Eyewitness (1981)

When a Vietnamese businessman (Chao Li Chi) is murdered in a Manhattan office building, the night janitor (William Hurt) pretends to know more about the crime than he does in order to impress a TV reporter (Sigourney Weaver) that he has a crush on. Unfortunately, that lie places both their lives in danger. Directed by Peter Yates (BULLITT) from an original screenplay by Steven Tesich (BREAKING AWAY), this thriller suffers from an overly contrived plot (if only Tesich had realized that less is more) that is far fetched and finally falls apart in a preposterous finale. Hurt and Weaver were both just coming off their breakthrough films, ALTERED STATES and ALIEN, so this film was eagerly anticipated. Fortunately, their careers managed to overcome the disappointment. In fact, Hurt and Weaver are the reason for watching this film. For such newcomers (at the time), they not manage to not only not embarrass themselves in such weak material but display a likable screen presence and a subdued chemistry. But the film is padded out with a subplot involving James Woods as a possible murder suspect and his sister (Pamela Reed) who is engaged to Hurt's character that seems unnecessary. With Christopher Plummer, Morgan Freeman, Irene Worth, Steven Hill, Kenneth McMillan and Alice Drummond.

The Flame Of New Orleans (1941)

In 1841 New Orleans, a gold digger (Marlene Dietrich) passes herself off as a Countess in order to snare herself a rich husband. She finds herself one (Roland Young) but a rough river boat captain (Bruce Cabot) catches her fancy. I've never been a fan of Dietrich and with the exception of BLUE ANGEL, I find her movies with Josef von Sternberg rather much although I can see what others see in them. This Rene Clair directed confection on the other hand I find delightful fun and Dietrich appealing. Maybe precisely because it doesn't have the overcooked exoticism of her von Sternberg films, Dietrich doesn't have to try and be the enigmatic woman of mystery or the goddessy femme fatale. She's rather lively here and the twinkle in her eye is refreshing. It's a minor film in the Rene Clair canon but its charm goes a long way and its entertainment value can't be so easily dismissed. The supporting cast consists of some of the best character actors of the era: Anne Revere, Mischa Auer, Franklin Pangborn, Melville Cooper, Laura Hope Crews, Andy Devine, Clarence Muse and the wonderful Theresa Harris.

Man In The Middle (1963)

Set in WWII India, an American Army Lieutenant (Keenan Wynn) walks up to a British Sergeant (Bill Mitchell) and shoots him dead. A Lieutenant Colonel (Robert Mitchum) with some law experience is assigned to defend him. But as he tries to build a defense that his client is mentally unstable, he finds stumbling blocks put in his way from the military brass until he realizes they want to see his client hanged. Based on the novel THE WINSTON AFFAIR by Howard Fast (SPARTACUS) and directed by Guy Hamilton (GOLDFINGER). A potentially interesting script gets a rather routine execution in the hands of director Hamilton. The film never rises above a solid television movie. It might have helped if the conventional romance, Mitchum and an Army nurse played by France Nuyen, had been cut down or even eliminated altogether. What remains is a decent military courtroom thriller where justice finds itself sacrificed to expediency. The brief underscore is by John Barry. With Trevor Howard, Barry Sullivan, Sam Wanamaker and Alexander Knox.  

Latin Lovers (1953)

When a wealthy heiress (Lana Turner) flies to Brazil to pursue her longtime boyfriend (John Lund), she meets a handsome Brazilian (Ricardo Montalban) and becomes smitten with him. But cultural differences and money issues threaten to derail the romance. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, this inconsequential romantic comedy gets the glossy MGM treatment but there's barely anything there! Comedy was never Turner's forte and other than her glamour (dressed to the nines in her Helen Rose wardrobe), she doesn't bring much to the party. Montalban does his usual latin lover bit and Jean Hagen, who the year before had showed what a great comedienne she was in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, is here reduced to the nondescript role of Turner's secretary! It's minimally a musical with more dancing (choreography by Frank Veloz) than songs. For Turner fans only. With Louis Calhern, Rita Moreno, Beulah Bondi, Eduard Franz and Dorothy Neumann who gets the movie's best bits.

