Blog Directory CineVerse: March 2018

A Dench to quench our movie thirst

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Judi Dench and Steve Coogan make for an odd but inspired pairing in Stephen Frears' "Philomena," a 2013 film that mines yet another Catholic church scandal for dramatic pathos. Part buddy picture, part road movie, part detective mystery, part tragedy, this film explores the fine line between anger and acceptance and fashions two character arcs that are complex and credible. For a roundup of major discussion points about "Philomena" during last night's CineVerse meeting, read on.

WHAT IMPACTED YOU MOST ABOUT PHILOMENA AND DEFIED YOUR EXPECTATIONS?

  • It deftly balances tonal shifts, from gripping drama and deep sadness to absurd hilarity and oddball levity. It could easily be categorized as both a comedy and a drama. New York Times reviewer Stephen Holding contended that “it is a comedic road movie, a detective story, an infuriated anticlerical screed, and an inquiry into faith and the limitations of reason, all rolled together.” 
  • Philomena as a character is not predictable or stereotypical. Despite being oppressed and unfairly separated from her child, she is willing to forgive; she finds humor in many situations when others would be bitter and angry; she is tolerant of her son being gay, regardless of the fact that her religion would frown upon it. 
  • For framing itself early on as a mystery, the mystery is resolved within the first third of the film—perhaps quite unexpectedly. The intrigue here is less about what happened to Philomena’s son but why it occurred and how she’s coped with it. 
  • Also, while the initial allure of the story here is the mystery and investigation, the real payoff is the pairing of these two disparate sleuths and their chemistry or lack thereof. 
  • The movie avoids trying to proselytize for or against faith or religion, but rather tries to show how such beliefs impact human lives.
THEMES EXPLORED IN PHILOMENA:
  • Forgiveness, which comes from faith and is in contrast to outrage 
  • Social injustice—how Britain’s class system led to lesser rights and fewer options for the underprivileged and socially stigmatized in bygone times 
  • The power and impact of a dark secret. Philomena, her late son and Martin each have something they’re hiding or ashamed of that drives the story (having premarital sex and a child out of wedlock, being homosexual, and being fired from your job, respectively). 
  • The synergistic odd couple. Consider how these opposites can find common ground. Philomena and Martin are opposites in many ways—including gender, age, education, upbringing, and beliefs. Yet, they accomplish much as a team. 
  • Everyday simple folk can often be the most complex, sophisticated and mysterious; consider how Philomena is contrasted against the more cultured and snobbish Martin. She also tells him: “Just because you’re (flying) first class doesn’t make you a first-class person,” and “You should be nicer to people on the way up.” 
  • Oppression spans all boundaries, eras and cultural divides: The film “also has a surprising political subtext in its comparison of the church’s oppression and punishment of unmarried sex — what the convent’s harsh mother superior denounces as ‘carnal incontinence’ — with homophobia and the United States government’s reluctance to deal with the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. Philomena recalls sensing that her son, even when he was a tot, would grow up to be gay,” wrote Holding. 
MOVIES THAT “PHILOMENA” BRINGS TO MIND:
  • The Magdalene Sisters 
  • Pride 
  • Losing Isaiah 
OTHER FILMS BY STEPHEN FREARS
  • My Beautiful Laundrette 
  • Dangerous Liaisons 
  • The Grifters 
  • High Fidelity 
  • Dirty Pretty Things 
  • The Queen

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Dench packs an acting punch

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Keep March 28 free; that's the date when CineVerse will spotlight “Philomena” (2013; 98 minutes), directed by Stephen Frears, chosen by Marce Demski. Plus: play a movie trivia game for a chance at a DVD prize prior to the movie.

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Angels at heart, but the devil's in the details

Thursday, March 22, 2018

It's easy to dismiss "We're No Angels," the 1955 comedy starring Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov and Aldo Ray, as silly and disposable entertainment. For many, that may be true – especially considering it's dated elements. But for others who want to look closer, they may find a rough nugget of a gem that deserves to be polished. Here are some of the observations we shared at CineVerse yesterday:

WHAT DID YOU FIND DIFFERENT, UNEXPECTED OR SURPRISING ABOUT WE’RE NO ANGELS?

