Another month, another bunch of flicks I’ve watched. I actually have watched about twice this many flicks, but haven’t had time to write about the rest yet. Stay tuned! In the meantime, here are some movies I’ve seen in the past few weeks. Some of them were even worth watching!
Deadline at Dawn (1946) – This moody but ultimately silly noir is based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich, one of my favorite writers. The story’s certainly not one of his best, ultimately devolving into a pretty unbelievable and pat ending. A sailor wakes up hungover, his pockets full of stolen cash and his memory of how it got there a blank. He soon discovers that he’s mixed up in a murder plot that he knows nothing about, and it’s up to him and a quick-witted taxi dancer to get to the bottom of the mystery. By far the best thing about the flick is Susan Hayward as the dancer-turned-sleuth. She’s ultra-sexy and about four times too smart for the rest of the movie, and tinges her performance with hints of the sad life her character has clearly led. I’ve never really seen her in much else, but I’ve become an instant fan. The movie? Not so much.
Clan of the White Lotus (aka Fists of the White Lotus) (1980) – This ridiculous Shaw Brothers production is the sequel to Executioners from Shaolin, and makes sure you realize this fact by running the opening credits over what’s basically the finale from that flick. Gordon Liu stars as a former Shaolin student who’s got a standing beef with the leader of the White Lotus Clan, who is devoted to wiping out all Shaolin. Or something. The flick is really just a series of scenes in which Liu trains, is told that he’s not ready to fight the big bad guy, gets his ass kicked by said bad guy, heals, then repeats the process. It’s kind of repetitious and also fairly silly, as he has to learn “women’s work” like sewing and child-rearing in order to master the movements required to battle the bad guy’s advanced skills. Director Lieh Lo cast himself as the main bad guy, and he absolutely steals the show. Stroking his fake white beard, sneering at the skills of everyone he faces, and delivering lines like “How dare you challenge me with your primitive kung-fu?”, his scenery-chewing performance ranks among the best martial arts villains ever.
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) – The next phase of interlocking Marvel stories kicks into gear with this fast-paced romp, as Peter Parker heads off to Europe for a… summertime science field trip to Paris? The fact that the whole basis of the adventure seems patently bogus doesn’t really hurt the film, though, since it’s devoted to not taking itself seriously. After the sturm-und-drang of the Avengers saga, it’s nice to just be able to watch a silly bit of superhero nonsense where everyone seems to be enjoying themselves and the stakes aren’t the survival of the human race. Tom Holland proves once again that he’s the perfect pick for this role, channeling Parker’s teenage angst and high school crushing into one of the more three-dimensional characters in the Marvel Universe. Plus, the post-credits stinger clearly implies that aliens drive around listening to the Specials, which is nice.
Kill Them All and Come Back Alone (aka Ammazzali tutti e torna solo) (1968) – A big, dumb caper film disguised as a spaghetti western, this disposable bit of action fluff was directed by Tarantino favorite Enzo G. Castelleri (who made the original Italian film called Inglorious Bastards). It plays more like a Dirty Dozen knock-off than a proper western, with a bunch of misfits coming together to steal a fortune in gold. A late-career Chuck Connors stars as the morality-free leader of the gang, turning in a workmanlike performance. The flick has a decidedly modern sensibility, tempering its wanton violence and destruction with the kind of quippy asides you’d expect to hear in a bombastic 90s action film. I’d also like to point out that I don’t think there’s a single line of dialogue spoken by a woman in the whole film. This is a boy’s club through and through. You can see why Tarantino likes this guy’s movies.
The Navigator (1925) – This silent comedy spectacle stars Buster Keaton as a rich idiot who finds himself set adrift at sea on a cruise ship, alone with his would-be girlfriend. That’s it. That’s the plot. It’s really just a framing structure for a series of Keaton set-pieces, including an inspired bit of frantic action as he and his shipmate run from deck to deck, constantly just missing discovering one another. Overall, though, this is not a very good Keaton flick. There’s a lot of not especially hilarious ship-bound shenanigans involving food preparation and trying to sleep on a moving vessel. Unfortunately, the whole finale of the movie involves Keaton and his paramour fighting off a horde of “savage” natives who are portrayed pretty much exactly as you would expect in a film from 1925. Racially enlightened, this isn’t. The Navigator was never going to top my list of Keaton faves anyway, but these ending sections make it even less fun to watch.
Massacre Time (aka The Brute and the Beast) (1966) – Franco Nero stars in this above-average spaghetti western, playing a gold miner who gets called home by a mysterious note telling him his family is in trouble. Nero wastes no time, dressing up in his finest black Django costume and hitting the road home. Once he gets there, he finds that the whole town has been taken over by wealthy landowner Mr. Scott and his cartoonishly evil son. The son is played by an actor who will forever reside in my memory as “evil John Ritter,” and he’s introduced in a scene where he lets a caged peasant loose so that he and his dogs can hunt him down. Like I said, he’s really evil. Director Lucio Fulci is known for the gruesome violence of his later films like Zombie and The House by the Cemetery, but there’s not too much over-the-top bloodletting here. Fulci instead shows off a great eye for dazzling widescreen compositions, delivering some truly gorgeous visuals amongst all the bloody mayhem. The twist ending won’t surprise anyone who’s been paying attention, but Massacre Time stands up as one of the best Franco Nero vehicles of the whole genre.
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