Patriots Day (2016)

On April 15, 2013, two homemade pressure cooker bombs exploded during the Boston Marathon. It killed three civilians and injured over 250 people. Two Chechen Islamic terrorists were responsible, one was killed in a shootout with the police and the other caught a few days later. This is a fictionalized account of that day and the days that followed. Directed by Peter Berg, I have some major problems with the film. Mainly, that it takes a horrific and recent tragedy and turns it into a DIE HARD action movie. In 2006, Paul Greengrass directed UNITED 93 which focused on the 9/11 tragedy. But he didn't use any recognizable stars and filmed it in a documentary style. He wasn't milking the tragedy for stand up and cheer applause. PATRIOTS DAY uses a fictional policeman (Mark Wahlberg) at its center but there are so many characters that except for (ironically) the two terrorists (Alex Wolff, Themo Melikidze), there's no time for character development. I cringed at the offensive attempts at humor during some of the scenes. I can respect the film's intentions to honor the first responders, the police and the victims and I applaud that. I can't applaud turning such a recent tragedy into an entertainment for the multiplex. There is one spectacular scene however that stands out and that's when the terrorist's wife (Melissa Benoit) is interrogated by a female detective (Khandi Alexander). It's what I'll carry away from the movie. I suspect I'll be in the minority when this opens during the Christmas holidays. Unless I've miscalculated, this is going to be a big hit. With Kevin Bacon, John Goodman, J.K. Simmons and Michelle Monaghan. 

Gone To Earth (1950)

Set in 1897 Northern England, a half Gypsy girl (Jennifer Jones) with a passion for animals finds herself torn between a cruel aristocrat (David Farrar) and a country minister (Cyril Cusack). Her spirit wants one man while her flesh desires the other man. Based on the 1917 novel by Mary Webb and directed by Michael Powell and Eric Pressburger. Like most of Powell's Technicolor films (RED SHOES, BLACK NARCISSUS, TALES OF HOFFMAN),  this is a real beauty with Christopher Challis (TWO FOR THE ROAD) in charge of the cinematography which was filmed on location in the Shropshire countryside. To be honest, it's not one of Powell and Pressburger's best films but it's far from a failure. Jennifer Jones always had an ethereal "not of this Earth" quality about her which makes her perfect for the wood nymph like country lass who has an affinity for the land and the animal life around her. Her role isn't all that far removed from her Pearl Chavez in DUEL IN THE SUN as there, as here, she fights her dual nature between the "good" Joseph Cotten and the "bad" Gregory Peck. Selznick's husband disliked the film and had it released (2 years later) in America in a re-edited and cut version by almost a half hour and retitled it THE WILD HEART. With Hugh Griffith, George Cole and Sybil Thorndike.

Collateral Beauty (2016)

After his young daughter dies, the head (Will Smith) of an advertising company lets the business slide. His three partners (Kate Winslet, Edward Norton, Michael Pena) hire three actors to play Death (Helen Mirren), Love (Keira Knightley) and Time (Jacob Latimore) to help him through the grieving process. Dreadful! I felt like I was reading platitudes from sympathy cards for 90 minutes! I suppose I should be grateful it wasn't a 2 hour film. Talk about your manipulative, sentimental "new age" (yes, I know it's not the 70s anymore but that term applies here) twaddle! I suppose on paper it might have looked workable which explains how so many good actors got roped in. But director David Frankel's heavy hand hammers home every trite tearjerking phrase as if they were pearls of profundity. It's the first Kate Winslet performance that I could call bad. Can't say the same for Helen Mirren who's been worse but she's pretty crappy here too. No doubt there will be those blubbering by the film's end and accuse we dried eyed cynics as having no heart but it really is godawful! With Naomie Harris, who thankfully has MOONLIGHT this year to be proud of.    

Allied (2016)

During WWII, a British intelligence officer (Brad Pitt) and a French resistance fighter (Marion Cotillard) on a mission in Morocco fall in love. They marry but it isn't long before he suspects that his wife may be, in fact, a German agent. This is a surprisingly good entertainment directed by Robert Zemeckis (DEATH BECOMES HER). There's an old fashioned glamour to the proceedings and with a little tweaking (cut out the sex, the lesbians and the cocaine), I can easily see this as a late 40s Hollywood offering with Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman in the Pitt/Cotillard roles. Zemeckis balances the romantic elements with the thriller elements as well as Hitchcock at his best (though, of course, Zemeckis is no Hitchcock). We all know what a great actress Cotillard is and her performance is suitably ambiguous but she has never seemed more a movie star than here and Pitt, of course, is a bona fide movie star. There are twists and turns and one has to hand it to Zemeckis and screenwriter Steven Knight for not giving us the ending we want (I was bummed) but it's an honest one. With Jared Harris, Simon McBurney and Lizzy Caplan.

