The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Sitting on a park bench, a man tells a horrible story that happened to him and his fiancee. The man, named Francis, goes to a carnival with his friend Alan, and the lady Jane who the two men share affection for. A strange man named Dr. Caligari claims to briefly awaken the mysterious Cesare from a coma, where he foretells the future. Alan, making a game of it, asks "How long shall I live?" Cesare replies "The time is short. You die at dawn!"

Guess what. He does! That'll teach him to not take creepy carnival acts seriously.

Widely regarded as the first feature length horror film, it was groundbreaking in it's style and influence. The crate paper sets were remarkably stylistic. Dramatic shadows were painted directly onto the sets.

Here's some interesting stuff: Cesare (Conrad Veidt) went on to play Major Strasser in Casablanca. He would do one more movie before dying at age 50. He fled Nazi Germany and made a minor career for himself playing Nazis. He was set to play Dracula, but lost the role to Bela Lugosi.

The "cabinet" the title refers to is the box Cesare is kept in. The twist ending was apparently added by the producers who wanted a less "macabre" story. Cesare is described as a somnambulist, which means sleepwalker. Not sure if that description fits.

The film is available on the public domain, but I would suggest finding the KINO restoration. By no means flawless, it is significantly better in video quality, which is important for a silent film. One note, however. In the special features, you have the option of choosing the score. The default, modern score is awful. I didn't try the traditional score, but it has to be better.

Creepy, if not actually scary, all horror films owe a debt to Dr. Caligari. AMRU 3.5.

Movies of 2009

I went to a theater exactly three times in 2009, all in the first half. When my boys were younger, I used to joke saying I only saw movies about a young wizard. Soon, even that ended. Here is what I got to see:

Race to Witch Mountain. I vaguely remember watching the originals back in the day. A theater in East Providence has bargain matinees and we took advantage of it. This movie cost us five bucks. In total.

In the original, the two magical kids captivated audiences and the actors went on to illustrious careers like playing townsfolk in this turd of a movie. Thing to note: if you are trying to get away from an assassin in a super high-tech flying saucer, all you need apparently is a beat up taxi cab. 

Star Trek. In this installment of the never-ending mission to extract money from geeks, Kirk and friends exist in a parallel time line. See, now we don't have to follow any of the rules of the old series and movies. If they want to kill off Chekov, then KA-POW! In this parallel time line, Uhura is HOT! Go figure. 

Night at the Museum - Battle of the Smithsonian. We liked the original. It had great action and was funny. This was almost as exciting. And almost as funny. In the end, we liked it almost as much. In the film Amelia Earhart likes men and is hot in tight pants. Amy Adams' ass is almost worth the price of admission right there.

That's it. Three visits to a movie theater in one year. I did hit the Providence Public Library, but that doesn't count.

I did watch a few 2009 releases on video. I just know you are dying to find out what I think of them: 

Julie & Julia. Hey, Amy Adams again! Sadly, without her coveted butt. A cooking movie for my wife. We both liked it and she ended up getting the DVD for Christmas. 

Star Trek. Uhura is HOT! Another gift for the wife. 

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. First movie where I didn't read the book first. I declared myself through with the series. A whole lot of snogging going on. Wife wanted this, but didn't get it. 

Inglourious Basterds. Not for the wife. She hates Tarantino, even though we both loved Pulp Fiction. Two-thirds of the movie is subtitled and rather than put them on the black part at the bottom of the screen, they are in the picture. In some cases they were up for an instant even though there were two lines to read. Comeon, Quint! Give me a break!

Fast paced, gratuitously violent, unexpectedly quirky, everything you come to expect from the man. 

Angels and Demons. I liked this book better then Da Vinci Code, but there were a couple plot points that were really stupid. Luckily, Opie Cunningham agreed and they weren't in this film. Never saw The Da Vinci Code movie. This was fair. Seems that Tom Hanks isn't searching for an Oscar vehicle anymore.

Saw some other movies on DVD, but the only one worth mentioning is 2007's The Man From Earth. Consider looking into it.

Film Blog Year in Review

I've been doing this for ten months and have blogged 59 movies. (Dirty secret: some of the early movies were watched months prior!) One entry covered two and one movie spread two entries. My original premise was to do movies of "some distinction" that I hadn't seen before, made before I was born. So, how did I do?

Not too good. March through May went well, 17 of 18 movies that meet my criteria. I had seen Kong before. June and July (busy months for me) I did four movies, only one which fit. I don't know WHAT I was thinking doing The Bad News Bears. Maybe I felt I needed to add content. August had good films, but only one fit the criteria, though Dr. Renault's Secret was very enjoyable. September and October were mixed bags, doing crap films from my Horror collection and rehashing movies I already knew I liked. December started poor but ended well. Overall, I count 37 that fit my intention.

