TO SIR, WITH LOVE (GB 1967) movie *** score ***1/2

Familiar BLACKBOARD JUNGLE drama from Australian writer/producer/director James Clavell (THE FLY, THE GREAT ESCAPE and SHOGUN).

Sidney Poitier stars as a British Guyanean newly arrived at a school for ‘problem kids’ in London’s East End. As one may have guessed, the movie traces Poitier’s gradual taming of the unruly children and the respect that he eventually wins.

A nicely made movie with a rich East End atmosphere and a typically outstanding performance from Poitier as the British South American teacher. A fine guitar-led score from Ron Grainer also features several songs performed by Lulu. Geoffrey Bayldon, Patricia Routledge and Christopher Chittell (Eric Pollard from Emerdale) appear in supporting roles.

Years ahead of its time, TO SIR, WITH LOVE serves as a pioneering beacon of political-correctness that also manages to impart a few truisms. One lovely bit had a couple of the teachers having a go at the Americans because the President didn’t show up for Churchill’s funeral. Poitier’s fabulous response was, "You’ve gotta give the Americans some slack….they haven’t had as much practice at running the world as the British".

Being a garbageman, one moment in the film had me in stitches. Poitier admonished one of his scruffy pupils by saying, "I’ve seen garbage collectors who are cleaner than you!".

Both CRACK IN THE WORLD and TO SIR, WITH LOVE were videotaped owing to the time of the day at which they were broadcast.

Unless there is a movie on live, a decision has to be made as to which videotaped movie the family is to view. Because there are seventeen (soon to be eighteen) of us living at West Heath Farm, I have decided that the best method of choosing the next movie to watch is to draw for it.

Although it is rare for all seventeen of us to view a movie at the same time, before the ‘lucky-dip’ system was put into operation, much time was wasted discussing and sometimes arguing over which movie to watch.

When a movie is taped, its title is written on a specially designed slip of paper (each slip is identical and has a self-adhesive strip, so as to prevent cheating). The slip of paper is dropped into a gold-plated chamber-pot, and one hour before viewing each movie (not one minute less), the draw is made by the youngest member of the household who intends to view the movie at hand. This allows enough time for the videotape in question to be removed from the locked cellar-vault, and placed in the machine in readiness for viewing. In addition, food and drink can be made ready, though the popcorn didn’t go down too well on viewing Goldblum’s doughnut-feast during THE FLY.

Many of the farm’s numerous outbuildings have been converted into self-contained leisure units, such as a billiards room, observatory, bar, model railway room, indoor Koi-Carp breeding station, pool room, gallery for the display of my stamp, bus timetable and coin collections and various paintings and antiquities and other collections, guest accommodation and also a specially designed home-cinema with 55 inch wide-screen digital television and satellite system, complete with 11 speaker dolby pro-logic surround-sound with luxury seating for twenty-five people – that’s where we view the movies that I talk about at this message-board.

I hope that helps to answer your question Timmer.

MIX ME A PERSON (GB 1962) movie **1/2 score ***

Entertaining mystery thriller with likeable, but rather dated pop music asides.

Leading lawyer Donald Sinden is romancing psychiatrist Anne Baxter, who becomes interested in his latest case that has Sinden defending Adam Faith who is charged with murdering a cop. Baxter interviews the incarcerated Faith, and gradually comes to realize that someone else was responsible for the murder of the policeman (Russell Napier).

The stalwart supporting cast includes Nigel Davenport, Jack McGowran, Alfred Burke and Glyn Houston, amongst many others, and Baxter herself is excellent in the lead-role. Plenty of music from Adam Faith, arranged by John Barry under the directorship of the ubiquitous Muir Mathieson. Barry Norman’s father, Leslie, directs with some assurance.

An interesting mixture of mystery and music.

INFERNO (US 1998) movie ** score ***

Mildly entertaining tale of a solar anomaly and its effect on LA.

What this film badly needed was a strong central character – as it is, the movie is like a composite of elements of many movies, with little to bind the many plot-strands together except for the impending disaster itself – and the effects are surprisingly rather poor. Rather than list the genres and sub-genres that this movie includes, it may be quicker to list the genre-groups that INFERNO does not contain. Anyhow, we have a disaster movie - a Baywatch-style surf and sand plot-strand - romantic drama - social drama involving a TO SIR, WITH LOVE/BLACKBOARD JUNGLE styled teacher/pupil conflict that ends with the greatest of mutual respect – medical drama, complete with ER-type characters and stock situations – action thriller, including an explosive shootout between the army and a criminal gang – psycho thriller, involving an obsessed stalker – crime drama, including the robbing of a bank by blasting a hole in the building with a stolen cannon – and numerous other plot-strands and sub-genres that are crammed into the movie’s 90-minute running time.

