skimpole

Skimpole's programming notes Schedule for March 20, 2016-March 26, 2016 Star of the Month: Director Eric Rohmer Friday Night Spotlight: The Unoscars (best picture nominee) TCM Silent Sunday: Underworld (1928) TCM Imports Double Feature: Underground (1995) Kameradschaft (1931) The Essentials: King Kong (1933) Underground Feature: Crash (1996) 1920s: 3 1930s: 16 1940s: 6 1950s: 15 1960s: 17 1970s: 11 1980s: 9 1990s: 4 2000s: 4 2010s: 1 Premieres: Yellow Submarine (1968) Help! (1965) The Great Muppet Caper (1981) King Lear (1971) Kings and Queen (2004) My Winnipeg (2007) Death in Venice (1971) The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) Army of Shadows (1969) Richard III (1995) The White Balloon (1995) Peter Ibbetson (1933) AI: Artificial Intelligence (2001) Her (2013) The Man with Two Brains (1983) Exempt Premieres: Underworld (1927) (Silent) Underground (1995) (TCM Imports) Perceval le Gallois (1978) (Star of the Month) The Romance of Astrea and Celadon (2007) (Star of the Month) Pink Floyd: the Wall (1982) (Home) Say Anything (1989) (Home) Culloden (1965) (TV) The Rise to Power of Louis XIV (1966) (TV) Edvard Munch (1974) (TV) A Very British Coup (1988) (TV) The World of Apu (1959) (The Unoscars) Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) (The Unoscars) Crash (1996) (Underground) I believe the schedule is relatively straightforward. March 20th is the anniversary of the founding of the Republican party, so we have four movies dealing with its history and four Republicans in particular: Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Richard Nixon. We then have three movies for birthday boy Michael Redgrave, and then we conclude Sunday with five movies dealing with a subterranean film (the last films deals with trapped coal miners). March 21st marks the ascension of Henry V, so we have two movies dealing with him. And since Henry V was the most famously martial of English/British kings, we have five more movies dealing with British battles (or British wars). This includes the first of my four TV selections, Culloden, originally made for the BBC. March 21 also marks the birthday of Eric Rohmer, who is our star of the month, or more accurately our director of the month. Tuesday the 22nd marks the birthday of Joseph Schildkraut, so we have three of his movies. The 22nd also marks the release of the Beatles' first album, so we have their first two movies. And since Help! is such an unusual movie, I thought I'd conclude the afternoon with three more unusual caper movies. Tuesday evening marks my Home theme, in this case children suffering from the effects of their unpleasant parents. (The fifth movie deals with a child constantly frustrated by adults.) March 23rd is the birthday of Akira Kurosawa, "the Emperor" and so we have a number of movies dealing with kings and queens, of varying historical accuracy, with the second of my TV selections, The Rise to Power of Louis XIV, while Kurosawa appears with a movie about regicide. Thursday starts with five biopics of artists, including my third TV selection, Edvard Munch, made originally for Norweigan and Swedish television. Our theme for the rest of Thursday is movies not about capitals, or main metropolises, but second cities, with examples from France, Canada, Italy, Japan and Britain. The 25th starts with three movies honoring birthday girl Simone Signoret. Then there are four movies about coups (the 25th marks the anniversary of one of Pakistan's many coups, the 1971 one that started the East Pakistan massacres that eventually and inadvertently led to the creation of Bangladesh). This includes the last of my four TV selections, the British mini-series A Very British Coup. The Friday night spotlight is on Unoscars, in particular alternate best picture nominees. (This could be switched with the Home theme, if you think that would be a better theme). The 26th deals with three movies about children and balloons, and then concludes with some of the more unusual love stories in the history of movies.

