rate the last movie you saw

[mkaroly]

WRATH OF THE TITANS - 2/10. I knew going into the film that it was going to be a stink bomb, and I wasn't disappointed. I went to see the special effects...which were standard, but I was expecting a little more imagination. Kronos looked a lot like a more-human Balrog...I guess I was expecting a little more of a spectacle given the subject matter. Zeus and Hades looked at times like Gandalf and Sarumon in different clothing...not impressed.

[Eric Paddon]

This being the 100th anniversary of the Titanic, I've watched some Titanic episodes of certain TV series (One Step Beyond, Time Tunnel, Night Gallery), and also:

Titanic (1953) 7 of 10.
-Accuracy isn't the hallmark of this film, but as it was made before Walter Lord brought the deeper story back to the forefront I'm more charitable to it, plus the fictional melodrama of the story is just brilliantly acted by Barbara Stanwyck and Clifton Webb. Their going at each other makes for good cinema in the classic sense.

-The DVD commentary track that features Robert Wagner and Audrey Dalton, also alas features comments by a supposed "Titanic historian" named Sylvia Stoddard, who reveals that she doesn't know a lot about the actual Titanic as she makes herself out to. The fourth person on the track who sticks to the production history is much better.

[AndyDursin]

CAMELOT 4/10
Dreadful filming of the Lerner-Loewe musical classic (which my uncle was in on Broadway) is poorly staged, directed and sung. Richard Harris is terribly hammy, and the many close-up shots of his performance on the part of director Joshua Logan didn't do him any favors. The plastic sets, lack of camera coverage (perhaps a result of the film having gone over budget and rushed to its completion), and overlong running time made this one a real chore to sit through. Good looking Blu-Ray from Warners at least with some new extras (commentary and a fluffy 30 minute featurette that lays the blame on the picture's commercial failure on the Vietnam war)...but that's about it. Full review in next week's column.

WALKING TALL 6.5/10
Coming on Blu-Ray next month from Shout!, this is an effective B-movie with Joe Don Baker playing a real life Tennessee police chief who tried to clean up a town on the stateline overrun with booze, prostitution and political corruption. Dated but entertaining. Followed by the lame Part 2- Walking Tall (3/10) and the decent Final Chapter - Walking Tall (6/10) with Bo Svenson as Buford Pusser. Good array of extras in the package as well (also coming on DVD).

[Eric Paddon]

What part did he have on Broadway? That had to have been a fascinating experience. Of all the Broadway musical productions lost to the ages in their entirety the one I regret most is Burton-Andrews-Goulet in this, especially given the inadequacies of the film. Newman's orchestrations are terrific but everything else falls flat.

[AndyDursin]

What part did he have on Broadway? That had to have been a fascinating experience. Of all the Broadway musical productions lost to the ages in their entirety the one I regret most is Burton-Andrews-Goulet in this, especially given the inadequacies of the film. Newman's orchestrations are terrific but everything else falls flat.

Eric, his name is James Gannon and he was "Sir Sagramore" and part of the ensemble. He's on the cast album too...and was in several other shows of the era (including the original Music Man cast). He was from RI and has lived down your way in NJ for decades. Health wise he's had a rough go of it but he's hanging in there. We don't see that side of the family a whole lot, regrettably, but I do remember him telling many stories about working on the show.

I agree totally about Burton-Andrews-Goulet as well. The film can't even begin to approximate that, and has a number of other issues as well. It's really pretty awful, even in HD with a restored transfer, it's bad.


Original Cast Listing

• King Arthur - Richard Burton
• Queen Guenevere - Julie Andrews
• Sir Lancelot - Robert Goulet
• Merlyn - David Hurst
• Pellinore - Robert Coote
• Mordred - Roddy McDowall
• Sir Dinadan - John Cullum
• Morgan Le Fey - M'el Dowd
• Lady Catherine - Virginia Allen
• Nimue - Marjorie Smith
• Sir Lionel - Bruce Yarnell
• Sir Ozanna - Michael Kermoyan
• Sir Gwilliam - Jack Dabdoub
• Sir Sagramore - James Gannon
• Lady Anne - Christina Gillespie
• Squire Dap - Michael Clarke-Laurence
• Clarius - Richard Kuch
• Tom of Warwick - Robin Stewart

[Eric Paddon]

Fascinating! Yes, I remember the character in the "You May Take Me To The Fair" number which had a very unusual history in the show. It was part of the show on opening night, but then when Moss Hart recovered from the heart attack he had suffered during the show's out of town tryout (which necessitated Alan Jay Lerner stepping in as director), he made changes after opening night that included eliminating "You May Take Me To The Fair" which still appears on the cast album, but is not in the printed version of the show released later that year which reflects the changes Hart made. But then the song found its way back in for the movie, yet today is no longer part of the revised libretto Lener did for the 80s version (which eliminates Morgan LeFey) and which has become the standard version of the show performed (I saw Goulet as Arthur in an early 90s production in Valley Forge, PA).

