Charlie Chan in London (1934)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

Charlie Chan in London (1934) – E. Forde

Comfort-watching another Charlie Chan entry, #6 out of 16 for Warner Oland, the Swedish actor who ended up type-cast as Asian. Although definitely dated, this first series treats Chan kindly with gentle stereotyping (he often speaks in fortune-cookie riddles) and when his Number One Son shows up in later efforts, there is true affection for his family.  (The subsequent series with Sidney Toler for Monogram features considerably more racist content directed at the comic African American cab-driver Birmingham). Here, Charlie goes it alone. Having just solved another case in London, he is begged to stay by socialite Pamela Gray (Drue Leyton) whose brother is on death row for a murder she thinks he didn’t commit.  Charlie has only 72 hours to prove him innocent by finding the real killer.  Of course, the episode takes place in a British country estate (including fox hunt) and the various suspects are staying for the weekend.  There’s an attempt on Charlie’s life and another murder before all the suspects are gathered together in the drawing room for the final reveal.  But rather than announce the killer outright, Charlie lures them into a trap where they make a move and get caught red-handed in front of the police.  A fine entry, if you like this mystery-by-the-numbers genre.

The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975)

 ☆ ☆ ½

The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975) – J. L. Thompson

Somehow the Seventies seems the right era for melancholy supernatural fare. There’s a loneliness found in many films of the era, from neo-noir to horror, as alienation and disillusionment set in.  In this film, college professor Peter Proud (Michael Sarrazin) is suffering from a recurring nightmare where he is swimming naked at night and approached by a woman in a rowboat who abruptly kills him with a paddle. His doctor can’t help him and sends him to a parapsychologist (with a sleep clinic) who discovers no evidence of dreams at all.  A shooting pain in his hip with no organic cause just adds to the mystery.  When he sees a too-familiar New England town on TV, remembered from his “dreams”, Peter heads East to investigate. By now, he suspects that he is really remembering a past life.  After a lengthy search, he makes contact with people he believes are his former wife, Marcia (Margot Kidder), now in her sixties (with old age make-up), and his adult daughter, Ann (Jennifer O’Neill), in Springfield, Mass.  He doesn’t let them know his visions, but falls for Ann despite the hint of incest. At this point, the film starts to lose its momentum, perhaps searching for a satisfactory ending – an extended square dance sequence is the nadir – and then the end is in sight, a perfect looping back to the film’s opening scenes. But alas, whatever spooky suspense was built up in the film’s first sequences has long since been squandered (notwithstanding an extremely unpleasant flashback) and the film ends abruptly, its promise denied.

 

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

 

☆ ☆ ☆ 

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022) – T. Gormican

It’s a trifle but amusing enough for a mindless night in.  Nicolas Cage plays a fictionalised version of himself (called “Nick”, a telling giveway), at a point in his career where his star is fading and he needs a hit.  He’s recently divorced with a teenage daughter with whom he is struggling to connect. After missing out on another plum role, he takes a $1M gig to attend a wealthy Spanish guy’s birthday party. They bond but soon Cage learns that his host Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal) is suspected of being an arms dealer by the CIA and responsible for a politically motivated kidnaping to boot. Cage is corralled into helping the CIA (led by Tiffany Haddish). To stay close to Javi, he suggests working on a film together, a film about their friendship…and about a kidnaping. The film moves gradually from a character study to a male-bonding relationship piece to a full-on comic action thriller. It’s all very “meta” and if you are a Nic Cage fan, then you’ll enjoy all of the references to his films (he also talks regularly with his younger self, circa Wild at Heart). But apart from Cage hamming it up in a variety of classic situations, this is basically substance free viewing – yet amusing.

 

Dark Passage (1947)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Dark Passage (1947) – D. Daves

This third pairing of Bogie and Bacall (after To Have and Have Not and The Big Sleep but before Key Largo) is the least celebrated, possibly because it uses the gimmick made famous by Robert Montgomery’s Lady in the Lake (1946) but more probably because Bogie plays a less confident, more hesitant, character than in the other three films. The gimmick is to have the camera take the “first person” point-of-view, showing us what Bogie’s character sees, without showing us Bogie himself (except his fist when he punches someone). This lasts for the first 40 minutes of the film, ending with a bit of a punchline when Bogie picks up a newspaper reporting on his escape from jail and the picture is not of Humphrey Bogart (well, apparently it is a composite and it is Bogie from the eyes up!).  At this point in the film, Bogie undergoes plastic surgery from a dodgy doctor (who lost his licence, of course) and after the bandages come off (20 minutes later), we finally see Bogart an hour into the film.  Bacall plays the woman who was a staunch defender when Bogie’s case went to trial, never believing that he really killed his wife.  She does what she can to hide him, even as another murder is committed and attributed to him. There are a few suspects, including Agnes Moorehead and Clifton Young, but things don’t look good for Bogie. We know he’s innocent, but how will they convince the law? It doesn’t turn out how you expect. Solid noir although not in the upper echelon.

