TevildoVardoMeiota Reviews

Short Ecstasy 11 (2000 Video)

Collection of shorts, some gems

[7/10 · 15 December 2005]

I received this DVD from facets, and although I never requested it, I thought it was worthwhile. It consists, and this is the summary from facets.org of "extraordinary short films from around the world. This volume is loosely structured around the theme of "ecstasy." Films include Hate: A Comedy (Drew Daywalt/David Schneider, USA, 1999), Mister Smile (Fran Krause, USA, 2000), The Closet (Shawn Schepps, USA, 2000), Smash (Kirsten Winter, Germany, 1997), and Bass on Titles (USA, 1977), an in-depth analysis of his own work by the great graphic designer Saul Bass. Alternate audio and video tracks, storyboards, commentaries, outtakes and interviews connected to some of the films are also included."

The best, in my opinion was a B and W montage "Moods of the Sea" (1941) created by Slavko Vorkapich and John Hoffman, to Mendelsohn, and the cinematography was beautiful. I ran across some more information about Vorkapich in "The Movie Buff's Book" edited by Ted Sennett (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, NY, 1975)", in the chapter entitled "The Barroom Brawl: Notes on visual clichés in the movies", by Robert F. Moss, page 82. "Vorkapich is an original film theorist whose special skills at developing montage sequences have obscured his reputation as a scholar"..."He is famous for the 'Vorkapich effect', usually a form of montage that telescopes some momentous event which is crucial to the story"..."His innovative techniques (include)...pages flying off a calendar to signify passage of time, interlocked snatches of song to capsulize a musical career, and churning train wheels to indicate a character's movement from one city to another". He "has even seen his name converted to a verb - by humorist S.J. Perelman in mock camera direction: 'Vorkapich around the room' ".

I also liked the piece on Saul Bass, and the interview with Jazz organist Jimmy McGriff. Hate - a comedy and Closet were funny, and I liked "Scrub" to the Mondo Combo music, and the "Agony" and "Ecstasy" skateboard documentary was interesting (guess which one is the crashes). I found the classical piece "House" to be a bit tedious, it consisted visually of a slide show of a house and an interesting international knick-knack collection (which included Kachina dolls). The short of five guys chillin' and talking to each other on the phone, which either became or was inspired by a TV commercial, was truly horrible and made my skin crawl. In a novel and interesting approach to a commentary for Shawn Schepps the Closet, Shawn and two of her colleagues insulted each other to the accompaniment of the movie.

Strip Notes (2002 Video)

Better than the movie it was documenting

[7/10 · 4 December 2005]

This documentary was made by Daryl Hannah about her research for her role as "Angel" in "Dancing at the Blue Iguana". We find out, for example, that the "marijuana bust" scene was inspired by a true story told by one of the dancers that Daryl met during the course of her research. The cinema verite style works here, it is a documentary of sorts, although almost everyone in southern California has acting pretensions, including the club manager, who fancies himself some kind of strange hybrid cross between Joe Pesci and Bela Lugosi. Although even the manager is portrayed as having a human side in the documentary, for instance when he consoles Nikki after her father's death. There are some surprises for the actresses, for example, they discover that some of the pole moves are actually hard, even for Daryl who had training in gymnastics. The gallows humor and camaraderie of the dancers comes across better in the documentary than the movie proper, which I think arises from the relatively weak story line in the movie. In all fairness, the movie was an improv attempt by Michael Radner, but I came away from it feeling that the story line kind of meanders and goes nowhere, which leaves a couple of strong performances stranded. In fact, much of the story line in the eventual movie should be credited to Hannah's research. Its a compliment to say the documentary and movie remind one of the strip club in Casavetes "Killing of a Chinese Bookie", but ultimately the movie doesn't really have much of a conclusion, so the documentary actually works better as a "Day in the Life" montage.

Westinghouse Works (1904)

Tracking shot

[7/10 · 14 May 2005]

This documentary of the Westinghouse plant circa 1904 is divided into three parts. The second shows the almost exclusively female workers winding armatures for the electrical turbines, the third segment shows a "quittin' time" shot of the factory gate with the workers hurrying home. One significant thing that stands out is how formally factory workers dressed one hundred years ago.

