Change Your Image
classicsoncall
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Lists
Latest Message Board Posts
Reviews
Atom Man vs. Superman (1950)
"I have a plan to locate the Atom Man!"
Most reviewers appear to give this serial the edge over it's forerunner, 1948's "Superman" with most of the same principals involved. Quite honestly, I found little difference between the two except for the inclusion of Superman's arch-enemy Lex Luthor, ably portrayed by Lyle Talbot, who takes on a dual role as the title character Atom Man. With his shaved head, Talbot epitomized the classic look of Luthor from the Silver Age comic book era, and just like Clark Kent and Superman, you never saw Luthor and Atom Man in the same place at the same time.
But gee, wasn't Atom Man just the goofiest looking screen villain ever? I mean he was just laughably ridiculous looking with no hint of menace whatsoever to my thinking. The opening chapter had the head of Atom Man superimposed over newspaper headlines of various crimes being committed across Metropolis, along with images of atomic bomb blasts to further heighten the connection with the character.
Just as in the first serial, animation is used to simulate Superman's power of flight but the film makers also used close-ups of Kirk Alyn to simulate various flying poses. What cracked me up however were some of the decisions regarding Superman's heroics in the story. In the first chapter for example, Superman prevents a bridge from swaying so a woman in her car can be rescued by the police when he could just as well have saved her himself. The bridge wound up falling down anyway.
Perhaps even funnier, at least to me and it happened a couple of times, was when there would be the usual group of reporters in Perry White's (Pierre Watkin) office, and with his phone within arm's reach, Perry would ask Jimmy Olsen (Tommy Bond) to dial a number. So Jimmy would walk all the way around the desk and bystanders to make the call. You really had to wonder what the rationale was for decisions like this to be made.
Moving from chapter to chapter, one would be hard pressed to make sense of any continuity in the story. The over riding concept here had to do with some type of special coin Luthor invented that allowed for the transmission of solid objects and people over short distances, a neat precursor to TV Star Trek's transporter beam a couple decades later. Atom Man himself fades from the scene well before the final chapter so the ultimate battle against the Man of Steel one might have expected never comes to pass. By then though, so much goofy stuff happened already you might not even notice.
The Steel Jungle (1956)
"That killer is as cute as a bug in a rug".
For the life of me I can't figure out what the comment in my summary line was supposed to mean. It was uttered by Warden Keller (Walter Abel) to the prison psychiatrist Dr. Lewy (Kenneth Tobey) while discussing new prisoner Eddie Novak (Perry Lopez). Novak wasn't in for murder so it doesn't make sense. Oh well.
This picture had an early twist that I had to wonder about as well. After getting pinched for bookmaking, Novak is sprung on bail by an attorney for 'The Combination', and he asks for the two hundred fifty dollars that the organization makes available for such occurrences. Seems to me a down on his luck bookie would turn himself in once in a while if things got a little shaky just for the dough. Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way.
Once in the slammer, Eddie approaches Combination kingpin Marlin (Ted de Corsia) with a demand that he get him (Eddie) out of jail. Maybe I'm over-thinking this again, but a gangster bigwig would probably look to get himself out of prison if he could instead of a lower rung bookie. Even in the Big House though, Marlin surrounded himself with a formidable crew of henchmen and it was cool to see Leo Gordon and Bob Steele providing the muscle for their boss. Gordon was good in these kinds of roles, having done time himself for armed robbery once.
Meanwhile on the outside, the cops are investigating the disappearance of Eddie's wife (Beverly Garland) after a couple of Combination goons whisk her away to put pressure on Eddie to remain quiet about the murder of a prison guard. Pushed to the limit, Eddie eventually writes out an admission of what he observed on the night the guard died (another question mark because he arrived on scene after the fact), and hands it over to Dr. Lewy who's bound by doctor/patient confidentiality. On the surface, all of this plays out like a tense cat and mouse game with Marlin pulling strings to get hold of that confession, but all it did was make me consider why Eddie couldn't have written another note.
Safe at Home! (1962)
"You can't make a foul ball fair by movin' the base line."
Filmed during the after glow of the fabulous 1961 baseball season, this picture puts the two principal stars of that season on display in a heartwarming story of a young boy who has to make good on a promise or lose face with all of his teammates. This is the kind of picture from back in the day that not only entertained, but also taught a valuable life lesson. It's something I thought about because you rarely see it in movies or on TV today, at least not as directly as Mickey Mantle or Roger Maris telling you point blank that you screwed up and have to face the music for it. I almost felt bad for the young kid when it happened, but you know, that's the type of thing that helps build character and I think Hutch (Bryan Russell) instinctively knew it.
