MY VIEWING DIARY: PART THREE

"Smithereens" (1982)

Gritty, raw and very low-budget, "Smithereens" is the feature film debut of Susan Seidelman who takes us on a darkly comedic journey through the '80's punk rock and nu-wave scene in a grungy New York City that does not exist anymore. 

After leaving behind a dull life in New Jersey, Wren (Susan Berman) has come to New York with dreams of becoming a rock star. But with more ambition than talent, she spends most of her time on the hustle, scamming and using people in order to try and get somewhere. Wren aligns herself with two very different men; Paul (Brad Rijn), a clean-cut, nice guy from Montana living in his van in the middle of the East Village (!) with plans to head on to New Hampshire and Eric (musician, Richard Hell), a former member of a punk band, Smithereens trying to get to LA to restart his music career. While plotting to tag along with an aloof Eric to Los Angeles, Wren runs back to a smitten Paul whenever it's convenient to help fill her needs. 

With "Smithereens" (which was the first American indie to be selected for competition at the Cannes Film Festival), Ms Seidelman displays a vibrant energy and confident film-making style here which she would put to even greater use (along with more funds) in her follow-up feature, "Desperately Seeking Susan". 

As for Wren, I'm not sure what to make of her. The aggressive self-delusion might seem somewhat charming at first but by the time we reached the end of our time with her, Wren's obnoxious behavior only left me feeling annoyed and exhausted. Also be on the lookout for a brief appearance by a young Chris Noth (later to be better known as "Mr. Big" on "Sex and the City") as a cross-dressing prostitute.



"The Passion of Joan of Arc (La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc)" (1928)

"The Passion of Joan of Arc", a French production that was one of the first films to ever tell the story of The Maid of Orléans during the Hundred Years' War between France and England, is a beautifully rendered work of cinema made even more impressive due to the profound drama and emotion that is captured completely without sound. This was accomplished by the masterful vision of the director, Carl Theodor Dreyer, inventive camerawork by Rudolph Maté and Renée Jeanne Falconetti (a stage actress in her only major screen appearance) who delivers one of the greatest performances ever captured on film. 

Based upon the ancient transcripts of her trial, Joan (Falconetti) has been captured, imprisoned and forced to be judged before French clergymen who are loyal to the English. Insisting that she was delivered a message from God to drive the English out of France, the clerical judges relentlessly try to get Joan to recant her declaration. Only after severe, mental torture and underhanded deception does the teenage girl finally break down, agreeing to sign a document renouncing her claims. Yet fearing that she has betrayed her God and faith, Joan insists on retracting her confession which ultimately leads to her execution. 

After the French premiere of "The Passion" in 1928, the film was cut due to pressure by the Archbishop of Paris and government censors. Fires would later destroy the master negative and the second version negative but a copy of the original film was found at a Norwegian mental institution in 1981. I saw a Criterion Collection restoration version which was crisp and absolutely stunning. If you only see one silent film (but you really shouldn't), I would highly recommend "The Passion of Joan of Arc" for it's magnificent visual artistry and Mlle. Falconetti (with deeply felt anguish and despair shown on her face in tight close-up throughout the film) for her astonishing performance.



"A Matter of Time" (1976)

I had wondered why "A Matter of Time", the final film from director, Vincente Minnelli, the grand master behind some of Hollywood's greatest musicals, comedies and melodramas like "An American in Paris", "The Band Wagon", "The Bad and The Beautiful" and "Gigi", had not received more attention over the years especially since it features the inspired pairing of Oscar-winners, Ingrid Bergman and the director's daughter, Liza Minnelli. But after finally seeing the film, I now understand completely why this dramatic musical-fantasy has been long forgotten. Mr. Minnelli had attempted to infuse "A Matter of Time" with his legendary visual style but the film is dragged down by an incoherent story and muddy camerawork. 

Nina (Minnelli), a small-town country girl, comes to the big city of Rome following the advice from her cousin (Tina Aumont). She helps Nina get a job with her as a chambermaid at a one-time glamorous but now run-down hotel. One of the residents of the hotel is the eccentric Countessa Sanziani (Bergman), once an alluring muse and temptress but now has fallen on hard times due to aging and failing mental health. Nina and the Countessa develop a close bond, guiding and helping each other as we watch the young girl gloriously blossom, while the older woman sadly fades. 

