Fritz Lang Interviewed by William Friedkin (1975)

AKA Conversation with Fritz Lang

Director: William Friedkin

Starring: Fritz Lang, William Friedkin

More info: IMDb

Plot: William Friedkin interviews Fritz Lang.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

Sit down with these two film greats  for ninety minutes to hear Lang talk about making movies, from his start in pictures to his narrow escape from Nazi Germany after his meeting with Josef Goebbels to discussing his prolific and masterful catalog of films.  Fans of movies in general will get a kick out of this.  For the most part Friedkin does a fine job but he is often impatient with Lang who takes his time in answering but also rebukes Friedkin's assertions.  For example, Friedkin wants to impose hidden meaning into some of Lang's films but Lang shrugs them off as coincidences.  Friedkin clearly reads more into Lang's films than the man who made them.  Outside of that it's a wonderful time spent with one of film's most celebrated artists.  Lang died the following year at the age of 85.

The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011)

Director: Mark Cousins

Writer: Mark Cousins

Starring: Mark Cousins, Juan Diego Botto

More info:  IMDb

Tagline: Made over six years, on four continents, covering 11 decades and a thousand films.

Plot: A comprehensive history of the medium and art of motion pictures.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

This 15-hour documentary on the history of film is staggering in its comprehension alone.  It's told from a lover of quality art film so most people will find it pretentious as I did at times.  The sheer amount of films discussed will have movie fans struggling to keep up writing the titles down to watch later.  I gave up minutes into the first episode and gave myself to the program.  It was a wonderful ride but there is one hangup - the narration (by Cousins, I think).  He has a manner of speaking that leaves most sentences leaning upward as if it were a question.  It's annoying and it took at least the first couple of hours before I was used to it and grew to like it.  I guess you could say I had no choice for if I wanted to continue the next 13 hours I'd have to accept it.  There are times where he's pretentious on his own merit, strange question speak not withstanding.  And there was one point where he came off as a complete asshole when he bluntly said that anyone who doesn't like this film (I forget which picture he was talking about) is wrong (both critics and laypeople).  I'm sorry, but any medium is subjective.  Something might generally accepted as beautiful, brilliant or well made but not everyone is going to see it that way.  That angered me even if I felt he could be right.  It's a lot to absorb and it's easy to feel small (I've probably seen over 10,000 movies in my lifetime and I consider myself to be pretty knowledgeable and I felt inadequately prepared for this, discovering more movies that I didn't even know about), but get over it quickly and get through this.  For me, it's hearing others discuss movies.  At the very least, this is worth watching for the extraordinary amount of beautiful imagery that is burned on film forever (hopefully).

Milius (2013)

Directors: Joey Figueroa, Zak Knutson

Composer: Daniel Sternbaum

Starring: John Milius, Ethan Milius, Amanda Milius, Walter Murch, Randal Kleiser, George Lucas, Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg, Michael Mann, George Hamilton, Francis Ford Coppola, Elvis Mitchell, Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, Richard Dreyfuss, Bryan Singer, Robert Zemeckis, Charlie Sheen, Oliver Stone, Sylvester Stallone, William Katt, Kathleen Kennedy, Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Earl Jones, Powers Boothe, Bob Gale, Sam Elliott, Lea Thompson, Kurt Sutter, Ed O'Neill, John Goodman

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The true story of the greatest filmmaker you never knew

Plot: A look at the life of filmmaker,John Milius.

My rating: 8.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes!

The story goes something like this.  Steven Spielberg's in the middle of filming JAWS (1975) and he's closing to filming the intimate scene of the three leads inside the boat but the scene needs something, a chilling story for Quint to tell Brody and Hooper.  Spielberg calls his buddy John Milius and asks for some ideas.  Within minutes Spielberg is quickly writing down this incredible monologue Milius dictates about Quint and The Indianapolis.  Bam!  It's done.  How's that for talent?  It's one of the most iconic moments in film history, that monologue, and it's just as chilling to hear Robert Shaw recite as it was for me 35 years ago when I first saw it.  Milius is one of the most badass filmmakers that's ever shot a frame.  He's the man's man of movie macho motherfuckers and this is his story as told by him and seemingly countless Hollywood heavyweights.  It's a fascinating story about a true maverick whose personality and opinions ostracized him from Hollywood.  This was on Netflix last year and it's not on DVD.  I'm jonsing to see it again and I can't.  Damnit!

