Friday, October 14, 2022
Annihilation
- Commentary: Under construction.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Natalie Portman Lena Jennifer Jason Leigh Dr. Ventress Gina Rodriguez Anya Thorensen Tessa Thompson Josie Radek Tuva Novotny Cassie Sheppard Oscar Isaac Kane Benedict Wong Lomax Sonoya Mizuno Katie
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2018
Directed by Alex Garland.
Labels: adventure4, jennifer-jason-leigh, mystery3, oscar-isaac, science-fiction2, thriller3
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
The Hitcher
- Commentary: I used to have a good friend (she is long dead, having been almost exactly 20 years older than me) who, among other things, introduced me to all kinds of movies and, particularly, horror movies. This is one of the most memorable horror movies in her line-up, and I am living proof of this because, decades later, I still have vivid memories of it. In addition, this movie has captured the imaginations of many people, including movie critics, who were wildly split in their critiques (although the audience critiques were not split), which is why I linked the title of this post to the Metacritic round-up of reviews. This film is a doozey and I'm glad to finally own it, even though it is surprisingly pricey (although, perhaps not surprising, considering its continued popularity).
Its effect on me is rather like that of Duel: once it starts, even knowing its trajectory, I can't stop watching it. What an extraordinary villain Rutger Hauer fashioned in this movie! I consider this killer iconic, and that is in large part due to the smooth, unbearably attractive menace with which Hauer imbued his character.
Roger Ebert hated this movie. So did Gene Siskel. Many prominent critics hated this movie. Some high level critics enjoyed it and appreciated it. I am mesmerized by it, which is why I've added it to my collection. I don't own many horror movies because I'm very discerning about my horror, but the ones I own are top of the crop. This movie is at the top of the top.
I'll be receiving and watching it very soon, so I'll be back later with a follow-up on my second watching of it. Here's to many more.
Thanks, Pat. You schooled me well, and I remain grateful.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Rutger Hauer John Ryder C. Thomas Howell Jim Halsey Jeffrey DeMunn Captain Esteridge Jennifer Jason Leigh Nash John M. Jackson Sergeant Starr Billy Green Bush Trooper Donner Jack Thibeau Trooper Prestone Armin Shimerman Interrogation Sergeant Gene Davis Trooper Dodge Jon Van Ness Trooper Hapscomb Henry Darrow Trooper Hancock Tony Epper Trooper Conners
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1986
Directed by Robert Harmon.
Labels: horror2, jennifer-jason-leigh
Short Cuts
- Commentary: I saw this movie a long time ago, shortly after I became my mother's companion, during the period when she and I pursued our separate lives (mine included work, at that time) and lived together for her emotional comfort and to my enjoyment (my mother and I have been friends since I was a young adult). I didn't see it when it was first released, but a few years later at an art house theater. My memory of it is fuzzy, but my memory of my reaction to it has been very clear ever since that viewing. I think of it as a kind of Dazed and Confused for the "more mature" set. Since I began to investigate my mother's collection of movies on DVD, I've sporadically tried to hunt it down, not knowing if it had even been burnt to disc. Suddenly, today, as it turns out, I watched this video by Daisuke Beppu and, low an behold, there was my movie! Not only that, but he talked about not only the most recent release, but the old one with a booklet of Raymond Chandler's short stories, the edition for which I've been searching all these years!
Criterion no longer carries their original release of this film (with the booklet). The last place I considered looking was Amazon, but when I ran a search through my favored search engine, that's where it turned up! It's winging it's way to me, as I write, and should arrive a week from tomorrow. Its page indicates that the movie, itself, is "new", which I didn't expect at all, so I'm very excited!
I have to admit, it's more expensive than the movies I usually buy, but not for a Criterion movie (which I only buy during sales at reduced prices from other places besides Criterion) but, frankly, I consider its price a bargain, considering everything. It is still cheaper than your average, off-sale price of a Criterion movie sold at the Criterion website.
It's done in what has become known as Robert Altman's style (like Nashville, which I own and love and watch semi-regularly). As is true of a typical Robert Altman work, it features loads of actors, famous, not-so-famous and infamous, and sets each of them in situations which play to their acting strengths. There is an overall "theme", but not like Nashville.
It's been a long, long time since I've seen it, so watching it will be akin to my memory surprising me over and over. I'll be back, later, to catalog my reaction to seeing it again.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Andie MacDowell Ann Finnigan Bruce Davison Howard Finnigan Julianne Moore Marian Wyman Matthew Modine Dr. Ralph Wyman Anne Archer Claire Kane Fred Ward Stuart Kane Jennifer Jason Leigh Lois Kaiser Chris Penn Jerry Kaiser Lili Taylor Honey Piggot Bush Robert Downey Jr. Bill Bush Madeleine Stowe Sherri Shepard Tim Robbins Gene Shepard Lily Tomlin Doreen Piggot Tom Waits Earl Piggot Frances McDormand Betty Weathers Peter Gallagher Stormy Weathers Annie Ross Tess Trainer Lori Singer Zoe Trainer Jack Lemmon Paul Finnigan Lyle Lovett Andy Bitkower Buck Henry Gordon Johnson Huey Lewis Vern Miller Charles Rocket Wally Littleton Michael Beach Jim Stone
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1993
Directed by Robert Altman.
