L.627 (1992)

You’d think after three decades* of increasingly gritty docu-style Lives-of-the-Cops films, this down-and-dirty look at an underfunded Narcotics Unit (CIC) in some out-of-the-way Paris nab (not a tourist in sight) would have lost its edge.  Yet, almost the reverse is the case in critic/filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier’s superb ensemble piece.  No police procedural, more a systemic view at a failing system, and the characters who find work-arounds to strict rules & regulations to keep it functioning.  Didier Bezace is the gifted investigator, always in trouble with superiors, but too well connected to his personal pack of criminally dicey informers to spend more than token stints in office purgatory assignments.  Supported and thwarted by talented, if lazy slobs, his co-workes more interested in hitting quotas than in solving crimes or social problems, Bezace might come off as too exemplary, but Tavernier sets limits.  Dealers who won’t give up suppliers get physically abused; hookers & illegal immigrants cultivated to work as informers; even an emotional attachment to a hooker/addict for times when Bezace isn’t working his side-gig of filming weddings to afford finer things for his wife and little girl.  Remarkably, Tavernier is able to give nearly as much background & detail on a dozen cohorts without stopping narrative for exposition.  Standouts include the sole female trouper, a very tough cookie; the annoyingly juvenile group leader; and special attention to partner Philippe Torreton in the first of many outstanding perfs for Tavernier.*  Using less of the charging style Tavernier often favored with cinematographer Alain Choquart, the steadier camera work helps us keep lines of action and that big characters list straight while laying out enough action and cases to fill two seasons of a series ‘bible.’   Too compressed to lose a sense of discovery, and too well acted to develop the tics, tricks & corny traits series actors incrementally add to characterizations.  (Note: *After two decades, here's a more detailed second MAKSQUIBS Write-Up.)

DOUBLE-BILL:  *Torreton gives nothing but Gold Standard work in all his Tavernier projects, never more so than in his award-winning WWI portrait in CAPTAINE CONAN/’96.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY:  Tavernier also lucked out making this in 1992, not long before out-dated analogue equipment began giving way to less cinematically congenial digital tools.  Not only no computers, no electric typewriters as they were considered dicey in light of wildcat strikes that could shut down power at any time.

DECISION TO LEAVE / HEOJIL KYOLSHIM (2022)

Still best known for the gross outs and technical command of OLDBOY/’04 twenty years ago (https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2011/03/oldboy-2004.html), and currently buzz-worthy from THE SYMPATHIZER/’24 (now streaming/not seen here), this recent feature shows Korean director Park Chan-wook in more traditional mode.  Built from film noir elements, but not particularly dark or claustrophobic, it’s more of a Lady or the Tiger story as Busan police detective Park Hae-il works thru his latest baffling murder.  Baffling less for the case (suicide or murder?), than for his reaction to his main suspect.  Married, with a wife he only sees on wknds, he finds himself attracted to the elderly victim’s much younger wife (Tang Wei).  Flirtation leads to an affair, but is he sleeping with a murderer or can he prove suicide?  Months later, the suspect has remarried, moved to the town he and his wife live in, and reconnects with him (the wife instantly suspicious) just before this second husband dies.  Was this one murder?  Was the first husband’s death murder?  She had killed before, assisting her elderly mother in her suicide.  She certainly doesn’t act the grieving widow.  More like a Black Widow.  Park has a fine time getting all his plates spinning at the same time, but doesn’t always follow who you want him to.  It makes a generous 2+ hour running time seems even longer.  (At its most problematic in the first act.)  Still, noir fanciers will enjoy imagining the film’s close connections to 1940s Hollywood noir.  Perhaps with Barbara Stanwyck taking on the possibly guilty married suspect and Fred MacMurray as the flatfoot.

DOUBLE-BILL:  *There’s more than one Stanwyck/MacMurray film to consider, but go for DOUBLE INDEMNITY/’44 with its great Billy Wilder/Raymond Chandler dialogue and, in a role sorely missed here, Edward G. Robinson personifying character conscience.

