April 2007 - Old Movies

Old Movies

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Old Movies - April 2007

Julius Caesar

April 13th 2007 05:59

Julius Caesar (1953)

I hated Shakespeare in school. I wasn't known for having a short attention span, but I had trouble not dozing off during all the doth's and thee's. In recent years however, I have come to nurse a infantile respect for the bard's plays. This isn't through any sense of growing maturity or appreciation for his work, it comes via my appreciation of certain actors. The thing I do like about Shakespeare is that his plays lend themselves to all kinds of different interpretations, in terms of setting, stage direction and how a role can be played. It's through this that I've come to like Shakespeare's works, I enjoy seeing actors perform his words and seeing what new thing they might bring to such oft-seen roles... a good actor can keep me awake through what would have sent me to sleep back in school. And I guess that brings us to this review, I came to the 50s film of 'Julius Caesar' via my high appreciation of Marlon Brando and my compulsive need to see all his films.

I wasn't familiar with 'Julius Caesar' the play before seeing this film, so it was all (mostly) new to me. Obviously, there were certain things I was aware of, ala the 'et tu Brutus' quote, just because they've become so famous and are a part of our culture now. Anyway, it's a good play... I read that it came via an era in England's history when the people of England were worried about civil war breaking out after Queen Elizabeth's death, seeing as she had no natural successor, nor had she named one. In 'Julius Caesar', Caesar has been made dictator for life... he has been elevated to the status of a living God, and his senators - in particular, Brutus (James Mason) - are anxious about the fate of Rome in the hands of someone who has been granted such power. Brutus is cajoled by a fellow senator, Cassius (John Gielguld), into a conspiracy to assassinate Caesar. Cassius and the other senators wish to see Caesar dead because they fear and envy his power... Brutus amongst them is the only man who enters into the conspiracy because he cares about Rome itself. Much of the play centres on Brutus' conflicting emotions regarding the matter... he loves Caesar dearly, but he loves Rome more. He alone of the conspirators is the 'honourable man', and we meditate alongside him on themes of flattery, ambition and the ends justifying the means.

This is a lavish production. I was expecting a stodgy and static 50s BBC-styled interpretation of the play, but instead I got this lively and epic production. Ancient Rome is borught to life with spectacular crowd scenes, and even the soliloquising comes alive, especially in one scene where Cassius expouses his feelings whilst marching along through the streets of Rome, the camera following him all the way. Add to this a distinguished cast of both British and American first-rate stars and you have the makings of a definitive film version of 'Julius Caesar'. James Mason and John Gielguld are of course perfectly suited to Shakespeare and are old hands at these works but the real surprise is Marlon Brando’s easy and naturalistic integration into their company as Marc Antony, and the vitality and modern life he brings to his role. Antony might not be the main character of this play, but in the one scene where he takes centre-stage... wow. Brando gives an emotional and sincere performance, the anger and the sarcasm of the famous 'Friends, Romans, Countrymen' speech is brough to the fore as he enflames the broiling crowd before him. It's a magical moment, watching the method meet the bard, and it's easy to see why this one scene won Brando his third Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

I enjoyed this film a lot, and I'd recommend it to Brando fans. I think I'll moving on to some of Laurence Olivier's Shakespeare films soon.

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Posted By: Luke - Category: Historical

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Tideland

April 11th 2007 22:25

If there is one thing Terry Gilliam can be relied on for, it's not pandering to the studios or what Hollywood or mainstream audiences expect from a film. Even in the last days of Monty Python it became clear that Gilliam had his own thing to do - witness the brilliant opening twenty minutes or so of 'The Meaning of Life', it's like a whole other movie. Over the subsequent years Gilliam has evolved into one of the most unique voices in fantasy film, battling with studio executives to bring us brilliant films like 'Brazil', 'The Fisher King' and 'Twelve Monkeys'. Alongside Martin Scorcese, he's pretty much my favourite director. This film, 'Tideland', was quickly made during a break that Gilliam took whilst making 'The Brothers Grimm', and has proven to be the director's most controversial film in quite some time... I don't think it has even had a proper release in America yet.

Jeliza-Rose (Jodelle Ferland) is the ten year old daughter of a pair of drug addicts. They live in a dilapidated dump of a house, and aside from the times she prepares their heroin for them, her selfish and scattered parents have very little time for her. Jeliza-Rose's mother dies, and so her father (Jeff Bridges) panics and absconds with her to the now-abandoned country house that he grew up in. From here, things get a little weird. Jeliza-Rose's only friends are an assortment of doll's heads and two niehgbouring strangers... there isn't really a plot after this point, just Jeliza-Rose's perception of the burgeoning imaginary world around her.