Joel Goldsmith provides a fairly routine score that serves the movie well enough. It’s strictly by-the-numbers, with ominous orchestral rumblings and ethereal string-figures for the approaching solar-storm, slick electronic percussion for the medical drama zone of the movie, heavy military bombast for the army’s manoeuvrings, heavy rock percussion and electric guitar for the seedy crooks, cool jazz piano for the occasional romantic moments, smooth French horn and string passages for those ‘human’ moments, nifty electronic percussion with essence of samba for the Baywatch scenes – but all of it is pretty ordinary – but at least this Goldsmith uses instrumental forces and stylistics appropriate to the movie, and scene, in hand – unlike his father.

Titus: Again, some wonderfully disturbing imagery from Julie Taymor and the Bard. The music was amazing and Shakespeare in almost any form is fascinating. In many parts there was a great sense of nightmarishness. I didn't see what the film was really about until Anthony Hopkins showed up dressed as a chef .

X-Men: Yes, I finally saw it. Not much to say except don't change anything for the sequels except the pushy producers who got Michael Kamen the scoring job. Viv Le John Ottman!!!

quote:

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Originally posted by J. Peter Wolk-Laniewski:
Observer:
No, you're not the only one who liked The Cell. My sister and I both found it very entertaining. Tarsem has been bashed as of late by critics who accuse him of being "another one of those MTV/Commercial filmmakers who try to blow us away with visuals." I feel I should point something out. While there were eye-popping visuals in The Cell, I thought Singh displayed remarkable control as a director. Everything was paced and edited very patiently and according to the story. Never once did it feel like he was trying unnaturally excite his audience with hyper camera movements or editing, a la Michael Bay. Instead, he went more for the quiet, creepy moments that convey the disturbing nature of the material. And he got a pretty decent performance out of Jennifer Lopez, so kudos to him on all fronts.

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Glad I'm not the only one!
Another criticism I hear is of the "empty eye-candy". I don't think it's that; the visuals represent the psyche of the person. For example the little boy who was into a coma. He resides in a desert, with barren trees and a boat. Later in the movie though, Catherine finds out what happened to the boy, before he went into a coma he saw seals being killed. This explains the absense of water and the refusal to go sailing. In Carl's mind, the surroundings are decaying and mechanized, the dark, destroyed structures in Carl's mind represent his severley damaged psyche. "The Cell" has a theme going on: how the human mind is shaped by surroundings and experiences and what it results in.
A post I like that explains some of the other imagery in the Cell is here:
http://aintitcool.com/tb_display.cgi?id=6745#196853 .

And now back to your regularly scheduled reviews.

THE MAN FROM LARAMIE (US 1955) movie **** score ****

Superb Western/thriller – one of the best – has James Stewart desperate to uncover the mystery surrounding his brother’s death at the hands of the Apache in New Mexico.

Remarkably assured pacing, brilliant scoring from George Duning (with an excellent and famous title song (though not by Duning)), a very good script, and a great cast, combine to create a Western classic that has withstood the test of time.

Donald Crisp (75 but still commanding) is particularly good as the dominant ranch-boss with the wayward ‘gun-running’ son – the plot may sound familiar, and it is, but THE MAN FROM LARAMIE is a superior and unusual entertainment.

HALLOWEEN IV: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS (US 1988) movie *** score ***

Good series entry has Myers escaping from a secure unit and returning to his hometown, this time to butcher his pre-teens niece.

This movie had everything one could ask for - good production values, some effective shocks, a refreshingly intelligent script, excellent casting, plenty of humour and a relentless pace – the sort of movie that all of the family can enjoy. It’s also somewhat better than the rather parsimonious H20, that had far too many red-herrings and far too little action.

HALLOWEEN 4 is on a bigger scale than usual, rather like FRIDAY 13TH PART VIII: JASON TAKES MANHATTON, complete with exploding filling stations, rampaging lynch-mobs and annihilated police stations.

The movie was further bolstered by Donald Pleasence’s commanding presence, here dominating the movie as Dr Loomis. Thanks to the good script, Pleasence is able to turn in a particularly effective performance – indeed, the whole cast are is uniformly excellent. And this time the emphasis is not just on the likeable and promiscuous teenagers, but more on the little girl’s plight, the Loomis character and many of the townspeople. Carpenter’s excellent ‘Halloween Theme’ is given a good airing also.