The first segment is amazing for the innovative camera movement, a tracking shot has been arranged, apparently by using a factory overhead crane that runs the length of the floor, and the camera tracks literally through the process of the manufacture of the electrical turbines. A lot has been said about the shot that opens Welles's "A Touch of Evil", including elaborate homages to it in films like "The Player", so I was unprepared for this expertly photographed tracking shot in what is supposedly a run-of -the-mill promotional documentary of the early silent era. It is truly an astounding innovation for this period.

The Passer-by (1912)

Innovative camera technique

[7/10 · 14 May 2005]

A bachelor party is about to get underway, when - at the last moment - one participant can't make it. The guys decide to pull the first passer-by off the street to fill the empty chair, and ironically, they select a man whose life has been ruined by his unrequited love for the mother of the bridegroom-to-be. He reluctantly tells his story, which quiets the boisterous group, but its not revealed to him that the bridegroom is the son of his lost love until a climatic scene near the end (the audience is let into the secret much earlier). He has never recovered from her loss, and at critical moments in his life, chance encounters with her have the effect of sending him into a near catatonic state, usually to disastrous consequence for the passer-by.

The melodrama is fairly standard Edison fare of the period. One particular scene is quite notable: during one of his downturns there is a camera zoom to the face of the passer-by, emphasizing his emotionally shocked look. In early Edison movies there is little camera movement, which isn't too surprising for those shot in confines of the Black Maria, but even in the location shots even camera pans are fairly novel. When the camera zoomed, very effectively here in service of the story, I was almost as shocked as the protagonist.

The Wrong Man (1956)

Superb, couldn't be more relevant

[8/10 · 27 September 2004]

No special effects, not a single car chase, but the directing and acting slowly pulls you into a world gone askew. The circumstantial evidence builds against an innocent and sympathetic

character, who at one point is almost ready to concede that "jail would be

easier than this meat grinder". The realization is too much for Vera Miles and she cracks under the strain. Why do we now have Miranda rights? A kid

watching this movie today is probably annoyed or bored by the lack of CGI (with the exception of a rotating camera to simulate "the spins"), car chases and

explosions. But if you think being held without real evidence "can't happen here", you haven't been reading the papers: how about the Saudi college

student held for two years in jail for putting up a web site for his church?

(charges dropped for lack of evidence). And "the wrong men" and women in our society are disproportionately poor. Henry Fonda was lucky: they caught the guy red handed. But Hitchcock makes the point well: the working poor cannot afford a top lawyer, if you're lucky you get one who's smart and inexperienced. If you're not, you get an incompetent one, and end up in jail .

I was reminded of the Apu trilogy or DeSica's neo-realism, as this movie turns on facial expressions, the noir lighting, as quietly emotions build and you realize, yes he could serve time for this.

I'd put this next to "Blackmail" as one of Hitch's under-rated masterpieces.

The Return of Martin Guerre (1982)

NY times reviewers did too much LDS in the 60's

[7/10 · 21 May 2004]

I've seen this film twice, once in French with no subtitles (my French is poor but as I recall the movie intrigued me), and with English sub-titles.

Without the distraction of reading the sub-titles the film is a nicely crafted period piece, and in reference to Monty Python, no kings are anywhere in sight.

A man returns from war, claims to be Martin, there is general uneasiness in the village, as it turns out this guy gives himself away by being way too nice. The shoemaker blows his cover by discovering his feet are too small. The wife

doesn't complain, I guess not everything was two sizes smaller. He's tried for murdering the real Martin, who turns out to be alive, but he's executed essentially for identity theft. And he didn't even run up his credit cards, which seems a bit severe.

The NY Times has this on their list of 1000 best films ever, which mystifies me. One nice touch about the NY times list is a warm place for quirky independent films, like Repo Man, My Life as a Dog, Desperately Seeking Susan. I could go for that. But what I found bizarre was that this was the only "return" film on their list. I'll buy that ROTK wasn't out yet (except that most Times reviewers claim to be omniscient), but to snub Return of the Jedi? The IMDb claimed 399, 239

titles last time I looked, and I'd place this solidly towards the middle, maybe even in the top 100,000.