This is one disturbing, heartbreaking, screwed up and creepy movie. Gilliam gives us a hyper-real New World take on Alice in Wonderland, only Jeliza-Rose doesn't go down the rabbit hole - the rabbit hole comes to her. It's the least American slice of gothic Americana to ever be put on the screen, it's unlike any movie I've seen and is probably Gilliam's least inaccessible and most divisive film yet. It's not for everyone, that's for sure, but it's certainly out there.

At first I wasn't sure how to feel about this movie. At times it makes you feel uncomfortable, but I guess this is kind of the point - Gilliam plays on our adult experiences and how we interpret what happens on screen. Our discomfort comes from what we think will happen... Gilliam toys with our fear of paedophilia and necrophilia, amongst other things, to manipulate our experience of the film. In this respect, it's more horrific and squeamish to an adult than it would be to a child, as what a child doesn't know will ensure they interpret the film differently. Gilliam has said that this film is about the 'resilliance of children'... I don't really see it as being about 'resilliance' per se, I think it might be more about the ignorance or innocence of children, if you have to put a name to it. Jeliza-Rose might not react the way we would when confronted with the horrors of this bright new world, but I think this would be more because of her abnormal upbringing amongst drug addicts rather than because she's a child. Then again, I suppose this proves the point - she remains untraumatised by the terrible life that brought her to this point. It's strange, when I watched this film I felt like it wasn't going anywhere, but by the time it was finished I had all these conflicting thoughts running through my head. I apologise for the lack of coherency this paragraph might present you with, but there it is. Blame the film for making me think too much!

Jodelle Ferland gives a tour de force performance as Jeliza-Rose, she provides some great and distinctive voices for her imaginary doll friends and she manages to carry the film almost completely on her own without any sense of awkwardness and unnaturalness. Jeff Bridges is also great as her father, all too realistic as a drug-addled loser-rockstar in his own little world. Brendan Fletcher is also highly impressive as Jeliza-Rose's friend, Dickens, a child in the body of a man and would-be boyfriend to our ten-year old protagonist.

Gilliam's direction is great as always too, the whole thing plays out like one big drug-induced fever dream rich with fancies of the imagination and tragic pathos... a train becomes a monster shark, dynamite becomes the A-Bomb, and a lobotomised retarded man becomes a knight in shining armour (and, depending on the way you look at it, he does save our heroine!) I liked this movie a lot, I could never criticise a film as original and thought-provoking as this. It's cheers me up a lot to know that Gilliam can still surprise and shock as much as he did in his earlier days, this film is a worthy addition to his resume.

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Posted By: Luke - Category: Adventure/Fantasy

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Robert De Niro: A Guide to his Film Roles (Part 5 - the 2000s)

April 9th 2007 04:35

Well, here we are, Part 5 of my guide to De Niro films. It's unfortunate that what started as a celebration of such a great actor has to end with mentions of so many average and unimpressive films. To be truthful, I'm kind of put off from finishing this guide because barely any of these films do anything for me, but lucky for you guys I'm a completist and I'm anal about finishing what I start. Anyway, the late 90s and early 21st century has seen De Niro hit the absolute low point of his acting career and - ironically - seen his paycheques hit their highest peak. It's sad that the ratio of pay to performance is of such an inverse nature, but I guess that's Hollywood for you.

Paul Vitti (Analyze This, Analyze That)

Analyze This (1999) Directed by Harold Ramis
Analyze That (2002) Directed by Harold Ramis
Paul Vitti: De Niro does a Brando ala 'The Freshman' and gives us his own take on self-parody in these two Harold Ramis-directed buddy comedies. Sometimes verging on an outright spoof of Mafia films, these two movies are inoffensive enough. I think I'd have to say the first is the better of the two, the second one tends to stretch the concept a little too far. De Niro hams it up as the emotional Mafia don in need of therapy, constantly mugging at the camera and using his screen presence to create what is supposed to be some kind of endearing bully character. The pairing of De Niro with Billy Crystal would be the first of several unlikely pairings of comedians with the legendary method actor, the idea obviously being to amuse the audience with the juxtaposition of two very different kind of movie stars. It works to a degree in 'Meet the Parents' because De Niro keeps things relatively serious there (and it worked much better in 'Midnight Run' for the same reason), but here De Niro tries to be whacky and the results are less than hilarious. The second film in particular, 'Analyze That', gave me a healthy dose of cringe with De Niro's recreation of West Side Story musical numbers and his comedic mugging amping up to the next level.