That Guy ... Who Was in That Thing (2012)

Directors: Ian Roumain, Michael Schwartz

Composer: Craig Stuart Garfinkle

Starring: Xander Berkeley, Bruce Davison, Craig Fairbrass, Zach Grenier, Paul Guilfoyle, Gregory Itzin, Zeljko Ivanek, Robert Joy, Stanley Kamel

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Some make it to Broadway. Some make it to Hollywood. Few make it a job.

Plot: Sixteen male actors, who are highly recognizable but not stars, detail their ups and down as they struggle to forge careers in Hollywood.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Fun flick.  I dig documentaries about the different aspects of movie making in Hollywood and this one's got a different angle.  It's the now-standard talking head documentary with a large cast with some of the same but mostly different things to say.  It doesn't take itself too seriously and it's fun all the way through.  I can't see this as something that warrants a repeat watch but it's cool hearing from a lot of actors whose names you probably don't know but whose faces you'll recognize instantly.  You'll find yourself frequently saying out loud, "Hey, I know that guy!" There's a sequel out that focuses on the girls.  I need to see that one, too.

Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau (2014)

Director: David Gregory

Composer: Mark Raskin

Starring: Richard Stanley, Fairuza Balk, Hugh Dickson, Oli Dickson, Peter Elliott, Bruce Fuller, Michael Gingold, David Grasso Jr., Marco Hofschneider, David Hudson, Graham Humphreys, Kier-La Janisse, Paul Katte, Fiona Mahl, Rob Morrow, Emile Nicolaou, Edward R. Pressman, James Sbardellati, Robert Shaye, Tim Sullivan

More info: IMDb


Plot: Behind the scenes chronicle of how clash of vision, bad creative decisions, lack of interest and really bad weather plagued the disastrous production of the infamous 1996 remake of The Island of Dr. Moreau.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU (1996) is not a good movie.  It's an interesting clusterfuck of egos if nothing else.  If you've ever wondered how a big budget movie could turn out so bad then this is a great little picture to put it all into perspective for you.  On one hand you've got a lot of talented folks that want to make a really good telling of H.G. Wells' story (Stanley, the original director, the makeup effects team and the lower tier actors) and on the other you've got egos the size of Montana who just like to spend other peoples' money (Brando, Kilmer, Frankenheimer to a lesser degree).  Naturally it's the Hollywood hot shots that win out and they're almost entirely to blame.  Kilmer was a pompous asshole and Brando was a contemptuous man-child.  Together, with the unenviable task of Frankenheimer to keep these pricks in line and salvage a movie out of all this madness, they created a $40 million ($61 million in 2015 dollars) exercise in W...T...F.  Director Gregory interviews an awful lot of folks involved except the 3 major cast members (one of which is dead, Brando).  You get the idea that Stanley was in over his head since the picture had started with a much smaller budget and a much lesser name cast to what it ended up being.  I can understand how daunting that must have been to suddenly being faced with working with Kilmer and Brando and all of the massive baggage that brings.  Then once Stanley's out of the picture it takes on a whole other life of its own.  One thing that I found fascinating is how Stanley was able to sneak onto the set, in costume as an extra as the dog-man, and participate without any of the big wigs knowing.  Watching this documentary ALMOST makes me want to watch the '96 film again but then I remember how bad it was.  I think this documentary is as close as I want to get to revisiting it and I'm OK with that.

Casting By (2012)

Director: Tom Donahue

Composer:Leigh Roberts

Starring: Marion Dougherty, Lynn Stalmaster, Woody Allen, Edward Asner, Ned Beatty, Peter Bogdanovich, Jeff Bridges, Glenn Close, Ronny Cox, Mel Gibson, Robert De Niro, Richard Donner, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Duvall, Clint Eastwood, etc., etc., etc.

More info: IMDb

Plot: The surprising, never-before-told tale of the indispensable yet unsung Casting Director - Iconoclasts whose keen eye, exquisite taste and gut instincts redefined Hollywood.