Dune (2021)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Dune (2021) – D. Villeneuve

Perhaps coincidentally, I had just finished reading Frank Herbert’s Dune (1965) a couple of years ago when Denis Villeneuve’s filmed version was first announced.  I had seen David Lynch’s 1984 film version in high school but didn’t understand it; I watched it again recently after reading the book and found it a weirdly abbreviated rendition of the novel.  So, Villeneuve probably made the right choice in deciding to film Dune’s sprawling narrative across two separate films. This first film takes us from the moment when the members of House Atreides, ruled by Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac), first learn that they will become the new denizens/guardians of the planet Arrakis, with its massive spice mining operation, rebellious indigenous people, and impossibly hot desert climate, to the point where, having suffered a cruel twist of fate (engineered by an evil emperor), Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother (Rebecca Ferguson) (both with spiritual/supernatural powers) flee into the desert into the arms of the Fremen people (led by Javiar Bardem). Villeneuve and his team demonstrate impressive technical virtuosity in bringing the novel to the screen – it’s epic and serious, forboding and sometimes grim (all the actors speak in a pronounced stage whisper, filled with portentousness).  Although otherworldly, the CGI is not intrusive but blends into the dusky colour scheme of the film – yet you never forget that this is science fiction taking place in another time and place (with giant sandworms swarming through the desert, how could you?). I suspect, however, that not having read the book might be a disadvantage when watching the film. Villeneuve trots out a large array of characters, most of whom are not fully developed, and moves the action in a relatively exposition-less way from significant episode to significant episode. Knowing the story surely helps to provide the glue that holds it all together. Perhaps too only fans of the book will be pleased with a film that ends with the suggestion that we are only really at the beginning. Fortunately, I’m in that camp and I look forward to Part 2.

Shaolin Soccer (2001)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Shaolin Soccer (2001) – S. Chow

Trying to come up with something to watch with the kids that isn’t animated, cloying, or trying too hard to be suitable for both kids and adults (wink, wink), I remembered this ridiculous gem. It was a hit with the boys (more or less)!  Stephen Chow plays a down-and-out kung fu ace (“Mighty Steel Leg”) who is recruited by once famous soccer star Man-Tat Ng to get a team together for a big competition (against “Team Evil”).  We meet the other former monks from his Shaolin gang (“Iron Head”, “Hooking Leg”, “Iron Shirt”, “Light Weight”), see them train, and play against other teams before eventually making it to the finals (of course).  Contrary to many other “losers make good” narratives, these guys become amazing soccer superstars pretty quickly – aided by some amazing powers and funny CGI effects (don’t expect the “they do their own stunts!” routine here).  It is a slapstick comedy after all.  A side plot involving a steamed bun making, tai chi expert girl who may or may not have a romance with Chow does not quite hold together.  But no worries, we had a laugh!  (And for the record, we watched with subtitles, not dubbing).

The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

The Matrix Resurrections (2021) – L. Wachowski

Arriving approximately 18 years after the third film in the original Matrix trilogy and a good 22 years after the iconic first film, this fourth installment knows its place. As directed by Lana Wachowski (without her sister Lily this time), the film returns to the Matrix approximately 60 years (?!?) after the events of the original trilogy to find Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) now a star game designer being encouraged to revisit his biggest earlier success (called The Matrix, get it?). This self-reflexive gag extends to a discussion of why anyone would want to revisit an earlier success: nostalgia, money-grab, etc.  Although a bit too on-the-nose, at least it is amusing and in keeping with the franchise’s blurring of fiction and reality. And then, again, we are with Keanu as he tries to determine whether he is having a mental breakdown or really experiencing a visit from a new Morpheus (wherefore art thou Laurence Fishburne?). Take the red pill, man (even if it means leaving the half-recognised Tiffany, played by Carrie-Anne Moss, of course)! Although his therapist (Neil Patrick Harris) tries to hold him back, off he goes back to the dismal underworld. And here’s where I started thinking that I should have watched Reloaded and Revolutions again because I lost the plot – where was Zion, who exactly is that aged ruler? Unfortunately, the spew of exposition was pretty lost on me and the new characters, apart from maybe Bugs (Jessica Henwick), failed to make much of an impression.  But then, once we’ve returned to the Matrix, who cares? It’s all fighting, bullet-time, (or a new-fangled bullet-time, which wasn’t really too impressive) and the challenge of extracting Tiffany/Trinity, who may not really want to be extracted anyway.  Keanu does his job, with style (I had to ask how old he is – and he looks it, at times). To its credit, even at 140 minutes plus, the film flies by.  And just as easily dissipates from your consciousness after it’s done.