The biggest surprises for me are:
Seven Samurai. I cannot explain why this 3 1/2 hour, black and white, subtitled, actionless action film kept me so entranced. It was simply wonderful.

The Thin Man. The humor holds up very well, the story is complex, and the dialog is as sharp as it gets. I already have the next one on my entertainment center.

It Happened One Night. Never heard of it before, despite it being an Academy Award winner. It was wonderful and loved it when I watched it a second time the following day. I had seen some of the scenes, though. Either from Warner Brother's cartoons or from when I watched That's Hollywood back in the day.

M. Not sure if I will watch it again, but was surprisingly impressive.

Would I change any movie ratings? The A in AMRU is significant. Few things in life are as arbitrary as my rating system. But looking back, I was a little too kind to some movies. I gave many a 2.5 because I didn't want to be too dismissive. Don't know why. Case in point, The Reluctant Astronaut. All that movie had going for it in 1967 was the public's fascination with the space race and Don Knotts improbable popularity. Today, it brings nothing to the table. I have fond memories to the pre-Ralph Furley Don Knotts, but this film is a testament to rose collared glasses.

What have I learned? I've come to notice how things like score and editing can really effect a movie's appeal. I've come to notice good acting a little better. I've come to realize the benefit of Netflix, which I may subscribe to in the near future.

What will I do in the future? I intend on keeping to my criteria a lot more. I'll slide on the year a bit or grab lesser known films, but I hope to keep the total trash (I'm looking at you, Killers from Space!) to a minimum.

At this moment, I'd like to acknowledge my first ever follower. Hi Carl! That was pointless, as nobody else reads this tripe, not even my family. And even Carl may fly the coop when he sees me concentrating on films outside of his interest range. I appreciate your interest.

Whelp, it's been fun and educational. I hope to continue this blog for at least another year. Maybe I'll take a film class. Naw, that'll never happen.

Dr. No (1962)

My thirteen year old son has become familiar with James Bond through unlikely sources. The TV show Mythbusters frequently tests stunts from the movies. Also, there was a program called "The Cars of the Bond Movies". For reasons that escape me, he has become a Bond fan. I brought the first of the series home from the Library.

He knew that Sean Connery played Bond in many of the films. I asked him if he knew who he was. He said he had heard of him. Do you know who else he played? Not sure. He seems familiar. Listen to his voice. See if you can't place him.

I saw Dr. No a long time ago, or at least portions of it. I only remember bits and pieces. I do remember the book, however, which I read in my mid to late 20's. A secret agent disappears along with his files of a mysterious Dr. No. The good doctor operates a bauxite mine on an island off the coast of Jamaca. (note: in the book it wasn't bauxite he was mining. It was bat shit. Seriously.) The dashing Bond is sent in to investigate.

No discourages visitors via terror and intimidation. The locals fear a dragon. People who sail ashore disappear. Bond must simply take a look. There he meets up with Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress). Got to love those Ian Fleming names. The missing agent is named Strangeways, and let's not forget Moneypenny.

Bond is a man-whore. An awesome man-whore, and that's why we love him. He's from a fantasy world that never existed, and doesn't exist in fantasy much anymore. He killed three bad guys and bagged three babes. The film pleases and was discrete enough to allow my 8 year old to watch. We all enjoyed it. I can't see going out of my way to watch it again, but From Russia with Love is already queued up.

After the movie I showed my son who Connery also played, specifically Indiana Jones' father. He'd also like The Hunt for Red October, but I'll suggest he read the book first. AMRU 3.

Metropolis (1927)

Back when I got my collection of horror movies, there were a couple films on it that I was very much looking forward to watching. First was Nosferatu, which I found disappointing. Secondly was Metropolis, which amazed me. The video quality on that public domain was very poor and it made me long to see a restored copy. Finally I have.

Those looking for a restored copy of Metropolis will find many. The most authoritative version is the Kino edition, which includes the most footage and uses the original score (and no, it wasn't done by Queen). Why so many versions? The original film was long. Too long, studio execs felt, for American audiences. They also had little regard for it. The film was edited, reorganized, and rescripted. Many times by many different people. Trying to piece together the original masterpiece was quite an undertaking.

The Kino edition is a little over two hours. I had the boys watch. Someday they will forgive me.

Here's the basic story: rich guy runs the plant, the Metropolis. They workers are drones who live a brutal existence in the depths. Freder, the owner's son, is a playboy who spends his time ... well, playing. The mysterious Maria brings the children of the workers into realm of the privileged to see their "brothers and sisters". Freder is captivated. He goes down below and takes the place of a worker for a ten hour shift. He learns that Maria holds illegal meetings deep in the catacombs. She is looking for a mediator between the hands and the head. Perhaps this could be Freder? Good 'oll dad will have something to say about this.

