From Russia with Love

1963 Bond movie

Rating: 15/20

Plot: James Bond tries to get his hands on a decoding device while Spectre tries their best to kill him.

It starts with chess and bellydancing and still somehow isn't my favorite James Bond movie? That doesn't seem possible. This spy adventure takes 007 to Turkey and eventually aboard the Orient Express. There are a few too many times when James Bond probably should have died in this one for my liking, but there's a really fun shoot-out, some fisticuffs in a confined train car, and a gnarly boat chase. Bond girl Daniela Bianchi is really cute, too.

I don't think it's as good as Connery's best Bond films, but it's still upper-echelon Bond.

Charade

1963 comedy-thriller

Rating: 16/20 (Jen: refused to rate)

Plot: Some sketchy dudes are looking for some money that they believe Audrey Hepburn has. Meanwhile, she tries to figure out the identity of her new guy friend who also seems to be after the money.

This coasts on charm, a comedy-thriller that is about as breezy as a movie can be. It feels like a combination of screwball romantic comedies and Hitchcock. The leads do exactly what you'd expect them to do. Audrey Hepburn's a waif with this intoxicating mix of naivete, street smarts, and flirtiness. She knows how to work Cary Grant anyway who, even though I'm not sure he's doing even an ounce of acting, is the perfect guy to deliver these lines, mostly ones that show off his character's dry wit. It's all very charming.

James Coburn, George Kennedy, and Ned Glass are also really good as a trio of thugs searching for that money, and Walter Matthau is also in this thing.

The Raven

1963 horror comedy

Rating: 14/20

Plot: It's exactly like Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven," except for the wizard battles.

After a psychedelic opener with these swirls of color and a raven silhouette, we meet our protagonist, a man who has lost his Lenore just like in the Poe poem. A voice-over reads about 40% of that poem. That man is the great Vincent Price, but he's not exactly doing any great acting here as a wizard who is making a cartoonish raven pattern in the air next to his big telescope by moving his eyebrows and hands around just like you'd expect a wizard in 1963 to do. Price's outfit is super goofy, and his acting is really pretty terrible. I probably should have known that this was a comedy sooner than I was able to figure that out, probably around the third time Price walked into that aforementioned giant telescope. But after seeing a handful of the other Corman Poe adaptations, none which you'd call comedies, I suppose I can be forgiven for not figuring that out.

Other than the comedic stylings of a goofily-dressed Vincent Price and all that wizard stuff, this really does seem to follow the famous narrative poem. Price laments the loss of his love Lenore who'll return nevermore (though he keeps her in a casket on the premises), he hears a knock, he finds nothing there, he hears another knock, and he enjoys the company of a talking raven. You'd think that the titular bird's arrival would make this more like the poem; however, that's not the case as this bird starts talking in a silly voice that I could almost recognize, saying a whole lot more than "Nevermore." In fact, he starts blabbering about a rival wizard, and he talks Price into going to his dead father's laboratory (or whatever a wizard laboratory is called) to whip up a potion, one that includes "the entrails of a troubled horse," to turn the guy back into a man. He manages to turn him into a man with bird arms. Or wings, I guess. And you know who that man is? It's freakin' Peter Lorre! And Peter Lorre is really not very good in this at all.

So you've got Vincent Price and Peter Lorre. Who else is in this movie? Well, you've got Boris Karloff as that rival wizard. And then there's Jack Nicholson playing Peter Lorre's son. It's all a very complicated story that I wouldn't want to spoil, but suffice it to say, it drifts so far from Poe's narrative that I completely forgot it was supposed to be an adaptation of it.

By the time you get to the giant wizard battle at the end, this thing's gone completely off the rails. Add in that constant music, and it's all pretty insane. Is it funny? No, not really. Most of the jokes don't work at all although the performers are giving it their all. Does the narrative work? Well, that's probably a negative. Still, it's fun to watch these great actors goof around, and the added knowledge that this claims to be an adaptation of a poem about a lamenting guy being taunted by a raven, a story that doesn't contain a single fucking wizard, makes it even better.

Johnny Belinda

1948 melodrama

Rating: 15/20

Plot: A doctor has a hunch that a deaf and dumb girl is smarter than everybody thinks and starts teaching her to communicate. Scandal gets in the way, however.