My rating: 8.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

I've got to start by saying how much of a dick Taylor Hackford is.  I realize I probably just shot myself in the foot and made sure that I'll never work in Hollywood again but after watching this, let's face, this guy's an asshole. Did you know that there is no Academy Award category for casting which is the only title card role to not have a category?  Hackford loves that and his belittling of that job is obscene as it is stupid.  After sitting through this excellent 89 minute documentary you come away with an awful lot.  Marion Dougherty is a truly amazing woman.  A casting director can make or break a film. A good CD can make a director's job much easier and audiences more grateful (although they might not realize it.  Oh, and Taylor Hackford is an asshat.  This picture mainly profiles Dougherty but other CDs are interviewed as well as a Brinks truckload of great actors who got their start in pictures because of her and her uncanny ability to see something in actors what others might not and she stood by her decisions.  A lot of those people are in this picture to give testament and thanks for her role in their careers.  Make sure you stay through the credits.  Burt Young brought me to tears.  It's currently streaming on Netflix.

Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)

Director: Michael Winner

Writers: Arnold Schulman, Cy Howard

Composer: Neal Hefti

Starring: Madeline Kahn, Bruce Dern, Teri Garr, Art Carney and TONS of famous names and faces you'll recognize from the early days of film and comedy

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Introducing The Dog Who Launched 1000 Stars.

Plot: In 1923 Estie comes to Hollywood to become an actress, but the dog, that followed her becomes the star. But Hollywood has its own rules of success.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? I might if for no other reason than to try and spot all of the greats that I missed the first time around.

Is this good?  Not really.  But the reason you need to see this (that is, if you're like me and LOVE old Hollywood and comedy) is to see the tremendous amount of great character actors and movie stars of old like Sterling Holloway, William Demarest, Virginia Mayo, Henny Youngman, Rory Calhoun, Billy Barty, Jackie Coogan, Ricardo Montalban, Aldo Ray, Ethel Merman, Yvonne De Carlo, Joan Blondell, Andy Devine, Phil Silvers, Johnny Weissmuller, Rudy Vallee, George Jessel, Rhonda Flemming, Tab Hunter and on and on and on.  Plus it's set in Hollywood in 1923.  The dialogue from the leads is often pretty bad and it makes the film feel cheaper than it should.  Neal Hefti's score is hit and miss but all of that is offset by seeing one famous "once was" after another and a lot of them have some really funny bits.  This is why you should see it and not because of the story or anything else.  I had a grin on my face for over half the picture and I laughed out loud quite a few times.  It's currently on Netflix streaming.  This is definitely not a film for most people but then I'm not most people.

Chump Change (2000)

Director: Stephen Burrows

Writer: Stephen Burrows

Composer: Matt Cartsonis

Starring: Stephen Burrows, Tim Matheson, Traci Lords, A.J. Benza, Fred Willard, Clancy Brown, McNally Sagal, Jon Chardiet, Willie Etra, Abe Vigoda, Roger Clinton, Stefane Zamorano, Theo Greenly, Mandy Levin, Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Fame, Fortune, Cheese, and Beer.

Plot: A failed Hollywood actor returns to his home town in Wisconsin and reminisces about his life in L.A. to a potential new girlfriend about his faults, auditions, misadventures, and confrontations with the evils of Hollywood.

VIEW TRAILER

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? Yes.

OMFG where has this movie been?  I laughed my fucking ass off.  It's a semi-autobiographical of writer/director/star Stephen Burrows' adventures in the movie industry.  The script is funny, smart and very good.  The actors he surrounds himself with are outstanding and I'm not just talking about the faces you know like Matheson, Willard, Brown and so on.  Lords is fantastic (and funny) and she's perfectly cast opposite of Burrows.  They've got great chemistry.  Part of that's the dialogue and the other is just how well these two actors get along.  Burrows is great and hilarious.  It's his show all the way but he gives everyone else their moments to shine. The comedy troupe he puts together with McNally Sagal (I LOVE her in this) and (I think) M.C. (Jon Chardiet) has a montage of a bunch of bits that will slay you.  The Transvestite Leave It To Beaver about killed me with laughter.  The Hollywood types (agent, publicist, studio head and so on) are made to be over the top but I can't help but think that there's a lot of truth in those scenes and performances.  I'm sure they can be that fucking stupid and ass-kissy.  Check out the Wiki or IMDb pages for Burrows and get some great background info on what this guy's done.  The Mirimax DVD has a nice anamorphic widescreen print and the extras include 7 deleted scenes (with optional commentary by Burrows), 4 outtakes (with optional commentary by Burrows), Burrows reading outrageous focus group comments for three hilarious minutes which goes to show how dumb focus groups can be, a director's commentary, a director's commentary on the director's commentary, a non-anamorphic widescreen trailer and a 12 minute interview with Traci Lords by Burrows.  It's currently on Netflix streaming.  This needs to better known.  Not only is it hilarious but it's sweet and it's got heart and not in that cheesy, forced way.  Highly recommended. 

