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Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (2024)
An epic film, packed full of wonderfulness - Bravo Costner!
Kevin Costner deserves credit for creating one of the great classic 'western' films. I'm talking about.the 2003 release Open Range. It's got beautiful imagery, a compelling story and spot-on acting. It proved that Costner is not just a good actor, or just a good actor who dabbles ineffectually at directing (e.g. Clint Eastwood). He is a great director, especially of westerns.
Horizon: An American Saga is a very different work from Open Range, but it shares many of the earlier film's strengths.
The imagery is superb, often reminiscent of the best John Ford westerns, or of Remington paintings. Horizon is absolutely a feast for the eyes.
Horizon also has great drama. It tells several stories, each of them compelling. The pace is NOT slow - the film's three-hour runtime is packed full of involving narratives, interesting characters, fine dialog and impressive set-piece action.
But it's the overall concept of the Horizon series that's especially strong. Costner has set out to tell the story of a mythical Arizona town, which gives its name to the movie(s). Through intertwining stories, Costner shows his own view of how different personalities, different motivations, different actions shaped the expansionist phase of US history.
This was an unparalleled moment in time, and a perfect subject for a epic movies. Horizon: An American Saga rises to the occasion and fully justifies its 'saga' subtitle. It's loosely reminiscent of the classic How the West Was Won, in both scope and the weaving together of multiple storylines. But with just a single director, Horizon is a more personal, more involving work. At a time when Hollywood has forgotten how to create three-hour epics, Costner has not.
I've come to admire Costner very slowly and cautiously. I'm leery of superstars who want to prove they're good at more than one thing - doing music tours, authoring (ghost-written) books, painting, and, obviously, directing. Most of them are just embarrassing themselves and wasting audiences' time. Costner rises above this motley pack. He clearly has something to say, and the talent to say it well.
These days, critics and pundits are less reliable than ever before. My advice: see Horizon: An American Saga with an open mind, and a bit of patience for its long runtime. It may or may not be a perfect movie (time and sequels will tell), but it is a true epic, packed full of wonderfulness of every kind.
Horizon is a kind of moviemaking we see too rarely nowadays. If you like westerns at all, not to be missed.
Station West (1948)
Don't bother
Station West has the moment-to-moment elements of a decent little western - but those elements simply don't hang together. There's some nice outdoor photography, some interesting-looking personalities, and some good dialog. But none of it adds up to anything.
The plot makes no sense at all. Powell is supposed to be investigating a series of gold robberies. But it gradually seems that everyone he meets is involved in this criminal enterprise. In fact, even the people who actually OWN the gold seem to be masterminding the theft thereof. This *could* be clever twist, but it's not. It's left completely unexplained, like every other thread in this chaotic mess of a movie.
Ditto for the romantic plot. Powell has a sort of back-handed flirtation with Jane Greer's character, but it consists entirely of snappy banter. So the eventual emotional climax seems entirely meaningless.
Raymond Burr has a nice little bit as an uncharacteristically nervous and timid lawyer. But the character is wasted - tossed aside, never developed, irrelevant to the story.
The whole movie is like that. Characters are killed and no one seems to care. There are shootings in plain view on the main street, and no one reacts. Powell sets up several people to be gunned down. It's never clear whether this is intentional - he doesn't really seem to care one way or the other.
The only lone virtue of this film is the dialog - but in contrast to the film's other elements, it's *over* done. Powell can't seem to talk like a normal person - the only thing coming out of his mouth are oblique one-liners. This could be great if there was any connecting drama behind it - as in Powell's better movies. But, no, there's nothing.
If you watch five minutes in the middle of Station West, you'll probably think it must be a pretty good little movie. Don't be fooled. It's random footage with a story that goes nowhere, involving characters that have no depth. It's like something that was doodled late at night over drinks in a bar, then committed to film the next day because nobody had anything better to do.
There's no movie here. Don't waste your time.
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024)
Unexpectedly good movie - predictably dismal reviews
I didn't need to check IMDb, or any movie critic's column, to know this movie would have - at best! - lackluster reviews.
Be smart: ignore them all.
The truth is that this is a surprisingly zesty, dramatically competent and generally fun-packed return to the venerable Beverly Hills Cop franchise. This kind of let's-get-the-band-back-together thing rarely works, but Axel F is that rare outlier that recaptures the magic of the original series.
Yes, Axel Foley is older and quite a bit heavier. But Eddie Murphy is absolutely on form in the role. Aided by a script that revives the old banter perfectly.
Foley's original LA police counterparts - Rosewood and Taggart - are looking a bit seedy, but they're used sparingly and wisely. It's particularly great to see the resurrection of Bronson Pinchot as the preposterously affected Serge. It's great that none of the characters is de-aged - instead, the movie plays up their decrepitude.
So, while Axel F does provide a nice does of nostalgia, it doesn't rely on it. Instead, the central drama pits Axel against a new character - his estranged 30-something daughter, now a prestigious criminal lawyer in LA. Taylour Paige.imbues the part with great sincerity, bringing just the right amount of serious emotion to anchor the story.
On top of those virtues, Axel F offers some really good - and remarkably innovative - action sequences. The highlight is a chase involving reality-defying hijinks in a helicopter. But Axel F doesn't simply bombard the viewer with mindless car-crashes. Like the original Beverly Hills Cop, it hits a near-perfect balance between Axel Foley's brand of street-wise investigations, over-the-top action and human drama.
So don't be put off by the usual gang-up of nay-sayers. Yes, this return to Beverly Hills really *should* have been embarrassing, mawkish and tedious. But it's not. It's an astonishingly successful revival of a much-loved franchise - not to mention a great return to form from the perpetually underestimated Eddie Murphy.