A fine and likeable entertainment that will appeal to all age-groups within the family.

And the movie’s twist ending is the crème de la crème of cinematic climaxes.

THE MARSEILLES CONTRACT (GB 1974) movie ** score *

Despite the presence of three heavyweight stars, THE MARSEILLES CONTRACT is a rather low-key affair.

The story involves US drug-cop Anthony Quinn hiring likeable English hitman Michael Caine to assassinate the seemingly unassailable French drugs baron James Mason. Events take place in a beautifully photographed Paris and Marseilles, but it’s all pretty obvious and familiar fare.

Some of the action scenes are particularly incompetently handled, as Caine lumbers around with all the finesse of an arthritic Purple Barney and yet still manages to elude his pursuers with the superhuman agility of Michael Myers. As well as that, many of the 70s outfits are particularly amusing, and Roy Budd’s score is a complete mess.

The Passion of Joan of Arc (Four Stars)
An astonishingly brilliant film from beginning to end, highlighted by a performance by Falconetti that is so powerful, it's possible to get teary-eyed just by looking into her eyes.

This is the only sight-unseen silent movie I've ever purchased, and had apprehensions at first. But, after reading unending praise for the Criterion Collection DVD version of it, I ordered it. I was not dissapointed.

One of the most incredible things about this film is Dreyer's inventive direction, which employs, for the first time, a number of shots which have become staples in todays cinema, as well as numerous peices of symbolism that seems almost out of place in a film made in the conservative late-20's. A shot of maggots writhing in a deteriorating skull is just as powerful in a silent film as it is in a modern day one, but it's all the more shocking to find it here.

One of my favorite shots in the film is when a priest with false intensions passes over a shadow of a cross on the floor while speaking with and reassuring Joan. As he passes over it, it fades away. A great shot.

For a film as old as this one is, the picture quality of this newly-remastered DVD is astonishing. It's simply the best looking pre-30's film I've ever seen, which is fitting, since it's not only one of the best pre-30's films, but one of the greatest achievements in the history of cinema. Everyone should see this DVD. If you don't own a DVD player, find a copy of it somehow on VHS, or buy a DVD player. It's totally worth it.

The Seventh Seal (Four Stars)
This is one of Ingmar Bergman's defining masterpeices...not only because of his inventive direction, but becuase Bergman had the guts to make a film that doesn't hide behind pretentious or overwrought symbolism like so many foreign films from that time-period, but instead proclaims it's ideas in a clear voice.

The Seventh Seal also contains one of my favorite scenes in cinema, in which the flagellants pass through the village, beating themselves and moaning for redemption. A powerful, resonant scene. Everyone who loves film owes it to themselves to see this film....over and over again.

The Cell (Three Stars)
Were I judging solely on visual impact, this film would be at least a half/star higher. But, bad plot and acting always seems to get in the way of artistic expression, and it's no different here.

In actuality, I would have liked to see more of the surrealistic landscapes of the killer's mind, and less of the uninteresting characters on the outside of it. Everything appears more interesting when thrust into a Dali-esque nightmare world

SON OF SINBAD (US 1955) movie * score **1/2

Old Baghdad has never looked so phoney – playing the titular hero, Dale Robertson merely comes across as a thick Anglo-Scottish Texican, magically transported the 7000 miles from the civilized confines of the Southern State – all that was missing was the stetson.

ADOLF HITLER – MY PART IN HIS DOWNFALL (GB 1972) movie * score n/a

Remarkably unfunny farce chronicling Jim Dale’s entrance into WWII.

THE SHE-BEAST (Italy/Yugoslavia 1966) movie ½ score *

I wouldn’t be surprised if the contents of my granddaughter’s piggybank adds up to more than this movie’s budget.

Short-lived debutante British director Michael Reeves showed none of the directorial flair on display in WITCHFINDER GENERAL with this cheap and witless tale that involves the spirit of an ancient witch exacting revenge on the descendants of her executioners in remote Transylvania.

MIRACLE IN SOHO (GB 1957) movie ** score ***

Initially promising tale of everyday life in one of London’s most cosmopolitan boroughs quickly descends into tedium.

RAID ON ROMMEL (US 1971) movie **1/2 score **

Not brilliant, but somewhat underrated wartime adventure involving a crack British team operating behind enemy lines in Libya. The first half of the movie is fine, with Richard Burton in good form as the leader of the British team, Wolfgang Preiss also excellent as Rommel, and a welcome dosage of humour amongst the action.

