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Medical Melodrama

Posted : 9 years, 9 months ago on 2 July 2014 03:50 (A review of Men in White)

*** This review contains spoilers ***


Initially I was skeptical at weather Clark Gable would make a convincing doctor but not only does he pull it off (even if he is the most gorgeous doctor ever *swoons) Men In White has to be my favourite performance Iā€™ve seen him deliver portraying the young, idealistic and dignified Dr. George Ferguson; 60 years before George Clooney in ER. Men In White is a perfect showcase of what Gable is capable off while Myrna Loy, although not dominating the film as much still shares a mature romance with Gable, who must make difficult decisions between his profession and his love life. Rest assured I got the satisfactory amount of swooning I would expect from a pairing of these two.

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I cannot stress enough just how astounding Men In White looks. This is without a doubt most stunning black & white film Iā€™ve seen from the 1930ā€™s. Every scene is light so immaculately with multi-layered and angled shots plus the widespread use of shadows giving the film shades of noir. Even the classic noir shot of the shadows created by blind shutters onto oneā€™s face to show they have become imprisoned in life is present. Likewise, the art deco design of the hospital itself would likely not be practical in real life but it sure as hell looks good; needless to say the removal of eyes from the screen is easier said than done. The filmā€™s set designer was Cedric Gibbons, a regular at MGM who helped create the distinctive look of their films in the 1930ā€™s and surely Men In White is one of his greatest achievements.

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Movies like this where common in the 1930ā€™s, glorifying those who held jobs central to society (Tiger Shark, Night Flight, Slim). Call them propaganda but they were effective and informative. Although I donā€™t have any major interest in medicine or healthcare (despite both my parents being nurses) Men In White gives a real sense of awe and wonder to medical world such as when Dr. McCabe (Henry B. Walthall) the elder doctor who gives a rousing speech at the beginning of the film on all the medical advances in his lifetime (anesthesia, sterilization, surgery, x-ray) and the figures behind them. Weā€™ve come much further since 1934, certainly when it comes to the etiquette of the doctors on display. In one scene a doctor hits on a nurse in the open for everyone else to hear while other doctors have no problem openly talking about their sex lives (ā€œBeing in love kills your sex lifeā€). There is even one scene in which a doctor is running through the public area of the hospital wearing only a towel! If that happened today it would be all over the tabloids.

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Men In White paints a picture of just how demanding a job being a doctor is, working round the clock; Dr. Ferguson works 16-18 hours a day for $20 a week (in 1934 or course). His finance Laura (Myrna Loy) has a selfish streak to her, getting frustrated with Ferguson when heā€™s only doing his job and one which is detrimental to saving the lives of others. Additionally Jean Hersholt (Hollywoodā€™s great Dane and an actor who has that look of great intellect) as Fergusonā€™s mentor pressureā€™s George to put greater priority to his career than his love life. The filmā€™s ending isnā€™t so predictable having me question whether or not George and Laura will still be together come the end.

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Men In White also showcases corruption which can exist within hospitals when a superior doctor knowingly gives a child too much insulin, only for Dr. Ferguson to interfere even if it puts his job on the line. Once the child recovers from the insulin overdose, the superior doctor takes the credit - douche. The child, however, thanks and hugs Dr. Ferguson at the end of the film in what I feel is the movieā€™s most inspiring moment. Gable isnā€™t playing a brute here like he often does but rather someone who can project a level of warmth especially with his interaction with his child patient.

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The scene in which Dr. Ferguson and the English nurse Barbara Den (Elizabeth Allen) are bonding over their loneliness and then start kissing is a breathtaking sequence. This leads to the most daring aspect of Men In White, the inclusion of abortion in the filmā€™s plot. When I first watched the film I didnā€™t catch on that the big surgery scene itself was the result of a failed back alley abortion as the filmā€™s hints are very subtle; itā€™s all in the undertones of the movie. Thatā€™s one reason why Men In White is worth re-watching; distinguishing whatā€™s being said and shown versus what is really going on. If anything this is much more fun and satisfying having the movie simply spell everything out to the viewer.

