Not-So-Fresh New Releases #3

As we head towards the fall movie season, historically the time of the year when the most interesting and high-quality films are released, I'm looking forward to going out to the movies again. The films currently in theaters just haven't captured my interest, and according to the Rotten Tomatoes ratings, they haven't impressed the critics either. So I've picked out a few of these not-so-fresh new releases and devised some alternate viewing choices. All the recommended films are available on video, so you can save yourself the price of a movie ticket and support your local video store instead.

The American - 62% freshness rating

• Many aspects of this film starring George Clooney as a solitary assassin, from the poster art to the deliberate pacing, have inspired comparisons to politically-themed thrillers from the 1970s. I know I immediately thought of The Day of the Jackal (1973). Not to be confused with its inferior 1997 remake The Jackal, this methodical thriller follows the man hired to assassinate French president Charles DeGaulle, as well as the policeman on the killer's trail.
• Another obvious point of comparison for The American is the French film Le Samourai (1967), directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. An even-more-handsome-than-Clooney Alain Delon stars in this character portrait of a hit man who may have made a fatal mistake. This film is slowly-paced and unafraid of silence, but it is not boring. It elegantly captures the isolation of a lone gunman.

The Virginity Hit - 50% freshness rating

• Finally, the faux-documentary version of American Pie that we've all been asking for! What, you didn't ask for that? Yeah, me neither. The Virginity Hit follows a teenage boy in his increasingly adventurous attempts to lose his virginity; this topic seems especially stale since some guy desperately trying to have sex has been a plot point in nearly every teen comedy since the '80s. So, let's look back to that decade and watch Rob Reiner's film The Sure Thing (1985), a teen comedy that is ostensibly about sex, but is actually a love story in the tradition of It Happened One Night.
• For a more cautionary take on the subject, go back even further to 1961's Splendor in the Grass. Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty star as teens whose lives are ruined by his desire for pre-marital sex - and some seriously questionable fatherly advice.

Going The Distance - 51% freshness rating

• In Going the Distance, Drew Barrymore and Justin Long employ various means of communication to conduct a long-distance relationship. If you want to see a relationship with serious distance issues, just watch the romantic musical

Brigadoon (1954). Gene Kelly lives in New York, Cyd Charisse lives in Scotland...in a village which appears for one day every 100 years. It's going to take more than a plane ticket to keep these two together.

Commercials for Going the Distance have featured scenes of Barrymore and Long attempting some awkward phone-sex. 1959's Pillow Talk makes witty use of double entendre and a split-screen to create sexual tension during Doris Day and Rock Hudson's phone conversations.

Takers - 30% freshness rating

• I love a good heist movie, but, sheesh, even the title of this film is idiotic. It seems like this film wants to be Ocean's Eleven for a slightly younger generation. Steven Soderbergh's 2001 film, starring George Clooney as suave thief Danny Ocean, is stylish, sophisticated, and clever. Takers has Hayden Christensen in a porkpie hat. Which would you rather watch?
• I'd also like to recommend another Melville film starring Alain Delon, Le Cercle Rouge (1970). Look no further for a truly cool, suspenseful heist picture.
  

For more rental recommendations, check out my previous posts: Not-So-Fresh New Releases and Not-So-Fresh New Releases #2.

Classic Movie Picks: September

Each month, I scour the Turner Classic Movies Now Playing guide for upcoming films that I can't miss. The highlights are posted here for your reading and viewing pleasure! (All listed times are Eastern Standard, check your local listings or TCM.com for actual air times in your area. Each day's schedule begins at 6:00 a.m.; if a film airs between midnight and 6 a.m. it is listed on the previous day's programming schedule.)