Four Horsemen (2012)
A high-level overview, done well
Four Horsemen is an excellent overview of what's been happening to our capitalist system, and how it has devolved into a dysfunctional state over the past few decades.
This isn't a deep dive - it's an unabashedly high-level summary, but a very good one. It methodically covers all the symptoms of capitalism's ailing status quo, ultimately touching on most of the world's problems - inequality, environmental collapse, poverty, etc. There's some particularly interesting historical perspective, showing how what we call 'capitalism' has changed dramatically over the past century or more. All the interviewees are knowledgeable and do a great job of clarifying topics that are utterly opaque to most of us.
After watching Four Horsemen, you can't help feeling you're at least beginning to understand what's gone wrong, and what needs to happen in order to get things back on track.
The movie makes no rash claims - all the details are either common knowledge or easily verified. Nor does Four Horsemen advocate radical change. It suggests not a rejection of capitalism, but subtle adjustments to capitalism that would make it operate more productively, with greater benefit to our society as a whole.
Four Horsemen is both thought-provoking and an enjoyable watch. Viewers already familiar with the material will appreciate the way Four Horsemen puts it all into better focus. Viewers who haven't been following economics and tend to be baffled by today's shifting politics will find Four Horsemen a painless first step in making sense of today's world situation. Highly recommended.
The Grab (2022)
Fails to connect the dots
This documentary tries valiantly to be some kind of vast doomsday revelation. But by spreading itself too thin, and leaping from one flimsy point to another, it fails to come up with enough specifics, or even a coherent thesis, that would make its 1hr 45min run time feel worthwhile.
"The problem isn't countries or people trying to secure their food supply, the problem is how," journalist (and star of the film) Nathan Halverson sums up the premise. "They" are grabbing other people's land, sucking aquifers dry. It's a good premise for a documentary. Unfortunately, The Grab is not that documentary. It's based entirely on anecdotes and sweeping quotes from various interested parties - all very loosely connected by narration from Halverson.
"What if... instead of grass,we use bacteria? And instead of cows, we use fungi?" Sure - what if? What if the filmmakers had stuck to their main point, about the global 'land grab' and left bio-engineering for another time? The Grab consists almost entirely of such half-hearted digressions.
Worst is all the time spent talking about Erik Prince, founder of the Blackwater mercenary group. The reporters in the film seem particularly proud of a dump of emails - colorfully referred to as The Trove - which ultimately yields no revelation other than the name of Prince's Chinese employer. "We expect these emails are gonna become a playbook for how people are looking to grab up food and water," says Halverson. But that connection is never strongly enough to justify the time spent on Prince.
World food prices are soaring! Yes, this is worrying. But are they soaring because of factors such as Russia reducing its wheat exports - or because the few companies that control global food markets are exercising unrestrained monopolistic power? Who does control the world food markets? Dunno. But, but... Russia is raising cattle! Worse... they're hiring *American* cowboys to do it! Well, *an* American cowboy - we're given only one example (including some nice footage of a Russian rodeo). If you're hoping to find out how Russian beef production has grown over the years, look elsewhere.
Security experts are apparently worried about "the possibility of Russia using its food supply as a weapon." The film doesn't specify in what way this would be a departure from the status quo in global markets. Every country seeks the best deal, uses its unique resources for leverage. Is Russia especially bad in this regard? No idea. But, but... global warming will thaw the Russian north and open a huge new potential for control of food supplies! Okay... but is melted tundra the same thing as rich prairie farmland? Probably not even close. Another big pronouncement backed by zero science and no expert comment.
China is making food security for its population a high priority. Okay, that's interesting. There's even a snippet of interesting historical background - the fact that a US embargo contributed to the great Chinese famine in the late 1950s. But the Chinese move is presented as if somehow sinister... and again, there are no statistics, no details of various national policies. Much later, Halverson acknowledges that Western countries ought to do the same. But there's no background on existing national policies, in China or anywhere else.
The Grab is nicely produced, and raises some important issues. It's even thought-provoking at times. But it fails to provide solid information or deep perspective. If you want to know about our food supply, watch Food Inc. 1 and the recent Food Inc. 2. If you want to learn about the geopolitics of natural resources, there are many better sources than The Grab.
Cash Out (2024)
Entertaining 'heist' flick, with a few nice twists
The rating for this movie is far too low. Cash Out is well-produced, well-acted, tense, and just clever enough to offer a solid helping of light entertainment.
At the start, this looks like a pretty typical master-criminal heist story. But it quickly takes a left turn into the weeds. What follows is a whole series of unexpected developments, as the criminal mastermind (Travolta) and his younger brother (Haas) get dragged into ever-increasing difficulties. Kristin Davis provides a nice counterpoint, as an FBI agent who isn't entirely impartial.
What really makes the movie work is the way Travolta's character tries to deal logically with one bad break after another. Travolta's likable screen presence helps a lot as well - he's most always fun to watch.
True, the resolution of the situation does stretch our credulity just a bit. So one can't quite rank Cash Out alongside A-list heist features such as Inside Man, or Dog Day Afternnon.
It's not that anything terribly illogical happens - it's more that too much dramatic groundwork gets left to the last section of the movie. The final events are no crazier than in many hit movies, but they feel like a bit of a let-down in comparison to the more realistic plotting of the first two-thirds of the story.
Nonetheless, there's a vault full of entertainment here, if you cut the script just a bit of slack. Personally, I was grinning from ear to ear from start to finish.
On that basis, I give Cash Out a solid 7/10. It's a genre film, a popcorn flick, that delivers more than enough entertainment for its running time. Fans of heist movies, or of Travolta, should definitely give it a chance.
