To Live and Die in L. A. (1985)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

To Live and Die in L. A. (1985) – W. Friedkin

A genre film but refreshing in its totally Eighties choices, especially music (soundtrack by Wang Chung!), fashion, and art design. Still director William Friedkin takes his cues straight from his earlier Seventies hit, The French Connection (1971), in a story that also sees law enforcement, this time a US Secret Service officer (William Peterson), willing to break all the rules (and the law) to catch the main perp (there’s also a similar crazy car chase, but this time the cops are being pursued!).  It’s fascinating to see a young Willem Dafoe as the villain, a counterfeiter (but also an artist –the two go hand-in-hand?) and a young John Turturro as a ruthless bad guy on his payroll. Dean Stockwell is also here as a dodgy lawyer, closer in tone to his part in Paris, Texas (1984) than in Blue Velvet (1986)  -- the former was also shot by Robby Muller who shot this film. To its credit, the plot doesn’t exactly adhere to generic expectations, more downbeat (and violent) than usual, with an abrupt twist that I didn’t see coming (and a not entirely satisfying ending). But for untaxing action fare, it’s not too bad.   

 

Ham on Rye (2019)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Ham on Rye (2019) – T. Taormina

Not your typical teen film, although the boys and girls here do contemplate their future (heterosexual) relationships. In fact, the whole first half of the film seems geared toward seeing the numerous characters pair off at an unusual ceremony at the local deli – which seems to turn into something akin to a school dance. The girls and boys share their trepidation and excitement with each other as the ceremony approaches (and they are dressed not unlike for a prom).  There is a 70s feeling to the first half – so much so that the “slow dance” scene brought me back to my own awkward tween/early teen days. Painful for me (but glorious for others?). And once the successful teens have paired off and left the film (presumably for adulthood/college/their future), we see what happens to those who remain. The second half is downbeat, no longer dreamlike, but full of lost souls, those who are stuck in their lonely suburban town (signified by the strip mall). Throughout it all, it isn’t exactly clear where director Tyler Taormina’s sympathies lie. Is he championing the heteronormative past where the beautiful and popular succeed ahead of others? Or is his heart with those who didn’t fit in? (I suspect it is the latter but he doesn’t offer them much hope). Like all good films, there is enough ambiguity here and rippling implications (Is this about those who move vs. those who stay? The rich vs. the poor?) to make it a satisfying watch, despite its low budget.

Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974) – B. Clemens

Nicely produced in that familiar Hammer Horror way but more chaste than some of their other early ‘70s fare (despite the presence of sultry Caroline Munro from the Golden Voyage of Sinbad). There’s a folk-horror feel (also common to this era) with many shots in the grassy woods outside the typical rustic British village. Alas, those stalwarts of Hammer, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, are nowhere to be found but the latter is replaced by the titular Captain (Horst Janson) and his sidekick Professor Grost (John Cater) who enter the area searching for vampires. Kronos is a bit underwhelming but more swashbuckling than van Helsing ever was. The villain, however, is seen only in a black hooded cloak, remaining a mystery – which quickly turns the narrative into a sort of whodunit (there are a handful of suspects).  The necessary twist on the genre is that rather than merely sucking blood from the victim, the vampires also suck out their very life-force, rendering the young, suddenly old. Neither Hammer’s best, nor their worst – an easy-going outing to a familiar land.    

 

The Goonies (1985)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Goonies (1985) – R. Donner 

I turned 18 in 1985 which is probably why I had never watched The Goonies until now (too old for a movie for kids, I guess). As a film-loving dad to two, I have scoured those various “best family films” lists but we’ve either seen ‘em or the boys turn their noses up. I can’t keep up with (or find) the new releases which are all animation, it seems. So, The Goonies seemed a possibility – until we looked at Common Sense Media to discover a lot of horrified parents worried about the S word and drug references and other off-colour bits.  Well, this is Australia, so there’s no way to avoid a bit of cussing (did you see the Olympics?) and we ploughed ahead anyway.  And that was a good decision because the movie is rollicking fun (and some of the inappropriate bits got the bigger laughs, at least from age 11).  A gang of misfit boys, including Sean Astin and Josh Brolin who are about to lose their house to foreclosure, stumble upon a treasure map which leads them (and their friends including Corey Feldman, Jeff Cohen, and Ke Huy Quan) to an old restaurant which is now the hideout for a gang of crooks (including Joe Pantoliano, Robert Davey, and the excellent Anne Ramsey). There’s a lot of slapstick fun as The Goonies find a tunnel in the basement and avoid some booby traps on their way to finding One-Eyed Willie’s pirate ship. There’s some serious weirdness too when The Goonies encounter the chained-up not-quite-right son (gridiron player John Matuszak) of the villainous matriarch (which eventually leads to a nod to director Richard Donner’s other big hit).  Chris Columbus and Steven Spielberg wrote the script and produced but this never becomes cloying (even if age 9 had to close his eyes during the occasional kissing scenes). Indeed, the surprising lack of slickness is a big plus. I guess, that’s 1985 for you.

