Movie Reviews: Avenging Force

Avenging Force
directed by Sam Firstenberg

I saw this movie eons ago shortly after it was released, when dinosaurs walked the earth. I had fond memories of it. I recently re-watched this film.

The Golan-Globus/Cannon Group produced Avenging Force. Golan-Globus/Cannon Group is an Israeli-American film production group/studio notable for making many profitable but derivative low budget action movies. 

The company either launched or more often boosted the careers of such then novice actors as Jean-Claude Van Damme and Michael Dudikoff and veterans such as Chuck Norris and Charles Bronson. 

The small budgets weren't necessarily evidenced in the special effects or settings but were usually apparent in the writing and supporting actor quality. 

People didn't watch a Golan-Globus movie for the writing or lush period settings or top line actors. People watched to see good guys and bad guys throw down. Golan and Globus produced and financed simple movies for people who wanted simple storylines. 

Movie Reviews: Destination Murder

Destination Murder

directed by Edward Cahn

This is a 1950 crime movie with some noir elements. The film has underdeveloped plotting and writing though the acting isn't bad. Like many movies from back then it has an intelligent motivated female lead who is neither stupid nor only an appendage to men. 

The heroine gets in over her head and makes some mistakes but she's no dummy. And that's more that can be said for some of the gangsters and molls she encounters.

Laura Mansfield (Joyce MacKenzie) is an attractive coed who is home for spring break. One night as Laura and her father Arthur Mansfield (Franklyn Farnum) relax the doorbell rings. Arthur goes to answer it and is immediately shot dead by the taxi driver/moonlighting hitman Jackie Wales (Stanley Clements-former Bowery Boys star and former husband of noir queen Gloria Grahame).

Apparently this possibility was what my older male relatives had in mind when they insisted that I be the one to answer the door at family gatherings though several female relatives could have been closer to the door. Snicker. 

Movie Reviews: This Woman Is Dangerous

This Woman Is Dangerous
directed by Felix Feist

This Warners Bros. film wasn't that good. But it wasn't designed to be. It was the last film that Joan Crawford owed the studio under her contract. Supposedly the studio offered Crawford this role hoping that if she took it the film would hurt her box office appeal and if she didn't take it (the studio's preference) then the studio executives could suspend her, further damage her reputation, and prevent her from moving on to different film productions. 

Well nobody ever accused Crawford of being dumb or not being keenly attuned to her own best interests. Surprising the studio, Crawford accepted the film's lead role and gave it the old college try. Crawford would later claim that this was among her worst films, if not the absolute worst.

Crawford was miscast. Although Crawford was something of a babe in her youth, by this point in her career, the only reminder of fading beauty was her large (almost oversized) expressive eyes. Crawford's face and persona had become very hard, almost masculine. It's this version of Crawford that was later (cruelly??) parodied by Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest and which is likely best known by movie fans. 

Movie Reviews: Killer's Kiss

Killer's Kiss
directed by Stanley Kubrick

Killer's Kiss was Kubrick's second film. A taxi dancer was an entertainer-usually female-who would dance in clubs with a customer-usually male-for a set time which depended on the ticket(s) that the customer purchased. Taxi dancing wasn't prostitution, but it wasn't necessarily NOT prostitution either. 

In both professions a woman would provide a man some paid physical and emotional intimacy. The dancer received a commission from the customer's tickets. Dancers could get/solicit tips from satisfied customers. In both taxi dancing and prostitution providers and clients could sometimes cross the lines of appropriate "business" behavior. 

Taxi dancers were exploited or harassed by dance hall owners, police, or moral busybodies who were convinced that dancing led to more sinful behavior. 

Movie Reviews: They Live By Night

They Live By Night
directed by Nicholas Ray

Countless movies feature lovers on the run, two against the world, a man and woman who as the song goes "have been up and down this highway and haven't seen a goddamn thing." These stories often conclude with one or both of the lovers dying, usually going out in a blaze of glory. The archetype predates film. My earliest exposure to it was in the poem, "The Highwayman". But this stuff is older than dirt.

The star crossed lovers die because fictional or not, the establishment wants to demonstrate the dangers of actual outlawry or socially transgressive actions. I think this story's best modern example is Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde. 

