This film falls way short of Orson Welles's masterpiece Citizen Kane in every way.
Here the film opens with a great long shot, following the main two characters along several blocks near the US-Mexican border. Mike Vargas (a miscast Charlton Heston) and Susan (Janet Leigh) are newly married. But then tragedy strikes, a bomb is strapped under a car. It explodes not long after entering the US. Vargas joins with some Americans including the corrupt Hank Quinlin (Orson Welles, who aged horribly, for the record). But there's more. There is also corruption on the Mexican side of the border, in the form of a Mexican who has a grudge against Vargas. His name is Joe Grandi (Akim Tamiroff). He and his gang kidnap and drug Susan and Mike must go and rescue her. In addition, he also needs to prove that the beloved Quinlan is corrupt and has planted evidence for years. Quinlin even joins teams with Grandi only to try and blame his murder on Susan.
Welles tries to imitate Hitchcock, but falls far short. The film lacks suspense and twists and turns needed to make this film really good. The camera work, with the notable exception of the brilliant opening scene, and editing are nothing to write home about. The acting is only so-so, with the standout maybe being the dimwitted hotel owner (Dennis Weaver). Also, Janet Leigh, when will you learn that it is not good to stay at a hotel alone. Nothing good comes from it.
The film did fly by, which is good, and I will watch it again, though the film as many in the day were, prejudice. Too bad this film isn't amazing as Citizen Kane, which is probably the best film of all time. You'd never guess that these two films had the same director. Also, this film is based on a book with the title Badge of Evil. The film should have kept that original title. Grade: B
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Sunday, August 18, 2013
The Butler
This film was great; it really was.
The beginning part was hard to watch, with the young master (Alex Pettyfer) taking the main character's mother, Hattie Pearl (Mariah Carey, yes, a surprise to me and probably everyone else) into the barn because, he claimed, he needed her help with something. Of course, he took advantage of her while the other workers in the cotton field just heard and did nothing. They couldn't do anything. When Hattie returns, Cecil's father just stares him down but master shoots him anyway. The mistress of the land (Vanessa Redgrave) is a tough person to figure out. She shows no sympathy when the father is killed, just ordering the others to instantly bury him, but she takes pity, if that is the right word, on the young Cecil and takes him in the house to be a house n-----. That means serving the very man who killed his father on a daily basis, but it teaches him a skill that could mean a way out.
Cecil leaves and fortunately, another negro, takes pity on him and teaches him the waiter trade which leads him to a job at a hotel in Washington D.C.
Cecil (now the brilliant Forest Whitaker) lives in Washington, with a wife, Gloria (Oprah Winfrey, quite good) and two sons, who are quite different from one another. Then, the White House calls Cecil and is offered a job. Naturally, he must be seen and not heard, without putting his personal opinions on the line and out there in the open. This becomes more difficult especially since elder son, Louis (David Oyelowo, aging from a teenager to middle-aged adult) joins the Freedom Riders, getting arrested and putting himself in harms way more than enough. Eventually, Louis and his girlfriend, Carol (Yaya DaCosta) join the Black Panther movement, but he leaves because he is not prepared to kill anyone.
Tons of action occur throughout the two-plus hour film, ranging from practicing for abuse they will and do receive from white customers at a restaurant for a sit-in, to President Johnson (Liev Schreiber) having problems in the bathroom, in a funny scene. Eventually, younger son (the underused Elijah Kelley) goes off to Vietnam where he is killed. He was the favored son, who didn't disagree with his parents.
It isn't until the eighties, when Reagan (Alan Rickman, still saying his lines too slowly) refuses to aid in the uprising in South Africa, where Blacks still aren't equal. He has had enough and quits his job, rekindles a relationship with the surviving Louis, a politician now. He even lives to see Obama be elected president, something he never believed he would see.
Each character is pretty complex, with Whitaker's face showing a million emotions even though he says nothing and him barely moving a muscle. Winfrey is also great as the alcoholic, neglected wife, who even takes to having an affair with the womanizing neighbor, Howard (Terrance Howard), but breaks it off. We assume that Cecil never learned of it, which is probably for the better. There is also the interesting conversation that the rebellious Louis has with his parents, criticizing the great Sidney Poitier's acting, bringing up several good points.