  • It boasts a stellar cast, including several actors were playing against type. Consider that Humphrey Bogart very rarely appeared in comedies (including Sabrina and Beat the Devil). In its review, the DVD Journal wrote: 
  • “Humphrey Bogart's wit can be heard in many of his films, but We're No Angels was his lone stab at a straight comedy, containing echoes of (Cary) Grant's inimitable charm as he sweet-talks the shop's customers (illustrating that retail is simply a sanitized form of swindling) and even wears a pink apron with a straight face. Aldo Ray's career was typified by dogface roles in war films, but his lovable, light-hearted ass-pincher plays well against Bogart's savvy con-artist. Rounding out the trio is Peter Ustinov, experienced at comic and dramatic roles, and this time coming up with the occasionally maudlin, always pithy Jules the charming wife-killer (and it's Ustinov who gets the script's best lines).” 
  • It’s perhaps surprising to learn that this is a Christmas movie, set during the holiday season and depicting the goodhearted exploits of three disreputable men caught up in the spirit of the season. 
  • Arguably, the film prevents itself to succumbing to saccharine sweet sentimentality by focusing on its black comedy aspects and comedic lines and gags. 
  • There are some creepy elements to the story and characters; Isabelle experiences an unrequited love for her second cousin, and Albert – a sex offender type convict – is attracted to the 17-year-old Isabelle, pinching her derrière and carrying her fainted form into her room with the door closed. Additionally, the family seems to have no qualms about trusting these three felons in and around their home and daughter. 
THEMES PREVALENT IN THIS MOVIE
  • Fish out of water and strangers in a strange land. “Many of Curtiz’ films share a common theme, that of outsiders in an unknown environment,” says Turner Classic Movies’ Eleanor Quin. 
  • Redemption. They escaped convicts seem to be trying to atone for their earlier sins by making things right for this family. Their redemption is demonstrated by the fact that we see halos above their head at the end of the movie. 
  • The three wise men/three Angels. This is a story set at Christmas time, and these three convicts arguably fit the trope of the three foreign kings who bestow gifts. 
WHY DO YOU SUPPOSE THE FILMMAKERS CHOOSE TO HAVE THE THREE CONVICTS RETURNED TO PRISON VOLUNTARILY BY THE CONCLUSION OF THE PICTURE?
  • This was the censorship era, after all, when criminals had to pay for their crimes and could not go unpunished by the conclusion of the story. To have them return to prison of their own accord instead of being captured makes us feel better about them as characters deserving of a second chance and our sympathies. 
OTHER FILMS THIS REMINDS YOU OF
  • It’s 1989 remake starring Robert De Niro and Sean Penn 
  • The Three Stooges shorts 
  • Christmas in Connecticut 
OTHER MOVIES BY DIRECTOR MICHAEL CURTIZ
  • The Mystery of the Wax Museum
  • Captain Blood
  • The Adventures of Robin Hood
  • Angels With Dirty Faces
  • The Sea Hawk
  • Casablanca
  • Yankee Doodle Dandy
  • Mildred Pierce

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Angels with 1950s faces

Sunday, March 18, 2018

On March 21, CineVerse will screen and discuss “We’re No Angels” (1955; 105 minutes), directed by Michael Curtiz, chosen by Ken Demski.

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Shooting blanks in a violent world

Thursday, March 15, 2018

What if they refilmed "First Blood" but told it entirely from the perspective of the National Guardsmen who were pursuing John Rambo? You'd get a movie somewhat similar to "Southern Comfort," a thinly veiled critique of America's bloody and futile involvement in the Vietnam War. Before dismissing this action-centric genre outing as merely escapist entertainment for the testosterone crowd, ponder the merits of this underrated picture. That was our mission last evening at CineVerse, and here is the dossier we came up with:

WHAT STRUCK YOU ABOUT THE STYLE AND STORY OF THIS FILM?