March 20-March 26 2016 Sunday, March 20, 2016 Happy birthday Republican Party! 06:00 AM The Magnificent Yankee (1950) MGM BW-80 min Louis Calhern, Ann Harding, Eduard Franz, D: John Sturges P/S 07:30 AM Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) Fox BW-100 min, Henry Fonda, Alice Brady, D: John Ford 09:15 AM The Wind and the Lion (1975) MGM C-119 min Sean Connery, Candice Bergem. Brian Keith D: John Milius P/S 11:15 AM All the President's Men (1976) Warner Bros C-138 min Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Robards D: Alan Pakula P/S Happy birthday Michael Redgrave! 01:45 PM The Secret Beyond the Door (1948) Universal BW-99 min Michael Redgrave, Joan Bennett, D: Fritz Lang P/S 03:30 PM The Dam Busters (1955) ABPC BW-105 min Michael Redgrave, Richard Todd D: Michael Anderson P/S 05:15 PM Mourning Becomes Electra (1947) RKO BW-159 min Michael Redgrave, Rosalind Russell, Raymond Massey D: Dudley Nichols Five films on a subterranean theme 08:00 PM Yellow Submarine (1968) United Artists C-85 min The Beatles D: George Dunning Premiere #1 09:30 PM 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) Walt Disney Productions C-127 min James Mason, Kirk Douglas, Paul Lukas, Peter Lorre D: Richard Fleischer P/S 11:45 PM (Silent) Underworld (1927) Paramount BW-80 min George Bancroft, Evelyn Brent, Clive Brook D: Josef von Sternberg EXEMPT 01:15 AM (TCM Imports)Underground (1995) Barrandov Studios C-167 min Miki Manojlovic, Lazar Ristovski, Mirjana Jokovic, D; Emir Kustirica EXEMPT 04:15 AM (TCM Imports) Kameradschaft (1931) Nero-Film AG BW-93 min Alexander Granach, Fritz Kampers, D: G.W. Pabst P/S Monday, March 21, 2016 British battles 06:00 AM Henry V (1944) Eagle-Lion Distributors Ltd C-136 min Laurence Olivier, Renee Asherson, Robert Newton D: Laurence Olivier P/S 08:30 AM Chimes at Midnight (1965) Internacional Films Esroliano BW-119 min Orson Welles, Keith Baxter, John Gielgud, D: Orson Welles P/S 10:30 AM The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) Warner Bros BW-116 min Errrol Flynn, Olivia de Havailand D: Michael Curtiz P/S 12:30 PM Culloden (1964) BBC BW-69 min Tony Cosgrove, Olivier Espitalier-Noel D: Peter Watkins TV-EXEMPT 01:45 PM Khartoum (1966) United Artists C-134 min Charlton Heston, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson D: Basil Dearden P/S 04:00 PM Gallipoli (1981) Paramount C-111 min Mel Gibson, Mark Lee D: Peter Weir P/S 06:00 PM Lloyd's of London (1936) 20th Century Fox BW-115 min Tyrone Power, Madeline Carroll D: Henry King P/S Star of the Month Eric Rohmer 08:00 PM La Collectionneuse (1967) Rome Paris Films C-83 min Patrick Bachau, Haydee Politoff D: Eric Rohmer P/S 09:30 PM Claire's Knee (1970) Les Films du Losange C-105 min Jean-Claude Brialy, Aurora Cornu. Beatrice Raymond D: Eric Rohmer P/S 11:30 PM My Night at Maud's (1969) FFD BW-110 min Jean-Louis Trintignant, Francoise Fabian D: Eric Rohmer P/S 01:30 AM Perceval le Gallois (1978) Les Film du Losange C-140 min Fabrice Luchini, Andre Dussollier D: Eric Rohmer SOTM-EXEMPT 04:00 AM The Romance of Astrea and Celadon (2007) Rezo Productions C-109 min Andy Gillet, Stephanie Crayencour D: Eric Rohmer SOTM-EXEMPT Tuesday, March 22, 2016 Happy Birthday Joseph Schildkraut! 