Sleeping Dogs (2024)
Well made, but NOT recommended
Sleeping Dogs is impeccably produced - nice cinematography, intelligent dialog, solid performance (as usual) from Russell Crowe) as well as from the supporting cast. However, I strongly recommend giving it a miss.
Potential spoilers follow!
Why shouldn't you watch this movie? Because it violates one of the most important of SS van Dine's 20 Rules for Writing Detective Stories.
Written in the early part of the 20th Century, that list sets down all the most obvious ways in which mystery writers should NOT abuse their audience's intelligence... or trust. Writers - including screenwriters - may at times *bend* some of the less-ironclad rules. But utterly ignoring any of the major commandments leads only to literary disaster.
Although I've marked this review as a possible spoiler, I won't say more. In particular, I won't mention *which* rule is violated. Anyone particularly interested can find the 20 Rules online without too much trouble, and once having read them will quickly guess which rule was flagrantly ignored.
In summary, all I *can* say is that I *almost* enjoyed this movie, but ultimately ended up disgruntled at having wasted two hours on it.
The Price of Everything (2018)
Smart, insightful and highly entertaining
This superbly produced documentary takes the roof off today's multi-million dollar world of art collecting, and lets you see the often surreal inner workings. It's thought-provoking in the best possible way, but also highly entertaining. (I'm writing this review after having watched it twice in two days.)
The title is a bit misleading. It refers not to economics in general, but to the old saying, quoted later in the movie, that "some people know the price of everything, but the value of nothing." That duality is what the movie is about - how the dollar price of artworks is connected to, or increasingly disconnected from, their artistic merit - or even their intrinsic value as physical possessions.
The filmmakers have managed to get access to a remarkable selection of key people, each offering a different perspective on the strange and esoteric world of art collecting:
* Jeff Koons is a current favorite of the art-auction world. His recent work includes meticulously-accurate copies of old masterpieces to which he affixes a reflective basketball-sized sphere. Is this 'art'? Is it genius? Is it worth hundreds of thousands of dollars a pop? The movie leaves us to find our own answers.
* Larry Poons is somewhat the opposite. Lauded as a genius in his youth, he became fed up with the artificiality of the art world. We see him today, quietly painting huge abstract canvases in his barn. Is he close to attaining his goal of becoming a "Beethoven" of visual art? And is he overdue for a commercial comeback?
* Amy Cappellazzo puts together big-money art auctions for Sotheby's in New York. More than anyone else in the movie, she truly does know (and in fact, helps to set) "the price of everything" in the art world. But what is the role of the art auction, and how does it relate to the artistic value of the art itself?
* Gael Neeson is an affluent collector. His hobby is joyfully spending millions on whatever artworks he comes to desire. What are his criteria in choosing his acquisitions? And is what he enjoys most simply the thrill of the hunt?
Woven into these main threads are many memorable vignettes. There's also some important history: the tale of how today's mega-million dollar world of art auctions was kicked off in the late 1960s by a single investor.
One obvious angle is *not* covered. Nobody in this movie ever questions the societal desirability of ultra-wealthy people paying millions of dollars for pieces of canvas with paint on them, while single mothers on the other side of town work three jobs to feed their kids.
It's a suitably 'artistic' omission - a good topic for an entirely different movie. The Price of Everything avoids the larger, more political questions, and offers no heavy-handed answers at all. Instead, it asks deep, interesting questions in an intelligent and amusing way. If you like art, or documentary films in general, don't miss this one.
A Spanking in Paradise (2010)
Quirky, gritty - and sadly under-rated
If you're a fan of Scottish movies and TV, you'll definitely want to see A Spanking in Paradise. (If you're not yet a fan, work your way up via gentler movies - anything by Bill Forsyth, for example. Or Caton-Jones' Our Ladies.)
A Spanking in Paradise is not an easy movie to describe. It's got elements of gangster films. It's a look at the seedy side of life. It's a family drama. And more. Once it gets rolling, the story is fairly straightforward, but never predictable: a straight-laced young lawyer comes to Edinburgh to spend some time working for his uncle. That work gets him involved with the uncle's brothel and various other even more questionable endeavors. He ends up learning a lot about survival on the lower rungs of society.
A spicing of Scottish irony and self-deprecation makes what could be a sordid little tale much more fun than you might expect. Nothing resolves in the obvious way. The characters, even in the worst moments, remain believable and - if not admirable - remarkably likable.
Despite the grimy subject matter, this is a smart, classy movie. Give it a chance, don't get put off by the slow build up - or the racy situations.
Le salaire de la peur (2024)
Ignore the original and you'll have fun
It's a waste of time thinking about this movie as a remake of the original French classic. They're two very different beasts, sharing little more than the title and their basic premise - hauling nitroglycerin over mountainous terrain.
I actually appreciated this approach. This new 'Le salaire de la peur' doesn't pretend to be a substitute for the original, let alone an improvement on it. Rather, it's an effort to use the same basic premise in a substantially different way. Different also from the later color remake, by the way. I was reminded more of the excellent Vertical Limit, which involves lugging nitroglycerin up to a mountain peak.
The original black-and-white 'Salaire' was very much a film noire. It's tone is sombre throughout, and it deals with heavy issues such as greed, selfishness and, naturally, fear.
This new movie is a simple action-adventure. A popcorn flick. Instead of heavy themes it offers insurgent attackers, firefights and even a low-key romantic sub-plot. The bare outline of the new story remains similar to that of the original, but the detail is very different.
Bottom line, I find the current rating much too low. To me, anything below 5/10 is really not worth watching. Personally, I give this new 'Le salaire de la peur' 6/10. It's an admittedly by-the-numbers action film that will provide good light entertainment for fans of the genre.
