Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)

☆ ☆ ☆

Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) – P. Sasdy

One of the better Dracula sequels from Hammer Films (and there are a number of bad ones).  Christopher Lee was apparently reluctant to return – and he doesn’t have too many lines here (simply “the first”, “the second” and “the thirrrrrrrd”) -- but he is still a magnificently evil presence.  The plot revolves around three businessmen (in the early 1900s) who seek to experience thrills in this life, even going so far as to be willing to sell their souls to the devil.  Of course, when the ritual actually occurs they wimp out – the reconstituted blood of Dracula does not seem too palatable to drink (and a prelude to the movie shows us how it was obtained).  The grown children of the businessmen, two young women and two young men, add romance to the story but Dracula soon has the girls under his sway (‘natch).  As usual, Hammer’s production values are ace, lending spooky period atmosphere to the proceedings.  Worth a look if this is your thing.

  

A Nous La Liberte (1931)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

A Nous La Liberte (1931) – R. Clair

At first, it’s a prison flick with all the inmates singing about the freedom they don’t have.  We see two of them plot their escape – but only one of them makes it.  He manages to work himself from street busker to factory owner in a quick montage.  His factory makes phonographs.  When his old cellmate appears working on the assembly line (later ripped off by Chaplin, although he settled the lawsuit without admitting it), the boss thinks he is about to be blackmailed. But instead, his friend just wants help winning the girl of his affections.  It doesn’t work and soon a gang of crooks really do appear to blackmail the boss.   In a twist that might only work in the France of the time, he abruptly donates his factory to the workers, let’s his money blow away in the wind, and hits the road as a tramp with his friend.  So, this makes it something of an anti-capitalist piece but blink and you could miss it.  Renoir’s The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936) hits the nail more squarely on the head.  But Rene Clair’s earlier film is an early talkie that still contains some of the lyricism and wowing art direction of the silents but I think I prefer his Le Million (also 1931). 

The Talk of the Town (1942)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Talk of the Town (1942) – G. Stevens

Comedy with serious undertones and nicely observed characters from George Stevens – who seems to be channelling Frank Capra with Jean Arthur in the lead and a story about “the law” and how it needs to serve the people rather than lofty principles.  Cary Grant stumbles into Jean’s life and the cottage she is about to rent out to Dean of the Law School Ronald Colman, he’s on the lam after escaping prison, falsely accused of burning down a factory.  The factory owner has the town in his back pocket and he’s railroading the case with a handpicked judge and jury.  Grant and his lawyer lean on Colman to assist, but he’s too principled to get involved in a local case…until his fondness for Grant and Arthur both win him over and he shaves off his beard and gets his hands dirty.  It works because we too grow fond of these characters, even if the larger themes are a bit garbled; Capra handled complicated issues better by ramping up the sentimentality and distilling the arguments to their simplest points, also throwing in quirky supporting players.  Stevens hits it right down the middle which is satisfying but it doesn’t go out of the park.   

The Warped Ones (1960)

☆ ☆ ☆

The Warped Ones (1960) – K. Kurahara

Although it may have been luridly eye-opening to the Japanese society of 1960, Koreyoshi Kurahara’s delirious new wave drama leaves a bad taste in your mouth.  After getting caught stealing, Akira, a psychopath, spends time in a juvenile detention centre.  Upon his release, he picks up where he left off, stealing a car with his buddy and a prostitute friend, and then he relentlessly targets and harasses the journalist who caused his earlier arrest and his artist girlfriend.  Akira loves jazz (Chico Hamilton style) and the movie is edited to a hep feverish rhythm but its stylishness can’t overcome the brutal content.  With no moral sense, perhaps not even an understanding of what is right and wrong, Akira moves from one situation to another, always doing the wrong thing, the wicked thing – but yet he grins all the way through.  The central action involves rape and its consequences and the film ends without punishment for Akira nor any real commentary on his actions or even a comment about the society (or world) that could produce such a person.  Everything is laid out to shock viewers but I wouldn’t recommend this except for its historical value; a better take on the same ideas is Oshima’s Cruel Story of Youth (also 1960).   

  

Joy (2015)

☆ ☆ ☆

Joy (2015) – D. O. Russell

There’s no denying that David O. Russell is a master filmmaker and he brings his craftsmanship to this picture too.  However, the story about the woman who invented the “miracle mop” and rose to prominence on the early shopping channel, QVC, doesn’t attain lift.  This is probably more the fault of the screenplay (by Russell himself) than the acting (featuring Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Isabella Rossellini, Edgar Ramirez, Diane Ladd, and more).  Perhaps we’ve seen too many rags-to-riches “American Dream” stories by now and, well, they just aren’t believable anymore.  In fact, they seem almost wrong-headed in the way they might lull people who deserve to be starting a revolution into wasting their time trying to pull themselves up by their bootstraps within the system.  Joy (the title character) certainly does face a lot of setbacks, but to the accompaniment of just the right music, with her badass shades on and a confident walk, she wins out over the bastards.  The fact that this is based on a true story doesn’t make it any less of a (hollow) fantasy. 

  

Wild at Heart (1990)

☆ ☆ ½

Wild at Heart (1990) – D. Lynch

David Lynch cranks out gruelling sex and uber-violence and disconnected Wizard of Oz references in an overblown yet somehow languorous (and too long) version of the titular book (which I haven’t read).  Sailor (Nic Cage) and Lula (Laura Dern) are young lovers on the run from her mother (Diane Ladd; yes, really her mother) and the strange thugs she hires to kill him (Harry Dean Stanton, Willem Dafoe included).  Not much makes sense (as usual) but something is missing here from the Lynch films that “work” – perhaps his feel for the mysterious has been sacrificed for a hysterical metallic sheen? There are some arresting images (including some that you can’t “unsee”), fleeting cameos, and puzzling inserts but it doesn’t carry you along as Lost Highway does (despite its own failures) and it doesn’t resonate with unearthed themes as Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive do.  Cage and Dern got a raw deal, despite their willingness to go all the way.  This reminds me why it took me a long time to warm up to Lynch.  Give it a miss.  

  

The Lobster (2015)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Lobster (2015) – Y. Lanthimos

High concept alternate reality tale told in clinical deadpan by the director of Dogtooth (Yorgos Lanthimos), another weird one.  Here, Colin Farrell (unrecognisable with 20 extra kilos and a Ned Flanders moustache) is sent to a mysterious hotel after his wife has left him.  Apparently, it is illegal to be single and this is his last chance to find a partner among the other singles; if he fails, he will be turned into an animal of his choice (he chooses the lobster).  So, yes, it is something of a comedy – particularly when hapless John C. Reilly turns up – but it is very dry, very dry.  The real theme seems to be about the yin and yang of aloneness and togetherness (there are pros and cons of both) and society’s expectations about which is to be preferred.  In this society, they hunt down and kill loners (or turn them into undesirable animals).  Farrell’s character wants to stay alive, stay human, and fall in love.  The film speaks to the challenges of doing so. It’s fresh, blunt about many things, possibly perceptive (it is hard to tell) and definitely one-of-a-kind.