Drama in Cinema: Joe

Welcome ladies and gents to Day 1 of Drama in Cinema. Whatever you may think of Nicholas Cage, the man can act. He can't save a Marvel movie granted, but I need to move on from my Ghost Rider issues. Imagine a violent and withdrawn man that only really gets along with his co-workers and has managed to isolate himself from society overall until he meets a 15 year-old kid that is drifting. This is Joe.

These deer steaks better be worth the stink.

Directed by David Gordon Green (George Washington, All the Real Girls, Pineapple Express and Prince Avalanche) our film opens with a heart-to-heart of a boy Gary (Tye Sheridan of The Tree of Life, Mud, Dark Places, Entertainment and Last Days in the Desert) talking to his abusive, alcoholic father Wade (Gary Poulter of Joe) about getting a job, keeping it and not turning everything they built up in crap... again. Convinced his father will take another beating because he is a loser and a booze hound, Gary opens up as best as he can only to get punched in the face and watch his father take a vicious beating while he follows the train tracks out of there. Enter Joe.

Joe (Nicholas Cage of Raising Arizona, Leaving Las Vegas, Con Air, National Treasure, Ghost Rider, Trespass and Dying of the Light) is a foreman who runs a small-tree removal business and crew. While liked by most of the town as well as his crew has been in and out of the correctional system (The pokey, slammer and iron bar hotel) for violence and dissin' the law man he has exiled himself from others exception of hitting the local brothel.

Gary meets Joe and the crew out in the woods looking for work. Impressed that the kid isn't afraid of hard work he tells him he's hired. Bringing his dad Wade to work the next day gets them both fired given Wade doesn't give a damn about anything or anyone. Gary heads over to Joe's house and wins Joe over asking for his job back and the Hell with the old man. Joe agrees and this young man sweats and toils taking out the trees. He has earned every penny but Wade slaps him around demanding money for more liquor...because this guy's liver hasn't waved a white flag of surrender yet.

Are ya ready Hush puppies?  Start walkin'.

Wade gets chummy with another sleaze bag Willie (Ronnie Gene Blevins of Jobs, Past God, Small Time, Kingdom and Uncle John) and Willie makes lewd and crude comments to Gary about what he'd do to Gary's sister Dorothy (Anna Niemtschk of Joe and Toy Soldier) and Gary completely jacks the guy.

Merle (Sue Rock of The Good Guys, Spilt Milk, Apart, Texas Chainsaw 3D, and From Dusk Till Dawn) runs the local house of ill repute but is about the only one that gets Joe who they both geniunely have feelings for each other but they such burned out and broken people they could never truly be there for each other. Willie offers Wade some booze for the promise of having Dorothy. Wade agrees and Gary goes to get Joe to stop them. Joe is there like lightning and heads to whale the monkey crap out of both of these degenerates. Gary runs for the cops.

Will Gary get help in time? Would Willie and Wade try to kill Joe?

A few comments on the film. This is a dark movie in the sense there is no mass murder with a mask, undead or creatures of darkness but the dismal standing of what humanity can lower itself to. With Wade being this monster under the yoke of the bottle he would sell his own children or their organs for another drink. Cage's performance of a guy trying to keep his rage in check to be a better man is amazing. He wears all his emotions on his sleeve and gives the execution that you have come to expect he always could.

Tye Sheridan will be tackling a mutant role in the upcoming Xmen flick, X-Men: Apocalypse as younger Cyclops. This kid's realization of being an adult before his years SHOULD demand it, is a triumph. No, this film is not for everyone and it does present a seamy setting of a town and its residents just dying by inches but it truly is drama.

HIC!  Line please!

The Hound of the Baskervilles Week: The Hound of the Baskervilles 1988

Welcome back boys and girls to Day 4 of The Hound of the Baskervilles.  I apologize for the delay of this review but family matters and a bum tooth caused a bit of a roadblock.   This time around we will focus on the late brilliant Jeremy Brett (My Fair Lady, The Merry Widow, A Picture of Katherine Mansfield, A Legacy, Seagull Island and The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes) brings his ellegance to this exemplary detective character.   So gather around the kiddies around the fireplace, wrap them in a wool blanket and be prepare to be astounded.  This is The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Silver will settle the score with that werewolf.

Stapleton: The moor is full of spoilers.
Dr. John Watson: But what was it?
Stapleton: The peasants say it is the Hound of the Baskervilles calling for its prey.



Based on the TV series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes this TV movie is did take liberties of the source material in order to stem it down, our film opens with Sir Charles Baskerville on the grounds of Baskerville Hall.  Dr. Mortimer (Alastair Duncan of Taggart, Split Second, Tracey Takes On..., Providence and The Batman) takes up a meeting with Sherlock and Watson (Edward Hardwicke of The Scarlet Letter, Richard III, Elizabeth and Love Actually) to express his great concern for the nephew of his best friend Sir Charles.  Young Henry has been residing in Canada for his scholastic was given an anonymous note left at his London hotel room warning him away from the moors of Devonshire.