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When it is discovered Nurse Den attempted to get an abortion it is simply alluded to that she has a condition worse than a ruptured appendix and before the surgery itself Dr. Ferguson is questioned, ā€œwho is the man?ā€. Itā€™s not made clear if the child being terminated is the result of the affair between Ferguson and Den, however, before their fling she is seen feeling unwell. Although I canā€™t comment of how accurate a depiction Men In White is of the medical profession I was still amazed at the level of detail in the movie from the terminology to the wide range of instruments used. One particular moment which stood out to me was the rigorously high level of sanitization the staff must go through prior to surgery. The film has an economic length of only 73 minutes but packs so much content. Iā€™d happily become ill just to go to this hospital.



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Quit Badmouthing the House!

Posted : 9 years, 9 months ago on 2 July 2014 03:35 (A review of The Cheyenne Social Club)

The Cheyenne Social Club sounds like a bad idea on a number of levels. For beginners it stars two elderly actors towards the end of their careers in a comedy about prostitution, not to mention Gene Kelly would be one of the last people I would expect to be directing a western. For a long time it remained a movie I doubt I would ever watch yet much to my surprise the film turned out not only to be perfectly dignified but also very funny and surprising endearing. The idea of Jimmy Stewart being the owner of a brothel and becoming a sugar daddy sounds wrong on paper yet somehow it manages to work. The Cheyenne Social Club paints an idealized version of a whore house in which the women are proud of their profession and worship their boss. The movie doesnā€™t shun prostitution and while propaganda might be a strong word I certainly got the impression the movie was voicing its support for the legalisation of prostitution.

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Henry Fonda is by far the funniest thing in the film; a child in an adultā€™s body living out a completely carefree existence with Stewart being the straight man and the grown-up one of the two. Even as soon as the film begins Fonda babbles through the entire opening credits which according to the movie lasts for literally over a thousand miles which helps distract from how ordinarily plain the test in the opening credits are. The relationship between the two is incredibly endearing with one of my favourite moments of the film is the two of them innocently sleeping in the same bed together. It is also very amusing as Fonda just follows Stewart wherever he goes as he has nothing else to do with his time but also because he just likes his company. Itā€™s evident through their own screen chemistry that the two where lifelong friends. The filmā€™s other major highlight is Stewart and Fondaā€™s discussing of politics (Stewart being a Republican and Fonda a Democrat) mirroring their real-life personas and bringing to mind an occasion when their friendship was almost brought to an end when they got engaged in a fist fight over politics in 1947 (ā€œI donā€™t like to dispute you John but didnā€™t you always vote democratic?, Wellā€¦that was when I didnā€™t know any betterā€) .

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The Cheyenne Social Club is the third of three films James Stewart and Henry Fonda starred in together. The first two of which are among the weakest films Iā€™ve seen from ether actor. Thankfully the third time was the charm; it took 35 years to get these two legendary actors in a great film together but it was worth the wait.



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When the Pictures Became Small

Posted : 9 years, 11 months ago on 16 April 2014 12:12 (A review of Fedora)

Fedora is one of the most bizarre films Iā€™ve ever seen, to say the least. At points Iā€™m almost laughing at the movieā€™s plot twist yet the more bizarre and highly improbable the movie became the more I found myself getting engaged in the story, waiting in eager anticipation to find out what will happen next with those oh so joyous ā€œI did not see that comingā€ moments. The filmā€™s highly implausible plot manages to draw the thin line between being completely absurd but never feeling like a parody.

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The character of Fedora herself is a reclusive movie star who goes to extreme lengths in order to stay ā€œon topā€ and retain her eternal youth to the point which even Norma Desmond would consider crazy. Early during the film, I suspected Greta Garbo to be the likely source of inspiration for the character of Fedora (whom Wilder always had great admiration for) but as the plot progressed I thought to myself ā€œok even Garbo was never this nutsā€.

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One of Fedoraā€™s other intriguing aspects is the filmā€™s critique of New Hollywood and how times have changed since Hollywoodā€™s golden era came to pass. Fedora is the only film Iā€™ve seen which displays a harsh attitude towards New Hollywood with lines referring to Hollywood being taken over by kids with beards who donā€™t need a script, just a handheld camera with a zoom lens as well as the demise of glamorous movie stars of the past. This is one of several aspects of Fedora which makes it similar to what you could call its spiritual cousin Sunset Boulevard; which itself commented upon what was lost when the silent era came to an end. I could go on making comparisons between the two films from William Holden playing a Hollywood hack in both films to Michael Yorkā€™s role the in film being similar to the role Cecil B. Millie played in Sunset Boulevard.

