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2007 Fall Video Roundup, Vol. I

9/19/07

"Serpico"

I had never seen this Al Pacino classic, and I'm glad I did; it's Pacino overdoing it WAY before other Pacino classics, which makes it kind of refreshing when you are watching Al lose it all over the place.  As NYC detective Frank Serpico, this true story seems to lay out the early years of what would later drive most police departments nationwide to have their own internal affairs departments; as a good cop in a dirty system, Serpico's got nowhere to turn but a couple of good friend/confidants and, eventually, the New York Times.  Director Sidney Lumet seems to have never made a bad film, as the acting and direction is excellent even if the editing seems choppy by today's standards.  (Scene 43: Serpico talks to hot next-door neighbor about his garden.  Scene 44: Serpico is living with hot next-door neighbor and contemplating their future.  I think we could have used four more scenes here to bridge the gap, but what the hey.)  Otherwise, very solid material.

Rating:  $9.50 Show

"The Pawnbroker"

Aggressively working through old Sidney Lumet flicks is not easy, especially when you have something tough to stomach like "The Pawnbroker."  The big shock here is that Rod Steiger, the same Steiger I know from a big bowl of dogshit films in the '80s and 90s (including a role as one of Stallone's partners in "The Specialist"), was just so good earlier in his career, culminating in his win for Best Actor in the late 60s for "In the Heat of the Night."  Steiger was also nominated for his work in "The Pawnbroker", starring as a Holocaust survivor and owner of a pawnshop in Harlem in the 60s who has been able to push his violent memories of life in a concentration camp...until now.  There are a couple of really interesting things about "The Pawnbroker" that are better left to the viewer, but I was intrigued by this film all the way until its so-so conclusion.  Otherwise, it's great, and another film where just the way "The Pawnbroker" is filmed makes you sit up and smile.

Rating:  $9.50 Show

"Howl's Moving Castle"

Ten minutes into this Japanese animated fantasy film, I was worried; what kind of craziness was this?  Then, as the film rolled along, I fell into it, fell in quite nicely, actually, and by the end, I had a big smile on my face like the fat and happy cat lying around on your living room couch.  "Howl's Moving Castle" is, amazingly, about a guy named Howl (voiced in the American subtitled version by Christian Bale) who happens to be a wizard living in--shocker!--a moving castle, a home with mechanical legs that moves from place to place while Howl helps a variety of kingdoms fight wars against other kingdoms until damn near every kingdom is at war...and, Howl's gotta make that stop.  Luckily, he's got a hatmaker named Sylvia (voiced alternately by Emily Mortimer and Jean Simmons) who after being cursed by a wicked witch becomes the castle's fulltime caretaker.  Did I mention the talking burning flame voiced by Billy Crystal or the scarecrow that can pogo from place to place?  Yeah, it's weird, but for some reason "Howl's Moving Castle" is pretty good.  And, the animation is quite excellent.

Rating:  $9.50 Show

"From Here to Eternity"

As I was watching this classic from way back in '53, I realized that I have not seen many Burt Lancaster films, and I haven't seen any Montgomery Clift movies at all.  Both men are excellent in this war drama, even if I was yawning through the affairs each man has with their respective female counterparts (Deborah Kerr and Donna Reed).  It also reminded me of how I need to scale back expectations when it comes to older movies, particularly when it comes to fight scenes, hammy over-the-top emotional sequences and epic-bad kissing numbers.  Throw all of that out, though, and you still have a great movie with the classic bits around Lancaster and Kerr rolling around in the Hawaiian surf, the major death sequence at the end and a cool number of bit parts by soon-to-be stars like Ernest Borgnine, Jack Warden and thin-as-a-rail Frank Sinatra.

Rating:  $9.50 Show

"The Last Shot"

The pedigree is here on this comedy: Alec Baldwin and Matthew Broderick as your leads, a movie-within-a-movie idea (always popular in Hollywood); lots of great character actors, like Tim Blake Nelson, Toni Collette, Joan Cusack, Ray Liotta and Tony Shalhoub; a writer/director (Jeff Nathanson) who wrote the "Rush Hour" films and the Spielberg flick "Catch Me If You Can" a few years back.  So, why had I never heard of this film?  Even in watching it on video, "The Last Shot" isn't a bad movie...but, admittedly, not as strong as one would hope given the pedigree.  The movie follows an FBI sting operation led by Agent Devine (Baldwin) who, in trying to lure a mobster out of hiding, has to appear to be the producer of a movie in Providence, RI...and, the rookie writer/director of that movie (Broderick) has no idea that this is all a sham.  There are some pretty funny bits but overall, Baldwin isn't nearly the Baldwin we all know and love, and there are some slow patches mixed within the 90-minute run time.  Well, it passed the time.

Rating:  Matinee

"The Player"

You're probably just as surprised as I am that I never saw this film, but I must tell you--maybe time has not treated this film well, or maybe it just wasn't that good to begin with, but as a victim of overhype, I must say that I am surprised I thought "The Player" was so blah.  Maybe it's because so much of the film DOESN'T talk about the film industry and its inner workings, while we deal with our man Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) as he tries to figure out why a writer who has visited his studio is trying to kill him.  Maybe it's because the cool cameos aren't all that cool to me now (ooh, look!  Buck Henry!!  Ooh, look--Malcolm McDowell!!) and I don't know how cool they would be back in 1992 when the film opened.  Maybe it's because Peter Gallagher, Greta Scacchi and Fred Ward don't exactly bring home the bacon from an acting standpoint.  Whatever it was, I thought this Robert Altman "classic" wasn't all that good after all.  Of course, I'm just one guy!!

Rating:  Rental

 

Comments?  Drop me a line at justin@bellviewmovies.com.

 

Bellview Rating System:

"Opening Weekend":  This is the highest rating a movie can receive.  Reserved for movies that exhibit the highest level of acting, plot, character development, setting...or Salma Hayek.  Not necessarily in that order. 

"$X.XX Show":  This price changes each year due to the inflation of movie prices; currently, it is the $9.50 Show.  While not technically perfect, this is a movie that will still entertain you at a very high level.  "Undercover Brother" falls into this category; it's no "Casablanca", but you'll have a great time watching.  The $9.50 Show won't win any Oscars, but you'll be quoting lines from the thing for ages (see "Office Space"). 

"Matinee":  An average movie that merits no more than a $6.50 viewing at your local theater.  Seeing it for less than $9.50 will make you feel a lot better about yourself.  A movie like "Blue Crush" fits this category; you leave the theater saying "That wasn't too bad...man, did you see that Lakers game last night?" 

"Rental":  This rating indicates a movie that you see in the previews and say to your friend, "I'll be sure to miss that one."  Mostly forgettable, you couldn't lose too much by going to Hollywood Video and paying $3 to watch it with your sig other, but you would only do that if the video store was out of copies of "Ronin."  If you can, see this movie for free.  This is what your TV Guide would give "one and a half stars." 

"Hard Vice":  This rating is the bottom of the barrel.  A movie that only six other human beings have witnessed, this is the worst movie I have ever seen.  A Shannon Tweed "thriller," it is so bad as to be funny during almost every one of its 84 minutes, and includes the worst ending ever put into a movie.  Marginally worse than "Cabin Boy", "The Avengers" or "Leonard, Part 6", this rating means that you should avoid this movie at all costs, or no costs, EVEN IF YOU CAN SEE IT FOR FREE!  (Warning:  strong profanity will be used in all reviews of "Hard Vice"-rated movies.)