Paramount Summer Classic Film Series-First Blood

Sunday night was another presentation by Robert Rodriguez for the Paramount Summer Classic Film Series, this time the featured film was 1982's "First Blood". This Sylvester Stallone starring vehicle,  led to numerous sequels, and created a cultural touchstone that's been with us for four decades now. Rodriguez has a friendship with Sylvester Stallone, and like most of those kids from 1982, he saw this movie and immediately fell in love with the character of John Rambo and wanted to be him.

The introduction Rodriguez provided was fine, but it was more fully supplemented this time with some video clips from his own director series that is available online. He did share some stories about Stallone that we're not part of the video presentation, for instance the fact that Stallone didn't care for an actor in the Rambo film that was set in Burma. That might be why the moment that he shoves him up against the side of the boat looks so real. Of course that's a story for us, not one that he wants to put in the series which might make Stallone look petty.

I have seen all of the Rambo films, but I don't think Amanda had. This one was new to her completely, and she enjoyed it quite well. David Caruso who appears as Mitch, one of the deputies in the small town that John Rambo encounters, was not even recognizable to her, in spite of the fact that she is watched all the episodes and all of the seasons of CSI Miami. He was so young when he did this part he looks like a baby. She also thought that Brian Dennehy aged substantially between this film and Silverado 3 years later. That's not nearly as noticeable to me, but I'm an old guy who's used to a few extra pounds here and there.

One of the things that Rodriguez pointed out was that Stallone made significant contributions to the screenplay of First Blood. Including taking John Rambo out of the role of villain and putting that label on the sheriff played by Dennehy. It's a well-known story that Kirk Douglas walked away from the part that was ultimately played by Richard Crenna, because he thought that Rambo should die at the end of the movie. That appears to have been another Stallone modification.

This film was the start of a string of 1980s successes for Stallone in the action genre. Rodriguez also pointed out how Sylvester Stallone and his success created a competition with Arnold Schwarzenegger that would not start to even out until Stallone's 1990s films started to flag, while Schwarzenegger became increasingly marketable. The character of John Rambo however, continued to be a vein that Stallone could tap into. At one point when Rodriguez pointed out to his friend that Stallone hadn't directed a film for a dozen years, Sly was taken by aback. Just a couple of years later he picked up the character again for the brutal 2008 "Rambo", once again establishing is bona fides as an action director as well as star.

The original "First Blood" continues to be the best in my mind because it is the least cliched and the one that is most tied into reality. Many of the complaints made by Rambo at the climax of the film when he has his breakdown we're true. Veterans of the Vietnam War were disrespected, many of them suffered from exposure to dangerous chemicals during the war, and as exemplified by John Rambo himself, many of them suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Some of the flashback scenes in this movie give us a sense of why Rambo reacts the way he does to the abuse from the local fascists in the police department in this small Washington town.

What most people remember from the movie however, are the clever ways that Rambo gets the best of the local law enforcement agencies and National Guard. The training that he received as a behind enemy lines commando, certainly exceeds that of a local law enforcement agency. When Richard Crenna shows up and explains that he's not there to save Rambo from them but rather to save them from Rambo, we know how badass this is going to be. John crawls through caves filled with rats, jumps into trees off of cliffs in order to escape being shot, and disguises himself in a half dozen different ways to get the better of his pursuers.

The fact that John Rambo doesn't have an exit strategy for his temper tantrum is a little problematic to the story. But that's why Colonel Troutman has shown up in the guise of Richard Crenna. We can have some exposition, and ultimately a peaceful resolution that makes some sense. Of course not before we've had enough explosions, bullets, and knife injuries to fill three other movies. That's the kind of sugar Rambo likes.

Twisters (2024)

 

I am perfectly content to watch a film that is not challenging but is entertaining and will allow me to consume way more popcorn than I should, enter "Twisters". A legacy sequel to one of the first digital disaster films of that long cycle. The movie can plug in all the pseudo-scientific verbiage it wants, you will not disguise the fact that this is a turnstile mechanism, made to bring in the crowds for a Summer day, and send them out without a care in the world except the calorie count of a large soda and buttered popcorn.  This movie delivers exactly what you want it to, entertainment. 

