Superman (1978)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Superman (1978) – R. Donner

Right off the bat, the kids started complaining that the title credits and theme music were ripped off from Star Wars (1977) – later we discovered that the latter was also composed by John Williams (so okay?). The film held Amon’s attention the most, as he has recently been reading some Superman comics from the library (including Superman vs. the KKK!) and knew the characters. Nevertheless, we agreed that the opening sequence starring Marlon Brando as Jor-El (Superman’s dad) on Krypton in its final moments dragged (I did not remember that this sequence links directly to Superman II, as Terence Stamp is locked away in a prison prism in the first few minutes). After some pre-Christopher Reeve scenes of Superman as a youth, showing off to his midwestern high school friends (and Glenn Ford!), we finally arrive in Metropolis where Reeve shows up as Clark Kent, the mild-mannered klutzy reporter who clearly has a thing for colleague Lois Lane (Margot Kidder). Not long after, he is in blue spandex rescuing her and performing heroic acts around the city. Ayako remarked on how dated the special-effects look now (done with wires, we are sure), but there is something endearing about the old school methods methinks – and Reeve certainly knew how to work with the sometimes hokey material, turning it more charming. On the evil side, we have Gene Hackman, Ned Beatty, and Valerie Perinne, who discover Superman’s weakness and use it against him while also directing stolen nuclear missiles at two opposite parts of the US (but hoping to knock half of California into the ocean via an earthquake). Of course, it all ends well and although it felt too long to me, Amon was rapt.

 

Shattered Glass (2003)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Shattered Glass (2003) – B. Ray

Based on the true story of discredited journalist Stephen Glass who fabricated stories for The New Republic in the 1990s.  Hayden Christensen plays Glass as a needy character, clearly seeking attention and approval, but somehow also cocky and manipulative.  He has clearly endeared some of his officemates to him (Chloe Sevigny, Melanie Lynskey) and that may have helped him to pass various stages in the editorial process (fact-checking, in particular) with less scrutiny than needed.  His editors, Hank Azaria and then Peter Sarsgaard, are more suspicious but the house-of-cards does not come tumbling down until a reporter at an online magazine (Steve Zahn) stumbles onto the fraud. As directed by screenwriter Billy Ray, it feels like a thriller at times, as the clues and lame defences start turning up. Perhaps it also wants to be a character study but we never really get any insight into Glass’s motives, although perhaps they are pretty transparent.  I’m reminded of a similar case in my own area, where a Dutch social psychologist, Diederik Stapel, admitted to having faked dozens of research studies, published in the top journals, after having been caught by other researchers who found his data analyses too good to be true (but only after they had passed muster through the peer review process and with unwitting or negligent consent of famous co-authors and grad students).  In his memoirs (yes, really!), he claimed that he could not resist the adulation that came with success and claimed to be sorry. At the time, pundits suggested that our publish-or-perish culture invites such desperate acts – but not much has changed in the intervening years. There are lessons for us all in these morality plays.

 

Each Dawn I Die (1939)

 

☆ ☆ ☆ 

Each Dawn I Die (1939) – W. Keighley

Solid prison drama from Warner Brothers, one of their specialities (along with gangster films), which would have been exciting for filmgoers of the day (especially the big prison riot near the end). Somehow though, I found it a bit dull.  Cagney is a reporter fighting corruption who is framed for murder and sent to jail where he meets hardcore criminal George Raft and strikes up a friendship.  When a prison informant is murdered, Raft and Cagney hatch a plan that sees Cagney accuse Raft of the crime so that he can escape during the subsequent court case (outside of prison).  Raft agrees to help find evidence that will prove Cagney innocent.  All does not really go as planned, but Cagney’s gal (Jane Bryan) helps convince Raft to hold up his end of the deal. Meanwhile Cagney is in The Hole (solitary confinement) all this time. It turns out however that the man who framed Cagney has been in prison all this time… 

 

A New Leaf (1971)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

A New Leaf (1971) – E. May

Walter Matthau has blown through the trust fund that he inherited and suddenly finds himself in debt.  The only way to continue the lifestyle to which he has become accustomed is to marry rich. So, he borrows $50K from his uncle to be paid back in 6 weeks (presuming he can spend his wife’s fortune) just to keep himself afloat until he can find a willing bride. After a few mistakes, he discovers Elaine May, a nerdy and clumsy botany professor with a very large fortune. Let the courtship begin!  Of course, Matthau is thinking dastardly thoughts about what happens after the marriage… and he wouldn’t be the first to take advantage of helpless May (who also wrote and directed, her first feature, after great success on stage in a comedy duo with Mike Nichols). The film is somewhat episodic (despite a linear plotline), sometimes broadly funny, sometimes even tender, with some intriguing impressionistic shots thrown in for good measure. By the end, we find ourselves charmed by the transformation in the characters, despite themselves, and there’s a warm feeling as a result.

 

The Man Who Came To Dinner (1942)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Man Who Came To Dinner (1942) – W. Keighley

Adapted for the screen by the Epsteins (who also wrote Casablanca) from Hart and Kauffman’s Broadway play, this comedy increases in chaos as it proceeds but I don’t know that it fully reaches screwball heights. Monty Woolley plays Sheridan Whiteside, a famous author who enjoys hobnobbing with the rich and famous but has little patience for fools. When he slips on the ice when entering the house of a rich industrialist in small town Ohio, he breaks his hip and must stay at their house for weeks. He promptly takes over his house, relegating the family to upstairs/offscreen (except when he advises the adult children to leave the nest). The main plot focuses on Whiteside’s assistant Maggie Cutler (played by Bette Davis) who falls in love with local newspaper editor and budding playwright Bert Jefferson (Richard Travis); Whiteside attempts to break it up by ringing up actress Lorraine Sheldon (Ann Sheridan) to seduce Bert away from Maggie. It’s funnier than it sounds, mostly thanks to Woolley (and the script), but the real treat is the sudden surprise entrance of Jimmy Durante (playing a trickster character based on Harpo Marx) who helps to resolve the plot. Genius!   

 

Escape from New York (1981)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Escape from New York (1981) – J. Carpenter

More high-concept than high-tech, John Carpenter’s cult classic has a similar low-budget feel to his Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) and also a distinctive synth soundtrack (which he always composes himself). Kurt Russell (not too far from his Disney past) plays Snake Plissken, an ex-special forces commando turned bank robber destined for the maximum security prison that is Manhattan in 1997. However, before he can be incarcerated, he is taken aside by the Police Chief (Lee van Cleef), injected with capsules that will blow up in 22 hours, and ordered to rescue the president (Donald Pleasance) whose plane has crashed somewhere in the prison (where prisoners roam free and have their own pecking order, including Isaac Hayes as the Duke, Harry Dean Stanton as the Brain, and Ernest Borgnine as the Cabbie – with Carpenter’s wife Adrienne Barbeau there for good measure).  So, the clock is ticking and Snake has to navigate the perils of ravaged NYC and escape via the booby trapped 69^th Street Bridge before time runs out. The eyepatch was apparently Russell’s idea.