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A trapper (Charles Bronson) interrupts a dog fight and forcibly buys one of the injured dogs in depression-era Canada. The dog's (ex) owner (Ed Lauter) and his buddies go out to seek revenge. The group attacks him and the trapper kills a man. The local head Mountie (Lee Marvin) must take him into custody even though he realizes the shooting was in self-defense. But the trapper is not going down without a fight!
MY THOUGHTS
Death Hunt is essentially a western that's relocated to the Canadian wilderness, swapping desert sand for snow.
The denizens of this cold environment aren't too different from those in the old west. They're poorly educated, drink and carouse with the few women around that are available, and are quick to anger and to draw their gun.
Charles Bronson and Lee Marvin are the same tough hombres that they always were. The script offers little if any chance for them to modify or build on their screen images, but really why would it be necessary? A wise man once said "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
The film does, however, drop them into a new environment. The cinematography of the open lands of Alberta looks beautiful. The camera shows off much of the land while still focused on the story much like John Ford's views of Monument Valley in his countless western greats.
Death Hunt is not without it's flaws.
The characters spend most of the film outdoors in the snow, but rarely, if ever, actually look (or act) cold. If they're supposed to be 'braving the elements,' maybe someones teeth should chatter or they would mutter "I reckon it's cold" but this never happens. Despite living in the harsh environment, I doubt the men rarely spend their nights sleeping outside.
Angie Dickinson appears in essentially a cameo role as Marvin's girl. Not only is the role completely beneath her as an actress (anyone could have played it just as well,) her scenes are completely unnecessary and slow down the film. They should have been left on the cutting room floor. Death Hunt isn't a sweeping action epic that can mix fight scenes and romance like an old Errol Flynn film.
It's far from a great film, but Death Hunt still has it's moments and they help make it an entertaining action-thriller.
Breaker Breaker 1977- American International Directed By Don Hulette
SYNOPSIS
An innocent novice truck driver (Michael Augenstein) is caught by police in a corrupt isolationist California town. His brother (Chuck Norris,) a popular trucker, comes looking for him.
MY THOUGHTS
One of those movies you'll enjoy more when you shut your brain off.
There's not much to Breaker Breaker. It's clearly a cash-in by American International Pictures (who knew how to cash in on anything) on the briefly popular CB Radio craze (the Twitter of the mid-70's.) CB's figure into the mix of this standard revenge-style plot full of ass-kicking.
The fight scenes, choreographed by Chuck Norris, are simple but deliver. They are the highlight here, and Chuck Norris delivers the kicks and punches well. The rest seems to be a second-rate impostor of Smokey & The Bandit mixed with C.W. McCall's classic CB song Convoy. We're never given an explanation for the corrupt judge and the rest of the town's need for isolation (except to hide their moonshine operation) but that would probably just get in the way of the 'story.'
Fans of Chuck Norris should delight in this tale from early in his career... or any fans of low-budget bare-bones action films.
After their young child dies accidentally, a couple us thrown into turmoil. The mother (Charlotte Gainsbourg) suffers the hardest. Her husband (Willem Dafoe) is a therapist and tries to help her with her grief. The head to their cabin in the woods... and then things get weird.
MY THOUGHTS
More than a half hour has passed since watching this film and I'm left almost in a state of shock and unsure what I've seen.... and how to react to it.
Antichrist is highly unpleasant and disturbing... and certainly not for the feint of heart. The gruesome violence and unsettling images (many involving injured animals) are stomach churning, as is the disconcerting and very un-sexy sex scenes. Even the seemingly normal scenes create an ominous, dreadful feeling in the viewer.
The only film I've ever seen that has left me with such a bad case of the willies was Pasolini's Salo or The 120 Days of Sodom. Both it and Antichrist are not bad films at all. They just embrace the darker and more depraved side of humanity and present it in a stark and unsettling way.
The cinematography in Antichrist is beautiful. Especially the black and white footage in the 'prologue' and 'epilogue' segments. The acting is also outstanding. Gainsbourg and Dafoe give stellar performances. Without the strong performances, the film wouldn't have any of it's impact.
There was so much symbolism throughout nearly each and every scene that I got a headache trying to decipher each one while following the story. It's definitely one of those films that you would get more out of each time you saw it... if you could stand it.
The film is certainly not for most people... but if you understand that some art must be grotesque, in order to make the pretty stuff seem beautiful... you might want to check out Antichrist.
The film is not yet available on DVD in the U.S.A.
Targets 1967 - Paramount Directed by Peter Bogdanovich
SYNOPSIS
After a screening of his latest film, aging horror star Byron Orlok (Boris Karloff) decides to retire. After much debate he decides to agree to make one final personal appearance at a drive-in to help promote the film. Meanwhile, a deeply disturbed young man (Tim O'Kelly) kills his wife and mother before heading out to open fire on cars on the highway. After shooting several drivers and passengers, he escapes before the police close in. He ducks into the drive-in with plenty of ammo left.
MY THOUGHTS
Dual plots collide in a suspenseful way.
The sniper part of Targets is inspired by the story of Charles Whitman, who shot up the campus of the University of Texas from a tower in 1966.
The other half of the film happened due to producer Roger Corman having Boris Karloff under contract for a few more days. Corman didn't care exactly what director Peter Bogdanovich made... but he required the director to use Karloff and plenty of stock footage of his film The Terror (also starring Karloff.) Instead of making a retread of that Gothic horror... Bogdanovich whipped up something very modern and made appropriate use of the footage.
