Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) – J. J. Abrams

I saw the first Star Wars in the theatre in 1977 with my dad.  Now, 38 years later, I thought I’d see the new one in the theatre (in 3D) on a whim on the hottest day of the summer so far.  I’m not a zealous fan, particularly after all of the disappointments and I didn’t even watch the 6^th/3^rd film.  So, it is a very pleasant surprise to say that J. J. Abrams and his team have pulled it off and recreated the magic of the very first Star Wars.  They have done this by essentially making this new film a remake of the first, with enough plot similarities to cause anyone to raise an eyebrow and, of course, to delight those fans who know the films inside and out.  Let’s call it an emotional remake, if not an exact replica – the music of John Williams helps on this score.  However, the real key to success, I think, is a generous helping of Harrison Ford; it is great to be back in the presence of the wisecracking but sentimental Han Solo.  Of course, there is lots more nostalgia to be had, but the new cast, particularly Daisy Ridley and John Boyega, more than hold their own.  That’s another after-image from 1977 – the feel that a cast of unknowns has been thrust into a blockbuster.  Naturally, not everything works perfectly – the relationship between Han and Leia and their son feels forced (I kept thinking who is this guy and what part of the story did I miss?).  But the schematic plot, the dazzling action, and the giddy fun of returning to one’s childhood memories make this highly recommended – if you are in the tribe (more or less).  

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) – M. Curtiz

Here we have brave feats of derring-do by Robin Hood (Errol Flynn) and his band of merry men (including Alan Hale as Little John and Eugene Pallette as Friar Tuck).  Their bravery is for a good cause: protecting the poor Saxons from wicked Prince John (Claude Rains) and Sir Guy of Gisborne (Basil Rathbone).  And even though eyes are being poked out and ears cut off by the bad guys, this is still exhilarating and fun, as Robin’s rebelliousness is charismatic and cheeky rather than angry.  Of course, the good guys do not always come out on top, but Maid Marian (played by Flynn’s usual love interest, Olivia de Havilland) is on hand inside the castle to help them escape.  Director Michael Curtiz (stepping in after William Keighley was let go) keeps things moving at a good clip, such that one fabled episode after another comes rollicking through.  Both the Technicolor and the frequent swordplay are eye-popping as well and you really cannot go wrong if you are looking adventuresome thrills.  Hollywood at its best.

The Honeymoon Killers (1969)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Honeymoon Killers (1969) – L. Kastle

It seems almost camp at the start and one could easily imagine Divine as nurse turned serial killer Martha Beck (played bluntly by Shirley Stoler). Tony Lo Bianco is smarmy, sleazy, naïve, and more-or-less perfect as Ray Fernandez, the con man who preys on “lonelyhearts” for their money.  As shot by Leonard Kastle (after Martin Scorsese was fired), this “true crime” film is purposefully unpolished, shot in cinema verite styled black and white, not beautiful to look at, but in ordinary locations (like a  grandmother’s cheaply furnished apartment).  So, this viewer was quite taken aback at the first brutal murder, which unfolds clumsily and naturally, as you suspect it really may have, with the interpersonal dynamics between the two killers and the victim embarrassingly personal.  The second murder is even more brutal and suddenly nothing is funny anymore.  This is horror of truly unsettling proportions.  One remembers the film was made in 1969 and not the late ‘40s (when it took place).  Criterion’s DVD offers pictures of the real protagonists and the electric chair at Sing Sing where they were ultimately executed. 

  

Short Term 12 (2013)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Short Term 12 (2013) – D. D. Cretton

Emotionally raw look at workers and youth in a residential treatment facility that is a total downer because the focus is on the aftermath of abuse they’ve suffered at the hands of their parents. However, like many downer movies, this is also uplifting in that it highlights people’s ability to cope with extreme situations.  The acting is naturalistic and these people felt real – only occasionally does the script lead them to be a bit more overt about their feelings/problems than you might expect.  That said, people hurting this bad might actually cross that line into awkward self-exposure as a cry for help.  Brie Larson is the backbone of the film, as the lead line worker who has a similar background to many of the kids in the facility and struggles to keep her balance as life keeps happening to her.  Not the kind of film I would normally choose for escapism but I’m glad I did.    

George Washington (2000)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

George Washington (2000) – D. G. Green

With a rhythm all its own, this largely anecdotal film gathers together human moments, strange and moving, but somehow real – or real from this alternate universe where the film has occurred.  There is a plot of sorts – we follow the lives of some young kids in North Carolina (probably) and see how they cope with a tragedy that occurs -- or how they don’t cope.  The minimalist music track gets you on its wavelength and slows down your need for anything other than character development and empathic feelings.  The kids are great, providing line readings that are naturalistic but not.  The adults provide comic relief or alien behaviour. I haven’t seen anything else by director David Gordon Green (um, Pineapple Express?) but here, in his debut feature, he showed a poetic sense and an eye for alternately rusted out and lush landscapes. Worth seeking out.

Wichita (1955)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Wichita (1955) – J. Tourneur

When Joel McCrea’s Wyatt Earp decides to ban all guns from Wichita after the accidental shooting of a 5-year old boy, the resonances with current events in the USA were impossible to ignore.  But, despite the ban, the gun-toting ruffians kept on coming, gunning for Earp because they couldn’t stand being controlled.  Moreover, the town’s self-appointed chamber of commerce also thinks guns are good for business and that a little violence is a necessary side effect of a healthy economy.  Another random shooting, a contract for murder, and some shootings in the street (often by Earp, prosecuting the law his own way) are necessary before the town begins to feel that law and order are the way to go.  How many more deaths will it take in the US before guns get banned?  True, we might not be able to trust some of those allowed to carry guns (such as Earp – although McCrea plays him as squeaky clean, if a little too ready to back up his words with bullets) but the alternative seems to be gunfights in schools, movie theatres, colleges, and every other damn public place.  In Cinemascope with excellent direction by Jacques Tourneur.

Touki Bouki (1973)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ 

Touki Bouki (1973) – D. D. Mambety

I might be tempted to call this exhilarating Senegalese film “psychedelic” (because of all the non-diegetic sound and eclectic music) but probably it is really taking its cues from the French New Wave.  Djibril Diop Mambety (who wrote and directed) is very free-spirited with the narrative, which sees two lovers aspiring to escape Dakar for their idealized version of Paris, often pausing to show us the African backdrop of people, shantytowns, and ocean vistas.  Most likely, there is symbolism here that I’m missing (the early slaughter of the cow that is related somehow to the horns on the motorbike that serves ultimately to distract Mory from his journey to France, for example).  But you do get a feeling that this is what Dakar really was like in 1973 and perhaps the film makes it seem exotic enough that you wonder why Mory and Anta would want to leave (except of course for the way they are treated as outcasts/misfits and the general poverty all around) – but so it goes even today.  Yet somehow the film feels uplifting.