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (2002)
Surprisingly strong reworking of a well-worn story
I approached this re-re-remake of Goodbye Mr Chips with a great deal of skepticism. Surely, no filmmaker could hope to pry me loose from the unforgettable Robert Donat version.
Well, they didn't. But they did impress me far more than I expected. This version of the story succeeds surprisingly well, on several counts.
* Martin Clunes is truly astonishing in the part of Chips. He doesn't make me forget Robert Donat - but he does earn a place right alongside Donat. His performance is nuanced, evocative and impeccably believable. Ably taking the character from youth to old age, Clunes *is* Chips, in a way I would not have expected. Like Donat, Clunes *will* make you cry.
* Clunes is helped by a solid script. This rendition of the book gives us much more insight into conditions at the school. There's a frank look at elitism, bullying and antiquated teaching methods. We see in some detail how Chips and his wife stand for a more modern concept of education. There's no anachronistic moralizing in this - it's integral in revealing Chips' character, which is, first and always, the essence of the story.
* The modern production is not particularly stylish, but it does give us a better feeling of immersion than the old black and white Donat film can provide. We feel more connected to the school, and more involved with Chips' trials and frustrations, simply because they're presented through a more modern lens, in greater detail and scope.
Still, the movie does have two notable faults:
* Too much time is spent on World War I and its impact on the school. The movie's anti-war statements and historical perspective are absolutely valid and necessary, but they could have been presented more concisely. One particularly unlikely incident in the school's courtyard could easily have been omitted.
* The final sequence, showing Chips' in his old age, is also a bit longer than it might have been. Sometimes, less is more.
These relatively minor structural problems prevent me from giving this version of Goodbye Mr Chips a perfect 10 score. However, the movie is well worth seeing for its fine attention to historical detail, and for Clunes' resoundingly 10 out of 10 performance.
Circle of Danger (1951)
A likable oddity - more romance than mystery
Circle of Danger is essentially a British movie with a Hollywood director and American star. It ends up, seemingly by accident, very much in the vein of Ealing and other solid 1950s UK crime dramas.
What viewers may find confusing is the movie's split personality. It feels as if the makers started out to do a Hitchcockian thriller, akin to The 39 Steps or Foreign Correspondent, but became preoccupied with what should have been the incidental romance sub-plot.
The result is a pleasant little romance, with Milland and Roc very likable as the unlikely couple - and a quirky mystery sub-plot percolating in the background, serving mainly to move the two lovers inexorably closer together.
The filmmakers seem to have realized this. By the end of the movie, it hardly seems to matter what actually happened to Milland's brother during the war. Instead, Milland's quest for the truth leads him to unusual sort of climax, handled with an admirably light touch by director Tourneur.
If you're looking for an edge-of-your-seat mystery, you may feel short-changed. But if you can let go of that expectation - and ignore the movie's lurid title - you'll discover a nice curl-up-on-a-rainy-afternoon romance, enlivened by some great British character actors, and a lovely selection of locations spanning England, Scotland and Wales.
Eksiteu (2019)
Unusual action film - very Korean, very worthwhile
Exit isn't (quite) perfect. But reviews complaining about lack of depth, or limited human drama, miss the point.
It's true that this film can feel somewhat shallow at times. But this is not an omission, it's a stylistic choice. We aren't meant to focus on the characters so much as on the wild situations they face. Yes, there's a human, romantic plot line, but it's clearly intended to take second place to the daring acrobatics.
This is a very Korean approach. You can see the same thing in the much-praised movie Parasite - the characters are *meant* to be somewhat puppet-like, so that we focus on other layers of content. On the social commentary, in the case of Parasite. Or in the case of Exit, the hair-raising situations.
If you assume this point of view, Exit snaps into focus as a rather brilliant and highly original piece of work.
The premise is improbable, to be sure - but simple, and plainly stated at the outset. The streets in a large downtown area are filling with a low-lying fog of deadly gas. As the gas spreads and slowly rises, our two protagonists are forced to climb above it by means of ever-more daring and improbable feats of mountaineering.
And this is the main goal of the movie: to give us the thrill of watching people scaling the sides of the cliff-like buildings that surround us every day in any big city. Think of it as 21st Century Harold Lloyd with a spicy Korean flavor.
The human, dramatic dimension of the movie is always present, but always secondary. The two climbers have a tense, conflicted relationship - yet they can only survive by smooth cooperation and total trust in one another. This aspect of the movie pays off beautifully in the end. But it's the journey that's important. The filmmakers want us to know it - and to know that *they* know it.
Naturally, there's also a frosting of zany humor. It wouldn't be a Korean movie without that.
Personally, I loved Exit. It's engineered with great precision for maximum entertainment, every second of the way. If you're a fan of Korean cinema, don't wait, see it immediately. If you know nothing about Korean movies, this one would be a great introduction.
Horizon Line (2020)
Fun premise, but too brainless to be watchable
Was there *anyone* connected with this movie who had even the tiniest speck of knowledge about aircraft, piloting, aerodynamics, radio procedures, meteorology or related topics?
The question is purely rhetorical. The obvious answer is "no." Emphatically no.
* Pulling an aircraft out of a steep dive does *not* need increasingly strong pull on the yoke. (In fairness, a great many movies include this same silly Hollywood trope.) The real danger is pulling out too quickly and over-stressing the wings.
* Flying through a storm means going on instruments. There's no mention of this, nor of the *extreme* improbability of someone with "a few flying lessons" being able to do this... even very briefly.
