cult film freak: January 2014

Written by James M. Tate / 1/31/2014 / 1 Comment / 2013 , alexander payne , bruce dern , drama , june squibb , rance howard , road movie , stacy keach , will forte

BRUCE DERN & WILL FORTE IN ALEXANDER PAYNE'S 'NEBRASKA'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Alexander Payne's directs Bruce Dern and Will Forte in NEBRASKA Year: 2013</u></td></tr>
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Will Forte has an interesting face, his mouth naturally curved to a frown. His character David Grant has very little to celebrate: His girlfriend dumped him and his father Woody, played by veteran actor Bruce Dern, is bent on taking a trip from Montana to NEBRASKA after receiving a Mega Sweepstakes Marketing Prize in the mail...<br />
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David knows it’s a gimmick to sell magazines, but Woody, a lifelong drinker with rudimentary signs of dementia, keeps physically threatening to walk the impossible distance… Not an easy task of course, especially given his frail physical and mental status making even a hundred yards difficult… Thankfully, David decides to give poor dad a ride...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Rance Howard and Will Forte flank Bruce Dern and a lotta old men from NEBRASKA</u></td></tr>
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Like director Alexander Payne’s SIDEWAYS and ABOUT SCHMIDT, this deadpan odyssey is a “road movie” epitomizing that niche; although most of the time’s spent sidetracked at Woody’s NEBRASKA hometown of Hawthorne...<br />
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This is where most of the story takes place; and his brother (Rance Howard) — and then later on, several brothers — aren’t much different in tone: passive and mundane “men of few words.” But Woody has a destination and the entire town thinks he’s a millionaire already...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Will Forte with Bruce Dern and Stacy Keach in Alexander Payne's NEBRASKA Rating: ****</u></td></tr>
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Enter initially subtle antagonist Stacy Keach who, like Dern himself, is known for and reveled in edgy, borderline insane guy roles during the 1970’s and 1980s… His laidback yet investigative Ed Pegram also likes to drink and hang around the local tavern, and now there’s an agenda — he wants a payoff and Woody’s family wants some too; particularly two fat oddball nephews straight out of the Coen Brothers' quirky universe.<br />
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David becomes a shadow on the wall during in-house family scenes, and his barroom conversations with Keach are reminiscent of George Clooney and polite-for-a-financial-purpose Beau Bridges as his cousin in Payne's previous film, THE DESCENDANTS: a polite, friendly tone obscuring an underlying rancor.'<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bruce Dern, June Squibb, Will Forte and an unseen Bob Odenkirk visit Woody's childhood home</u></td></tr>
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In a story replete with intentionally sparse characters, June Squibb is the obvious audience-favorite (perhaps <i>too</i> obvious, forced) as Woody’s sarcastic, foul-mouthed, hen-pecking wife Kate, stealing scenes mostly because she has the funniest lines, and is a breath of fresh air from the monotone surrounding her presence...<br />
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She seems more realistic than your typical actress/actor playing down to cliché (but not condescending) small town mentality the director previously covered in ABOUT SCHMIDT (where June was Jack Nicholson's wife)...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gorgeous yet sparse scenery from the movie and the location of NEBRASKA</u></td></tr>
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In fact, NEBRASKA often feels like an extremely subtle art film satire, while the plush yet primitive B&W cinematography turns the titular state into a rustic hybrid of paradise and purgatory… Some of the best scenes are the scenery, taking place <i>outside</i> Woody's passenger seat window...<br />
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In Will Forte's case, he initially doesn't seem up to the job (his successful brother's played by Bob Odenkirk and might've fared better)... A comedy actor, his deadpan often seems somewhat reached for instead of naturally holding back...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u> Bruce Dern and Will Forte at the dead dive of two NEBRASKA bars</u></td></tr>
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But (after a recommended second, third or fourth viewings) once you realize his fourth fiddle status to the location, and the overall journey, and especially to his father... it becomes more clear...<br />
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Forte's an awkward yet ultimately wise choice opposite Dern, existing <i>beneath</i> the father's jangily rhythm instead of playing loggerhead to his unnerving, unapologetic neurosis. His David Grant seems to have given up long ago; and despite being the driver on this trip, he’s merely along for the ride.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bruce Dern and Will Forte in NEBRASKA</td></tr>
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Meanwhile, the “man of the hour,” Bruce Dern (nominated for an Oscar) seems almost too authentic. The sporadic dialogue and a few blunt moments of passion aside, his expressions are what really matter…<br />
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Old Woody's a man who's kept everything inside while traces of a buried life seep out from his gently confused, timeworn face, painfully etched with age and mileage but not without a faint glimmer of hope, no matter how unavailing and desperately futile: therein lies the mystery and adventure of Alexander Payne's NEBRASKA.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Missy Dotty in NEBRASKA who had played Cammi the Waitress in Payne's SIDEWAYS</u></td></tr>
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<i><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u>MISSY DOTTY</u>: Working with Alexander is a dream for any actor... because he's an actor's director...</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span">And what I mean by that is he lets you do your work and gently guides you so that he can let the camera discover the character as it comes to life... </span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">Much like an audience member watching the characters come to life on screen.</span> </span> </span></i>
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<i><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Working on SIDEWAYS was so much fun... the whole crew, production team, cast... we all felt like family. And it's highly known that Alexander is loyal to anyone who works with him, so walking onto the set of NEBRASKA, it was like coming home... Comfortable and welcoming.</span></span></i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Missy Dotty as Cammi in Sideways turned black and white so to fit the non-color scheme of Nebraska</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>And Alexander Payne himself (resembling Richard Gere's kangaroo) directing Bruce Dern for Nebraska</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bruce Dern and Will Forte as father and son in Alexander Payne's NEBRASKA</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bruce Dern plays father to Will Forte as son in Alexander Payne's NEBRASKA Year: 2013</u></td></tr>
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2013, alexander payne, bruce dern, drama, june squibb, rance howard, road movie, stacy keach, will forte

BRUCE DERN & WILL FORTE IN ALEXANDER PAYNE'S 'NEBRASKA'

Alexander Payne's directs Bruce Dern and Will Forte in NEBRASKA Year: 2013 Will Forte has an interesting face, his mouth naturally c...