Labels: §5, Criterion4, dramedy3, jennifer-jason-leigh, julianne-moore, matthew-modine, robert-altman, robert-downey-jr, tim-robbins
Tuesday, August 10, 2021
Washington Square
- Commentary: This movie is a remake of The Heiress, a movie of which, you'll note in my commentary, I am inordinately fond. When I discovered recently that this movie existed, I knew I not only had to see it, I had to have it in my collection as a companion, good or bad, to The Heiress. I just received it, haven't watched it yet, but will be doing so this evening (8/10/21). I'm excited, and a bit leary, because of the Wikipedia article linked at the end of this post. Although the article indicates that the movie was generally well reviewed, I notice that some critics were a bit squirrely about it. One even hissed "feminism" in his review. How weird! Makes me even more anxious to watch it. I'll be back soon, Dear Reader.
Today, 8/19/21, I watched this movie and The Heiress back to back. I've watched both of them before, this one once before, within the last several days, The Heiress, oh my, let me think, no, let me check; okay, three times before, including the viewing a few, or so, days ago. Something I noticed tonight: although the two movies portray the same time period, the ambience of each film is clearly situated in the time period in which it was produced.
The Heiress was released in 1949. It frames Catherine Sloper's problem in light of traditional values inculcated into society immediately after WW II, Leave It to Beaver values: Mom is the homemaker, Dad is the breadwinner, kids brimming with what we now think of as "traditional American values" are the product and, if a woman doesn't marry, well, she's stuck in her original family and/or family's homestead for the rest of her life. Catherine does not look beyond her home and her expectation of marriage to Morris Townsend, with whom she is in love, for fulfillment. When those fail, her life is portrayed to be engulfed in bitterness. When Townsend appears one last time, she bars her door against him and retreats upstairs to bed, leaving Townsend to figure out her refusal of what was surely to be yet another proposal, while he bangs on her unanswered door. This is where her screen story ends.
In this 1997 version Catherine Sloper endures exactly the same problems as her 1949-version self, except that she is cut out of her father's will (1949 Catherine is not) and has to make do on the $10,000 yearly stipend she inherited from her mother's estate, and, of course, the home on Washington Square. This not only doesn't bother Catherine, her reaction is as though she has been released from what she considered to be her father's stranglehold. She laughs at her father's threat to withhold any inheritance. He does what he's threatened. Still and all, once he is dead, she leads what is, to her, a satisfying life, supplementing her income by running a daycare center in the home she inherited from her father. When Townsend reappears, as he did in the 1949 film, she talks to him and refuses his proposal with resolute dignity. Wikipedia writes, "He departs, leaving Catherine to reflect on the passion she once experienced." Frankly, I didn't get the idea that she was "reflect[ing] on the passion she once experienced." My interpretation at the end of the movie was that she was simply and quietly reveling in the peace, self-direction and self-awareness she had achieved once men, most notably her father and former intended, were out of the picture. All in all, this version of the story came off rather like a soft Gilmore Girls version of womanhood without the cheeky fast talk, excepting Aunt Lavinia.
Both films are well made from the point of view of cinematography and direction. Both have fascinating, earnest and substantial actors playing all the parts. It's funny, because I've trolled the internet for reviews of both versions and, although I found several short ones and one done as a school assignment, none of the reviewers seems to quite get what I got out of them. I guess that's both movies' only problem, lack of audience coherence on the substance and impact of the movies. It appears to be a major problem because the latter version didn't earn its initial production costs back at the box office. In fact, it made back only 13% of what it cost to produce.
Well, so what. I much enjoy both movies, am glad they are in my collection and I'll be watching them again. And again.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Jennifer Jason Leigh Catherine Sloper Albert Finney Dr. Austin Sloper Ben Chaplin Morris Townsend Maggie Smith Aunt Lavinia Judith Ivey Aunt Elizabeth Almond Arthur Laupus Mr. Almond Jennifer Garner Marian Almond Robert Stanton Arthur Townsend
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1997
Directed by Agnieszka Holland.
Labels: dramaD, father-daughter-dynamics, female-director3, jennifer-jason-leigh, maggie-smith, romance4
Friday, September 13, 2019
Dolores Claiborne
- Commentary: Did you know that the material in this movie is not only a book written by Stephen King, but inspired an opera, as well? I'm not surprised. The themes are sturdy, well-portrayed with a lack of sentimentality and an abundance of complication and so incredibly well acted and ever-inspiring: mother vs daughter, employee vs employer, wife vs abusive husband, community vs stalwart, self-protective woman. I swear, someday, when you and I are long dead, Stephen King will be considered the Shakespeare of our age.
This movie has had a hold on me for years. I purchased it because I've checked it out of our library system so many times I believe I am partly responsible for the fact that at least one copy is always being "mended" by the staff. That's why I own it, now.
There is only one aspect of the story with which I quibble: Dolores inheriting Vera's estate. On the one hand, she certainly deserves it, the inheritance places Vera in a kinder light, and Dolores' character certainly isn't changed by the news of the inheritance, although I suspect her circumstances are. On the other hand, you know, every time I watch this movie, I imagine Dolores not inheriting and realize, yet again, it wouldn't matter to the overall effect of the movie and the story. At any rate, it's a tiny quibble I have. Doesn't change my undying love for this movie, this character and the character of Vera.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Kathy Bates Dolores Claiborne Jennifer Jason Leigh Selena St. George Judy Parfitt Vera Donovan Christopher Plummer Det. John Mackey David Strathairn Joe St. George Eric Bogosian Peter John C. Reilly Cons. Frank Stamshaw Bob Gunton Mr. Pease
The Wikipedia write-up for this movie (not the opera, that's earlier in this post) is here.
Release Date: 1995
Directed by Taylor Hackford.
Labels: bob-gunton, christopher-plummer, david-strathairn, drama3, haunting1, jennifer-jason-leigh, journalism, period1, psychological1, taylor-hackford, tragedy1, women's-movie1
