How about letting us know if you have any comments regarding any of these films and about what you have been watching at home or in the theater?
The Andersonville Trial - 1970. Having recently watched the drama of life in this terrible Confederate run prison camp, I had a better feel for this film recreation of the military court trial of the camp commander for war crimes. The entire movie took place in the courtroom and the hallway outside, but the issues being argued were so fundamentally engrossing and perpetual (e.g. the "we must answer to a law of basic humanity" prosecution and the"I was only following orders" defense) and the script was so true to the highlighted actual words of the participants, that I gave it my 3.5 rating. Excellent technical work and acting (including a surprisingly effective performance by William Shatner as the prosecutor) contributed to the overall quality.
Flores de Otro Mundo - 1999. This Spanish movie, from the director of Take My Eyes, told the story of three women who came to a dying Spanish rural town to be matched up with men. A shallow young Cuban was matched with a shallow old Spaniard, with predictable disaster. A middle aged couple was a good match, except she couldn't give up the city and he wouldn't leave the countryside. A Dominican with two small kids ended up with a quiet farmer who lived with his bitter mother. No fluff or pretense in this 3.2 film, just a straightforward, respectful and efficient telling of an attempt by three women and three men to become permanent couples.
Manhattan Murder Mystery - 1993. I like Woody Allen's shtick, embraceable NYC, comfortable ensembles, Woody kvetching and exchanging witty comments, nostalgic references to classic moves, though the strange sexual attraction he often has for the sexy women in his films is a little too narcissistic. I smile all the way through his comedies. With an oddball mystery element, this was a 3.1 film for me.
I Fidanzati - 1962. This Italian film from director Olmi tells the story of an engaged couple in Milan who are separated when the man takes temporary work in Sicily. Olmi has roots in documentary and it shows strongly in this 3.1 movie which shows the impression of Sicily from the point of view of the man, demonstrates the disruption of the traditional Sicilian lifestyle by the construction of a new chemical plant and plays with time to show the lonely separation of the couple. There is not much plot or character development but the movie captures a reality in time.
Chaplin - 1992. Robert Downey, Jr.did a quite effective job of playing Charlie, both off and on screen in this solid 3 rated biopic. His long life covered lots of ground and the movie tried to get to all of it in less time than needed, so it helped to be familiar with the facts. Chaplin's bittersweet life and wistful sentiment was a central theme and came across fairly well.
Cadillac Records - 2008. This 2.9 drama of the founding of Chess Records in Chicago and the start of rock 'n roll in the 1950s was more effective as a musical revue than as a story telling. The look was right and the acting good and the music better, but the script lacked focus. We did not learn anything much about the technical aspects of the music itself, what made it different. We saw the characters struggle with their own demons constantly, but received very little insight into the specific sources of their problems and how they felt about them. The business dynamics were lightly brushed but there was not much detail provided of the economics and the nature of the contractual relations between the artists and the label owner.
Last Orders - 2002. An excellent ensemble of actors and a prize winning book to adapt were not enough to make this British film as good as it should have been. The problem was the script, which jumped around in time way too much in telling us the story of the men taking the ashes of a friend to be scattered at the seashore. Keeping a group of characters straight is hard enough, but twice as hard when different actors are playing the characters in all the flashbacks. We ultimately learn little in this 2.9 film, but the actors are good enough to make it marginally worth watching.
My Favorite Wife - 1940. This return of the presumed deceased spouse scenario features Cary Grant playing his Cary Grant role with as little more bumbling, while Irene Dunne does a good job as the returner. This marginal at 2.8, and better in the 1963 re-make, Move Over Darling, with James Garner and Doris Day, which I gave 3.1.
Rembrandt - 1936. Charles Laughton stars in this British biopic, which rushes us through the economic fall of Rembrandt, without telling us anything about the art of painting other than that even a great artist can go broke. Character development in this 2.8 film is nil, except for Rembrandt's humility increasing in proportion to his poverty. The minimal subplot involving his romance life after the death of his wife is not particularly engaging. The acting other than Laughton and his real life wife Elsa Lanchester, is theatrical.
Human Condition: The Road to Eternity- 1959. In this second part of the Japanese trilogy the hero, who has been defeated by the bureaucracy in his efforts to run a humane labor camp, has been drafted into the army and is now encountering the inhumane treatment of army recruits. Again he tries to improve the situation by staying true to his principles, but it is pretty hopeless, and as the Japanese war effort wanes, he barely manages to survive. For a picture about a war unit, there is no combat until the very end, with the focus on recruits constantly being slapped around and humiliated leading to a 2.8 rating for me, not as good as the first film.
Yi-Yi - 1999. A real slow starter, this too long Chinese film finally makes some progress in letting us get to know and start to care somewhat about the characters in this contemporary Taipei family, but not enough to get it beyond a 2.8 rating for me. There is some philosophy and reflection on life, including the ending message from the most engaging character for me, the eight year old boy, but overall it was hardly worth the time involvement.
Primal Fear - 1996. The script for this movie was so bad that not even OK acting could lift it above a dismal 2.2 rating. The presentation of a criminal trial and the jail were technically ridiculous. Subplots went nowhere. The supposedly shock ending lost out to the overall inaccuracy of the script. There was a premise for a good movie about how a lawyer can defend someone he knows is guilty, but this film missed it by a mile.
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