Written by James M. Tate / 1/28/2014 / No comments / bagful , barbara payton , fifties , film noir or melodrama , forties , wrong man

A THIRD BLOODY BAGFUL OF FILM NOIR

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1948 rating: ****</td></tr>
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<i>More Noir, spanning from darkened urban alleyways and bleak country roads of America to the shrouded, misty avenues of England...</i><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b>THE STREET WITH NO NAME</b></span><b>:</b> Like James Cagney's more mainstream, action-driven G-MEN, this underrated, slowburn Noir begins as sort
 of an FBI propaganda film, showing the inner workings of the Bureau
 with a monotone "facts only" narration... Yet soon 
enough it settles darkly into a mean and lean, intriguingly no-nonsense mobster melodrama as we follow 
intrepid agent Mark Stevens undercover along a crime-ridden urban street (with<i> </i>"no name" since there are so many like it)... And here's where the narration tapers off and the good stuff beings... <br />
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Stevens plays Gene Cordell, going by the bogus name of George Manly, then coasts into a 
boxing syndicate led by the dependably-vile and always-wonderful Richard Widmark as Alec 
Stiles, who has solo time on screen, becoming an equal match of mobster surreptitiously
verses undercover agent. Although Steven's Manly is a bit too 
square-jawed and cop-looking to realistically pass as a thug, he's one 
helluva boxer and one particular fight sequence is fast and ferocious, 
earning him a place within the den of thieves.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Widmark runnin' things</td></tr>
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Sublimely
 filmed and acted, this is an underrated Fox Film Noir with suspense 
that never lets up: both for Widmark, as he tries figuring out who the 
plant is, and the audience, anticipating what will become of our hero 
when he does. And while Widmark's Stiles isn't as 
endearingly vile as his sinister giggling KISS OF DEATH icon Tommy Udo, 
he's more of a blunt bottom line: a short fuse with his lackey goons and
 an exploding bomb to a discontented trophy moll.<br />
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A 
standout of the thugs is a short switchblade-wielding Donald Buka (pictured above) as Shivvy, who in one scene tales Stevens through the shadowy night and then, later 
on, meets him inside the cheap motel room with a veiled threat, 
asserting himself as an edgier menace than even Widmark: one of those 
rare crime flicks where the henchman's not only tougher, as per usual, 
but is actually smarter and sharper than the boss himself.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1950 rating: ***1/2</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b>MYSTERY STREET:</b></span> A top-notch mystery/suspense about a woman murdered by an 
unseen gunman (she sees him but we don't). This occurs during the first 
fifteen minutes, which is all <i>shot </i>wonderfully.<br />
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Her
 skeleton is discovered and it's up to detective Ricardo Mantobaun, 
joining with Harvard coroner Bruce Bennett, first figuring out how the 
death occurred and then who-done-it, which isn't so easy: even when the 
cops find the <i>supposed </i>killer it all seems too easy somehow, and the questions are answered fitfully along the way, keeping 
things from getting too complicated or plot-heavy like Noir 
mysteries can, yet the suspense holds the viewer's complete attention 
even after we, unlike the law, know the real killer... And Elsa Lanchester 
provides terrific moments as a blackmailing tart.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I7Z1JDcHZWs/UtWEeiBgg0I/AAAAAAAAcZk/nFJjWWNEdmI/s1600/racket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I7Z1JDcHZWs/UtWEeiBgg0I/AAAAAAAAcZk/nFJjWWNEdmI/s1600/racket.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1951 rating: ***1/2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>THE RACKET:</b></span> While primarily focusing on the two leads, Robert Mitchum as a 
determined cop named McQuigg and Robert Ryan as criminal kingpin Nick 
Scanlon (in cahoots with crooked politician Ray Collins)... it's William
 Tallman's heroic yet idealistically naive rookie cop, ready 
to take on all things villainous, that really drives things along.<br />
<br />
Bookending the literally explosive mid-section is an involving buildup: 
nothing can touch Robert Ryan and his old-school way of running things. 
Then, during the last half, he realizes his particular kind of shady 
doesn't quite work in the world of ever-growing politics. But he's not 
going down easy and it takes Mitchum's slowburn patience to wear him 
down. Throw in sexy Lizbeth Scott as the dame caught in the middle and 
you really have something.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FLNhhmeSD3Q/UxOzuiezd3I/AAAAAAAAdTA/MtnoJEP-p88/s1600/rico.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FLNhhmeSD3Q/UxOzuiezd3I/AAAAAAAAdTA/MtnoJEP-p88/s1600/rico.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1957 rating: ***1/2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>THE BROTHERS RICO:</b></span> So here's a perfect movie that's far from perfect...<br />
<br />
A crime melodrama centering on the oldest brother Rico who, after 
being warned by his middle brother, seeks out his baby brother on the run from
 a mobster that all three worked for. <br />
<br />
The scant<i> execution</i> doesn't waste time or energy on 
anything but what needs to happen: and it's a very creative premise with
 plenty of twists and turns with Richard Conte (who would later play Barzini in THE GODFATHER), a fervently determined 
shark throughout, balancing desperation and machismo in a film that 
knows its limitations and never exceeds them.<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6rJeMCcR1fU/VhMX09GP_8I/AAAAAAAApT4/Wcu1d7x_Tl4/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2015-10-05%2Bat%2B5.39.44%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6rJeMCcR1fU/VhMX09GP_8I/AAAAAAAApT4/Wcu1d7x_Tl4/s200/Screen%2Bshot%2B2015-10-05%2Bat%2B5.39.44%2BPM.png" width="125" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1953 rating: ****</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>JEOPARDY:</b></span> It's quite simple, really.... A strong/macho husband, Barry Sullivan... His strong-willed 
wife, Barbara Stanwyck... And their curious son take a trip to Mexico: to 
fish at a dilapidated pier. Dad gets stuck between wood as the tide 
approaches... And the ball starts rolling as mom goes for some rope at a closed-down gas station and 
instead finds Ralph Meeker, who seems friendly at first but turns out is a cold-blooded, escaped convict... and then the real
 fun happens.<br />
<br />
Cutting back and forth from the extremely odd couple to dad's 
apparent doom really heightens the suspense. But overall it's the 
callous, forced "relationship" between Stanwyck and Meeker that really 
counts, especially since she needs him and, deep down, actually seems to
 like the handsome devil.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kpDarnE8znU/UtWJaZDyYCI/AAAAAAAAcaE/OppZ4QYTilc/s1600/Picture+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kpDarnE8znU/UtWJaZDyYCI/AAAAAAAAcaE/OppZ4QYTilc/s320/Picture+1.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1953 rating: ***</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>BAD BLONDE:</b></span> In this Hammer British Film Noir, a bulky and not altogether brilliant boxer gets a shot when his 
