B&W-2 Reviews

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

They do make'em like they used to!

[10/10 · 15 April 1999]

I finally saw this film, after avoiding it for years because friends had warned me off. After seeing it, I was forced to decide that I need some new friends... What an incredible film. Absolutely beautiful sets, rapid-fire screwball comedy dialogue, and one of the great performances by THE best actress of our time, Jennifer Jason Leigh. I don't know what to say to the nitwits who dislike her virtuoso turn as newspaperwoman Amy Archer... Don't they recognize Katharine Hepburn when they hear her? I am always sickened when I hear people attacking Leigh in "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle", which is THE best film of the nineties, if you ask me, and now I can get queasy over this one too! She is so outrageously good that I can't do anything but throw bouquets! The rest of the film is almost as good. It's clearly an homage to screwball comedy, and to Frank Capra in particular. As a student of Capra, I have some quibbles, but it was beautiful to see plot, character, and visual elements from films like "Meet John Doe" and "MR. Deeds Goes To Town" resurrected for our time. I don't believe that the Coens actually made a "Capra film" (Norville Barnes is not grounded enough to be a Capra hero, although he bears quite a few similarities to John Willoughby, the aimless oddball in Capra's oeuvre), but they have done something almost as good, they've made a genuine, personalized contribution to the screwball comedy tradition, and that is something to be lauded for. Screwball/romantic-comedy is America's greatest contribution to the art of film (along with film noir) and it's good to see directors who appreciate this fact!

Legal Eagles (1986)

Fun!

[10/10 · 9 April 1999]

I can't help loving this movie! It's a throwback to old-school romantic comedy, with a mystery thrown in, kind of like "The Thin Man". I guess the best thing about it is Debra Winger as Laura J. Kelly, a pixieish defense lawyer who enjoys a love-hate relationship with assistant D.A. Robert Redford. A lot of people don't like this movie, but I can't understand why. It's a sweet and funny tale with sympathetic characters and a pretty good mystery. What's wrong with that?

Meet John Doe (1941)

Pollyanna eh?

[10/10 · 9 April 1999]

This film offers a standing rebuke to critics who use the term "Capracorn". None of Capra's films are as blindly optimistic as is often argued, but this one is a pitch-black jeremiad against manipulation by the media. The mob scene at the "John Doe" convention is one of the powerful scenes ever filmed. Stanwyck is incredible as reporter Anne Mitchell. She is one of the great actresses of the century, and she always did her best work Capra, whose female characters are generally more compelling to the women we get in the movies of our "liberated" era. Cooper is fantastic as a truly "average" guy who is "awakened" by his experience with the John Doe movement, and Edward Arnold is absolutely terrifying in the role of Fascist D.B. Norton. This film is even more relevant today than when it was made, and I would argue that it should be viewed in high schools across the continent. Capra is asking his viewers to think critically of EVERYTHING they hear on the radio or see in papers or hear from elites, and amen to that!

The Sisters (1938)

Under-rated

[10/10 · 9 April 1999]

This movie is so under-rated! It's one of Bette's best performances, and Errol Flynn is a revelation here! No swashbuckling this time, just an honest portrayal of a bonvivant trying to write the "great American novel" who just can't seem to settle down, even after his marriage! The other two eponymous sisters are Jane Bryan (an actress who retired way too early), as the quiet, patient one, and Anita Louise, as the flighty, energetic one. Both are good, but this is Bette's story, and she gives a wonderfully sympathetic performance of a woman who really suffers, even being caught in the San Francisco earthquake of 1908, and the period atmosphere is wonderful!

The Petrified Forest (1936)

Nature can't be beaten!

[10/10 · 9 April 1999]

This is one of the most profound films of the thirties. Made from an extremely literate play by Robert Sherwood, it explores the mind of the idealist. Leslie Howard was born to play the part of the disaffected English writer. He speaks his poignant lines with conviction... Bette Davis shows her dreamy side and this film, and it's just as compelling as her bitchy aspect... and Bogart, well, this is the first film in which he really IS "Bogart". A good/bad man in an impossible situation, he is, Howard calls him, "the last great apostle of rugged individualism". SEE THIS movie! It's one of the great romances of all-time!

