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Reviews
The Mouse That Roared (1959)
MILD DATED SATIRE
This film does have its moments, with a few wacky bits here and there, plus a set up that is brilliant. It's actually quite good from the opening logo to the bus ride out of Fenwick to the port. From there it is mostly downhill.
Sellers as Tully is supposed to be easily seasick, so when he follows through with that on board the ship it is predictably played out without anything clever added. The "invasion" of New York coincides with some test of a weapon called the Q bomb. This is atrociously written with a concept that is fantasy on a large scale: the idea that the entire city of New York, on a Monday, is hunkered down under the city and out of sight, just so the Fenwick army can have no one to surrender to, is preposterous. And then it is compounded by the extremely lame and contrived idea that Fenwickian medieval garb makes them look like aliens from outer space to some New Yorkers sends the movie into the realm of stupidity. Then there is the absurd notion that the scientist who created the bomb is still tinkering with it in his lab, not finished with it, yet millions of people are hiding because of it and waiting for the test to be conducted. And there are no authorities around the scientist? He is left alone with his daughter in his lab with no other scientist in attendance? It's ludicrous, as is the romance of chubby geek Tully and the beautiful Jean Seberg. The film never recovers from this forced nonsense.
But it has a few moments when the cast gets back to Fenwick, and Sellers is good as the Prince and the Queen.
Just Be There (1973)
DON'T BE THERE
The story of a Vietnam vet who comes back home, but can't quite fit back into society, is well meaning and feels real, yet it adds up to nothing and is quite tedious. It has no energy and it slowly rolls along, appearing like a low-budget competently directed student film.
Time Piece (1965)
An experiment. So what?
Nine minutes of imagery with no dialogue, story, or any point. Something to laugh at while being stoned. Even though it's only 9 minutes, it seems twice that because it goes nowhere.
Henson is the "lead" in all this, which is a rare visual, since he's usually behind the camera or hiding behind a muppet. Not that he adds anything to it. It also features Frank Oz (billed with his full name: Frank Oznowicz) in a bit part as a bartender. He adds nothing either.
A curio at best.
Boxoffice (1982)
Little reason to bother with this.
An unpleasant drag. Lots of early 80's outfits, hair and make-up unflattering to all. The buxom and pleasant Angela Aames is something to look at, unlike the dissipated Aldo Ray and Eddie Constantine. Lead actress Carol Cortne is terrible, and even worse as a singer.
The music is credited to Ornette Coleman. And it is obnoxious and over dramatic. Then there is a a song "Ode to David Begelman." Now there's a wtf moment!
The Lure of the Circus (1918)
Ancient Artifact
Hard to review this. Perhaps there's no reason to. Most of this serial is lost. Since so much of it is missing, the film does move like greased lightning, with constant narration explaining what's going on to try to make sense of what would otherwise be a jumble.
The music score is circus-like for much of it, of course, but otherwise the dramatic music only sometimes matches what is going on.
One notable bit is the wild scene wherein pretty heroine Alice gets roped and yanked out of her car by some ruffians driving by, and is dragged down the road for miles -- she should be killed or at least badly torn up, but ends up with only a few scratches. But it's a ruthless, harsh idea to have this done to a woman, rather than the male lead.
Dreamwood (1972)
Unbearable Experimental trash
Very early 70's experimental head movie. No dialogue, no story, but much male and female nudity. Main "character" arrives on a mysterious island and walks, runs, climbs and crawls around it, meeting up with hallucinatory people, young and old, mostly nude. He runs across a transvestite Orson Welles-looking man, then another naked man pushing a crate up a hill, and later a nun who strips naked, then another woman who strips and climbs atop his prone naked body. The film (all of 45 minutes) ends as meaningless as it started. A failed experiment.
After ten minutes you realize it's going nowhere. And the "music score" is an unbearable electronic assault of early 70's blurps, beeps and screeches, as if scored by R2 D2. The film looks like it was made at a nudist colony, complete with naked children. It even includes the naked main character peeing right at the camera. Ugh!
