The Writer's Poke

I never considered myself a fan of Westerns growing up. That all changed in 1993 with the release of Tombstone. Before that, I just assumed that Westerns were all more or less like, well, Buffalo Stampede What do we have here? Randolph Scott in his 30s. A much different man than in his late 1950s films, for sure. Here he plays Tom. He does a couple of cool tricks making exits off his horse and a stagecoach. He likes Milly (Judith Allen), a gal that seems to be under the control of Mr. Jett (Noah Beery). The idea of the film is that white men want to slaughter buffalo and make a killing on the killing. At one point, the buffalo stampede. I guess Milly is endanger, but she's pretty capable of taking care of herself. Some of the white people are being attacked by Indians, too, who probably don't want the white people killing all the buffalo. The Indians only kill what they need. But other white people "stampede" in and chase the Indians off. And since this movie is only ...

At first, I thought: How did the boy learn to speak English (or any human language)? But it's a moot point. All the animals of the jungle speak English, of course. The problem with Mowgli the Man Cub is that he's growing up. The jungle is all he knows, and while some of the animals might be sad to see him go, he's certainly not safe in the jungle (actually, again, I have to wonder how the monkeys, tigers, or snakes didn't eat him before he reached "dangerous Man Cub status). But anyway... Does the movie have a plot? I read some reviews that poo-pooed the movie for not going anywhere, with the "journey to the village" not being a satisfactory goal. But I like the plot. We see different groups in the jungle interact with the boy, and, of course, they all get their songs. This movie has one of the most iconic Disney soundtracks, and to be honest, there's nothing like 1960 Disney animated films. Other reviewers don't like the lack of female characters...

Although the film begins with a brief written intro and puts names to the Reno boys, from there, it just jumps right into masses of men shooting and riding horses. I mean, I guess that's the popcorn eating "Western action" movie goers in the 1950s were looking for... but I need to care about who's shooting and riding. What's really at stake? What do these people want, but like I said, more importantly, why should I care? Four of the Reno boy are bad hombres. They basically run Seymour, Indiana, with corrupt elected officials providing cover. Special Agent James Barlow (Randolph Scott) is called into stop them. Since Bill Reno is gunned down in the opening sequence, they're down a man. Barlow's plan is to stage a train robbery and then win over the corrupt officials and Renos so he can infiltrate their organization. His plan goes off without a hitch. The Renos also have another, good brother, Clint (Denver Pyle), and a good sister, Laura (Mala Powers). They...

The more movies I watch, the more I'm amazed at the number of movies that I somehow have never heard of. Movies come and go so quicky, and it seems like if they don't latch on and make an impression quickly, they are sometimes never discovered. The Golden Compass seems to be one of those forgotten films, even though it received a 4/4 rating from Roger Ebert when it was first released. (Maybe there's a reason some films are forgotten... see below.) The basic premise is pretty cool. We live in a multiverse, but there's no real way to "prove" it, let alone travel to parallel universes. In the movie, people's souls live in "spirit animals" that travel with them outside their bodies. The spirit animals of children have the ability to change, only locking into one specific form upon adulthood. Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig) has a plan to prove the existence of parallel universes, and even to travel to one. The Powers That Be would rather this not happen. A...

This is one of those movies I've never heard of, but I caught enough of a trailer for the film when watching another film on DVD that I thought I'd give it a watch. It also stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who I just watched and enjoyed in Don Jon (2013), so I was curious to see what he was up to in an earlier work.  When I first started watching, I noticed the artificial sound to the dialogue. No one talks like that. It's sort of like 21st century high school kids talking like 1940s gangsters. So, I listened a little bit more. Were they speaking in some sort of high school or generational slang that I wasn't used to? No, I don't think that's it. I think it was an intentional choice made by writer/director to have these high school kids sound like 1940s gangsters.  This choice doesn't work for me. I think it's a gimmick, and I wonder what the film would be like if they just talked normally. I have a feeling that maybe the story wouldn't be strong enough t...

This is the answer to the $100 question on Slumdog Millionaire's "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," and since I just re-watched that, I had to see what this movie is all about. Zanjeer isn't a person. It means "chain," and Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) is chained to a never-ending life of revenge, or so it would seem. In that respect, I've got to believe that Quentin Tarantino loves this film. So to confirm that, I just asked ChatGPT to tell me what Taratino has said about this movie; according to ChatGPT, Tarantino compared its cultural significance in India to the cultural significance Taxi Driver and Dirty Harry had in the United States. That does actually give some interesting context to how important this film is in Hindi film history. Tarantino also praised Amitabh Bachchan. Not a household name in the United States by any means, but IMDb lists about 250 film credits across his 50+ year career. And he's still active to this day. In some respects, this...