* Trying radio frequencies at random is incredibly unlikely to connect to anyone, especially when you're a long way from land. Aircraft radios are relatively short-range, and there are *many" frequencies.
* The lady is told to sit in the left (pilot's) seat - because this aircraft apparently has dual yokes, but no primary instruments (e.g. Airspeed) on the right (copilot) side. Seriously?
* Apparently, Mauritius has no requirement for commercial pilots to have frequent physical exams. Cancel my charter flight now, please.
* The amateur pilot is told by the expert to climb but "keep it below 20,000 feet" because after that you get "high-altitude sickness." Anyone who's spent any time above, say, 15,000 feet (as I have) knows that things get very wobbly long before you get to 20,000. Cruising at that altitude without oxygen would be absurd.
* And yet, later on the lady pilot manages to climb above the thunderstorm. Clearly, no one connected with the script bothered to check, but thunderstorms tend to top out at 35,000 feet or even higher, far above the service ceiling of this type of aircraft.
* At one point, the lady is flying North by the compass, and decides she needs to go West. So she makes a turn to the *right.* You don't need a pilot's license to see the problem here.
Apart from all these issues, the movie takes an agonizing fifteen minutes to establish the two lead characters - who are both equally shallow (she's a "brand manager") and equally unlikable.
I could go on - listing flaws, that is - but I couldn't go on watching this piece of junk. Take my advice, and don't start.
Moon Rock for Monday (2020)
Another Quirky Gem from Australia
What's with the title? How do you get from the wonderful and very appropriate "Moon Rock for Monday" to "Cvghsfg"??
Never mind. By any name, this is a really good movie, and a great example of the kind of off-kilter material that Australia seems to turn out with great regularity.
The premise is peculiar enough: a young killer kidnaps a ten-year-old girl. The two not only hit it off, they go on a crazy road trip and a strange philosophical transformation together.
The journey is filled with wacky people and odd episodes. The one (slight) weakness of the film that there are perhaps too many of these episodes. It's one reason I don't give a full ten stars. But all the events are great fun, and the important thing is the continuous evolution of the two lead characters, which remains both rock-solid and endlessly surprising.
The acting is notably good - especially Ashlyn Louden-Gamble as the kid, Monday. (The original title starts to make sense now, doesn't it?) She nails the cute-and-precocious thing, but then goes way beyond to create a character with unexpected depths (which I won't spoil).
Typical of Australian movies, the ending of Moonrock for Monday does not sugarcoat, does not stoop to lucky accidents. It's harsh in some ways, yet boldly life-affirming - in a strange, left-handed way.
If you've enjoyed Australian movies like Muriel's Wedding or The Castle, you'll like Moon Rock for Monday. It's more of a stretch, not simply a comedy. Something deeper, but equally likeable. And equally memorable.
Dunkirk (2017)
Feeble, Dismal and Unblievably Over-rated
I rate "worst" movies in proportion to their budget. I have no trouble seeing the half-hidden merits in a low-budget indie effort. But when the budget is up in nine figures, I expect exceptional work, admirable in every respect.
On this basis, I have to rate Dunkirk as without a doubt one of the worst movies ever made. Certainly one of the dumbest and most pointless. And, for some reason, also one of the most preposterously over-rated.
To itemize just a few of its glaring flaws:
* THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO CONTEXT. We learn nothing whatsoever about the tactical situation, or the vagaries of war that led to it. There's no map, no background. Compare this to a great film such as A Bridge Too Far, which has no trouble explaining a complex military situation in great detail, while introducing the personalities behind the tactics and also telling several compelling individual stories.
* THE HUMAN STORY IS WEAK. Nolan's Dunkirk focuses on a couple of craven lamebrains - out of thousands of brave, remarkable, peculiar or even average individuals who'd have make for a much better story. Nolan's decision to focus on these two goof-offs is indefensible. It gives us no useful insight into the range of emotions and reactions within the large group of desperate individuals who were trapped on Dunkirk beach. Nolan's primary job as screen writer was to find *interesting* stories to tell. The phrase 'epic fail' was never more apt.
* CILLIAN MURPHY's CHARACTER IS POINTLESS. He's a sizable yet utterly pointless digression, a needlessly miserable sub-plot that shed no light on the overall story of Dunkirk. Rather, it burns up screen time that could have been used to develop the historical background, get inside some interesting characters, or develop an overall story arc of some sort.
* THE CLIMACTIC DOGFIGHT IS LAUGHABLE - one of the stupidest things I've ever seen on the big screen. (Even dumber than Nolan's depiction of a black hole, which at least lies in the realm of speculation, rather than well-established engineering.)
For the record: a Spitfire *does not* shoot down multiple Messerschmitts.with its engine disabled. It doesn't do *anything* other than plummet steeply earthward. The Spit was a "fighter" - a very big engine bolted on to tiny wings. It would have had amazing maneuverability - under power! - but *gliding* ability only slightly superior to that of a really good sports car.
Anyone who knows *anything* about aircraft can only be appalled by such blatant nonsense. Supplied with a $100,000,000 budget, a director like Nolan has an obligation to hire really good technical advisors - and then *pay attention* to them - not simply display the depths of his ignorance about his chosen subject.
Apart from these obvious detriments,Nolan's Dunkirk exhibits a complete lack of any real merits. There's not much story, no deep drama, no memorable characters, and no catchy dialog. The action is haphazard and uninteresting - and, lacking any historical context, effectively meaningless.
I'll freely admit that Nolan is not a bad director - when it comes to putting images on the screen. But he seems to have great difficulty distinguishing a clever script from a load of horse manure. Two of his three Batman movies are silly and tedious. Interstellar is as insulting to physics as Dunkirk is to aerodynamics and history. I only wish someone would pay me Nolan's salary to be similarly incompetent.
