More appointments in Samarra: Tales from the Crypt (1972)

Tales from the Crypt (1972) Amicus Productions

Amicus and Freddie Francis waylay five venal, unthinking, careless fools together and let Sir Ralph Richardson goggle-eye them into reflecting on actions that have earned them eternal damnation.

"...And All Through the House"

A man unfolds the newspaper in his comfortable chair. At home on Christmas Eve, carols playing, he is relaxing before a minimalist white hearth. We are watching our side of his newspaper when we hear the meaty thwack, and the black and white newsprint begins to soak red. That's the sharpest shot in "...And All Through the House." The rest is comeuppance folderol as the Joan Collins character tries to keep juggling husband's corpse, young daughter, and the onslaught of a Santa-suit-clad escaped lunatic.

"Reflection of Death"

Dream of a death foretells death. Ian Hendry gets punished with living death for leaving wife and kids for younger, more attractive woman. Then wakes up from this nightmare to do it all - we are sure - again, and for real. E.C. Comics might have fallen foul of the 1950s witchhunt, but that was for droll graphic irreverence, not its reactionary moral line.

"Poetic Justice"

Peter Cushing at his scene-stealing again, a twittery old rag--picker (read: Jew), a widower in the crosshairs of gentrifying neighbors. They have his dogs impounded, drive away the children who adore him by spreading rumors he is a pedophile, and push him to suicide with a poison pen campaign in rhyming Valentine's Day cards. One year later, Cushing returns to pen a couplet of his own. Code of Hammurabi dramas go down easy when it's the rich getting their hearts torn out.

"Wish You Were Here"

A Monkey's Paw tale in which protagonists realize they're in a Monkey's Paw tale. But it doesn't matter: you can't win against the MP.

"Blind Alleys"

A fine conte cruel in which institutionalized blind men revenge themselves on their new administrator, who acts like the warden of a Stalag and keeps a pet Alsatian on a short leash. The incomparable Patrick Magee lends his sublime poignancy. Nigel Patrick is perfection as the officious, sadistic dog lover. 

Jay

6 October 2019

Talking ourselves to death: Pontypool

Pontypool (2008)

The first hour of Pontypool is amazing. Superb. Textbook ideal level of excitement, confusion, menace, and indirection.

The trouble with most suspense/puzzle/thriller stories is that eventually, at about the 2/3 mark, the viewer has enough information to formulate an explanation, as do the protagonists. And the only antidote to a solved puzzle is to begin a new one.

Three people in a small town radio station receive a collage of reports about odd events and behaviour by the populace. Their attempts to form a clear picture are thwarted by dropped calls, distractions, and "human resources" issues carried over from the start of their shift.

After an hour of the rising arc of dangerous and weird incidents, they go off the air. At that point we are left watching the characters discuss their theories while their building is under seige. The dramatic tension begins to flag.

From that point, I had the sinking feeling that we the viewers were being fed a solipsistic language game by a dramaturg trapped in a corner.

Readers of William S. Burroughs' "Word Virus" will find much of interest.

Jay

12 July 2017

Marvel's Doctor Strange

I'm not partial to movies where "magic is real" and people learn the secrets of "mind over matter."

Other than the amazing Captain America: Winter Soldier, I really have no curiosity about Marvel movies, either.

Doctor Strange is no exception. Hundreds of millions spent on CGI mandalas and M.C. Esher cityscapes and kaleidoscope multiverses, just so we can root for earth's fate to be handled by the whims of a better class of sorcerer.

It all becomes a blur, and Benedict Cumberbatch seems more "mannikin" than flesh. He portrays an arrogant supersurgeon who is humbled and "learns better."

If you're looking for a magical movie, watch The Prestige.

Kong: Skull Island

The first film I ever watched 20 times was the original King Kong. In 1976, aged ten, I wrote away for production releases and still photos of the De Laurentiis Kong, which I subsequently saw several times at the theater. This man-in-suit Kong was no more unbelievable than the latest CGI version.  

Kong: Skull Island is one of the better monster movies. It features plenty of weird beasties and solid daylight and night action scenes.  It's a lost world story, and that world is presented clearly and with some depth.

The main action of the film takes place in 1973. U.S. military forces have been kicked out of Vietnam. A palpable air of military defeat and imperial frustration permeates the movie. No one here will have the hubris to kidnap and publicly display Kong for the delectation of the New York smart set.

It's a far cry from Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack in 1933 or Dino De Laurentiis and John Guillermin in 1976. In 2017, beauty does not kill the beast: they collaborate to thwart remains of the shattered dignity of the U.S. government in Southeast Asia.

The movie recalls Coppola's 1979 film Apocalypse Now in several ways:

-A secret mission into the heart of darkness.

-A mad helicopter squadron commander (Samuel L. Jackson).

-Hueys blaring music and silhouetted against the orange disc of the sun.

-A voyage up-river in a small boat.

-Rock music needledrops.

A few concerns need to be mentioned, however. They all revolve around the shallow and, shall we say, civilian treatment of the U.S. military. I'm sure to veterans the behavior of the soldiers in Kong: Skull Island is even more unrealistic than the behavior of the skyscraper-sized gorilla.  Captains hugging non-coms who have survived a crash? Doubtful, to say the least. Manually deploying munitions from a Huey for seismic mapping? Again, doubtful.
A company C.O. taking field orders at a pay telephone booth? It beggars belief.

Launching military helicopters from the deck of a freighter?  I'd like to see the footnotes, please.

Actor Shea Whigham seems to be the only actor interested in inhabiting the skin of a G.I.  Unfortunate that his character's death is so perfunctory.

Jay
3/18/17