There isn't much to recommend here beyond seeing Bergman deliver another captivating performance and the opportunities to hear Minnelli sing including the popular Gershwin tune, "Do It Again" which she does with a jazz band in the ballroom of a Venetian palazzo. And to be fair, the problems with "A Matter of Time" are not entirely the director's fault. Mr. Minnelli had turned in a three-hour version but since he did not have final cut, the project was taken away from him with almost half the film trimmed away. The French actor, Charles Boyer (who co-starred with Bergman in 1944's "Gaslight") makes his final screen appearance as the estranged husband of the Countessa while Bergman's daughter, Isabella Rossellini appears briefly near the end to make her film debut.

MY VIEWING DIARY: PART TWO

While I anxiously await the time I can once again sit in a darkened theater to watch a film, here is another round of movies I have streamed while trapped indoors:

"Room at the Top" (1959)

"Room at the Top", a British drama by director, Jack Clayton adapted from the novel by John Braine, tells the story of Joe Lampton (Laurence Harvey), a young man from a factory town of Dufton, arriving in Warnley to begin an entry-level job in the Treasurer's Department. With a strong desire to quickly move his way up to acquire wealth and a better life, he sets his sights on Susan Brown (Heather Sears), the daughter of a successful local businessman who does not approve of Joe for his daughter. Joe begins an affair with an older married woman, Alice Aisgill (Simone Signoret) while still pursuing Susan. After falling hard for Alice, Joe realizes that love is all that truly matters. However there are a few complications that arise that will make this become impossible. 

"Room at the Top" was one of the early films in the cinematic British New Wave when social realism began to appear on screen, centered on the arduous life of the working class. Yet I don't think time has not been particularly kind to this drama. As a contemporary viewer, the film feels stiff and overly theatrical. But the film was a box-office hit and highly praised in it's day, receiving six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture. Hermione Baddeley (who some of you might remember her as Mrs. Naugatuck on the TV comedy series, "Maude") with under three minutes of total screen time received a surprising yet deserved nod for Best Supporting Actress as a friend of Alice. "Room at the Top" won Oscars for it's screenplay and for Ms. Signoret as Best Actress. While I certainly understand the appeal of this French actress with her steely and sensual presence, I'm just not sure if this was the best female performance of that year when considering that Doris Day ("Pillow Talk"), Audrey Hepburn ("The Nun's Story"), Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor (both for "Suddenly, Last Summer") were also in the running. And Mr. Harvey received a nomination for Best Actor for his work here which is far more problematic as his performance never convinces us that he was ever a working class bloke.



"The Kingmaker" (2019)

In "The Kingmaker", Imelda Marcos' warm remembrances of her time as the First Lady of the Philippines is in sharp contrast to the terrifying recollections of the many people who survived during the regime of her late husband, Ferdinand Marcos who ruled the country as President for twenty-one years before being deposed and forced into exile in 1986. 

This compelling yet disquieting documentary by Lauren Greenfield features interviews with Mrs Marcos where she actively cultivates an image of herself where she was simply a loving and caring "mother" of the people who happened to like "nice things". But we are shown how her unquenchable desire for a lavish lifestyle, which included the purchase of luxury goods, real estate from across the globe and even displacing citizens so she could have a zoo of exotic animals roaming freely on an island, ultimately lead to the family stealing billions of the country's funds for their own personal use. We hear from people who suffered due to martial law enacted by President Marcos and the political rivals who helps overturn the corrupt government. 

The film also follows Marcos as she's on the campaign trail for her only son, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. as he runs for Vice-President of the Philippines. "The Kingmaker" reveals how this former First Lady boldly tries to use her persuasive charm to completely rewrite history in order to restore her family's image and reclaim their place of political power in the country.



"Flesh and the Devil" (1926)

I have to admit that I can probably count on one hand how many silent movies I have seen. I know for a film buff, that's kinda shameful but I'm going to try and change that. I had actually seen a segment on TCM about silent films and one that had caught my eye was "Flesh and the Devil" from director, Clarence Brown. What made me curious was the discussion on the stunning cinematography by William H. Daniels and the undeniable star power of Greta Garbo. While I was aware of the commanding presence she had in photographs but when Garbo is in motion on the screen, she is absolutely breathtaking. Unable to speak English when she arrived in America, the young Swedish actress was signed to M-G-M, given a makeover and with this, her third feature film, would become an international movie star. 

