The Hills Have Eyes

On a trip to California, an Ohio family's car breaks down in the desolate Nevada desert where they must wait out the night as prey to the cannibalistic savages who inhabit the surrounding mountains. Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes starts out as suspenseful and atmospheric before quickly sacrificing tension for camp. Still, it is entertaining nonetheless. alternating between callous and amusing. bears many similarities to The Last House on the Left, and is probably the superior horror movie.

*** out of ****

The Spy Who Loved Me

After British and Russian nuclear subs are hijacked by a maniacal billionaire (Curt Jurgens), with a gargantuan metal mouth henchman (Richard Kiel), a penchant for sharks, and hellbent on submerging the planet and creating an underwater civilization, Bond (Roger Moore) is called into action and paired with a slinky Moscow agent (Barbara Bach) with a deadly vendetta against the British spy. The Spy Who Loved Me is a surprisingly strong, well made, and often spoofed entry with Bach a game Bond girl and Moore finally settling into the role nicely. Jurgens makes a less than formidable villain but Kiel's entry into the series is both fun and menacing.

*** 1/2 out of ****

The Last Wave

A Sydney lawyer (Richard Chamberlain) is drawn to an Aborigine tribal murder of which he gets no assistance, not only from his colleagues but also from the tight-lipped men he is defending. Meanwhile, apocalyptic visions draw him closer and closer to the ancient people. Early Peter Weir effort is eerie and completely unique but perhaps too cryptic and underplotted. Chamberlain is effective and entirely believable in his feverish performance.

*** out of ****

3 Women

A self-professed social butterfly (Shelly Duvall) takes on a shy, childlike girl (Sissy Spacek) as a roommate and protege at the spa she works at in the California desert. After a traumatic incident and hospitalization, the two apparently switch roles and following a stillborn birth, the two seem to form a surrogate family with the mute, middle-aged woman (Janice Rule) who paints bizarre, tribal murals on the apartment complex's pool floor. 3 Women is a hypnotic, murky, unconventional, and extremely strange film that Robert Altman claimed came to him in a dream, the effect of which is conveyed brilliantly through the direction and artistry, and owes more than a little to Persona. Spacek and Duvall's performances are complex and sublimely executed.

**** out of ****

The American Friend

An American art forger (Dennis Hopper) manipulates a purported terminally ill German picture framer (Bruno Ganz) into committing murders for a shadowy underground organization. From Patricia Highsmith's novel Ripley's Game (and remade a few decades on under the same title with John Malkovich), Wim Wenders' adaptation is a somewhat obtuse, enervating thriller given substance through great filmmaking, story elements, and and a central performance by Ganz. Hopper is a strange, though not unwelcome casting choice

*** 1/2 out of ****

Equus

A severely psychologically damaged schizophrenic stable boy (Peter Firth) is placed under the observation of a psychiatrist (Richard Burton) who tries to determine the root of his behavior after he blinds several horses. Adapted for the screen from his own stage play, Peter Shaffer's Equus contains powerful and vivid material and imagery which comes off as somewhat clunky and is not opened up all that well for the screen by director Sidney Lumet. Burton and Firth are both excellent and Harry Andrews and a great supporting role as the seething, disbelieving stable master.

** 1/2 out of ****

That Obscure Object of Desire

Aboard a train, a wealthy widower (Fernado Rey) dumps a bucket of water atop a beautiful young woman's (Carol Bouquet, Angela Molina) head and accounts for his actions to fellow passengers of his many continual frustrations with his doused victim and former lover. Like Bunuel's Belle de Jour is grounded in a plot, graspable, though still perplexing and not ambiguous and largely  indecipherable like other of his heralded films (The Exterminating Angel, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie).  Rey is excellent and the idea of casting two actresses in one role is a brilliant touch and keeps the viewer guessing.

