Movie Madness with Richard Doyle

Richard Doyle's
MOVIE MADNESS

Waking Life (Richard Linklater, 2001).

Harkening back to Slacker, Linklater's groundbreaking animated meditation on life and dreaming follows Wiley Wiggins as he encounters discussions about dreams and the meaning of life through what may be his own dreamscape. The animation is the real star here. The film was shot on digital video and animated from the final cut using a new computer driven rotoscoping process. Intellectuals (Robert C. Solomon, Eamonn Healey), actors (Ethan Hawke, July Delpy, Adam Goldberg, Nicky Katt), cult figures (Steven Prince) and Linklater himself all appear as basically themselves, expounding upon the profound, the banal, and life's mysteries. A bit hard on the eyes at first, but dazzling when you get used to the shifting, stuttering style of much of the animation.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981).

Spielberg's admittedly fun updating of Saturday afternoon serials does not stand up that well 20 years later. Rife with plot holes and outright ludicrous plot developments (Nazis in Egypt in 1936???), it's best enjoyed with one's brain in neutral. The once stunning action set-pieces now seem predictable and dependent on implausible chains of events. Still, it's a very well-made B movie that succeeds in not taking itself too seriously most of the time. Harrison Ford is wonderful in his star-making performance, and Karen Allen is the only woman to ever play an appealing part in the whole series. Vastly overrated in my books.

Lethal Weapon (Richard Donner, 1987).

The only interesting film in the series. Despite Donner's signature lack of style, this one entertains with its middle-of-the-road mix of humour, action and violence. Mel Gibson's character here is still quite edgy, and Gary Busey plays an effective villain. The plot is ridiculous (the villains attempt to conceal their criminal behaviour by blowing up an entire house just to knock off a hooker), but it still can be enjoyed if one turns off one's better judgement. Most importantly, Joe Pesci is nowhere to be seen.

The Interview (Craig Monahan, 1998).

Hugo Weaving stars as a man snatched from his apartment by the police and interrogated about a stolen car. Eventually, the topic of the interrogation turns to a missing person and a case of serial murder. Meanwhile, others are monitoring the cop conducting the interview in an effort to catch him breaking the law. This twisty, original thriller features great performances from Weaving and Tony Martin as the cop. Some of the twists are predictable, but the dialogue and performances make it well worth your while. Unfortunately, the ending is a bit abrupt, leading me to think that Monahan was unsure how to end the story.

High Noon (Fred Zinnemann, 1952).

A wonderful and innovative western. The story unfolds in approximately real time (the time elapsed in the story is the length of the film, but Zinnemann manipulates time inside the story to heighten suspense), and repeated shots of train tracks and ticking clocks skilfully create tension by anticipating the arrival of the outlaw Frank Miller. The look of the film is gritty and spare and the script remains focused on the action that drives the plot, anticipating the westerns of the 60s that would revolutionize the genre. Gary Cooper's performance is extremely subdued, and the supporting work by Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges, Katy Jurado, Otto Kruger, Lon Chaney, Jr. and Harry Morgan is uniformly excellent. Lee Van Cleef appears in his first role, but has no dialogue.

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (Kevin Smith, 2001).

The fifth film in Smith's New Jersey series is more like the Clerks animated series than any of the other films in the series. Extremely profane and low-brow, but dense with clever reference to films, television and comic books, the film doesn't work all the time, but when it does work, it is extremely funny. Surprisingly, Jason Mewes has improved as an actor and successfully carries the film in the lead role. Smith is quite funny despite his lack of any real lines in the film. There are dozens of celebrity cameos, which are clever and funny. Major characters from the earlier films appear (Jason Lee appears as two different characters, and Ben Affleck appears as his character from Chasing Amy and as himself), and fans of the whole series will find dozens of cross-references.

Fort Apache (John Ford, 1948).

Ford's atypical western stars Henry Fonda as the new commanding officer of a remote outpost bordering Apache land. Fonda is unhappy with the assignment, which he considers a demotion, and his firm, unyielding style clashes with the informal atmosphere of the post. John Wayne plays Captain Kirby York, an experienced frontier officer who clashes with Fonda over the treatment of the Apaches. Fonda's rigidity, snobbery, and desire for glory leads to a foolhardy confrontation with the Apaches. Fonda's performance in a role that is unusual for him is outstanding. Wayne, on the other hand, has very little to do. The picture really belongs to the members of Ford's support company - Ward Bond, Victor McLaglen, Anna Lee, and others. Most of the film focuses on the details of life at this remote outpost, and does a good job of painting a picture of a life devoted to military service. A romantic subplot involving Shirley Temple, as Fonda's daughter, and John Agar (who she would later marry in real life), the son of Irish NCO Ward Bond, is unworthy of the rest of the movie, but does lead to an interesting scene between Fonda and Bond that deals with issues of military protocol, domestic duties, and class conflict. Ford's view of the climactic battle with the Apaches is interestingly complex, offsetting Fonda's foolish decision with considerations of duty and tradition.

Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988)

The film that made Bruce Willis a film star and inaugurated the "terrorists take over a ____ and one man must defeat them" action genre. Actually, a smashing good action film, despite its plot holes and many one-dimensional characters. The success is due mostly to Willis' portrayal of a more down-to-earth action hero who actually gets hurt, and Alan Rickman's urbane performance as terrorist leader Hans Gruber. McTiernan's pacing is excellent. The film never really bogs down despite numerous sub-plots and the introduction of too many "idiot" side characters. The cheap slasher film "surprise" at the end is inexcusable.

Look Back in Anger (Tony Richardson, 1958)

Richardson's screen adaptation of John Osborne's play helped initiate the British screen's "kitchen sink" movement, with its working-class characters and gritty, realistic style. Richard Burton may seem a tad old, but his performance as Jimmy Porter is quite stunning. Jimmy is a college graduate who operates a candy stall by day, plays jazz trumpet at night, and takes out his simmering rage and misanthropy on his middle-class wife and all who cross his path. Burton's performance combines anger, humour and vulnerability, effortlessly bringing Porter to life.

The Mummy (Stephen Sommers, 1999)

While I wasn't expecting a film like the classic Universal film, or even the Hammer remake, I was expecting decent entertainment. I was wrong. This is a ridiculous excuse to fill the screen with digital effects at the expense of a coherent plot and developed characters. A total waste of time.