AD ASTRA (2019)

Writer/director James Gray, who tends to please critics more than crowds, takes a big left turn from his usual Earthbound family relationship dramas, leaping all the way to Neptune for Interplanetary family relationship drama.  Whether he need have bothered is debatable as this unexceptional father/son conflict boils down to a hackneyed struggle between Dad (paranoid, God-like, Old Testament Tommy Lee Jones) and only son Brad Pitt, a wounded New Testament rebel out to save the world.  Largely ditching the Bible for A WRINKLE IN TIME, Gray bumps the Madeleine L'Engle classic from YA to a grown-up Bizarro iteration*, with Jones off his nut on Station Neptune, flushing bolts of electricity and threatening the entire Solar System.  Conceptually pretty weak, but as physical production the film’s a wow!  Forgoing current CGI methods for old-school ‘practical’ special effects, the film is loaded with hushed beauty and a sense of daunting weight that so often goes missing in CGI.  (Sense of scale not quite as successful as some of the planet & space-ship models look like Revell® 1:8 scale kits.)  Yet a burial in ‘sea-space’ an instant classic, while a surprise attack from a primate stowaway (presumably an ‘escaped’ experiment) a desperation move to squeeze in an action sequence.  Somehow, Pitt pulls it all off without embarrassment.  The first Gray pic anyone might think of rewatching . . . but only for the F/X.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK:  *Alas, film attempts at A WRINKLE IN TIME have come up short.  Instead, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001/’68, the obvious visual lodestar here.  Note how its stubbornly slow pace and stillness, which ought to expose 1968 effects work, has the opposite effect of selling it.  Gray unwilling or without the confidence to run out the clock.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2014/08/2001-space-odyssey-1968.html

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  No doubt, the producers hoped for more Academy Award action than the Best Sound Mixing nomination seen on our poster.

THE DEAD ZONE (1983)

With Dino De Laurentiis exec-producing, Canadian director David Croenenberg was finally able to move up from schlocky (in a good way) mind-blowing shockers to classy, B+ budgeted horror via this Stephen King adaptation.*  Christopher Walken, forty but looking much younger, brings his peculiar, wary anxiety to a well-liked High School teacher who wakes from a five-year coma with inexplicable psychic abilities allowing him to visualize past & future events in subjective POV.  Reluctant to use his new power, he’s convinced to try and solve a still active serial murder case and finds his ‘gift’ a two-edged sword.  Running away from instant notoriety, Walken starts a new life as a beloved tutor in a new town, only to be confronted by his past when former fiancée Brooke Adams (now married with kid) comes thru town; and by his present and putative future thru Martin Sheen’s Kennedyesque Senate candidate (and future Fascist President?).  Like a lot of Stephen King, the second half has trouble answering what gets raised in the first half, so Croenenberg holds tight to a blueprint slavishly lifted out of THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE and hopes for the best.  (That tight budget working hard against the big set pieces which come off as tinny.)  But he does provide a real humdinger of a jolt in a final ‘future ‘visualization’ from Walken that audiences of the time must have shrieked at in outraged pleasure.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  *Note the all-star character actor list in parts large & small: Tom Skerritt, Anthony Zerbe, Colleen Dewhurst, Herbert Lom..

CONTEST:  Either King or Croenenberg was really paying close attention to THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE/’62 as a certain liquid beverage figures into both plots in unlikely ways.  Name the beverage and how it shows up in each film to win a MAKSQUIBS Write-Up of your choice.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK:  Naturally, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-manchurian-candidate-1962.html

THE GIRL SAID NO (1930)

William Haines’ brief run as a top M-G-M star peaked with five films in 1930.  Yet only two years on the studio dropped him; presumably for his unapologetic gay lifestyle.  And while he limped thru a couple of 1934 indies, Haines largely pivoted (very successfully) to antiques & interior decorating.*  (Joan Crawford & Nancy Reagan swore by him.)  A tough sell these days, he usually played the scapegrace kid, a scamp whose devil-may-care selfishness got everyone else in trouble.  Then, with about a reel & a half left in the pic (at college or on a first job; in the service on land or sea; at Pop’s failing family business), he’d have some sort of short, sharp, shock, see the error of his ways, ‘man up’ and save the day.  Forgiven, a twinkle in his eye would hint at fresh bad behavior ‘round the corner.  The End.  This one’s the same . . . and different.  (And with Sam Wood directing, not too sleepy for an M-G-M Early Talkie.)  Back from college after manhandling a new girl and her new car (his behavior more appalling than laugh inducing), Haines skips his folks’ anniversary dinner to hit the town with college pals.  Scripter Charles MacArthur making a cunning move by showing he’s really no worse than his pals.*  An entire generation of self-centered hedonists!  Then, MacArthur places the required life-altering crisis not at the end, but in the middle.  (Dad dies and the whole family leaves manse for tenement.)  Haines, still the supreme Jerk of No Trades, continues to force his affections on an engaged Leila Hyams (it’s 1930 so she encourages the mauling) only to luck out when he nails a seemingly impossible office assignment.  This not only leads to a happy ending, it also sets up a one-reel comic duet between Haines and the always astonishing Marie Dressler, fresh off her ANNA CHRISTIE/’30 comeback, as a rich old bat Haines needs to ‘land’ for the bank.  When Haines gets top billing, the story is always The Rake’s Progress.