Joel (Jim Carrey) isn't impulsive, but as the film begins, he cuts work and writes in his diary about his sudden urge to visit the beach in winter. It's his first entry in two years and he notices ripped out pages. He doesn't remember ripping them out. Clementine (Kate Winslet) and Joel start chatting on the train to the beach. They're attracted to each other, and she feels like she's seen him before. She has blue hair and starts talking about her hair color obsessions. She doesn't stay one color for long. Joel listens, but there's some sort of awkward tension between them. Clementine almost gives up chatting with Joel, but then maybe she decides to try again. She comes on as aggressive; Joel is more passive. He wants to meet a woman, he writes in his diary, but he can't talk to women. He's better at sharing his thoughts in his diary. She gives him a punch goodbye, but then Joel decides to give her a ride and a second chance. Just an odd way to star...

Probably one of my favorite films: Although I've always liked this movie, this time viewing it, I watched it very closely. How did Phil (Bill Murray) originally act (selfishly), and what was the moment that he changed (selflessly)? We never know "why" he gets stuck or unstuck, but we do know that he's "in love" with Rita, actually able to show it -- when he confesses to being in love with her, his actions towards everyone else changes. Here's what I noticed he did in the first half of the movie (his time being selfish): He decided that there were no consequences. And so, He and his drunk buddies went on a car chase with the police. He punched Ned in the nose. He kissed the old B&B woman. He ate whatever he wanted. He learned about Nancy (while calling her Rita) when the kissed. He watched his favorite film 100 times, dressed up as a cowboy and got a woman to dress up as a barmaid. And after all that, he started to learn what Rita wanted in a man. He ...

Directed by Edgar Ulmer -- People on Sunday (1930) and Detour (1945) -- and starring Bela Lugosi (Vitus) and Boris Karloff (Poelzig). Not to mention featuring a black freakin' cat, a modern castle built on a mass grave filled with war dead and dynamite, and home to a crazed Satanic cult leader... this movie has it all. Maybe a little too much. It's like Peter (David Manners), the self-professed crappy writer, wrote it all in a fever dream. Even the ending makes fun of what we just watched, noting (in a newspaper review of Peter's latest novel) that none of it was believable. None of it was remotely realistic.  When Vitus sees a black cat, it triggers him. In no real way, to be honest, except to be overdramatic. This is another instance of the film jabbing at itself when Poelzig tells Vitus to "stop being so overdramatic." But Vitus and Poelzig have beef. It goes back to the War and to the fact that Virus spent the past 15 years in a prison -- a kind of Hotel Calif...

This movie maybe shouldn't be that good. But here are some of the "little things" that make it pretty special: "Does she bite?" "That costs extra." *** "Profession?" Looks. Laughs. "Yes." *** "Italian!" "Danish!" "German!" *** Camera shot of the woman in the swing. *** What it doesn't do so well -- The shots of the man in an ape suit, which is only slightly better or worse than the enlarged close-ups of the Ape's "chimpanzee face." Stuff like that takes me out of the movie, to be honest. So as much as I enjoyed a lot about this movie, it has a rating ceiling. Rating: 3/5 stars

The Criterion DVD includes a 1991 audio interview with Robert Montgomery's daughter, Elizabeth Montgomery. Dang it, Criterion. These are the sort of extras that Criterion includes that are both a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because they're usually pretty cool. A curse, because I'm always tempted to skip them so I can watch another movie... especially if it's an audio-only supplement. For every 90-minute film, you need to budget 4 or 5 hours just to go through all the extras. Then the stuff you learn in the extras make you want to follow-up with Google searches. Then you probably have a list of movies and actors that you want to add to your watch list. It just goes on and on.  And that's great, because I will never ever run out of content to watch, read, or listen to.  In the interview, Elizabeth -- what a great, happy voice -- admits that she still didn't know her father's body of work all that well. Keep in mind she was 58 at the time, and she would b...