When the trailer first popped up I was mildly intrigued, because after all, it is a sequel to "Twister", but the preview did not have the same sort of demented energy that the 1996 film had. The teaser trailer told us nothing about characters, story or context, it just gave us a glimpse of the boogie monster. The trailer for the new film can't get away with that, so it tries to sell some star power with Glen Powell. That works a little, but it does feel a bit obvious. When you see the film however, it works much better and there is just enough of a story to make it fun.

Like the previous film, this movie introduces us to characters that we can enjoy and identify with, when we are never going to get much backstory about them. The opening disaster is just as compelling and frightening as  in the original film, and the main character takes a different path as an arc, so they have tried to change it up a bit. However, once you get past that plot device, the story beats are the same. Rival storm chasers, a twister at a big public event space, personal time with an older family member, and a race against the tornadoes at the end. Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kate, our main lead, gets the hero role here at the end, which is fitting since she really is the main character. Glen Powell as Tyler is a cartoon figure at first, but he becomes a more fully realized character as the film goes on. Anthony Ramos, who I first noticed in "The Honest Thief" and "In the Heights" has a more difficult role playing a conflicted colleague, and he is solid.

Let's face it however, no one goes to a movie like this for character development, rather we are driven by the action, and it is very effective here. The opening sequence, the rodeo twister and the climax tornado are the highlight sequences, although there are probably three or four more moments when the twisters are on the loose. Calling the movie "Twisters" reminds me of the choice to make the sequel to "Alien", "Aliens". It is completely appropriate given the number of events we get in the film. 

If there is any social message in the movie, it is very muted. This is not a climate change alarmism film. There is one slight nod toward villainess corporate culture, but it is barely memorable or understandable. To me, the real message of the film is in the vistas, small towns and music that fill the movie. This film has more respect for flyover country than any Hollywood production I have seen in years. The citizens are not presented as hicks who are ignorant, if anything, it is the city folk who follow Tyler on his YouTube channel who come off a bit goofy, but even that is restrained. This movie is carefully scripted to appeal to all four quadrants and all regions of the country, and those overseas viewers will get a much better picture of the middle of our nation as a result. So that is an unintended consequence in the movies favor.

The perfect Summer entertainment has arrived. There are no foul mouthed super heroes, there is no needless nudity, there is plenty of humor but it is very gentile. What more could you ask for? (Maybe some Hot Tamales to put in your popcorn). 

Paramount Summer Classic Film Series Double Feature-Orson Wells

 

Another double feature at the Paramount Theater on a Saturday afternoon. Two films featuring Orson Wells, one of them was also directed by him. Both films have classical elements to them which might put them on anybody's Best Lists.

The Third Man

Carol Reed directs a post war thriller created by Graham Greene specifically for film. This was a David Selznick Production so everything was first class but it is certainly an unusual setting for a Selznick film. The actual producer was Alex Korda so it is more accurately a British Film and it thoroughly feels like that. The film is considered a noir, although some traditional elements of a noir seem to be minor. The thing that most justifies that classification is the style in which the film is shot.

The use of black and white is highly expressionistic and the shadows, silhouettes and sudden reveal of Orson Wells character are famous for the atmosphere they create. One characteristic that does not feel noir like at all is the soundtrack, infused with zither instrumentation, it is terrific for the film but rarely ominous or sinister. Still, a non-traditional noir is still a noir when it features a mysterious murder, duplicitous characters, unfaithful women, and a villain who is charming, even if he has no scruples.  

Joseph Cotten  is Holly Martins, a writer of pulp westerns, who has travel to Vienna to join his friend Harry Lime, only to discover that Lime is dead, and Vienna has no use for him. There are a number of bumbling American tropes thrown in to make him feel even more out of place, but his loyalty to his friend may be the one that is most subtle and important. It takes a lot for Holly to recognize that his friend would not be recognizable to him, if Holly knew his real business. The famous shot of Harry Lime being revealed is the start of Holly's doubts. Before he could dismiss evidence and opinion, but his own eyes tell him that Harry can't be trusted. 