Walt Koontz (Flawless)

Flawless (1999) Directed by Joel Schumacher
Walt Koontz: You'd be forgiven for thinking that the teaming up of Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robert De Niro would be a stroke of casting genius, but this thoroughly uninteresting film manages to take a borderline-interesting concept and beat it to a boring pulp. De Niro plays Walt Koontz, a tango-loving security guard who hates homosexuals, and Philip Seymour Hoffman is his brash drag queen neighbour, Rusty. No, it's not a comedy. Anyway, Walt suffers a stroke that leaves him permanantly and partially paralysed, and he is forced to take stock of his life. Amazingly, he is eventually forced to ask Rusty for help, and Walt must swallow his pride and face his prejudices head on. I've never really been a fan of Joel Schumacher's films, and this gritty, empty film is no exception. De Niro gives us the bare minimum in terms of his performance, and what could've been something new and intriguing from Bob becomes just another forgettable drama of little consequence. The average filmgoer will be amused enough by these films but De Niro fans might find them a little depressing.

Leslie Sunday (Men of Honor

Men of Honor (2000) Directed by George Tillman Jr.
Leslie 'Billy' Sunday: De Niro plays the major supporting role in this biopic of real-life navy diver, Carl Brashear (played by Cuba Gooding Jr.), the first African-American diver in the American navy. It's an uplifting but overdone film that verges more on melodrama than drama where De Niro plays a senior member of the navy who overcomes his own prejudices and comes to respect Brashear. It's an okay performance I guess, De Niro uses a southern accent and makes full use of his trusty depths of intimidation and inner rage, but it's nothing we haven't seen before. Not a bad film, but not a great one either.

Jack Byrnes (Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers)

Meet the Parents (2000) Directed by Jay Roach
Meet the Fockers (2004) Directed by Jay Roach
Jack Byrnes: Of all the recent 6 or 7 comedies he has done in the last eight years, 'Meet the Parents' is probably the one least offensive to his previous body of work. De Niro plays ex-CIA agent Jack Byrnes and potential father-in-law to awkward nurse, Greg Focker (Ben Stiller). Jack takes an instant disliking to his prospective son-in-law, and the rest of the film (and the sequel too) plays out like a modern-day comedy of errors, with Greg making things worse for himself with each step he tries to take towards Jack. De Niro underplays his role and, for the most part, it works. I know I've mentioned how films have used his screen presence a few times before in this guide, but it's never been more effectively used than the way it's used here - the weight of De Niro's intimidation can be felt pushing down Greg all the way throughout 'Meet the Parents'. De Niro apparently even ignored and osctracized Stiller during the making of the film to help heighten the chemistry. The second film, 'Meet the Fockers', muddies up the dynamic a bit by introducing more characters and stars (Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman) and makes Jack less of an opposing force and more a fish out of water, which unfortunately dilutes the central premise a bit. 'Meet the Fockers' is enterning enough but De Niro isn't used as well by the script and director. As is usually the case, the first is the better of the two films.

Nick Wells (The Score)

The Score (2001) Directed by Frank Oz (and Robert De Niro)
Nick Wells: Film fans got - understandably - a little excited when it was announced that Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando and Edward Norton would be making a film together. This Canadian-set heist thriller sees De Niro head up the cast in what can only be described as 'a missed opportunity'. Let's face it, De Niro was just getting to the point where he didn't really care that much anymore, and Brando had reached same said point decades earlier. The only person who seems to really be trying at all is Edward Norton, but even his efforts are wasted in this lame and lacklustre action movie. 'The Score' was apparently plagued by problems on set thanks to Brando's refusal to work while director Frank Oz was in the same room (hence De Niro was forced to unofficially direct parts of the film). A very mediocre movie, barely even worth watching for the meeting of three generations of method actors.

Mitch Preston (Showtime)

Showtime (2002) Directed by Tom Dey
Mitch Preston: You know you're in trouble when the highlight of a movie is an extended cameo by William Shatner. Since I haven't seen 'The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle', I can pretty much safely say this is the worst De Niro movie I've ever watched. Our boy Bob plays Mitch Preston, a serious LAPD detective who gets paired up with Trey Sellers (Eddie Murphy), a beat cop who wants to be an actor, for a reality TV cop show. The results are your typical buddy-cop comedy, De Niro plays the serious by-the-book veteran hampered by the inept younger buffoon, and frankly - for the audience - it's a match made in hell. Not really all that funny a film, and De Niro gives his lines with minimal effort. Worst of all, Bob got paid 17.5 million for this drivel.

Don Lino (Shark Tale)

Shark Tale (2004) Directed by Bibo Bergeron, Vicky Jenson and Rob Letterman
Don Lino: De Niro lends his New York twang to this mafia-parodying computer-animated comedy. He plays Don Lino, the Godfather of the sharks, and his animated counterpart is an amusing caricature of his various gangster-related roles. Not really much to say, it's an okay film - a bit too flooded with pop-culture references for my liking, but entertaining all the same. De Niro does what the role asks of him, he gives as good as anyone else and isn't too subtle or unsuited to voice-over work.