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I imagined by 1978 Wilder was far past his directing prime, not to mention after the 1950ā€™s he seemed to become content with only directing comedies; thus Iā€™m surprised to consider Fedora as one of his greatest films and a return to the roots of his earlier work as a director. As soon as William Holdenā€™s narration begins you can instantly tell this is classic, old-school Billy Wilder.



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The Thin Woman

Posted : 9 years, 11 months ago on 16 April 2014 12:10 (A review of Evelyn Prentice)

*** This review contains spoilers ***


Movies like Evelyn Prentice give me one of the greatest satisfactions I get from watching films; discovering an obscurity from an actorā€™s filmography which I end up considering to be one of their finest films. Myrna Loy superbly carries Evelyn Prentice, dominating the majority of the screen time, with William Powell delivering one of his finest dramatic turns while seeing Rosalind Russell in her screen debut is just a mere bonus. Russell doesnā€™t have a whole lot to do but she still comes off as a memorable screen presence despite this, although it is a little odd hearing her speak in an English accent and not at a machine gun rate. Loy and Una Merkel make for a fun duo, with Merkel having a very memorable comic sounding voice. Just the deco of Evelyn Prentice itself makes me love this film more, whether itā€™s a smoke-filled nightclub, the lavish interior of Powell and Loyā€™s home to even the clothes worn in the film (the costume department really knocks this one out of the park), sucking me into the world of the 1930ā€™s.

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Scenes such as the family exercising or the father and daughter playing the piano together help humanize them, making me more fearful that a character played by the sweetheart Myrna Loy could be going to prison, or maybe get the electric chair! The tension builds as the film progresses. The scene in which a witness arrives at the Prentice household while Evelyn is present to describe the women she witnessed leaving the murder scene, this woman, of course, being Evelyn buy nobody else knows that, feels like the type of moment you would get from a Hitchcock movie. In fact, the entire premise of the movie could be given the Hitchcock treatment.

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I often feel like Hollywood makes being a lawyer look like the coolest job ever. Even if John Prentice (William Powell) is missing time from his family, his turn during the filmā€™s courtroom climax makes the profession look like a constant flow of hair-raising excitement. The filmā€™s final twenty-minute courtroom sequence had my heart pounding, eating up every minute of its melodramatic glory while screaming in anticipation of how the characters are going to get themselves out of this situation. Ā At the same time, however, I was tense that the movie would pull the characters out of their intense dilemma in a contrived manner, Iā€™m pleased to say I was not disappointed. The outcome of the case is movie fantasy but it didnā€™t feel like a cop-out. Throughout this sequence, Powell and Loy do some of the finest acting work of their careers. Myrna Loy is generally not highly regarded as a dramatic actress but I would defy anyone says otherwise as she lays on the tears and the passionate pleas. I must also give credit to Judith Wilson, whole also left an impression during these proceedings. As a fan of Powell & Loy partnership and courtroom dramas, their third film together satisfied more than I could ask for. Manhattan Melodrama, The Thin Man and Evelyn Prentice all in one year, ain't too stingy.



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The Guy Adam

Posted : 10 years ago on 16 March 2014 12:47 (A review of You Belong to Me)

I usually avoid writing such comments as "Why does this movie have such a low IMDB rating?!" but I'm going to break my own rule this one time. Why does this movie have such a low IMDB rating?! You Belong to Me is of the funniest films I've ever seen, period. Giving me the type of gut-busting, side-splitting laughter I rarely get from even the funniest of comedies. I was in howls of consistent laughter for 90 minutes; unlike The Lady Eve which I feel loses steam in its final third. I only watched You Belong to Me in order to become a Barbara Stanwyck-Henry Fonda completest and was expecting something mediocre based on all the negative IMDB reviews but I have to ask the question mankind has pondered since the beginning of time, "What is wrong with you people!? Do you even understand the basic essence of comedy?!!ā€ Ok, back to planet Earth.