In addition to the mystery, and ultimately a chase through the sewers of Vienna, there is an unrequited love story. Anna Schmidt loves Harry, Holly falls in love with Anna, Harry never really loved Anna, and apparently loved Holly's friendship under false pretenses. It is all very complex, and it gets more so as Harry's confederates murder witnesses and even help frame Holly for the crimes. The British, who were fooled at first but Lime's deception, don't fall for any of the subsequent traps, so Holly is never really at risk, but it does make for an interesting twist two thirds of the way into the film.

Two quick James Bond connections; future Bond director  John Glen was working in the editing department at Shepperton Studios when the film started production. He had a similar build to Joseph Cotten and was enlisted to supply the sound of his footsteps in post-production sound dubbing. Bernard Lee, who plays the sympathetic British Sargent and fan of Western Novels, would go on to play "M", 007s boss in eleven Bond films.

 

I don't think anyone left after the first feature, it looked like the house stayed the same size for the second film.

Touch of Evil

I  have seen this film several times, but I have to admit, they have all been after it was restored in 1998. The stories of how the film was butchered after it was delivered by Welles seem to echo the experience he had with "The Magnificent Ambersons". Still the film had a solid reputation even before the repairs were made to it in 98. I should probably admit to an affinity for the movie because it also came out in the year of my birth, so whenever one of those calendar references comes up, it is sitting right there.

The drug gangs of today are certainly more brutal than the mob that is in this film. Here the criminals seek to tarnish the legacy of their main adversary through a complicated plot. Today's cartels would simply torture him, cut off his head and display the body in public to discourage follow up. I don't think we are getting more civilized as we move forward. I suppose it is justifiable to say that in modern times, Charlton Heston would never be cast to play a Mexican using brown face make up, but that social constraint is mild compared to the truth of border town life these days.  

The movie opens with the famous continuous tracking shot, culminating in an explosion. Director Orson Wells is showing off here, but it seems that the studio largely left him alone while the film was being made, so he had a lot more fun playing around with these moments then he'd had on other studio films. Wells was a husky but handsome figure in "The Third Man", but ten years later in this film, he is clearly overweight and looks unhealthy. Much of that was the make-up and prosthetics but not all of it, and it shows at times. 

Wells did have control over the story, since he is the one who switched the nationalities of the two leads and made Charlton Heston a Mexican. Much of the film is shot at night so we get many sequences that make the film feel noirish. Wells seems to have wanted to confound the audience with the plot, and used characters in several over the top moments (notably Dennis Weaver) to distract the audience from paying too close attention to what was going on. The score is jazz infused and dark, which fits the mood of the picture well. It is no surprise that the Mexican Government was not keen on letting the film be shot in the planned Tijuana, this is not exactly a tourism ad. Venice California substitutes for TJ, and my understanding is that this is an even more accurate switch today, because of thew homeless problem. 

Longlegs (2024)

 

I saw this film with high hopes, fueled by good word of mouth from several members of my blogging community, and it's surprising performance at the box office. I love Nicolas Cage, and I am always willing to give him wide latitude on his acting choices because they are so out there. I had not seen a trailer for the film before I went, so the only thing I was aware of were the comparisons some had made to "Silence of the Lambs" and "Seven". Brother, are these people overselling this pile of excrement. I started having doubts a few minutes in, and by the time the film was done, I loathed it. Sorting your sock drawer is a more productive use of two hours.

The film starts out as a procedural, but quickly turns into a supernatural thriller when our hero turns out to be psychic. No wait, she is only half psychic because she only scored 50% on a test that the FBI has for supposed psychics. So we are plunged into a world with no worldbuilding, almost immediately. Agent Lee Harker fingers a house where the bad guy is, by just looking around. We don't actually know why they are in this neighborhood in the first place, but whatever. A tragedy occurs when the partner she has been assigned to, ignores her warning and request for back up. The two of them feel like the most inept FBI agents ever, they will fit right in with the Secret Service team that was supposed to be protecting Trump. They are not sympathetic, they are pitiable. 

