Christmas Movie Advent Calendar

Conan the Barbarian 40th Anniversary Fathom Event

 

I remember the first time I saw "Conan the Barbarian" in a theater. It was opening weekend in May, 1982, and it was at the Edwards tri-plex in Monterey Park. While we were there to see "Conan", one of the reasons I remember the event so well is that there were promotion postcard posters for "Star Trek II the Wrath of Khan" available at the theater, and I was quite excited about that movie. 40 years later, I can say I went to anniversary screenings of both films at a real theater.

We can start with the obvious, Arnold Schwarzenegger is perfectly cast in the film. I read a story many years ago about Arnold meeting with Dino DeLaurentis, the film's producer, as he was being considered for the part. According to what I read, Arnold was his usual arrogant and playful self, and inulted Dino in his office by asking him "Why does such a little man ( De Laurentiis was 5'4") need such a big desk?' In spite of that awkward opening, Arnold got the part, because who else were you going to cast? It was his big break into action films and as a lead performer. His Austrian accent might have worked for him a bit as a character, and he trained like the dickens to get the swordplay, stunts and action just right. It also helps that in a two hour or so movie, his character does not speak for the opening twenty five minutes, or in the last twenty five minutes. 

Director John Milius is a favorite of mine, I am a big fan of his "Dillinger" and a huge fan of "The Wind and the Lion". This film seems to fit his sensibilities immediately. The Nietzschean attitude and the strong sense of masculinity, are very much part of his wheelhouse. When I posted that I was at a screening, the first response I got was a prompt for the famous line about what is best in life. Although Oliver Stone originated the script, Milius transformed it with several important changes and when he directed it, those changes become obvious. The opening credit sequence features the powerful Basil Poledouris theme playing over a sequence of the forging of a sword. You can see only brief ghost images of the characters in this sequence, everything is focused on the "steel" and fire of the moment. 

Anyone expecting this to be a cartoonish kids adventure will be soon disillusioned. Young Conan's village is burned to the ground, his father is slain in valiant battle, and his mother is unceremoniously decapitated while she is holding his hand. This is going to be a brutal, violent story with grim surroundings and an air of doom hovering over our lead character.  William Smith, who was so often the bad guy in seventies and eighties films, got a nice brief turn here as Conan's father. Smith, who passed away just a year ago, was always a favorite of mine to spot in a movie or television show. 

There is a clever montage sequence where young Conan transforms into the Arnold visage, as he build his muscles and endurance as a slave at a mill site. Slowly he becomes the only surviving slave pushing the wheel, and we see shots of the child  shifting to shots of the adult and finally he lifts his head and reveals the face that we all know today. A similar montage shows him developing fighting skills as a pit gladiator and training with a sword master. The muscles that Schwarzenegger is famous for come into full play as the camera captures them in sweaty, bloody combat and sleek sword play sequences in the sun.  

Once Conan is freed from his captivity, he acquires companions and they embark on a series of action scenes that tell us more about the character. They are bold thieves with little regard for their own lives, much less the lives of others. Subotai, the thief he rescues from the captivity of a witch, is played by surfing champion Gerry Lopez. Lopez is fine, although his voice ends up being dubbed. Sandahl Bergman on the other hand is excellent. A professional dancer with a few acting credits prior to this film, she puts on a very good performance as Conan's love interest and thieving companion. She looks great in the action sequences and she did her prep to get the combat moments right, but her dramatic chops were solid in a couple of important moments. As she embraces Conan at one point, she talks about the loneliness of the life she has lead. 

      "I would look into the huts and the tents of others in the coldest dark and I would see figures holding         each other in the night. And I always passed by. You and I, we have warmth. That's so hard to find         in this world. Please. Let someone else pass by in the night. "

This was a terrific character moment. She gets another great scene later when she and Subotai are protecting Conan's wounded body from the spirits that are trying to take him to the next world. She is more defiant there and this is another great character piece. 

