Hey folks, Harry here with the first DVD PICKS & PEEKS written in the Caribbean from the isle of Aruba – specifically out under a leafy roof sitting on the beach watching the waves come in under a starry night. Every now and again, it is amazing to do something like this. Get out of the safe cave where I am surrounded by distractions, but at the same time – pushing white sand around with your bare feet as you listen to crash after crash of wave – a crazy tropical wind that is unrelenting blowing your hair back and after a day of Snorkling and discovering a really fucking excellent movie at this first year’s ARUBA INTERNATIONAL FILM FEST… well. To prove to myself that I could still get this column done – and earlier than normal. It is nice. Even if it is shorter than normal, not because I’m being lazy, but just due to a lack of a ton of quality releases this week. What I do have for ya though is pretty damn great I think.
As always the pics and the titles link over to AMAZON – where in some cases you may wish to find out more on the title. And then if you like the release, pick it up – ships quickly and each purchase through one of these links helps to keep the column going strong. Let’s start with a very different island than the one I’m currently on…
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
SHUTTER ISLAND
I love this film. As you can probably discern from the quote on the cover, which is mine, I went gaga for this flick. In fact, later today in Aruba, I’ll be listening to Thelma Schoonmaker chat about her history with Scorsese – and I’m very curious about their next project together. But that’s got nothing to do with this – which is amongst my fave Scorsese films. WHY? I love how it feels like something from an entirely different era from the one in which we exist. It isn’t just that it is a period film, it has more to do with the filmmaking technique, which makes use of today’s cinematic superpowers, but conservatively. The physical LOOK of the movie is exquisite, the use of color, the framing, music and over the top melodrama of it all. The casting is exemplary and the story… creepy. Give me an ol Insane Asylum Government Conspiracy flick any day of the week. BTW – Thelma Schoonmaker’s master class on Film Editing and the history of it as regards her work with Scorsese… going scene by scene through the fights in RAGING BULL. Amazing.
FROM PARIS WITH LOVE
I have a wicked soft spot for this bit of insanity. I love a batnuts Travolta – (except in BATTLEFIELD EARTH… but I kinda love laughing at that performance… in memory alone, not like… you know, watching it again.) But FROM PARIS WITH LOVE, I kind of enjoy the hell out of rewatching. I think some of the stuff with Jonathan Rhys Meyers’ girlfriend is out of whack – and a tad propagandistic and slightly racist. I mean, maybe I’m naïve, but has any documented terrorist activity ever occurred in the modern era that was spawned from a cross-faith relationship? I’m just thinking that if anyone could make that leap, probably was a bit more understanding than radical fundamentalists. But I could be nutty. But that twist in the film isn’t really a spoiler, because it actually feels like the overall PLOT of the film is taking a huge back seat to the enormous amount of energy that Travolta puts into this… sloppily written piece of B-movie fun. And… no… the coolest Travolta since PULP FICTION is easily FACE/OFF and most certainly not this.
TCM Spotlight: CHARLIE CHAN Collection ( DARK ALIBI / DANGEROUS MONEY / THE TRAP / THE CHINESE RING )
I’m a Charlie Chan junkie – and while Warner Oland is the shit, I’m a big Sidney Toler lover as well. We’ve had a lot of the Charlie Chans hit DVD, but these are the Monogram ones – and Warner has done a real bang up job releasing these. Each on their own discs. This isn’t quite everything that we need on DVD yet – and I do wonder if we’ll get the last two eventually. I think so. These are short brief page-turners – and if you were lucky enough to catch these late nights back when they seemed to always be on after the late local news (at least in Austin, along with Sherlock Holmes and Mr Moto’s) then here’s a high five. I’m really looking forward to one day getting SHADOWS OVER CHINA TOWN – as I’ve had the one-sheet forever, and still have never actually seen it. ARGH. Beautiful Key Luke poster.
