One From the Heart (1982)

The story goes that after Apocalypse Now, FF Coppola wanted to make a small film, a musical. He had just purchased Zoetrope studio. The film grew and grew to cost 26 or 27 million, and grossed less than 650K. You know why? It sucks.

Coppola declared bankruptcy. Watching it, I was really astonished at how bad it was. What was going on with this?

Teri Garr and Frederic Forrest star as a working class couple in Las Vegas who break up. In one night, or perhaps 24 hours (I'm unclear), he meets a circus performer (Nastassja Kinski) and she meets a singer / waiter (Raul Julia). And then they get back together. That's it for plot. There is no character development to speak of, and the people are not interesting. There is a lot of dancing and singing.

The sets are phenomenal, but I found them confusing and distracting. Las Vegas is already very fake, but this movie doesn't use Vegas itself as backdrop, it uses custom-made, very stylized, cartoonish sets of Vegas. It kind of feels like a Harlequin romance set in a dream sequence by Jessica Rabbit.

Please, please don't waste your time on this.

Tokyo Story (1953)

This is the third Ozu film I have watched (after Late Spring and Early Summer), and it is the saddest by far. Mom and Dad go to visit their grown children in Tokyo, and the kids are not pleased to see them. Not at all. Mom and dad aren't stupid, so they try to get out of the way. The widow of one son, who died in the war, is the only one who truly welcomes them. She also understands or at least empathizes with the feelings of the others. This daughter-in-law, Noriko, is played by Setsuko Hara, one of Japan's most loved actresses. Aside from the great film-making, it's worth watching these films for her.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

This is really funny. I thought it would just be stupid, but it's funny AND stupid. Jason Segel wrote and starred, and he's talented. Add Paul Rudd as a stoner, Russell Brand, doing his thing, and this movie is worth watching more than once. The gals, Mila Kunis and Kristen Bell, are great, and they DO NOT GET NAKED! I don't remember them being naked anyway. I do remember Jason Segel doing full-frontal, which is awesome. I think all movies should have male full-frontal nudity for 20 years to make up for the women parts we've been seeing over the decades.

The Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

This is easily one of the most disturbing movies I've ever watched about the human condition. I've heard about it forever, and I finally understand the hub-bub.

There are disturbing movies about violence (No Country for Old Men, anyone?) and about family (Little Children), and about every other topic we can imagine. This one is about muckraking, rumors, evidence planting, corruption, the press, abuse of power. It's about a press agent, played by Tony Curtis, who has a sycophantic relationship with a newspaper columnist, J.J. Hunsecker, played by an intense Burt Lancaster.

Hunsecker's character is apparently based on Walter Winchell, and I cannot imagine actually working with such a person. In the movie, Tony's character is dependent upon Hunsecker's column for his living, so he ruins relationships, plants drugs on people, spreads lies, all to stay in Hunsecker's good graces. Hunsecker has senators and police in his pocket. It's funny, the Murdoch scandal is in the papers every day right now, so this story should not be shocking. As long as there are newspapers, governments, corporations - you name it - there will be abuse of power.

It's still nauseating to watch, tho. I do recommend this one.

The Man Who Would be King (1975)

This is great! John Huston directed it, and he didn't work in Hollywood for 40 or 50 years because he sucked at it. He was awesome. He wrote, starred in and directed films, and by the time 1975 rolled around, he pretty much had it down.

This movie stars Sean Connery and Michael Caine as two adventurers in India. They decide to head out to Kafiristan (no white man had visited since Alexander the Great) and start wars in order to profit from them. All goes swimmingly until the natives become convinced that Sean Connery's character is a God. As you would expect, the attention goes to Connery's head and all their plans go in the toilet. Do you think the movie ends well for the buddies?

If you like epics, Sean Connery (though it's Michael Caine's show), a good story or a well made film, pick this baby up.

Local Hero (1983)

This is a funny little movie. It is dated (pay phones and telex machines), yet incredibly topical. It is a bit subversive and sly, yet it doesn't satisfy at all. And the ending? It's a non-ending, which I usually like, but not in this case. Overall I cannot recommend it.

Peter Riegert (Boone from Animal House) is trying to purchase a Scottish bay and town so his employer, an oil company, can rip it to shreds and build a refinery. Unbeknown to him, the townspeople know exactly why he is there and can hardly wait to sell their lives and homes for the highest dollar. Burt Lancaster is the head of the oil company, but all he cares about is watching the stars.

The movie just didn't hang together. If you have watched everything out there, pick it up. If you still haven't seen Black Swan or King's Speech or the new True Grit or the Wire (all seasons), watch those instead. Or read a book.

Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

This movie is fantastic. It is the second Robert Aldrich movie I have watched - and this one lives up to the hype. This is film noir at its best. It is based on a Micky Spillane novel, and adapted beautifully. The dialog is fantastic - total tough-guy stuff. At one point Mike Hammer (played by a great Ralph Meeker) is trying to get into an apartment to search it. The wife of the landlord is bitchy, and Mike turns to the husband and says, "Tell her to shut up." The husband turns to his wife, "Shut up." That's the mood of the movie. Women are for ornamentation and sex, men are tough and brutal. And the opening scenes make fun of this attitude.

The opening? A woman is running barefoot down a freeway wearing only a trench coat. It's Cloris Leachman in her first movie appearance. It's riveting. Cloris gets Mike Hammer to stop his car by standing in front of it. He is not helpful or kind or polite at all. She evaluates him, "You only have one great love in your life. Yourself. You care more about your car and clothes than people." I am paraphrasing. It's a great scene.

This Mike Hammer is nasty and selfish, and he likes to hurt people. He's good at it. And guess what? This is the movie that inspired Quentin Tarantino's suitcase of glowing whatever in Pulp Fiction. You've got to watch it. If you do, pay attention to the sets and photography. I particularly like the shots up and down stairways. This is beautifully done.

Vera Cruz (1954)

There was an article about the director Robert Aldrich a few weeks ago in the NY Times. I was not familiar with him, so I moved a couple of the recommended films to the top of my queue.

The first one I watched was Vera Cruz, starring Burt Lancaster and Gary Cooper. Burt actually produced this film. The plot is great, with lots of double-crosses. Burt and Gary meet in Mexico; both trying to make it rich. They hire on to the Spanish during the Civil War - basically they follow the money and both keep an eye out to steal it all for themselves. Burt shows off some of his acrobatic skills, and Gary Cooper is his laconic self. That part is all good.

But the movie is old Hollywood clean and cast. Burt is really bad, so he wears black. The bad guys are really evil, but very clean, and they have good teeth. The Mexicans all wear blindingly clean white clothes, like out of a Clorox commercial. Nobody has an accent. I liked it, but I didn't love it. It's pretty predictable, but still a lot better than a Michael Bay film. The stars make the film.

Adjustment Bureau (2011)

I have watched this about three more times. I love it. Think of it as a cross between Inception and An Affair to Remember.

Matt Damon is a great actor. I agree that George Clooney is this generation's Cary Grant. But what is Matt Damon then? He has Cary Grant qualities: great comedic timing and the ability to poke fun at himself, but he has more. He can act (plus he's great at adventure). I really like this guy.