It's hard to explain it. I grew up in the 1980s, and the previous decade seemed like a lifetime away. When I was seven or eight, I loved watching the A-Team, but I could never wrap my head around those guys being in the Vietnam War. I mean, if they were in their 30s or 40s, I guess that makes perfect sense, but the late 60s might as well have been the 19th century to my little kid brain.  Even when I was in college in the 1990s, I wondered why certain authors were bothering to write about Vietnam -- Tim O'Brien, or for the purposes of this film, Bobbie Ann Mason.  In Country is a movie that shows there was still something to be learned and discovered about the Vietnam War and the people that were still caught in its memory.  Samantha (Emily Lloyd) never knew her father. He was killed in Vietnam while her mom was pregnant with her. For that matter, her mom never really knew her husband. They were married for about four months when he was shipped off to Vietnam.  In th...

Is 4 stars generous? Maybe, but I watched all 5 Vacation movies over a weekend, and this one was the only one that really made me consistently laugh. Ed Helms and Christina Applegate do a very good job taking over the lead roles from Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo.  Chase and D'Angelo both have small roles in the film. My first thought was: D'Angelo has aged gracefully, but what in the hell has happened to Chase? The 18 years between Vegas Vacation (1997) and this film haven't been kind to him.  So, the basic premise of this film is the same as the original Vacation (1983): A cross-country to Wally World. The movie acknowledges this with a short "meta" scene. I thought that scene was funny, and I like the Albanian rental car. I thought for sure it could be driven in either direction, but they never showed that. It did come with a rather sus keypad that included quite a few unnecessary options.  Each of the main characters is developed enough to be interestin...

Rusty (Ethan Embry) is back to wearing Izods. In this one, his collection includes yellow and turquoise. They also bring back Christie Brickley and her Ferrari gimmick (this time she's a mom). While I like that they bring back things that might remind us of the classic Vacation (1983), I also feel like the "callbacks" can be almost them saying, "We've run out of anything new to offer."  Enter Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) and his family. They're back, because now they live in the desert outside of Las Vegas. Eh...  Elisa Bell and Bob Ducsay took over the screenplay duties from John Hughes, but it feels like they wanted to try to go back to Vacation (1983) roots. But honestly, this series just proves my theory that sequels are never as good as the original, and in this case, even the original wasn't all that great to begin with.  On the positive side, after having no reason for being in Christmas Vacation (1989), I was glad to see that Rusty and Audrey (...

No better than European Vacation (1985), which was pretty much dreadful.  In this installment, we have a little more physical humor, as well as some callbacks to the original. In the original Vacation (1983), they accidently killed an aunt's dog. In this one, an aunt's cat gets electrocuted chewing on the Christmas tree light wires.  Another callback is Clark (Chevy Chase) looking out the back window, imagining how nice his new swimming pool will be. Then he sees a hot girl. Maybe this fantasy sequence works if they brought back Christy Brinkley.  If they couldn't get her, though, just cut the scene. Rusty (Johnny Galecki) has some interaction with Clark, but they seem to have forgotten Audrey (Juliette Lewis). She just gets lost in the plethora of family characters. In fact, when they're busy chasing the squirrel, Audrey completely disappears. I thought, "Did she hide in her room?" I mean, I was trying to make up a reason for why she completely disappeared fr...

If this movie wasn't billed as a comedy, would I like it any better? But if we don't consider it to be a comedy, what genre would it be? IMDb offers some alternative categories: Farce, Globetrotting Adventure, Roadtrip.  Nope. Even if I think of it as a non-comedy filling one of those other roles, I don't like it.  The original Vacation had a very limited idea, but it had an idea: Let's drive to Wally World. This movie's idea is even more vaguely defined: Let's go to Europe because we won a contest.  As other reviews have said, this is a comedy without any jokes. When I noticed Eirc Idle had a small part in the film, that briefly excited me, but this is a prime example of "Why did he agree to take this part?" It's exciting, in theory, to think about Chevy Chase and Eric Idle sharing a scene and bouncing comedy off of one another. But when they are on screen together, nothing happens.  Just other random thoughts: Do you remember colored TP? The Gris...