9/2, 1 AM: The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)
Alexandre Dumas's popular revenge tale, The Count of Monte Cristo, has been filmed many times and even inspired a sandwich (unconfirmed). I can remember watching a commercial for the lackluster 2002 fim adaptation, after which my father said, "I have the feeling that no one is excited about this movie." I cannot say the same of the 1934 version airing tonight and featuring Robert Donat as the title character. I'm looking forward to it because I recently read the book and was pleasantly surprised by its quick pace and intricate plotting, and leading man Donat has my undying affection due to Goodbye, Mr. Chips. The film is part of a month-long spotlight on revenge films. Tune in Thursdays for more films in the series.

9/6, 8 PM: Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
After Leo McCarey won the best director Oscar for 1937's classic screwball comedy The Awful Truth, he claimed that the Academy had rewarded him for the wrong film. The "correct" film, according to McCarey, was Make Way for Tomorrow, a drama dealing with the struggles of an older couple during the Depression. If you've seen previous classic pick Tokyo Story, you may recognize similarities between the two films. Due to the current economic climate, Make Way for Tomorrow is newly relevant...and newly out on DVD from Criterion. Make a prudent financial decision tonight by staying in and watching this film on TCM (if you like it, maybe then you can start saving up for the DVD).

9/8, 2 AM: Force of Evil (1949)
Fans of film noir should check out this gem about a mob lawyer, played by John Garfield, who tries to protect his numbers-running brother from a racketeering scheme. It's got all the classic noir characteristics - moral compromise, femme fatale vs. good girl, gritty underworld setting, and a not-so-happy ending.

9/29: Greer Garson Day
When Walter Pidgeon was highlighted during August's "Summer Under the Stars," several of the day's films co-starred his frequent leading lady, Greer Garson. Well, today Garson gets her own mini-marathon of seven of her films, in chronological order, featuring a variety of dashing leading men including Ronald Colman, Errol Flynn, Robert Mitchum, Clark Gable, and, of course, Walter Pidgeon. I usually enjoy Greer Garson's performances; she brings a stately, dignified presence to her roles, but always with a twinkle in her eye. (And she also has my undying affection for her role in Goodbye, Mr. Chips. I've come full circle!)
6:30 AM - Blossoms in the Dust (1941)
8:15 AM - Random Harvest (1942)
10:30 AM - The Youngest Profession (1943)
12 PM - Adventure (1945)
2:15 PM - Desire Me (1947)
4 PM - That Forsyte Woman (1949)
6 PM - The Singing Nun (1966)

From the Vault, Orca: The Killer Whale

There are certain movies that, good or bad, make their foothold in our cinematic consciousness. On the other hand certain movies, good or bad, can slip to the back of our consciousness. Each month I'll be taking a look back at a movie that since it was released has fallen through the cracks, been completely forgotten about, or just hasn't been watched in a while. This month:

Orca: The Killer Whale

My first viewing of Orca: The Killer Whale is inextricably linked with the memory of being sick with a stomach virus when I was about 8 years old, staying home from school, and eating jello. I don't know what spurred me to give it a second viewing, perhaps the recent release of Piranha 3D brought back my memory of another creature feature. I can't speak for Piranha 3D, and I hope I never will, however, Orca is bad enough to be a good bad movie (or "campy" if you prefer).
Richard Harris plays Nolan, a fisherman in Canada who, with his crew, is out shark hunting one day when a killer whale slams the hell out of a Great White Shark, just for hell of it. Nolan then decides to capture an orca and sell it to an aquarium so he can pay off the mortgage on his boat, but it all goes predictably wrong... I mean terribly wrong. Nolan and his crew end up killing the pregnant wife of a very vengeful orca. The orca wreaks havoc on the fishing town: first leaving his dead wife's carcass on the beach by the docks to remind Nolan of what he did, then sinking boats in the harbor to get Nolan to go out on the sea and fight him like a man, or whale. We know this because Charlotte Rampling, playing Rachel, a whale biologist, tells Nolan this information about the vengeful habits of killer whales. This information is confirmed by the stock character of the wise Indian (or Native American, actually he'd be a Canadian American) who literally just shows up at Nolan's house one day.