Tre Fratelli (aka Three Brothers) (1981)

When their mother passes away, three brothers return to the family country home in Southern Italy to console their father (Charles Vanel) and bury their mother. Each of the brothers have found a different calling in life: a judge (Philippe Noiret), a social worker (Vittorio Mezzogiorno) working with juvenile delinquents and a factory worker (Michele Placido) involved in a labor dispute. Directed by Francesco Rosi (HANDS OVER THE CITY), on the surface the film may seem like an intimate look at the dynamics of a country family split by an encroaching urban lifestyle and it is that, too. But it's a really a political film as all three brothers are part of a changing political landscape in modern Italy. Noiret's judge must deal with a domestic terrorism that respects no life if it can't further its cause, Mezzogiorno's religious social worker must deal with an apathetic society which turns its back on its children and Placido is torn between justice for the working man and to what lengths does one go to to achieve that justice. Rosi balances everything beautifully as he's ably assisted by Pasqualino De Santis' (DEATH IN VENICE) carefully crafted cinematography and a rich but subtle underscore by Piero Piccioni. With Andrea Ferreol and Simonetta Stefanelli (THE GODFATHER).  

Man In The Dark (1953)

A criminal (Edmond O'Brien), who's stolen $130,000, undergoes surgery to remove his criminal tendencies. The surgery works but it totally removes his memory of his previous life. When his old gang kidnap him and demand to know what he did with the money, he truly doesn't know! Directed by Lew Landers (1935's THE RAVEN), this was originally filmed in 3D. I'm not a fan of 3D but I suppose the film might have played better with the novelty of having things shoved in your face or getting run over by a rollercoaster. Without the gimmick of 3D, it's just a passable programmer. The most interesting aspect of the film (outside of the 3D) is how dreams are used to solve the mystery of what happened to the stolen money. The film itself is a remake of a 1936 Ralph Bellamy movie called THE MAN WHO LIVED TWICE which I've never seen. The film was a rush job (shot in 11 days) to cash in on the 3D craze and it feels like it. If only a little more time had been spent on the script, it might have stood on its own legs without 3D like HONDO or HOUSE OF WAX. With Audrey Totter as O'Brien's moll, Ted De Corsia, Horace McMahon and Nick Dennis.

The Comedian (2016)

A washed up stand up comedian (Robert De Niro) is recently released from prison for assaulting a heckler in a comedy club. As he attempts to revitalize his career, he also has to still do community service at a soup kitchen where he meets a troubled young woman (Leslie Mann) who will have a profound effect on his life. Directed by Taylor Hackford (DOLORES CLAIBORNE), the good news is that this is De Niro's best performance in years. After too often coasting on his reputation in movies not worthy of him, he's got a juicy role that he jumps in fully committed. The bad news is that the film itself isn't very good. As an actor, De Niro has good comic timing which he displays here in the film proper. But he doesn't have a stand up's comic timing which is a different thing and when he's onstage doing stand up, he doesn't feel authentic especially when he's surrounded with real working stand up comics doing their act. The film's highlight is a Jewish lesbian wedding and if the rest of the film were on that level, this would have been a terrific film. But it's still worth checking out to see De Niro back in top form. The massive supporting cast is wonderful and includes Harvey Keitel, Danny DeVito, Edie Falco, Billy Crystal, Charles Grodin, Cloris Leachman (very good), Patti LuPone, Lois Smith (wasted), Jimmie Walker and Brett Butler. 

A Night At The Opera (1935)

A shyster (Groucho Marx) talks a wealthy social climber (Margaret Dumont) into investing in an opera company and thus paving her way into society. Directed by Sam Wood (GOODBYE MR. CHIPS), this is my favorite Marx Brothers comedy. I love Groucho and he's pure gold here. I'm less enthusiastic about the antics of his brothers, Chico and Harpo. Harpo's mime act has always seemed too precious to me and Chico overworks the Italian accent. But they're less offensive here than usual. The big flies in the ointment are the two juvenile romantic leads, Allan Jones and Kitty Carlisle who also sing and their musical interludes drag the movie down. But in the end, it's a small price to pay for Groucho's zingers and such classic scenes as the jammed stateroom aboard ship (which has been borrowed endlessly) and the hilarious hotel room sequences. You may never view grand opera the same way again! The film is a significant change from their Paramount period which many fans prefer. With Sig Ruman and Robert Emmett O'Connor.