CADDYSHACK (Blu Ray)
Finally, the groovin’ gopher muppet in 1080p! I REALLY LOVE CADDYSHACK! The holy trinity of Chevy, Bill and Rodney… and what a fucking role for both Bill and Rodney. Not knocking Chevy, but that was a classic Chevy smooth klutz performance. But Bill’s groundskeeper… Dear God. Who doesn’t quote his Gopher anger speak while making crude forest critters out of plastique? And Rodney actually made Golf seem like something I’d want to do. But when I was the only obnoxious eccentric on the course – it just didn’t seem as much fun. Oh – and Ted Knight had the thankless duty of being the slow burn man for the film. That said – boy could he slow burn. I always wanted Jackie Gleason to play that role, but rewatching it on Blu… I have to give it up for Ted Knight, I love to hate him – and I could never hate ‘that old fat man’! Whatever, this is the best golfing film ever, so much better than the sport.
BOB HOPE: Thanks For The Memories Collection ( THANKS FOR THE MEMORY / THE CAT AND THE CANARY / THE GHOST BREAKERS / NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH / THE ROAD TO MOROCCO and THE PALEFACE )
You ever wonder where “Thanks for the Memories” came from as Bob Hope’s signature song? Wonder no more – Get this set and you’ll discover Hope’s first real break out – in THANKS FOR THE MEMORY – where he’s a house husband trying to come up with something as a writer as his wife, Shirley Ross, is working for her former fiancé, who happens to be Hope’s Publisher… Yes, it’s pat, convenient and all that, but damn if it isn’t a ton of fun. Plus – any film with Rochester and Otto Kruger… well, it’s just something to marvel at. Of Film Journalist note – keep your eye out for Hedda Hopper, one of the original Big Influential Film Biz writers. Just cool to see her. But that’s not all – you also get THE CAT AND THE CANARY, which was always a blast. It’s a Horror Mystery Comedy thing with Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard (pant pant) and The Wolf Man’s babe, Gale Sondergaard. George Zucco is, as always, great. There’s also THE GHOST BREAKERS, which I don’t love quite as much as THE CAT AND THE CANARY, but it reunited Hope and Goddard – threw in such great characters as ANTHONY QUINN!!! Along with folks like Paul Lukas and Richard Carlson, but the real jewel of this Haunted house romantic comedy is WILLIE BEST who was also known as Sleep ‘n’ Eat. He was one of those great physical and witty comedic actors from the period, that because he was born Black – he got stuck playing what the writers thought was funny, which was usually… pretty racist. That said, he’s amazing and could have been so much more had the industry let him. I haven’t seen NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, but THE ROAD TO MOROCCO, it picked up a nomination for Best Writing – and it is easy to see why. The wit with which this was written was really amazing. Bing and Bob and Dorothy end up dealing with a young Auda Abu Tayi. Oh come on, you know – Anthony Quinn plays a great character in this. One of his pre-LAWRENCE appearances as an Arabic CHARACTER (all caps). And the last film is PALEFACE… Now, I’ve always preferred SON OF PALEFACE, mainly because I love me some Roy Rogers. And it is even more cartoonish than this, but PALEFACE did win an Oscar for best song, you’ll probably know it when you hear it. And Jane Russell is tremendous as Calamity Jane. Both films came from Looney Tunes looney Frank Tashlin – and it shows thank god. Tashlin is a brilliant comedic director – really unlike anyone really working today – which is a shame – there is a ton to learn from his filmography – and if you haven’t discovered his films this is a good place to start! Over all – this is a great first set of Bob Hope flicks – there needs to be much more!
THE A-TEAM: The Complete Series (Limited Edition Box Set)
Ok, I’ll admit it. When I opened the box that this came in, I squealed with joy. You see – I was the perfect age for THE A-TEAM growing up. As many of you were – thanks to syndication. But all the main characters can be seen as you turn THE VAN around. And on AMAZON, you save about $60 on this set. That said – I can’t imagine ever getting through EVERY episode ever. But damn won’t it be fun trying. BTW – are y’all anxious for A-TEAM in theaters? Just curious to take a read on y’all.