06:00 AM The Life of Emile Zola (1937) Warner Bros BW-116 min Paul Muni, Gloria Holden, Joseph Schildkraut D: William Dieterle P/S 08:00 AM Orphans of the Storm (1921) United Artists BW-150 min Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish, Joseph Schildkraut D: D.W. Griffith P/S 10:30 AM The Shop Around the Corner (1940) MGM BW-97 min James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan, Joseph Schildkraut D; Ernest Lubitsch P/S The Beatles and some stranger heist films 12:15 PM A Hard Day's Night (1964) United Artists BW-87 min John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Wilfrid Brambell D: Richard Lester P/S 01:45 PM Help! (1965) United Artists, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Leo McKern, Eleanor Bron D: Richard Lester Premiere#2 03:30 PM What's up Tiger Lily (1966) American International Pictures BW-80 min Woody Allen, Tatsuya Mihashi, Akiko Wakabayashi D: Woody Allen P/S 05:00 PM The Great Muppet Caper (1981) Universal C-93 min Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Charles Grodin, Diana Rigg D: Jim Henson Premiere#3 06:45 PM Pickpocket (1959) Companie Cinematographie de France BW-75 min Martin LaSalle, Erika Green D: Robert Bresson P/S Home theme: "They ---- you up, your mom and dad." 08:00 PM Pink Floyd--The Wall (1982) MGM/UA C-95 min Bob Geldof, Christine Hargreaves D: Alan Parker HOME-EXEMPT 09:45 PM East of Eden (1955) Warner Bros C-111 min James Dean, Raymond Massey, Julie Harris D: Elia Kazan P/S 11:45 PM Say Anything...(1989) 20th Century Fox C-100 min John Cusack, **** Skye, John Mahoney D: Cameron Crowe HOME-EXEMPT 01:30 AM Long Day's Journey into Night (1962) Embassy Pictures BW-174 min Katharine Hepburn, Ralph Richardson, Jason Robards, Dean Stockwell D: Sidney Lumet P/S 04:30 AM Where is the Friend's Home (1987) Kanoon C-83 min Babek Ahmed Poor D: Abbas Kiarostami P/S Wednesday, March 23, 2015 In honor of the Emperor-films about the monarchy 06:00 AM Mary of Scotland (1936) RKO BW-123 min Katharine Hepburn, Fredric March, Florence Eldridge D: John Ford P/S 08:15 AM The King and I (1956) 20th Century Fox C-133 min Yul Brynner, Deborah Kerr, Rita Moreno D: Walter Land P/S 10:30 AM Cleopatra (1934) Paramount BW-100 min Claudette Colbert, Warren William D: Cecil B. De Mille P/S 12:15 PM The rise to Power of Louis XIV (1966) Office de Radiodiffusion Television Francaise C-100 min Jean Marie Patte, Raymond Jourdan D: Roberto Rossellini TV-EXEMPT 02:00 PM The Scarlet Empress (1934) Paramount BW-110 min Marlene Dietrich, John Lodge, Sam Jaffe D: Josef von Sternberg P/S 04:00 PM Queen Christina (1933) BW-97 min Greta Garbo, John Gilbert D: Rouben Mamoulian P/S 05:45 PM The Man who Would be King (1975) Columbia C-129 min Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer D: John