Just to add to the stupidity, her supervising agent, is an alcoholic who has been working the serial killer case they are on, for a dozen years without any progress. Whether he is incapable of reading her social reticence or is simply pushing her to grow, he comes across as completely thoughtless. When he forces her to meet his family, the director might just has well hung a sign over the front door which reads" Here lives the family That will be targeted at the end of the film". It was such a ham fisted moment it probably tainted everything for me for the rest of the film. In truth though, nothing happens in the first part of the movie that gives this any verisimilitude. Harker comes across as a naif, rather than a steely mind in the FBI. The production design also undermines the film. The time period is set in the 1990s for no particular reason. The location is supposed to be the Seattle area, but making the FBI offices look like log cabins or paneled walls from the 70s seem amateurish. 

The three performances that matter the most are inconsistent. Maike Monroe who plays Harker, is doe eyed and a waif. Even though Jodie Foster's character in "Silence of the Lambs" is being diminished by the men around her, she still felt like a woman, not a shrinking violet. She can hardly make her voice heard, she moves suspiciously slow in every scene and she just never seems to be up to the job. The only thing she might have going for her is that "psychic" vibe, but there is no backstory on how it might have helped her get into the FBI. Her mother is played by Alicia Witt. This character starts setting off warning signals when we just hear her voice over the telephone line. When we encounter her, the phrase "hoarder" comes immediately to mind. This film was produced by the company "NEON", they might just as well put neon signs around every foreshadowing twist. 

Finally, let's get to Nic Cage. The part of Longlegs is a serial killer with satanic influences. We don't get any clues to that except the cryptic messages he leaves in code, so the idea that this is a procedural investigation film goes out the window. This is an X-Files episode that was not strong enough to make it to the screen, unless you have a strong visual hook. Enter Nicholas Cage, in make-up that renders him unrecognizable, and with mannerisms that would set off an air raid siren for every police official within a hundred miles of him. Cage screeches through some dialogue, pops his eyes out, and contorts his body enough to be creepy to look at. Who in their right mind would let a character like this any where near their family?  When we get an exposition dump at the start of the third act, we are asked to accept some incredulous ideas and just go along with them because we now get to see some flashbacks. This film tries to make a mystery of the means of killing, rather than exploiting the supernatural and satanic story that is really there. 

I have been an outlier before on some horror based films. I disliked "The VVitch", hated "The Lighthouse", laughed at "US" and now I am dismissing "Longlegs". I don't have to have something conventional, but I do need something that is coherent and does not insult my intelligence, a standard that this film cannot meet.  

Videodrome (1983) Paramount Classic Summer Film Series

 

David Cronenberg films are an acquired taste. They often have a cult status to them that may be off putting to those who are not familiar with his aesthetic. So it makes perfect sense that the presentation of this film as part of the Paramount Summer Classic film Series, is presented by the Hyperreal Film Club. Their film choices are often off center or feature some esoteric element that makes the movie distinctive. This seems like a perfect match for them. The guest host from the club spent a good deal of time, warning the audience about some of the extreme elements of the picture. They also suggested a number of themes that you could look for in the story to help make it a more insightful experience. There was a little drift in the intro when the film's star came in for a bit of criticism that was not based on the movie and made some presuppositions that were never justified, but that is a minor point.

"Videodrome" takes place in a different cultural time and the technology will seem quaint to an audience forty years from it's origins, but the themes are still relevant, and if we adapt our assumptions from television to the internet, they actually seem more vibrant than ever. At the center of the story is a conspiracy to modify the view of the world for those who consume this product. The hypnotic effects results in fantasy sequences of body horror and violence, or are they fantasies? Cronenberg seems to be having it both ways, the images we are seeing are real and they are imagined. This is also a theme of the film, what is reality? 