Next Stop Wonderland (1998)

There's still Hope!

[10/10 · 6 April 1999]

This was, for my money, the best movie of 1998! Granted, I am a worshipper of the romantic-comedy, so I'm prejudiced whenever I come across a film worthy of a great tradition (it died in the fifties/sixties and began making a comeback, thank God, in the late eighties...) As a student of Transcendentalism, I cannot help but be gratified by the prominence Emerson enjoys in this movie. Consistency may be the hobgoblin of little minds, but Hope Davis is consistently wonderful. This is her finest role yet, as the sausade (content, but sad) night-nurse. She projects warmth and wit like no one since the heyday of romantic comediennes Jean Arthur, Barabara Stanwyck, and Irene Dunne. The rest of the cast is fine as well, and the marvellous script rings true to anyone who has one eye on the romantic ideal, and one on the real world. The personal ad encounters are the most priceless moments in a glorious film.

Reality Bites (1994)

This is my life...

[10/10 · 6 April 1999]

This is a much better film than the consensus would have it. in fact, I would say it bids fair to become a classic (it certainly will serve cultural historians of the nineties well...) Compared to "Singles", a superficially similar film released a couple of years earlier, "Reality Bites" is so much more, well, biting... Not to say that I don't like Singles, it's cute, but the movie in question here is much more than that. I could really empathize with these characters, especially Rider's Lelaina Pierce. It's hard to hang on to ideals in the real world (guess that's why I'm back at university). The script is REALLY good, almost every line is funny or incisive or both. The acting is first-rate- so they're playing themselves, so what! Does that make it any less enjoyable? I don't think so... This is a superior romantic-comedy, set amongst the same noncomformist set that enlivened the screwball comedies of the thirties, and it works just as well...

Howard the Duck (1986)

cute...

[8/10 · 6 April 1999]

I just recently watched this film, and it's not nearly as bad as the hype suggests. In fact, it's a rather sweet romance between an alien duck and a surprisingly mellow punk-rocker (Lea Thompson). There are flaws of course, the plot meanders, and Tim Robbins is ANNOYING, and not in a funny way... However, Geoffrey Jones is marvellous once he becomes possessed by the Dark Overlords, and the rapport between Bev and her duckie is well done. It's not as good as Steve Gerber's bitterly satiric comic book series of the seventies, but then, that's not to be expected...

The Sky's the Limit (I) (1943)

Woefully under-rated...

[10/10 · 6 April 1999]

This may conceivably be THE most under-rated film of all-time... NO ONE seems to love it as much as I do. Maltin, etc. all consider it one of Fred's worst movies. I don't understand why! He's great, Robert Benchley is on hand (doing one of his best patented befuddled speaker routines), and Joan Leslie is beautiful, sharp, and a great dancer (she really keeps up with Astaire, which is hard to do!) On top of that there are two immortal songs ("My Shining Hour", and "One For My Baby). It's not really a musical though, more of a romantic-comedy. Astaire and Leslie have a wonderful chemistry, especially in their debates over the importance of work in a man's life (Astaire is practically playing a gen-xer here!) Don't listen to the critics, watch this movie, it has biting wit, good music, and will leave you wistfully happy!

Torrid Zone (1940)

A wild ride!

[10/10 · 6 April 1999]

This remake of "The Front Page" is an improvement, as far as I'm concerned. The combination of Wald/Macaulay and the Warner Brothers stock company is sure-fire ("They Drive By Night"!) Ann Sheridan is vivacious as a trodden-upon showgirl, singing "My Caballero" and trading vicious quips with the scheming O'Brien and the dynamic Cagney. Special mention must go to George Tobias, one of the funniest character actors of the studio age, who plays Rosario, the guerilla leader sentenced to death "just because I shoot a man..."

