183. Brief Encounter (1946)

Running Time: 86 minutes
Directed By: David Lean
Written By: Anthony Havelock-Allan, David Lean, from the play Still Life by Noel Coward
Main Cast: Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, Joyce Carey

ON MY JOURNEY I MET A MAN NAMED 'LEAN'

When I think of David Lean, I think of epic films like "Doctor Zhivago" or "Lawrence of Arabia" (two films that appear later on in the 1001 book). However, from now on when I think of David Lean, I'll certainly not forget to remember "Brief Encounter", the film that I took in tonight and one that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Laura Jesson (Johnson) is a suburban housewife, who's life doesn't have too much excitement outside of her weekly Thursday trips to Milford, her neighboring town, for which she takes a train to go to the grocer's, have lunch and catch a movie. On one particular Thursday, while standing on the platform awaiting her train, Laura gets some debris in her eye. Rushing back into the station's refreshment room, she asks for a glass of water to bathe her eye, but instead gets the kind help of a stranger, a doctor who happens to be in the room and helps her cure her eye problem. She thanks him and leaves and the next Thursday runs into him again as he is on his way to the hospital and she on her way to the grocer's. The following Thursday, they meet again, in a crowded restaurant that they've both chosen for lunch, and due to the overwhelming crowd, Laura extends her one person table to the doctor, who introduces himself as Alec (Howard), a married, general practitioner. The chit chat, make inside jokes about the band that's playing at the restaurant and eventually decide to take in a movie together that afternoon.

They continue to meet every Thursday, engaging in various different activities, such as going to the pictures, going for walks, taking boat rides and just talking. They soon realize that despite their marriages, they have unavoidably fallen in love with one another. Laura begins to lie to her husband, telling him that she was with female friends of hers, and then calling the female friends to arrange alibis. On another Thursday, Alec borrows a car from a colleague, Stephen, and the two take a drive through the country, returning back to the city and Stephen's flat. Alec offers Laura the chance to join him in his colleagues' flat and at first she declines, only to return back to the apartment. Nothing ends up happening, as Stephen returns home and Laura is forced out the back way, leaving her to miss her train and forcing her to call her husband and make up yet another lie. This event forces the twosome to realize that their love can never be and in not wanting to disturb either persons' family, Alec decides to take a job that has been offered to him in South Africa.

I've mentioned before that I'm a sucker for prison movies, well you can also mark me down as being a sucker for movies told in flashback. I don't know what it is about that element of storytelling, but it almost always appeals to me and "Brief Encounter" is no exception. In this films case, I particularly love the way that the entire movie is told from the perspective of Laura, as if she were confessing the entire, sordid affair to her husband, a character that deserves sympathy but gets none here, because the affair and love that is developing is so fairy tale-esque. Aside from the fine acting performances, I also enjoyed the use of the camera, lighting and music, as Piano Concerto No. 2 was a perfect selection and the shadows on the wall as Laura and Alec round a corner at the train station, are two unforgettable elements about the entire picture. If I had to nitpick about anything at all, I would say that the scene where Alec and Stephen have a brief conversation is totally out of place, especially seeing as how everything is from the P.O.V. of Laura and Laura wasn't present for the conversation in question.

This movie is a great piece of storytelling, as the entire premise is so fantastical that it's easy to get caught up in it. This is what movies are all about, when you can totally let go and find yourself standing on a train station platform, the wind of a speeding train blowing against your face and witnessing a great love affair unfold before your eyes. In fact, I think that if any picture can really define the word "movie", then this would be the one and this would also be a prime candidate to show to someone who doesn't appreciate the art of black & white cinema.

RATING: 7/10 Wow, you'd think after all that praise, I would've went a little higher. No, a '7' seems like a good choice, but don't get me wrong this is a great film.

MOVIES WATCHED: 144
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 857

September 14, 2010 3:45am

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802. My Left Foot (1989)

Running Time: 103 minutes
Directed By: Jim Sheridan
Written By: Shane Connaughton, Jim Sheridan, from book by Christy Brown
Main Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker, Ray McNally, Fiona Shaw, Hugh O'Conor

THE STORY OF CHRISTY BROWN

I just had a hunch about this one. More often than not, those infamous hunches don't pan out and high hopes for a movie quickly crumble. But on this particular occasion the hunch did indeed pan out and delivered in droves, as "My Left Foot" was without a doubt a fantastic film, showcasing one of the best performances I've ever witnessed.