trainer connects with a rich Italian manager who can make it all 
happen.<br />
<br />
But there are a few catches... First, everyone has to
 live at an estate where the fighter, Charlie Sullivan (Tony Wright), 
will prepare for future moneymaking matches. Second, Charlie needs to 
get along with the rich man’s square-jawed wife Lorna, played by 
manipulating, voluptuous Barbara Payton. Basically, the
 first moment Charlie sets his eyes on the blonde temptress, his career 
is finished… As is his sanity. He can’t get his mind off her.<br />
<br />
In the usual Film Noir aspect of a naive rich man (the manager) naive enough 
to push his wife into the arms of a young, better looking man is, like 
always, completely unbelievable – but what makes BAD BLONDE work are the
 boxing scenes, filmed like you’re watching each bout from the first 
row. And the eventual murder attempt of Lorna’s husband is 
wickedly intense, but too much time wallows in soap operatic scenes 
between the boxer and the title character, whose villainy was better 
when she had a few more rungs to climb.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5-FKICKVXo8/UtWKSNsDOUI/AAAAAAAAcaM/gv_-kVJY3YQ/s1600/0.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5-FKICKVXo8/UtWKSNsDOUI/AAAAAAAAcaM/gv_-kVJY3YQ/s200/0.png" width="168" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1952 rating: ***1/2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>MAN BAIT:</b></span> Another Hammer British Film Noir dealing with a blonde: With beautiful Diana Dors, any 
expression wields a full-lipped pout. And it's a seductively vicious pout as the 
story, centering on blackmail at a high-end English bookstore, unfolds.<br />
<br />
Dors
 plays Ruby Bruce, whose stunning appearance alone turns men into jelly.
 Although her rich boss, with a lucrative insurance policy, is tougher 
than most “fish." So Ruby teams with ex-convict con man Jeffrey Hart to 
collect the money as the slow, meticulous nature in which the plot 
pans out is intriguing… As Jefferey coaches Ruby from the sidelines (at a
 posh bar), she becomes more and more guilt ridden and desperate, 
proving Dors, known as the “British Marilyn Monroe,” had more ability to
 carry a storyline than the American bombshell.<br />
<br />
But 
without her presence, MAN BAIT becomes your typical "wrong man" 
melodrama... Although the talented cast of Brits (including second tier 
ingénue Marguerite Chapman and Raymond Huntley as an uptight manager),
 and a few neat surprises, will keep your interest. Especially the last 
ten minutes when the antagonist gets <i>really</i> wicked.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qA5h7VvnYdY/UtWLJkIFZvI/AAAAAAAAcac/1E8JQzclNa4/s1600/CorneredPoster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qA5h7VvnYdY/UtWLJkIFZvI/AAAAAAAAcac/1E8JQzclNa4/s200/CorneredPoster.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1945 rating: **</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>CORNERED:</b></span> Another wordy melodrama where the main character hops from location to 
location gathering info to get him to the next place, to question
 the next person, and sometimes getting tricked, lied to, almost 
murdered, or all three at once.<br />
<br />
There's not enough intrigue-based action
 in this muddled odyssey as Dick Powell travels from France to South 
America to find out who killed his wife. And since the Nazis, who slaughtered 
millions in the war, are somehow involved in the initial murder, our 
hero's private mission seems selfishly desperate and, after so many red 
herrings, one forgets what, or who, he's after.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PIR1mLhfagw/UtWLgVCafuI/AAAAAAAAcak/yMVeeSodWnU/s1600/5-against-the-house-trailer-title-still.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PIR1mLhfagw/UtWLgVCafuI/AAAAAAAAcak/yMVeeSodWnU/s200/5-against-the-house-trailer-title-still.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1955 rating: *1/2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>5 AGAINST THE HOUSE:</b></span> If you thought casting high school or college students with grown men 
was something staple of the eighties, check out this melodrama centering
 on four college buddies who plan on overtaking a poker house...<br />
<br />
All 
the characters are played by good actors, including Brian Keith and Kerwin Matthews, who look 
forty years old and act accordingly. A young Keith is the only interesting 
character but breaks down way too soon, promising a psychotic side that 
never comes to fruition, making for a weak heavy in an ensemble lacking everything including style, plot and purpose.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7KoJOSyhREI/UtWMtchV5vI/AAAAAAAAcas/2OI_dHxuzUQ/s1600/lineup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7KoJOSyhREI/UtWMtchV5vI/AAAAAAAAcas/2OI_dHxuzUQ/s1600/lineup.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1958 ****1/2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>THE LINEUP:</b></span> Crime melodrama perfectly mixing good and evil... Beginning with a police 
investigation of heroin smuggled through antiques, and then focusing on 
the criminals who collect the stuff for the mysterious big boss no one ever sees, or even dares to. <br />
<br />
Eli Wallach, playing the crazy, insecure, and 
sometimes charming lead thug, following subtle "orders" from his elder 
partner Robert Keith, make for one unique partnership: imagine if PSYCHO Norman Bates followed Martin Balsam's orders instead of his Mother.<br />
<br />
The best scenes have the strange duo going from each job. Wallach, as Dancer, is learning a bizarre form of sophistication through each grizzly murder while Keith writes down every victim's last words, shared by his young cutthroat protegee. All the while a novice, boozing Richard Jaekel remains the unpredictable wild card, so nervous in his getaway driving skills he's bound to screw up. Even after we're stuck with one situation involving a mother and daughter being kidnapped, and then literally race towards an inevitable conclusion after all the deathly fun is over, director Don 
Siegel keeps the suspense on par with the pulpy dialogue, especially 
memorable amongst the cops throughout most of the first act.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-82iAfiEkg5o/UtWOC-kZvFI/AAAAAAAAca0/95rf0XpP3W8/s1600/glenn+anders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-82iAfiEkg5o/UtWOC-kZvFI/AAAAAAAAca0/95rf0XpP3W8/s200/glenn+anders.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Glenn Anders as Grisby</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI:</b></span> Sorry, fella, but the LADY FROM SHANGHAI review has been expanded and moved to another location, so <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/07/beyondMIRRORS.html">CLICK HERE</a> to read.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-85iqPBUpirg/UtWPI29SASI/AAAAAAAAca8/iTGJTJ1D8BQ/s1600/Welles.%252BLady%252Bfrom%252BShanghai.%252Bfinal%252Bmirror%252B14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="121" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-85iqPBUpirg/UtWPI29SASI/AAAAAAAAca8/iTGJTJ1D8BQ/s320/Welles.%252BLady%252Bfrom%252BShanghai.%252Bfinal%252Bmirror%252B14.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The most famous ending in the history of FILM (NOIR)</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>