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The movie plays out like a newspaper comedy; the setup of a husband neglecting his wife due to his obligations to his job except in this case the profession is a doctor and itā€™s not the man, itā€™s the woman. Peter Kirk (Fonda) acts like a spoiled child throughout the film who doesnā€™t know any better yet heā€™s always too loveable and innocent to ever come off as annoying. Likewise, many of his shenanigans and dialogue are very Homer Simpsons like (ā€œPatient dies while doctor ski-iesā€). He goes to extreme lengths to have Helen Hunt (not the modern day actress but the character played by Stanwyck) as his own with his increasingly humorous paranoia, and while considering Stanwyckā€™s sexuality I canā€™t blame the guy. The man really does look like heā€™s in love with the woman which would come as no surprise as apparently, Fonda would tell his later wife he was still in love with Stanwyck. Peter Kirk has no purpose or ambition and doesnā€™t contribute a whole lot to society, unlike his polar opposite wife; the more mature of the two to say the least. Even with this comically absurd pairing, I did at times feel somber for the couple.

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I donā€™t always say this with every romantic pairing I see however after watching all three movies they did together I do believe Stanwyck and Fonda could have been a regular film pairing up with there with the likes of Astaire & Rogers, Powell & Loy and Tracey & Hepburn. The chemistry they share is some of the best Iā€™ve seen in old Hollywood stars; a match made in heaven if Iā€™ve ever seen one.



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The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword

Posted : 10 years, 2 months ago on 20 January 2014 11:00 (A review of The Harder They Fall)

*** This review contains spoilers ***


Itā€™s unique to see Humphrey Bogart in a more contemporary, neo-realist 1950ā€™s film in the form of The Harder They Fall.Ā From the Saul Bass-inspired opening credits which help set up the plot (rather than just a series of static title cards) to the punchy music score, I imagine if Bogart lived longer and stared in movies for at least a few more years they would have been aesthetically in a similar vein to The Harder They Fall.

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The Harder They Fall deals with corruption and fixing in boxing and how promoters exploit athletes regardless of their health or well being, providing an in-depth look at corruption in boxing as to who pulls the strings and how. The fight scenes themselves donā€™t suffer from the dilemma of old boxing films having dodgy looking bouts with sped-up footage or obviously fake punches, partially due to the fact that the fights within the film are staged and of poor quality fight tactics. Likewise, the grime and sweatiness of boxing arenas and training gyms never fail as effective subjects to capture on film, especially in black and white. Also, whatā€™s the deal with that bus with the cardboard cutouts attached to it? Itā€™s almost like a character in itself.

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More so than any other Bogart film do we see such a striking generational clash with Bogart coming from the old school style of theatrical acting and Rod Steiger from the Marlon Brandon, method school style of acting. However, Iā€™ve always found Bogart to be a very adaptable actor and he is able to seamlessly play of Steiger despite their acting styles being worlds apart. Bogartā€™s role as washed-up columnist, Eddie Willis is one of the most interesting heroic performances of his career which combines Bogartā€™s trademarks of both world-weary cynicism but also, a sense of righteous morality as he deals with his moral and ethical conscience throughout the film. Eddie can draw up fake publicity for the not so talented, big lug Toro Moreno (Mike Lane), writing articles stating he is the heavyweight champion of South America, undefeated in 39 fights and largely get away with it - thatā€™s the pre-internet world for you (ā€œNobody reads these west coast papers in the eastā€).

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Eddie may take part in the world of boxing corruption but he never fully believes in what he is doing and tries to make the outfit as unscrupulous as possible. Not to mention he is the only person in the racket who genuinely cares about the gargantuan Toro, whereas the rest of the men couldnā€™t care less about him. Rod Steiger on the other hand as corrupt sports promoter Nick Benko is an impulsive, brash character who has no moral or ethical conscience - you have to ask does he actually believe in what he is doing is justified in his mind. Steiger chews the scenery throughout the film in a very shouty, loud-mouthed performance which has shades of DeNiro or Pacino coming through.

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I had a sense of melancholy during the movieā€™s closing shots knowing this was the last time Bogart appeared on screen. Bogart was in poor health during the filmā€™s production, suffering from lung cancer (although ironically it doesnā€™t stop him from lighting up during the movie). In the filmā€™s conclusion, The Harder They Fall celebrates the power of writing as a force to fight wrong and enforce positive social change - proving once again the pen is mightier than the sword, or should I say boxing glove. In the powerful final shot, Eddie begins typing an article on boxing corruption and reformation for the sport, an aspiring sight for any budding non-fiction writers.