DOUBLE-BILL: *The best iteration of the usual Haines character arc is in George W. Hill’s TELL IT TO THE MARINES/’26 with Eleanor Boardman coming between Haines and co-star Lon Chaney.  Alas, Haines’ best film, MEMORY LANE/’26 (John Stahl; Conrad Nagel, Boardman) only exists in a superb, but out of order print that (reel-by-reel) has its scenes grouped not by story continuity but by tinting color!

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: *So, what did happen with Haines?  Was his carefree character too irresponsible as the Depression took hold?  (The economic crisis had yet to fully hit Hollywood in 1930.)  Was it simply that what seemed like larky fun in a 20-something became unacceptably cruel in a 30-something slightly thickened by age?  Or did synch-sound & dialogue add unattractive realism to his constant ribbing, quips & caustic hijinks?  Suddenly the playful jabs really hurt.

CONTEST:  *MacArthur lifts his famous ending from THE FRONT PAGE (co-written with Ben Hecht) here.  It's the one signified by the line: ’The son of a bitch stole my watch.’   Explain its use here and name another MacArthur/Hecht film classic that reused the same idea.  (And no, it’s not Howard Hawks’ gender flip reworking of THE FRONT PAGE as HIS GIRL FRIDAY/’40.)

UNFROSTED (2024)

Catnip for Baby Boomers; younger viewers (and who isn’t?) may find themselves culturally at sea.  Still, this docu-farce on the race between Post and Kellogg’s to get a shelf-stable breakfast pastry into your local 1963 supermarket is relentless good fun.  Or is it just relentless?  Shot and performed like a living cartoon, Jerry Seinfeld co-writes, directs & stars as a top cereal exec leading the drive.  Wisely backing himself with an All-Star line-up of Stand-Up Comics in roles large & small, Seinfeld's consistently surprised line delivery remains for better or worse largely intact.  Odd that a comedian with some of the best comic timing since Jack Benny should rush fences and then have trouble shifting down a gear or two.  Elsewise, his directing debut comes off pretty well: hothouse lighting; goofy period technology & office decor horrors taken for granted; real actors as needed (Christian Slater, Hugh Grant, Jon Hamm all welcome).  Hope he gave his helpful editor (with at least eleven 'saves') a big bonus!  Though maybe no bonus for their researcher: Cabbage Patch Dolls; Missing persons on Milk Cartons?  In ‘63?  (Or is this a test?)  Laughs will undoubtedly vary by age (plenty had over here), yet it’s hard not to wonder if a pseudo-serious take might have paid bigger dividends.  Whenever Walter Cronkite shows up for a report, it’s like half the work is being done for you.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  Attention to that Pop Tart coming out of your toaster!  Don’t know if it’s still true, but when the original four flavors first came out, the Brown Sugar filling got so notoriously hot from the toaster, it burned the roofs off the mouths of an entire generation of kids.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK:  To see this kind of social satire done in a serious and seriously funny way: THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT/’51.  Or for ‘60s throwback period flavor & thoughtful content: PLEASANTVILLE/’98.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2021/09/the-man-in-white-suit-1951.html    https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2022/10/pleasantville-1998.html

GODZILLA MINUS ONE / GOJIRA -1.0 (2023)