They Drive by Night (1940)

Oomph!

[10/10 · 6 April 1999]

You've gotta love the movie which gave Ann Sheridan her big break! She's wonderful here as a down-and-out waitress who falls for smooth roughneck Joe Fabrini (George Raft). Not to be outdone, Ida Lupino scores even bigger (THE DOORS MADE ME DO IT!) You'll never look at a garage the same way again! The Warner Bros. stock players are in incredible form (Alan Hale, Roscoe Karns, George Tobias, etc.) and the script by Wald and Macaulay never lets them down for a second. It's mile-a-minute banter delivered by pros (this film played a big part in landing bigger roles for Bogie). Enjoy!

Strike Up the Band (1940)

American dreaming

[10/10 · 6 April 1999]

I can't help it, I love Mickey and Judy, and this is their best film together. It has fun songs ("Our Love Affair" and "Do the La Conga" especially), good Busby Berkeley productions (both the aforementioned, especially the fruit-as-orchestra dream sequence!), but more importantly, it perfectly evokes the ideal small middle-American town, complete with understanding mothers and principals, swell fellas and gals, and a comforting everything's going to be just fine feeling. I can't help yearning for this never-never land of rebellious but polite youths and understanding old-timers!

Christmas in July (1940)

Glorious

[10/10 · 6 April 1999]

Sturges's directorial effort is astonishingly funny. He creates such winning characters, and then does such terrible things to them! It's amazing how he is able to walk a tightrope between satire and sentimentality. The Sturges company is in place already, watch for Walburn as Dr. Maxford, everything he says is a marvel of pomposity! Powell and Drew make an appealing working-class couple, yearning to be together, but lacking the funds to get married. You will laugh, and you will be sucked into Jimmy's plight! Modern comedies could learn from Sturges, Stevens, Capra, et al.; it's fun to laugh at, and with, people that we like...

Daughters Courageous (1939)

Best of the Lane sisters movies!

[10/10 · 6 April 1999]

I must disagree with the previous comment. This is not merely a rehash of "The Four Daughters"! While I enjoyed the former very much, I find the dialogue in "Daughters Courageous" much snappier and the characters more believable. From idyllic upstate New York, to an almost seamy California bordertown, there is a world of difference here! I suppose Garfield is an acquired taste, but I find him compelling as the Mexican layabout (maybe because I'm a layabout myself). In addition, this film gets more milage out of the luminous Priscilla Lane than the other films (she is clearly THE female star of this film). She and Garfield made a great pair, for further evidence see "Dust Be My Destiny".

Holiday (1938)

There's no thrill in the world like quitting!

[10/10 · 6 April 1999]

This is, along with "The Awful Truth", "The Philadelphia Story", and "Mr. Deeds", quite possibly the greatest of the screwball comedies. It's an epicurean polemic against the work ethic. Rather, it represents an internalization of the work ethic, working upon bettering one's soul, instead of for cash. Hepburn, Grant, Ayres, Horton, and Dixon are all in top form as various noncomformists (in Ayres' case, a drunken would-be noncomformist). This movie has everything, and is proof (to me at least) that romantic comedy is THE perfect genre (and no one has ever done it like Hollywood! (Take that, Euro-film snobs!)

The Miracle Woman (1931)

Hallelullah!

[10/10 · 6 April 1999]

This is the first recognizably "Capraesque" film in the great director's oevre. All of the future elements are here, and they sizzle (thanks in large part to Barbara Stanwyck's inspired performance!) The cynicism, the idealism, the spirituality, the love of friendship, and the denunciation of greed are all present in this film. Stanwyck plays the preacher's daughter-turned-faith healer like she's possessed, and David Manners is surprisingly good as the blind musician whose life she unwittingly saves. Special kudos to Sam Hardy for being so menacingly penny-ante, and to Beryl Mercer, for breathing life into the kindly old woman role (Capra's reputation as an actor's director is no exaggeration).