When Nolan finally decides to go out to sea and fight the whale, Rachel, the whale biologist, admits that she doesn't know what she's been talking about and tries to convince him not to fight the whale. Once they're out at sea not much happens.

This movie was clearly thrown together to cash in on the success of Jaws; which is kind of funny since the boat they use to hunt the shark in Jaws is called the Orca, and in Orca the boat they use to hunt the whale is called The Shark from Jaws... just kidding.

The highlight of the movie is when the whale rams into a seaside natural gas plant, then swims up the coast a bit and rams into a building on stilts where a kerosene lantern is on the edge of a table and a giant explosion results. And to top it off the orca takes a celebratory jump through the air. There's lots of badly used stock footage of sharks and killer whales and bad "day for night" (or as I like to call it, "American Night") shots. Not to mention people dangling their arms and entire bodies off the side of the boat as if they're tempting that vengeful man-killing orca to jump out of the water and bite them.

Orca: The Killer Whale is regrettably not available on Netflix Instant Play; which is a shame because this is the perfect movie for Instant Play, an obscure campy movie you wouldn't normally rent on DVD. If, however, you find yourself in the mood for something campy, or you're home sick, it's not a bad way to kill 90 minutes. You'll have a good time, mostly at the movie's expense. The trailer shows off just how awesomely bad this movie really is. I mean how could you not want to watch this:

You may know her from...

In a recent post I wrote about some of my favorite roles for Anthony Perkins, Sterling Hayden, and Walter Matthau, three actors whose most well-known roles defined their on-screen personas. Now, since I am an equal opportunity blogger, I've chosen some lesser-known, but memorable, performances by three actresses.

Julie Andrews is known to any movie fan as a lovely songbird/nanny/governess/nun, or for the younger generation, a secretly-wished-for grandmother. However, in the musical biography Star! (1968), she plays legendary stage actress Gertrude Lawrence, not a woman to whom you would entrust your children. Her acrobatic musical routine "Jenny," done in a jewel-encrusted jumpsuit (those can't be mere sequins!) on a circus-themed set, is a true highlight. This film is one of the last big-budget studio musical extravaganzas. Unfortunately, it was not a hit at the time of its release and is often cited as one of the expensive failures which bankrupted the Twentieth Century Fox studio. Nevertheless, Julie Andrews will blow you away with her tour de force performance! At nearly three hours, Star! isn't shown on television very often, but it is available on DVD and worth renting (or owning).

In recent years, Shirley MacLaine has specialized in acerbic grandmother roles (Rumor Has It, In Her Shoes). But as a young actress, MacLaine played women who were plucky, yet vulnerable, and often someone who had suffered her share of hard knocks (The Apartment, Some Came Running, Sweet Charity). Her role in the caper comedy Gambit (1966) wasn't really a departure from this type of character, but I'm mentioning it here because I think it's a film that's been largely forgotten. I discovered this film, which also stars Michael Caine, late one night on TCM. I love a good heist film, and this one has a great twist right at the beginning. According to IMDB.com, this film might get remade by the Coen Brothers; hopefully the remake will spur a DVD release of the original.

Sometimes fate is cruel and the role for which you remember an actress isn't exactly her best work. Therefore, I suspect the reason I've never warmed toward Faye Dunaway is that my first memory of her is as the wicked Selena in Supergirl (1984). She was a frightening sorceress who lured men to her lair inside a haunted house in order to have them do her bidding - it was all too scandalous for my young self! So, it is hard for me to be objective no matter what role Dunaway plays. The Thomas Crown Affair? Scary - possibly due to her bizarre late-60s hair and nails. Bonnie and Clyde? She got what she deserved. Network? No surprise, actually sort of evil. Despite a reputation as one of the worst entries in the Superman franchise, Supergirl does have some fans (if the IMDB.com message boards are to be believed) and a double disc DVD was released a few years ago.