W.C. Fields and Me (1976)

Director: Arthur Hiller

Writer: Bob Merrill, Carlotta Monti, Cy Rice

Composer: Henry Mancini

Starring: Rod Steiger, Valerie Perrine, John Marley, Jack Cassidy, Bernadette Peters, Dana Elcar, Paul Stewart, Billy Barty, Allan Arbus, Milt Kamen, Louis Zorich, Andrew Parks, Linda Purl

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Even a man who hates children and dogs has to love someone.

Plot: To some he was the most gifted comic of his time; to others he was a cantankerous drunk. In this biopic, both sides of W.C. Fields come to light.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again? Yes.

I dig movies that have old Hollywood as a backdrop and this one covers it in spades, spending all of our time with one of the great comic geniuses, W.C. Fields.  If you've never seen any of his films you're missing out on some of the funniest, adult and risque flicks you'll ever see pre-1960 (I say 1960 because standards loosened up in that decade thereby constantly moving the line of what risque could be).  He took snarky to a whole new level and when you added Mae West into the picture then it was sarcastic, sexual dynamite.  Rod Steiger does a great job as Fields but I couldn't help but wonder how accurate his off-screen Fields was.  It's as if his on-screen persona never stopped.  I'm not sure if there's any film of Fields just being himself as I'm sure he was the kind of performer who was always 'on' when a camera was around or a crowd of people.  Regardless, Steiger did a fantastic Fields impersonation.  The jokes are funny and he pulls of the comic timing like clockwork.  As far as the picture goes, it's fun.  I'm sure if I watched it again with the goal of breaking the story and the film down I would find some issues but that might be a disservice to the movie as it's intended to show you the good and the bad sides of Fields and paint a picture that's not always pleasant.  They want to show the world the Fields was a human with faults just like the rest of us and one of his biggest issues was alcoholism.  It's currently streaming on Netflix which it looks like this is the only way to see it.  It's an easy DVD purchase if only one existed.

The Last Mogul: The Life and Times of Lew Wasserman (2005)

Director: Barry Avrich

Writer: Barry Avrich

Composers: Frank Kitching, Jim McGrath

Starring: Lew Wasserman, Jimmy Carter, Larry King, Alan Ladd Jr., Michael Ovitz, Suzanne Pleshette, Sydney Pollack, Steven Spielberg, Jack Valenti, Richard D. Zanuck, David Brown

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Scandal. Power. Corruption. Finally, a true Hollywood story.

Plot: Interviews with Tinseltown's biggest names recount the story behind the MCA president who controlled Hollywood for more than half a century.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

I'd only heard of this cat but I had no idea he was so powerful.  That he was a ruthless asshole is not surprising.  I can't imagine someone building an empire based on power and fear without being that way.  There's no way a picture like this could have been made if he were alive.  A lot of people skirt around some of the bad things he did to get his way and more than a few talk about how wonderful he was to be around when things went his way.  I think most people are great to be around when they're really happy.  Still, this guy built an empire the likes of which we will never see again.  The title is most apropos.  If you dig films on old Hollywood like me, you need to check this out.  There are tons of interviews and even more famous names and faces. 

Reel Injun (2009)

Directors: Neil Diamond, Catherine Bainbridge, Jeremiah Hayes

Writers: Neil Diamond, Catherine Bainbridge, Jeremiah Hayes

Composers: Claude Castonguay, Mona Laviolette

Starring: Adam Beach, R. Michael David, Clint Eastwood, Chris Eyre, Charlie Hill, Jim Jarmusch, Sacheen Littefeather, Russel Means, Rod Rondeaux, John Trudell, Jesse Wente

More info: IMDb

Tagline: On the trail of the Hollywood Indian

Plot: A documentary about the evolution of the depiction of First Nations people in film, from the silent era to today. Featuring clips from hundreds of films, candid interviews with famous Native and non-Native directors, writers and actors, Reel Injun traces how the image of First Nations people in cinema have influenced the understanding and misunderstanding of their culture and history.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