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ā€œThe boxing business must rid itself of the evil influence of racketeers and crooked managers, even ifĀ itĀ takes anĀ Act of CongressĀ to doĀ it.ā€



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A Mixture of Action Und Comedy

Posted : 10 years, 4 months ago on 20 November 2013 10:26 (A review of All Through the Night)

Bogart: Letā€™s Get Silly!

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Mixing up so many genres into a single movie could potentially be a disaster yet Iā€™ve perhaps never seen a better genre mash-up than All Through the Night. Iā€™m astounded at this movieā€™s ability to have a bit of everything and pull it off so immaculately; bouncing back and forth between drama, comedy, action, murder mystery and even film noir. All Through the Night is the closest thing to a Hitchcock movie starring Humphrey Bogart in which an ordinary man gets caught up in espionage and becomes a fugitive for a crime he didnā€™t commit, with moments in the film such as the auction scene or Bogart deliberately getting arrested by police directly reminded me of North by Northwest; likewise the movie even stars Judith Anderson in the Mrs. Danvers hairstyle from Rebecca while Bogartā€™s exploits against the movieā€™s Nazi villains gives an urban Indiana Jones edge to the film. Even the movieā€™s final climatic moment had me on the edge of my seat and thinking to myself ā€œhow is he going to get out of this?!ā€. One top of that the film gets an additional boast with some truly superb use of shadows and lighting; All Through the Night really exemplifies the unique look of Warner Bros. movies of the 30ā€™s and 40ā€™s.

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I may sound hyperbolic but the more I think about it, the role of Gloves Donahue may be the greatest performance of Bogartā€™s career; why you ask, versatility! Just like the tone of the film he is able to continually bounce back between being serious to just downright silly. Bogart has made me laugh during comedic moments in his other movies but I never knew he could make me laugh this side splittingly hard; from subtle moments such as throwing the reserved sign off a table in a nightclub to the more obvious in which he infiltrates and stalls a secret Nazi meeting. At another point he delivers the line ā€œMore here than meets the FBIā€; I do love me a corny pun but with Bogart delivering it just makes it funnier - All Through the Night makes me wish he had starred in more comedies.

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On top of all that, the character he plays is a mommaā€™s boy yet heā€™s still badass! I find this aspect of his character is hilarious in itself. Thereā€™s something adorable about a tough guy who wears dotted bathrobes and loves cheesecake so much; exemplified even more with his mother being played by the ever motherly Jane Darwell. All Through the Night features a large selection of character actors at some of their best work and even features a young Jackie Gleason in one of his earliest film roles; what more secrets does this movie hold? If I was to find any point of contention with All Through the Night I wouldnā€™t have minded seeing a bit romance between Bogart and Kaaren Verne, but with a film that has this much merit, itā€™s hard to complain.

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All Through the Night is an anti-Nazi propaganda film and an effective one at that. I find the satire here is on par with The Great Dictator and To Be or Not Be as the movie pokes fun at Nazi ideology. The leader of the branch of Nazi spies is portrayed by Conrad Veidt whom there was probably no one better at the time to play evil Nazis. Gloves Donahue is also a minor gangster which reflects the attitude of real-life gangsters of the time who worked with the government to infiltrate Nazi spies. One scene in the film involves Bogart giving a chilling monologue on how the Nazis will take peopleā€™s freedoms away in an argument against US isolationism in the ongoing war in Europe; all this however without even mentioning the word Nazi once throughout the film. Another interesting aspect of the film is the mentioning of an actual concentration camp Dachau. Being released in 1941 before the true nature of the camps where discovered, this is one moment I found quite chilling. All Through the Night was released in the US only 5 days before the attack on Pearl Harbor, although Warner Bros. had already long established themselves as an anti-Nazi studio.

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By the time I watched All Through the Night I had already seen all of Bogartā€™s major movies and figured I was largely finished exploring the actorā€™s filmography, thus it came as such a delight discovering this obscure gem which satisfied me more than many of his more famous movies. This is the type of movie which makes me want to scream out, ā€œWhy the hell is this not more well known?!ā€, but then again its moments like these in which I live to be a cinephile.