Debbie Harry is listed as one of the stars, and she is featured, but her role is definitely a supporting character. After the first act, she is seen only in brief hallucinogenic moments by the protagonist played by James Woods. Max Ren, is a cable TV producer, who has a knack for finding disturbing material that his customers can't take their eyes off of. He is a sleazy character who is primarily motivated by money, but although he does not appear to have a clear ethos, there are lines that he begins to see should not be crossed. Woods appropriately plays him as both hero and victim because that is what Max is. He is heroically, but futilely resisting the Videodrome technology, while at the same time succumbing to the seduction. In what amounts to the first virtual character in a film, Professor Brian O'Blivion , turns out to be the real hero of the film story, although be is never seen except on TV. 

This is one of those mind f*** movies that puts the audience in the position of trying to figure out what is really going on and whether or not they are a part of it. One of the things that makes it disgustingly compelling, is the terrific special effects make-up created by the great Rick Baker. Baker is one of my unsung movie heroes although unsung is hardly the truth, he does have seven Academy Awards to his name. It's just that make-up is often overlooked in the success of a film, but in this case it is essential. Max has physical changes that are revolting to think about, but fascinating to watch on the screen. I do like the trivia that the video tapes used in the film are BetaMax tapes, because VHS was too large for the effect that they created. I think it is also appropriate that they are "Beta" MAX, given out central character. 

The Hyperreal Film Club also presents a short film from one of their members as part of this series. It will supposedly be available later this year on-line. I was quite entertained by "We Joined a Cult", and when it is available, you will get four minutes of gruesome laughs yourself. 

A Quiet Place Day One (2024)

This is a worthy follow-up to the two previous films, set in the world that suddenly has to be silent. The original "A Quiet Place" was one of the best films of its year and continues to inspire us in the performance of Emily Blunt. She does not make an appearance in this film which is set in New York City on the day that the aliens first arrived on Earth. Our new protagonist is named Samira, and she has a different set of problems that she has to manage. She doesn't have children and she's not pregnant, but she does have a cat and I don't think this is much of a spoiler, but she is also terminally ill. This puts a new face on the survival theme of the movie, and the perspective is an interesting one especially when contrasted with the other characters she encounters.

Samira our lead character is played by actress Lupita Nyong'o, who speaks sparingly and communicates so much with her eyes and body language. She is a defiant patient at a hospice facility, she is much younger then most of the other clients there, and this displacement has given her additional attitude toward the world around her. It may in fact be that defiant attitude that helps her navigate the crumbling city as the auditory predators are taking out the population rapidly.

The characters in this version of the story don't have the advantage of speaking sign language, they have to rely on descriptive gestures, pointing, and occasional notes on whatever surface is available for them to write on. This adds an extra wrinkle to the story and makes every potential attempt to communicate a bigger threat because of the high concentration of aliens in the city. Having established that the waterfall effect blocks the aliens ability to hear low-spoken dialogue, there is an interesting sequence where Samira encounters two children hiding inside of a water fountain and she tries to direct them to a safer spot. In the long run we never discover what happens to the vast majority of people that she encounters. We do get a dramatic moment with some of the people that she knew from the hospice, but those folks on the streets are not likely to make it to the next scene, at least not for long.

It is probably essential that another person be involved in the story for us to be able to engage with the character.  About a third of the way into the film Samara encounters a frightened law school student from Great Britain who is so uncertain about what to do that he is practically in tears. The two of them form a tenuous alliance in order to navigate the treacherous streets of New York City in an attempt to reach a pier on the river. Supposedly boats are being used to transport survivors off of Manhattan Island, where it appears that the aliens have trapped themselves due to their inability to navigate water. We know from other films that this is it best a short-term solution, but that's not really part of this particular story. (Although there is one link to the second film)

The first act of the film sets up the conflict and establishes Samira's character, it also provides us with a lot of action beats. During the second act the action moments are more subdued but there are occasional outbursts of violence and more people are sacrificed to the narrative of overwhelming odds facing them. One of the best moments in that opening act involves Samira taking in a marionette puppet show, that she has been maneuvered into attending with other patients at the hospital. Although very resistant to the idea, she did become entranced by a couple of moments in the show, which of course is exactly the point at which the alien invasion arrives. The contrast between human ability to create something beautiful and the aliens ability to destroy everything that humans have created is exactly what was needed at the start of the story. We also get a sense of how headstrong Samira is because of the way she handles being dragged to the puppet show.