THE ILLUSIONIST (Blu Ray)
I remember back when this came out – folks decided to make it a contest as to whether THE ILLUSIONIST would be better than Christopher Nolan’s THE PRESTIGE – and well, because the box office favored THE PRESTIGE which was indeed a very very fine film. People missed a film that it could be argued was possibly even better. Neil Burger’s THE ILLUSIONIST is fascinating, intelligent and just wonderful to get caught up in. Ed Norton is, as usual, exemplary. Giamatti and Sewell are great, but man – Jessica Biel is worshipped in 1080p. Nice to have on Blu!
SHINJUKU INCIDENT
Proof positive that Jackie Chan should always keep working! Here he abandons the quick feet and amazing stunts – in lieu of playing radically against character type, but playing that persona in a completely different manner. Could very well be Jackie’s best acting work of his career in terms of emotional work. Physically… DRUNKEN MASTER II is just the best. If you love Jackie, but have been disappointed by most of his recent work, here you see Jackie trying something entirely new. And yes, it definitely echoes SCARFACE, but is set in Tokyo (problem with writing from memory), amongst the illegal immigrant circles. AMAZING little film!
HAPPY TOGETHER (Blu Ray)
Ok. When you see “A Film By Wong Kar-Wai” and you see Blu Ray packaging. That’s a film to buy instantly on sight. Doesn’t really matter what your favorite critics say – it is all about you. You need to see it in the best possible presentation. The lush use of colors, framing and lighting – there’s nobody really like him out there. Just watching Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung kicking it in my new-found buddy, Sebastian Tabany’s stomping grounds in Buenos Aires. So watching this, I can just imagine hanging with Sebastian in pretty much a shot for shot geek remake. Now going into this – you have to know that Wong Kar-Wai never shoots a normal looking movie, the great DP Christopher Doyle and him make some of the most artistically brilliant unconventional film work out there – and it has yet to really lose me. Here’s to hoping it never does.
ANIMATION EXPRESS (Blu Ray)
I got this Blu-Ray the day I left for Aruba, so I haven’t seen it yet, but when I return to Austin today – probably before I collapse from exhaustion – I’m hoping to get through this. If you click over to Amazon – you’ll find that it has over 26 animated shorts – and while I’ve seen the great MADAME TUTTI-PUTLI and SLEEPING BETTY – I don’t believe I’ve seen the rest quite yet, but I may have. I’m a huge lover of short animation – be it the classics are the more experimental work we see in the medium today. And BLU RAY makes animation so crisp and beautiful.
POWER KIDS
From the crazy land where we found Tony Jaa and that crazy gifted girl that was trained with candy… comes POWER KIDS. I watched this last Movie Night with my friend Diana and while we didn’t love it – HOLY SHIT it has some crazy shit going on – and if you love to see crazy movies starring kids that kick ass… well, this is definitely THE THAI EXPLOITATION film in that genre. It’s worth putting on a queue to check out – hold off buying till you have a chance to judge for yourself… this is one of those – glad I saw, but I don’t know if I can recommend to too many people flicks. It’s basically a group of Muay Thai practicing kids versus radical Indonesian terrorists. Yeah – it gets bloody.
That’s it for this week, wasn’t really that much coming out of interest. Next week we have the Hughes’ Brothers’ THE BOOK OF ELI, WHEN IN ROME, SHOWGIRLS on Blu Ray – god I hope that is at home when I get back, that’s a blu ray to own. Then there’s the invisible Sam Jackson great little film, UNTHINKABLE, Queen’s FLASH GORDON on Blu, YOUTH IN REVOLT, COLLAPSE, Sam Raimi’s DARKMAN on blu, MYSTERY TRAIN on Criterion Blu, Park Chan Wook’s VENGEANCE trilogy on Blu, BURMA VJ: REPORTING FROM A CLOSED COUNTRY, the original THE STEPFATHER on Blu, MARY AND MAX, another ENTER THE DRAGON Blu release, THE HORSEMAN, THE BLIND MENACE, Sleazy Sci-Fi of the 70s and a few more. Well, I have a flight to catch in the morning, but wanted to get this out to you before heading home.