bagful, barbara payton, fifties, film noir or melodrama, forties, wrong man

A THIRD BLOODY BAGFUL OF FILM NOIR

year: 1948 rating: **** More Noir, spanning from darkened urban alleyways and bleak country roads of America to the shrouded, misty aven...

Written by James M. Tate / 1/26/2014 / 1 Comment / eighties , john carpenter , kurt russell , photofade , thomas g. waites

MAC & WINDOWS IN JOHN CARPENTER'S THE THING

eighties, john carpenter, kurt russell, photofade, thomas g. waites

MAC & WINDOWS IN JOHN CARPENTER'S THE THING

Photofade of Windows & Mac in THE THING Before the age of home computers, John Carpenter's THE THING had two characters within a...

Written by James M. Tate / 1/25/2014 / No comments / 2014 , aaron eckhart , action , bill nighy , monster

I, FRANKENSTEIN WITH AARON ECKHART

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AbNuXCbaU-E/UuNooArwmwI/AAAAAAAAcmA/-7j7uqDPt1A/s1600/i-frankenstein-poster-1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AbNuXCbaU-E/UuNooArwmwI/AAAAAAAAcmA/-7j7uqDPt1A/s320/i-frankenstein-poster-1.jpg" width="234" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: **</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Well if Abraham Lincoln can become a Vampire Hunter, why can’t Frankenstein's monster hunt demons? After all, they’re after him, so why the bloody hell not?<br />
<br />
Following a brief prologue/introduction by the man, or rather, the thing itself, narrating that familiar Mary Shelley tale, we join in with the slouching, wandering nomad…<br />
<br />
Not a bulky Boris Karloff from James Whale’s Universal classics or Robert De Niro’s melancholy grouch in the faithful yet ponderous Kenneth Branagh adaptation…<br />
<br />
But with a gaunt face, a cleft chin and disheveled long hair, Aaron Eckhart’s creature wouldn’t seem that familiar except the patchwork of facial scars resembling whip marks or the result of a bad morning shave.<br />
<br />
The brooding man-beast winds up in a dark forest, fighting a group of angry demons – are there any other kind? Well these horned harpies have something personal against the legendary result of a mad doctor’s experimentation. But before getting in too deep, he’s abducted by a fleet of intrepid Gargoyles that, when not in flying form, resemble male models led by their castle-ruling queen, who names the Creature “Adam.”<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MOzBXRMwfUM/UuQfCOjiLQI/AAAAAAAAcmQ/WnY1_NeIuNg/s1600/Karloff,+Boris+(Bride+of+Frankenstein,+The)_06.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MOzBXRMwfUM/UuQfCOjiLQI/AAAAAAAAcmQ/WnY1_NeIuNg/s320/Karloff,+Boris+(Bride+of+Frankenstein,+The)_06.jpg" width="244" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Karloff for good measure</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Much of the film involves frantic battles pitting two aggressors, fervently running at each other in a joust-like cadence combined with MATRIX style slo-mo. Between these violent brawls are loads of expository dialogue about why the demons want Adam for their own nefarious plans. The reason is probably the cleverest aspect of a glossy film reminiscent of PRIEST, VAN HELSING, the UNDERWORLD series and, after a shorthaired Adam ventures into modern times to face the same demons (now wearing business suits), a weak version of HIGHLANDER.<br />
<br />
Here’s where the plot becomes more complicated and clearer at the same time: We still have a lot to learn but only the banal fighting matters. Then, throughout the havoc, a pseudo love interest enters in the form of a gorgeous blond scientist seeking knowledge from Adam’s only possession: that being Dr. Frankenstein’s journal providing insight on how he was created in the first place. The book becomes a whirlwind wishbone for all included, and there’s even an ultimate plan by the head demon to eventually… you got it… take over the world!<br />
<br />
The best thing about this already-maligned revision is it’s not very long. The worst thing is very little happens and in surprisingly few locations… Meanwhile the literary (and/or cinematic) icon, thrown in with so many screaming gargoyles and writhing demons, is hardly distinguished from friends or foes other than <i>not</i> morphing into a powerful, monstrous being…<br />
<br />
Making one yearn for that grunting, bolt-necked green guy who was at least memorable and endearing. A few minutes after I, FRANKENSTEIN you’re bound to forget all about… what’s his name?

2014, aaron eckhart, action, bill nighy, monster

I, FRANKENSTEIN WITH AARON ECKHART

year: 2014 rating: ** Well if Abraham Lincoln can become a Vampire Hunter, why can’t Frankenstein's monster hunt demons? After all, ...

Written by James M. Tate / 1/23/2014 / 1 Comment / eighties , faye dunaway , hart bochner , helen slater , peter o'toole , superhero

HELEN SLATER IS SUPERGIRL W/ FAYE DUNAWAY & PETER O'TOOLE

eighties, faye dunaway, hart bochner, helen slater, peter o'toole, superhero

HELEN SLATER IS SUPERGIRL W/ FAYE DUNAWAY & PETER O'TOOLE

year: 1984 rating: **1/2 Some big budget movies are bound to fail. At the same time, some failures could have been much better… SUPERG...