*** 1/2 out of ****

Stroszek

An alcoholic, mildly retarded street performer and recent parolee (Bruno S.) befriends a prostitute (Eva Mattes) and is harshly harassed by her pimps. Together, along with an elderly friend (Clemens Scheitz), the trio decides to flee Berlin for Wisconsin seeking a better life but only find their miseries compounded. Werner Herzong's Stroszek is a humorous, hauntingly strange, and ultimately powerful film filled with bizarre, unforgettable imagery, heart aching interactions, and one of the most shocking and fascinating finales ever put to film.

**** out of ****

Annie Hall

An overanxious comedian (Woody Allen) falls for a flighty bohemian (Diane Keaton) and finds himself sabotaging their relationship. Annie Hall is probably Woody's most successful and reputed film and the foremost of his comedies, as the one-liners mostly land and the proceedings are kept fresh through a series of endless inventiveness which include animation, subtitles, inner monologue, flashbacks, cameos (Christopher Walken, Paul Simon, and Marshall McLuhan are high points) and other inspired innovations. Keaton and Allen are both excellent in career defining roles, but as good as the film is I don't think it is in league with the monuments of his later career (Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors), films that Annie Hall paved the way for.

*** 1/2 out of ****

Julia

Lillian Hellman (Jane Fonda), struggling with her new play and living in a beach house with lover and mentor Dashiell Hammett (Jason Robards), is contacted through intermediaries by an eponymous childhood friend (Vanessa Redgrave) who urges her to smuggle much needed funds into Berlin by train to assist the underground war effort. Fred Zinnemann's Julia, adapted by Alvin Sargent from Hellman's own story, suffers from an identity crisis which mars the film even in its second half when the intrigue begins to pick up. For such a strong actress, Fonda reaches here and Redgrave (an Oscar recipient for her role) is excellent though she hardly has a character to work with. For me, aside from great photography, some competent yet occasionally ponderous direction, and a brief appearance by Maximilian Schell, Robards (another Oscar winner) is the reason for the movie and I often found myself hoping that the story would return to him.

** 1/2 out of ****

The Late Show

"When a man's partner is killed, he's supposed to do something about it"

A crabby private investigator (Art Carney), in bad health and barely taking in enough cases to pay the rent, has his former partner turn up dead on his doorstep and, in keeping with Sam Spade's mantra listed above, determines not to rest until the culprits are caught. When he simultaneously takes on the case of a missing cat brought to him by a dippy new-aged woman (Lily Tomlin), he finds both queries pointing in the same direction. Robert Benton's The Late Show is a humorous, well made, and mostly successful reimagining of a Raymond Chandleresque noir featuring a fantastic performance from Carney and an occasionally irritating but mostly winning turn by Tomlin.

Star Wars: Episodes IV-VI

So I sat down to watch the initial Star Wars movies again and I don't think a synopsis of George Lucas' epic space saga is really necessary, so hear are my thoughts as I view the films through world-weary orbs and not those of a wide eyed preadolescent to whom they meant so much a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away: The first two films, A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, retain most of their magic, while Return of the Jedi is essentially just a corned out rehash of the second installment. As for the actors, Alec Guinness' gravitas brings much to the proceedings, Mark Hamill's earnestness shines through, Carrie Fisher is irritating (how was she the great sex symbol of the day?), Harrison Ford is lifeless, and it is amazing how sympathetic and how much of the trilogy rests on the shoulders of the two droids.  Revisiting episodes four, five, and six I had no desire to continue on with the lackluster prequels, have zero interest in the upcoming continuations, and while these original films did stir genuine feelings of nostalgia, I had to ask myself, "what am I doing, thirty years old, watching Star Wars on my couch?"