Huston P/S 08:00 PM Throne of Blood (1957) Toho BW-108 min Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada D: Akira Kurosawa P/S 10:00 PM The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Exeter (1939) Warner Bros C-106 min Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Olivia De Havilland D: Michael Curtiz P/S 12:00 AM King Lear (1971) Athena Films BW-137 min Paul Scofield, Irene Worth D: Peter Brook Premiere#4 02:30 AM Kings and Queen (2004) France 2 Cinema C-150 min Mathieu Amalric, Emanuelle Devos, Catherine Deneuve D: Arnaud Desplechin Premiere #5 Thursday, March 24, 2016 Five biopics about artists 05:00 AM Rembrandt (1936) London film Productions BW-85 min Charles Laughton, Gerturde Lawrence, Elsa Lanchester D: Alexander Korda P/S 06:30 AM Moulin Rouge (1952) United Artists C-119 min Jose Ferrer, Zsa Zsa Gabor D: John Huston P/S 08:30 AM Lust for Life (1956) MGM C-122 min Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn D: Vincente Minnelli P/S 10:45 AM Edvard Munch (1974) NRK/Sveriges Radio C-210 min Geir Westby, Gro Fras, Johan Halsborg D: Peter Watkins TV-EXEMPT 02:15 PM The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) 20th Century Fox C-138 min Charlton Heston, Rex Harrison D: Carol Reed P/S SCTCM 04:45 PM The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) Madeleine Films C-91 min Catherine Deneuve, Nino Castelnuovo D: Jacques Demy P/S 06:30 PM My Winnipeg (2007) Buffalo Gal Pictures C/BW-80 min Darcy Fehr, Ann Savage D: Guy Maddin Premiere#6 08:00 PM Death in Venice (1971) Alfa Cinematagraphica/Warner C-130 min Dirk Bogarde, Maria Berenson D: Luchino Visconti Premiere#7 10:15 PM Osaka Elegy (1936) Shochiku BW-71 min Isuzu Yamada, Seiichi Takegawa D: Kenji Mizoguchi P/S 11:30 PM The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) Madeleine Films C-120 min Catherine Deneuve, Francois Dorleac, Gene Kelly D: Jacques Demy Premiere#8 01:45 AM Brighton Rock (1947) Charter Film Productions BW-92 min Richard Attenborough, Hermione Baddeley D: John Boulting P/S 03:30 AM The Four Day of Naples (1962) USA/Titanus BW-124 min REgina Bianchi, Aldo Giuffre D: Nanni Loy P/S Friday, March 25, 2016 Happy Birthday Simone Signoret! 05:45 AM Diabolique (1955) Cinedis BW-114 min Simone Signoret, Vera Clouzot, Paul Meurisse, D: Henri-Georges Clouzot P/S 07:45 AM Room at the Top (1959) Romulus Film BW-115 min Simone Signoret, Laurence Harvey D: Jack Clayton P/S 09:45 AM Army of Shadows (1969) Les Films Corona C-140 min Lino Ventura, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret, D: Jean-Pierre Melville Premiere#9 Spotlight on Coups 12:15 PM The Black Book (1949) Eagle-Lion films BW-89 min Robert Cummings, Richard Basehart D: Anthony Mann P/S 01:45 PM Julius Caesar (1953) MGM BW-120 min Marlon Brando, James Mason, Louis Calhern D:Joseph L. Mankiewicz P/S 03:45 PM Richard III (1995) United Artists C-104 min Ian McKellan, Annette Benning, Kristin Scott-Thomas D: Richard Loncraine Premiere #10 05:30 PM A Very British Coup (1988) Skreba