I did have problems with the film, mainly every time a president asked Cecil how his family lived or something of that nature, he would then enact a new piece of legislation or make a move that would help the African Americans achieve better rights. That just seemed manipulated to me. Also, Cecil's fellow butlers, James (Lenny Kravitz) and Carter (Cuba Gooding, Jr) were in the business just as long as he was and seemed to be just as loyal, so why did Cecil get the film and they didn't? My sister said it was because Cecil's sons were more interesting, though most of that was created solely for the film. I opted to overlook the somewhat poor casting of Robin Williams as Eisenhower and John Cusack as the lying Richard Nixon, though Jane Fonda was great in her brief cameo of Nancy Reagan. I was also hoping that when Cecil and Gloria were invited to the White House for a state dinner that that scene would have been more meaningful but Cecil believes that they were there as figures only, but Gloria finally got her trip to the White House.
Fortunately, the dialogue is authentic and the performances are brilliant, certainly some of the best I've seen this year. Winfrey was great though the film belonged, rightly, to Whitaker, handing a difficult role with great care. Cecil is not a saint, valuing his work above most, only to nearly have everything fall down around him. Grade: A-
The beginning part was hard to watch, with the young master (Alex Pettyfer) taking the main character's mother, Hattie Pearl (Mariah Carey, yes, a surprise to me and probably everyone else) into the barn because, he claimed, he needed her help with something. Of course, he took advantage of her while the other workers in the cotton field just heard and did nothing. They couldn't do anything. When Hattie returns, Cecil's father just stares him down but master shoots him anyway. The mistress of the land (Vanessa Redgrave) is a tough person to figure out. She shows no sympathy when the father is killed, just ordering the others to instantly bury him, but she takes pity, if that is the right word, on the young Cecil and takes him in the house to be a house n-----. That means serving the very man who killed his father on a daily basis, but it teaches him a skill that could mean a way out.
Cecil leaves and fortunately, another negro, takes pity on him and teaches him the waiter trade which leads him to a job at a hotel in Washington D.C.
Cecil (now the brilliant Forest Whitaker) lives in Washington, with a wife, Gloria (Oprah Winfrey, quite good) and two sons, who are quite different from one another. Then, the White House calls Cecil and is offered a job. Naturally, he must be seen and not heard, without putting his personal opinions on the line and out there in the open. This becomes more difficult especially since elder son, Louis (David Oyelowo, aging from a teenager to middle-aged adult) joins the Freedom Riders, getting arrested and putting himself in harms way more than enough. Eventually, Louis and his girlfriend, Carol (Yaya DaCosta) join the Black Panther movement, but he leaves because he is not prepared to kill anyone.
Tons of action occur throughout the two-plus hour film, ranging from practicing for abuse they will and do receive from white customers at a restaurant for a sit-in, to President Johnson (Liev Schreiber) having problems in the bathroom, in a funny scene. Eventually, younger son (the underused Elijah Kelley) goes off to Vietnam where he is killed. He was the favored son, who didn't disagree with his parents.
It isn't until the eighties, when Reagan (Alan Rickman, still saying his lines too slowly) refuses to aid in the uprising in South Africa, where Blacks still aren't equal. He has had enough and quits his job, rekindles a relationship with the surviving Louis, a politician now. He even lives to see Obama be elected president, something he never believed he would see.
Each character is pretty complex, with Whitaker's face showing a million emotions even though he says nothing and him barely moving a muscle. Winfrey is also great as the alcoholic, neglected wife, who even takes to having an affair with the womanizing neighbor, Howard (Terrance Howard), but breaks it off. We assume that Cecil never learned of it, which is probably for the better. There is also the interesting conversation that the rebellious Louis has with his parents, criticizing the great Sidney Poitier's acting, bringing up several good points.
I did have problems with the film, mainly every time a president asked Cecil how his family lived or something of that nature, he would then enact a new piece of legislation or make a move that would help the African Americans achieve better rights. That just seemed manipulated to me. Also, Cecil's fellow butlers, James (Lenny Kravitz) and Carter (Cuba Gooding, Jr) were in the business just as long as he was and seemed to be just as loyal, so why did Cecil get the film and they didn't? My sister said it was because Cecil's sons were more interesting, though most of that was created solely for the film. I opted to overlook the somewhat poor casting of Robin Williams as Eisenhower and John Cusack as the lying Richard Nixon, though Jane Fonda was great in her brief cameo of Nancy Reagan. I was also hoping that when Cecil and Gloria were invited to the White House for a state dinner that that scene would have been more meaningful but Cecil believes that they were there as figures only, but Gloria finally got her trip to the White House.