Surely the best GODZILLA movie since GODZILLA, that is the first GODZILLA, or rather GOJIRA, the title of the original 1954 Japanese cut.  (Starting an 8th decade of constant activity, who could possibly have seen them all?)  The initial film, made not so long after the literal fallout from the bombs that ended the war, had a top-tier cast & compelling direction from Ishirô Honda, with atomic guilt on offense & defense, motivating the monster out of the depths.  This new film goes farther back, to near the end of the war as a Kamikaze Pilot gets cold feet, scraps his flight, then watches in horror from his inactive plane as the monster flattens the small island he 'parked' on.  Haunted by a different sort of guilt than what was seen in the original film, he survives to live a ‘borrowed’ (or is it bartered?) post-war life, grabbing a chance for peaceful redemption by starting a new, ad-hoc ‘found’ family out of war’s rubble, and later joining a civilian defense group when an even stronger Godzilla beast rises from the depths to finish his mission of total destruction.  Again, a fine cast and an inventive director* help this stand out, but it’s the writing, concept and changing ideas of a new Japan moving away from its fixation on honorable death to embrace honorable life, that ups the emotional involvement.  (A volunteer mine sweeper raises the issue directly, saying: ‘This country never changes . . . perhaps it can’t.’)  The special effects vary from superb to ‘whazzit’ (Godzilla, at best, always an oddly proportioned thing, especially when standing), but packing a wallop when he chows down on soldiers or picks up a battle ship and tosses it over his shoulder.  Yikes!  If there’s such a thing as a paradigm of a GODZILLA pic, this is it.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK:  As mentioned, the original GOJIRA/’54.  For more Ishirô Honda horror, with color & a decent budget, try THE H-MAN/’58.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-h-man-bijo-to-ekitai-ningen-1958.html

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  *Director Takashi Yamazaki not afraid to lighten the mood from a generally serious tone, often with a sly film reference he refrains from pushing in your face.  Like ending the first act with a ‘Smile you son of a . . . ’ homage to JAWS/’75.

THE ROUNDUP / BEOMJOIDOSI 2 (2022)

Deservedly popular Korean (comic) police actioner (two sequels already) with Ma Dong-seok (aka Don Lee) again playing detective Ma Seok-do, currently under a restraining order for excessive violence, but charging into his next case for a quick career-redeeming win.  Here he’s after some vicious ex-pat Korean criminals, now working scams in Vietnam where they prey on Korean tourists.  But even the worst of the worst can go too far and these guys now find themselves under attack by the gangster father of one of their kidnap victims.  For Detective Lee (and his superior who’s joined him on the hunt in Vietnam) it means he’s fending off opponents on three-fronts: Ultra-violent kidnapers; ultra-powerful mob guys; and the cops (Korean and Vietnamese) trying to reel him in.  Director Sang-yong ain’t going for subtlety, but sure gets his laughs, as much from character as from tonnage; with plenty of gross-out gore and martial arts choreography to pair with the film’s wonderful line-up of eccentric personalities.*  And Don Lee is the real deal in action comedy.  With fast moves and bulky frame, you really believe in this one-man wrecking crew, a combo platter of Jackies Chan and Gleason.  (Because of fairly realistic violence, this rates a 13 & Up Family Friendly Label.)

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  *Look out for the Gangster’s Wife #2.  A woman who knows what she wants and knows how to get it.  And note how much of the action (knife battles and vehicular mayhem), are done for real and not made ridiculous thru CGI overkill.

OORLOGSWINTER / WINTER IN WARTIME (2008)

Coming-of-age WWII story set in Nazi-occupied Holland ought to be a slam dunk for co-writer/director Martin Koolhoven, but unexpectedly hits the rim.  Hard to put a finger on just what goes wrong, but it plays like a melodrama with convenient story beats substituting for plot, trying for realism with a series of predetermined twists going wrong instead of right.  Debuting Martijn Lakemeier, is touchingly rebellious as the 15-yr-old son of a small town mayor, looking up to his resistance hero Dutch Uncle and down on a father he views as little better than a collaborator.  Assumptions that prove tragically misguided when they come directly into play after an RAF pilot bails and needs medical & reconnaissance help.  There’s a romantic complication between his nurse sister & the wounded flier, but that’s less of a problem than the boy’s short attention span.  Every time he takes his eye off the ball, some mini-disaster happens, usually to his bike.  (BTW, how many bikes does this boy have?  Even with wartime restrictions he seems to go thru about five.)  Much of the snowy atmosphere is nicely accomplished (pity about the occasional use of fake ‘foam’ snow), but then Koolhoven will build up a race to an execution that D.W. Griffith might find too much.  And why so much political naivety by the kid (and seemingly much of the town) about the deadly consequences of Nazi retribution when the film begins in January 1945, long after they must have figured things out and were waiting for the Allies certain advance.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  Jamie Campbell Bower, quite good as a remarkably fast healing RAF pilot, looks like the missing link between Malcolm McDowell and  Jonathan Rhys Meyers in their salad days.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: Andrei Tarkovsky started his career with one of the great WWII coming-of-age films, IVAN’S CHILDHOOD/’62.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2016/09/ivanovo-detstvo-ivans-childhood-1962.html