early ridley, early fondas, early day

This week, I've added key directors and actors where they are a possible incentive for watching the movie.

The Duellists (1977)
3 Stars
Directed by Ridley Scott
Starring Keith Carradine, Harvey Keitel
Muddled, uninteresting, unbelievable Keitel character, but good production values. Watch Barry Lyndon instead.

The Front Page (1931)
2 Stars
Starring Pat O'Brien, Adolphe Menjou
A completely dialogue-driven early sound movie that's really hard to follow because everybody sounds like they're talking into a pillow. The acting is mannered; comedic timing is painfully off. Two stars, but only assuming it's much better with a cleaned-up soundtrack. Nowhere near as good as the 1940 remake His Girl Friday.

Constantine (2005)
2 Stars
Starring Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz
Supercheesy superhero movie, fronted by the world's worst "actor". Almost saved by a solid performance from Weisz and some welcome scene stealing by the divine Ms. Swinton.

Legend (1985)
1 Star
Directed by Ridley Scott
Starring Tom Cruise, Mia Sara, Tim Curry
Makes Constantine look like a Merchant-Ivory production. This is the worst I've yet seen of the early-to-mid-80s fantasy epics. And I thought Neverending Story was atrocious.

My Darling Clementine (1946)
4 Stars
Directed by John Ford
Starring Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp
Classic Western in every way, with John Ford at the top of his game. The light parts of the picture add a human touch, and Fonda gets the most out of some truly funny material. The rest are miscast though.

Wedding Crashers (2005)
4 Stars
Starring Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams
The jokes are funny, there's just enough sex to further the story, and the love story's not bad either. Shining example of its genre.

'It' (1927)
2 Stars
Starring Clara Bow as the 'It' Girl
Enjoyable late silent romantic comedy. Overacted and conventional, but Clara Bow's charm makes up for a lot. Young Gary Cooper has a bit part.

Barbarella (1968)
1 Star
Starring Jane Fonda as the titular heroine
Let me start by giving away the ending: Durand Durand and his thousand-phallus death ray are swallowed by a lava lamp. Hopefully, you will not now attempt to follow the plot, thereby missing the point of the movie. Which is divesting the gloriously deadpan Jane Fonda of her modesty. Add to this some priceless dialogue, Marcel Marceau, and a death-by-orgasm scene, and you've got a must-see film.

Robin and Marian (1976)
2 Stars
Starring Sean Connery, Audrey Hepburn
A sort of gentle, unsatisfying sequel to The Lion in Winter. Victoria Abril has an eye-catching bit as Ian Holm's pre-teen piece of ass. Abril would go on to star in such classics of the Spanish Cinema as Robin Hood… Arrows, Beans and Karate and Girl with the Golden Panties, before moving on to mainstream soft porn hits Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! and French Twist.

Live Flesh (Carne trémula) (1997)
4 Stars
Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Starring Javier Bardem
Yet another Almodóvar fucked-up-sex movie, but they're all so good, I keep wanting more. My working hypothesis is that Almodóvar peaked with All About My Mother and Talk to Her, with Live Flesh (the one before All About My Mother) about as good as Bad Education (the one after Talk to Her).

A Tale of Archers at the Sanjusangendo/Pride and Arrows (Sanjusangendo toshiya monogatari) (1945)
1 Star
Japanese movie made in the closing months of WWII, as the Americans were bombing Tokyo. Characters unbelievable, editing poor, low-budget staging, fake action, expository dialogue too often replaces actions, actors ugly, boring and sketchy story. Interesting only as a historical document of just how low the Japanese had sunk by the end of the war.

Young Man With a Horn (1950)
3 Stars
Directed by Michael Curtiz
Starring Kirk Douglas, Doris Day, Lauren Bacall, Hoagy Carmichael
It's hard to believe Kirk Douglas is a latter-day Bix Beiderbecke, but otherwise fine entertainment. Fresh, yet pleasing cinematography and three all-time Jazz greats (including Harry James dubbing Douglas' trumpet solos). But the key attractions are the young Lauren Bacall and Doris Day, both around 25 years old; a perfect contrast of smoking femme fatale and thousand-watt angel.