The movie is not quite as frightening as it's two predecessors, in large part that's because we already know what the rules are concerning the aliens. We also see the alien creatures far too much in the light of day, and up close. So it is mostly the sudden lightning-like appearance of the aliens when alerted by a sound that gives us a jump scare or two along the way. Most of the fright that takes place in this film is a result of anxiety as we watch the characters that we are growing to care about, struggle to hide and remain silent in the face of the threat. Djimon Hounsou has two brief scenes in the film,  in the first act, a moment of desperation changes him forever, but in the final act, we see that fear and survival instincts have not eliminated his humanity. 

I can recommend the film as a piece of tense theater with two central performances that are very effective. Our terminally ill hospice patient and her frightened companion the British law student, are an unlikely match, but in the long run they show us that humanity can exist even in the worst circumstances, and even between people with very little to connect them,  that is ,except maybe a cat.

Parmount Summer Classic Film Series-Lady Sings the Blues

 

So it has only taken me fifty-two years to catch up with this movie, a film that was very popular in it's release during my favorite decade of movies. So why have I missed it for so long? I can't exactly say, although I suspect I was hesitant because of the downbeat drug elements in the story. Billie Holiday died decades before Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison, but she died from the same disease, out of control drug use. As I was watching the film, I saw that the producers did their best to create an upbeat ending with a redemptive arc, that was not really the way the story ends. In a way, that should have made it more appealing to me as a film, because it focuses on entertaining us, but I still think it is a bit of a cheat.

Nevertheless, "Lady Sings the Blues" is an entertaining biopic that tries to capture the talent of it's subject, while also describing the hard luck existence that describes her life. The biggest plusses the film has going for it are the musical sequences and the star turns by the two leads. I am not an aficionado of Billie Holiday, and I have seen in some places that Diana Ross's interpretations of her songbook are not as impressive, but on their own, they are very effective and I think anyone listening would enjoy her song stylings. Diana Ross also has great star quality, which I don't think was captured in any other screen performance. Of course she only made three films, and was woefully miscast in "The Wiz". She was a better fit for the fashion show that masqueraded as a movie "Mahogany", although that film is not good at all (See my comment on 1000 Nights at the Movies with Dee).

Her acting in this film is stellar, and she maneuvered through a range of ages convincingly, as well as showing us the dark side of addiction. The scene in the bathroom where she threatens Billy Dee Williams with a razor over her drug kit is chilling and sad. The motionless lump that she becomes in the aftermath may seem like an easy shot, but there is physicality to it that requires the actor to commit and boy did she. Her cluelessly high performance while Richard Pryor is being beaten is another spot where her acting talent gets a moment to shine.  Billy Dee Williams as her co-star husband gets credit for spilling his charisma all over the screen. His part is underwritten and I know it is a compendium of characters that his role encompasses, but the script gives him little to do and it is in fact antithetical at the climax of the film. Still, it doesn't matter much when that face appears on the screen and the smile crosses it. That will fill in for a lot of unexplained back story.

There are of course historical markers in the film that are important, but they really come across as cliched, although I think that in 1972, they would have played more dramatically. The incident that provokes the song "Strange Fruit", in particular, feels like it is dramatically staged rather than a natural incident. The screenwriters and director Sidney Furie, try to make it work for the movie, but it feels so staged that it undercuts the moment.   Holliday's defiance of a Klan March while she is on the bus with the band is a good moment for Ross to show off in, but another moment that feels dramatically staged. 

Overall, I quite liked the film and I was impressed with Miss Ross as an actress. She certainly deserved the accolades that she received for that performance. I am not sure, but the soundtrack album may be in my collection in the garage. If it is, it was something that my wife brought to the marriage, because I know i did not buy the record. When I look, if it's not there, I will correct that because the music in the film worked for the movie. This was the third musical in a row that we saw at the Paramount. July is heavy with their theme of "Pop (corn) Idols". They are not all musicals, but I'm happy these were.