Avengers: Age of
Ultron
(Joss Whedon, 2015, USA, 141 min.)
Viewed
Theatrically First Viewing
Writer-director
Joss Whedon’s distinctive voice is largely drowned out in the rush to tie
together the increasingly convoluted strands of the Marvel cinematic universe
in his second valiant attempt to shoehorn in six movies worth of plot into one
action blockbuster. The conflict with an artificially intelligent menace
(voiced effectively by James Spader) provides a reasonably diverting main
storyline, but everything feels too rushed to have any lasting dramatic impact.
The CGI-drenched action sequences feel downright tame compared to the epic
setpieces in Mad Max: Fury Road and Furious 7. It’s telling that the only
time that the film truly comes to life is during one of its few moments of
downtime, when the plain-clothed superheroes are sharing jokes at a party. C+
Bad Day at Black
Rock
(John Sturges, 1955, USA, 81 min.)
Viewed on Turner
Classic Movies Second Viewing
John
Sturges’ pulpy tale of small town hostility is the ultimate tough guy movie,
seamlessly blending elements of westerns, suspense films, and noir into one
tightly coiled package. Spencer Tracy is a one-handed WWII veteran who comes to
the tight-knit community of Black Rock in search of a relative of one of his
war buddies, but finds that the residents of the town are willing to go to
violent lengths to cover up a horrific town secret. The film is constantly
threatening to explode into outright hysteria, but Sturges mostly keeps a lid
on full-blown action until a nail-biting climax, giving the whole film a
marvelous tension. Black Rock’s citizens are brought to vivid life by a who’s
who of great ‘50s character actors, including Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine, Lee
Marvin, and Walter Brennan. A
Furious 7 (James Wan, 2015,
USA, 137 min.)
Viewed
Theatrically First Viewing
That
Furious 7 is simple to follow even
for those of us who are new to the Fast
& Furious franchise is less an indictment of the series’ brain-dead
storytelling than it is a testament to the clarity of its mission statement: to
be as loud and dumb and explosively entertaining as possible. The shallow
characterizations and frenzied (if unusually clearly arranged) MTV-style
editing obviously place a ceiling on the film’s quality level, but there’s no
denying that the enormous, lengthy, ridiculously expensive looking action
setpieces are tons of fun. B-
Love & Mercy (Bill Pohlad,
2014, USA, 120 min.)
Viewed
Theatrically First Viewing
Bill
Pohlad’s look at the life of Brian Wilson smartly sidesteps many biopic clichés
by employing an interestingly fractured narrative structure that cuts back and
forth between two distinct periods of its subject’s life. A young Wilson (Paul
Dano) following his wandering muse while crafting Pet Sounds and Smile,
while the Wilson of the ‘80s (John Cusack, surprisingly effective playing
against type) struggles with mental issues, and the constant cross-cutting
between the two periods gives the film a melancholic power that would be
lacking in a more generic rise and fall narrative. B
Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller,
2015, Australia, 120 min.)
Viewed
Theatrically First Viewing
Mad Max: Fury Road runs a full two
hours, and there are probably fewer than five minutes that don’t involve
something blowing up, getting shot at, or crashing spectacularly. This is the
most ferocious, relentless, and visually impressive action film of recent
memory. George Miller never lets the pace slow down enough for the viewer to
question the film’s one-dimensional characters or its shallow attempt at
feminism, but frankly the action choreography is so mind blowing that theme and
narrative seem almost entirely beside the point. Miller executed as much of the
action as possible with live stunts and practical effects rather than CGI, but
the carnage is so outrageous that it often feels like a live-action Looney Tunes cartoon, and the results
are spellbinding. B+
Mission
Impossible: Ghost Protocol (Brad Bird, 2011, USA, 133 min.)
Viewed On Demand First Viewing
The
fourth Mission Impossible film is the
most gleefully over the top to date. Many of the big action sequences are
legitimately staggering, the best being an absolutely insane scene in which Tom
Cruise’s heroic spy free climbs the outside of the Burj Khalifa tower, the
world’s tallest building. (The scene was filmed without a stunt double, and on
IMAX cameras for extra vertigo-inducing clarity). The film grinds to a halt
during the moments when it tries to be anything more than an excuse to put the
charismatic Cruise in spectacular danger – the story is purely generic, and the
attempts at pathos don’t connect at all – but as a pure action spectacle it’s
fantastic. B
The Red Shoes (Michael Powell
& Emeric Pressburger, 1948, UK, 133 min.)
Viewed on Turner
Classic Movies Second Viewing
Powell
& Pressburger’s classic deserves its reputation as the greatest dance film
of all time simply for its mesmerizing centerpiece, a 20-minute ballet adaptation
of Hans Christen Andersen’s fairy tale of the same name, which employs a
stunning array of surreal cinematic effects that suggest what one of Disney’s
classic animated films would look like in live action. It’s one of the very
greatest scenes in cinema history, and it’s so dazzling that the compelling
story of artistic obsession that supports it is often unjustly overlooked. Jack
Cardiff’s amazing Technicolor compositions remain the high water mark for color
cinematography. A
The Spy Who Loved
Me
(Lewis Gilbert, 1977, UK, 125 min.)
Viewed on DVD Second Viewing
The
tenth James Bond film feels, for better and for worst, like a “greatest hits”
package for the series. It delivers on all of the required 007 trademarks but
lacks a clear identity of its own. While it’s understandable that the producers
would want to follow the unpopular Man
with the Golden Gun (1974) with a back to basics Bond picture, the
eccentric campiness of most of the Roger Moore era is missed here. That said,
the formula does work, and The Spy Who
Loved Me is never less than entertaining. Jaws (Richard Kiel) remains the
series’ best henchman, Carly Simon’s “Nobody Does It Better” is one of the
finest Bond theme songs, and a suspenseful scene set in the pyramids of Egypt
is a cool travelogue moment. B-
The Testament of
Dr. Mabuse
(Fritz Lang, 1933, Germany, 121 min.)
Viewed on DVD Latest of Many Viewings
In
many respects this is the ultimate Fritz Lang film, combining the epic
storytelling of his silent films with the boldly modern aesthetic of his sound
debut M (1931). Liberally borrowing
elements from his previous work, Lang creates an unforgettable nightmare world
of inexplicable spy rings and dank insane asylums. A dizzying array of pulp
sensations are packed into the enjoyable convoluted narrative, and while the
plot machinations rarely make logical sense, they are invariably delivered with
the type of hypnotic intensity that only Lang could conjure. The remarkable
in-camera special effect of the specter of Dr. Mabuse planting evil ideas in a
doctor’s head has to be seen to be believed. A
To Be or Not to Be (Ernst Lubitsch,
1942, USA, 99 min.)
Viewed on Hulu
Plus First Viewing
Ernst
Lubitsch’s controversial comedy is as irreverent about World War II as Inglourious Basterds (2009) is – but the
difference is that this film actually came out while the war was still going
on. Jack Benny and Carole Lombard play Polish actors in Nazi-occupied Warsaw
who use the skills of their trade to infiltrate the German troops. Lubitsch
unsurprisingly caught some flak for poking fun at a serious threat, but his
classy, casual approach to comedy – the famous “Lubitsch touch” – gives the film
layers of emotion and humanism that one wouldn’t normally expect from dark
comedy. B+
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