[AndyDursin]

JEREMIAH JOHNSON
8.5/10

From next week's column:

A rugged, exciting western-adventure with Robert Redford as a disgruntled war veteran who decides to leave his life behind and become a mountain man in the wilds of 19th century Utah. His trials and tribulations, triumphs and tragedies are documented in a film that bridges an old-fashioned entertainment (with its Overture and Intermission) with a “realistic” tone typical of the ‘70s.

Told with little dialogue (director Sydney Pollack referred to the picture as his “silent movie”), “Jeremiah Johnson” is a tonic to the hyper-edited commercial product we see in the movies today. The film unfolds at a leisurely pace, emphasizing both the beauty and the danger of its natural surroundings; between Duke Callahan’s outstanding cinematography and the lyrical score of John Rubinstein and Tim Mcintyre (who took Pollack’s suggestion and integrated vocals to give the film a mythic, “ballad”-like feel), the movie is one of the most purely beautiful films of its era and one of the great “outdoors” movies in cinema history. The story is told in a somewhat disjointed manner, with the first half showing Jeremiah acclimating to the wild, inheriting a young boy from a settler family almost entirely massacred as well as a wife from a tribe of Christianized Indians; the second half, which starts after an Intermission at the 80 minute mark (keep in mind there’s only 35 minutes left in the picture!), deals with Johnson’s vendetta against the Crow tribe after his new, surrogate family perishes at their hands.

The script – written by John Milius and Edward Anhalt from a pair of books that incorporate real historical figures into its narrative – could have been better fleshed out in its latter stages, but this is still a tremendously impressive picture. Pollack, working with what he described as a skeleton crew in a virtual “gorilla filmmaking” manner, shows his diversity as a filmmaker in a movie that was a far cry from his prior outing in “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” Mountain vistas, flowing streams, flying eagles and the living world have never felt so alive cinematically as they do here. Despite Redford’s appearance, the film was produced on a tight budget – as Pollack mentions in his audio commentary, there wasn’t enough money to hire a name composer, which is how Rubinstein and Mcintyre got the job (doing a marvelous job in the process). Problems with the early Panavision lenses and the harsh wintry conditions also lead to numerous difficulties making the film – yet the end result was well worth the trouble, as “Jeremiah Johnson” ranks as one of the most authentic, and satisfying, films of its genre. It’s also a film that seems to improve with repeat viewing, a picture that embraces the natural world at a time when most studio fare seems completely disinterested in it.

Warner’s Blu-Ray edition of “Jeremiah Johnson” includes the debut of a commentary track, obviously recorded some time ago, with Pollack, Milius and Redford separately recounting their experiences working on the film. Pollack’s insight is fascinating as he divulges the many challenges involved in the picture’s production, with Milius and Redford also detailing the real-life history of Johnson himself. The trailer and the same vintage promotional featurette that were included on the old DVD are also on-hand here in standard-def. The 1080p AVC encoded transfer is generally excellent, showing fine detail with just a bit of DNR here and there. The 5.1 DTS MA soundtrack is even better, impressively mixed with the score flowing into all channels of the sound field. Highly recommended!

[Paul MacLean]

Told with little dialogue (director Sydney Pollack referred to the picture as his “silent movie”), “Jeremiah Johnson” is a tonic to the hyper-edited commercial product we see in the movies today.

Seriously. Someone tie Peter Jackson, Michael Bay and Zack Snyder to a chair and make them watch this film!

Despite Redford’s appearance, the film was produced on a tight budget – as Pollack mentions in his audio commentary, there wasn’t enough money to hire a name composer, which is how Rubinstein and Mcintyre got the job (doing a marvelous job in the process).

Interestingly, this was the same reason Deliverance only had banjo tunes -- John Boorman could not afford a composer because the production was similarly low-budget and shot in a "guerilla filmmaking" process.

Though for me the score was weakest link in the Jeremiah Johnson. It is a shame that Pollack could not have re-teamed with Elmer Bernstein after their excellent collaboration on The Scalphunters. Bernstein (being the quintessential "American" film composer -- as well as an outdoorsman himself) couldn't have been better-suited to this project.

"Jeremiah Johnson made his way into the mountains..."

Still, it is an otherwise outstanding film, and a superior example of the short-lived naturalistic "wilderness adventure" genre of the 70s (a favorite genre of mine).

[AndyDursin]

Haha the vocal that ends the film is terrible. However I did Iike the orchestral material a good deal and found it effective enough. Elmer would've been better though I agree!

Paul I also loved how the two guys in the cavalry were played by Bentley from the Jeffersons and Mr. McGee from the Hulk!

[Eric Paddon]

One Million Years, B.C. (1966) 8 of 10 (Laser Disc cut)

-With Twilight Time working with Fox and giving us Ray Harryhausen films on Blu-Ray to boot, I hope that they might be the ones to give us the definitive release of this someday, that first and foremost gives us the longer Laser Disc cut which runs 100 minutes. Fox incredibly gave us the shorter 91 minute cut on DVD instead. (Warners had the long cut in R2).

