Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that I haven’t posted much around here in a while. I blame a variety of personal issues and upheavals for this, and not my innate laziness. I’ve been “going through some things,” in the parlance of our times. Anyway, I’m back with a roundup of the flicks I saw in June and July. Lots of Asian action flicks in the mix, as well as some really top-notch noirs.
So, with no further ado, here are some highlights and lowlights of a few semi-busy summer months.
Best of the Bunch:
Los Tallos Amargos (1956) – This recently rediscovered and restored Argentinian gem was shown on TCM’s ‘Noir Alley’ in July, and it’s amazingly good. The film won the Argentine equivalent of an Oscar when it was released, but by the 2000s was considered a “lost film.” When a battered copy was discovered, the Film Noir Foundation funded its restoration, and they’ve done an incredible job. The flick looks fantastic. It’s hard to believe it was pieced together from archival sources.
Anyway, the flick focuses on a down-on-his-luck reporter in Buenos Aires who hooks up with a Eastern European was refugee to start a learn-by-mail scam. He soothes his conscience with the knowledge that he’s only doing it to help his friend bring his family over from war-ravaged Europe. But when he starts to see cracks in his friend’s story, the reporter’s angst and distrust lead him to some disastrous choices. Shot with true shadowy noir style, the story unfolds as a dark tragedy, with each bad decision leading to another crisis. I really don’t want to give too much away, because the twists and turns of the plot are half the fun in a flick like this. Los Tallos Amargos is easily one of the best noirs I’ve seen in ages, and any fan of the genre should track it down and check it out.
Best of the Bunch (Addendum):
Casablanca (1942) – I typically only write about flicks I’ve seen for the first time in my “Best of the Bunch” section, but I did want to note that obviously, Casablanca is actually the best movie I saw this summer. I’ve seen it a bunch of times, and my recent viewing reconfirmed my opinion that it’s the best mainstream Hollywood flick ever made. It’s one of the very few films whose resonance seems to deepen with each new viewing, no matter how many times you see it. The more you know the story, the better and more tragic the flick is. Every performer is at the top of their game, from Bogart’s iconic Rick Blaine and Bergman’s Ilsa to Peter Lorre as the quickly-dispatched document thief. Filled with all-time classic lines and the most tragic romance ever put on screen, Casablanca is everything you could ask for in a movie. As if you didn’t know.
Other high/lowlights:
Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art (2020) – Focused on a decades-long art scam involving one of the most prestigious art galleries in New York, this documentary once again reveals an open secret about the art world: nobody knows what they’re doing. For years and years, this gallery sold fake Jackson Pollocks, Mark Rothkos, and more, often for millions of dollars. The fact that they were “authenticated” by leading art experts before the sales is the most damning point of all. In the end, the most infuriating part is that the only person who’s paid for their crimes at all is the woman of color who served as the broker between the forger and the gallery. Meanwhile, all the hoity-toity white folks who profited off the crimes are still “respected” figures in the art world. Go figure.
Police Story: Lockdown (2013) – Finally! The dark, downbeat vision of the sad, aging Supercop that nobody asked for! Jackie Chan’s Police Story flicks are supposed to be fun action spectaculars, not depressing tales of divorced, suicidal cops and their estranged daughters. Yipes.
Little Dragon Maiden (1983) – I had to mention this wild flick. It’s pretty standard wuxia stuff for most of its runtime, with Leslie Cheung as a bullied kung-fu student who’s saved when he’s taken in by the Dragon Girl of the title. A light romance blooms between the two of them, and the flick meanders along at an agreeable enough pace. Then, ten minutes from the end, Cheung falls off a cliff and into the nest of a guy in a giant condor suit, who nurses him back to health and helps train him in condor-style kung-fu. It’s such an insane and random turn that it raises the flick from ‘so-so’ to ‘WTF?’ Which is enough to recommend it, in my book!
The Complete List for June/July (first-time viewings in bold):
June:
The Assassin (1967, Chang Cheh)
Black Panther (2018, Ryan Coogler)
Brotherhood of Blades (2014, Yang Lu)
Casino Raiders 2 (aka Rich & Famous) (1991, Johnnie To)
Disciples of the 36th Chamber (1985, Chia-Liang Liu)
Dragon Tiger Gate (2006, Wilson Yip)
Duel to the Death (1983, Sui-Tung Ching)
Fearless Hyena (1979, Jackie Chan)
Fight Back to School (1991, Gordon Chan)
Flash Point (2007, Wilson Yip)
Hell Bound (1957, William J. Hole Jr.)
Kung Fu Hero (aka Kung Fu’s Hero, Angry Dragon) (1973, Joseph Kong Hung)
Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art (2020, Barry Avrich)
Prometheus (2012, Ridley Scott)
Raw Deal (1948, Anthony Mann)
Supercop (1992, Stanley Tong)
Tales of a Eunuch (1983, Shan Hua)
A Touch of Sin (2015, Zhangke Jia)
Walk a Crooked Mile (1948, Gordon Douglas)
July
The Bribe (1949, Robert Z. Leonard)
Casablanca (1942, Michael Curtiz)
Cause for Alarm! (1951, Tay Garnett)
Chocolate (aka Zen, Warrior Within) (2008, Prachya Pinkaew)
Election (2005, Johnnie To)
The Fate of Lee Khan (1973, King Hu)
Guilty Bystander (1950, Joseph Lerner)
Iceman (2014, Law Wing-Cheung)
Island on Fire (aka The Prisoner) (1990, Yen-Ping Chu)
Kid With the Golden Arm (1979, Chang Cheh)
Little Dragon Maiden (aka The Brave Archer 5) (1983, Hua Shan)
Los Tallos Amargos (1956, Fernando Ayala)
Operation Condor (1991, Jackie Chan)
Police Story: Lockdown (aka Police Story 2013) (2013, Ding Sheng)
Sign O The Times (1987, Prince)
Previous Entries:
January 2021
February 2021
March 2021
April 2021
May 2021
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