I'm a sucker for documentaries about Hollywood and the Western is my favorite genre so there's no way I'm missing this.  When I was a kid I noticed that Hollywood movies were retarded by using whites to portray Indians.  Sometimes you get someone ethnic enough that you can better hide that (like Leonard Nimoy in that great episode of GUNSMOKE, or, please don't hurt me, Charles Bronson in a few pictures that he portrayed a half breed or a full blood Indian - hey, at least he didn't look as ridiculous as Chuck Connors in GERONIMO (1962)).  It bothered me to some extent then in the 1970s and it bothers me now, but then I'm white but had I been born a Native American, I would certainly have a stronger, deeper opinion about it.  This fascinating documentary chronicles the history of Indians in film from the silent days to last week and it also looks at the impact it had on the indigenous peoples of the United States.  There are a ton of clips from classic movies and interviews with some pivotal voices in the community and within Hollywood.  A minor criticism is how loud the music mix is sometimes which can be bothersome but who cares when you get a moment like finding out that there were instances where real Indians portraying Indians in Westerns, speaking in their native language were getting a little bit of revenge because the producers didn't bother translating what they were really saying.  Fucking classic!

Girl 27 (2007)

Director: David Stenn

Writer: David Stenn

Composer: Hal Lindes

Starring: Patricia Douglas, "Baby" Peggy Montgomery, Richard Bann, Kelly Brown, Ded Comstock, Judy Lewis, Patti Minter, David Stenn, Michael Taitelman, Jack Terry, Greta Van Sustreren

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Hollywood's shocking scandal...EXPOSED.

Plot: The reclusive Patricia Douglas comes out of hiding to discuss the 1937 MGM scandal, in which the powerful film studio tricked her and over 100 other underage girls into attending a stag party, where she was raped.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

I commend Stenn for his discovering and bringing this woman's tragic story to the public after having been buried for 65 years.  It' disgusting how this poor girl was treated that night and more so in the months and years that followed with the corruption that kept justice from being served.  Patricia Douglas, at age 17, was braver than most of us would be at any age.  I was shocked (but not surprised) by the events that unfolded in this picture.  Hollywood back in the 20s and 30s was a hotbed of corruption and scandal and the studios spared no expense on covering up murder, rape and all manner of illegal activity and keeping it out of the press so that the money machine could keep doing what it did best.

Now then, this movie.  Stenn is shameless in his approach and execution.  His "look at what I did/I'm so special" throwing himself into the film and namedropping Jacqueline Onassis ("She said, 'If anyone can tell this story, you can, David'") was bad enough but when you get to the scene where he's in the Las Vegas hotel room sitting on the bed it's just getting ridiculous.  There are far too many unnecessary movie clips from the era that show men slapping women around.  He even goes so far as to use clips like this to punctuate Ms. Douglas' story AS SHE TELLS IT!!!  It's unintentionally funny and incredibly tasteless.  There's even footage of Ms. Douglas saying how poorly she treated Stenn in the beginning and how nice he is (as well as bossy and insistent on getting his way) and how they should film a documentary on him rather than her.  What a turn off.  It lessens the effect of her powerful and tragic story by including moments like this in the film.  There's no reason other than ego that they're even present.  You could have cut a good 20 minutes out of this bullshit alone.  Something else that bugged me was with as much footage as Stenn includes of Peggy Montgomery, he lists her as an "extra" each time her name appears.  Well it turns out she was a lot more than an extra and she was a big child star in the 1920s rivaling only Jackie Coogan.  She might have been doing extra work at the time of the crime in 1937 but I'd hardly call her an extra.  She starred in dozens of short films for cryin' out loud.  It's just poor film making to make such a disrespectful error as this and it's a shame that this picture has to bring down an important story as this.

Tales from the Script (2009)

Director: Peter Hanson

Writers: Peter Hanson, Paul Robert Herman

Composer: T.J. Raider

Starring: A shitload of screenwriters including John Carpenter, Shane Black, Jane Anderson, Larry Cohen, Frank Darabont, Antwone Fisher, Mick Garris, William Goldman, Peter Hyams, Richard Rush, Paul Schrader, Ron Shelton, Guinevere Turner

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Hollywood screenwriters finally get the last word.