The Importance of Being Earnest (1952)
The Importance of three English actresses.
Yes, this film adaptation has the reliable Michael Redgrave as Ernest Worthing, but what makes this the best version of Wilde's play is the remarkable actress-trio of Edith Evans, Margaret Rutherford, and Joan Greenwood. Impossible to do better. They embody their roles with their distinct personalities. Evans dominates every scene she's in, while Rutherford is always a joy to watch, and Greenwood delights the eye with her looks and kittenish manner and delights the ear with the most extraordinary female voice ever heard. Dorothy Tutin, and Redgrave, are fine but others could play their roles just as well -- but no one could outplay Evans, Rutherford and Greenwood.
Ad ogni costo (1967)
Fairly well-done caper film
This is an intelligent, well-thought-out caper movie. What seems contrived (Janet Leigh's character having possession of the vault key) is actually understandable later on, as is other aspects of the robbery.
But the film needed to give more personality to the characters before the caper. Those details and interactions would have livened up the slow-moving first act. Characterization is fitful at best. Janet Leigh is obviously an American name actress planted into the movie. Her character should have been Brazilian. Her presence makes you suspicious, rightfully so. Edward G. Robinson is fine, and believable, although his small stature and title "The Professor" reminds one of Sam Jaffe as "The Doc" from The Asphalt Jungle, a far superior caper film. And one somewhat small flaw is that the thieves never opened the briefcase to see the diamonds inside. Curiosity should have overcome at least one of them.
Total spoiler: The surprise twist in the final scene seems abrupt and too cute. I wonder if the original idea was to have Robinson meet up with the thieves on the scooter later and take possession of the bag and leave Leigh out of the picture. It would have fit his meticulous nature. Perhaps the filmmakers never thought to go that far and let it stop with the twist they had.
The Other Side of the Wind (2018)
Poor Orson
The posthumous salvaging of Orson Welles' filmmaking started promisingly with the surfacing of "It's All True" and "Othello" decades ago. Both excellent. But what of all the other mostly or partly finished Welles' endeavors? Any further gems?
Sadly, no. " Don Quixote" is an impossible mess, and "The Other Side of The Wind" is a messy bore. If "Wind" had been released back in the seventies it might have been striking for its cinema verite style. But at this point in cinema it is out of date, especially the film-within-a-film parody of that relic "Zabriskie Point."
Crucially, the main character is not well cast. John Huston is not bad, but his character, Jack Hannaford, is really Orson Welles. Welles is a dynamic high energy director -- a big, exciting, personality that other characters in the film comment about. But John Huston plays Hannaford as a sour, wise old owl, with little energy. Welles should have played the part himself, especially since it's obvious that it's predominately his opinions about others reactions and remembrances of Orson, not the fictional Hannaford.
What may be best about the film is Welles' energy. If you cut out the incredibly tedious "Zabriskie Point" sequences, the film is fast paced and busy. Orson's sense of movement hasn't stiffened.
Otherwise, you get to see some actors now ancient, or dead, popping up very much alive from the early seventies, which is certainly pleasing. And Oja Kodar is such a strikingly beautiful woman that it's hard to take your eyes off of her. Too bad that the film itself is not as striking.
He's All That (2021)
Tiktok schlock
Apparently the producers couldn't find a star from Pinterest, so they settled for a desperate-for-attention karaoke amateur from Tiktok, whose hustle is successfully selling her lack of ability as an inspiration to others to imitate her.
This is the year of Addison Rae. Next year, she is superseded by her imitators and forgotten, unable to "influence" her way to any more deals. "Such a pretty girl, what happened to her?" "She starred in that awful remake of She's All That."
Awful indeed. A painful exercise in plodding, predictable, lazy filmmaking. "He's All That" is all paychecks and product placement, including the product known as Kourtney Kardashian whose shelf-life sell-by-date is rapidly approaching.
And "Whatever happened to Rachael Leigh Cook?" "She had a bit part in that awful remake of She's All That."
Tiktok tick tock, Addison. Time is running out. Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan are calling...