The second lead of the film is the villain Thulsa Doom, He murdered Conan's parents, and heads the snake cult that is engulfing the surrounding kingdoms. James Earl Jones has that magnificent voice to convey ominous power, but his face is also very animated. He has a couple of moments where he uses his eyes to control the women he is adding to his cult. We see that first when he freezes Conan's mother at the beginning of the film. He attempts to do the same with Conan at the end, as he twists the story of his relationship to the Barbarian, in a manner that will benefit him. With the hair extensions and contact lenses, it might seem like a comic book performance, but it is really a skillful use of expression and voice that makes Thulsa Doom a character that is memorable. 

King Osric, the man who sends the thieves after Thulsa Doom to return his daughter to him, is played by the late Max Von Sydow. This is an actor who had a career that spanned from the late forties to just a couple of years ago before his passing. He has been in a dozen of my favorite films over the years and I can't think of a role where he disappoints. He has only one scene in this film and he practically steals the movie. In the brief trailer above, you will get the immediate sense of fun he seemed to be having as part of this cast. 

Although I have seen this movie a dozen time, I was foggy on one moment in particular. I had not remembered the animated effects in the scene on the beach when the spirits are coming for Conan. The subtle images that never look like cartoons but are clearly animated creatures, were very satisfying. I thought it worked much better on the big screen than I remembered from home viewings. Just another example of why seeing a movie in a theater is so much better. This was the thirty third film I saw this year that was a screening of an older film(Five of those films were from 1982). More than a dozen of those have been Fathom Events. Let me offer my heartfelt thanks for Fathom and the studios they work with. I know that sometimes the showings are not much more than commercials for upgraded video releases, but that's OK with me. I'll buy the 4K or Blu-Ray, but first let me re-experience it where it belongs. 

Empire of Light

 

I have to say that I was disappointed in this film, but not nearly as let down as I thought I might have been. I try to avoid looking at other reviews before I see a film for myself, but the Rotten Tomato scores popped  up somewhere and when I was looking for guests for the podcast, a couple of preview statements on Lamb pages seemed to be discouraging. While they are mostly right, there are a few things to recommend the film, and I want to start with those.

Regular readers are aware that this site is sometimes driven by nostalgia, heck, that was most of the original purpose of the initial project, and I have continued that with a couple of other projects that you can find here. "Empire of Light" is set in 1980/81. Some of the films that get referenced are treasured favorites, from "All That Jazz" to "Being There". Sadly, the movies mentioned get short shrift from the script and the promise held out by the marketing team is broken. The power of movies to transform lives is not really the focus of the story, no matter how luminous Olivia Coleman looks while watching a film in a dark auditorium. The setting on the other hand does much to make up for these oversights. The "Empire" Theater is a glorious old movie palace, in spite of half the screens and a restaurant gone to seed. The glowing lobby, the red velvet curtains and the traditional auditorium seats, made me wish I was watching this movie in that theater.

Lighting Magician Roger Deakins does his usual fine work in making the images on screen look spectacular. From the Lobby of the theater, to the beach-side dunes, to the main character's drab apartment, we get a feeling about how to feel because of how things look.   He also lights Coleman as the zoftig love interest in a way that highlights her mood swings very accurately. One moment she is sweet and longing, the next she is threatening and harsh. Coleman of course does most of the heavy lifting for these moments, but the lighting and composition make it work really well as she descends into her pit. A sex scene that is meant to be off putting is exactly that, in large part due to the unflattering lighting of a dingy office with the scent of shame washing over us in waves of shadow.

Michael Ward, who is the second lead and who the story should really be about, also looks great on screen. He has a natural charisma and he plays his character of Stephen as a real person, surprised to find himself struggling with his life but drawn to the much older Hilary.  The problem is that screenwriter Sam Mendes, has given himself a schizophrenic story to direct. There are at least four plot lines that could be the spine of the story; the romance, the racial unrest, the me-too relationship and the miracle of movies thread. Unfortunately, they don't all gel together, and some are so underdeveloped that they feel like plot contrivances rather than real moments in the character's lives. 