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A Star Is Born

Posted : 10 years, 6 months ago on 30 September 2013 09:58 (A review of A Bill of Divorcement)

Katharineā€™s Hepburnā€™s screen debut proved to be a stronger film than I expected, starring alongside the great John Barrymore in this tragic mental illness melodrama and when I say tragic, I do mean tragic. Boy does this movie lay it on thick but it sure made this viewerā€™s hear sink. Even before Barrymore appears on screen I was already starting to feel sorry for this character upon learning heā€™s spent years at a mental asylum with shell shock and couldnā€™t pursue his music, and thatā€™s only the beginning. You know that dirty word people like to throw around, ā€œmanipulativeā€; well this movie certainly manipulated me. Yet despite the story laying additional tragic layers after another, the performances make it work and prevent it from coming come off as totally ridiculous.

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Watching Katharine Hepburn I would never have guessed this was her first film, she is entirely natural and gives the impression of someone has much acting experience. Plus she was never more youthful than she is here, springing full of energy and life. Supposedly director George Cuckor inserted shots in the film which did nothing to advance the story nor deepen character but were simply lingering shots of Hepburn in which the audience could adjust and get acquainted with her.

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John Barrymore, however, is the main star of the show. Throughout the film there is a sadness and fragile nature of his voice while he denies the reality of the situation to himself and pulling the puppy dog eyes; with the occasional scenery chewing outburst. Heā€™s a ham but a lovable ham. I feel the most powerful moment in the film is the scene in which Barrymore breaks into tears into the arms of his neglectful wife (Billie Burke) while she canā€™t even bear to look at him; I almost broke into a tear myself.

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Iā€™ve read many comments describing the film ā€œstageyā€ - not at all. Shots are framed with depth, often at different angles and with objects framed in the foreground; George Cukor was a better director than that. A Bill of Divorcement is a heart sinker if there ever was one.



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Pandoraā€™s Box of Vacuosity

Posted : 10 years, 6 months ago on 30 September 2013 09:56 (A review of Avatar)

I went into Avatar with hopes of it being an intelligent science fiction movie, James Cameron has directed two of my favourite movies of all time, Terminator 2 and Titanic, but I remain convinced all he was interested in this movie was the special effects, and not giving second thought to story or characters despite the film being in production for a decade.

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One aspect of Avatar which bothers me which Iā€™ve never heard other reviewers comment upon is the fact that Sam Worthingtonā€™s character of Jake Sully is paralyzed, being confined to a wheelchair at the beginning of the movie. However when he becomes an avatar and is not only is he able to walk in this new form, heā€™s running and jumping through the forests of Pandora, so why is there no sense of liberation? Why is this character confined to a wheelchair if the movie never takes advantage of this as a definable characteristic? Am I only person who looked beyond the movieā€™s special effects and actually noticed this guy is in a wheelchair, even in the movieā€™s trailer we can see heā€™s in a wheelchair, and I thought to myself, ā€œWow, a protagonist in an action movie who is in a wheelchair , thatā€™s something you donā€™t see every dayā€, but no, the wheelchair is there for no reason, if he wasnā€™t paralyzed it would have made no difference to his character, or should I say ā€œcharacterā€, since no one in this movie has a personality.

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Even more bothersome for me however is Colonel Milies Quaritch (and yes I had to go to Wikipedia to find out his name as the characters in this movie suck), or as I like to call him, Generic Army General Guy. This is one of the absolute worst, most uninspired villains I have ever seen. This villain alone proves that James Cameron spent a decade working on the technology for this movieā€™s special effects and didnā€™t give a monkeyā€™s about the story or characters. I was that shocked at how clichĆ© this villain is that I canā€™t even enjoy him in an ironic sense, instead, I just sat there in bemusement at a villain who belongs in a spoof movie, heck even 80ā€™s action movies have better villains.

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Of course, Iā€™m not going to beat the dead horsesā€™ skeleton regarding the movieā€™s white guilt plot. I know humanity will always have its flaws and perhaps it just the optimist in me would like to imagine that in the year 2154 we would have learned something by then and wonā€™t be colonizing other inhabited planets because of greed, but if the movie at least made some acknowledgement of the actions in the film being a case of history repeating itself and even act as a cautionary tale, I would have been more forgiving.

