100 Rifles (1969)

When an Arizona lawman (Jim Brown) crosses the border to Mexico in search of a bank robber (Burt Reynolds), he reluctantly finds himself in a local war between the Mexican military and the repressed Yaqui Indians. Based on the novel THE CALIFORNIO by Robert MacLeod and directed by Tom Gries (WILL PENNY). I enjoyed this western more than I probably should have. The acting is pretty weak (Brown is stone faced, Raquel Welch has a dreadful Spanish accent and Reynolds is about an Indian as Max Von Sydow) but it's crammed with action and moves nicely along though the ending is pretty much a fizzle. It does what it set out to do which is more than many movies can say and though its aims are low, it accomplishes them. Spain does a nice job standing in for Mexico and there's a rousing score by Jerry Goldsmith. With Fernando Lamas, Dan O'Herlihy, Eric Braeden and Soldedad Miranda.

Against All Flags (1952)

A British naval officer (Errol Flynn) volunteers to infiltrate a pirate base on the coast of Madagascar. Once there, he must deal with a fiery pirate queen (Maureen O'Hara) who is attracted to him and the ruthless pirate (Anthony Quinn) who desires her for his own. Directed by George Sherman (with a little assistance from Douglas Sirk). This is a typical Universal 1950s B programmer that is notable for the pairing and star power of swashbuckler stars Flynn and O'Hara in their only film together. If it had starred, say Lex Barker and Patricia Medina, I doubt we'd be paying much attention to it. It's a far cry from Flynn's Warners heyday and for a pirate adventure, it's curiously landlocked for most its running time. But on its own terms, it's enjoyable and even O'Hara gets a chance to display her sword skills. Remade in 1967 as THE KING'S PIRATE. With Mildred Natwick and Alice Kelley. 

The Mummy's Tomb (1942)

Thirty years after a group of archaeologists discovered and entered the tomb of an Egyptian princess, a mummy (Lon Chaney Jr.) is revived and sent to the U.S. along with his protector (Turhan Bey) to seek vengeance on the surviving expedition members and their spawn. The third film in the Universal Mummy franchise following THE MUMMY (1932) and THE MUMMY'S HAND (1940) and directed by Harold Young. Watching this, I kept thinking "Haven't I seen this already?" and yes because its plot has been more or less recycled in just about every Mummy movie. This one is only an hour long yet ten minutes are spent on flashbacks of THE MUMMY'S HAND for exposition. Although HAND was released only two years before TOMB, this entry begins thirty years later so we get the stars of HAND (Dick Foran, Wallace Ford, George Zucco) in old age make up. The movie is slapdash without much thought going into it. For example, when the mummy kidnaps Elyse Knox and is cornered on a balcony, the townspeople start throwing lit torches at him to set him and/or his surrounding on fire. Excuse me but what about the girl, don't the townspeople want to save her or do they care if she burns in the fire too? But this is the kind of mindless horror where it's best not to actually think about what's going on. With John Hubbard, Mary Gordon, Cliff Clark and Virginia Brissac. 

The Rover (aka L'Avventuriero) (1967)

In the aftermath of the French revolution, a notorious pirate (Anthony Quinn) returns to France to seek a life of peace. But he finds himself a wanted man and flees to an isolated seacoast village for sanctuary. But it is there that he finds an emotionally fragile and disturbed young woman (Rosanna Schiaffino), who lives with her Aunt (Rita Hayworth), and he wonders if this girl might be his salvation. Based on the novel by Joseph Conrad and directed by Terence Young (FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE). I've not read the Conrad source material so I don't know how close the film follows the book but I suspect not very much. The film's narrative is often confusing. I still don't quite understand the cause of Schiaffino's breakdown even after we're shown a flashback that is supposed to explain everything. What we're left with is a muddled adventure with a love triangle (Richard Johnson is the third) that is unsatisfactory. The attractive Italian coastal exteriors are handsomely shot by Leonida Barboni (DIVORCE ITALIAN STYLE) and there's an effective score by Ennio Morricone. With Luciano Rossi, Anthony Dawson (DIAL M FOR MURDER) and Ivo Garrani. 

