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Reviews
Hangover Square (1945)
A forgotten but enjoyable thriller
Though it's virtually impossible to find a copy of this buried treasure, it's worth a fair bit of digging. (The film is available on tape only, in mediocre print condition, and carried by only a handful of rental stores in the country.) It's not a brilliant film, but it has some virtuoso camera work that one would never expect to find in a filmi of its type. (Watch for the camera shot in the first seconds of the film that swings quickly up from a crowded street, through a window, and into a tight
closeup of the face of a man about to be killed - very impressive.) This is the type of film one can imagine Martin Scorsese taking an interest in - a skillful, craftsmanlike film overlooked by all but a few film buffs. The performances as well, especially Laird Cregar's, are terrific.
The Hours (2002)
Another movie designed to appeal to the audience's desire to feel literate
I'd first just like to make this clear: I'm not the typical movie-going yahoo who stood in line to see "Jackass" on opening weekend or drove "XXX" to a $100
million+ box office take. No, my favorite films of the year included Michael
Cacoyannis' sublime adaptation of Chekov's "The Cherry Orchard," the
brilliantly scripted "Igby Goes Down," and Phillip Noyce's shattering "Rabbit- Proof Fence." So now that I've established that I have semi-decent taste in film, I would like to offer that I think that "The Hours" is undoubtedly the WORST film I have seen in ages. The lead performances - Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep,
Julianne Moore, and Ed Harris - are so poorly conceived and directed as to be embarrasing. There IS good acting in the film, but it's in the small roles - Toni Collette, Clair Danes, and Jeff Daniels. The scene early in the movie when
Meryl Streep goes to the florist is such a disaster of poor scripting and line directory that I was having to stifle laughter. And need we speak of Phillip Glass' score? I like Mr. Glass' music, but Stephen Daldry has inexplicably allowed him to use nothing but slight variations on the EXACT SAME THEME throughout the entire film. The volume of the music has
been mixed very high in comparison to the dialogue, and the result is that the music insufferably overpowers every damned scene it appears is, which is
nearly every one. And the dialogue... what we have in this film is dialogue that works on the
printed page only. Novelists can get away with using arch or unnatural
dialogue because we're not hearing it spoken and we can sort of compensate in our heads. However, when dialogue this ridiculous comes out of an actor's
mouth it becomes pretentious and unbelievable. Does anyone actually believe
that people TALK like this? Absolute silliness. Not to sound insulting to people who liked the movie, but this film is for people who haven't the patience or depth the read a novel of any substance and watch films like this in order to posture themselves as literate. I saw this film with a group of my college professors, and we all went out for coffee afterwards and had a right old time just ripping this film to shreds. I sincerely hope you'll do the same and prevent Paramount and Miramax from financing more debaucles like
this.
The Badge (2002)
Engaging but slightly problematic
I enjoyed "The Badge"; when it appeared on the shelves of the video store where I work, I was a little curious about how a film with Billy Bob Thornton and Patricia Arquette wound up on cable. But oh well. After seeing the film, I have to admit that it does fit more properly on a small screen where its flaws are minimized. Robby Henson - the writer/director - has a tendency to use stylish jump cuts, amateurish wipes (no one except George Lucas should EVER use wipes anymore), and sped-up shots that are at odds with the appealingly lackadaisical tone of his story. However, the acting is excellent, especially by Thornton; had the film been released in theaters, it wouldn't have been unrealistic for Lion's Gate to push him for an Oscar. That said, Arquette is also good - am I the only one who thinks she's an underrated actress? "The Badge" reminded me over and over of "The Big Easy" - which is most certainly a compliment - and while it's not the equal of that film, it does a fine job of standing on it's own two feet.
The Ox-Bow Incident (1942)
One of filmdom's great morality plays
"The Ox-Bow Incident" joins films like "12 Angry Men" to become one of the great "moral" films. In it's short 75 minutes, it manages to deal with themes of death, justice, and vengeance with realism and gravity. It also remains surprisingly immediate; though the film was made in 1943, it seems barely dated. Henry Fonda's performance (his best, in my opinion) is just as grounded and natural as always, without some of the theatricality that was the style of the times. This was one of the rare Westerns to truly transcend the genre - to appeal to a wider and more demanding audience.