Written by James M. Tate / 1/21/2014 / 1 Comment / carole laure , eighties , john huston , max von sydow , michael caine , sylvester stallone , war

SYLVESTER STALLONE & MICHAEL CAINE KICK IN 'VICTORY'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Km_pbmaE0hM/Ut8nhjGSLVI/AAAAAAAAckI/T0ebBVKzGec/s1600/733bf54a-cad9-4de1-90e9-2f66146a28e6_zpsa03ce975.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Km_pbmaE0hM/Ut8nhjGSLVI/AAAAAAAAckI/T0ebBVKzGec/s1600/733bf54a-cad9-4de1-90e9-2f66146a28e6_zpsa03ce975.jpg" width="221" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year of capture and release: 1981 </u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Often perceived as a GREAT ESCAPE clone, and somewhat resembling THE LONGEST YARD, this John Huston directed Sylvester Stallone project winds up a WWII version of an obscure Vietnam War flick titled THE BOYS IN COMPANY C.<br />
<br />
Within a German POW camp, Michael Caine plays Major John Colby, a once-great British soccer star heading a ragtag prison team, viewed by Max Von Sydow’s Major Steiner, who, recognizing Colby, sets up a YARD style scrimmage between the cons and the guards… But this initial plan doesn’t go far.<br />
<br />
The Nazi propaganda machine wants a legit game to occur in occupied Paris. Here’s where the escape wheels spin by the imprisoned intellectual Brits…<br />
<br />
Yet American Sylvester Stallone, as the new Steve McQueen style Cooler King, Captain Robert Hatch, likes this game plan most of all… only Caine’s Major Colby wants nothing to do with him. But the aggressive Hatch, who eventually winds up a better goalie than kicker, begs to join the team… they get a cozy barracks and three square meals a day… but for selfish reasons only – he desperately yearns for a solo breakout.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-33PNC5PF-bk/XJ5sX8h-GkI/AAAAAAABB5Q/ZgBcE1wDYC0IffO7j-lfbe0WxJt_TVo2ACLcBGAs/s1600/55790000_676252539470592_2460929605347835904_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="946" data-original-width="711" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-33PNC5PF-bk/XJ5sX8h-GkI/AAAAAAABB5Q/ZgBcE1wDYC0IffO7j-lfbe0WxJt_TVo2ACLcBGAs/s320/55790000_676252539470592_2460929605347835904_n.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Pele Exploitation</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
An energetic practice montage aside, the best sequence has the rogue American given a tactical pre-game mission while director John Huston keeps the suspense edgy and unpredictable: as Hatch sneaks around and about the prison, the camera’s kept low and dark, as if we too were escaping.<br />
<br />
This is followed by a brief pocket of downtime after Hatch is safe within the confine of a French Resistance group, wherein a disposable love interest is introduced (the ridiculously gorgeous, French Natalie Wood lookalike Carole Laure). <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o3jqSQUkFGo/Ut8cFo4fZJI/AAAAAAAAcjs/9DH98IwMaps/s1600/c1b7f9e0-ad23-4b35-8715-1f5b0cda6d93_zpsd512320a.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o3jqSQUkFGo/Ut8cFo4fZJI/AAAAAAAAcjs/9DH98IwMaps/s1600/c1b7f9e0-ad23-4b35-8715-1f5b0cda6d93_zpsd512320a.jpg" width="130" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
The anticipated rivalry takes up the entire third act and, like soccer often can, the match is stretched-out, hard to follow and not as involving as, for instance, the football game in THE LONGEST YARD or even Robert Altman’s MASH… Here’s where the climactic BOYS IN COMPANY C plotline unveils: a 1978 film in which a group of American soldiers in Vietnam take part in a soccer match against the enemy, and wind up choosing possible triumph over probable freedom.<br />
<br />
A semi-conceived halftime escape, surreptitiously tunneled out  by the Resistance through a THIRD MAN style underground sewer, seemed much too easy to begin with: Leading back to the game involving shots of real players highlighted by Brazilian star Pelé (an impressive back-flip goal-kick is repeated three times in slow motion), whose exploitative “special guest” appearance made more sense to audiences than was logical to the storyline. The iconic athlete's casting trumped even the A-list Stallone, who, with help from the always-capable Caine, turns in an above par performance, shining brighter than his usual action fare and yet, like other Sly flicks, you’ll suspend the same amount of testosterone-pumping disbelief backed by another radiant (if melodramatic and overdone) Bill Conti score.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_UO48mH0HiI/W-pHViBabRI/AAAAAAAA7X4/Xno-BR0Xv3EAUxx_nsmWjgB4DuSAq7yHACLcBGAs/s1600/46079731_600626157033231_222540221453959168_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="940" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_UO48mH0HiI/W-pHViBabRI/AAAAAAAA7X4/Xno-BR0Xv3EAUxx_nsmWjgB4DuSAq7yHACLcBGAs/s1600/46079731_600626157033231_222540221453959168_n.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>One of those movie images of irony by the director: VICTORY by veteran director John Huston</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qlR5IVvnV8E/W-pEsb40pzI/AAAAAAAA7Xs/2VbsdL66UFYhvZ33rrVF18R4_i-4k70OgCLcBGAs/s1600/46074252_600623373700176_7572186458501414912_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="960" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qlR5IVvnV8E/W-pEsb40pzI/AAAAAAAA7Xs/2VbsdL66UFYhvZ33rrVF18R4_i-4k70OgCLcBGAs/s1600/46074252_600623373700176_7572186458501414912_n.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>She's pointless in the movie, but gorgeous: here's Carole Laure in VICTORY Carole Laure</u></td></tr>
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carole laure, eighties, john huston, max von sydow, michael caine, sylvester stallone, war

SYLVESTER STALLONE & MICHAEL CAINE KICK IN 'VICTORY'

year of capture and release: 1981 Often perceived as a GREAT ESCAPE clone, and somewhat resembling THE LONGEST YARD, this John Huston di...