Plot: Dozens of Hollywood screenwriters share hilarious anecdotes and penetrating insights in "Tales from the Script," the most comprehensive documentary ever made about screenwriting. By analyzing their triumphs and recalling their failures, the participants explain how successful writers develop the skills necessary for toughing out careers in one of the world's most competitive industries. They also reveal the untold stories behind some of the greatest screenplays ever written, describing their adventures with luminaries including Harrison Ford, Stanley Kubrick, Joel Silver, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

I fancy myself as being pretty damn creative in certain areas.   Anyone who reads this blog will know that writing isn't one of them (but you like the pretty pictures, don't you?).  One thing I've always known about movies is you've got to start with a good script.  If you don't then you risk having a bad film.  Sure you can get guys like Brando or Olivier that make even the most trite dialogue sound reasonable and you can spend $50 million on special effects but that will only carry you so far.  If the story sucks the film will likely follow.  This documentary is almost dizzying with how many people we get to hear from and frequently but it never lost my interest.  I admire people who can create the starting point for a picture, the foundation.  It's shocking at the amount of lunacy that those in charge of production (the often talentless suits) inflict on the creative types that makes it happen.  Will it ever cease to amaze me?  Probably not but it's great hearing the stories these talented people have to tell.

Cleanflix (2009)

Directors: Andrew James & Joshua Ligairi

Writers:   Andrew James & Joshua Ligairi

Composer: Chris Ohran

Starring: Danny Thompson, Ray Lines, Alan Erb, Neil LaBute, Richard Dutcher, Robert Perry, Isaac Lifferth, Steven Soderbergh, Jared Hess, Michael Apted

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Sex. Violence. Mormons. Movies.

Plot: Dozens of Utah DVD retailers attracted unwanted attention from Hollywood heavyweights when, in the name of conservative family values, they began sanitizing films of sex, nudity, profanity, and violence. Outraged over the unauthorized editing of their work, prominent filmmakers began to speak out, thrusting the two groups into an intense legal, theoretical, and moral battle that would last six years before coming to a shocking conclusion.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? No.

Many years ago I heard about a company that removed offensive material for church-going folk and rented and sold them in Utah.  I thought it was nuts that they weren't immediately sued out of business.  I was shocked to find it out it took ten years or so for them to stop but there are still companies out there that continue to do it.  What they were doing is blatantly illegal regardless of the righteous reasons they claimed.  I knew that one company had snuffed it but I was very curious as to how it went down and this documentary lays it down for you.  It's very entertaining and it's funny to see so many guilty people hang themselves with their words, particularly one Danny Thompson who owned a video rental store that participated in this scheme.  He's very vocal and there are some interesting accusations thrown at him about his personal life that are sure to shock and surprise you (although not so much when you look at these people generally as hypocrites).  There is some satisfaction knowing the troubles he created for himself but his thrusting himself into the limelight as the poster boy (literally, too) for this industry is his own undoing.  Douche.

I'm not exactly a "let's string 'em up" guy when it comes to this.  They do have a point when it comes to providing a service for a marketplace that's demanding their product.  There are a lot of folk in Utah that want to see PG, PG-13 and R movies but without all of the good stuff.  It's ridiculous, I know, because often times the offending material enhances or outright tells the story.  If you are a religious person, why would you want to see a diluted PULP FICTION (1994), for example, which is drenched in language and violence.  The entire movie is about bad things and the people who carry them out.  Wouldn't you prefer to stay away from something filled with so much underlying sin?  It beats me why someone would want to see it like that.  It's on Netflix instant.  Check it out. It's worth a look.

Another Face (1935)

Director: Christy Cabanne

Starring: Wallace Ford, Brian Donlevy, Phyllis Brooks, Erik Rhodes, Molly Lamont, Alan Hale, Addison Randall, Paul Stanton

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Wanted For Murder, he changed his face... then hid in the glare of a spotlight!

Plot: A notorious gangster, Broken Nose Dawson (Donlevy), has plastic surgery to change his face and makes his way into a starring role in a gangster movie, leaving everyone (almost) unaware of his true identity.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

Here's a routine gangster programmer with a twist. It sounds like a comedy, so much that I'm sure one was made but this one is played straight. You know because of the era that he'll get away with it for a while until someone figures it out, there'll be a chase/fight and the bad guy's going to snuff it. What makes this one a little better than average is having Alan Hale as the studio boss who, after finding out the true identity of his latest star, keeps it under wraps until he and a fast talking press agent, Joe Haynes (Wallace Ford), can capture Broken Nose Dawson on the set thereby creating a huge story and getting tremendous press out of it.


