Okay, the next two films finish what's known as "The Apu Trilogy," directed by Satyajit Ray. I mentioned "Pather Panchali" in my previous post, and the next two are "Aparajito" and "Apur Sansar."
There are few films (or things) in this world that you can experience, and you just feel like a better person after watching them. These three films are the very definition of that. And yet, I can't point to any specific thing about them that makes them supremely special.
At their core, they are slice-of-life movies about Bengali life in the 1920s to 30s (I'm guessing that, based on the books the films are based on). Apu is the thread character of all three, and yet, he's not really a main character in the first film. The films concentrate on his immediate family and a few friends here and there. The third film goes into marriage and child-rearing. And really, without giving away too much, the plot turns could be looked at as a series of downers....but the overall effect of the films was almost magical. Sure, it could have something to do with the fact that it's a culture I don't know a whole lot about. But at the end of the third film, I just felt pure satisfaction. Cant' ask for much more than that.
Special kudos, beyond the writing and direction, must go to the actress who played Apu's mother. Her performances stood out. These did make me want to seek out more Ray stuff. And soon.
Moving just a bit to the northeast, we get to "The Living Corpse," which was made in Pakistan in 1967. Yep, Pakistan. Basically, what's been done here is take the 1958 "Dracula," from Hammer, and modify it to fit a Pakistani "entertainment." This means you get song and dance numbers, and even a car chase at the end. Yes, Dracula, or in this case, Professor Tabani, is auto-pursued by Dr. Aqil (Harker) towards the end. All in all, it's a pretty fun feature, especially after the first 30 minutes or so, which are pretty slow.
This makes my second Pakistani horror film, the first being "Hell's Ground" from the mid-2000s. I heartily recommend that one. This one....it's fun.....for the curious, mostly. Paki censors didn't want to put any stamp of approval on it, purely for its supernatural content, but they finally passed it with an "X." Funny. I'm glad we have this, though; it was thought lost for many years. Here's a dance number:
"The Invisible Ghost" is the first of the nine Monogram pictures Bela Lugosi made, this one produced/released in 1941. It's a fairly well-made interesting thriller, although the premise is a bit silly. Still, for one of these Monogram jobs, it ain't bad. And, at only 63 minutes, I was always entertained, even if it was obvious how the resolution would come about. Bela's pretty strong in it. Joseph Lewis, who later directed the superb noir "Gun Crazy," handles the directorial chores here. And special mention must be made of Clarence Muse, as Evans the butler. Muse is the polar opposite of the stereotypical African-American servant in one of these pictures. VERY refreshing to experience.
If you want to really delve into this movie, check out this web page. Now, there's some analysis!
"Pather Panchali" is the first of the so-called "Apu Trilogy" of films made by Indian director Satyajit Ray in the mid-to-late 50s. This is something I received in the mail, thought I'd put in the first film to see what it looked like and ended up watching the whole 125-minute thing in one sitting. Not that a whole lot happens in the movie; it's definitely a slice-of-rural-Bengali-life, but that's enough. I found it riveting. Ray was apparently the first Indian director to stray from the happy-happy-musical format, and he hits a home run here. Can't wait to watch the other two.....I'll probably write more after doing that.
Awreety, awright, here we go again.....once again, I've paused in the writing schedule. Maybe "Dark Shadows" just disappointed me too much.
"Ms. 45" (1981) is New-Yawkuh Abel Ferrara's second feature film, following "The Driller Killer." Despite knowing a lot about this movie for quite awhile, I'd never actually seen it. The plot centers on a mute seamstress who is raped twice in a day. Through her own despondence and other events, she ends up becoming a mostly indiscriminate serial killer of men.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this film. It's very, very well-directed, uses its low budget well, and the lead actress (who has her own tragic story; Google "Zoë Lund") is completely riveting. Some of the supporting performances are a little lacking, but none of them really do the movie any harm. And the band playing at the party cracked me up, as someone evidently thinks a trumpet sounds like a saxophone. You'll see what I mean. Yes, there are two rape scenes at the outset, but they don't last long and are necessary to set the whole plot in motion. Five stars for this one. It won't be leaving my mind anytime soon.
Drafthouse Films has put out a nice Blu-ray of this, with some interesting special features, not least of which is a tribute film from Zoë Lund's widower husband. Her sad demise does weigh on the legacy of the film, a bit like John Kennedy Toole's over "A Confederacy of Dunces."
"The Black Sleep" is an independent production from 1956, with a bevy of classic horror personalities in it: Basil Rathbone, Akim Tamiroff, Lon Chaney, Jr., John Carradine, Tor Johnson, and a year before he perished, Bela Lugosi. Frankly, I didn't know Lugosi had any roles outside of Ed Wood's movies at this time. And, by the looks of him, and considering remarks made during Tom Weaver's commentary track, maybe he shouldn't have. He does look almost comatose most of the time. Very sad. At least his character doesn't have to do much.