The other element that recommends the picture is the friendship and camaraderie young Hutch had with his buddy Mike (Scott Lane). Mike was a stand up guy for helping Hutch and he wouldn't spill the beans about the promise to get the baseball stars to a Little League luncheon. Fortunately, what might have proved dangerous in hindsight all worked out OK, but then again, this was a simpler time and people looked out for each other in a way that doesn't seem to be the case today. Except for that cab driver helping himself to a quarter tip, that was pretty low.
One thing I did have to chuckle about though was seeing the Mick and Maris playing Scrabble with Coach Turner (William Frawley) in their hotel room. You think that would have been a likely scenario? Maybe I'll just pass on Mantle's extracurricular escapades, this was a family movie after all.
With quick cameos by New York Yankee manager Ralph Houk and pitcher Whitey Ford, this film is a nice little baseball trip down memory lane for old timers like myself and still serves as an enjoyable sports film for youngsters if you can break them away from the cell phone and video games. After watching it, take a little buddy outside and have a game of catch or shag some fly balls, it'll make you feel good.
The Odd Couple (1968)
"What do you say to a man who's crying in your bathroom?"
The disadvantage I seem to have is that I'm such a big fan of the TV show with Tony Randall and Jack Klugman. I saw them first and so many times that they define the Odd Couple for me. So I was conscious of my bias when I began watching this for the first time the other day.
Nevertheless Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau did a fairly admirable and funny job with this assignment. The same opening theme music that was used later in the TV series sets the proper mood and I was surprised to see so many of the later elements used here, obviously for the first time. The bit that really got me was when Felix (Lemmon) started his honking routine to clear his ears, closely followed by the 'brown sandwiches or green sandwiches' offer from Oscar (Matthau) to his poker buddies. One thing I don't remember from the series, and it's something I might have missed, was that not only was Felix divorced, but he had kids.
There's another layer of entertainment woven into the picture for viewers like myself who grew up in New York (State, not the City, but still). The scene at Shea Stadium was pretty cool, and when Felix goes shopping at a Bohack Supermarket it was like a trip down memory lane. That goes for the prices too - bagels at four for ninety nine cents and turkey roast at sixty nine cents a pound. But the one that really got me was when Felix checked in to a New York City hotel and got charged five bucks! Holy cow, for a minute this comedy became a fantasy flick!
Abraham Lincoln (1930)
"He'll be more than a rail splitter."
I saw the film on Turner Classics and while knowing it was a talking picture the opening minutes provided some doubt as it went on for a while with no dialog to go with the captioning that I always enable. Eventually sound kicked in at about the point a midwife exclaimed that Mrs. Lincoln's newborn was 'homely as a mud fence'. There was no reaction from the mother who apparently hadn't seen him yet.
I wasn't prepared for the significant gaps in the life of Abraham Lincoln, although for a film made in 1930 I didn't really know what to expect. We go from Lincoln's birth almost immediately to his employment as a young man in a general store. The rest of the picture follows the same format, making chronological jumps of years at a time.
Having seen D.W. Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation" almost a decade ago now, my curiosity was piqued when the approach taken here appeared to be significantly patriotic and anti-slavery. The latter part of the earlier silent film seemed to take a rather apologetic approach to the formation of the Ku Klux Klan. This picture consistently emphasizes Lincoln's determination to keep the Union together before, during and after the Civil War. The scenarios offered showing Lincoln during the War were by far the best part of the film.
One interesting thing director Griffith did was show Lincoln (Walter Huston) pardoning a soldier for cowardice after learning the circumstances of the young soldier's fear (he witnessed a boyhood acquaintance killed in battle). Shortly later, a scene with General Robert E. Lee (Hobart Bosworth) suggested similar compassion when he intervened to save the life of a Northern spy with the War close to an end. I thought the portrayal of this human element on opposing sides of the War was handled rather well.
Having introduced the character of John Wilkes Booth (Ian Keith) early in the story as a dedicated pro-slavery anti-abolitionist, it was to be expected that he appear again for his role at Ford's Theater. The actual scene of Lincoln's assassination was handled rather awkwardly, so it was just as well that the picture didn't dwell on it or the resulting aftermath. As I read other reviewer comments about the picture, I'd have to concur that 'Glory, Glory Hallelujah" was a fitting way to conclude the movie.
Ex Machina (2015)
"You shouldn't trust anything he says".
During Ava's (Alicia Vikander) session number two with Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) she utters the words in my summary line above during the first power failure. It was at this point that I understood the film was being far too clever with the viewer in a way that made me apprehensive about everything going on in the story. I'm still trying to figure out if that was a good thing or not. The way I see it, if you've watched enough films across a variety of genres, you're always on the lookout for the tip off that gives you insight into what twists might occur and how the picture might end.
Almost immediately I knew that Kyoko (Sonoya Mizuno) was a robot, and I wasn't convinced that the power outages weren't being manipulated by Nathan (Oscar Isaac) himself. When it dawns on Caleb that he must question everything about the Turing test, he even begins to suspect that he might be a robot himself. How all this affected me as the viewer was to put me on guard against being manipulated by the outcome. So for me, even Nathan was a suspect in his own game - he could have been the AI in the challenge and that might have worked if the film makers went in that direction.