  • We don’t see a lot of character development. Instead he uses stylistically interesting visuals and tight editing to help tell his story. 
    • Essayist Ian Murphy wrote in Bright Lights Film Journal: “(Director Walter) Hill is as much a visual stylist as he is a storyteller. (His style)…happens to be more finely attuned to the spare poetics of male action cinema than any other American filmmaker of his generation. He has an intuitive understanding of locale, a painterly eye for composition, and a gift for choreographing fights, chases, and shoot-outs with rhythmic precision. 
  • The environment and setting become a major character in the movie. Think about how the bayou terrain is rendered in such a harsh, exaggerated visual design, making it appear almost like the landscape of some alien world. 
    • “Natural light was rigorously drained from the frame through the use of overhead silks, tarps, and smoke that engulfed the bayou trees in a canopy of gloom, while black-dot filters served to add a layer of grain to the image, muting the color contrast and allowing the detail of human figures to blend menacingly into shadowy ground,” added Murphy. He noted how the landscape was “rendered in a hundred monochromatic shades of green and gray, with the men’s military fatigues near-indistinguishable from the murky waters they trudge through — human frailty swallowed whole by a hostile environment.” 
  • It arguably feels more violent and graphically disturbing than it actually is. “As in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, you have the feeling in this film of social breakdown, of an erosion of conventionally orienting perspectives,” wrote Chuck Bowen in his Slant Magazine review. 
THEMES PREVALENT IN SOUTHERN COMFORT:
  • The folly of waging an unjust or underestimated war. This film is an obvious allegory for America’s bloody and frustrating involvement in the Vietnam War. 
  • Strangers in a strange land. These soldiers are fish out of water, placed in a domestic setting that ironically looks and feels like an alien environment. 
  • Survival of the fittest. 
  • Man against nature, and nature’s revenge on man. The Cajuns seem more like an elemental force of nature, like the wrath of the earth itself, than a group of men fighting other men. Consider, also, the repeated pattern we see of slaughtered animals, as evidenced by the gutted pig, the hanging rabbit skins, the fish caught in a branch and the butchered deer. These could be symbols of man’s wild and savage nature, or of survival of the fittest. Man can inflict the same kind of savage violence upon his fellow man as he can upon animals (recall the knife fight, the bullet to the head, the impalement death, etc.) 
  • Impotence and powerlessness. The soldiers are shooting blanks, while the Cajuns have all manner of weapons and crude technology at their disposal. 
FILMS SIMILAR TO SOUTHERN COMFORT INCLUDE:
  • Deliverance 
  • Post-Vietnam action thrillers like Rolling Thunder, Who’ll Stop the Rain, Cutter’s Way and First Blood 
  • The morally sophisticated 1950s westerns by Howard Hawks, John Ford, Anthony Mann and Bud Boetticher, “where groups of people with conflicting personalities and goals try to make their way through lawless territory,” wrote Noel Murray of The Dissolve. 
  • Men charged with a mission war films like The Big Red One by Sam Fuller 
  • John Carpenter’s The Thing, another action picture with lack of character development but a compelling plot and suspenseful design 
  • Slasher horror films such as the Friday the 13th movies 
  • Two Thousand Maniacs! 
OTHER MOVIES DIRECTED BY WALTER HILL
  • Hard Times 
  • The Driver 
  • The Warriors 
  • The Long Riders 
  • 48 Hours 
  • Streets of Fire 
  • Crossroads

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Straight thrills, no chaser

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Join CineVerse on March 14 for “Southern Comfort” (1981; 106 minutes), directed by Walter Hill, chosen by Brian Hansen.

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"Wherever you look...I'll be there"

Thursday, March 8, 2018

The ghost of Tom Joad still haunts movie lovers whenever they revisit "The Grapes of Wrath," the near-perfect 1940 adaptation of John Steinbeck's classic novel, helmed by master director John Ford. Joad and his family stand in for all oppressed peoples of all eras and serve as a reminder that a family collective can rise above adversity--to a point. CineVerse last discussed this film nine years ago, at the start of The Great Recession, when attendees found that its messages continued to ring true and resonate decades later. In 2018, "The Grapes of Wrath" still wields an undeniable power to stir and inspire viewers. Here are several reasons why, as talked about last night:

WHY WOULD THIS FILM HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED BOLD AND CONTROVERSIAL FOR 1940?

  • It was probably the most liberal film of pre WWII Hollywood; it was perhaps the closest a mainstream Hollywood movie ever came up that time to advocating socialism. 
  • With its populist message and pro-labor themes, it angered many in the business world, law enforcement and power establishment; Californians particularly took umbrage to how they were criticized. 
  • This was really the first serious mainstream drama about the plight of those suffering during the Great Depression, 11 years after it had begun. 
THEMES EXAMINED IN THE MOVIE:
  • Economic inequalities and social injustice and how one man can make a difference 
  • The individual may fall, but a unified community will prevail 
  • The empty promise of the American dream 
  • The journey to the promised land of California is like the biblical exodus to Canaan 
  • The importance of the survival of the family unit and a document of its inevitable disintegration 
  • The resiliency of the human spirit and the survival of dignity in the face of adversity 
  • How only the fittest often survive in human evolution 
  • Those with well-run machines have the power; the Joads are trying to keep their broken-down machine running to regain power and autonomy 
  • Faith in FDR: the camp manager looks like and is meant to evoke President Roosevelt and his New Deal politics 
WHAT DOES CASEY’S CHARACTER REPRESENT IN THE FILM?
  • A Christ-like figure with the same initials J.C., who must wander in the wilderness like Christ did 
  • He also symbolizes a Ralph Waldo Emerson philosophy—waxing poetically that a man’s soul was just part of a larger communal soul. 
  • He becomes an inspiration to Tom, who is kind of like Peter the apostle, who must spread Casey’s gospel and keep the faith.
HOW DO YOU INTERPRET STEINBECK’S TITLE, THE GRAPES OF WRATH? 
  • It hints that a time of reckoning is coming; that the almighty would merit out justice on the oppressors of the righteous. 
  • California, where the Joads are heading, is known for its grape vineyards and its winemaking.
CONSIDERING DIRECTOR JOHN FORD’S EXPERTISE WITH WESTERNS, WHY WAS HE THE IDEAL DIRECTOR TO HELM THIS PICTURE?
  • Ford documented the westward migration of America’s settlers and white migration into Indian lands in many western films. 
  • This film was like a sad end of the dream of the westward relocation of American settlers that had begun generations earlier. 
  • Ford could also gather and direct an ensemble cast of numerous characters like few others. 
  • Ford had a knack for spotlighting American values, themes of family and inspirational messages of the underdog and the common man in many of his films. 
WHAT’S INTERESTING ABOUT THE LIGHTING, CAMERAWORK AND SETS/LOCATIONS OF GRAPES OF WRATH?
  • Many scenes are shot on location or in actual outdoor settings, but some are shot on sets/stages with easily identifiable cycloramas and painted backdrops, blending nightmare-like fantasy with reality. 
  • The film depicts several night scenes and often employs very low levels of light, which is rare for a motion picture at this time.