Fortunately, the dialogue is authentic and the performances are brilliant, certainly some of the best I've seen this year. Winfrey was great though the film belonged, rightly, to Whitaker, handing a difficult role with great care. Cecil is not a saint, valuing his work above most, only to nearly have everything fall down around him. Grade: A-
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Elysium
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!!
Max (Matt Damon) is a convicted criminal living on the soiled planet of Earth, more than one hundred years in the future. He is poor. Los Angeles looks like a third world country. All the rich have fled the country, living in a pristine space station above the earth, where disease doesn't exist while everyone on Earth is dying.
Max has troubles of his own, with the police on his back including a misunderstanding which leads to a visit with his parole officer who is a robot. When the robot notices a change in his behavior, Max is offered drugs, no questions asked.
But then after an accident in his work, his body is filled with a toxic amount of radiation, which means that he will die in only a few days. He is determined to go to Elysium and be cured. This is extremely dangerous as the Secretary of State Delacourt (the icy Jodie Foster) will destroy the citizens of Earth without bias. She even has a rouge agent on Earth, Kruger (Shalto Copley).
Max is selfish, risking much just so he can get cured, killing many on both sides, including the super-rich boss of Max, Carlyle (William Fitchner) who doesn't even want a citizen of Earth to breathe on him. He feels for his old sweetheart Frey's (pronounced Fray) daughter who is nearly dying from leukemia even after she (Alice Braga) risks her life to save him, he can't be bothered to return the favor. Even Spider (Wagner Moura) wants to do something good with the information Max obtains to save himself but Max, at first only thinks of himself. I was thinking the whole time, please be like Rick from Casablanca and put everyone else above yourself. Finally, after a nasty battle (the film, overall contained too much unnecessary violence), Max, realizing that getting the code (which will do many things, Delacourt had Carlyle create it so she could have a coup and become president) out of his head will cause more damage than anticipated, he lets Spider save humanity. Everyone is now a citizen of Elysium. Eventually disease, illness and injury will be no more.
I was happy with this ending, Max sacrificing himself to save everyone else, including the young Matilda who may or may not be his daughter. The issue of her father is never brought up and at least in my mind, I believe it to be Max though I might be alone in this.
The film deals with many interesting issues, such as what will become of the Earth when the rich leave it behind? Will illness and disease run rampant while the rich could care less about the underprivileged? I hope not. I also found it interesting that the poor on Earth were speaking Spanish while the rich on Elysium were speaking French, what does this say?
Overall, the violence was excessive but what bothered me more is the the bad guy, Kruger giving the finger to those as they are destroyed, an even bigger slap in the face. Still, there are many twists and turns. Everyone dies, from Delacourt to Kruger and I wasn't sorry to see them go. I was also fine with Max dying knowing that so many will be saved. This film should be a warning to all, so the future doesn't descend into a world of crime and where human life is nothing. The citizens of Earth aren't important; they are replaceable. They can die so those on Elysium will continue to function as they have for decades, in blissful ignorance. That is a problem, though it exists currently. That also needs to change. Maybe this film will help with that. Grade: A-
Max (Matt Damon) is a convicted criminal living on the soiled planet of Earth, more than one hundred years in the future. He is poor. Los Angeles looks like a third world country. All the rich have fled the country, living in a pristine space station above the earth, where disease doesn't exist while everyone on Earth is dying.
Max has troubles of his own, with the police on his back including a misunderstanding which leads to a visit with his parole officer who is a robot. When the robot notices a change in his behavior, Max is offered drugs, no questions asked.
But then after an accident in his work, his body is filled with a toxic amount of radiation, which means that he will die in only a few days. He is determined to go to Elysium and be cured. This is extremely dangerous as the Secretary of State Delacourt (the icy Jodie Foster) will destroy the citizens of Earth without bias. She even has a rouge agent on Earth, Kruger (Shalto Copley).