Classic Movie Picks: August

Each month, I scour the Turner Classic Movies Now Playing guide for upcoming films that I can't miss. The highlights are posted here for your reading and viewing pleasure! (All listed times are Eastern Standard, check your local listings or TCM.com for actual air times in your area. Each day's schedule begins at 6:00 a.m.; if a film airs between midnight and 6 a.m. it is listed on the previous day's programming schedule.)

August is a special month on TCM, this is now the eighth year of the month-long "Summer Under the Stars" marathon in which each day's programming is devoted to a single actor or actress. In order not to avoid playing favorites with the featured stars, I've chosen one film for each day of the month!

8/1: Basil Rathbone
8 PM - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939) - Sherlock Holmes is definitely Rathbone's most iconic role and he is wonderful as the great detective.

8/2: Julie Christie
12 AM - Petulia (1968)

8/3: Steve McQueen
10:15 AM - The Honeymoon Machine (1961) - This is early McQueen, before he earned a reputation as the "essence of cool," in a zany comedy with the always delightful Jim Hutton and Paula Prentiss - looks like alot of fun!

8/4: Ethel Barrymore
5:45 PM - The Story of Three Loves (1953)
This anthology film features a great cast, besides Ethel Barrymore who is no slouch herself, as passengers on an ocean liner recalling their great loves. It's a sweet, romantic film which I can't wait to watch again!

8/5: Woody Strode
8 PM - Sergeant Rutledge (1960)
Of all his films, this one was Strode's personal favorite.

8/6: Ingrid Bergman
10 AM - The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964)
Another anthology film pick, this time the stories are linked by the titular car. The eclectic cast includes Bergman, Shirey MacLaine, Rex Harrison, Jeanne Moreau, Art Carney, and George C. Scott.

8/7: Errol Flynn
2:30 PM - The Prince and the Pauper (1937)

8/8: Bob Hope
2:30 AM - Critic's Choice (1963) - In this film, Hope is paired with Lucille Ball as a theater critic and actress who are also husband and wife. These two have great chemistry, so they are always a joy to watch together. In my mind Lucy is second only to Bing Crosby among Bob's co-stars.

8/9: Warren Beatty
4 AM - Ishtar (1987)
Why not? I promise it's not as bad as you've heard.

8/10: Kathryn Grayson
8 PM - Show Boat (1951) - This film exemplifies the glorious Technicolor musical!
4 AM - Lovely to Look At (1952) - And for a bonus, here's another musical pairing lovely Kathryn with her favorite on-screen partner, the handsome Howard Keel.

8/11: Walter Matthau
9:45 AM - Fail-Safe (1964) - After I wrote about Matthau recently, several people suggested I watch Fail-Safe to see the serious/sinister side of an actor known more for comedies.
6 PM - Casey's Shadow (1978) - And we're back to good old irascible Matthau, in this film about a family of horse trainers.

8/12: Norma Shearer
10 PM - Private Lives (1931) - I'll confess that I'm not a particular fan of a Norma Shearer, but she does seem well-cast in this film based on the play of the same name by Noel Coward. I suppose that in the 1930s even a story about a messy divorce could feel like escapism if it takes place on the French Riviera.

8/13: Robert Ryan
1:15 AM - The Wild Bunch (1969)

8/14: Gene Tierney
8 PM - Leave Her To Heaven (1945) - Tierney earned her only Oscar nomination for this film directed by John M. Stahl. It is the height of melodrama, on par with the best of Douglas Sirk, so check your cynicism at the door and enjoy the hysterics.

8/15: Margaret O'Brien
4 AM - Big City (1948) - The plot of this film makes it sound like the original Three Men and a Baby!

8/16: Robert Stack
9:45 PM - The Tarnished Angels (1957)

8/17: Maureen O'Hara
1:45 AM - Our Man in Havana (1960)

8/18: Ann Sheridan
6:15 PM - George Washington Slept Here (1942)
I realize I picked this one last month when it was shown in a series of films starring Terry the terrier. However, I fell asleep while watching it (not the fault of the movie!), so it is on the list again!