Despite being thrown together, the Hollywood plot works on many levels. Bogdanovich plays the young director in the film. He tries to get Orlok to make just one more picture... where he gets to play a real person and not some "Victorian era monster." This is exactly what happens in Targets. Also, Orlok bemoans that many of his classics are now referred to as "high camp" instead of horror. I wonder if Karloff also shared this sentiment since many of his are viewed the same way. This was one of Karloff's final films and he delivers a great performance despite his failing health.
Tim O'Kelly plays the shooter. The role is more Richie Cunningham than Travis Bickle and that makes the character far more sinister. He seems to come from a stable home, though he and his wife live with his parents. We don't know what his motivation is for murder... although headaches are alluded to (Charles Whitman had headaches and an autopsy revealed a brain tumor that may have contributed to his shooting spree.)
As anyone would suspect, the two plot lines do come together and clash at the end. It happened in a way I didn't expect and the film is much better for it.
Bogdanovich is the quintessential film geek. At the time he made this, while launching his film career, he was also a writer and interviewed many legendary directors like Orson Welles, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, and John Ford. He pays tribute to Hawks by showing a clip of his film The Criminal Code, an early and somewhat obscure film starring Karloff. The rest of Targets is littered with other references to films and the lingo of the business. The film also uses audio from Anatomy of a Murder. We get a rare non-cynical take on the film industry, probably due to Bogdanovich's youth and enthusiasm for the subject.
The film is very well shot, often using long takes to set a scene. It gives it a realistic, almost documentary-feel. Targets has the same grittiness that would define the action films of the 1970's.
Bogdanovich seems to be trying to make a point about the horror of real-life violence vs. film violence. His message is somewhat muddled and you don't really know exactly what he's trying to say.
Despite the muddy message, Targets is suspenseful and entertaining... and (I'm very sorry for this:) you should set in in your sights today!
Ponyo 2008/2009 - Studio Ghibli Directed By Hayao Miyazaki
SYNOPSIS
Sosuke (Frankie Jonas) rescues a small goldfish trapped in a glass bottle and names her Ponyo (Noah Cyrus.) She falls in love with the little boy. Her protective father (Liam Neeson) takes her back under the sea... but she uses his powerful magic and turns herself into a real girl. The magic upsets the balance of nature and causes a major catastrophe that washes out Sosuke's town. The two reunite and head on a big adventure to save Sosuke's mother (Tina Fey) and a group of senior citizens, and bring balance back to nature.
MY THOUGHTS
Hayao Miyazaki's unique take on "The Little Mermaid" blends outstanding visuals with an environmental message.
Ponyo isn't a direct take-off of Disney's The Little Mermaid or the Hans Christian Andersen tale that inspired it... but it's definitely influenced by them. Ponyo has the same basic premise... but it's carried in a whole different direction.
The story is somewhat weak. It's not very deep and is clearly only aimed for children. Miyazaki's other classics like Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro have a much broader appeal and work on more levels than this one. There's not much character development. Ponyo and Sosuke declare their love for one another when she is a fish and this never changes. Apart from Ponyo's merely physical transformation, she and none of the other characters grow, change, or learn anything from the adventure.
Miyazaki's films often have the environment and ecology play a role.... here even more than normal. From the beginning we see a boat dredging up tons of human garbage... and Ponyo getting stuck in a discarded bottle. Liam Neeson's character shows disdain for humans whenever he can because of their wastefulness. Thankfully, we're not beaten over the head with the message.
The hand-drawn animation is amazingly detailed, very beautiful, and highly imaginative. The movement of the underwater creatures is ultra-realistic. The fish are animated to move like real fish... and there's thousands of them. They're joined but various jellyfish-like creatures and prehistoric fish and other creatures. The undersea animation alone makes up for any shortcomings of the plot. The major storm is reminiscent of the huge storm in Pinocchio that sent him into the belly of the whale... and is just as frightening. The above-land animation isn't as stunning, but it's OK.
The American voice cast is outstanding (as usual with Miyazaki) though you must avoid the song playing over the end credits sung by Noah Cyrus and Frankie Jonas. I'm not a fan of their older siblings (Miley Cyrus + The Jonas Brothers) but this is far, far worse than anything they've recorded. Far worse than fingers on a chalkboard.
Ponyo isn't on the same level as Hayao Miyazaki's previous works... but it's light years ahead of anything American animators would make.
Green For Danger 1946 - England Directed By Sidney Gilliat
SYNOPSIS
An elderly postman (Moore Mariott) is injured in a German bombing in a rural English town. He's taken into surgery, where he unexpectedly dies. After one of the nurses from the surgery turns up dead, a inspector from Scotland Yard (Alastair Sim) declares they were both murdered... and one of the doctors or nurses was the killer. Now he must find out whodunit.
MY THOUGHTS
A little unassuming mystery that deserves more recognition.
Green For Danger has a subtle black humor that helps move the story along. It's a little darker than your average British mystery. Much of the humor comes from Alastair Sim's inspector. He seems to relish pushing the buttons of the stiff, uptight doctors with a sense of whimsy. The rest of the performers come off a little dry.
Despite the humor, the film does drag in many spots. The script has little action and is very dialogue heavy. The inspector doesn't show up until about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way in, leaving the bland characters to hold the story until his arrival. Apart from the bad surgery and the murder of the nurse, little happens in that time. A 'love triangle' is introduced between 2 doctors and a nurse... but it isn't very well developed. It seems to merely exist as a possible reason for murder. Once Sim first appears, the slow ball of a plot picks up some speed.
When the inspector reveals the murderer, it is someone I didn't really expect and there's a unique twist at the end. These keep the film above your average whodunit. Green For Danger may start slow, but it's a rewarding trip when it reaches the end.
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