See this movie for Coleman's performance, Deakin's paintbox, and Ward's star suggesting turn. Just don't get your hopes up too much. We aren't going to finish watching this film and see a beautiful curtain close behind an ornate proscenium. Your multiplex may be nice, but it won't create the warm feeling that going to the movies used to produce. Unfortunately, neither will this film. 

link to podcast:

https://largeassmovieblogs.com/2022/12/lambcast-665-empire-of-light.html

Violent Night

 

This was so up my alley that I am not even sure a review is necessary. The trailer above is filled with spoilers of some of the best moments in the film, and I still managed to enjoy, laugh and groan at the things that I'd already been tipped off to. This is the kind of counter programming movie at the holiday season that I thrive on. Like "Krampus" and "Anna and the Apocalypse", "Violent Night" goes to some dark places at the most joyous time of the year. Don't get me wrong, I still love a sentimental Christmas movie, in fact I'm  in the middle of a Movie A Day Christmas watch that is filled with Netflix fodder as well as classics, but you have to take a break every now and then. 

The set up of this movie is easy. This is "Die Hard" crossed with "Home Alone" and Santa is John McClane. David Harbour has just the right feel as a sadly dissatisfied Santa, weary of the instant gratification culture that modern Christmases present. He has not gone completely to seed, but he has been tippling a bit on Christmas Eve and his fuse is getting shorter with every stop he makes. Maybe the one weakness of the film is that Santa has magical powers, but they don't protect him from physical harm, and he can be hurt. The problem is that those powers are inconsistent, and sometimes he can use a magic trick and sometimes he can't. The only explanation we get is that Santa doesn't understand how it works either.  

Santa is also given a slightly different backstory here than you will find in most traditional origin tales. His history as a Viking Berserker, being redeemed by love and the opportunity to be kind to the world, means that when he has to get down and dirty in this story, we can believe he has the skills to do so, and boy does he let loose with those skills. As John Wick is to a Gun, Santa is with a Hammer. Yeah! His reluctance to engage at first is understandable, but when his conscience gives him permission, he takes off and it is a lot of bloody, violent fun. 

John Leguizamo plays a part that feels like it could have been done by his character in "The Menu". He is all scenery chewing badguy, and his unfettered resentment at Christmas reflects his narcissism. Beverly D'Angelo gets to play the matron of a family at Christmas time again, but this time she is hard-bitten and bitter rather than Griswold sweet and patient. Alexis Louder was my favorite thing about "Copshop" but it is not until the end of the film that she gets to shine a little. There are several other supporting players who also work primarily because they are well cast and the caricatures that they play are so easy to pick up on. 

If you are not the kind of person who thinks violence can be played for laughs, you may want to skip this one. If however, you wanted to see what would really happen to Marv and Harry if Kevin's traps were real, this is a film you should embrace. The nail on the ladder scene will be enough to justify your ticket price, but there is so much more. Dash away, dash away, dash away now, to your nearest multiplex, before the woke sugar plum fairies realize what a demented bunch of fun this is. 

The Fabelmans

 

Arguably, the most important film director of the last fifty years, Steven Spielberg has created on origin story for himself. This autobiographical, but supposedly fictional story, shows us the inspirations and the learning curve that Spielberg encountered on his journey to fame and cinema excellence. The frequent theme in his movies of an absent father or parents divided, shows up in his own narrative, and at times it is inspiring while being simultaneously frustrating. Oh yeah, you get to enjoy the hypnotic effect that movies can have on you both by watching the Spielberg stand in, but also by simply being in a theater to experience this. 

Let's begin by complimenting the performers in this film. The main young actor playing the Spielberg based Sam Fabelman, is Gabriel LaBelle, and he sure looks like a doppelganger for a young Steven. Every time he has the camera in front of his face, making one of those childhood created movies, you can see the future creator of "Jaws", "Saving Private Ryan" and Jurassic Park" at work. Casting is everything for a part like this and whoever found this young man deserves a bonus. We may not have the same secure visual references for his parents, but Paul Dano as the father and Michelle Williams as the mother, are completely believable. Williams has the meatier role and she runs with it. There has been talk that she would walk away with the Academy Award if she was being promoted as a supporting actress, but that would be such a misclassification of her contribution to the film, that it would be the equivalent of saying Brando was a supporting actor in "The Godfather". Regardless of screen time, this is the central character in the film. Even the Spielberg character plays second fiddle to the mother in most of the story. Judd Hirsh arrives for one extended sequence and walks off with the picture in five minutes of screen time. Seth Rogan plays it straight as a dramatic actor, although the character has light moments, and he also is quite good. In the final moments of the film, we get one more great performance from an actor in a single scene, but I won't spoil it for you. When the identity of the actor dawns on you, you will laugh and be amazed.

