Films That Matter
Bungle in the Jungle
Nestled between two of Cecil B. DeMille’s massively successful historical epics (that he is so well known for), namely The Sign of the Cross (1932) and Cleopatra (1934), he directed two box office failures, This Day and Age (1933) and the movie reviewed here today, Four Frightened People (1934). Released just prior to the end of the Pre-Code era, DeMille’s early dramatic jungle adventure was reworked on the fly – which is partially why it is one of the iconic director’s middling efforts.
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I Want to Ride My Bicycle. . .
Bicycle ThievesJuly 10, 2016Vittorio De Sica’s 1948 classic Bicycle Thieves is a prime example of Italian Neo-Realism. The genre, which spanned a short ten or so year period during the 1940s and 1950s, highlighted life of ordinary, working class (and often impoverished) individuals who were dealing with the stresses of day to day life in Italy during or shortly after World War 2. Previously, Italian filmmakers had had their artistic scope and perspective limited by the fascist government of Benito Mussolini (for more than twenty years) and this style of motion picture was a reaction to it. Filmed in a semi-documentary fashion (typically on a low budget), the streets of Rome and other cities were used instead of the safety of studios to depict relevant social themes of otherwise common people.
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Star Pick with Beverly Washburn
A Day at the BeachFrom Here to EternityJune 28, 2016Each generation has a select few films that push the boundaries of their era – changing the way in which people saw motion pictures and (usually) creating a new freedom for future filmmakers to delve deeper into those controversial themes that were first explored in the edgy flicks. One such movie is Fred Zinnemann’s 1953 motion picture From Here to Eternity. A major risk for Columbia at the time ), the decision paid off, as it was a major financial success and won eight Academy Awards (including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor and Actress – for Frank Sinatra and Donna Reed, Best Director, etc.).
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If You Get a Chance. . .
Blind ChanceJune 26, 2016Back in the early 1980's, Polish writer/director Krzysztof Kieslowski made a film titled Blind Chance, which scrutinized the concepts of luck, predetermination, and how one minuscule happening (through blind chance) can change your life in wholly different ways. Filmed at the heart of the Solidarity Movement in Poland (a time when people rose up against the Communist government in the form of a trade union first led by Lech Walêsa – which led to greater freedom for a few years), Kieslowski
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Star Pick with Michael Forest
Apollo Re-Visits CasablancaCasablancaJune 14, 2016"I remember 3 or 4 weeks before [filming Star Trek], I was working on a western, being beat up, and shot, and one thing and another. . . and then finally killed in the thing; and then a month later I’m in a gold tutu floating around as a God – so you never know in this business. It is very strange". That is a quote from iconic character and voice actor Michael Forest, who has been working in the business for more than sixty years. He humourously summed up life as an actor in the quotation above, referencing work on a western as well his classic turn as the God Apollo (in the episode ‘Who Mourns for Adonais?’) on the television series Star Trek. I was fortunate enough to interview Forest at CAPE, the Cornwall and Area Pop Expo as part of the fiftieth anniversary of the cult classic Star Trek.
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Rollin’ on the River
MudMay 22, 2016Some stories feel as though they have been with us since the dawning of time. They deal with universal themes of love, coming of age, revenge and friendship. A film that feels like a modern retelling of a long since forgotten tale is the 2012 drama Mud. Clearly based upon Mark Twain’s yarns that feature Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, the plot follows modern day youths Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) as they come of age on the Arkansas River (a tributary of the Mississippi).
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A Southern Delicacy
Fried Green TomatoesMay 3, 2016Certain novels, and their respective films, capture the beautiful yet complicated nature of the American south. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and To Kill a Mockingbird are two such examples. A third book that has been transformed into a motion picture that illustrates this intriguing subject is Jon Avnet’s 1991 movie Fried Green Tomatoes.