Written by James M. Tate / 1/19/2014 / No comments / classic gangster , forties , humphrey bogart , james cagney , thirties

BLOODY BAGFUL OF JAMES CAGNEY AND HUMPHREY BOGART

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9JGYoNCji9Q/XgM6b69PDpI/AAAAAAABMwI/9NVDdOf7YLkVF7scrVnCr1nomoJRwnaiQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/519ii3N35uL._SX425_.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="447" data-original-width="425" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9JGYoNCji9Q/XgM6b69PDpI/AAAAAAABMwI/9NVDdOf7YLkVF7scrVnCr1nomoJRwnaiQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/519ii3N35uL._SX425_.jpeg" width="304" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Roaring Twenties </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>James Cagney epitomized the classic gangster era… With a combination of snarky bravado and desperate pathos, as the focal point he was an intense and thoroughly entertaining combination of a ticking time bomb and an exploding one, and yet was always in control: Orson Welles described Cagney, his personal favorite actor as being “focused, like a laserbeam.” </i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5460kjtnnyc/VGvmIPLz1QI/AAAAAAAAkug/gJ8dZcfJLmg/s1600/%24_35.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5460kjtnnyc/VGvmIPLz1QI/AAAAAAAAkug/gJ8dZcfJLmg/s200/%24_35.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">R20's Artwork</td></tr>
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<i>Meanwhile, Humphrey Bogart, with his quiet cool and slowburn charm, was the kind of shrugging, roguish antihero that grabbed the viewer’s attention, but his hardened intensity shared a mellow quality, allowing other actors to shine bright around him. Here are a bagful of reviews centering on classic Bogart flicks and best yet, Cagney films you might not have seen or only heard about since most of them, as you scroll further down the list, have yet to make the transition to DVD and are, at this point, bootleg only… </i>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b><u>THE ROARING TWENTIES</u>:</b></span> Beginning with a team-up of both legendary tough guys, this excellent
 gangster flick has James Cagney back from the first World War and 
there's not a job in town, and someone else is driving his cab, so, during Prohibition and the start of the 1920's (and his twenties), he eventually becomes a wealthy bootlegger.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BbHorNLmOgc/Ut2fK0-3WcI/AAAAAAAAch8/eW7O0K46xXY/s1600/18659.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BbHorNLmOgc/Ut2fK0-3WcI/AAAAAAAAch8/eW7O0K46xXY/s200/18659.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1939 rating: *****</td></tr>
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James Cagney's progression from 
soldier to veteran to crooked businessman to all-out gangster, all the 
while falling for a young lady with a heart of gold, are aided by a docu-style narration encompassing the 
titular decade, eventually crashing into the depression when our hero 
loses everything...<br />
<br />
But, in protecting his cherished woman (who loves another man), he
 attempts gaining back his soul by paying his backstabbing war buddy 
turned partner-in-crime Humphrey Bogart, now running everything, a 
visit.<br />
<br />
Although sparks hardly fly between Cagney and the reluctant Priscilla Lane, the scenes with a sinister Bogart are edgy and unpredictable, and the true love interest is the "dame" that Cagney pays little interest to... That being a loyal Gladys George as a gin-voiced nightclub manager who, ironically, got him into the racket in the first place.   <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LRS75AJ_eUY/UtL11VZb-2I/AAAAAAAAcVg/J4gYN9_EiLA/s1600/movie-affairs-bogart-bacall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LRS75AJ_eUY/UtL11VZb-2I/AAAAAAAAcVg/J4gYN9_EiLA/s200/movie-affairs-bogart-bacall.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1944 rating: ****</td></tr>
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<u><b>TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT:</b></u> Energetic, adventurous melodrama, which might evoke a great sense of CASABLANCA deja vu with the same basic premise: tough and independent 
Humphrey Bogart helps a group of foreign patriots for money, meeting within a smoky piano bar, and eventually comes
 around to the cause.<br />
<br />
Only the characters are based on the
Ernest Hemingway novel, changing the location from Cuba to France as Bogart's Harry Morgan, a boat-for-hire fishing guide, gets reluctantly involved in 
smuggling two important people with the help of sultry siren Lauren
 Bacall and his alcoholic shipmate Eddy (Walter
 Brennan).<br />
<br />
Much of the film takes place in one setting: although this 
hotel has a tavern area and many rooms, each providing Bogart ample time
 to outwit the local authorities whilst falling for Bacall and keeping 
his rummy sidekick alive. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bFgFFecXa_Q/THAmCKueDII/AAAAAAAAApY/09plIK_e118/s1600/Humphrey-Bogart-High-Sierra.2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507944162954972290" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bFgFFecXa_Q/THAmCKueDII/AAAAAAAAApY/09plIK_e118/s200/Humphrey-Bogart-High-Sierra.2.jpg" style="float: right; height: 138px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 175px;" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1941 rating: ****</td></tr>
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<u><span style="background-color: white;"><b>HIGH SIERRA:</b></span></u> There's
 a cute little dog that, wherever he goes, gives bad luck to whomever takes him in: 
this happens to be both Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino, who meet each 
other, then the pooch, in a rural small town whilst Bogart and three mysterious men plan a caper to rob a plush mountainous hotel.<br />
<br />
Bad luck 
usually <span style="font-style: italic;">dogs</span> these kind of 
characters, doomed from the start while plotting a big easy score. 
Although Bogart isn't altogether villainous as he, after meeting a 
down-home family which includes a beautiful young girl with a club foot,
 invests in real people (hoping for her hand in marriage)...<br />
<br />
Born to lose, he's more suited for Lupino, a gun moll whose bittersweet performance 
adds to Bogart's seasoned usual, and from one edgy moment to the next, HIGH SIERRA is a
 thoroughly enjoyable ride centering on tough cookies that are human enough to crumble. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4UQAi43uWoY/UtL19viYOXI/AAAAAAAAcVo/PDrUhOCoskY/s1600/72745-004-94A90B62.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4UQAi43uWoY/UtL19viYOXI/AAAAAAAAcVo/PDrUhOCoskY/s200/72745-004-94A90B62.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1941 rating: ****</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><u><b>THE MALTESE FALCON:</b></u> </span>Unlike
 a lot of private eye/gumshoe flicks where the main character goes from one scene to another gathering clues, everyone comes to Bogie's Sam Spade since he 
has what they want... but what is it other than a statue of a Falcon... and is this thing all it's <span style="font-style: italic;">cracked</span>
 up to be?<br />
<br />
Who's the killer of Spade's dim partner and how 
long will he survive in the middle of a den of cutthroats?  And 
is that beautifully vulnerable "dame" one of them?<br />
<br />
Nothing really matters 