Films/Channel 4 C-148 min Ray McNally, Marjorie Yates, Alan McNaughton D: Mick Jackson TV-EXEMPT Friday night spotlight: the Unoscars (tonight: alternative best picture nominees) 08:00 PM Vampyr (1932) Tobis Filmkunst BW-73 min Julian West, Henriette Gerard D; Carl Theodor Dreyer P/S 09:30 PM The World of Apu (1959) Satyajit Ray Productions BW-107 min Soumitra Chatterjee, Sharmila Tagore D: Satyajit Ray OSCAR-EXEMPT 11:30 PM Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) Werner Herzog Filmproduktion C-94 min Klaus Kinski, Helena Rojo, Ruy Guerra D; Werner Herzog D: Werner Herzog OSCAR-EXEMPT 01:15 AM Me and My Gal (1932) Fox Film Corporation BW-79 min Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, D: Raoul Walsh P/S 02:45 AM Orpheus (1950) Discina BW-95 min Jean Marais, Maria Casares, Marie Dea D; Jean Cocteau P/S 04:30 AM Steamboat Bill, Jr (1928) United Artists BW-87 min Buster Keaton, Marion Byron D: Buster Keaton, Charles Reisner P/S Saturday, March 26, 2015 Children and Balloons 06:00 AM Castle in the Sky (1986) Studio Ghibli C-126 min Keiko Yokozawa, Mayumi Tanaka, Kotoe Hatsui D: Hayao Miyazaki P/S 08:15 AM The Red Balloon (1956) Films Montsouris C-34 min Pascal Lamorisse D: Albert Lamorisse P/S 09:00 AM The White Balloon (1995) Ferdos Films C-85 min Aida Mohammadkhani, Mohsen Kafili D: Jafar Panahi Premiere#11 Spotlight on strange love stories A girl and the boy literally in her dreams 10:30 AM Peter Ibbetson (1935) Paramount BW-88 min, Gary Cooper, Ann Harding, D: Henry Hathaway Premiere#12 A boy and the girl whose spirit is stuck in his body 12:00 PM All of Me (1984) Universal C-93 min Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin, Victoria Tennant D: Carl Reiner P/S A boy and his paramour old enough to be his grandmother 01:45 PM Harold and Maude (1971) Paramount C-91 min Bud Cort, Ruth Gordon D; Hal Ashby P/S A girl and her husband who is thinking of killing her 03:30 PM A New Leaf (1971) Paramount C-102 min Walter Matthau, Elaine May, Jack Weston D: Elaine May P/S A boy and his underage stepdaughter 05:15 PM Lolita (1962) MGM BW-152 min James Mason, Peter Sellers, Shelly Winters D: Stanley Kubrick P/S A girl and her giant ape 08:00 PM (Essentials) King Kong (1933) RKO BW-100 min Fay Wray, Bruce Cabot D: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack P/S A boy robot and his mother he is programmed to love 09:45 PM A.I: Artificial Intelligence (2001) Warner Bros C-146 min Joel Haley Osment, Jude Law, Frances O'Connor D: Steven Spielberg Premiere#13 A boy and his cell phone 12:15 AM Her (2013) Warner Bros C-126 min Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams D: Spike Jonze Premiere #14 A boy and a girl and their erotic car crashes 02:30 AM (Underground) Crash (1996) Telefilm Canada C-100 min James Spader, Deborah Kara Unger, Holly Hunter D: David Cronenberg EXEMPT A boy and her brain in a jar 04:15 AM The Man with two Brains (1983) Warner Bros C-93 min Steve Martin, Kathleen Turner, Sissy Spacek D: Carl Reiner Premiere#15

