Rockster-2 Reviews

61* (2001 TV Movie)

I wanted to love it...

[28 April 2001]

...but I didn't. The picture has clearly been made with a lot of love, as well as a respect for accuracy, but ultimately I found it dramatically uninvolving. A beautiful re-creation of the time period, though, and of old Yankee Stadium (I'm old enough to remember it, having been taken there as a boy for the first time in the late sixties). Maybe I knew the story too well, and thus was incapable of being surprised by anything in the film. But a friend of mine who knows nothing about baseball or this story watched the picture and bailed out about halfway through. I feel like something of a cad here, due to the reverence with which this film has been greeted in most quarters, and as I wrote above, I truly did want to love it. I found it merely pleasant. Sorry.

Dementia (1955)

A cult item that can't be easily dismissed.

[22 January 2001]

Never heard of it, knew nothing about, watched it on a friend's recommendation and was struck by how daring and experimental it was for the time it was made. I was expecting a real piece of 50's cheese, but the further I got into it the more I realized it could not be so easily dismissed. Some of the nighttime black and white photography of the Gamine being pursued through city streets is right up there with THE THIRD MAN, and many of the images (especially the hacking off of a dead man's hand) are shockingly indelible. I'd place it many rungs above Ed Wood and perhaps only a rung or two below Herk Harvey (director/co-star and primary creative force behind the great ultra low budget masterpiece CARNIVAL OF SOULS, recently reissued on a gorgeous Criterion Collection DVD). Included on the DVD presentation is the re-cut version DAUGHTER OF HORROR, with Ed McMahon (!) providing a hilariously pretentious voice-over that was meant to make the film more accessible to a mainstream audience. It's a real hoot, one to play at parties to give your cinephile guests a laugh.

The Outlaw (1943)

Awful beyond belief and, therefore, fun.

[22 January 2001]

There are films that are great, films that are not so great, films that are bad...and then there are films that are so bad, so grandly misconceived, one can only gape in wonder or roar with laughter (or both) at their foolishness. Thus an awful film can sometimes provide more entertainment than many good films. (THE DEVIL BAT, starring Bela Lugosi, comes to mind.) Watched THE OUTLAW on DVD the other night with some friends, and we were falling off the couch. I'd always heard there was a homoerotic subtext to the picture, but this was no subtext -- gay porn must be more subtle than this film! Walter Huston's Doc Holliday (or Halliday -- I've seen it spelled both ways in regard to this picture) is CLEARLY the stud, Billy is a petulant young hustler who piques his interest (despite his having stolen the older man's cherished horse!), and Thomas Mitchell's Pat Garrett (Doc's "oldest

friend") seethes with jealousy throughout until he degenerates into the very apotheosis of a passed over, frantic, shrieking old queen. "You're not going with him! Everything was fine between us till he came along!" It has to be seen to be believed. Hilarious! The film's musical score is the worst -- THE WORST -- I've ever heard. There's less Mickey-Mousing in a Three Stooges short. So I recommend this one highly for parties. I guarantee a laugh riot. The thought of the great cinemotagrapher Gregg Toland (CITIZEN KANE) laboring on such camp trash is depressing, but he did give the film a fine look.

Red Letters (2000)

A pleasant surprise that fades at the finish

[7/10 · 18 January 2001]

Caught this on DVD. Watched it mainly because I like most of the cast members -- Coyote, the luscious Kinski and Faruzia Balk, and Jeremy Piven (from THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW). Assumed from the cover it was going to be one of those late night cable erotic thrillers (and the delicious nudity contained within the opening scene seemed to confirm that), but it turned out to be much more.

An interesting, twisty story, well shot and well directed, with across-the-board good performances from all involved. Even Pauly Shore (I suffered a chill of dread when he showed up late in the film) was okay. Coyote's dilemma escalates steadily throughout the film in a compelling fashion, so I was disappointed when the third act didn't pay things off in a way I found believable, or up to the level of the rest of the picture. Still, well worth giving a look. A real pleasant surprise.

The Swindle (1955)

A forgotten classic

[14 January 2001]

I've seen LA STRADA a few times, but had never even heard of IL BIDONE. Spotted it among a batch of new DVDS at a friend's place, and gaped at it, amazed. Broderick Crawford (?!) in a Fellini? This I HAD to see! Took it home, popped it in...and was completely blown away. A great performance from Crawford, many indelible moments, and an emotionally shattering climax. In many ways I preferred it to LA STRADA -- felt it was less manipulative. Dug out the various movie guides, read some reviews, and learned it was part of Fellini's "Trilogy of Loneliness" -- LA STRADA, IL BIDONE & NIGHTS OF CABIRIA. So I sought out CABIRIA and enjoyed it immensely as well.