Almost all the rest then was a distraction. With all possible outcomes suspect, any suspense that might have arisen waiting for the 'big reveal' suddenly evaporated, and because anything was possible the element of surprise was undermined. The exploration of 'feelings' between Ava and Caleb was a tease, and Nathan's admission of providing his AI with sensory devices to experience sexual pleasure was another one of those hooks to condition the viewer to expect some human/robot experimentation. To it's credit, the film didn't resort to some mechanical perversion to make it's statement.
Probably the most intriguing aspect of the film for me was the way Ava was built. I don't pretend to know how the film makers created the special effects to make the character but it was quite incredible. The first time Ava spoke I thought she might have been mapping from internal semantic form to syntactic tree-structure and then getting linearized words. But then I realized, she was only a robot.
How Superman Defeated the KKK (2015)
""You think that you or anyone else can stop this Clan of the Fiery Cross?"
The title of this documentary almost sounds like it might have been a comic book story, but in fact it was a revealing portrait of a man who fought against the corruption and lawlessness of the Ku Klux Clan in the mid-1940's. The man was Stetson Kennedy, born to a well to do family in 1916, who grew up in the South amid racist views against Blacks that even members of his own family held. When he witnessed a black caretaker who helped raise him get beaten with chains, it was a defining moment that launched his determination to become a one man Army against the KKK.
At great personal risk, Stetson decided that the only way to expose the corrupt tactics of the Klan was to go on the inside. Posing as an uncle who had a prior history as a Klan member, Kennedy assumed the name of John S. Perkins, and gradually became accepted as a member of an Atlanta chapter in 1946. From there, he began offering information on Klan activities to local authorities and the FBI, but much of his input was disregarded. Frustrated, Kennedy hit upon an idea to call the producers of the Superman radio program to enlist the super-hero in a new fight for justice now that the Second World War was over.
On June 18th, 1946, the first of sixteen episodes of the radio serial "The Clan of the Fiery Cross" was unveiled, listened to by millions of kids across the country. What was hoped for turned out to be true, youngsters began enlisting their parents to speak out against the Ku Klax Klan, who started demanding that authorities begin to combat their activities at various levels of government. One irony of the project was that the children of Klan members who heard the radio broadcasts were also reacting to the programs, which exposed the fraud perpetrated by the Klan and painted the group as small minded idiots who engaged in secret handshakes, code words and rituals that made them look foolish. The pointy headgear which at one time inspired fear was now looked at as clownish and those who wore them buffoons. Klan membership began to tail off considerably as a result, as dedicated civic leaders rose to speak out against racism as well.
Eventually the KKK discovered the identity of the 'traitor' in their midst, and Stetson Kennedy had to end his masquerade. However the damage was done, and Kennedy continued to receive the occasional death threat from former Klan members up until his passing in 2011 at the age of ninety four. A highlight of the documentary was a segment with Kennedy himself discussing his anti-KKK activities, well advanced in age but revealing the determination he held as a crusader against racism all his life.
Bone Tomahawk (2015)
"You shouldn't call for the Lord's attention right now."
If there's such a movie genre as horror Western, this one might be at the top of the list. Released in 2015, I only became aware of the film by pulling up an internet site touting 'The Best 25 Westerns of the Last 25 Years'. ("Slow West" was on the same list, you might give that one a try too). The picture grabs you pretty quickly when Sid Haig's (didn't know he was still around either) character gets used for target practice in an opening sequence; from there on it becomes an intense journey in search of a woman and deputy sheriff kidnapped by a most unexpected tribe of cannibalistic cave dwelling troglodytes. Personally, I was thrown off guard by the use of the word 'troglodyte' in a Western, so that would have been hook number two. The eerie howling wind scream completed the trilogy.
After it's over I think most viewers won't have any trouble realizing that the story doesn't stand up against the harsh daylight of reality. But while it's under way the picture grabs you in a visceral way and it's hard to let go. Some will complain that it's a slow picture with the amount of time spent on the trail with the four members that make up the posse, but this is where first time director S. Craig Zahler gets some of the best dialog from his characters. It's my official opinion that the backup deputy Chicory (Richard Jenkins) initiated one of the strangest, yet most comical conversations in the history of Westerns when he expounded on the difficulty of reading in a bathtub. Even weirder was Sheriff Hunt's (Kurt Russell) helpful suggestions on how to make the experience more palatable. I mean that was just classic.
