by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, the plot builds slowly but surely; by the end, we’re completely invested in what happens to Mattie, and rooting for her all the way. Preu (who only performed in one other film) is wonderfully natural, and Smith-Cameron does a fine job as the meek Gal Young ‘Un, who “has been just as exploited by Peck as Preu has been”, and simply wants Mattie — or somebody — to like her. As Peary notes, it’s “impressive… how so much of what the two women are feeling is conveyed by their eyes and expressions and how they hug Preu’s cat rather than by words (which is essential since these women aren’t the type to gab).”

Redeeming Qualities:

• Dana Preu as Mattie
  
• Smith-Cameron as Gal Young ‘Un
  

Must See?
No, but it’s highly recommended.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Time Out Capsule Review
• Four Word Film Reviews

Synopsis:
A cabbie (Bill Murray) and his buddy Russell (Harold Ramis) join the military and go through basic training under the command of Sergeant Hulka (Warren Oates). In the meantime, they have adventures with beautiful MPs Sean Young and PJ Soles, and get sent on a special mission to Europe.

• Bill Murray Films
• Comedy
• Dennis Quaid Films
• Military
• Misfits
• Warren Oates Films

Response to Peary’s Review:
As Peary notes, this wildly popular Bill Murray vehicle — directed by Ivan Reitman, and following on the box-office success of Meatballs (1979) — is ultimately “just a standard service comedy,” and would probably have made for a much more interesting story if it focused on Murray’s adventures as a cabbie in New York. There are other, better movies about misfits enduring basic training together, and this one brings nothing new or unusual to the genre. Plus, as much as I like and admire Warren Oates, his performance here can’t hold a candle to R. Lee Ermey’s in Full Metal Jacket (1987).

Redeeming Qualities:

• John Candy mud-wrestling in a strip bar
  
• Young and Soles, who bring a breath of fresh air to this otherwise stale movie
  
• The improvised “kitchen utensil” scene between Murray and Soles

Must See?
No; while it has a strong cult following, this one isn’t must-see by all film fanatics.

Links:

• IMDb entry