Reaction Shots

Why I oughtta... " Disorder in the Court " from 1936 is primo Moe, Larry, and Curly. More anarchic than the Marx Brothers, if less subtle and intellectual, the Stooges were marvels of chaos. There was no social commentary in this outing as they provided musical mayhem as testimony to clear Gail Tempest (Suzanne Kaaren, who was in some other shorts with the boys and in a couple of my favorite flicks from the thirties). Long story short, it's funny as heck and there's not much more to say except that it's a great example of the Stooges at their best.

I won’t keep you. It’s New Year’s Eve and you (and I ) have better things to do. However, my last theatrical film experience may serve as a warning to not fall for all that glitters or that given a filmmaker whose work you don’t really like a second chance is not always the brightest thing to do or just to recognize that I will never get those three-plus hours back. “Babylon” is baloney. It’s beautifully shot, edited, and the performances are all strong; but so what, when the core of the film is so hollow? So what, when the performances are doing the heavy lifting of filling out something like characters but are written so blasé that it grows increasingly difficult to care whether they live and in a film that grows more and more tiresome to the point where you actively start wishing for a body count. Almost every scene is Damian Chazelle’s film echoes dimly something from a better film. His opening orgy scene conjures up similar images from Pasolini to Kubrick and even paintings by ...

I say this pretty often in discussion; if you want to have some fun, watch great directors’ old student films or their early shorts. You’ll often be pleasantly surprised by how early many of the greats established themes and approaches to the medium that they would explore more fully over time. Welles’ “Too Much Johnson”, Cronenberg’s “Crimes of the Future”, Lynch’s “The Alphabet” all presage, to varying degrees, what is to come.   Martin Scorsese’s “It’s Not Just You, Murray!” is another early shot across the bow. Shot in 1964 at Scorsese’s apartment and won the Producers Guild Award for Best Student Film. It remains one of his funniest films and already lays down techniques and themes he would utilize and pursue throughout his career. In story, it’s about Murray, a former bootlegger who has risen to great power within the mob and his misadventures along the way, including his wife’s relationship with his best friend Joe. Ira Rubin plays Murray and comes across more as an accou...

For a number of reasons, I prefer the original Spanish title “Ensayo de un crimen”. “Rehearsal for a Crime” is a lot more accurate, if it does give away the whole premise of the film. I’m not sure how much of an influence Hitchcock might have been on Luis Buñuel (or vice versa, for that matter), but it might be worth looking more closely at the pair. Whatever the case, the film at hand is a pure Buñuelian joy. It would be unfair to say that by 1955, Buñuel was not yet highly regarded in internationals cinema, but too much of his work in Mexico is - while never ignored - often glossed over to get the “hits” (“Tristana”, “Belle du Jour”, “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie”, etc.) This is a pity because the period is replete with stone masterpieces; “Viridiana”, “Los Olvidados”, “Nazarin”, and “El”. Much of his work was as a director-for-hire, but arguably, it was Buñuel who put Mexico on the map as a producer of films of international repute.  After decades of itinerant work b...

The strangest thing about “Strange World” is why it has gained no traction; I found it, by turns, charming, gorgeous, and uplifting. Don Hall and Qui Nguyen co-directed and co-wrote (their first collaboration since “Raya and the Last Dragon”) and between the two of them, they’ve got a pretty decent track record. In addition to “Raya”, they’ve either written or directed “Moana”, “Big Hero 6”, and “Meet the Robinsons”. Not bad. But what gives? I think a couple of issues plagued the movie’s release; one is that the trailers, while eye-popping, didn’t really give enough of the film to make it more interesting and the other issue, apparently, is that there is backlash against the film for being (deep breath, long sigh) “woke.” I’m not going to waste verbiage on either of these elements, but it’s disappointing that the movie didn’t do better box office and I hope it does pick up on streaming. So far, it’s made little over half its budget; not a good sign. All of that said, I want to live ...

2022 seems to have ended with a trifecta of class conscious satires. “ Triangle of Sadness ” may be the most arch of the three, “ Glass Onion ” the most subtle, and “The Menu”, the most intriguing. Mark Mylod directs a sly/not-so-sly in some moments film of acidic and acerbic observation and deconstruction of the privileged and tropes about privilege in general from a script by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy. Between them, they’ve both worked for the Onion, “Late Night with Seth Myers”, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”, “Succession”, and “Comedy Bang! Bang!” Mylod has a directorial filmography not lacking in impressive credits, including “Succession”, “Game of Thrones”, and “Shameless”. In other words, this is an accomplished team. The premise is simple: a group of well-heeled, uber wealthy gourmands are invited (at $1,250 US a head) to dine at the most exclusive restaurant in the world, Hawthorn, led by chef Julian Slowik (freakin’ Ralph Fiennes…he makes it all look so effortless). ...

  (Note: this was written in 2014) Increasingly, we hear the term "Lynchian" used to describe film with a dreamlike sensibility or disturbing (to some) sexual overtones, typically involving sadomasochistic themes. Not to diminish David Lynch's immense contributions to world cinema, but a corrective or perhaps merely a call for greater historical accuracy may be in order.    Having said that, knowing that this was directed by Peter Strickland who helmed "Berberian Sound System". I was expecting something Buñuelian/Lynchian but hopefully, with a unique approach in some degree.   I was pleasantly surprised. If anything, the film reminded me more of Jean Rollin's atmospheric vampire films from the late sixties/early seventies. The songs and soundtrack by Cat's Eyes enhanced the feeling of an artifact from that era (to say nothing of the cinematography, the single-speed bicycles, and the typewriter). While the film was dreamlike, it was less disturbing than s...