Although the titular outlaws weren't as intelligent or decent as the film portrayal, they really did die together in a hail of bullets. Oliver Stone (with an assist from Quentin Tarantino) took the opposite tack in Natural Born Killers, in which the killers are shown to be awful--but somehow cool--people who survive.

Movie Reviews: The Unsuspected

The Unsuspected

directed by Michael Curtiz

This 1947 film straddles that line between noir and murder mystery. It's entertaining though there isn't that much mystery about the murderer's identity. Back then, some people still accepted Freud's/Jung's theories of a child's initial subconscious sexual attraction to his or her opposite sex parent. 

My non-expert understanding of these theories is that many have been discredited and disproven or are out of favor for other reasons. Even so this film references them, suitably repressed and hidden for the mores of 1947 America. But they're hard to miss. 

Even though the story is not original the film's shadow, smoke, and fog cinematography is simply too cool for words. And the dialogue, written largely by Bess Meredyth, Curtiz's wife, again gives the lie to the idea that successful women characters were only to be found in our modern day and/or only talk like or act like men.

Movie Reviews: Firestarter (2022)

Firestarter (2022)
directed by Keith Thomas

This is a remake of the 1984 movie Firestarter which was in turn based on the 1980 Stephen King novel. It has the updated special effects and gender/race switched characters common today. Firestarter's weakness is that the creators pandered to fans of the modern anti-hero (anti-heroine) character for whom morality is far less important than action, winning, and being a "bada$$". 

In HBO's Game of Thrones this tendency led people to cheer Daenerys Targaryen, a woman who wasn't a feminist avenger but a budding tyrant who saw her caprice as the only valid law. 

Daenerys' female identity immunized her to almost all criticism so even today some fans can't reconcile the casually murderous dragonlady with their fantasy of girl power. 

Like GRRM, King has written some downer endings and antihero protagonists, but the Firestarter novel lacked those. This film dramatically changed King's ending along with some major character motivations.

Movie Reviews: Wicked Woman

Wicked Woman

directed by Russell Rouse

This is a 1953 B-Movie that is somewhere between film noir and seedy crime drama. At seventy-seven minutes, Wicked Woman is a fast moving short film without deep character dives and long exposition. You will recognize the characters from other movies but more importantly from real life. Life is full of people for whom things didn't quite work out as planned. 

Sometimes even successful people learn that they are missing other important facets of life. So depending on how you view this, you may find the characters underdeveloped or as I did, reminders of people I've known or otherwise encountered through life.

The film has a realistic appreciation of the motivations of certain men and women and how both genders seek advantages. I was surprised at the film's sexual frankness and its occasional nods to the supposed unfairness of gender roles, here voiced by a wife who sees herself as a martyr, though she might be just as big of a jerk as everyone else.

Movie Reviews: The Satanic Rites Of Dracula

The Satanic Rites Of Dracula
directed by Alan Gibson

This movie is a sequel to the oft unintentionally hilarious Dracula AD 1972, which imagined a Dracula transported to the London of the eponymous year, surrounded by swinging mods and hippies. Dracula AD 1972 tried and horribly failed to update the Dracula story for a contemporary audience. On the other hand Hammer's standards by then had relaxed enough to include a truly tremendous amount of cleavage, which was probably the movie's only redeeming feature for those who appreciate such things. 

Probably the film's biggest problem, besides the bad acting, derivative soundtrack, and inadvertent humor was that Dracula was still restricted to Gothic settings inside the movie. So it felt as if Dracula AD 1972 were really two movies spliced together, and not in a good way.

The Satanic Rites of Dracula, though a sequel, imagines a very different England (and London) than the previous movie. Here, everything is gray, lifeless, and somber instead of bright and musical. The people doing stupid short sighted things are not callow youths looking for excitement but rather some of England's most important politicians and businessmen.

Movie Reviews: Dracula, Prince of Darkness

Dracula, Prince of Darkness
directed by Terence Fisher

This sixties Hammer film was a direct sequel to Hammer's initial Dracula film though there had been a Dracula film before this one that actually didn't have the titular character included. Although this film was made in 1966 it was still very much of a piece with Hammer's more sedate fifties gothic movies. There wasn't much cleavage (actually one of the lead actresses was famous for always refusing to show much flesh on camera) or any nudity. 