Smokey and the Bandit

Hal Needham was a famed Hollywood stuntman and racing enthusiast who passed away near the end of last month and was a beloved figure by all accounts. Referencing his extensive background, he wrote a screenplay which he went on to direct that became one of the smash (emphasis on the word smash) hits of the 1970s. Smokey and the Bandit is essentially a ninety minute car chase telling how the plucky Bandit (Burt Reynolds), on a dare, runs blocker in his souped up Trans Am for his buddy (Jerry Reed) as they transport 400 cases of Coors from Texas to Georgia ("that's considered bootleggin' in these parts") with a calvacade of cops in pursuit, led by the irascible Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason), and with a firecracker runaway bride in tow (Sally Field). The film is fun for awhile, with amazing stunt and chase sequences not to mention some pretty stunning scenic photography, but wears thin thanks to a country fried, uninspired script, a disappointing performance from Gleason, and a wooden Reynolds who has the charisma of a log. Field is impossibly cute, adding life to the picture, and the plot referencing songs, which are provided on the soundtrack by Reed, are unintentionally hilarious.

Suspiria

A New York ballet student (Jessica Harper) enlists with a renowned German conservatory and before she even steps out of the taxi on its way from the airport, it is clear that something is off about the place.  Dario Argento's film is a highly held horror offering, mainly due to some gruesome bloodletting effects (which are sparse in an otherwise surprisingly tame slasher flick) and impressive camerawork which disguise a barebones, virtually nonexistent plot.  Suspiria proves that all it takes is a little blood and gore and not much else for horror fans, the least discriminating of all moviegoers, to soak it up.

New York, New York

As the city elates in celebration at the announcement of victory in Japan, a saxophone player (Robert De Niro) relentlessly pursues a lounge singer (Liza Minnelli), and their eventual marriage falters as her success soars. With New York, New York, you can see director Martin Scorsese get lost in his tribute to the big budget MGM musicals of the Golden Age of Hollywood, who also must of been ecstatic to work with the daughter of two people who made so many of those great films. Here, Liza has several good musical numbers and her sweetness is evident, but her appeal is not, and De Niro creates an inviolable, incredibly frustrating character. The set design is impressive, as is Laszlo Kovacs' cinematography, but it's not nearly enough to sustain the picture. What is of interest are the seeds of jealously and possessiveness in the De Niro character that would manfest themself completely and ceaselessly in Raging Bull.

High Anxiety

Following the suspicious death of its prior director, distinguished psychiatrist Dr. Richard Thorndyke (Mel Brooks) takes up his mantle at the Institute for the Very, Very, Nervous and quickly notices that things there are a little off. Soon he finds himself way in over his head, having been chased by hordes of birds, attacked in the shower, and wrongly implicated for murder.  Brooks' High Anxiety is a silly spoof and homage to Alfred Hitchcock, which the Master of Suspense was reputed to have enjoyed. Many of the gags fall flat (a shower scene where Brooks is stabbed with a rolled-up newspaper is a particular dud) with the only really funny bits coming from Cloris Leachman, Harvey Korman, and Madeline Kahn who are essentially reprising their roles in previous Brooks' films.

The Goodbye Girl

A dancer (Marsha Mason) living with her precocious daughter (Quinn Cummings) finds her latest boyfriend flying the coop and subletting their apartment to an obnoxious, ego inflated actor (Richard Dreyfuss) who has just scored the lead in a bizarre, homosexual rendition of Richard III in an "off-off-off" Broadway production. The Goodbye Girl was extremely successful in its day, but is a typically schmaltzy Neil Simon work, replete with constant one-liners hitting their mark approximately less than 10% of the time. Dreyfuss, who surprisingly won the Oscar for his performance, is awfully irritating (though his theater scenes are a hoot) as are Mason and Cummings, who also bafflingly garnered much praise for their work.

The Duellists

When a lieutenant (Keith Carradine) in Napoleon's army is charged to arrest a like-ranked officer (Harvey Keitel) and carries out his orders during a dinner party, it is apparently the insult to end all insults. Over the course of the next twenty years, their lives are consumed by the pointless and increasingly volatile rivalry, where they engage in a series of bloody duels. Based on a story by Joseph Conrad, "The Duellists" was Ridley Scotts' extraordinary, highly artistic directorial debut. It tells an engrossing though often vague story, and features an incredibly appealing performance from Carradine, even if Keitel is miscast as he usually is in period pieces. Cinematographer Frank Tidy shot on an absolutely gorgeous canvas and the film features a series of staggeringly realistic sword fights.