When you grew up, did you and your parents share outfits or wear the same brands/clothing styles? In National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983), Rusty opens the film in a Pink Izod. Clark will later wear a Pink Izod, too. So will Ellen, but it’s oversized so I’m guessing it’s Clark’s. Rusty also wears a yellow and a green Izod. Clark wears a light purple, a light blue, and a dark red Izod. Clark and Ellen also have Izod rain jackets. His is blue and hers is tan. Yes, I found myself distracted by that, although it's not a big deal. I would rather one character wear the Izod, but maybe 1983 was the year everyone wore the allegator gimmick.  I don't think this movie is very strong, but it is iconic, and a lot of my friends like it and quote it from time to time. In all honestly, I don't think I've ever actually watched it, and I wanted to finally give it a fair viewing. Additionally, I've been watching the films of John Hughes, and his Chicago-based presentation interests me. ...

  "You could learn me." -- Tessa asking Justin to marry her. What a line! And over the course of the film he does, telling her spirit that he has finally learned all of her secrets. Justin (Ralph Fiennes) and Tessa (Rachel Weisz) end up in bed together so quickly, I thought I was watching a porno for a second. But that's before. The movie starts with the "end," I suppose, with "everything" before happening in flashback. The opening shot focuses on the backs of Justin, Tessa, and Arnold. Tessa turns around briefly to say goodbye. She touches Arnold's arm briefly, and but everything feels detached and unexplained. At this moment, we don't know who these people are, or what's about to happen. We've landed at this specific moment, and it's not in the linear timeline. Justin is a very polite, very reserved British diplomat. Tessa is a woman who wants to make a difference in the world. When she asks to go to Africa with Justin, she offers...

My daughter and I went to see Birthday Massacre at First Avenue a few months ago, and I've wanted to re-watch Purple Rain ever since, just to see what First Avenue looked like in the 1980s. At the same time, I was afraid that I wouldn't like this movie any more than I did 40 years ago, which is probably the last time I watched this film, as far as I remember. It's possible that I watched it once since 1985, but I don't think so. This is definitely the first time I've watched this movie since living in Minnesota -- now going on 20 years. I kind of wondered if it would hit me differently for that reason, too. It didn't. It's still just a really bad, underwhelming movie. Prince has undeniable charisma, and his music is good. But in this film, there's no coherent story, and the acting, including Prince's, is pretty atrocious for the most part. I don't want to go through how bad it is point by point but let me just say that the movie ends with a lot o...

Keep in mind this film's premise: It is written. This isn't a film about "luck" or "chance." I think if you watch it that way, you have a right to criticize and even dislike the film. But if you watch it like a modern-day fable, how can you not view this film as a contemporary classic? As far as I recall, I've only watched this film one time previously -- more or less when it originally came out on DVD. But the film has always stayed with me. Few films are like that. Films that I "feel" I know long after I've forgotten all the plot details. Films like Shawshank Redemption (1994), Memento (2000), and maybe a handful of others. Films that "speak" to me on some "deeper" level. I've been wanting to re-watch Slumdog Millionaire for a long time now, to see if it's as good as I remember it to be -- to see if it was worth the feeling the memory of watching it has given me.  And yes, it is that good.  Jamal (Dev Patel) is...

Surely Kate Winslet has been in a few duds, but if so, what are they? I usually feel like it's a mistake to watch a film just because an actor is in it. I mean, I do, but I'm often disappointed. I often wonder: Why on earth did they pick THAT role? Why did they agree to be in THAT movie? It reminds me of actors like Bruce Willis who, at least at the end of his career, signed up to be in any movie that came his way. Granted, I get why Willis made that decision, but Winslet has never had to make that choice. She's always been able to pick provocative roles in good movies. And this is a really good movie. I did find myself saying "No... no... no..." when I realized that the film was about to end and the characters were all starting to make weird decisions. I don't believe, for example, that Sarah (Winslet) would go over to the child molester in the park late at night to see if he is okay. I don't believe that Brad (Patrick Wilson) would stop to do skating tri...

What stands out to me is how the ending is changed. In the screenplay, Magda watches from her apartment as the Landlady pulls down the screen to Tomek's room. There's no closure. In this version, Tomek has finally returned to work at the post office. Magda has been waiting for his return, and when she sees him, she pauses, goes inside, stands, smiles slightly. It's an awkward, somewhat "tense" moment. You think Tomek might run away again, but he stays in his seat, and they look at each other. Finally, he breaks the silence, letting her know that he's done peeping at her. Is she disappointed? Maybe. She has "fallen in love with him," or that's perhaps what we're supposed to gather when she answers the phone and tells the silence at the other end that "You were right." Was it Tomek on the end or someone else? It doesn't matter, really. What matters is that Magda's view of love has changed. She didn't believe in love, and n...