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What happens when you combine Ford and Steinbeck? A masterpiece

Sunday, March 4, 2018

Circle March 7 on your calendar; that's the date CineVerse will screen and discuss “The Grapes of Wrath” (1940; 130 minutes), directed by John Ford, chosen by Tom Nesis

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Not the same old song and dance

Thursday, March 1, 2018

Watching "Shall We Dance," a 1996 Japanese movie about a man who secretly takes ballroom dancing lessons, was intriguing, especially for its sociocultural revelations; apparently, dancing in public is considered shameful in that country and something that should be practiced covertly to avoid ridicule and a bad reputation. For a relatively simple story, the film was rich in themes and insights, proving to be an effective contrast to many American movies about dancing and dancers. Following are the major CineVerse group talking points:

OTHER MOVIES THIS FILM REMINDS US OF:

  • Its remake, Shall We Dance (2004)
  • Strictly Ballroom
  • Dirty Dancing
  • The King and I
  • Dance With Me
  • Silver Linings Playbook
  • Saturday Night Fever
THEMES SUGGESTED IN SHALL WE DANCE INCLUDE:
  • Pursuing nonconformity, freedom and individuality in a repressive culture that frowns on public displays of dance and expression and promotes modesty and restraint.
  • Voyeurism: Sugiyama watches for a mysterious woman in the window; and we as Westerners are peeking into a window showcasing Far East culture. “We're offered an opportunity to peer through an open window into Japanese society, especially as it addresses issues of intimacy. For those of us who are used to the idea that dancing is an integral part of the cultural fabric, understanding how the Japanese view this activity can cause a shift in perspective,” wrote film critic James Berardinelli.
  • The mid-life crisis: how is a middle-aged man going to rekindle his passion and enthusiasm and work his way out of a rut?
  • Appreciating and relishing art purely for its own sake, not as a means to an end (consider how Sugiyama at first was eager to take dance classes to get romantically closer to Mai, but later he enjoys dancing for the dancing itself).
  • Using art as therapy and panacea
  • “The disillusionment of dreams and the brokenness of uncommunicative marriages,” according to Driscoll.
HOW DID THIS FILM DEFY YOUR EXPECTATIONS, AND HOW IS IT ALSO A DEPARTURE FROM OTHER MOVIES ABOUT DANCING?
  • This isn’t a typical story about hot young rebellious youth who find love and purpose in dance, as is depicted in Footloose, Dirty Dancing, and Save the Last Dance. Here, we have middle-aged protagonists who are trying to stay young, relevant and expressive despite societal pressures to be passive and conform.
  • Blogger Nicholas Driscoll wrote: “Unlike most dance films in America…the leads never learn particularly flashy moves, and dancing is not reduced to just the equivalent of a special effect—pizazz included simply to wow audiences. Instead, dance is shown as something warm and beautiful, bringing people joy, not just gymnastics to a beat.”
  • While the plot predictably and ultimately leads to a dance competition, that’s not the payoff or the point of the movie; instead, it’s the journey—not the destination—that is emphasized here. And the most important journeys taken are (a) Sugiyama’s evolving relationship with Mai and (b) Sugiyama following the dance teacher’s advice to “feel the music and dance for sheer joy.”
  • Arguably, the ending is anti-climactic: Sugiyama doesn’t end up romantically with Mai, he isn’t paired with her as a dance partner in competition, he doesn’t win the competition, and his reconciliation with his wife seems more driven by his need to continue dancing than to improve their relationship. Instead, the resonance of the ending seems to focus most on a mutual respect and platonic admiration that’s acknowledged between the two dancers.
  • Interestingly, the wife’s character is given short shrift here, presumably functioning mainly to advance a subplot of intrigue wherein she is compelled to investigate her husband’s extracurricular activities and be the spoiler of his secret dreams. Considering that Sugiyama is not cheating on her and that Mai doesn’t want an affair, the fact that the married couple’s relationship isn’t romantically reborn by the movie’s conclusion is surprising.

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