8/19: Walter Pidgeon
7:15 AM - The Hot Heiress (1931)
A glance at today's line-up of Walter Pidgeon films revealed several potentially risque film titles (Julia Misbehaves, Man Hunt, Design for Scandal), but The Hot Heiress was by far my favorite.

8/20: Katharine Hepburn
6:15 PM - Keeper of the Flame (1942)

8/21: Paul Newman
5:45 PM - Harper (1966) - Newman is so good here as the titular private eye, it might be my favorite of his performances!
12:30 AM - Rachel, Rachel (1968) - Newman directed this film starring his wife, Joanne Woodward, about the sexual awakening of a shy schoolteacher. Unfortunately for Seinfeld fans, this isn't Rochelle, Rochelle, the immortal tale of a young woman's erotic journey from Moscow to Minsk.

8/22: John Mills
12:15 AM - Hell, Heaven, or Hoboken (1958)
That title...how can I resist?

8/23: Elizabeth Taylor
6 AM - Lassie Come Home (1943)

8/24: John Gilbert
6:30 PM - Downstairs (1932) - "An evil chauffeur seduces and blackmails his way through high society" - why isn't this movie on everyday?
8 PM - The Big Parade (1925) - This film is heralded as one of the greatest films of the silent era, I am really looking forward to it.

8/25: Lauren Bacall
4:30 PM - Designing Woman - (1957)

8/26: Lee Remick
10 AM - Loot (1970)
6 PM - Telefon (1977)
I couldn't decide which one of these sounded stranger, so I picked them both.

8/27: Olivia deHavilland
2 PM - Princess O'Rourke (1943)
Beautiful Olivia as a princess? Perfection.

8/28: Peter O'Toole
10 AM - The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960)

8/29: Henry Fonda
1:45 AM - The Lady Eve (1941)

8/30: Thelma Todd
8 PM - Monkey Business (1931)

8/31: Clint Eastwood
2 AM - Escape from Alcatraz (1979)

From the Vault: Masterminds

There are certain movies that, good or bad, make their foothold in our cinematic consciousness. On the other hand certain movies, good or bad, can slip to the back of our consciousness. Each month I'll be taking a look back at a movie that since it was released has fallen through the cracks, been completely forgotten about, or just hasn't been watched in a while. This month:

Masterminds

I have a vague recollection of seeing a TV spot for this movie when I was at my grandparents’ house after school one day. No doubt it was marketed to my then demographic (13 year old boys) because it’s essentially a PG version of Die Hard. You know, for kids. I’ll admit I never saw this movie in theaters or on video when it was released so this doesn't technically count as a revisit, but this movie definitely falls into the “Does anyone remember that?/ Was that a movie?” category.

Masterminds was made just in time to catch the tail-end of the grunge period of the 90’s, so there is muted-colored clothing, long-haired boys, a best friend named K-Dog (a white suburban kid, naturally), and Ally McBeal suits for the hero’s working stepmother. Patrick Stewart, with a devilishly devilish moustache, stars as the villain, Bentley, who along with a crew of henchmen, takes over a school and holds the rich kids hostage so their rich parents will pay a big ransom. But the troublemaker Ozzie (Vincent Kartheiser, who grew up to be Pete Campbell in Mad Men) has hidden from the henchmen and sets about thwarting their evil plans through a series of traps and pranks that also double as great science fair ideas (...not really). In fact Ozzie’s methods of stopping the bad guys (turning on the sprinklers, turning up the boiler, rigging a Bunsen burner so that it burns the hand of the henchman chasing after him, are all far less dangerous then the traps Macaulay Culkin sets for the burglars in the Home Alone movies. Ozzie is also a hacker. Remember the 1990’s, when computer hackers could do anything just by tapping a couple keys on the computer? Even Ozzie’s father hacks into the villain’s computer system so easily he’s not even sure he’s just hacked.