And yet, much to my surprise, Nolan's recent Oppenheimer managed to be coherent and historically accurate. Was it truly written by the same guy? Or does Nolan have a ghost writer who only works on every other project? It's a mystery.
Even more of a mystery is the reason for the insanely high ratings for Nolan's Dunkirk- many of them from reputable reviewers who might be expected to know better. Is it really enough nowadays for a movie to *look* good, courtesy of copious computer graphics?
Personally, I'd have to say no - especially when that movie competes directly with really excellent treatments of the same story. The best by far is the 1958 Ealing Studios (UK) production also entitled simply 'Dunkirk." On a fraction of Nolan's budget, it manages to be dramatic, gripping and insightful, while offering a reasonable overview of the historical reality. Also worth a watch is the French movie 'Weekend at Dunkirk,' which goes deeper into the state of mind of the troops on the beach - especially the French troops, who were very doubtful of being rescued by the British flotilla.
RATING: I give Dunkirk one very generous star for its slick CG visuals, and another for the competent acting. I deduct any other potential stars for its complete emptiness and relentless stupidity.
The Trap (1959)
Better than one might expect
The Trap isn't quite a classic, but it's much better than its current 6.6 rating would indicate. It's a genre movie that hits all the right notes.
The cast does some surprisingly good work. Richard Widmark could be stilted and awkward at times, but in this movie he's energetic and convincing, with no tendency to over-act. Lee J Cobb makes a good villain, and puts a nice spin on his lines but stops short of hamming it up.
But the real star is the outdoor location. Almost the entire movie is shot in actual desert terrain. You can see the characters sweat, and after a while you start to feel the gritty sand on your skin.
Much of the movie is a cat-and-mouse chase. It's handled well - both sides act logically, nobody does anything conspicuously contrived. The end result depends as much on character as on circumstance.
The Trap reminded me - in a good way - of several other movies. It starts with the desert setting and lone protagonist of Bad Day at Black Rock. It shifts into the sweaty verbal sparring of 3:10 to Yuma. The ending reminded me of a more recent crime film, but I won't mention the name so as not to give anything away. Overall, there's also a strong feeling of 1950s westerns - if they'd done it with horses instead of cars, The Trap could have been a western.
The Trap is maybe a bit more generic than some of those movies, but it still deserves to be better-known. It's tense without being annoying, and it has just enough drama to support the action.
I had to double-check the credits to convince myself that Elmore Leonard didn't have anything to do with the script. However, I found that co-writer Richard Allan Simmons did work, much later, on the excellent suspense movie Juggernaut.
Apart from any other virtues, The Trap is unusual as practically the only serious movie directed by Norman Panama, better known for comedies like The Facts of Life, the Court Jester or even The Maltese Bippy. His work was always above-average, and The Trap proves he had more range than we might give him credit for.
If you're a fan 1950s crime movies, or of Richard Widmark, you'll be pleasantly surprised by The Trap.
Madame Web (2024)
In what crazy universe is this "the worst movie of all time"??
There's some sort of madness that sweeps over movie critics and movie fans every so often. Some pundit, reviewer, influencer or other nitwit sounds off about how feeble, terrible, horribly BAD a movie is (or is *going* to be - these opinions often predate any viewing of the actual movie). And then the herd instinct takes over and generates a tsunami of contempt.
Case in point, Madame Web - a truly ridiculous number of one-star reviews, completely unjustified by the actual experience of watching the movie.
The surprising truth is that this is actually quite a decent little movie. It's no work of genius, but it is a workmanlike, efficient, competent piece of entertainment. Not only is it not "the worst," it is far more entertaining than a whole host of bloated, forgettable superhero flicks of the past few years.
Start with the characters. We have an interesting heroine, Cassandra Webb, nicely embodied by Dakota Johnson. She's likeable, believable and suitably challenged by events she doesn't really understand. I can't speak to Johnson's acting range, not having seen her in anything else, but she seems to fit this particular part perfectly.
Most of the movie has to do with Cassandra's attempts to protect three teen-age girls. All three of them are presented as distinct personalities, and are elevated beyond mere stereotypes by earnest and appealing performances by the trio of actresses. I not only believed them, I was happy to spend time with them.
Then there's the story. It's nothing we haven't seen before, but it's done well. The origin of Cassandra's odd powers is novel, and revealed in stages that keep us guessing. Refreshingly, Cassandra needs to hold a super-villain at bay without actually knowing there's such a thing as a super-hero movie - or that she's in one.
Better yet, Cassandra's super-talent is inherently unpredictable, in an interesting way. It reminded me of the excellent Nicolas Cage film Next, in which he has the ability to see the future - two minutes at a time. The storyline of Madame Web is somewhat formulaic, to be sure - but it's a good formula, and well-executed. I never felt my intelligence was being insulted, and I certainly never felt bored.
The inevitable computer effects are used sparingly. Action is kept on a human scale - far more engrossing than watching CG heroes destroying planets with their pinky fingers.
I tip-toed into Madame Web with dire forebodings of a wasted evening. Two hours later I found myself wishing the movie was longer - and wondering what ghastly childhood traumas must have prompted the vast torrents of vitriol that have been aimed at it.
Sure, Madame Web isn't a breakthrough of any kind. But it's a completely professional piece of work - a solid two hours' escape from the troubles of the real world. Maybe it doesn't follow the comics - I don't know, and couldn't possibly care less. Maybe there were some nasty studio conflicts during production - again, not my concern. The end result was good. I had fun. Unless you come in solidly determined to hate, I can't see why you wouldn't have fun too.