Now I have seven days. Now all I have to do is format it and write up the notes.

Also would like to see this, but as I'm Canadian I still can't.

Well now it's six days

Well I'd love to, but I live in Canada so I can't.

Well now I have four days

Well I've got one day down

I recently read that Lana Turner was considered for the Minnelli Madame Bovary but was ultimately refused for being too sexual. Which of course is what you would want in the character. I'd have to think about whether Turner would be the Emma Bovary. I've thought that Patrick McGoohan would make a good Homais. However, Ralph Bellamy was born to play Charles Bovary.

The Ascent is a great film. It was not, however, a premiere.

I saw four movies this week. Crime Wave and The Blue Dahlia were competent noirs, and Sterling Hayden and Alan Ladd were worth watching in both. I suppose I want something more in a noir, such as wittier dialogue, a cleverer mystery, or more ambiguous characters. A Better Tomorrow is another of John Woo's Hong Kong Films. I must confess that The Killer and Bullet in the Head ultimately did not leave much of an impression on me, and I suspect notwithstanding several extremely violent scenes this won't either. (The score is definitely a weakness.) So the best movie of the week was clearly Jean Rouch's 1959 documentary about eve of independence Ivory Coast, Moi, un Noir.

I was thinking of Dangerous Liaisons earlier today, and I was wondering who would be the ideal people to play Merteuil (Glenn Close in the 1988 version) and Valmont (John Malkovich). Although I have good memories of both characters, in the movie and the book Merteuil has to be stronger and more ruthless than Valmont and that is not the first response one has comparing Malkovich to Close. I wonder how one might recast it. One might think that George Sanders would play a perfect Valmont, but where would one find the vulnerability? Perhaps James Mason would be a better choice. And as for Merteuil, one thinks of Jodie Foster, or Bette Davis or Katherine Hepburn or maybe Joan Crawford. With that I mind if one could recast any movie, with actors not having to be alive at the same time, how would you do it?

For Jeannette MacDonald, I would start with Love Me Tonight, move on to the Lubitsch movies. Then I would stop.

The four movies I saw this week were interesting. I suppose Pearls of the Dawn was the most successful, though it was only the last sequence that I was able to devote my full attention to, the one about a Czech boy who falls in love with a gypsy girl. A Report on the Party and its Guests was also interesting, if not as brilliant as Daisies. Home from the Hill shows many of the strengths of Minnelli as a director. Robert Mitchum gives an excellent, commanding performance, the first half of the movie is beautifully shot and intelligently paced. But the movie as a whole is weakened by its gender ideology. Eleanor Parker plays the role of the wife who is insufficiently appreciative of her husband, and as such everything can be indirectly be blamed on her. Her performance isn't nearly so interesting, but then it's not supposed to be. And the manipulations so that George Hamilton can impregnate his girlfriend, but never have her could be best be described as "contrived." Jealousy is a French movie, about a man who leaves the mother of his daughter for another woman who eventually leaves him. It's not a bad movie by any means, strikingly shot in black and white. But I must confess I feel little sympathy for this sort of person, and one needs more reason to be interested in him.

That is unfortunate, but replacing it with Seven Samurai is considerably better than many other schedule changes.

I saw five movies over the last two weeks. Wild Tales is an Argentinian movie that is basically a Tarantinesque anthology of people losing control. It's not a bad way to waste an evening, though it's not particularly deep and two of the endings are all too easily predicted. Watching the original Gaslight I would say that Walbrook beats Boyer, while Bergman and Lansbury beat Wynyard and Cordell. Since Walbrook's character is the most important, I suppose this gives the movie a slight edge. Lucy is the kind of summer blockbuster that surprises by actually being competent and effective as well as reasonably short. Interstellar, by contrast is lucky to get enough respect from me that it does. Nolan is still no good at emotional connections and presenting alternative societies, which means that the big emotional moments are less sincere than in other Hollywood corn. And the plot holes are larger than the worm hole that powers the plot (such as, if Damon's character knows the world is doomed, why he is so desperate to get back there? How does Chastain's character save the world once she gets the information of Morse Code in the watch? Given the time distortion effect and the fact that Chastain lived decades after she solved the equation, wouldn't Earth have reached the Goldilocks planet well before Hathaway's character did?) And the tesseract sequence is incomparably inferior the Kubrick's Star gate. But one does admire a scene where the characters land on a watery world, and McConaghey realizes the mountains in the distance are in fact a giant wave. The Last of the Unjust is a sort of outtake from Shoah, basically consisting of Claude Lanzmann's converstations with Benjamin Murmulstein, the last elder of the Thereisenstadt ghetto (the Nazis murdered the first two). The movie has a certain power as Murmulstein explains and defends his undoubtedly difficult position. But I think J. Hoberman is right to say it is too uncritical of its subject.