Bill Sullivan (The Good Shepherd)

The Good Shepherd (2006) Directed by Robert De Niro
Bill Sullivan: De Niro plays a minor but important role in this sprawling espionage epic as General Bill Sullivan, a man instrumental in the creation of the CIA. He pretty much only has three scenes, and his character is this ailing, ageing old influential soldier. It's a decent enough role, and De Niro is pretty good in it, but like I said - it's only a small role. It does, however, give me hope that we will seen a turn back to some more interesting, older roles for De Niro in the not too distant future. This film is an intriguing pet project of De Niro the director too, and whilst it's by no means a perfect film, it's worth seeing for it's ambitious attempt to sum up 30 odd years of CIA history and the assemblage of an impressive all-star cast.

And that brings us up to speed. As De Niro seemed to stop trying in the last ten years I too seemed to stop caring, so I haven't been as vigilant about seeing his more recent films as I have about seeing his earlier ones. So there are a few I've missed in this part of the guide... 'The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle' (2000) is one of the few kid's movies De Niro has featured in, and the pictures and reviews I've seen of it haven't really inspired me to watch a copy. '15 Minutes' (2001) is an action-drama about criminals getting their fifteen of fame via the media, I've seen it but I didn't include it in this list because I didn't really pay that much attention to it when I watched it... De Niro plays a media-savvy cop in it. 'City by the Sea' (2002) sees De Niro play yet another cop, it doesn't look very interesting but I'll probably get around to watching it eventually. 'Godsend' (2004) is an apparently mediocre horror movie that has De Niro in a supporting role as a shifty scientist of some sort. 'The Bridge of San Luis Rey' (2004) is a little-known drama of some sort that features De Niro in a small supporting role as the Archbishop of Peru. 'Hide and Seek' (2005) is a horror film co-starring Dakota Fanning, and apparently De Niro puts a little more effort in here than he has been in other films lately, so I'll probably check this one out eventually. 'Arthur and the Invisibles' (2006) is a french kid's film directed by Luc Besson, and De Niro provides the voice of the King for the English version. The next film set to come out that features De Niro is 'Stardust', a fantasy film where Bob plays the character of Captain Shakespeare. It has an interestig cast - Peter O'Toole, Ricky Gervais, Ian McKellan, Claire Danes - so it might be worth checking out.

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Posted By: Luke - Category: Profiles, Trivia and Talking Crap

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Robert De Niro: A Guide to his Film Roles (Part 4 - the 1990s cont'd)

April 7th 2007 04:38

Well, this is Part 4 of a five part guide to De Niro films I've seen. This part deals with Bobby boy's films from 1995 to 1998. De Niro pretty much did his last good work as an actor in this period, he collaborated with Martin Scorcese for the last time (on 'Casino') and did one or two more interesting things before pretty much going on autopilot for the rest of his acting career so far. I'm afraid the mid-90s were the beginning of the end for De Niro, he also started taking more and more supporting roles, perhaps sensing easier money... but oh well, we soldier on

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Posted By: Luke - Category: Profiles, Trivia and Talking Crap

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Robert De Niro: A Guide to his Film Roles (Part 3 - the 1990s)

April 3rd 2007 20:40

This blog follows on from Parts 1 and 2 of my guide to Robert De Niro films I've seen. In the 1990s De Niro's film career sort of mutated a bit, he kicked it into overdrive and switched from carefully picked major roles in uncompromising films to more supporting roles and bigger movies. As a result, he made a LOT more films per year... whereas previously he usually only did one film a year, he was now making anywhere up to three or four films a year. So for the 1990s and 2000s part of this guide I've had to split it across three parts, as there are a lot more films to talk about (and De Niro's more recent output is also a lot easier to find than his earlier films, so I've seen more of them). This section deals with 1990 to 1994

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Posted By: Luke - Category: Profiles, Trivia and Talking Crap

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Robert De Niro: A Guide to his Films (Part 2 - the 1980s)

April 2nd 2007 20:37

Today I'll be following on from yesterday's guide to De Niro's films of the 70s with this personal tour of his 80s films. Once again, I'm keen to remind you o deligent reader that I haven't seen all his films, so this is only a guide to the ones I've managed to watch so far

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Robert De Niro: A Guide to his Film Roles (Part 1 - the 1970s)

April 1st 2007 20:57

I'm a huge De Niro fan. Chances are you might've come across my latently homosexual gushings about him in various reviews of films on this blog. Chances are you haven't, and I've just implied that I'm gay for him to someone who previously didn't suspect this. Damn

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Posted By: Luke - Category: Profiles, Trivia and Talking Crap

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