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Grey Gardens (1975)
46 Year Later
I saw this at the Paris Theater where it debuted 46 years earlier in April 2024.
Grey Gardens is a one of a kind Cinema Verte experience, exploring the lives of these two women who live in a dilapidated house on the edge of one of the wealthiest communities in America. The more I see it the more I think it is a real life Waiting for Godot. It has its moments of boredom, just like real life, and every now and then it is amazing.
Highly quotable, extremely influential in film and fashion it also shaped the modern documentary. No longer are we reliant on a narrator, the filmmakers trust us enough to figure out where the story is headed.
A one of a kind experience, there is nothing else like Grey Gardens.
The Singing Fool (1928)
If you can ignore the blackface...
I think the brothers Warner learned a lot after making 1927's TheJazz Singer. That knowledge is reflected in 1928's The Singing Fool. The Jazz Singer was only 15% sound, whereas this film is, per author Scott Eyman, 70% integrated soundtrack. The production values are better and the story more compelling. Especially powerful are the moments when he struggles to balance being a public person and having private moments as a public figure. Also this may be the first film that deals with father's rights during a divorce. This part is a very real story and still an issue in our society today.
Jolson himself is so much more likable in this film than in Jazz Singer. I've tried to not like him in the past, I think because of the complications around his use of blackface. But his performance is winning and his scenes of affection and caring towards other cast members are so genuine and disarming. Josephine Dunn is also very impressive as a gold digging opportunist, Davey Lee is amazing as Sonny Boy and Betty Bronson is very winning as Grace.
Most impressive is the wonderful sequence with the child playing his son (the aforementioned Davey Lee) and Jolson. Most actors would not have performed on screen with a child-they are considered camera hogs, stealing focus from the hard working adults in the scene. Nonetheless, Jolson is fearless. It's a largely improvised bit and he truly listens and responds to the boy. Instead of Lee stealing the scene, he and Jolson are equals.
As a result of all this hard work, the film grossed $5.8 million worldwide (of which Jolson made almost $1 million himself).
So why, dear readers, would the producers decide to have Jolson in blackface for the last ten minutes? I am not sure. But at the 1:32 mark he begins to paint his face black in the presence of his unbilled African American dresser (one wonders what he thought as this was unfolding take after take). I cannot image how blackface would be seen as a rationale choice and I am curious to find out what people, otherwise sane and very talented, thought about this choice. I am going to have to do some historical research to better understand this disturbing trend, so stay tuned.
If there were no blackface I'd give The Singing Fool a higher score. Perhaps a 6. But judged on its entirety I gave it the lower score of a 4.
Bwana Devil (1952)
Brand New Print, Same Bad Movie
The story is not unlike the story of Jaws. A tiny group of people is isolated and threatened by this horrible creature, cut off from the world. Experts are brought in to eliminate the menace and restore order.
The only reason I mention this is to show the difference between talent (Spielberg/Benchley) and zero talent (Obler/Clampett) for story telling and film making. This 79 minutes (plus the mandatory intermission early 3-D requires) seemed to stretch way beyond its length. Horrible film.
Quick notes:
What year is this story set in? It sure seems like 1952 until Barbara Britton, in high-button shoes, steps off the train.
The highlight was when star Robert Stack took his shirt off. Maybe if he had done the entire thing shirtless I would raise the score a half a point.
This was seen at the Film Forum in Manhattan, struck from the camera negative. It made zero difference as it was still completely awful.
Reportaza iz zenskog bloka (1960)
A very funny surrealist comedy
I recently saw this at the Northwest Film Forum at a members only reception. It was the last film in a group of Yugoslavian experimental shorts and I had low hopes for it. However it's very funny and really rather odd. As the title implies it is inside a girls dormitory were many girls share the same bedroom. There's no dialogue but a pulsing quasi-bossa nova score keeps the film moving along. The odd part is there is a man laying underneath one of the girl's beds furiously writing notes on a reporters notepad. While they seem to know he is there they don't seem to mind it and it one point he even slips bedroom slippers on a barefoot girl's feet. At the film's end he hops up and runs out of the dormitory with all the girls watching him leave.
Victor/Victoria (1982)
May I Review the First Half?
When I think of the word "uneven" this film comes to mind. The first half is a wonderful funny film about the rise of a starving artist in the right place at the correct time. And the performances, wow! Julie Andrews vocal and comedic talents put to use, Leslie Ann Warren in an amazing performance as the ultimate Depression-era floozie and Robert Preston in what is probably his best film performance after The Music Man. All this flows perfectly for about an hour and then the second half, how shall I put this, stinks. I have frequently commented Hollywood would benefit from learning to make shorter, better films--a concept I wish Blake Edwards had considered when putting this film together.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Too long...
For a film that starts out so strongly, it ends up being a rather tedious collection of amazing sets and unclear motivations. As a 90 minute film, it's very fine. As a three-hour one, a snoozer. Please keep in mind--some things are too complex to be filmed.
Bartleby (2001)
A Wonderful Update!
I saw this movie last night at MOMA, and thoroughly enjoyed it; a wonderful, well thought out film with a winning cast. Glover is wonderful in the title role, Paymer is excellent at his boss, and the supporting cast (especially Snodgress and Cassel) provides a solid foundation from which this film can fly. However, I think the real strength of this film is its design--sets, costumes, and music--which give it a delicious surreal reality. I hope this sees some sort of national release, it deserves it.