For most film buffs, the key parts of the story will center around young Sammy's movies. The montage of his sisters and friend, role playing in his pre-teen and teen productions is almost enough to satisfy, but then we get extended moments in the making of his war epic, the filming of a family picnic and his film project presented at the prom, that also add to the juice that we movie fans crave. The editing, special effects and camera tricks show us that he is a great story teller, but as we see him making his film about his Mom, we get to see how he learns to put heart into his stories. Sammy (Spielberg) learns that it is not just technique that makes a movie work. The audience needs an emotional investment, and we actually see him learning that as the movie unwinds.

Things in the film get a little tricky when confronting the Jewish heritage of our hero. No doubt there were times in his life when bigots swarmed but given the experiences of his earlier schools, boy scouts and neighbors, these Aryan idiots in Northern California seem like bad guys issued by Central Casting. The fact that a cute Christian girl takes a distinct interest in him also belies the notion that anti-Semitism ruled the school.  That one of his antagonists has a moment of moral crisis after being presented as the equivalent of a Greek God at their High School in Sammy's film, is confusing. The closest explanation I could come up with in my own head was that this High School Star is being confronted by his apex moment, and it simply underlines that it is all downhill from here on. I sort of like the idea that the film of student activities will alter people's perspectives, but it was a little fuzzy how this ended up benefitting Sammy. It does end up with a pretty funny punchline however, which works because we are watching this movie when it gets delivered.

Not to give anything away, but the film ends on a promising note and a terrific scene. The brusque advice Sammy gets from a legendary film director, is quickly applied in a manner that allows the audience to laugh and see a technique at work. Director Spielberg playfully lets us in on the fact that he is still influenced by the films he saw in his youth and the lessons he was taught as a teen. The last sequence is where we get that surprise I mentioned earlier and it is a great five minutes of film. Maybe this will not rank with his great adventure films, but when the list of dramas made by Spielberg is presented, "The Fabelmans" will probably be somewhere near the top.

Devotion

 

When many people refer to a movie as "old fashioned", they are not giving it a compliment. I on the other hand find it to be one of the best recommendations for a film, if the subject matter calls for it. "Devotion" calls for a traditional telling, set as it is during the Korean war and telling a story about a time when racial equity was a long way from being realized. This is not really a movie about racial justice, but it does have that as an important component of the story, along with the real story about aviation and war. There is also a love of aviation that seems to fuel a lot of military films, see: Top Gun and Top Gun Maverick. Coincidentally, the second lead in this film was in "Maverick" and played John Glenn in "Hidden Figures".  

The lead in this film is Johnathan Majors, playing Jesse Brown, a aviator with a strong will to fly, who must overcome the self doubt promoted by the racists he has encountered his whole life. The men who flew planes between WWII and Korea, seem to be struggling with ennui, but not Brown. He makes his routine flights into adventures in technique, but he has over relied on his own vision to become the flying expert he has turned into. When he has to adapt to a new fighter, with a bigger engine and restricted eyelines, it becomes a problem for him. As he struggles to adapt, he must also learn to adapt to a friendship with a fellow pilot who doesn't fit into the experiences he has had. While he is respected by the other pilots in his squadron, he is not close to any of them, and others outside of the squad are derisive of his race and skills. Enter Glenn Powell as Tom Hudner, an Academy graduate who missed the war by a couple of months and longs to prove himself in battle. The relationship between these two real life heroes is the basis of the film.