Donlevy fares much better in a gangster picture than he later did in the Quatermass movies in England in the late 50s. He was wooden and out of place in those pictures at that time. Like a lot of these B-movie double feature fillers it's pretty short (69 minutes) and easily digestible. Not a bad way to kill an hour. Now, if James Cagney had done this picture it could've been a masterpiece!

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (2008)

Director: Marina Zenovich

Starring: Roman Polanski

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The truth couldn't fit in the headlines.

Plot: Marina Zenovich's new documentary examines the public scandal and private tragedy which led to legendary director Roman Polanski's sudden flight from the United States.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

Damn. It's only been four months since I caught this on Netflix instant and I can't remember squat about it. Maybe that says something. It's basically a biography of Polanski, albeit brief, that obviously focuses on the circumstances of his raping a 13 year old girl, his arrest, trail and his fleeing the United States to avoid incarceration. That's pretty much it. They examine how he's hated in the U.S. and how he's loved in Europe, hence the title. I guess I liked it even though I can't recall much of it (I would've remembered if I hated it). What he did was repulsive and he
should've paid the penalty but I've always like Polanski's films (except for FRANTIC (1988) which was flawed...and boring). I can separate the artist from the act and only judge his work. As a man, his actions way back when were deplorable but I'll still give his films a chance.

Tropic Thunder (2008)

Director: Ben Stiller Not Funny

Starring: Ben Stiller Not Funny, Robert Downey Jr, Jack Black, Steve Coogan, Nick Nolte

More Info: IMDB

Tagline: The movie they think they're making... isn't a movie anymore.

Plot: Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.



My Rating: 7.5/10

Would I watch it again? Oh, yeah. It's worth it just for Downey

I wish I could say Ben Stiller is back after having run out of funny a long time ago. I wish I could say it's a great action movie. I wish I could say it's one of the best satires on Hollywood actors in years. I really wish I could say I loved it.

Months ago, when I first saw the photo of Downey in character makeup as the black Army Sgt, Kirk Lazarus, I was in tears with laughter and disbelief. It took me a while to see the actor underneath the character. Then the trailer hit and I was completely sold despite Stiller being attached to it.


I remember watching and LOVING Stiller's 6-episode, short-lived, show, THE BEN STILLER SHOW back in it's first run in 1990. THAT was funny. It wasn't anything but a showcase for Stiller to goof on celebrities like Tom Cruise and Oliver Stone in some really funny skits. After that he seemed to play the same type of character - an earnest man clueless to his stupidity. It got old and fast. When he showed up in a cameo in the otherwise funny ANCHORMAN (2004) I'd had enough. I really had high hopes that this could be a turning point since he also directed it and co-wrote a story that had so much ripe material to draw on. Unfortunately, he only made it halfway back.

I liked the film but I was disappointed at the same time. Downey is absolutely amazing and hysterical. His speech to Stiller about how Stiller made a mistake in going "full retard" in a film as opposed to "half retard" like Hanks (Forrest Gump) and Hoffman (Rainman) is priceless. He's the only main character that wasn't wasted. Sure, they could have had more Downey and I would have loved it but what was there seemed fine. Stiller did do a good job with giving everyone a few moments to shine, just not enough.


The film opens with trailers and commercials for each of the four leads. Downey's was the best by far. The rest were lackluster which is too bad. After they were done I was stunned that that was the best they could come up with. Jack Black can be funny and he pulls off some funny gags but a lot of them fell flat. Missed opportunity there. Brandon T. Jackson, as rapper-turned-actor Alpa Chino, had some good bits but not enough. And Stiller just did the same thing he always does, has his bits of childishness fused with stupid, blind, phony courage. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Apocalypse SPOILERS:

Tom Cruise makes a disguised elongated cameo as a ruthless studio exec. I normally loathe Cruise but he had some hilarious moments but not all of his bits got laughs like it seemed like they were going for. His big-ass dance scene at the beginning of the end credits was just not funny. It looked like it was supposed to be but it wasn't and it went on WAY TOO LONG. It seemed like they had this huge star goofing around so let's stroke his ego and let him go at it.