-First off, when looking at this film, I would like to hear a permanent moratorium on people making their quips about the film's scientifically absurd premises. Seeing prehistoric people interact with dinosaurs is a conceit people should accept for entertainment's sake just as much as they do seeing ancient Greeks or medieval Arabs battling monsters in films like "Jason And The Argonauts" or the Sinbad movies. Just sit back and see if you enjoy the ride! For me, the ride is made entertaining by the brilliance of Harryhausen's FX, the effective eerie score of Nascimbene, the minimalist dialogue and the effective cinematography that creates a proper mood and atmosphere that similar films like "When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth" do not IMO succeed at doing.

-Oh, and of course there's the matter of Raquel Welch. But in all seriousness, Raquel really demonstrates why she became an icon with long-term staying power beyond the mere fact that she looked great in a costume and in a poster. Raquel projects an aura of strength and command that honestly keep making you forget she's only five foot six, and above all sells the ability to be convincing in a larger-than-life fantasy type setting which is not as easy a task as some people think. By contrast, you had a lesser talent in Victoria Vetri in "When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth" a couple years later demonstrate the difference because Vetri just seemed like some typical Hollywood starlet stuck in a costume who couldn't sell the fantasy concept. Raquel OTOH, demonstrated why she could shine a few years later in a project like "Kansas City Bomber" and I so wish she'd been able to do a big-screen version of "Sheena" which she signed for in 1975, but unfortunately the project got shelved and was then made a decade later with disastrous results with Tanya Roberts in the starring role.

[AndyDursin]

Would be nice to see TT license that one -- I'd think it'd be a strong seller too. So would...



THE MOUNTAIN MEN
7/10

A flawed but quite entertaining, 1980 Columbia adventure-western with Charlton Heston as a beaver trapper in the mid 1800s who sees his trade fading away at the same time he engages in a bloody conflict with a local Indian (Stephen Macht) that revolves around Heston falling for his purchased wife (the lovely Victoria Racimo from "Prophecy"). Brian Keith also stars as one of Heston's fellow trappers in a movie that's, for 1980, quite old fashioned in its approach, but also filled with a few R-rated scenes of sex and violence.

The cinematography of the Grand Tetons is spectacular and Michel Legrand's score is positively gorgeous -- shades of "Ice Station Zebra". A score well overdue for a release.

The film is only available in a pan-and-scan 1.33 DVD domestically but the full scope version is available in the R2 German release as "Duel at Wind River."

[sprocket]

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame 7/10

Entertaining, colourful and creative, I found this an interesting tonic to the standard Hollywood formula to the overblown action movie where the hero and the bad guy trade blows at the end of the film in some set piece building (usually an abandoned factory, the bay guy's lair, or the top of some skyscraper).

This movie is so fast, with so many set pieces, the climatic fight comes and goes without you realizing its the last one. That's good in my books, as the end battle, and the buildup to it, is usually so familiar as to be a big yawn.

The main thing I didn't like about it was the constant use of wires in the fight scenes. While this speeds everything up, it also lessens the reality of the situation. The best special effect is the one that doesn't draw attention to itself.

In all, I thought Hollywood is going to have to watch out. It's clear that Asian films know how to improve on the stale Hollywood action movie model.

The music is better, too.

[Monterey Jack]

Asia has been kicking Hollywood's ass in the action movie department for decades now (the current release The Raid: Redemption is a must). Best of all, no shakey-cam!

[Monterey Jack]

-Safe (2012): 7/10

Typical B-movie brawlfest for Jason Statham fans (count me in), albiet slicker than most and with a hint of emotional depth thanks to Statham's savior relationship with an imperiled Chinese girl (Catherine Chan). Unexpected bonus: a terrific score by Mark Mothersbaugh(!) that sounds like something Jerry Goldsmith or Lalo Schifrin might have penned circa 1972...there are bongos, low-end piano clusters, a pleasing sense of direction and enough scraps of melody to keep the movie driving forward at all times (even if it threatens to morph into the Mission: Impossible theme a few times). I honestly had no idea Mothersbaugh had something like this in him, but it's the kind of juicy action scoring that's virtually extinct these days (it was even allowed to play out through the end credits, a luxury in this day and age). Anyways, enjoyable movie, great score.

-The Pirates! Band Of Misfits (2012): 8/10

The British animation geniuses at Aardman returns to their plasticine roots with this bawdy, clever, superbly-animated comedy that has more laughs than the last three Pirates Of The Caribbean movies combined (and crammed into a blissfully brisk 88 minutes). The use of 3D is merely okay, but at least I got to see it for only seven bucks (Tuesdays are bargain days at my local multiplex). Lots of fun.

[Mike Skerritt]

Asia has been kicking Hollywood's ass in the action movie department for decades now (the current release The Raid: Redemption is a must). Best of all, no shakey-cam!

THE RAID is fantaaaaaaaaastic. And not only a superior action flick, but also, at its core, a solid movie with some nice performances and a few wonderful dramatic beats. It's not one you'll be skipping through to get to the action (like, say Tony Jaa's movies).