MISS SADIE THOMPSON: REMAKE GETS THE BLU-RAY AND 3-D TREATMENT

My guess is that many will not recall this film as part of that initial 3-D wave that took place during the fifties. I was surprised to find that it was released that way. I was even more surprised to learn that it did well at the box office. For me it wasn’t that great a movie, but it was interesting to view and consider how racy it was considered at the time. In a world where prostitutes are recurring characters on TV shows and porn is available at the press of a button this movie seems quaint in its moral dilemma.

Rita Hayworth stars as the title character, a brassy woman on her way to another island in the South Pacific just after the war whose ship strands her on a military base when it has problems. Thompson garners the attention of every military man on the island, all wishing they were the one to romance her but who lose out to Sgt. Phil O’Hara (Aldo Ray) who falls hard for her.

Unfortunately for Sadie another visitor to the island is on hand as well, Alfred Davidson (Jose Ferrer), the son of missionaries who is there to carry on his father’s work. This is the sort of character who finds fault in most everyone else but himself, in particular the way the island natives behave and in Sadie who he recognizes. When he follows up on his hunch he discovers that Sadie is a woman wanted for solicitation in Honolulu and he blackmails her into returning to the states to serve her time. The conflict between the fun loving independent woman and the staunch religious fanatic should be the center piece of the film. And yet it never quite feels that way.

Therein lies the biggest problem with this movie. Based on the short story by W. Somerset Maugham the heart of the story (as well as several other movies based on the tale) revolves around these two as well as the temptation that Davidson feels for Sadie. But that temptation is rarely on display here until very near the end of the film when suddenly he is drawn to her, shattering her changed outlook on life. This should have been a smoldering item that grew as the film moved forward and instead here it feels like a random explosion.

The pacing of the film seems leaden but the acting is great. Hayworth turns in a fantastic performance with what she is provided and does a wonderful bit of singing and dancing for the military personnel at a local club. But Ray’s character feels forced, ready to marry Sadie at the drop of a hat. The horn dog nature of the soldiers and sailors in the film is at best like a caricature and so over the top you wonder how they survive with little to no women to look at.

If made today (and I’m surprised it hasn’t been) Hollywood would have a heyday with this story, pitting a staunch conservative religious fanatic against an easy going free spirit who simply wants to have fun. But that shows the difference in time periods when you consider that at the time this film was considered racy and morally questionable. For me the entire movie honestly felt kind of boring. I found myself dozing on more than one occasion.

But for those who love the film and Rita Hayworth you can’t find a better presentation of this movie. Twilight Time (whose praises I constantly sing) has done the film right with as clear and clean a presentation on blu-ray as you will find. Included with the movie are extras like an isolated music & effects track, audio commentary track with film historians David Del Valle and Steven Peros, an introduction by actress Patricia Clarkson and the original film trailer. I may have to watch this one start to finish with the commentary track on to see what I was missing. For most it will be a movie to bypass but for fans of classic movies and Hayworth you’ll add this one to your collection.

Click here to order.

KNIGHT OF CUPS: POSSIBLY THE WORST FILM OF 2015

Seriously. This is the worst movie I’ve seen all year. It might be one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen in my 58 years on Earth. I watched and watched, start to finish, I wanted to find something I liked about it. And when the end credits rolled I found nothing to like. Yes the cinematography was well done but that’s about the only nice thing I can bring myself to say.

Know this going in: there is no plot. This movie is a series of random acts with a single character as the focal point and that’s about it. I had to look up the credits at imdb.com to find out the name of the main character. By the way it’s Rick and he’s played by Christian Bale.

So in trying to piece together what I watched, Bale is a scriptwriter (at least I think he is) who goes from one spot to another, to parties, to clubs, to the streets of LA, to the beach. He gets involved with various women who accompany him from one location to the next where he then encounters another and leaves the first behind. He is robbed, he is beaten, he waxes poetic about his life. But nothing happens. I know part of this is just me. I like a film to tell a story, to have a narrative that moves me from point A to point Z, a journey that takes me from one spot in a story to a finale. This film does nothing like that.

Director Terence Malik has been hailed as one of the most artistic directors of his time. Great. Fine. I loved THE TREE OF LIFE. I enjoyed THE THIN RED LINE and THE NEW WORLD. TREE also didn’t use the straight narrative that most movies do but at least it had a form to it, a beginning, a middle and an end. This movie just feels like we dropped into the midst of nothing happening and went through nothing.