Rating: 8 out of 10. To me, 7 indicates a movie that succeeds in its aims - that entertains and does nothing conspicuously off-putting, worth seeing for anyone who likes the genre. However, I felt compelled to add an extra mercy star to offset the numerous undeservedly low ratings.
Frank vs. God (2014)
Warning: REMAKE. See the original first!
Remakes should come with a prominent warning. So I hope you're reading this BEFORE watching Frank vs God.
The glowing reviews for Frank vs God are clearly from viewers who are unaware that it's a remake of the miraculous 2001 Australian film "The Man Who Sued God." The main thing in favor of this new version is that it follows the original script more or less faithfully. (Up until the ending, of which more in a moment.) Beyond that, there's no comparison.
It might be argued that some stories are worthy of multiple treatments, and that various filmmakers can each bring something new that's worthwhile. True: sometimes the third version of a particular story turns out to be the best. That's not the case here. Like far too many remakes, Frank vs God cannot rival the freshness and style of the work it's copying. This is especially obvious in the substitution, in the leading role, of the earnest Henry Ian Cusick for the brilliantly acerbic Scottish comedian Billy Connolly.
Losing Connolly is just the start. Frank vs God shifts the overall emphasis, becoming darker and adding a very American denouement (which I won't give away). The US ending is more shocking - I guess the filmmakers felt the existential Australian ending was too subtle for the US audience. That's an ironic and rather insulting lack of faith on their part. And a poor substitute for the wit and effervescence of The Man Who Sued God.
To be fair, the revised approach of Frank vs God isn't terribly bad. Ultimately, however, The Man Who Sued God is the superior film, not to mention the one and only original. It's only fair that The Man Who Sued God should be seen first, without any preconceptions.
(And while I'm at it, beware also of the Nicolas Cage movie The Family Man - a lame Americanized remake of another amazing Australian film - Me Myself I.)
Hypnotic (2023)
A new style of movie-making
To understand Hypnotic, it helps to have seen Robert Rodriguez' 2018 movie, Red 11 - reputedly made on a budget of just $7,000 (the same as his career-launching Mexican production, El Mariachi). It also help to check out some of the special features on discs of his early movies, where he explains his approach to visual creativity.
Considering that background, it's clear that Hypnotic is another Rodriguez low-budget 'guerilla' project. In the era of streaming overload, Rodriguez seems to be moving to a quick-and-dirty model, where he may use one or two big-name actors - or none at all. Where he may use a few minutes of cost-efficient CG effects - or none. Where he'll churn out a script with a collaborator or two, in a minimum amount of time. And where the end result is to create entertainment in its purest, rawest form.
Those who say Hypnotic is rough around the edges are not wrong - but if they think this is accidental, then they're missing the point. Hypnotic is carefully designed to feel edgy, unpolished, immediate. It doesn't shy away from a digital HD look. It does omit literate soliloquies, in favor of serviceable dialog that propels the story forward at a breakneck pace.
This may not be to everyone's tastes, but before deciding to hate it, at least take note of the movie's strengths. Hypnotic has a convoluted SF storyline that remains surprising even after you think you 'get it' - and gradually becomes more logically consistent the more it's folded and crumpled. It's got solid acting. There's sweaty confusion from Ben Affleck, in a role reminiscent of his very entertaining turn in John Woo's 2003 movie Paycheck. William Fichtner is a particularly creepy deadpan villain. And Alice Braga, recognizable from numerous SF/action movies, is the suitably ambiguous femme fatale.
Without following Rodriguez' career too closely, I'm tempted to believe he's taking a path similar to that of John Carpenter, who preferred to make lower-budget movies on his own terms, surrounded by his own collaborators, and unsupervised by what he called the "trailer people" who inevitably move in on every big-budget shooting location.
Be that as it may, I thoroughly enjoyed Hypnotic. I'd say it's a solid 7/10 - but I add one star for Rodriguez' many creative touches: a number of simple yet amazing shots, lots of cheap yet clever action sequences, and the enormous inventiveness (increasingly apparent as the film goes on) in getting a big-budget feel out of some incredibly simple locations and camera tricks. If you've liked Rodriguez' previous movies at all, be sure to check this one out.
Journey Together (1945)
A very good film from an unexpected source
I had no idea what to expect when I started watching Journey Together. The intro didn't help: in lieu of credits, it merely states that the movie was acted and produced entirely by "Members of the Royal Air Force."
Well, it must have been a grand time to be in the RAF, because the star turns out to be a very young Richard Attenborough. He's supported by a roster of faces familiar to any fan of old British movies. It's harder to believe that Edward G Robinson was in the RAF, but maybe they gave him an honorary commission or something. He's got a very nice bit as a gruff American flight instructor.
It's typical of British film-making that what could have been a dreary propaganda film, badly dated as soon as it was made, turns out to be cracking little drama, with interesting characters and clever situations. Not to give away too much, Attenborough wants to be a pilot, but his plans take an interesting left turn. Will he rise to the occasion?
That question is presented with a good deal of very realistic piloting detail. I did some flying myself at one time, and this movie brought back a lot of my training. The flight-crew accoutrements of the period were particularly interesting, and realistically portrayed.
If you're debating whether to bother with yet another WW2 wartime propaganda flick, fear not: Journey Together is much more. It's a satisfying little drama, evocative of its time, and highly entertaining. It's also a particularly good depiction of the experience of aviation.
Carrington V.C. (1954)
Brilliant drama, beautiful 1950s UK production
The overall rating for this movie is much too low. Anyone who gives this film less than an 8 or 9 clearly has a bias against intelligent British drama. (I reserve my 10-star ratings for movies that push beyond the merely excellent.)