 

The Threat (1949)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

The Threat (1949) – F. E. Feist

Part police procedural and part character study of the sociopath they are trying to catch, this brief (66 minute) film noir contains enough tense moments to hold attention even if it doesn’t stay long enough to add anything new to the canon.  Gravelly-voiced Charles McGraw (also seen in The Narrow Margin, Armored Car Robbery, The Killers, and other noirs) is ruthless as the recently escaped con who tracks down and kidnaps the D. A. and detective who jailed him. They hole up in an old shack, waiting for his ex-partner who fled to Mexico with some of the loot to fly in and help them to escape.  Meanwhile, the cops methodically follow their trail.  It holds together pretty well but ends abruptly – as if the screenwriters had nothing left to say after the McGraw character exited the story. Not bad.  

 

The Killing III (Forbrydelsen, 2012)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Killing III (Forbrydelsen, 2012) – S. Sveistrup

I thought I should see the show through to the end, so I teed up the 10 episodes of Series 3 of this police procedural which mixes detective work with coalition politics (and personal drama).  True to form, it was compulsively watchable; I’m not sure, however, if you watched the third series first (without having seen the first two) that you could get the same out of it.  The show was a big hit in its native Denmark (and also in the UK) but star Sofie Gråbøl has vowed that this was the last outing for intense (and awkward) Detective Sarah Lund. Certainly, the ending of Series 3 leaves only the slightest chance for a Series 4 (but writers have certainly found ways to move forward with even the most emphatic finales – it could all be a dream!).  Here, Lund and her teammate from PET (e.g., the Feds) Mathias Borch (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), also a former lover, struggle to find a kidnapper who seems to have a vendetta against the local shipping magnate, a big donor to the current government. When the kidnapper also kills the deputy district attorney, the detectives find they need to solve an old case that was possibly closed as part of a cover-up – which leads straight to the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition who are neck-and-neck in the current election campaign.  As before, viewers need to keep track of numerous plot threads at the same time – but that’s the fun of this series.  The acting and plotting remain strong.  It’s a good time to quit while they are ahead – but whoa that ending!

The Princess Bride (1987)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Princess Bride (1987) – R. Reiner

So, I have to admit that I was never really a part of the cult of The Princess Bride, quoting its ridiculous (but yes, highly quotable) lines at every opportunity (but I know many of you are). Nor have I read William Goldman’s original book which he adapted for director Rob Reiner (a fan of the book). Nevertheless, I thought this would be a fun movie to watch as a family. Especially since it is an embellished exaggerated fairy tale and my kids already know the form. It was even funny that they moaned and groaned at the start when the film begins with some romantic “true love” scenes between Westley (Cary Elwes) and Buttercup (Robin Wright) given that young Fred Savage (to whom the story is being told by his grandfather Peter Falk) also complains about the same (ugh, kissing).  But soon enough there was enough action, far-fetched and lampooned as it is, but still action and enjoyable from the kids’ point of view (even as some of the witty banter may have flown over their heads).  At any rate, there are many adventuresome moments as Dread Pirate Roberts… I mean Westley… attempts to rescue Buttercup first from kidnappers Wallace Shawn, Andre the Giant, and Mandy Patinkin, and then later from Chris Sarandon (the Prince who seeks to marry her) and Christopher Guest (evil Count). There’s also torture and even despondency with a risk of suicide – but it’s all so broad and even zany (i.e. Billy Crystal and Carol Kane’s bit) that it’s hard to be concerned, even in a family film.  We enjoyed it but I can’t say that I’m fully converted – I prefer something even more over the top (such as Monty Python and the Holy Grail – but that’s not for kids!).