Day-Lewis' performance is not likely to be bettered. One advantage is that he actually makes a good effort to sound like someone from Kentucky. Another advantage is that the movie makes some effort to show that otherwise reasonable people did not hold Lincoln before his murder. Fonda and Young Mr. Lincoln are immeasurably superior to Massey and Abe Lincoln in Illinois. The latter is the kind of historical oversimplification Hollywood is deservedly loathed for, with Lincoln as popular, humble hero, and not the canny lawyer who hated being called Abe in real life. There are some classic scenes in Young Mr. Lincoln and the scene where Fonda mentions the death of his mother and Ann Rutledge in passing is a model of Fordian restraint. But the main reason Ford uses restraint was that his ability to deal with real emotions was strictly limited. The reason the movie discusses the Rutledge legend in the first place is that the actual love of Lincoln's life--his wife, of course--wasn't good enough for national myth, and that hagiography weakens the movie as well.

I saw four movies last week. It Follows certainly does a lot with a little: simply having someone follow someone can be a disconcerting image. And there is one shot of one inordinately tall man following one of the protagonist's friends right after she enters the room that certainly packs a punch. On the other hand the conceit doesn't really mean much aside from a vague sense of unease over sex. A better movie would add more. (Also, even most people can't see the follower, you think it would have occurred to them earlier you can see an invisible object if you throw a blanket over it.) Gabriel over the White House takes some time to get started, though it is clearly quite delirious by the end. It's the movie that shows you don't have to be German to be a Nazi, just desperate and stupid. (Also, it shows that in 1933 the United States were inordinately concerned over war debts. I'm not a big fan of the "British New Wave" and The Knack...and how to get it was clearly a weak Palme D'Or (Strictly speaking its equivalent) in a weak Cannes film festival. Nevertheless, it's not a bad comedy by any means. But clearly the movie of the week is Frederick Wiseman's great documentary about the British National Gallery.

Yay!

This link here connects to a Criticwire survey of the best horror movies of this century, i.e, since 2000: I raise the question because two of the last contemporary movies I've seen are A Girl Walks Alone at Night and It Follows. Both are competent, but not especially brilliant. I'll say more about the latter at the end of the week, but right now, I'll say my horror movie of the century is The Others, followed by Under the Skin.

I've never seen either version of King of Kings or The Greatest Story Ever told. As for the Nicholas Ray Kings, it's hard to take seriously a movie dubbed "I was a teenage Jesus." One would think however, that showing Ordet on Easter would be a good TCM tradition.

I saw five movies last week. The Penalty was an interesting picture, even it if encourages Hollywood's view that acting is a matter of physical transformation and exhaustion, as opposed to what good acting actually is. I watched Lost Horizon, the musical version, because I've been hearing for decades what an awful movie it is. And after an unobjectionable first half hour as the cast members are fleeing in an airplane, you do wonder how bad a movie with Peter Finch, Liv Ullmann, John Gielguld and Charles Boyer can actually be. Well, it is pretty dreadful: the songs and choreography are especially vapid. (And I didn't even realize that Sally Kellerman had a role in the movie.) Although I liked the previous two movies, The Hobbit: the Battle of the Five Armies was a bit disappointing. Part of the problem was that Smaug was such an interesting villain and he's killed in the first ten minutes. Orcs, by contrast, are never that interesting: no matter how many of them there are, they can always be overwhelmed in time for the end. One way Boogie Woogie is an experimental film by James Benning, mostly consisting of static shots that last less than a minute with a sudden surge of movement. Force Majeure was one of last year's more appreciated films. But I didn't particularly care for it. This is the sort of movie whose humor is so dry that one feels the movie should be reserved for tubercular patients.

Well Night Moves is going to appear on TCM both this April and June. And I suspect TCM is the only channel that shows Killer of Sheep. Incidentally the last great movie from the seventies that I've seen was Mikey and Nickey.

Thanks BartonKeyes. I didn't realize The Third Man was playing this month, so I suppose I'm not that upset at it being kicked off the schedule.

Well next week TCM is going to reshow The Knack...and how to get it, the 1965 Richard Lester that won him the Palme D'or, while Help! suffered the impression of being derivative. If the former appears, as many have suggested, to be rather dated perhaps this might encourage TCM to show the latter.