Christy Brown (Day-Lewis) was born in 1932 in the city of Dublin, Ireland. Upon his birth he was diagnosed as mentally challenged, however that didn't stop his loving mother and gruff father from loving him. There were several other brothers and sisters and the family didn't have much money, but they were close knit, living in their two-story home in Ireland. Around the age of ten, while trying to convey a message to his family, by grasping a piece of chalk between the toes of his left foot and trying desperately to communicate to them, his parents realized that he couldn't possibly be mentally challenged and his diagnosis was then changed to cerebral palsy. Though his speech was barely audible to the rest of the family, his mother (Fricker) always seemed to know exactly what Christy was saying, and despite almost total paralysis, with the exception of his left foot, Christy was able to have a pretty normal youth, playing ball with the other boys and sending love notes to girls that he admired. He eventually learned to more carefully control his foot and toes and took to painting, where he excelled.

Later in life, he was approached by Dr. Eileen Cole (Shaw) and taken to an institute for cerebral palsy patients. Though he didn't work out well at the institute, Dr. Cole continued to work with Christy at his home and turn his inaudible speech into a more clear, prominent voice. After working so closely with Dr. Cole, Christy falls in love with her and in a scene filled with loads of emotion, goes into an outrage when Dr. Cole informs Christy that she's engaged. Christy can't stand being alone and imprisoned in his own body, so he tries to commit suicide, except he can't quite reach his left foot to his right wrist and fails at the task. Christy eventually wants to try his hand (or foot) at writing, and follows up the notion by publishing his life story as "My Left Foot: The Christy Brown Story". Despite his outraegously successful life as a painter, writer and overcomer of odds, he still can't shake the feeling of lonliness and turns to his nurse Mary for companionship.

Do I even have to mention the performance that Day-Lewis turns out here? No, I probably don't, but I will. Daniel Day-Lewis is a fantastic actor and that's never more apparent than with his portrayl of Christy Brown. After watching the movie, I decided to do some light reading into the film, and found out that Day-Lewis refused to break character between takes, even going so far as to frustrate his agent to the point that he stormed off the set. What an actor and seriously...what a performance, as Day-Lewis transforms himself completely into a man with cerebral palsy, a man lonely, afraid and sometimes frustrated. This movie is also probably one of the most inspiring films I've ever seen and I'm sure I'll think twice the next time I complain and will be able to tell myself more easily that "It could be worse". I feel like I'm babbling and I really don't want to do that. Sometimes you just like a movie and that's that and trying to explain why you like it, is like trying to explain the color red to a blind man...there are just no words.

RATING: 10/10 Finally a 10/10 and I don't count "Kramer vs. Kramer" because that has been a personal favorite of mine for years and "My Left Foot" was viewed by me for the first time tonight.

MOVIES WATCHED: 143
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 858

September 13, 2010 2:47am

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COMING SOON: 09/12/10 - 09/18/10

Ok, so you saw how this worked out last week, I posted four movies that I was planning to watch for the coming week and I only actually ended up watching two of the four that I posted. So...don't take the following list to heart, but these are a few of the films that I'm thinking about watching for the week beginning 09/12/2010 and ending 09/18/2010:

*My Left Foot (1989 - Jim Sheridan)
*Dangerous Liaisons (1988 - Stephen Frears)
*Brief Encounter (1946 - David Lean)
*Happy Together (1997 - Wong Kar-Wai)
*The African Queen (1951 - John Huston)

I have a pretty heavy work schedule this week, so I may or may not get to five movies. Next week, on the other hand, I have a fairly easy work load and may take the extra time to squeeze in a couple Fellini films.

Feel free to comment on the selections listed above and as always, thanks for reading.

September 12, 2010 10:43pm

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317. An Affair to Remember (1957)

Running Time: 119 minutes
Directed By: Leo McCarey
Written By: Leo McCarey, Mildred Cram, Delmer Daves, Donald Ogden Stewart
Main Cast: Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Richard Denning, Neva Patterson, Cathleen Nesbit

NICE STORIES DON'T ALWAYS MAKE GOOD MOVIES

On this, the one year anniversary of the beginning of my journey through film, I'm trying to squeeze in a few movies to commemorate the occasion. The second movie that I chose for the day was "An Affair to Remember" and after finishing it I can admit that, although the story was nice and romantic, the film itself failed to impress me.