There are two highlights of the movie, both involving Patrick Stewart, who seems to have had a lot of fun playing a ridiculously harmless bad guy. Moment #1 comes when the principal of the school tells Bentley (Stewart) she hopes “they fry him.” Bentley tells her, with villainous delight, “Oh, I'll be frying, Claire, under the hot tropical sun!” and does a little tropical island dance. Even the movie knows this a highlight since it replays this scene over the credits. The other great Patrick Stewart moment comes towards the end of the movie when Bentley knocks his partner in crime over the head, declares he’s been a “United” fan all along, rips off his shirt and suspenders revealing the soccer jersey he’s been wearing under his suit all day, and makes his getaway in a weaponized dune buggy. He doesn't escape though, he makes a wrong turn getting away through the sewer and ends up driving his dune buggy into a lake of sewage. Punishment enough. Ozzie saves his sister and lets the grown ups know who the real bad guys are, some business men… it’s not important.

Is this movie bad enough to be good? Not really. Would I recommend it? No, it’s not even available on DVD. But I need you to be aware that there exists a movie where Patrick Stewart holds a school hostage and does a tropical island dance. If you've got 90 minutes to kill and Masterminds comes on the HBO family channel, why not? I won’t tell.

You may know him from...

An actor’s image is so often synonymous with his most famous roles. When you think of Harrison Ford, you see Indiana Jones or Han Solo. Clark Gable is forever Rhett Butler. But just as often, you may love an actor’s performance in a movie that no one else remembers. For example, sometimes I forget that not everyone thinks of Anthony Perkins as the cute college boy from Tall Story; they’re more likely thinking of troubled, creepy Norman Bates from Psycho. So, if I admit I have a little crush on Tony…well, some people just won’t get it. But seriously, watch Tall Story (1960), a sweet romantic comedy about a co-ed (Jane Fonda) who is determined to marry her college sweetheart (Perkins), and you’ll see that he’s capable of being completely endearing. Perkins even brought glimpses of charm to his portrayal of Norman Bates, but people usually just remember the "stabbier" aspects of that character. Psycho came out the same year as Tall Story…but we all know which one ultimately cast the longer shadow. Tall Story is not currently available on DVD, but it occasionally airs on TCM. If you are interested in the kinder, gentler Tony, you should also check out his Oscar-nominated performance as a young Quaker in Friendly Persuasion (1956); this one is available on DVD.

Sterling Hayden’s most memorable roles are tough, macho characters like The Asphalt Jungle’s (1950) career criminal Dix Handley, insane Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper in Dr. Strangelove... (1964), and crooked police captain McCluskey in The Godfather (1972). But I first saw Hayden in The Star (1952) opposite Bette Davis. Here, his character – a former actor who works in a shipyard – is still masculine and tough; however, he’s also nurturing and kind. His down-to-earth presence offers a perfect contrast to Davis’s deluded and desperate “faded star.” The Star is available on DVD as part of the Bette Davis Collection, Vol. 1, alongside Davis classics Dark Victory, The Letter, Mr. Skeffington, and Now, Voyager.

Walter Matthau played his share of slobs, hucksters, and grumps, and brilliantly so, in comedies like The Odd Couple (1968) and The Bad News Bears (1976). But I think it was while watching A New Leaf (1971) when I began to appreciate Walter Matthau as a comedian. His character is spoiled, selfish, irresponsible, arrogant, and homicidal – in short, completely reprehensible. But Matthau is so hilarious, somehow I can’t hate him. Of course, I don’t want him to hurt sweet, hapless co-star Elaine May, either. (May also wrote and directed this film, proving herself to be a triple-threat filmmaker.) Unfortunately, A New Leaf is not available on video and as far as I know it hasn’t been shown on TCM either. (But you can vote on the TCM website for it to be released on DVD!)

Now that I've mentioned three actors, I feel the need to say that this applies to actresses, too! I guess I need to write a "You may know her from" list next...