Unfortunately, the final third is rather fuddled and relies too heavily on stock footage.

THE SECRET INVASION (US 1964) movie * score **

Third-rate Roger Corman war movie plays like one of this director’s funereally paced ‘horror’ movies, complete with garish colour and shoddy production values. Despite the change of genre, Corman’s stamp of movie-making ineptitude is plastered all over this wretched production.

The DIRTY DOZENesque story involves the British sending in a team of specialist saboteurs behind German lines in The Balkans. Stewart Granger leads the party that is comprised of convicted criminals with specialist skills. The motley collection includes Raf Vallone, Mickey Rooney and Henry Silva.

GOVERNMENT GIRL (US 1943) movie *1/2 score ***

WRONGFULLY ACCUSED (US 1998) movie ** score ***

Irish terrorists plan to assassinate Nato’s British Secretary-General, and only Leslie Nielsen can stop them.

Very childish and largely unfunny spoof of THE FUGITIVE (and others) has a sadly past-it Nielsen struggling to keep a straight face.

Still, the movie moves along at a breakneck pace, so most of the really unfunny bits (and there are lots of them) are quickly forgotten as Nielsen struggles to evade Richard Crenna’s dogged US Marshal (a not altogether successful imitation of Tommy Lee Jones), having been ‘wrongfully accused’ of murdering Michael York.

KING OF THE ROARING TWENTIES (US 1961) movie **1/2 score ***

Curious and largely fictionalized story of one of New York’s most famous gamblers – Arnold Rothstein.

David Janssen is all wrong as Rothstein, and though the movie is interesting, it lacks a certain flavour and bite. A great cast is on show including, Mickey Rooney, Jack Carson, Joseph Schildkraut, Dan O’Herlihy, William Demarest, Keenan Wynn and many others.

GHOST STORY (US 1981) movie ** score *****

My nephew recently picked-up this video at a garage-sale for 50 pennies – and that’s about all it’s worth.

When I watched this movie for the first time back on February 5th 1985, I rated it **1/2 – watching it again fifteen years on, the movie has not improved with age, and now merely serves as a model of poor early-80s moviemaking in much the same way as the majority of 60s and 70s cinema is now defunct, dated, outmoded, and simply bettered.

Having said that, GHOST STORY is a bit of an oddity, and the very fact it was made when it was is quite surprising. It was a nice try – but plainly a failure. The book on which the movie is based is allegedly pretty good though.

To me, GHOST STORY is notable for one reason only – Philippe Sarde’s wonderful score – one of my top-ten favourite film-scores of all time. If the movie itself had matched the quality of Sarde’s incredibly evocative scoring, a cinematic masterpiece may have been the result – as it is, GHOST STORY is unconvincing, ordinary and stilted, though the wintry New England locations are magnificently captured, and certain individual scenes are extremely atmospheric – and not just because of the music.

The story involves the ghost of a young woman seeking vengeance on the four old men who in their youth had been responsible for her death.

The cast includes such legends-of-cinema as Fred Astaire, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, John Houseman and Patricia Neal – though only Neal and Houseman are at all effective. A well-cast Alice Krige plays the rotting spectre.

This movie’s story had enormous potential, but of all of the moviemaking talent involved with GHOST STORY, only Sarde came anywhere near realizing it. His score is lush, romantic, sumptuous, eerie, evocative, atmospheric, powerful – and much more besides. It is a musical work of great contrasts – the icy bleakness of the Vermont winter is contrasted strikingly with the mellow summer days that feature in the lengthy flash-back sequences – in the same way, the cold reality of life for the ageing New Englanders is contrasted with the carefree innocence of youth as seen in the flashbacks – Sarde’s magnificent score captures these contrasts to perfection, and yet the composer still creates a thematically unified and cohesive work.

The opening credits sequence is mesmerizing – the visuals are simple, with an interesting representation of Krige’s watery grave – but it is the music that captures the imagination, beginning with a powerful statement and variation of the main theme for full orchestra and organ, the music then subsides momentarily before all manner of tinkling percussive effects are brought about by xylophone, triangle and celeste that musically describe the movie’s wintry setting – the music then shifts mood again, as initially halting strings herald a gorgeous and sublime waltz that is the main theme. The music here is warm and yet somehow ominous, beautiful and yet bittersweet – there is a character of duality in the music that is constant throughout the score. Whether we are hearing the warm woodwind and string phrases of the summery flashbacks, or the eerie, icy and almost skeletal tinkling of the xylophone, the music is always mysterious and enigmatic, with the ultra-romantic main theme binding the whole work together.