Nickie Ferrante (Grant) is an infamous womanizer who has finally decided to settle down and make an honest woman out of young, beautiful heiress, Lois Clark (Patterson). En route from England to New York City, aboard the SS Constitution, where he will meet up with his bride to be, Ferrante meets up with another woman by the name of Terry McKay (the elegant Kerr) and although they squabble over Ferrante's lost cigarette case at first, she is ultimately invited to dinner on his behalf. Unable to pass up a beautiful woman, Ferrante turns on his charm and sweeps McKay off of her feet. During a five hour stop made by the ocean liner, Ferrante invites McKay to join him as he visits his grandmother on the Mediterranean coast. McKay immediately hits it off with Nickie's grandmother and learns that there is more to Ferrante than meets the eye, like that he has a knack for painting and playing the piano, but it's the things that he can't have that appeal to him the most, so he gave up talents that came so easy to him.

Back aboard the SS Constitution, Nickie and Terry realize that they've indeed fallen head over heels in love with each other and that their respective fiance's will have to fall to the wayside. There is only one problem and that is that they are both supported by said fiances and neither of them have done much real work in their lives and have come accustomed to living the swanky lifestyle. They decide to turn their lives around, get jobs and get out of their relationships and meet each other in six months time atop the Empire State Building, an agreement that is made as they reach New York and see the building towering over them. Six months go by, Nickie gets back into painting and manages to sell a few and Terry goes to Boston and revisits her roots, being a nightclub singer. The six months expire and they're all set for the big meeting. Terry is running late due to being stopped and questioned by her ex-fiance and runs into traffic, with only four minutes to spare before 5 o'clock, when she's to meet Nickie. As she races into traffic she is hit by a car and ends up in the hospital, leaving Nickie to his broken heart atop the Empire State Building.

As my headline eludes to, this is a nice story. In fact, when thinking of a single word to describe "An Affair to Remember" that's the one that kept popping to mind. It's not necessarily a bad thing, in fact, this movie takes you on a roller coaster ride of emotions. When we start out it seems as though the comedy is being laid on pretty thick, and Grant is shining as the funny man and Kerr is relatively charming, although there never seems to be any real chemistry between the two. Then we get to the grandmother scene, and to me this is a throw away scene, as nothing is really established here, except a few coincidental things that are eluded to later, like the song that the grandmother plays on piano and the shawl that she promises to send to McKay because she likes it so much. It's an entire segment of movie that could've easily been taken out, as it really slowed down the entire pace of the film and the movie, in my opinion, never picks back up.
Then the six month deal is struck, Terry gets hit by the car and the movie finishes off with some more throw away stuff that really doesn't work, like Terry turning some troubled youths into a choir and Nickie having a few dates with his ex-fiance.

It seems to me that Leo McCarey had a small idea for a film and instead of saying "I could never turn that small idea into a two-hour film", he instead just ran with it and the finished product is like going down a street and hitting all red lights, as every time the movie picks up a bit of pace, it is halted by yet another scene that is out of place and totally halts the flow of the film. The entire film hinges on the six month meeting and Terry getting hit by the car and basically everything else, outside of the first thirty minutes, is of no crucial importance, and we're forced to go through the motions until we get to the next crucial scene. And I've said it before and after all this time, I'll say it again...There is just something about Cary Grant that I don't like and I cannot for the life of me put my finger on it. He just has an air about him that doesn't appeal to me and unless the film is overly stellar, it is hard for me to settle into a film starring him.

RATING: 5/10 And that's being generous, but the first thirty minutes of the film were engaging and interesting enough to, at least, warrant that much.

MOVIES WATCHED: 142
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 859

September 11, 2010 8:50pm

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912. SCREAM (1996)

Running Time: 111 minutes
Directed By: Wes Craven
Written By: Kevin Williamson
Main Cast: Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lillard, David Arquette

ONE YEAR LATER

It was one year ago today, when I sat down at the computer to type up my review for " A Trip to the Moon". Today, as I sack out on my bed, I choose a movie that comes almost 100 years later, "Scream", a movie that I remember watching twice the day that it came out on VHS, which seems like so many years ago.

The film opens with Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore), sporting short, blonde hair and cooking some popcorn in preparation for a scary movie in front of the television. Casey, who is home alone, receives a phone call and the wheels of the movie are set into motion. The caller talks politely at first, despite his eerie voice and questions Casey about her movie choice and then goes on to talk about more scary movies, Halloween, Friday the 13th, etc. As Casey continues to hang up on the caller, he becomes more agitated and his true motives are eventually revealed. He has tied up Casey's boyfriend on her porch and he plans to kill them both before the night is over. Her only hope is if she can answer a question correctly: "Who was the killer in Friday the 13th?". She fails the pop quiz and quickly finds herself hanging from a tree, her insides on the outside. Following that, the rest of the cast is revealed, her high school classmates, as they're shocked to hear about the vicious murder of Casey.