This one's notable for being one of the first Hollywood movies to be released after they started easing up on restrictions. and I've read that it was fairly controversial at the time. A rape sequence, though terrifying and very bleak, is tame by today's standards, of course. The violence doesn't seem shocking even for the time. Johnny Belinda--not my favorite title, by the way--does approach scandal in a small community head-on, something that gives it a little edge. The most shocking thing about the whole movie is probably how mean Agnes Moorehead's character can get.

I liked the look of the movie. There are lots of shots from low angles, and the farm's always got these barren trees and gnarled fence posts in the background. The lighting is also good. I'm not sure it's all natural, but scenes inside a house sure seem that way, and during that aforementioned rape sequence, there's a menacing shadow on the barn wall that was just haunting. Never, I suppose the lesson might be, trust a man who enters a barn with a violin in hand.

That violin pops back in, by the way--at least audibly--in a very surprising way later on.

The cast was fine, Jane Wyman anchoring the whole thing without being able to say a word. She does a whole lot with her eyes, the rest with subtle movements or facial expressions. It's a really good performance. Our first exposure to that character is just about perfect, a close-up of her face. Dad tells the doctor (and us) all about her while at the same time, we get a chance to make up our own minds. The script doesn't give the character a lot of depth, but Wyman's performance does make it easy for you to empathize with the character.

An early scene where the doctor is teaching Belinda sign language made me chuckle. He's making signs for roosters and hens and trees, the latter which might have appeared scandalous if somebody was watching the two from afar, and without any kind of Helen Keller-esque moment of realization on Belinda's part, it's hard to believe she knew he was trying to teach her something instead of thinking the guy was a complete lunatic.

I was distracted by thoughts of how she was going to explain in sign language what happened to her in that barn. The sign language would have been a little too racy for 1948, even post-restrictions.

An inappropriate laugh--a really fake-looking dummy used in one scene.

But I enjoyed this film despite the boring geography lesson that begins the whole thing and a few instances of narrative convenience.

I don't know why I typed "chuckle" up there. I don't chuckle.

The Whip and the Body

1963 horror movie

Rating: 10/20

Plot: I'd rather not.

Hopes were high with this since the other two Mario Bava movies from 1963 are fantastic. Both Black Sabbath and The Girl Who Knew Too Much are classics, but maybe it's just asking too much of a director to have three great movies in a single year. Also, there's the tantalizing title. Now, it's entirely possible that some really terrible dubbing sank this one, but I'm fairly positive it wouldn't have been good without that problem. Maybe the problem isn't even the dubbing. Maybe it's how many times the characters say the name "Kurt" in this movie.

Christopher Lee is in this. He plays "Kurt," but he wasn't able to lend his own voice to this one.

There are a handful of atmospheric moments and a few shots that were at least capable of reminding me that I was watching a Mario Bava movie, but this is unfortunately really flat. And cheap. And it's not nearly as scandalous as the title might make it seem. Yes, there's a whip, a body, and even a whipped body, but it's hardly the sort of thing anybody would find sexy unless said person has a back and/or shoulder fetish.

This almost seems like a parody of a ghost story instead of an actual ghost story. There are more moments capable of causing eye rolls or chuckles than there are ones that you'd call horrifying. And once a deceased character starts walking around and leaving really thick muddy tracks, it really gets ludicrous. It's all really silly and dull simultaneously, not a combination you'd expect from Bava.

I Lost My Body

2019 animated French movie

Rating: 15/20

Plot: A disembodied hand tries to return to its owner.

The feature-length debut of Jeremy Clapin, this French cartoon is really inventive and continuously surprising. It intersects the story of an orphan who falls in love with a voice and this disembodied hand on a dangerous adventure to try to find the arm it was once attached to. The stories intersect almost exactly how you figure they will. In fact, they intersect in a way that I really hoped they wouldn't. But it's still satisfying because Clapin knows exactly how to bring these images together visually to give them a poignancy.

Clapin really takes advantage of the capabilities animation gives him. There are lots of really beautiful moments here, and the parts seen from the perspective of the hand are always fun. So much of the poignancy of the story depends on the little details, and Clapin knows how to have you focus on and appreciate those details without making it feel like he's forcing something on you.

This smart animated feature gives you time to reflect and has a handful of thrilling action sequences. Recommended if you like French cartoons!

Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire

1987 musical

Rating: 14/20

Plot: An up-and-coming snooker player challenges the champ, the titular sorta-vampire, to a match where the loser has to retire from the sport forever.

This was recommended by my friend Eric who insisted I watch it before finalizing my list of favorite movies from 1987. It's got a little Rocky Horror and a little Tommy, neither which are movies I like all that much. It's also got a lot of snooker. Snooker isn't used as a spiritual metaphor or anything like pinball is in Tommy. Instead, it just happens to be the game the real-life characters who this is loosely (I assume) based on play. That makes the whole thing feel a little empty or devoid of meaning. It probably doesn't help that I don't know anything about the rules of snooker although I did really enjoy watching the titular pair playing with their balls.

Having said that, there were a whole lot of extended sequences of these two playing with their balls.

What I did really love about this was the camera work. The camera moves in inventive ways and the shots always make this look way more expensive than I believe it was. Alan Clarke takes some chances with this movie, and that's something you just have to appreciate.

I didn't mind the music, I suppose, especially for this being a music that comes from the 80s. Then again, I don't really remember any of the songs either, and I just saw this a day ago.

I'm not sure I would insist that anybody watch this before making a list of favorite movies from 1987, but I'm not disappointed that I watched it. If you like these sorts of alternative musicals or snooker, you're likely to enjoy this.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

1987 comedy

Rating: 11/20

Plot: A selfish man tries to get home for Thanksgiving while an annoying but likable man tries to help him.

I don't believe I had seen this movie before though every bit of it seemed familiar. Everything, including all the 80's yuckiness, is exactly what you'd expect here.

Steve Martin is the exact sort of straight everyman you'd expect him to be, and he has the exact story arc you'd anticipate him having.

John Candy is the exact sort of buffoon you'd expect him to be. I spent the entire movie wondering if he could have pulled off Ignatius J. Reilly in an adaptation of A Confederacy of Dunces or if he just didn't have the range.

The humor is exactly what you'd expect. I feel like I was raised on this kind of humor and managed to somehow escape with more sophisticated tastes. And yes, I realize that makes me sound like I'm full of myself, but I don't care. Nobody is reading this anyway. There's even the kind of slightly homophobic humor you'd expect ("Those aren't pillows! Ahhhhhhh!") in a movie from this terribly embarrassing decade.

A lot of 80's yuckiness is in the movie's score. It's gross. So is a series of flashbacks near the end when Steve Martin's character goes through nearly the entire movie in his head while changing his facial expression slightly.

It's amazing that the producers decided to include a scene where Steve Martin delivers a monologue filled with "fucking" thises and "fucking" thats, the only thing, I believe, that would have kept this from being rated PG and having a chance at a wider audience.

Maybe the Roy Orbison (I think?) velvet painting would have been enough to get it an R-rating though.

It was shocking to me to see the Chicago skyline from 32 years ago because it looks completely different.

Oh, something from the 80s that I do love--women's hair styles. Laila Robins has cute hair.

Larry Hankin is in this movie, briefly.

Alright, I feel like I covered everything I needed to cover here.

Pelle the Conqueror

1987 immigration movie

Rating: 16/20

Plot: A man and his son immigrate to Denmark, and despite the father's old age and the son's very young age, they're able to find work on a farm owned by a lecherous man. Pelle, the son, dreams of America, and the dad gets really horny.

Dreaming of napkin rings with their names on them. That's what it's all about for this pair of protagonists, though only one is a titular protagonist. I suppose everybody dreams in different shapes and sizes. It doesn't really matter as this movie makes it clear that we all lose our feathers until we're just plucked chickens in the dung.

This is the second time I've spent hours watching Max von Sydow emigrate. Or maybe I'm watching him immigrate. Like alligators and crocodiles, immigration and emigration have similar scales. He's quietly great in this movie, so much with body language and movements. And those eyes! Part of what von Sydow is doing that makes this great is that he allows the flies in scenes with him to be equally important.

This movie is probably better than the rating I gave it. I'm not in a great mood though.

Broadcast News

1987 news movie

Rating: 14/20

Plot: A trio of news people fight for each other's affections.

The problem with a lot of these 80's movies is that they remind me of the 1980s. I probably wrote that about at least one other movie in the last couple of months.

Holly Hunter is doing her Holly Hunter thing, William Hurt showcases the depth and range of a piece of cardboard, and Albert Brooks steals the movie. It's a little difficult at times to figure out what the hell Holly Hunter's character wants in this movie. Her character isn't well written at all. Either that or William Hurt is a lot better looking than he seems to be.