Tonari No Totoro (aka My Neighbor Totoro) (1988)

A university professor (Shigesato Itoi) and his two daughters (Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto) move to a rural area outside Tokyo to be closer to their mother (Sumi Shimamoto) who is in the hospital recovering from a long term illness. One day in the nearby forest, the youngest daughter (Sakamoto) discovers a huge furry creature she names Totoro. Written and directed by the masterful Hayao Miyazaki, this is an absolutely adorable piece of animated fantasy. As one expects from a Miyazaki film, the animation is gorgeous. Vivid and vibrant with both fantastical and realistic elements effortlessly coexisting. The child Mei (Sakamoto) is the most precious of Miyazaki's child characters. It's a touching slice of tenderness that celebrates the innocence of childhood as well as the bond between siblings. Apparently in Japan, the character of Totoro is well known so it plays differently to western audiences. I watched the original Japanese language version but there is an English dub with the Fanning sisters, Dakota and Elle voicing the two young sisters. As usual, a lovely underscore by Joe Hisaishi.     

The Lair Of The White Worm (1988)

Set in the English midlands, an archaeology student (Peter Capaldi) unearths the skull of a strange unidentifiable creature. Shortly after, the mysterious Lady Marsh (Amanda Donohoe) returns to her stately manor and suddenly strange things begin to occur. Very loosely based on the novel by Bram Stoker (DRACULA) and directed by Ken Russell (THE DEVILS). Ken Russell is cinema's most notable enfant terrible and this outrageous horror comedy couldn't have come from anybody else. Like all good horror comedies, Russell balances the laughs with the chills. Most of the cast play it straight which leaves Donohoe's snake priestess to provide the camp humor. The reviews were mixed when it opened and I'm not sure that the critics understood that this was a comedy. The snake monster is laughably fake (which I'm sure was Russell's intention) and Russell's outrageous sense of humor pops up in the most unexpected places like when Catherine Oxenberg's virgin is stripped down to her underwear for a human sacrifice yet she's wearing the ugliest grandma panties imaginable. If you like your horror movies dead serious, skip this but if like laughs along with your scares, you should find much to enjoy here. With Hugh Grant, Sammi Davis, Paul Brooke and Stratford Johns.   

The Limping Man (1953)

An American (Lloyd Bridges) flies to London to reunite with the woman (Moira Lister) he fell in love with when stationed in London during WWII. But as he disembarks from the plane, a fellow passenger next to him is shot by a sniper. Is it just a coincidence that the dead man was involved with the woman he's going to meet? Based on the novel DEATH ON THE TIDEWAY by Anthony Verney and directed by Cy Endfield (ZULU). This is a minor thriller with heavy noir-ish elements that's a serviceable entertainment. However, the whole thing is spoiled by the cheat of an ending which renders everything that came before it a joke. I suppose in 1953 it was considered clever (although the device had already been used more than once) but now, it's just irritating. It was nice seeing Rachel Roberts (SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING) as a barmaid and Jean Marsh (UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS) as the landlady's daughter so early in their careers before each moved to bigger and better things. If only the film's last minute were eliminated! With Alan Wheatley, Leslie Phillips and Helene Cordet.

Duets (2000)

A group of disparate characters with an interest in karaoke ultimately find themselves in an Omaha, Nebraska karaoke tournament with a $5,000 prize. Among them: a hustler (Huey Lewis) who's just connected with the daughter (Gwyneth Paltrow) he never knew he had, a salesman (Paul Giamatti) who has a nervous breakdown and is high on meds, an ex-convict (Andre Braugher) just out of prison, a cab driver (Scott Speedman) and a promiscuous drifter (Maria Bello) who depends on karaoke winnings to survive. Directed by Bruce Paltrow (Gwyneth's father). I almost never use the term guilty pleasure because I feel no guilt about enjoying any kind of movie but if I did, DUETS would definitely be a guilty pleasure. I know it's not a great movie and I really should have some contempt for it but it's irresistible in its pull. With one exception, the performances are all solid and the musical sequences are very good too. Notably, a lovely duet on Smokey Robinson's Cruisin' by Paltrow and Lewis. The one erratic performance is by Giamatti who can't seem to stop Acting all over the place. In his scenes with Braugher, Braugher blows him out of the water by giving a natural performance while Giamatti is Overacting with a capital O. All the actors do their own singing (and very well too) except for Braugher who is dubbed. With Angie Dickinson, Maya Rudolph, Michael Buble, Marian Seldes and John Pinette.