The main character is Sidney Prescott (Campbell), a virginal young girl who's boyfriend Billy (Ulrich) wants nothing more than to stamp an "R" rating on their "PG-13" relationship. The school and town is rocked by the murder of Casey and her boyfriend Steve and Gail Weathers (Cox), a local news reporter wants nothing more than to expose the situation and make a name for herself, just as she did with the story of Sidney's mother, who was brutally raped and murdered almost one year prior to Casey's death. Eventually a curfew is set in place and more murders take place, including that of the high school principal, Sidney's best friend Tatum and nearly Sidney herself as the killer, wearing a ghost faced mask, tries the same routine on her, as he did with Casey Becker. However, Sidney is seemingly more resilient and continues to escape the murderous clutches of the slasher, a slasher who wants nothing more than to get his hands on Sidney. Toward the end, all signs point to Neil Prescott, Sidney's father, but in horror movies, nothing is as it seems.

I look fondly on this movie, as it was something that I specifically remember being hyped and being a big success at the box office. I also remember sitting with my brother and watching this movie for the first time and having a blast. With that being said, "Scream" has absolutely no right mingling with the movies that are contained in the pages of the "1001" book. Sure it's a fun film when you're a teenager, but when you grow up some of that fun begins to fade and you realize that it's just another cliche slasher flick, full of plot holes. Not to say that ALL of the fun has diminished, I still had a pretty good time reliving my childhood today and taking in "Scream" for the first time in ages. You would think that Wes Craven would want his big comeback horror flick to be a really quality one, that creeped you out, instead of an ode to old horror movies (many of them his own) that makes you laugh, just as much as it makes you jump. In the end, you realize that the best part of this movie came within the first five minutes, and the scene with Drew Barrymore, a really perfectly played out scene that really amps you up for what SHOULD follow, but instead is only the high part of a movie that goes downhill from there.

RATING: 4.5/10 If you've never seen it, then 'yes' I'd recommend seeing it once, but "Scream" is a movie that is no longer for me, as apparently me and my tastes have grown up.

MOVIES WATCHED: 141
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 860

September 11, 2010 3:20pm

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490. TARGETS (1968)

Running Time: 90 minutes
Directed By: Peter Bogdanovich
Written By: Polly Platt, Peter Bogdanovich
Main Cast: Boris Karloff, Tim O'Kelly, Peter Bogdanovich

THERE ARE THINGS IN THE WORLD SCARIER THAN MOVIES

Having realized that I have yet to watch a movie from the decade of the 60s, I sat down and scoured through the movies from that decade that were available to watch instantly on Netflix, and came up with "Targets", the first film directed by Peter Bogdanovich and a very effective thriller, which stars Boris Karloff and Tim O'Kelly.

The film follows two different plotlines, which in the end are tied together. First off, we have Byron Orlok (Karloff, essentially playing himself), an aging actor, who in his prime was the main man when it came to horror films. After screening his most recent picture, Orlok comes to the assumption that his career is winding down and although he is scheduled to shoot another movie, decides to throw in the towel and retire. This angers up and coming director, Sammy Michaels, who is quite proud of his newest screenplay and was counting on Orlok to make it a success. Later Orlok also cancels an appearance that he was supposed to make at a local drive-in, where they'll be screening his new movie "The Terror". He eventually changes his mind, suggesting that this could be his final swan song before bowing out of the movie business for good.

Meanwhile, we also follow the day to day life of Bobby Thompson (O'Kelly), who lives a pretty basic life. It's just about as "Leave it to Beaver" as you can get, as the family, consisting of Bobby's wife, mother and father, crowd around the television watching the late night shows, going to work and gathering at the dinner table each evening to talk about their day. As clean cut as that all sounds, Bobby has some demons lurking in his mind in the form of morbid thoughts about murdering people. He keeps a small arsenal of guns in the trunk of his car and one day finally snaps, murdering his mother, his wife and the grocery boy. He types a letter, basically saying that these murders are only the beginning and before he is caught, more people will die. He heads to an oil refinery, with a staircase leading to the top of a large platform and with his guns in tow begins to snipe out drivers on the freeway. When the cops arrive on scene, Bobby flees and ends up at the Reseda Drive-In, the same drive-in where Byron Orlok plans to say his goodbye to the movie business in just a few hours.