Matthew McConaughey, who I don't normally care for, is pretty damn funny as Stiller's "I'll do ANYTHING for you" agent.

END OF SPOILERS...YARRRRR!

Fortunately the movie feels pretty short at 107 minutes and it's beautifully shot in Hawaii. I'm certainly glad I saw it. Downey had me howling just about every time he opened his mouth but the rest of the film felt like a string of "that's the best you could do?" missed opportunities. He should've gone half-retard.

Lady Killer (1933)

Director: Roy Del Ruth

Staring: James Cagney

More Info: IMDB

Tagline: Is Hollywood howling at this inside story of The Screen Idol Who Threw -?- -?- -?- Out Of His -?- -?- -?- On Her -?- !

Plot: When a movie theater usher is fired, he takes up with criminals and finds himself quite adept at various illegal activities. Eventually though, the police catch up with him, and he runs to hide out in Los Angeles. There he stumbles into the movie business and soon rises to stardom. He has gone straight, but his new found success arouses the interest of his old criminal associates, who are not above blackmail...

My Rating: 9/10

Would I watch it again? It's Cagney, of course.

I could go on all day about Cagney but for the gist of it, read what I said about JOHNNY DANGEROUSLY (1984) just before this one. Cagney is THE MAN. No one can touch him on what he brings to his pictures. He adds little touches to his performances that elevate him to a greater level. His pictures are fun as hell and he's always fun to watch. I first saw him, as most people do, as Tom Powers in THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931). He's a badass through and through in this one and that final shot of him in the doorway gives me chills just thinking about it. From that point on, nearly twenty years ago, I was hooked. Over the years I would watch everything I came across of his but surprisingly it wasn't until about 5 years ago that I FINALLY watched YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942). I'd always loved his performances but in this one I was moved by how freaking talented he was. I was speechless. Here's a guy I'd only known as a gangster, apart from a few comedies I'd seen, and then here he his dancing his ass off all over the place. WOW!

I've idolized this guy since I first discovered him in my late teens. His first name is James. So is mine. He's 5'9", I'm 5'9". His first acting role was in a musical dressed in drag. My first acting role was in a musical dressed in drag (Mary Sunshine in Chicago). That's it but I'll take it.

See? I can go on all day. So I'm watching JOHNNY DANGEROUSLY and I've just GOT to watch a Cagney flic I hadn't see yet so I popped this one in. I found myself laughing so hard chocolate milk was flying out of my nose only I wasn't drinking chocolate milk. The power of the movies I guess.

It starts out innocently enough for Dan (Cagney) as he gets fired from his movie theater gig in a fashion that suits him - loudmouth smartass. He's duped into returning a lady's purse to her apartment where a back room card game is going on. He gets taken for all his dough but figures out he's been had and catches onto their scheme. Next thing you know his head of the gang and making money hand-over-fist running a nightclub. A robbery goes bad for him and his boys so they split up and he heads out West eventually making his way to California where, starting out as an extra in a film, he's on his way to movie stardom. He hooks up with a lovely actress and just when he thinks everything is peachy the old gang shows up looking to take advantage of their boss' new found influence whether they have to steal it or blackmail him for it.

One cool thing about this is not only is this a largely comedic roll for Cagney, he's also got a few scenes where he gets to be badass and roughhouse with the boys showing some great range. From wise-cracking funny man to badass in less than a second. Nice.

Remember that scene from THE PUBLIC ENEMY where Cagney smashes the grapefruit in Joan Blondell's face? He's got a great moment in this where he does something equally unexpected and shocking. Myra (Mae Clarke) has shown up at Dan's flat to attempt to blackmail him with his past that he's trying to hide. She says, "I think you'd better start bein' nice to Mama." "Umm, hmm" Dan laughs as he does this...

"Just look at that style!"

and drags her ass to the door, kicks her across the hallway onto a hall sofa and then throws her suitcase at her, missing her by inches, as it slams against the wall!!!

His criminal former-pals show up and cause a great deal of trouble for Dan. It looks like things are going downhill for Dan so fast and hard that he might not make it. But, naturally, being a comedy of the 30s, it ends happily and that's the way we want it because Dan's such a great guy. And why not? Cagney's THE MAN!