By the standards of today and even the standards of what Hammer would permit in just five years or so there wasn't even that much violence. Christopher Lee, who played the eponymous villain, was allegedly already starting to lose interest in the character and supposedly refused to say any of the dialogue written. The director and writer disputed Lee's assertion, saying that no dialogue had been written for Dracula anyway.

The special effects were minimal, being limited to fangs, contact lenses, and a vampire being brought back from Hell. Still, although by today's standards this film would be rated a mild PG at worst, it still managed to be scary through judicious use of lighting, anticipation, music, quiet, space and settings.

Movie Reviews: The Irishman

The Irishman
directed by Martin Scorsese

Although the director Martin Scorsese has directed and created a wide variety of films (twenty five fictional films and almost as many documentaries), he's probably best known for many entertaining and provoking movies depicting Mafia life. Arguably, Scorsese has created a Mafia themed film tetralogy with the movies Mean Streets, Goodfellas, Casino, and The Irishman. 

The Irishman came out a few years ago. For whatever reason I only recently watched it. It's not Scorsese's best film but it might be one of his most moral and thoughtful. It should be Scorsese's Mafia cycle denouement. Scorsese's other Mafia films are fire, with dangerous hotheads and sudden eruptions of lust or violence.

The Irishman is the polar opposite. It's ice. Most characters are understated, quiet, and unemotional. People make such oblique threats that the viewer may be unaware that someone's life or wellbeing is in grave danger. 

Movie Reviews: Detroit 9000

Detroit 9000

directed by Arthur Marks

This is an early seventies film noir that was masquerading as a blaxploitation film that was masquerading as a cop buddy film. It had a lot in common with Across 110th  Street. The film was unusual because not only was it set in Detroit, it also was shot in Detroit. 

Often filmmakers then and now use Cleveland or Toronto as stand-ins for Detroit. I hate that. So I enjoyed watching this movie and recognizing so many buildings and areas. Sacred Heart Seminary, which was just down the street from my childhood home, has an brief appearance.

Obviously many buildings from 1973 Detroit no longer exist in 2022 but there are some left. People don't realize it but Detroit had (and still has) many beautiful buildings and homes in a variety of architectural styles, including but not limited to Baroque, neo-Gothic, Romanesque, Art Deco, Victorian, and Art-Moderne. There's a glory, majesty, and beauty to these older buildings. 

Movie Reviews: Primal Fear

Primal Fear

directed by Gregory Hoblit

This is an entertaining older (1996) legal thriller/noir murder mystery that has a number of twists, some of which were immediately apparent, others of which were not. 

Watching it you might say that many of the seven deadly sins (Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride) drove the characters and situations described. 

Primal Fear was also actor Edward Norton's debut. Norton held his own against more experienced actors. I thought Norton was probably a few years too old to be 100% believable in his role as an altar boy but there are different customs on this.

Movie Reviews: The Las Vegas Story

The Las Vegas Story
directed by Robert Stevenson

This movie starred Jane Russell in a dramatic role which still featured her most famous assets. I hadn't seen many of Russell's movies. I mostly remembered Russell from when I was a child and saw her end of career commercials where she was hawking underwear allegedly specifically designed for busty women.  

This was long before "full-figured" had become a polite euphemism for overweight or morbidly obese. Russell's heyday was in the 40s and 50s. Jane Russell was known during her time at the top for her feminine curves, not necessarily her acting skills. 

This rep was a little unfair as Russell rarely was afforded the opportunity to do too much drama. Anyhow Russell got her chance here though her role was limited to lip curls, raised eyebrows, and snarky quips. 

Movie Reviews: Memory

Memory
directed by Martin Campbell

This was an intermittently entertaining thriller which ultimately only demonstrated to me that some of my favorite actors and actresses are finally getting a little too long in the tooth to be believable in certain roles. I don't mean that as any sort of nasty or sarcastic criticism. 

We all get older if we're lucky. It's just that with actors or actresses who have ascended to icon status it can be jarring to see them age out of the character types with whom I have long associated them. I disliked that though this film was set in America, specifically El Paso, Texas, none of the actors sounded Texan.