The Up Series

Tony, a participant in "The Up Series", at various stages of his life

In 1964, a British documentary crew interviewed a group of seven year olds from various economic backgrounds and asked them about their hopes, fears, and lives in general. Every seven years since then, Michael Apted, a member of the original crew, has revisited each of these participants to catch up with them and discuss their lives. "The Up Series", as these programs have come to be collectively known, are an endlessly fascinating form of time lapse filmmaking, as we see each of the film's subjects age before our eyes, as Apted interweaves prior footage into each new film. Keeping things simple, each film is simply a sit down with each person and a catch up on their lives, as they discuss with candid honesty the turns their lives have taken. Apted resists the urge to jazz things up and is straightforward presentation only adds, rather then detracts, to overall impact of these powerful films. The stories that I enjoyed the most include Tony, a young boy who dreams of being a jockey and grows up to be a cab driver, still full of zeal; Suzy, an unhappy young woman who finds solace and happiness with her husband and children; Bruce, a boy with missionary aspiration who winds up teaching in the inner city; John, a boorish snob who remains a boorish snob but becomes involves in relief work in Eastern Europe; and then their is Neil, discontented young man who drops out of school and becomes a vagrant who well, I don't want to spoil that one. "The Up Series" is about as real and engaging a film can get and I eagerly await the next installment, due out soon, as these subjects approach the twilight of their lives.

Here is a very brief description of each installment:

Seven Up! (1964)

A collection of British seven year olds, both female and male, from different socioeconomic backgrounds are introduced and interviewed as they talk about subjects such as school, money, race, and their futures. After meeting them all individually, the children all attend a party and we see how they interact.

7 Plus Seven (1970)

We revisit the subjects at age 14, midway between childhood and adulthood.

21 (1977)

Now 21 years old, the group of people we met at 7 and 14 now have clearer ideas on life and what they want their lives to be.

28 Up (1985)

Maybe its because I am now of the same age as the subjects here, but it is this installment that the series begins to take on resonance, as its subjects have largely settled down with family and careers.

35 Up (1991)

As the subjects move closer towards middle age most are firmly rooted in their lives with a few exceptions as they begin to deal with divorce and death of their parents, and other issues while the most fascinating member of the group continues to fascinate us.

42 Up (1998)

As the subjects have now reached the midpoint of their lives, most are firmly rooted with the exception of a few extraordinary examples, one involving an incredible intersection of two of the subject's lives.

49 Up (2005)

As the hairs have grayed, the hairlines receded, and the waistlines expanded, the subjects approach 50 mostly with contentment as they embrace grandchildren, their partners, careers, and life turns.

56 Up (2012)

The participants return, mostly contented with their lots as they face retirement and brace themselves for old age.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

An Indiana electrician is sent out on a late night job when he encounters a UFO. From that point on, to the chagrin and even neglect of his own family, he becomes obsessed with finding out the truth behind the occurrence and is inexplicably drawn, along with several other people, to rendezvous point in a mountainous region of Wyoming. "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" was Steven Spielberg's followup to his smashing hit "Jaws", and is a thoughtful and highly entertaining look at alien encounters. Above everything else, the film is marked by spectacular special effects that seem almost impossible for the time it was made. From his own screenplay, Spielberg crafts scenes of great invention and directs them with the greatest skill. In the lead role, Richard Dreyfuss is an ideal everyman and is given great support from Teri Garr and Melinda Dillon, who play his concerned wife and a woman undergoing a similar experience, respectively. Legendary film director Francois Truffaut also has a wonderful role as a scientist orchestrating the greetings for the great alien arrival. "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" is an impossible film, both for its supreme special effects and in the rare and intelligent way it approaches its subject.