Now if you're watching with a critical eye, some things won't pass muster. Living as virtual scavengers, a couple of the cave dwellers didn't look exactly undernourished. The one that got the toe trim from the sheriff physically looked like a monster. The biggest strain on the story's credibility for me was the lack of emotion from Samantha O'Dwyer (Lili Simmons), the kidnapped wife we see imprisoned in the troglodyte cave once the sheriff and Chicory are captured. You would think she would have suffered some physical and emotional trauma by this time but it seemed like just another day in the park for her. She didn't even seem to be that much moved by the Hannibal Lechter job done on deputy Nick (Evan Jonigkeit), just prior to using him for a wishbone. God, that was the sickest thing I think, that I've ever seen in a movie, but then again, I intentionally stay away from chainsaw massacre and 'Saw' flicks for just that reason.
Forty years ago a film came out called "The Missouri Breaks" with Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson, and I recall thinking to myself after watching it, that this was not your father's Western. Anyone of the current generation catching this one will more than likely be led to the same conclusion, although if any of my adult offspring run across this review, let it be known I watched it anyway.
Steve Jobs (2015)
"The right computer will be a bicycle for the mind".
Of the stuff I've read about Steve Jobs, about his unrelenting drive and disagreeable personality, it seems to be captured here with a fair amount of realism. Michael Fassbender infuses the character of Jobs with a caustic persona that doesn't let up much throughout the story. The few glimpses we get into Jobs' past help the viewer understand some of what drives the passionate genius in one area of his life, and how it undermined his relationships with those closest to him on a personal level. The supporting players here were exceptional, and it was interesting to see how Joanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet), Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen) and John Sculley (Jeff Daniels) managed to go toe to toe with the abusive computer pioneer, in many cases proving after the fact that they were right and he was wrong. Even with what little I know from a technology standpoint, it was always seemed intuitive to me that Apple products were limited by their closed architecture, so I have a hard time understanding why the real Jobs refused to acknowledge it. The picture reveals some of the bullheaded stubbornness the man had along those lines, and if one can get past the personal flaws of the title character, the story offers a compelling portrait of a principled man who might have engaged in a bit of humanity along the way.
Superman (1948)
"This looks like a job for Superman".
I don't think you can watch or evaluate an old time serial like this in the same way you would watch a modern day super hero movie. The evolution in special effects makes films like "Dawn of Justice" possible whereas the constraints on a serial like "Superman" were such that the film makers were making it all up as they went along. For 1948, they didn't even think about rigging up Superman with ropes or wires to simulate flying, it was done with animation each time actor Kirk Alyn yelled "Up, up and away". If you weren't around for this picture in 1948 or the Fifties for "The Adventures of Superman", watching the effects today for the first time make them seem hopelessly hokey and corny. At the same time, I think that's what adds to their charm.
But you really have to want to watch serials like this. Personally I find the repeated openings of each chapter and rehashing of the last one's cliff hanger to be incredibly tedious. So I make liberal use of the fast forward button to relieve some of the anxiety of all that while trying to make sense of the story line. This fifteen chapter serial begins with the origin of Superman that most fans are familiar with. This very first time put to film, the destruction of Krypton is a consequence of the planet being drawn toward it's sun, unable to escape it's gravitational pull. Future reboots would allow for different interpretations which is all well and good. The point is that the baby Kal-El arrives on earth and in due time, exhibits extraordinary powers that go far beyond those of normal men.
The familiar characters of the Superman comic book stories are mostly here. When Clark Kent (Alyn) takes a job at The Daily Planet, he works along side of managing editor Perry White (Pierre Watkin) and reporters Lois Lane (Noel Neill) and Jimmy Olsen (Tommy Bond). Watkin is a one-note character actor and I found it amusing when more than once, but definitely in Chapter #11, Perry White picks up the phone in his office, says "Send Kent in", and immediately hangs up. On the other side of his door in the reporters room, Kent picks up the phone and says "I'll be right in". Which begs the question, who were each of those guys talking to?
So anyway, the serial is chock full of stuff like this, scenarios and events that weren't very well thought out. Superman's very first on screen major villain is a woman called the Spider Lady (Carol Forman), who's primary power seems to be keeping her male henchmen under control to do her bidding, any one of which could have taken her out with a single knockout blow. Most of the story has to do with getting her hands on a scientist's 'Reducer Ray' having power greater than an atomic bomb. Somewhat a misnomer I would say, since the 'Ray's' power didn't shrink anything, it just blew things up.
Other familiar concepts in the story include the introduction of Superman's only known Achilles heel, the dreaded Kryptonite. Clark Kent and Superman 'both' have brushes with Kryptonite that threaten harm, but each situation is dealt with handily. In terms of his super powers, Superman regularly relies on his 'super-vision', super-strength', invulnerability and gift of flight. One is forced to suspend disbelief the very first time the live action transitions to animation and back for Superman to fly, but if you're able to put up with all the rest it's a small price to pay to catch Superman in action on the big screen for the very first time. And today, you don't have to return to your neighborhood theater each week to do it.