All About Eve (1950)

savage self-commentary

[9/10 · 18 May 2004]

Before Harvey Pekar (American Splendor), Spaulding Grey (Swimming to

Cambodia), and Woody Allen (Play it Again Sam) there was the self-referenced and self-absorbed All About Eve. Nothing is as it seems in the miasma of ego, posturing, deception and self-promotion. A deliciously savage self-commentary, and none escapes unscathed.

My own connection to this film is when Eve, after clawing her way to the top, actually just forgets the actual award in the taxi. I did an analogous faux pas when I won an award at a stodgy trade convention, I left the trophy (and about a month's salary) on the tables of an establishment where women disrobed in

exotic fashion. I was saved embarrassment by one of the dancers running the thing out to my taxi as we were pulling away.

Paths of Glory (1957)

snubbed by the AFI

[9/10 · 11 May 2004]

A plausible antiwar film, considered a top film at imdb and theyshoot pictures.com (229 out of 1000 on their list), but snubbed by the AFI's top 100, despite being called a "miracle" by Jonathan Rosenbaum

Why? Its about how a grave injustice is carried out because of political expediency. Made somewhat more believable by casting it in the French Army in WW1 (where in that legal system the presumption was guilty until proven innocent), and perhaps to partly side step the blatant antiwar message for Hollywood bankrollers and the American Audience. A futile attack is engineered playing on the ambitions of an unscrupulous officer, and when the attack on a strong enemy position, with a depleted force, is predictably repulsed, scapegoats are identified to be tried for cowardice. Not only a good performance by Kirk Douglas as the righteously indignant defense attorney, but the villains in the film are totally despicable, which they are supposed to be. Kubrick's portrayal of trench warfare is every bit as good as All Quiet on the Western Front, and his contrasting of the circumstances of the officers' lives and of the bizarre trial standing next to the brutality of the war and the insanity of the majority of the frontal assaults is pure Kubrick. One sees the seeds of Dr. Strangelove.

The Red Badge of Courage (1951)

Smoke and confusion...

[6/10 · 7 May 2004]

...not the least of which results from the studio cutting a critical 20 minutes from the movie. What remains is a good depiction of the confusion of the troops, the smoke from black powder rifles enveloping the battlefield, being able to hear the rebel yell long before they become visible. Audie Murphy is very good as the Youth, and he wrestles with his sense of duty set against his fear of "skedadlin'". But there are clear disjoints in the movie, and noticeable plot exposition missing from the book. And the dialog... what happened to the "fiendish blasphemy of the veteran troops"? John Huston may have made a great civil war movie, who knows? What's left is good. But I don't think it compares favorably, in its present state, to a film made twenty years earlier (All Quiet on the Western Front, different war, I know), which examined many of the same issues and more.

This was one of the first civil war movies I saw as a kid, and I wanted to like it more when I watched it last night. But in between came my second divorce, when I read a dozen civil war books, including both the trilogies of Bruce Catton and Shelby Foote. It just seemed appropriate to my personal experience at the time. Clearly, though, today's depictions of battle field scenes (the attack on the sunken road at Antietam Creek in Glory), are much more realistic in terms of the horrible damage inflicted on a human body by fifty caliber lead shot and slow muzzle velocity, solid cannon shot and grape. I suppose that one of the things that detracted from my enjoyment of the film as an adult was the fact that the battle was "generic", there was no Army of the Rappahanock or General Whitesides. While I realize that the intended function of making it a fictitious or unnamed battle may be to emphasize the allegorical principles, it took me out of the film in spots.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Can you imagine neighbors Like this?

[9/10 · 30 April 2004]

I watched this movie many times, around the time of my split from my second wife. I was staying on my buddy Tim's couch.

One night, during the scene where Taylor and Burton are out in the front yard screaming at each other in the middle of the night, he turned to me and said "Can you imagine neighbors like this?"

I turned to him in all seriousness and replied

"Tim, we WERE neighbors like this".

Powerful performances, and too, too real. And clearly, it holds a special -if not so pleasant - relevance to my miserable little life. Especially since I was just an "associate professor" at the time, remember you have to say this with a particularly vicious Elizabeth Taylor sneer.