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2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
So Much Right But Not All
A few things:
This film portrays space as a weightless, hostile, and isolating environment? Very good! That refreshing breath of realism is so welcome. Most "space" movies may as well have their settings on Earth or its equivalent because all the characters move about their spaceships as though on a jumbo jet in our atmosphere. One justification for that is the presence of a "gravity generator" onboard. I imagine such a device as something like the ice-making machine in a motel lobby, rattling away and doing its thing: in this case, making cubes of gravity for the benefit of all. Where's the limitation of human existence in weightless space?
The detailed special effects are first-rate and contemporary. Amazing.
The MacGuffin is the monolith, but it is necessary? Maybe it's explained in the book, but here it just mystifies. It signifies the dawn of understanding, but its angular shape contrasts with the spherical imagery elsewhere.
The light show: why? Apparently, because it's the late '60s and "Duuude, I mean...like wow...!" It doesn't add anything to the enjoyment of the film and only detracts.
The ending means...what? The circle of life with a huge block of black something (oh, yeah, awaking awareness) watching over all?
The movie was so enjoyable in its second act aboard the Jupiter-bound spaceship. The first ape act was tolerable. It lost my interest with the light show and beyond, however.
Prometheus (2012)
The Better Question...
Forget the origin of Man. The better question is "Are you a robot?" It somehow grants conjugal rights with the stunning Miss Vickers. Hot damn.
Gotta love the rationale for the hyper-expensive space mission: "Because it's what I choose to believe." That's right up there with "Because it's my favorite color."
Note To Self: Do not pet the cobra-like alien creature.
Weyland takes off his space suit's helmet on a strange planet because the air "smells fine" to him. Never mind the pitfalls of a very long life, how did this guy survive the fourth grade?
Intercom: "This is your captain speaking. Because of the violent storm we're about to experience, I am going to stand up at the controls and hope that I don't fall over or accidentally push the wrong button, because that would cause us to crash. Thank you."
This film had potential, but Scott blew it with inanities.
Rambo: Last Blood (2019)
End of the Innocence
Unexpectedly riveting and very well acted, this film swings the pendulum from family bliss to phantasmagoric brutality when emotionally tortured John Rambo, robbed of all innocence by the horrors of the Vietnam War, experiences even greater horror when his beloved ward, Gabriela (portrayed convincingly by the beautiful Yvette Monreal), falls victim to Mexican sex merchants and succumbs to the trauma of drug overdose and physical abuse. The audience witnesses true pathos in the scene of a dying, innocent beauty shedding a tear of farewell as her life slips away while lying next to her tragic hero on their way back to the relative safety of Arizona. The graphic depiction of Rambo's subsequent revenge upon the guilty parties goes above and beyond what this reviewer ever wished to see...and now can't un-see. "Rambo: Last Blood" so well depicts a man yearning for innocence lost that the audience, too, surrenders a degree of innocence in seeing it. Stallone has made a film both disturbing and compelling.
East of Eden (1955)
Style Over Substance
Does "East of Eden" do what a great film should do, namely, make the viewer lose himself in it? Well, no, not often enough. It exudes style but lacks the enchantment of good storytelling.
Regarding James Dean, his pretty boy looks and premature death behind the wheel of his Porsche elevated him to godlike status; however, how someone with the demeanor of a three-year-old in the back seat of a '54 Nash (without air conditioning) during a long trip on a hot summer day rose so high puzzles; nonetheless, he ranks as the big draw for most people.
It is Julie Harris, commanding and deserving top billing, who puts in a great performance. The camera gravitates toward her, and she owns her character, Abra. Harris' talent dwarfs Dean's. She emotes with her eyes whereas Dean must bang on all the pots and pans to express himself.
As to other issues, the sound track annoys to no end (as does the one in "On The Waterfront"). Kazan lacked subtly in this regard, often allowing the volume and musical selection to overwhelm the scene. Scene continuity deserved more careful editing, too.
"East of Eden" delivers Kazan, but it shouts rather than whispers the Steinbeck story.
Sleepy Hollow (2013)
Sleepy Very Hollow
Never mind that there's an interesting and entertaining Tim Burton movie of the same name, this mess rips off others' work, as well. Its two main characters derive from "Elementary" minus the chemistry of Holmes and Watson, and the Sand Man looks suspiciously like the alien in "Signs" with a nod toward "The Mummy".
And Ichabod Crane certainly adapted quickly to the 21st century, didn't he? ("Ah,yes, automobiles, airplanes, television, and smart phones...how easy to see their physical and evolutionary principles at work. No mind-boggling inventions these, I assure you. Quite right, now let's go find some demons!")
Ho-hum (un)special effects can't make up for the absence of quality plot and character. The show is boring and predictable.