but it's terrific viewing no matter. This is a John Huston directed classic that forces the audience to turn off completely but listen closely at the same time. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VZ7YDLzkqIg/TyHW-eobFNI/AAAAAAAAEWc/eq7OWho-u3Q/s1600/ladykiller1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VZ7YDLzkqIg/TyHW-eobFNI/AAAAAAAAEWc/eq7OWho-u3Q/s200/ladykiller1.jpg" width="171" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1933 rating: ***</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><u><b>LADY KILLER:</b></u> </span>James
 Cagney plays a smart-alleck usher at a movie theater: his character’s 
geared towards the lights, camera and action from the very start. But 
he’s quickly derailed, conned by a beautiful siren into a rigged card 
game – and instead of getting angry, he joins and 
eventually leads the group into a bigger heist that lands them in real 
dough, and real trouble.<br />
<br />
After his fair-weather friends betray him, 
Cagney hides out in Los Angeles and soon becomes an extra on a movie 
lot. This is where the ridiculousness begins – seeing Cagney riding a 
horse in Indian get-up, with fake scenery moving behind him, is a kitschy
highlight. Then, as our confident hero falls for a famous (and humble) actress, and soon becomes a top-billed movie star on his own, his once 
unlucky life begins to pan out: but those double-crossing wise guys 
return and want a piece of his action.<br />
<br />
A fun distraction in the Cagney 
crime film canon, and you have to continuously suspend disbelief to 
really enjoy it: especially scenes showing the fictional movies... Or one
 silly segment as he provides his girlfriend with monkeys and a painted 
elephant on her birthday. But as a wise cracking con artist beneath the 
polished veneer, it’s all about enjoying Cagney even in a silly role, 
because no matter what the part, <i>he</i> always takes it seriously.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Yl7PpwXmbQw/TyHXODD4FmI/AAAAAAAAEWk/H2cvxz9w4Oo/s1600/blonde+crazy.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Yl7PpwXmbQw/TyHXODD4FmI/AAAAAAAAEWk/H2cvxz9w4Oo/s320/blonde+crazy.jpg" width="220" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1931 rating: ***1/2</td></tr>
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<u><span style="background-color: white;"><b>BLONDE CRAZY:</b></span></u> What
 is it about James Cagney – he brings out the best, and worst, of his 
leading ladies: the best performances and the worst attitudes...<br />
<br />
And Joan
 Blondell’s dealing with Cagney’s conniving Bert Harris is half the 
fun of this 1930’s comedy/melodrama centering on Harris, a suave hotel 
employee who sees the right girl is hired: and it’s the blonde bombshell
 Joan, as Anne Roberts, who fits the bill.<br />
<br />
She’s not only sought after
 by Harris, but seedy rich guys melt at her feet. Here’s where our 
climbing antihero sees his future mapped out: and together this 
made-in-heaven duo goes from one sucker till the next, swindling 
relativity small time cash till meeting Louis Calhern, a successful con 
artist with a tempting-apple for the couple with a bigger worm inside.<br />
<br />
One scene
 involving a horse race and revenge against Calhern is confusing, and 
not all the con games are fleshed-out yet the chemistry between 
Cagney and Blondell, and the hidden desire for his platonic partner that
 slowly comes to light, is what makes this CRAZY shine.<br />
<br />
A very young 
Ray Milland plays Joan’s sophisticated new gent – making Cagney realize 
what, or rather, <i>whom </i>his drive’s been centered. And while a tacked-on 
“crime will pay” ending is a letdown, the rest works just fine: 
Especially a pre-Code bathtub scene with Blondell that’s quite… 
revealing.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--4ueDZJZbn8/UtCfwyx3prI/AAAAAAAAcTk/yrP2NBA1hMI/s1600/Winner%252BTake%252BAll%252B050132.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--4ueDZJZbn8/UtCfwyx3prI/AAAAAAAAcTk/yrP2NBA1hMI/s200/Winner%252BTake%252BAll%252B050132.jpg" width="141" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1932 rating: ***</td></tr>
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<u><span style="background-color: white;"><b>WINNER TAKE ALL:</b></span></u> James
 Cagney plays a down-and-out boxer named Jimmy Kane who, from the 
outset, isn’t boxing. Not only has he reached rock bottom but swallows 
his pride as a crowd of fans during fight night… someone else’s 
fight… throws him loads of pocket change to get by.<br />
<br />
Cagney’s manager sends him 
to New Mexico to recuperate. Here he meets former nightclub 
waitress/single mother who, as fate would have it, is about to lose her 
home unless she has the exact amount of money needed for Cagney 
to get back into the ring: only he does it without being persuaded.<br />
<br />
The 
title of the movie fits the pivotal bout, and thus the film truly 
begins: Kane's back in the city on a winning streak till meeting a 
conceited, good-for-nothing society girl (are there any other kind?) who
 takes him for a ride. That ride, for both fans of James Cagney watching
 the movie and Jimmy Kane fans watching the fights, is very frustrating 
indeed: For not only does he get plastic surgery to mend his dented puss, but becomes a cowardly “dancing fighter” and worst yet, enrolls in 
etiquette classes.<br />
<br />
While not one of Cagney’s best, it’s great 
seeing him slugging his opponents with the energy of a 
bionic jumping bean. And his performance as a dimwitted boxer, straying 
from the usual snarky gangster, has just the right touch of punchy 
pathos.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-05rtWOciA0w/TyHWuqbpJ1I/AAAAAAAAEWU/QKriW5fchSc/s1600/cagney.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-05rtWOciA0w/TyHWuqbpJ1I/AAAAAAAAEWU/QKriW5fchSc/s320/cagney.jpg" width="234" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1949 rating: *****</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><u><b>WHITE HEAT:</b></u> </span>Okay so this one's not rare... In fact it's the masterpiece that James Cagney's best known for and there are several
 stories within, and Cagney stars in each as Cody Jarrett, 
possibly  the most sinister and at the same time, endearing gangsters to
 appear on  the silver screen...<br />
<br />
One story centers on the leader of a group of
 thugs who  rob a train and and hide out. Another is about the demented son 
of a  overbearing, meticulously wicked mother who will protect her boy 
till the  bitter end. Then there's the husband of a two-timing gun moll 
Virgina  Mayo, holding out for a taller, handsome thug who wants Jarrett
 out of  the way. And finally a prisoner slowly conned by an undercover
 cop in  the big house.... And that's the best yarn of all.<br />
<br />
Edmund O'Brien
 is the  "narc" who eventually gains Jarrett's trust. Their relationship,
 as the  two bond behind bars, is the highlight. And although O'Brien, 
after a  jailbreak, turns his back on Cody much too quickly during the 
famous  "top of the world" climax, this perfectly solid classic gangster
 film... the  peak of Cagney's tough guy career and return to the gritty genre after almost a decade of WWII propaganda films... is like reading a 
multilevel book  you can't put down.<br />
<br />
Cagney performance is top-notch and
 not just when  he's suffering from those horrible headaches, causing 
him to writhe on  the ground like a poisoned viper. It's the subtle 
moments that count,  because after all, it's Cody's world we're inside and on top of: and 
he's not going down  without a fight.