What I saw in the public domain version was a visual work of art, obscured by scratches. The story didn't make a damn bit of sense. The title cards were sometimes clipped, unclear, and some seemed to be missing. But the special effects, given the time and technology, were wonderful. A machine the men operate has a breakdown and people are killed. In Freder's eyes, the machine transforms into a giant pagan god, consuming the people. A featurette on the disk describes what Fritz Lang had to go through to make that happen. It's worth watching.

One thing I found out was that approximately a quarter of the movie is lost. They inserted title cards to describe the missing scenes as best as they can piece them together. So, the full film was, what, close to three hours long? Seriously?

Oh, the religious imagery. The virginal Maria is waiting for a mediator, which seemed like something of a messianic character. Maria speaks of the story of Babel from the old testament, there is a reference to a character named Hel (from Norse mythology, not the double-hockey sticks place), and a character named Josaphat. Oh, and the pagan god monster mentioned earlier and pentagrams everywhere, especially in evil inventor Rotwang's house. Rotwang creates an evil robot version of Maria, maybe a reference to the whore Magdalene? (I know Mary Magdalene wasn't really a whore!)

Silent films are tedious. Two hour long silent films with missing scenes are doubly so. I put the family to sleep. There were moments where I myself found my eyes closed. The amazing art work and imagery could take it only so far. That's when I learned that an almost complete version of Metropolis was discovered in a film library in Argentina. A restoration is expected to be ready in 2010. Could I sit through another, even longer viewing? That is something I will have to consider.

In the meantime, AMRU 3.5.

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

It is true. I've lived 43 years and never saw It's a Wonderful Life in it's entirety. Until, that is, last night.

I had caught parts of it in my youth. I knew the premise. I saw the Saturday Night Live skit about the "missing ending". My sister was a huge fan. Somehow I managed to miss it.

Now, everybody know that George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) gives up his life's dreams to keep his father's savings and loan in operation. The evil Harry Potter keeps trying to own or crush the S&L because it's the only thing in town he doesn't control. After things go wrong, a guardian angel is dispatched to show George what the world would be like if he was never born. Conclusion: not good. It's a Capra film so you know everything will turn out all right.

Lionel Barymore is cast against type as Potter and Donna Reed is Bailey's hot wife, her first starring role. George has a douche-bag buddy from high school (Heee-Haw!) named Wainwright who returns rich and with a hot young wife played by Marian Carr, who later went on to play Lon Jr's would-be girlfriend in Indestructible Man. That's what we call a downward slide.

A well made, satisfying movie. What did I find surprising? It's long, over two hours. It was nominated for five Oscars and won nothing. Initially, it was a financial flop. My boys weren't terribly interested but my wife, who missed a good bit of it, wants to see it again. Next year, maybe. AMRU 3.5.

Indestructible Man (1956)

Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane. No, it's Indestructible Man!

Enough quality entertainment, time to revert to garbage! Indestructible is something of a retelling of Frankenstein as a 50's detective story. Lon Chaney Jr. is Butcher Benton, one bad dude. He gets the electric chair for his crimes but his cohorts, who turned states evidence against him, get off scot free. Here's the twist: only Benton knows where the 60 Gs are located. Butch takes that information to the grave. Well, almost.

Insert mad scientist. Well, not actually mad. He wants to do cancer research and needs the body of the recently dead, so he steals one. Butch will do. Funny thing, though. His experiments did two things. It brought butch back from the dead, and it transformed him into Indestructible Man!

Butch can no longer talk because the experiments burned out his vocal cords. That's just fine. Monsters can't talk anyhow. His anger and hatred is expressed by poorly edited closeups of his ugly face. So Butch goes about his business of finding and killing his lawyer and accomplices, plus anybody handy. Into the mix are Butch's girlfriend who works at a burlesque house, and detective Dick, hot on his trail.

More like hot on her tail. Detective Dick is clueless to what is going on and how to proceed. But he does know this hot blond should be ready to move on any moment, now.

Indestructible Man looks like a made for TV movie. TV level acting, script, and overall production. A scene would start and the actors appeared to be waiting for the cameras. Nothing too bad but nothing to distinguish it.

This was a Lon Chaney Jr. vehicle. For those who don't know, that's Creighton Chaney, the bastard son of one of the greatest silent film stars. After Lon's death (age 47, lung cancer - cigarettes are harmless, boys and girls!) he changed his name to Lon Jr to boost his career. They looked nothing alike. Jr was five inches taller than dead 'oll dad. Eventually Creighton dropped the Jr altogether hoping people would confuse him with pop.

Come the middle 1950's, Junior's career was winding down. The big man liked the bottle. He would do a lot of television and low budget crap. This is my first Lon Jr. movie, so I will hold off disparaging his career until I've seen more of it. Can't wait.

This movie had no major flaws. It simply was uninspired and unoriginal. It was narrated by Detective Dick doing a Jack Webb impersonation. I'm glad I saw a Lon Jr. movie. I'm not glad it was this one. AMRU 2.5. Watch it here.