Max is selfish, risking much just so he can get cured, killing many on both sides, including the super-rich boss of Max, Carlyle (William Fitchner) who doesn't even want a citizen of Earth to breathe on him. He feels for his old sweetheart Frey's (pronounced Fray) daughter who is nearly dying from leukemia even after she (Alice Braga) risks her life to save him, he can't be bothered to return the favor. Even Spider (Wagner Moura) wants to do something good with the information Max obtains to save himself but Max, at first only thinks of himself. I was thinking the whole time, please be like Rick from Casablanca and put everyone else above yourself. Finally, after a nasty battle (the film, overall contained too much unnecessary violence), Max, realizing that getting the code (which will do many things, Delacourt had Carlyle create it so she could have a coup and become president) out of his head will cause more damage than anticipated, he lets Spider save humanity. Everyone is now a citizen of Elysium. Eventually disease, illness and injury will be no more.
I was happy with this ending, Max sacrificing himself to save everyone else, including the young Matilda who may or may not be his daughter. The issue of her father is never brought up and at least in my mind, I believe it to be Max though I might be alone in this.
The film deals with many interesting issues, such as what will become of the Earth when the rich leave it behind? Will illness and disease run rampant while the rich could care less about the underprivileged? I hope not. I also found it interesting that the poor on Earth were speaking Spanish while the rich on Elysium were speaking French, what does this say?
Overall, the violence was excessive but what bothered me more is the the bad guy, Kruger giving the finger to those as they are destroyed, an even bigger slap in the face. Still, there are many twists and turns. Everyone dies, from Delacourt to Kruger and I wasn't sorry to see them go. I was also fine with Max dying knowing that so many will be saved. This film should be a warning to all, so the future doesn't descend into a world of crime and where human life is nothing. The citizens of Earth aren't important; they are replaceable. They can die so those on Elysium will continue to function as they have for decades, in blissful ignorance. That is a problem, though it exists currently. That also needs to change. Maybe this film will help with that. Grade: A-
Monday, August 5, 2013
The Fosters: Season One Finale Recap and Reaction
This show has vastly improved from the dreary season opener just nine weeks ago.
Callie (Maia Mitchell) is no longer the sullen, angry at the world teen. She is nice and helpful. It probably helps that her deep, dark secret was revealed. I suspected it some time before she finally revealed it. Her former foster brother, Liam (the nasty Brandon W. Jones) was super nice and sweet to her, sneaking candy bars into her lunch, but then, despite Callie being only fourteen at the time, he raped her. She can't even really do anything legal about it because it is illegal to have a relationship with a foster sibling (who knew?). Fortunately, Brandon (David Lambert) urges her to tell their moms (the great Teri Polo and Sherri Saum) who don't judge her for it. Also, Callie began seeing this pretty nice guy named Wyatt (Alex Saxon) who is now moving somewhere else. However, he does give her his blessing to go after Brandon, but Brandon is back with his ex, Tayla (Madisen Beaty), who is also nicer now than in the beginning of the season.
Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) still hasn't been caught for stealing her brother's drugs. But meeting with her mother severely backfired. Ana (Alexandra Barreto) is seeing a man who treats her horribly. Jesus (Jake T. Austen) wants to get her away from that situation. Instead, Stef and her alcoholic ex-husband, Mike (Danny Nucci), both policepeople, show up and the situation ends tragically with the nasty guy shooting Stef (not fatally) but then Mike comes in and shots the nasty guy after the bad guy drops his gun. The alcohol is certainly affecting him in many ways.
As for Jesus, he had unprotected sex with his girlfriend, Lexi (Bianca A. Santos) and had to give the morning after pill which angered her deeply religious parents. In the process, Lexi finds out that she and her parents are undocumented.
Now, Stef is recovering from her injuries and finally, she and Lena are getting married. Callie must deal with the pre-trial, but it is her word against his and things like that normally don't go her way. But at least they got his current foster sister out of that situation. That is one win, at least. Now, the lawyer firmly believes that the case will get thrown out, but if she admits that she wanted it, then it is statutory rape and he could surely get one year in prison.
Meanwhile, wedding planning is difficult with the parents having different opinions of which flowers should be had, etc, but fortunately, the wedding will go on. Before this, they deliver a bombshell to both Callie and Jude (Hayden Byerly) and the audience. They plan on adopting Callie and Jude, who is for the record, her younger brother.
Now, things are crazier as Callie, realizing that she deserves to be happy, makes out with Brandon, but Jude oversees and is furious because she not only ruins things for herself but also himself. He brushes off her apology. Also, some more interesting information, adopted siblings are not allowed to get married. I find this particularly interesting.