Le Crime De Monsieur Lange (1936)

The crude owner (Jules Berry) of a publishing company owes a great deal of creditors. When the opportunity presents itself, he fakes his own death to avoid them. However, when his struggling publishing company is taken over by his employees after his "death", it becomes an enormous success, mostly due to the Arizona Jim stories written by Monsieur Lange (Rene Lefevre). His greed gets the better of him and he decides to return and claim the profits. Directed by Jean Renoir, this is one of his lesser known but no less excellent films. Obviously the film has a leftist leaning to it with the magazine's employees banding together as a collective to make the magazine a success and share in the profits. But in spite of the film's deadly outcome, there's a great deal of grace and wit in it. It's a film that could never have been made in Hollywood at the time, not only because of its leftist leanings but the film's protagonist would have to be punished for his "crime" according to the production code in power in 1936. With Florelle, Nadia Sibirskaia, Maurice Baquet, Sylvia Bataille and Marcel Levesque. 

The Bride (1985)

A scientist (Sting) creates a woman (Jennifer Beals) for the male creature (Clancy Brown) he has made from various body parts from corpses. But when his female creation turns out to be perfect and beautiful, he has second thoughts about giving her to the creature and decides to create a "new" woman, one who will be the equal of men. Directed by Franc Roddam (QUADROPHENIA), this reimagining of the 1935 BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN was a failure upon its initial release but plays far better today than it did then. I think audiences and critics were expecting a horror film and while the horror trappings are definitely there, the film has more of a feminist dynamic. The patriarchal father figure as exemplified by Sting's Frankenstein and the woman he has literally created who simply will not be ruled or owned. But the film's heart is actually elsewhere in the relationship between the clever dwarf (David Rappaport) and the childlike hulk that is Brown's creature (he's definitely not a monster in the sense of the Universal Frankensteins). An imperfect movie but an engrossing one. There's a beautiful underscore by Maurice Jarre. With Geraldine Page, Anthony Higgins, Cary Elwes, Phil Daniels, Timothy Spall, Alexei Sayle and Veruschka Von Lehndorff.

Broadway Bound (1992)

Set in 1948, an aspiring writer (Corey Parker) and his brother (Jonathan Silverman) use their family as fodder for their writing. Based on the Broadway play by Neil Simon (who also wrote the screenplay) and directed by Paul Bogart (TORCH SONG TRILOGY). What's surprising about Simon's play is how almost nominal the laughs are. There are the typical rapidly fired Neil Simon quips and wisecracks but at the film's core is a rather poignant story of a family disintegrating. The father (Jerry Orbach) leaves the mother (Anne Bancroft), the grandfather (Hume Cronyn) finally stops resisting and moves to Florida and the boys move out and go on with their own lives. The "laughs" almost seem to be there to mask the pain. At times, the acting seems very broad and reminiscent of stage acting. But the film has two powerful moments, both courtesy of its actresses. Bancroft has a beautifully played scene where she recalls the night she danced with George Raft and you're reminded of why she was considered one of the best actresses of her generation. The other performance comes from Michele Lee as Bancroft's sister who confronts her father (Cronyn) about his lack of affection and coldness toward her. It's not one of Simon's best efforts but Bancroft and Lee make it seem special.

Mr. Ace (1946)

An ambitious congresswoman (Sylvia Sidney) connives to lure a political boss (George Raft) into giving his help to get her elected. But he's not convinced a woman can be elected governor or should even be in politics. Directed by Edwin L. Marin (TALL IN THE SADDLE), the film is terribly dated in its sexist attitude toward women in politics. Sylvia Sidney's political ambition is deemed unnatural for a woman and Raft even says she's too beautiful for politics. The film's barely subtle subtext seems to be that only when she surrenders to love will she become a "real" woman. Of course, if her character were a male, her ambitions would be admirable. If one can put that all aside, it's actually a fairly entertaining movie with a look at societal attitudes toward female politicians. Raft gives his usual enervated performance which puts the burden on Sidney to carry the picture which she does nicely. With Stanley Ridges, Sara Haden and Jerome Cowan.