This romantic melodrama is a not-so-subtle look at temptation and sin with John Gilbert (a major star at the time) as Leo von Harden and Lars Hanson as Ulrich von Eltz, two childhood friends now serving together in the German army. After Leo sets his eyes on the alluring Felicitas (Garbo), they begin a passionate affair. However, Felicitas neglected to tell Leo that she's married and when her husband, Count von Rhaden (Marc McDermott) catches them, he demands satisfaction. There is a duel; Felicitas becomes a widow and Leo (who claimed the duel was over a quarrel during a card game) is sent to Africa for five years by the military as punishment. And Leo unwisely asks his dear friend, Urlich (unaware of the affair) to watch over Felicitas while he is away. 

Without sound, the performances had to be much broader and dramatic which can be distracting for modern audiences. But I was really captivated by this beautifully shot film, particularly by Garbo who was a master of seduction, using only her eyes to magnetically draw you in.

MY VIEWING DIARY

The only good thing that has come from being forced to stay-in-place during this pandemic is the opportunity to actually stay at home and watch movies I had been saving to see in my streaming queues (on Netflix or Amazon) or re-watch films that I haven't seen in many years. Finding time had prevented me from doing either one of these activities and now that I find that I have nothing but endless time, I might as well take advantage.

Here is the first in a series of some of the films I have watched in no particular order:

"Coma" (1978)

I thought I had seen "Coma", the sci-fi-mystery thriller from novelist and filmmaker, Michael Crichton, but I realize that I must have only watched part of this film. 

Based on the book by Robin Cook, Geneviève Bujold stars as Susan Wheeler, a surgeon at Boston Memorial Hospital, who is devastated after a friend (Lois Chiles) that had come in for a routine procedure (an abortion!) ends up brain-dead and in a coma. After this happens again to another young, healthy patient (played by Tom Selleck in this brief, early film role displaying the easy charm and swagger he would bring to his future television series, "Magnum P.I."), Wheeler becomes suspicious and brings her concerns to the hospital's chief of surgery, Dr. George Harris (Richard Widmark). She is reassured that these were only unfortunate accidents yet she's not convinced. Wheeler begins her own investigation, eventually discovering the shocking truth. 

"Coma" is one of several popular suspense dramas that came out in the '70's that featured women as the central figure in the plot. Now that I've seen the entire film, I can say with complete certainty that "Coma" is thoroughly entertaining with great performances and the science actually holds up fairly well. Michael Douglas, fresh off of his TV success on "The Streets of San Francisco", appears in a supporting role as Wheeler's fellow doctor and boyfriend and look out for a baby-faced Ed Harris in his very first screen appearance.



"Earthquake Bird" (2019)

"Earthquake Bird", a Netflix feature film from Wash Westmoreland, the writer/director behind "Quinceañera", "Still Alice" and "Colette", starts off promising yet deteriorates in to a dull and confusing psychological drama. 

Set in 1989 Tokyo, Lucy Fly (Alicia Vikander), an introverted Swedish citizen who speaks fluent Japanese and works as a translator of manuals, meets a handsome local photographer, Teji (Naoki Kobayashi). They begin an intense relationship but because each of them have mysterious and troubled pasts, this complicates their potential romance. And when Lily Bridges (Riley Keough), an American tourist who befriends Lucy after deciding to move to Japan (and not concerned with learning the language), becomes entangled in their lives, the connection between this trio becomes very strange with deadly consequences. 

Much like it's title, "Earthquake Bird" is a disconnected mystery with the muddled conclusion delivering more questions than answers.



"Heartburn" (1986)

Based on Nora Ephron's Roman à clef novel (which she also wrote the screenplay), "Heartburn" features Meryl Streep as the stand-in for the writer, Rachel Samstat, a New York food columnist who meets a Washington DC political journalist, Mark Forman, played by Jack Nicholson (coasting on his charm) and who represents Ephron's former husband, Carl Bernstein, the Washington Post reporter behind the investigation of the Watergate scandal. The couple begin a whirlwind romance; quickly getting married, moving into a dilapidated Georgetown townhouse with plans to refurbish and awaiting the arrival of their first baby. Since giving up her job and life in NYC to become a full-time wife and mother, Rachel struggles to fit in to insular DC society scene. When the rumor of a married socialite having an affair with someone in town reaches the pregnant Rachel with her second child, the news hits very close to home.