I read reviews of this movie and some have summed it up perfectly. One said that it was a 2 hour commercial for nothing. I felt that exact same way. Then I read others where people were discussing the depth of the movie using terms that felt so pretentious I felt as if whoever was writing them was doing so not to give an honest review of the movie but to make themselves appear as if they were deep thinkers. Those type of people tend to be full of themselves and always trying to rise above the rest of us poor cretins who simply want to be entertained or told a story. They find psychological meanings in something as simple as how one holds a spoon or fork while eating. They contemplate their navels as if the secrets to the universe can be found there. In short in an attempt to appear wise and knowledgeable they refuse to tell the Emperor that he’s not wearing any clothes, instead discussing the finery of the material he is wearing instead.

Yes I watched this movie all the way through. It was a struggle. At least twice I found myself dozing off so I backed the movie up to the last scene I remembered and started it there again. By the end I was angry. Angry that I had taken up over 2 hours of my life to watch this film. Angry that I had been duped by the marvelous movie that was THE TREE OF LIFE into believing this movie could possibly be as good. It was the furthest thing from it.

This was the sort of movie that people who found the Andy Warhol film EMPIRE to be an artistic masterpiece. If you don’t know the movie was over 8 hours of a static camera shooting the Empire State building. This movie is as boring but different in that it never sits still. The camera is always moving. If you suffer from motion sickness I implore you, steer clear of this film.

I watched the extras as well, few of them that there were, and discovered another item to make explain why this movie was so bad. Malik didn’t always give the actors dialogue to speak. He basically set up the situation and told them to come up with their own, to speak as the character they were playing. Of course the actors ate this up and felt that he trusted them to bring something to the project, that he provided them with the creative freedom to be a part of this artistic endeavor. Note to all actors: there is a reason you are an actor and not a writer; there is a reason why you are hired to perform the words that are written for you rather than to write the screenplay. The fact that many of you say some of the most ridiculous things when a microphone is placed in front of you on the red carpet should be a clue that creating dialogue is not your forte. Stick with acting, let a writer make you look good.

This piece has gone on too long. From the movie I watched there is more written here than there was to this movie prior to it being filmed. I don’t hate Terence Malik for making this movie or for robbing me of 2 hours of my life. But the next time I see his name attached to a film I will think twice before watching it. The fact that the movie never received a major release that I’m aware of becomes obvious after watching it. While movies made by business executives concerned only with the bottom line and the chance to build a franchise make me ill this is the other end of the extreme, a movie made to represent artistic endeavor while offering nothing for the majority of film goers out there. Had I paid $10 for a ticket to see this movie I would have been arguing with the manager afterward. This is a move that people should be paid to watch and even then they would be ripped off.

Click here to order.

ELSTREE 1976: I’D LIKE TO THANK ALL THE LITTLE PEOPLE…

Those are the famous lines spouted by actors for decades. They always want to thank “the little people”, those inconsequential actors, extras and crew members who make the star shine. But rarely do we ever hear about them and they never receive the accolades that the stars do. No one even makes movies about them. Until now.

STAR WARS is perhaps the biggest cultural event film made in the last 50 years. It was released, sequels were made, all were re-released, prequels followed, we got an all-new movie last year, a movie tie-in is coming as well as a sequel to the new movie. And while all had a handful of stars in major roles what most don’t consider is the number of bit players and costumed actors that are found running around in each of these movies.

ELSTREE 1976 takes a look at those actors. If you were in a mask or played a small role in the original film you were there watching it all happen at Elstree Studios in 1976. The film makers here have gone back to those actors now and discussed with them the experiences they had in making that first movie. Matched with their appearances in that film we see them as they are now, masks off or a little aged for those who didn’t have to wear masks. Each of them talks about their time and it makes for a nice backstage look at movie making.

Not only do we get to hear them talk about the making of the film we get to find out how it influenced their lives moving forward as well. Various cast members went on to roles in other films or TV projects, some of them recognizable when it is pointed out. For them you’ll be watching and saying “Oh yeah! I didn’t realize that was him/her!” We see where they are today and what they’re doing as well as those no longer with us.

I’ve read some reviews of this film that take its makers to task for focusing on the minor bit players while ignoring some of the bigger name stars that were made who also wore masks. I find it difficult to side with those complaints seeing as how many of those stars have had programs made about them already as well as their appearing at numerous conventions to sign autographs to this day. The focus of the cast members here were those who aren’t as recognizable, who didn’t jump onto other major projects in starring roles, who haven’t gotten the recognition that those others did. For me that makes the movie even better, giving them a chance for the recognition they deserve as well.

Understand going in that this is not an action packed film. We don’t see tons of clips from the original movie. We get glimpses of these people in their roles, see them now and get the chance to listen to them talk about their experience. It is a documentary not a narrative film. And yet it is still interesting to watch. Fans of STAR WARS will find themselves listening to these tales with rapt attention. Others might find it interesting as well. For me it was a treat and worth watching.

Click here to order.