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lM8FFf-gayI/TyG7UHTEfrI/AAAAAAAAEWE/EkAAuiDvR18/s1600/taxicagney.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lM8FFf-gayI/TyG7UHTEfrI/AAAAAAAAEWE/EkAAuiDvR18/s320/taxicagney.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1932 rating: ***</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u><span style="background-color: white;"><b>TAXI:</b></span></u> Begins as a predictable, cliché melodrama dealing with the <i>haves</i>… a monopolizing consortium cab company… against the <i>have-nots</i>: independent cabbies trying to make it on their own without getting whacked in the process.<br />
<br />
Soon the message peels away into an involving gangster-driven fare with James Cagney as Matt Nolan, who may really utter the famous “You Dirty Rat” line despite movie trivia saying otherwise... Here's why...<br />
<br />
In one scene he states very loudly: <i>"Come out and take it, you dirty, yellow-bellied rat, or I'll give it to you through the door!"</i> This, to film historians, has been mistakenly condensed into the famous three word motto, making up every and any Cagney imitation. But in the beginning of the film, as Cagey's Nolan exits his cab – sandwiched between two trucks – he seems to mutter under his breath: “You dirty rat, I'll beat the lemon off ya!" (Watch the video below to find out if he says "rat" or something else.) <br />
<br />
Now for the movie itself, which gets better as the more stress enters Nolan's life – thugs from the consortium move in, and every woman, from the good to the bad, annoy the hell out of him: providing the famously stocky firebrand his usual classic tantrums.<br />
<br />
Matt Nolan is like most of Cagney’s tough guys, and angrier here than ever. He's fighting the good fight and you'll back him all the way, so much so the other characters seem nonexistent whether he's on, or off, the screen.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loretta Young with James Cagney and purchase <a href="https://www.ioffer.com/selling/capone29">hard-to-find Cagney films at this seller</a></td></tr>
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classic gangster, forties, humphrey bogart, james cagney, thirties

BLOODY BAGFUL OF JAMES CAGNEY AND HUMPHREY BOGART

The Roaring Twenties James Cagney epitomized the classic gangster era… With a combination of snarky bravado and desperate pathos, as the...

Written by James M. Tate / 1/17/2014 / 1 Comment / 2014 , action , chris pine , espionage , franchise , keira knightley , kenneth branagh , kevin costner

CHRIS PINE IS JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: **1/2</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Chris Pine became famous playing a young Captain James T. Kirk in what seemed like standard STAR TREK prequels but turned out being something else entirely, having to do with an alternate universe or timeline, or something… </span><br />
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And now he’s a reborn Jack Ryan, author Tom Clancy's resilient CIA operative played by Alec Baldwin in THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER and taken over by Harrison Ford in PATRIOT GAMES and A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER (and the Ben Affleck attempt).<br />
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Like Captain Kirk, this Jack Ryan exists on another plain altogether and, having become more of a timeless James Bond, he’s now part of the 911 generation... And that’s where things start, right on the fateful morning of September 11th, 2001 and Jack, attending college in England, winds up joining the Marines, becomes an injured war hero and is rehabilitated by his doctor, who just happens to be a single and gorgeous Keira Knightley as Cathy Muller: At this point the film skips past three years like nothing at all. What’s important is Jack’s first assignment takes place in Russia, a once Communist country now (supposedly) bathed in opulent capitalism. His mission is to thwart a plot to... well... let's be carefully cryptic because SHADOW RECRUIT attempts to engage like a page-turning novel wherein various clues and twists keep the story moving… There is an intense set-up to how Ryan goes from desk jockey to intrepid agent, and yet the best parts don’t deal with sporadic pulse-thumping action sequences.<br />
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When the chief antagonist is introduced, played by the director himself, Kenneth Branagh, there’s a potentially intriguing James Bond vs cerebral villain aspect… Too bad the results are a predictable kidnapping and an 11th hour terror threat back in America.<br />
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In the title role, Chris Pine does a decent enough job: sophisticated one minute and getting his hands dirty the next… Meanwhile the cliché romance between Jack and Cathy pales to the slowburn interaction with Kevin Costner’s CIA mentor Thomas Harper. Both make a pretty good team. The main problem are the computers, so quick to find imperative clues there’s little purpose left for Ryan.<br />
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While not a perfect espionage thriller, SHADOW is entertaining but ultimately feels like the first half of an introduction stretched into a feature length film… Let’s hope the next venture (if there is one) goes beneath the modern advancement to see what this new recruit is really made of: Like the Bond franchise shed most of the signature gadgets, Jack needs far less technology to really shine.

2014, action, chris pine, espionage, franchise, keira knightley, kenneth branagh, kevin costner