You don't have to dig very deep into the film to realize the motives behind the story. In the world there are pretend monsters, like Orlok and there are indeed real monsters like Bobby Thompson. While Orlok can turn his evil on and off, the evil that lurks inside Bobby is an evil that will only grow bigger and bigger until it manifests itself in the form of murderous actions. I loved the idea behind this movie, because its all so true. There is nothing that we can witness on a television or movie theatre screen that could possibly compare to the real terrors that are on the streets everyday. While watching "Targets" it was that very idea that bounced around my head for most of the ninety minute runtime. I've never really had much experience with the directing skills of Peter Bogdanovich, but this was a great directorial debut, despite its floundering success at the box office. I loved all the little eerie nuances that Bogdanovich put into play to make the film that much more creepy. The fact that there is no score during scenes of major suspense, the close-ups of Bobby's itchy trigger finger, the herky-jerky editing style (which I thought was brilliant) and the subtlety of Bogdanovich trying to tell us all a little something about life, like no matter how clean cut and well brought up you are, evil can still creep into your psyche and eventually your actions.

RATING: 7/10 Nothing really bad here, just really only felt like a '7', but I'll definitely keep an eye out for more Peter Bogdanovich.

MOVIES WATCHED: 140
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 861

September 10, 2010 11:32pm

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214. The Heiress (1949)

Running Time: 116 minutes
Directed By: William Wyler
Written By: Augustus Goetz, Ruth Goetz, from the novel Washington Square by Henry James
Main Cast: Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson, Miriam Hopkins

JUMPING BACK TO THE '40S TO CHECK OUT A TRUE CLASSIC

Since deciding to go random last week and after a brief hiatus following "The Maltese Falcon", I hadn't watched a movie from the decade of the 1940s in some time. In jumping back to the decade, I wasn't disappointed and was once again reminded of the fact that they made some truly great flicks back in the day.

Olivia de Havilland plays Catherine Sloper, a very homely looking girl, who spends lonely days at home, highlighted by embroidery. She lives with her father, Dr. Austin Sloper, who is constantly comparing Catherine to her deceased mother and trying to coax her to get out of the house more and be more social. One evening, with the help of his sister, Lavinia, Austin finally convinces Catherine to go to a gathering that the family is attending. While at the gathering, Catherine meets Morris Townsend (Clift), a handsome, young bachelor who immediately sweeps her off her feet, both literally and figuratively, as they share a dance and swoon over each other, despite the hesitancy of Catherine. They go their separate ways following the party, but Morris promises that he'll visit and he does...every day, for several days. Following a series of many house calls by the suitor, Dr. Sloper decides that it would only be proper if he invited the fellow for dinner.

Over a conversation at dinner, where Morris reveals that he has no real career and has never saved a lick of money, Dr. Sloper begins to become suspicious of Morris' infatuation with Catherine, for as meager as she is, a gentleman with the looks and smarts of Morris couldn't possibly be in love with his Catherine. However, Morris continues to proclaim his love for Catherine and eventually, although again hesitant, Catherine returns the sentiment. They plan to marry, but after a talk with Dr. Sloper, where he makes his opinions heard, the plans are immediately veered into a different direction. Dr. Sloper proclaims that Morris could only possible be interested in Catherine's ample inheritance and nothing more. Catherine fights with her father and the couple plan to elope, and Catherine plans never to return to the home of her father. They set the meeting time for 12:30am and Morris fails to show up, making Catherine realize that her father was right and that Morris was indeed only interested in the financial perks of marrying Catherine.

Since I had never seen "The Heiress", watching the film with my wife (who had also never seen it) was a fun experiment. While my wife (the romantic) sided with the character of Morris through the first half of the movie, stating that surely he loves her and that the inheritance has nothing to do with his feelings, I tended to side with the father's perspective. I loved watching the film and not really knowing which one of us was right, only being able to guess and finally getting the big reveal and eventual payoff. The cast was excellent and while de Havilland and Clift shone, it was Ralph Richardson who caught my eye, as I loved him in the film and wouldn't mind seeing some more of his work. If I had to gripe about anything it would only be that I wish they had held the father's tongue for a little bit longer, before he made his opinions about Morris known. It would've given the audience a chance to draw our own conclusions about Morris, instead of having the ideas put into our head by the Dr. Sloper character. But that, my friends, is only a minor gripe and in the end, what I thought would be a film not for me, turned into a really great one and a good time for me and my wife at the movies.

RATING: 7.5/10 I constantly blab about knee-jerk ratings and that's what the '7.5' for "The Heiress" is and as I always tend to say, I definitely forsee that rating rising in the future.

MOVIES WATCHED: 139
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 862

September 9, 2010 9:33pm

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