But back to the movie, which I found surprisingly entertaining. If you can buy the opening 20 minutes of the movie, you'll enjoy it all....mad scientist trying to get his wife out of complete catatonia and rescuing a fellow doctor from the gallows to assist. John Carradine doesn't appear until the last 20 minutes, but when he makes his entrance....oh, yeah! Classic crazy Carradine. Lon Chaney, Jr. plays a former doctor, "Munro," who is now called "Mungo," due to his reduced mental state. I thought everyone was saying "Mongo," which made me wonder if the "Blazing Saddles" writing team had watched this before writing that script.
I wasn't expecting much when starting this film....mainly wanting to see it for the classic cast....but I was happy with it overall. The Blu-ray contained an informative, if sometimes harshly-worded (escpecially about Lugosi) commentary from Tom Weaver. No trailer is online for this one. Waaaah....
"Straight Outta Compton." My wife, being almost ten years younger than I am and a fan of N.W.A's music, wanted to see this one. I have to admit I did, too. I don't know much about them or rap in general, but I was willing to delve in. Glad I did. Great film. I haven't been wanting to see bio-pics lately, preferring instead to watch documentaries about actual people, but this film was mostly excellent. Only one scene that turns a bit hokey in the middle pulled me out of it for a minute, and that didn't last long.
Jason Mitchell, who plays Eazy-E, is a standout performer in it, as is Paul Giamatti as their manager. Ice Cube's son plays Ice Cube, and at first, I thought he was a pretty limited actor. But then after watching Ice Cube interviewed in a special feature, I remembered that Ice Cube's face is fairly limited in its movement. Maybe IC, Jr. was just "in character." (I did think of Mario van Peebles playing his dad, Melvin, in "Baaaadasss," the story of the making of "Sweet Sweetback's Badasssss Song.")
I don't need to embed a trailer of "SOC," do I? Good, because there is a ton of material online for the film, and I didn't feel like sifting through it.
And finally, "The Children," a British horror film from 2008. This is one of the best horror efforts of the 2000s first decade, a decade pretty lean on good horror.....excepting the Asian market, of course. "The Children" is a fairly taut 84 minutes, and none of it is wasted. The setup works well, there are only a few characters, and I thought it was a fairly original premise. Ambiguous, too, which I like. You don't have to know why they act that way....just that they do. That's what makes it horrific. And I really liked the end. Really liked it. May have seen it coming, but.....
Could not find a trailer for this one online, either. Oh, and by the way, there are several other films out there called "The Children." Make sure you get the one from 2008.
Yay, four winners!! Time to practice drumming.....
For some reason, I haven't written in this for awhile, although I have watched several titles. I'll go ahead and muse on the latest viewing, 2012's "Dark Shadows."
As I'm sure you know, "Dark Shadows" is based on the television soap opera airing from 1966 to 1971, and which I'm currently over half-way through watching (!!). The possibility of the show being turned into a feature film for a third time (previously by Dan Curtis in 1970 and 71) was proposed to Johnny Depp, who signed up Tim Burton to direct. Depp plays Barnabas Collins, and the supporting cast includes folks who've worked with Burton before, such as Helena Bonham Carter as Julia Hoffman and Michelle Pfeiffer as Elizabeth Stoddard.
Being a fan of the TV show, I'll admit that there were moments of this film which shone, but overall, it's a mess. It definitely reeks of "too many cooks." The prologue is very well done and looks fantastic. Once you get to the main movie, the script quickly loses focus. A good example happens right at the beginning.....most likely in order to shoehorn Maggie Evans' name into the picture (as the character is absent), the opening shot of a young lady riding the train into Collinsport has her murmuring to herself "hi, I'm Maggie Evans, and ....." She then spies a poster for a vacation in Victoria, B.C., and continues "hi, I'm Victoria Winters, and I..." There's absolutely no motive for her to change names suddenly.
As I said, being a fan of the show, there are still moments I enjoyed. Some of the music choices are surprisingly good, such as Iggy Pop's "I'm Sick of You" and Alice Cooper's "The Ballad of Dwight Fry." Although, how Carolyn would have a copy of "I'm Sick of You" in 1972....well, I'll stop. Other music insertions are simply awful, such as The Carpenters' "On Top of the World" for a Collins business re-invigoration (and comedy) montage, or Barry White's "You're the First" when Barnabas and Angelique get down to business (and, uh, comedy). And I dig Barry White. It just feels silly and wrong.
The third act is where everything just goes straight downhill, and that's where you can feel the ol' "hey, the studio has a special effects budget!! Better use it now!!"
So, the performances are pretty good, the script is pretty bad, and the direction is so-so. That's my take. Proceed with caution.