While to my ears the typical El Paso accent and cadence is not as distinctive or as thick as some Texan or Southern accents, it is still noticeable to me. So it was a little weird that just about all of the lead speaking roles were filled by non-Texans and non-Americans--Northern Irish, English, Australians, Germans, and Italians.  Some did better hiding their actual native accent than others. When an actor doesn't sound anything like their character should it takes me out of the movie. Again, just something I noticed from time to time.

Movie Reviews: Code 46

Code 46
directed by Michael Winterbottom

This older (2003) movie shared themes with such stories as Brave New World and Gattaca among others. It resonated with current day political, sexual, and cultural tensions. It's something of a film noir. And though I didn't think the two leads had great chemistry this wasn't a bad romance story. 

If you read the New York Times or other liberal papers you will see that many urban intelligentsia believe that it's unfair that rural low population US states get the same votes in the US Senate as highly urbanized and highly populated states. 

People often cite states such as either of the Dakotas, Montana, or Wyoming. Other people argue that nationalism and the nation state are retrograde concepts that should be dropped.

In their view people born in Shanghai or Mumbai should have the right to enter or live in New York City, Los Angeles, or Berlin just as much as people who were born in those cities. This means that there must be an evolution (I would call it a devolution) of political and economic authority away from the people, beyond the state or nation, to supra-national organizations and corporations. 

Movie Reviews: The Whistle Blower

The Whistle Blower

directed by Simon Langton

This is a mid 80s British spy thriller that is carried by a powerful but understated performance by Michael Caine. It is a truism that until people experience something horrible they may lack the perspective to be empathetic to previous sufferers. People often accuse their political opponents of having this trait and of thereby being, well, sinful. 

I think that this is a human trait, and not one that is by amazing coincidence only found among people you loathe. 

There are many stories where the protagonist discovers that his own organization, corporation, group, people, or race, whose immorality he was happy to ignore or even profit from, has harmed or even killed the protagonist's loved one--someone in the in-group.

Movie Reviews: Leave Her To Heaven

Leave Her To Heaven
John Stahl 

Leave Her To Heaven was an unusual film noir. The male lead was a placeholder and oft passive observer. Leave Her To Heaven was shot in technicolor (initially I thought it had been colorized). It lacks the light and shadow mix which defines much noir. Many scenes are shot outside and during the day. There's a lack of cynicism. The male lead usually takes people at face value.

The movie makes one major concession to the noir genre in that it features a gorgeous femme fatale with some questionable morals, psychology, and sexuality. 

Mores and customs have changed so much since 1945 that were this film remade today I think the femme fatale would be portrayed more sympathetically. I can't call it. There's a thin line between adoring attention and obsessive possessiveness. The lead actress demonstrates this in obvious and subtle ways.

Movie Reviews: Busting

Busting
directed by Peter Hymans

This was a 1974 neo-noir movie with all the seventies moral and visual murkiness that I enjoy so much. Although the film is set in sunny LA, it really feels as if it's occurring in such east coast environments such as New York's Times Square or Boston's Combat Zone. Both places have long since been gentrified but to a man of a certain age like myself those areas still invoke a certain grittiness, squalor, and over the top sleaze. 

Older people tell me that is what they were like in the seventies. Los Angeles had its own "bad side of town" but it's difficult to overexaggerate how much Busting eschews the sunny expansive cinematic view of Los Angeles.

This movie shares some DNA with such series as Death Wish or Dirty Harry in that men hemmed in by what they see as society's unfair rules strike out against criminals. Busting is different because it doesn't laud the guys breaking the rules. 

Movie Reviews: The Mob

The Mob
directed by Robert Parrish

This 1951 film is more crime film than noir. The leading man, Broderick Crawford, was a tad overweight, had a drinking problem, and wasn't handsome or dashing. Crawford was however a fine actor who, despite being in B-films or secondary roles for much of his career, won the Oscar for Best Actor in the 1949 movie, All The King's Men, where he played a thinly veiled fictionalized version of Louisiana governor Huey Long. 

Crawford brought energy and intelligence to his roles. Crawford's hangdog looks could evoke audience sympathy, even when he was playing bad guys.

In The Mob , Crawford is Johnny Damico, a homicide detective in an unnamed city, who wants his jeweler to lower the price for a engagement ring for Johnny's fiancee, Mary (Betty Buehler). The jeweler is initially unmoved by Johnny's pleas but finally gives Johnny a slight discount for Mary's sake.