I had seen "Heartburn" in the theaters when it was released in my mid-twenties and with this second viewing, I think I enjoyed this romantic-dramedy even more as a mature adult with some life experience. With Mike Nichols' expert direction, Ms Ephron's razor-sharp wit, Carly Simon's lovely theme song, "Coming Around Again" and appearances by many wonderful actors in supporting roles including Jeff Daniels, Stockard Channing, Catherine O'Hara, Maureen Stapleton, Joanna Gleason, the late film director, Miloš Forman and future Oscar-winners, Mercedes Ruehl and Kevin Spacey, "Heartburn" is an engaging, must-see film.

FILM STREAMING @ THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

One place you may not have thought to stream movies is the US Library of Congress. They actually have an extensive online library that consists of over 7000 videos, the largest in the world, and they can be viewed absolutely free. While you're definitely not going to find many contemporary films, you will be able to view a full range of fascinating historical cinematic artifacts. Manohla Dargis, film critic for the New York Times has put together a list that highlights some films you may be interested in viewing. This ranges from "Sneeze", a 1894 short from Thomas Edison’s New Jersey studio and one of the library’s earliest surviving copyrighted motion pictures to "Within Our Gates", a 1920 feature from early African-American filmmaker, Oscar Micheaux to actress, Ida Lupino's turn as a director with the 1953 film noir, "The Hitch-Hiker".

Click below to read the article:

Film Treasures, Streaming Courtesy of the Library of Congress

SIX DEGREES OF ONE KEVIN BACON MOVIE

During this difficult time of self-isolation and the incredible boredom that can arise from this situation, what better way for a movie lover to spend some time than to play a movie-inspired game? The film critics of New York Magazine, Mark Harris, David Edelstein, Angelica Jade Bastién, Alison Willmore, and Bilge Ebiri, have devised a variation of the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game. Each writer starts with the 2003 Clint Eastwood-directed movie, "Mystic River" which Bacon co-starred and inventively links four other movies connected (indirectly) to the actor before ending with another Kevin Bacon film.

Look, you gotta a lot of time on your hands and you're watching endless movies anyway so why not spice it up by adding a little adventure and activity while you're laying on the couch? Besides, there are some good movies on these lists and all are available for streaming.

Click below to read the article:

Six Degrees of One Kevin Bacon Movie Quarantine Game

CINEMA '62: THE GREATEST YEAR AT THE MOVIES

1939 has, for quite a while, been referred to as the greatest year in cinema. And for good reason as there were an incredible number of high-quality films released that year which have continued to endure as true classics in movie history; just a few to mention include "Dark Victory", "Goodbye, Mr. Chips", "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", "Ninotchka", "Stagecoach", "Wuthering Heights", "Gone With The Wind" and of course, "The Wizard of Oz".

But a new book by film critic, Stephen Farber and exhibition executive, Michael McClellan wants you to consider another year which also featured an exceptional number of amazing feature films that proven to have become just as important in cinematic history. "Cinema ’62: The Greatest Year At The Movies" examines many of the outstanding domestic and international films that came out in 1962. Now I may be biased since I was born in this year but after looking at the list of some of these movies, there is no denying that there was an impressive array of influential works of cinema released.

There was the film adaptions of Harper Lee's enduring novel, "To Kill A Mockingbird" and Nabokov's controversial book, "Lolita" from director, Stanley Kubrick. We had several award-winning Broadway stage-to-screen transfers: the musicals, "The Music Man" and "Gypsy" and dramas, "The Miracle Worker", "Sweet Bird Of Youth" and "Long Day's Journey into Night". Some high-powered dramas arrived like "The Manchurian Candidate", "The Longest Day", "Birdman Of Alcatraz", "Cape Fear" and "Days Of Wine And Roses". The first James Bond action-thriller, "Dr. No" appeared and campy B-movies featuring beloved yet faded Hollywood actresses, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?" and Barbara Stanwyck in "Walk On The Wild Side". The provocative foreign-language films that reached our shores came from filmmakers who would become celebrated, "Jules And Jim" (François Truffaut), "Through a Glass Darkly" (Ingmar Bergman),"L'Eclisse" (Michelangelo Antonioni) and "The Exterminating Angel" (Luis Buñuel). And "Lawrence Of Arabia", David Lean's highly acclaimed, epic historical drama which would win the Best Picture Oscar of this year.

If you're not familiar with these titles, I would highly recommend that you investigate and seek out some of these films from 1962. Here is a small sampling with a few trailers to preview: