NOT JUST NOIR - FILMS 2016 AND ON

[notjustnoir]

TENET (2020)

We snuck away to Cinesphere today to see the latest Christopher Nolan movie.  Very good distancing - no more than 50 permitted in the theatre; lots of space around seats (no more than 2 in a party) with rows in between.   Masking was enforced as was following well-marked pathways.   It still remains unsettling to be in a public space, which helps with the disorientation of a Lloyd Nolan movie.   Good ensemble work in this time travelling thriller.   Russian arms dealers, British intelligence, independent forces and the CIA are involved, but time travelling forces are key in the struggle to prevent World War Three.  An empathic romance helps motivate the solution to the crisis.   I really liked Ludwig Göransson’s sound track - sort of a heavy metal/jazz fusion.   

[notjustnoir]

CHURCHILL AND THE MOVIE MOGUL (2019)

This was a most intriguing documentary - a fairly brief exploration of the relationship between Winston Churchill and Alexander Korda.  Starting with Churchill’s years in political exile and ending with the celebrations in the aftermath of VE Day, stock footage and interviews with knowledgable insiders pull the viewer into a logical and yet somewhat surreal world.  Odd facts like Churchill being an employee of Korda and Korda’s grilling by a House subcommittee over his pro-war views---the grilling reaching its peak as Japan bombed Pearl Harobur and Germany declared war on the U.S.---stand out but I think the consideration of the cinema script like structure of Churchill’s speeches was the most interesting part of the film.   Glad to have come across this odd offering of the 2020 Toronto Jewish Film Festival.

[notjustnoir]

KING OF KINGS (1961)

An odd retelling of the Christian narrative that leaves one wondering why the crucifixion even happened.   With the exception of an edited down version of the Sermon on the Mount, there seems to be little evidence of a message that would inspire followers and Jesus’ lack of charisma doesn’t help.   It has an excellent soundtrack, perhaps the best feature of the movie.   

[notjustnoir]

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956)

Not the worst retelling of the Exodus story.   I still find myself at times engrossed in the special effects and odd theology of the movie.    I found the temptation of Moses---the offering of the throne of Egypt---a more interesting aspect of the film this viewing.   

[notjustnoir]

1917 (2019)

I don’t see a lot of new movies---I’ve seen more this year than in decades.   1917 is a powerful film---essentially one long shot that follows one man from the rear to the front through all the horrors and absurdities of war.   A strongly visual work, but the highlight (for me) was the short scene centred around one man sing Poor Wayfaring Stranger.  A close to a must see movie that I’ve come across.    

[notjustnoir]

SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS (1964)

This is one of my favourite really bad movies and a seasonal treat.  A wise Martian elder tells worried Martian parents that their children must learn to have fun again.   This leads to a small scale invasion of earth and the kidnapping of two children and Santa Claus.  Martians are split on the wisdom of encouraging children to laugh and play leading to a poorly designed coup---the kidnapping of a pretend Santa and the defeat of the plot primarily to the efforts of children.   The children learn to laugh, the pretend Santa becomes the Santa of Mars and the real earthlings return home.   Cheap sets and costumes and bad acting are among the charms of this movie.   

[notjustnoir]

THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)

I was struck, for the first time with this rewatching, of the underlying theme of mutual aid at the core of the film.   Individual needs are only achievable with the help of active and communal solidarity.   The needs don’t even have to have a common element.  With the depression still woven into daily consciousness and totalitarian utopias dominating much of the planet, there is a radical message at the heart of this movie which I’ve not thought of.   I’ve enjoyed the singing and absurd story every time I’ve watched it but it is nice to have another element that gives substance to the movie.   Good cold weather fare.

[notjustnoir]

EACH DAWN I DIE (1939)

A prison movie with James Cagney, playing a crusading journalist who is framed for a crime and imprisoned, and George Raft, playing a prisoner who ends up the reporter’s friend.   The prison guards are brutal and punishments harsh.  Thanks to Raft, Cagney is freed.   A prison riot, glimpses of life in the hole, a romance that lasts through the strains of Cagney’s imprisonment and a liberal prison governor dealing with a brutal institution subculture and the corruption of the parole board give this movie some complexity.   Odd in a Hays Code era film for prisons to be portrayed so negatively.   A great proto-noir film.

[notjustnoir]

THE MILKY WAY (1936)

While not the best Harold Lloyd film (I think The Cat’s Paw is), I really enjoyed this take on the boxing world of depression era U.S.A. Harold Lloyd is a milkman, with a horse drawn milk float, who ends up on the front page of newspapers when it appears he knocked out the middleweight boxing champion.  A boxing promoted arranges a serious of bouts leading to the two facing each other in the ring for a charity match.  Three different romantic subplots are also at play.  Lots of good dialogue as well as fine physical humour.

[notjustnoir]

VICTORY THROUGH AIR POWER (1943)

While we know now that 1943 saw the turning point in WW2, that wasn’t a common perspective in the west that year.   Walt Disney made a feature length animated film/live lecture on the value of strategic bombing and long range bombers to convince the broader populace that a new way of fighting war was essential if victory was to be achieved.   Based on the book by Alexander P. de Seversky, who serves as narrator of the animated film and gives a series of talks on his vision of air warfare, it is a grim and unromantic look at war and why a quick and decisive victory is important to end a prolonged war.   A short history of aviation moves from simple, rather amusing images to powerful frames of the horrors of the way air warfare developed.   I suspect that the film was perceived dramatically different in 1943, when it was feeding into arguments on how best to conduct the war, and now when it can be seen as both prophetic and (at times) off the mark.   

[notjustnoir]

CAT’S-PAW (1934)

A rare primarily serious film by Harold Lloyd.   A son of a missionary to China returns to America to seek a wife and ends up (very unexpectedly) the reform mayor of a very corrupt city.   The ending may be currently politically unpalatable but works to solve the corruption problems and restore decent government to the city.  

[notjustnoir]

MOVIE CRAZY (1932)

An enjoyable, if at times uneven, Harold Lloyd film.  A young want-to-be actor has a series of misadventures that ultimately bring him to the attention of the studio owner and success.   Lots of good physical humour and a few homages to British Restoration Comedy.   

[notjustnoir]

TREASURE ISLAND (1934)

One of the best ways to celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day is to watch the 1934 version of Treasure Island.   Wallace Beery’s Long John Silver highlights a great ensemble performance of loyalty, betrayal and Cornish accents.   Light, with few surprises, but one of my all time favourite movies.

[notjustnoir]

THE MALTESE FALCON (1941)

This was the third, and most memorable, film made from the Dashiell Hammett novel.   Strong visual effects and great ensemble acting make this movie well worth repeat viewing.   The intricate development of the story---from a misleading search for a missing sister to the final moments with the disappointing revelation of what the statue of the Maltese falcon actually is and the rather anti-climatic wrapping up a series of crimes---still had surprising moments for me after several viewings over the years.   One of my favourite movies, and my second favourite noir (The Big Sleep is my favourite).

[notjustnoir]

APOLLO 11 (2019)

I’ve just seen Apollo 11 for the 2nd time this year.   It still is a moving telling of a familiar event I remember from my youth.   A wonderful soundtrack and a marvelous use of archival footage.   This time I got to see it at the Cinesphere---the first IMAX theatre and itself a source of nostalga,   I was able to note more of the physical details of the spacecraft, clearly see the expressions of NASA officials and ordinary people responding to the first journey to the moon and back, and come away with a greater sense of the vastness of the universe beyond the moon.    

[notjustnoir]

THE MOON OF ISRAEL (1924)

This is a very rare find---an early silent biblical epic made in Austria is a challenge/homage to Cecil B. DeMille’s first version of The Ten Commandments.  It is a romance between a Hebrew slave and an Egyptian prince.   Moses does make an appearance or three and does lead the Hebrew people through the Dead Sea, but the movie would be quite coherent without him.  From the jealous wife of the Egyptian prince to a battle of the Gods in a temple though plagues, ambushes and dynastic tensions, this proves to be an imaginative and engaging piece of film history.    

[notjustnoir]

AMAZING GRACE (2018)

I don’t often drift back into the Christian world, but a chance to hear Aretha Franklin in a concert movie was enough to bring me out.   This a powerful movie with great singing and a statement of hope from a world when hope was a more prevalent feeling.   I was struck watching the movie how different black gospel music is from white/Nashville gospel.   It is more about communal response to the divine and with statements of individual worth than the individually focused confessional focus much of white gospel holds dear.  Well worth seeing and hearing.