The wedding does happen and Lena's parents (who are Stephen Collins and Lorraine Toussaint) and Stef's mom (Annie Potts) have some super kind things to say to them. They are very much in love with each other. They are soul mates.
Callie also admits to Jude that she's been selfish. Mariana also dedicates a song to her beloved moms. Everyone dances at the end, but the ending can't be perfect. Callie runs away, which I totally called, and after some reservations, Wyatt takes her with him to Indiana, leaving the Foster-Adams family to wonder where she went.
The acting is not consistent. Some are very good, such as Jude, Jesus and the moms while Callie and Mariana are much more inconsistent, with wooden or odd facial expressions at times. I still don't like the character of Mike, but I suppose he is needed from time to time. The show piles a lot on and some plot twists, including the one where Lexi's parents hiss that they won't be returning from Honduras (where their family is from) but it deals with some difficult issues and for the most part, does it well with some great lines tucked in between loads of soapy suds. Grade: B (finale), B (season)
Callie (Maia Mitchell) is no longer the sullen, angry at the world teen. She is nice and helpful. It probably helps that her deep, dark secret was revealed. I suspected it some time before she finally revealed it. Her former foster brother, Liam (the nasty Brandon W. Jones) was super nice and sweet to her, sneaking candy bars into her lunch, but then, despite Callie being only fourteen at the time, he raped her. She can't even really do anything legal about it because it is illegal to have a relationship with a foster sibling (who knew?). Fortunately, Brandon (David Lambert) urges her to tell their moms (the great Teri Polo and Sherri Saum) who don't judge her for it. Also, Callie began seeing this pretty nice guy named Wyatt (Alex Saxon) who is now moving somewhere else. However, he does give her his blessing to go after Brandon, but Brandon is back with his ex, Tayla (Madisen Beaty), who is also nicer now than in the beginning of the season.
Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) still hasn't been caught for stealing her brother's drugs. But meeting with her mother severely backfired. Ana (Alexandra Barreto) is seeing a man who treats her horribly. Jesus (Jake T. Austen) wants to get her away from that situation. Instead, Stef and her alcoholic ex-husband, Mike (Danny Nucci), both policepeople, show up and the situation ends tragically with the nasty guy shooting Stef (not fatally) but then Mike comes in and shots the nasty guy after the bad guy drops his gun. The alcohol is certainly affecting him in many ways.
As for Jesus, he had unprotected sex with his girlfriend, Lexi (Bianca A. Santos) and had to give the morning after pill which angered her deeply religious parents. In the process, Lexi finds out that she and her parents are undocumented.
Now, Stef is recovering from her injuries and finally, she and Lena are getting married. Callie must deal with the pre-trial, but it is her word against his and things like that normally don't go her way. But at least they got his current foster sister out of that situation. That is one win, at least. Now, the lawyer firmly believes that the case will get thrown out, but if she admits that she wanted it, then it is statutory rape and he could surely get one year in prison.
Meanwhile, wedding planning is difficult with the parents having different opinions of which flowers should be had, etc, but fortunately, the wedding will go on. Before this, they deliver a bombshell to both Callie and Jude (Hayden Byerly) and the audience. They plan on adopting Callie and Jude, who is for the record, her younger brother.
Now, things are crazier as Callie, realizing that she deserves to be happy, makes out with Brandon, but Jude oversees and is furious because she not only ruins things for herself but also himself. He brushes off her apology. Also, some more interesting information, adopted siblings are not allowed to get married. I find this particularly interesting.
The wedding does happen and Lena's parents (who are Stephen Collins and Lorraine Toussaint) and Stef's mom (Annie Potts) have some super kind things to say to them. They are very much in love with each other. They are soul mates.
Callie also admits to Jude that she's been selfish. Mariana also dedicates a song to her beloved moms. Everyone dances at the end, but the ending can't be perfect. Callie runs away, which I totally called, and after some reservations, Wyatt takes her with him to Indiana, leaving the Foster-Adams family to wonder where she went.
The acting is not consistent. Some are very good, such as Jude, Jesus and the moms while Callie and Mariana are much more inconsistent, with wooden or odd facial expressions at times. I still don't like the character of Mike, but I suppose he is needed from time to time. The show piles a lot on and some plot twists, including the one where Lexi's parents hiss that they won't be returning from Honduras (where their family is from) but it deals with some difficult issues and for the most part, does it well with some great lines tucked in between loads of soapy suds. Grade: B (finale), B (season)
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