The opening segments of the film really focus on the thrill of flight and the love of aviators for their craft. The planes and stunts seem very realistic. It was hard to tell where the practical and CGI meet. In the later battles, representing combat during the Korean conflict, it seems intuitive that the work is mostly special effects but it still looks really convincing on screen in most sequences. When the two pilots have conflict with one another, it is based on the chain of command structure that would probably go worse for Brown than anyone else, because he is the first black Naval Aviator. When Hudner acts to try and protect him in combat, it feels like an act of redemption from the earlier event, but still seems like the kind of thing a hero would do. Both men take actions that are admirable but also problematic, but we can see why they are justified in the context of the story. 

The domestic story wit Brown's stateside wife, fretting over his duties is underplayed effectively, especially in the performance of Christina Jackson. She and Majors have a real chemistry that works in convincing us of their love and the title of the movie "Devotion". There is an amusing interlude played out in Cannes, France, where it seems that race based discrimination is not unique to America. The most entertaining element of this section is the insertion of movie star Elizabeth Taylor as a character in the story. I have no idea if this event actually took place, it feels like a movie plot invention, but it was particularly satisfying as it played out. 

So we have a well told war story, with real American heroes, told against an emotional backdrop that seems believable. The social issues are in a respectful place but they are not the main point of the film. The three lead performances are also quite good, as are several of the supporting characters. The combat sequences look terrific, and everything is paced well. I can proudly say this will be on my list of favorite films at the end of the year because it moved and educated me in the way a film should. 

The Menu

 

Part social satire, part morality tale and part horror film, "The Menu" mixes it's ingredients in the right proportions to set a satisfying movie meal before you. If you think too hard about what it all means, you are probably committing some of the same offenses as one of the lead characters in this film. Be careful, you could end up in the sequel called "The Screening". If you can just sit back and savor what is in front of you, you will enjoy it so much more. Then you can digest it for hours afterwards and come up with all the right adjectives to make your own dessert.

The trailer for the film seems to suggest that this is a variation of the Hunger Games with guests being hunted down by the staff. That scenario does occur for about three minutes of the film, but it is mostly misdirection. This is a story about a group of zealots, taking out their frustrations on what they see as deserving targets, before they themselves participate in their own version of the "Heaven's Gate" event from nearly twenty five years ago. This time, the cult leader "Do" is replaced with the star Chef played by Ralph Fiennes. Chef Slowik is a lot more charismatic than the befuddled Marshall Applewhite, but he is no less deadly and utterly fierce in his convictions. There is an incident in the story to demonstrate how he feels no compunction over what he is planning, because he is taking blame for his faults as well. This scene helps set up the twist at the end because we learn that in spite of the narcissism that he is guilt of, he wants to reject the label of being "special".  A chink in the armor is revealed.

With flashes of brilliant absurdism, the conceit of an exclusive dining establishment, imposing a menu on the guests that reflect their vapidity works very well at providing opportunities for surprise. A gourmet  take down of the guests with the denial of a standard part of the meal, provokes laughter at the haughty way it is imposed and the deconstructionist baloney that lets the guests accept it. This is followed by a true reveal of how insidious the evening is going to be with a shocking swipe at mere excellence, in a ugly joke perpetuated as a lost soul dies. The nature of the cultish thought process sinks in at this point and that is where the real horror begins.

Anya Taylor-Joy as the last minute replacement on the guest list, matches words with the Chef  in an assertive manner that gets slapped down, at least until she discovers the way to a man's heart is through his choice of cuisine. Nicholas Hoult as a preening foodie who laps up all of the experience as a member of a very different cult, also provides a huge amount of amusement by his words and actions. It is the early relationship between Hoult and Taylor-Joy that makes the set up so intriguing and at first funny. In the end though, It is her manipulation of inside knowledge and her understanding of the Chef, that makes the story soar at the end.

"The Menu" has plenty of other characters but they are used for very brief bits of business. The three corporate stooges who feel entitled by their positions, each offer a moment of levity, but the story never takes any of them seriously. The same is true of the other guests. They have some chances to get a laugh out of us, or joust unsuccessfully with the staff, but in the long run they are background for the main relationship of the film. The devious menu is capped off with a dessert that mocks the gourmet spirit of the guests and celebrates the mendacity of the Chef and his crew. It will also provide you  with an hysterical visual joke to finish your meal with. "Bon appetite!"