Behold a Pale Horse (1964)
Delayed Gratification and Worth the Wait
Criticisms of the slow-pace of BEHOLD A PALE HORSE fall in line with complaints of the lack of twist-off caps on fine bottles of wine. If patience has no virtue, you won't enjoy this film. Zinnemann's nuanced layering of mood, theme, and character requires appreciation of things developed over time.
A vintage rarely tasted these days (to further exploit the wine motif), Zinnemann shot this film in black-and-white, and it only enhances the shading of elements. The effect gives it a look concomitant with its complex characters who go through the angst of spiritual and emotional transformation. And the cast had to delight in Zinnemann's decision to let them exercise their art: acting. Imagine Atticus Finch telling Jem to shut up and then slapping the lad "upside the head." Yet here's good-guy Peck abandoning type and stepping into the character of Artiguez, an angry man who delivers such a blow to a boy (about Jem's age), knocking him down onto the street.
BEHOLD A PALE HORSE delivers so much more than most films in that it compliments the entire palate of the viewer's intellect. That makes for a very good film. That takes time.
The Edge (1997)
The Lesson
A good number of people criticize THE EDGE for its implausibility when set against actual wilderness survival, and I agree with them on that point. Taken as allegory, however, the film gains validity.
Charles Morse, a billionaire with encyclopedic general knowledge, ostensibly has everything, including a beautiful young wife, Mickey, a fashion model, whom he truly loves. Disquiet haunts him, however, because his wealth impoverishes him of trust in others; people only seem to want him for either his money or his woman.
Deftly utilizing symbolism, the director, Mamet, sets Charles and his wife's photo entourage in an Alaskan wilderness. Bob Green, a photographer having an affair with Mickey, convinces Charles to accompany him and an assistant on an adventure into the forest for a photograph of an unself-conscious man--the non-narcissistic opposite of Bob himself. Things go awry quickly: Geese collide in midair with the float plane, and it crashes into a remote lake. The pilot dies, but the others survive. Unfortunately, they are lost with virtually no hope of rescue. A grizzly bear, used as a symbol of man's primal fear, stalks and attacks the threesome, killing one. Charles and Bob Green remain, and Charles goes on to commit the "unequivocal" act of killing the bear by his own devices, i.e., his wits and a spear, thereby symbolically overcoming his inner demons. He and Bob then journey along a river to a point of departure from the forest. They come upon a cabin and canoe, and their salvation appears imminent.
Realizing that Bob no longer needs him for survival purposes, Charles surmises that Bob (whom he learns is his wife's secret lover by virtue of the signed inscription of "For All The Nights" on Bob's wrist watch) plots to murder Charles in the wilderness and then run off with boodle and booty. Using his wits and knowledge again, however, Charles foils the younger Bob who accidentally inflicts a fatal wound on himself in the murder attempt. Bob dies from loss of blood but not before repenting of his sins--an uplifting scene that shows our desire to seek and our ability to grant forgiveness.
A patrolling helicopter rescues Charles, and he arrives back at the Alaskan resort where, in passing, he repeats a theme of the film by asking the innkeeper: "Why is the rabbit not afraid?" To which he receives the reply: "Because he's smarter than the panther." Charles presents Bob's watch to his waiting wife, thereby communicating his knowledge of her unfaithfulness. The viewer, however, gets the impression that she, too, seeks forgiveness and that he would grant it again. When asked by a reporter how his friends died, he answers cryptically, "They died saving my life."
THE LESSON would have been a more appropriate title for this very worthwhile film. Don't seek realism here but do seek reality. Allegory often serves that pursuit more aptly.
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Our Dual Natures Served Up Hollywood Style
John Landis reveals a philosophical take on mankind in this film, namely, that we have two natures: one benign, one monstrous. The werewolf legend handily serves as that proposition's allegorical vehicle, and compared to the alluded-to Nazi atrocities in two scenes, the legend actually pales. Sadly, under the dark impetus of our arrogance and vanity, our metaphorical "full moon", man is perfectly capable of transforming into nightmarish beast.
As a director, Landis approaches Hitchcock in terms of scene economy and symbolism. For example, the opening sequence set on the moors of northern England features the tragic hero David and his friend Jack climbing out of the bed of a truck laden with sheep - benign animals destined for slaughter. Biped "sheep" David and Jack meander to "The Slaughtered Lamb", a pub sheltering cowering, xenophobic locals from the monster afoot on the moors during full moon. Soon the inhospitality of the town folk compels the two lambs to leave - virtually sending them to their slaughter.
And so it goes throughout this brilliant film. Without revealing the ending, it can be stated that Landis makes his case against the idea that love conquers all; instead, he suggests that love only gives the beast within us pause.
Beware the moon.