Carrington VC is a clever character piece, typical of the best British films of the 1950s. Ignore the ham-handed "Court-Martial" title applied in the US - the story isn't about the details of British military justice, nor about Niven's fitness as an officer. (In stark contrast to movies like The Caine Mutiny or Rules of Engagement). It's purely about Carrington's personal integrity. Did he or did he not lay the proper groundwork for a rather foolish action he took? What kind of person is he, really?
The "VC" of the original title is emphatically NOT incidental - it's what the whole story is about. We are asked to consider what traits might make someone a true hero. To help us decide, we are offered a comparison between Carrington and people who, for reasons of their own, would like to see him fall.
The acting is spot-on. Niven has rarely been better - he takes what could be a straightforward portrayal and adds the necessary nuance to bring out Carrington's personality. The supporting cast consists entirely of British stalwarts who couldn't give a false performance if they tried.
The black-and-white cinematography is elegant, but stops short of drawing attention to itself. (In contrast to some of the more spectacular-looking Ealing dramas of the same period.) But while the production is relatively simple, it does not, as some reviewers allege, feel "stagy." Action shifts fluidly across a number of locations, with several key scenes taking place outdoors on the parade ground.
There are even some nice touches of wry humor that keep things from becoming too oppressive - and serve to humanize some of the peripheral characters, whose opinion of Carrington is ultimately an important part of the drama.
To sum up, I'm extremely glad I managed to catch up with this movie. Anyone who appreciates British dramas of the 1950s - or who simply enjoys a solid script, solidly performed - will not be disappointed.
Expedition Mars (2016)
Superior coverage of the Opportunity and Spirit Mars rovers
I'm not always a huge fan of recent National Geographic documentaries, which can be superficial and over-dramatized. But NG's space docs are often quite good, and Expedition Mars is one of the best. It tells the story of how the two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have fared in their travels across the planet Mars. And it gives ample background about the project, the people and the science.
I actually saw Expedition Mars after the more-recent documentary Good Night Oppy. I was surprised to discover how much better it was, despite it's lower budget. Good Night Oppy tries so hard to reach a 'mainstream' audience - that presumably doesn't care about its subject matter - that it does a disservice to that subject matter. It's light on science, long on manufactured melodrama.
Expedition Mars doesn't skimp on the human stories behind the mission. But it spends a larger proportion of its time on technical and scientific issues. It summarizes the travels of the rovers in a more brisk and more useful way. The CG is not quite as sophisticated as in Good Night Oppy, but it's more than sufficient to let viewers visualize the various events on Mars.
Bottom line, both Expedition Mars and Good Night Oppy are worth seeing, especially if you have any interest in space exploration. But if you're only going to see one, skip Oppy and watch Expedition Mars.
Good Night Oppy (2022)
Slick documentary, but a bit over-done
This overview of the Spirit and Opportunity rover missions covers all the bases. It takes us through the highs and lows of the adventure, shows us the personalities behind the technology. And it's all presented with high production values, highlighted by detailed computer-graphic visualizations of the rovers as they travel the Martian terrain.
That said, I found the whole thing a bit over-done. The effort to drum up emotional involvement was so relentless, I found it distracting and gushy. The voice-overs are full of needless hyperbole. There's a strenuous and rather ludicrous effort to anthropomorphize the robotic rovers - which, in the end, have about as much personality as the family car.
Good Night Oppy does do a good job of presenting the human side of the Mars project - but it completely misses the larger story, about Mars itself. By pitching everything on the level of Hollywood melodrama, it explains almost nothing and obscures the real excitement of scientific discovery.
The exploration of alien planets is exciting enough that it doesn't need to be 'hyped up.' I'd have much preferred a deeper dive into the science - but, alas, the nature of the experiments performed by the rovers is barely alluded to, and the results of those experiments are not fully explained. (Perhaps because they've been 'negative' - in that they've failed to find unequivocal signs of ancient life. That's important science, but the filmmakers obviously didn't trust the audience to understand.)
To be sure, Good Night Oppy is worth seeing if you're interested in space exploration or Mars or rover technology. But if you're only going to see one film on this topic, I'd strongly recommend the 2019 National Geographic documentary Expedition Mars. On a much lower budget than Good Night Oppy it offers more science - and, for me, stronger drama - in a shorter running time.
It's Quieter in the Twilight (2022)
Unsung Heroes of Outer Space
It's Quieter in the Twilight is an important and fascinating documentary, in two ways.
First, it's a look at what happens to a scientific program after the glory days have passed. It's a reminder of how awesome Voyagers 1 and 2 have been - and how they are now even more awesome as they've become the furthest man-made objects in the universe, by an incomprehensibly vast margin. It's an acknowledgement that these probes, primitive by today's standards, are still sending back priceless data, after decades hurtling through space. And it's a jaw-dropping reminder that these little craft are still responding to commands from Earth - in a sense a human presence, traveling a long way beyond the furthest planet in our Solar System, even beyond the limits of the Solar System itself.
Second, this film gives us a feeling for the kind of individuals who take on this kind of responsibility. Managing these two ageing yet priceless spacecraft does not bring accolades, and yet it's difficult, demanding work. The people involved today have been with the Voyager program almost since the very start. They've dedicated their lives to this one mission, both when it was in the media spotlight - during fly-bys of the outer planets - and today, when there are no obvious moments of glory.
It's Quieter in the Twilight does a great job of letting us get to know the latter-day Voyager team. It's a rare celebration of how great deeds are often accomplished not by single heroic acts, but by the dedicated effort of regular people over a long period of time.
Anyone who feels excited and inspired by space exploration should see this documentary. It's absolutely one of the best.