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I donā€™t like CGI to begin with, itā€™s one of biggest complaints about modern filmmaking, but I do acknowledge the technology can be put to good use when put in the right hands. The effects in Avatar are impressive, but to quote George Lucas (Iā€™ll presume he said this before he himself completely lost it), ā€œa special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing.ā€



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The Death Of The American Dream

Posted : 10 years, 6 months ago on 12 September 2013 06:20 (A review of The Swimmer)

*** This review contains spoilers ***


On a lazy sunny afternoon, Ned Merrill (Burt Lancaster) embarks on an adventure in which he swims through every pool in the county as he makes his way back to his own house. Frank Perryā€™sĀ The SwimmerĀ is a film which will leave the viewer initially confused with various characters' actions and the unexpected dramatic shifts in emotion however by the conclusion, Merrillā€™s swimming pool equivalent of a pub crawl starts to make sense and comes together like a jigsaw puzzle.Ā The opening scene would have you believe Ned Merrill is a pillar of his community, but as the film progresses it turns out this premise is the opposite of reality.Ā Building onĀ one metaphor after another that hints all is not what it seems,Ā The SwimmerĀ is a deep character study on a man whose American Dream became a nightmare, (values which had become disenfranchised by the end of the decade). Much of the acting present from the cast ofĀ The SwimmerĀ is reminiscent of a TV soap opera, a possible metaphor for Merrillā€™s phoney personality? There is a certain degree of enjoyment derived from the filmā€™s idyllic and often naturalistic surroundings (and that corny late-1960s aesthetic) yet when combined with the characterā€™s bizarrely cheery demeanour, the picture creates a very unsettling feeling. The music score by Marvin Hamlisch could be interpreted as a metaphor reflecting Merrillā€™s personality ā€“ grand,Ā dreamy, romantic and pretentious. I do enjoy the 60ā€™s lounge pieces present in the soundtrack, in particular, that titled Lovely Hair,Ā which offers a very relaxing vibe.

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The role Ned Merrill is one of Burt Lancasterā€™s finest acting performances. The filmā€™s acting highlight has to be the scene in which he becomes emotional upon discovering his wife has sold his sentimental hot dog wagon which he played with his kids in. There is something comical about this scene with lines such as ā€œThis is my wagon man!ā€ and ā€œIā€™ll have my lawyers get in touch with you tomorrowā€, however with an actor of lesser talent, the scene still wouldnā€™t retain an undertone of seriousness. Lancaster pulls it off effortlessly and does so wearing only trunksĀ throughout the entire movie, yet still retains his dignity as an actor (likewise, there is also his memorableĀ Charlton Heston-style outburst ofĀ ā€œYou loved it!ā€). Ned Merrill is a character filled with so much regret from past experiences that he blindly acts as if nothing has happened and the movie's portrayal of this is about as extreme and disturbing as it gets while his attempts to defend himself against the scourge of others are just pathetic.

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I can recall feeling shaken when I first watched The Swimmer as the filmā€™s conclusion is so tragic beyond words as Merrill returns to a house which has been abandoned for some time and left in a dilapidated state among the melodramatic ambush of wind, rain and thunder. I've seen few other movies with an ending as pessimistic, unforgiving and unbearable as that of The Swimmer. No character redemption, just bang in your face, life sucks, deal with it - view before your eyes in horror at a human being who degrades to such a disturbingly pathetic level (it is also worth noting the blurb on the back of the 2003 UK DVD release of The Swimmer actually spoils this incredible ending). The scene earlier in the picture in which Merrill gives a young boy a very poor piece of life advice in which he states ā€œIf you make believe hard enough that something is true, then it is true for youā€, not only foreshadows the movieā€™s conclusion but speaks to our modern culture with the dubious concept of having ā€œyour truthā€. In the age of social media in which many project a life they want others to think they lead as opposed to the life they actually lead, then the ballad of Ned Merrill should act as a cautionary tale (I can only imagine what Merrillā€™s Facebook or Twitter profiles would be like). To quote that cheesy tagline used in the filmā€™s marketing, ā€œWhen you talk about The Swimmer, will you talk about yourself?ā€.



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