This movie's got a rhythm that I like, especially when the characters are trying to get their jobs done. I didn't think much of the humor was funny though Albert Brooks was a joy to watch in nearly every scene he was in.

House of Games

1987 con artist movie

Rating: 15/20

Plot: There's an attempted con, another con, then another con, and a few more cons. Everybody was con-fu fighting!

"Everybody was con-fu fighting" should win me a Pulitzer, shouldn't it?

This is entertaining and pulpy stuff from Mamet though it stretches the limits of plausibility a few times. Maybe more than a few times.

The best bit in this movie is a scene involving a water gun after a little poker action. That's probably a spoiler, so you should ignore it.

I have to end this review because I need to pat myself on the back a little more for that "con-fu fighting" line.

Innerspace

1987 sci-fi comedy

Rating: 10/20

Plot: I don't want to talk about the plot. Suffice to say that "I'll be a son of a bitch. I'm in a strange man" is not a reference to what you think it is.

The posters for this movie are insanely bad. Seriously, do yourself a favor and Google Image posters for this movie.

"Oh, great. I'm inside a guy who likes game shows." If I had a nickel. . .

Ok, I think I've spent enough time with this movie.

Marriage Story

2019 divorce story

Rating: 15/20

Plot: Marriage story? More like divorce story.

Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver both feel like they're really living in these roles. We meet them in medias res, a pair of montages accompanying the reading of lists of what each spouse likes about his or her partner. It's both mundane and powerful, more striking with the juxtaposition of a very cold shot of the couple in the movie's present in a counselor's office. I really enjoyed both performances because they feel very honest, and the characters' likability makes this whole thing all the more heartbreaking. In a way, you wish the screenplay would have picked a side, chosen a villain other than the lawyers who muddle everything up. You wish the villain--more than likely Driver since it's usually men who are ill-equipped for this whole relationship thing--would get the ending he or she deserves so that the other can enjoy a happy ending. Instead, this shows the flaws and faults of both of these human beings, and as a viewer, it's impossible not to understand both sides in this conflict. Both Driver and Johansson get their moments to really shine here, the former adding to a filmography that continues to show a surprising versatility and the latter busting out of this action heroine rut she seems to be in the last few years.

The supporting cast is good, too. Alan Alda and Laura Dern are great as attorneys though the screenplay definitely paints one of them as more of a villain. Ray Liotta's in there, too, and even Wallace Shawn makes an appearance and has a few funny bits.

Oh, I want to pause here to let you know that this movie, despite subject matter that is depressing on the surface, isn't all doom and gloom. There's a lot of humor in this one. Most of the best bits of comedy involve Julie Hagerty's character as the mother of Scar-Jo's character. She's just wonderful here. My favorite humorous scene is a lengthy one where Driver's character arrives at his mother-in-law's house and another character has to serve him divorce papers. It's sitcom stuff, but it's quality sitcom stuff.

Most of the greatness is from the little moments, some of them touching, some of them heartbreaking. Slumped shoulders at a hearing, a second trick-or-treating adventure, troubles with a car seat, a punched wall. Both characters get songs, Driver's a strong contender for musical moment of the year. The movie's longish, but you do really feel these characters, empathize with their struggles, and hope for their futures.

Oh, the kid (Azhy Robertson) was pretty good, too!

I'm still trying to make up my mind about Randy Newman's score. I think it was really good though!

The Duke of Burgundy

2014 British drama

Rating: 14/20

Plot: Lesbians experience troubles in their sadomasochistic relationship.

Only slightly sexy (if at all) but deliciously stylish, The  Duke of Burgundy and its characters were never anything I got tired of looking at though there might not have been enough drama in this pair's relationship to justify the movie's length. Honestly, it was the frequent shots of butterflies--both living and dead--that kept me invested rather than the sadomasochistic shenanigans of the couple. One dream sequence is startlingly great, spliced-together and rapidly-changing butterfly bits filling the screen that reminded me of a Svankmajer short. All in all, it's a frequently lovely but maybe not all that engrossing love story, but I prefer Peter Strickland's Berberian Sound Studio, probably because I'm attracted to Toby Jones.

Do I want to know what a "human toilet" is, or is something I'm better off not knowing?

Au Revoir les Enfants

1987 enfants movie

Rating: 16/20

Plot: In German-occupied France, boys at a boarding school deal with new arrivals who may or may not have a secret they're hiding.

"Goodbye, children" is the translation in case you're not as fluent in Spanish as I am.