Do explain this BFG weaponry. Sounds most fascinating.

Mortimer is convinced of a legendary torment of a demonic hound roaming Devonshire moors sought the blood of Hugo Baskerville's descendants to quench its hunger.  Taking in this story with a degree of concern, Watson is dispatched with Mortimer to greet Sir Henry and Holmes would endeavor to find the truth behind the monster and the legend if any to be found at all.

I had just a few comments to make about the TV movie now.
Aside from a few temporal goofs such as Watson's revolver was a Webley Mk VI .455 while resembling a 19th century revolver it was not manufactured for the British Army until 1915.  30 years prior to when the story was created.   Seldon was a victim of a botched lobotomy, a  procedure that had not came to pass until the 1950s.   This TV Movie stayed true to the Victorian Era and held that with language, clothing and location.
Quite impressive portrayal of the classic story even if I do not hold it in high regards.

Mud bath of DOOOOOOM!!!

The Hound of the Baskervilles Week: The Hound of the Baskervilles 1959

Hello again to Day 2 of The Hound of the Baskervilles Week and what could be cooler than a Sherlock Holmes story given life to the screen? How about a Hammer Films Production of it??   That’s right kiddies I just finished enjoying the hell out of this oh so impressive cast, location and period piece so this should be a slippery slope for Rathbone’s inception.  The year is 1959, filmed in the UK as it should be and our intrepid twosome about to receive a visitor in the night urging their assistance in a family endeavor.  This is The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Sharp dressed Sith.

Sherlock Holmes: I must insist upon one thing. Under no circumstances are you to go out onto the spoilers at night.

However would you find a man that could fit the physical and mental aptitudes that make up a wiry man with a hawkish nose and a cunning intellect that few could rival?   Well with Basil Rathbone setting a pretty high bar how about Peter Cushing?   Yes, I thought that would grab your attention.

Holmes (Peter Cushing of Horror of Dracula, The Curse of Frankenstein, Doctor Who and the Daleks, The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, Shock Waves and Star Wars) and Watson (Andre Morell of The Bridge on the River Kwai, Ben-Hur, The Message and The Great Train Robbery) have tucked in for the night when Mrs. Hudson informs the gents a Doctor Mortimer would like a word with them on a matter of most urgency.  Holmes relaxed in his smoking dressing gown (robe for the Yanks) greets Mortimer (Francis De Wolff of A Christmas Carol, Ivanhoe, Moby Dick and From Russia with Love) exclaims that his best friend’s nephew is the target of a family curse where he to set foot in his inherited estate.  Holmes takes this concern in with leisure but ever a sound mind as Mortimer tells the story of his dearest departed friend Sir Charles Baskerville dying under the guise of a heart attack. Claiming a curse was placed on the house of Baskerville due to the actions of Charles’ ancestor Sir Hugo that a large horrendous beast from the pits of Hell is known to roam the lands of Baskerville in search of Hugo’s descendants for only their blood will slake its thirst.

Daleks are a tricky adversary, you know. 

Sir Henry (Sir Christopher Lee of Horror of Dracula, The City of the Dead, Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, The Man with the Golden Gun and Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) meets with the gentlemen only after an attempt on his life with a deadly tarantula and Holmes is certain this was foul play.  Telling Watson to go ahead with Sir Henry, Holmes proceeds to the region hours behind them to better snoop about.

I have many reasons to have enjoyed this movie.  One, this is my favorite Holmes story.  Two, this Hammer film spared no expense from the elegant costuming, sets and location to the amazing score of music that captures the scenes from moment to moment. Three, Peter Cushing is Holmes and embodies all the requirements for such a iconic character with style and grace.   Lastly, Hammer Film legendary director Terrance Fisher (Horror of Dracula, The Mummy, The Brides of Dracula, The Curse of the Werewolf, Island of Terror and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed) is helming this project with the same gravitas that was seen in his earliest movies.   This is also the first adaptation of this story seen in color. An 

imaginative twist on the theme will keep Hammer fans and new onlookers riveted.  

Sir Henry, why do you gaze at my neck so?

The Hound of the Baskervilles Week: The Hound of the Baskervilles 1939

Hello and welcome to the very first day of The Hound of the Baskervilles Week.  As I previously mentioned, I will not be reviewing the silent film because…frankly it is a bit difficult and we will leave it at that.  That being said I thought we would toddle down to 1939 and tackle the Basil Rathbone manifestation instead.  In this version Holmes is the butler and maid’s last name was altered to Barryman rather than Barrymore (due to John Barrymore’s acting streak and not to confuse audience members).  Some reason or another that is an issue of debate and hopefully cleared up.  This is The Hound of Baskervilles.

So, what do you think of the smoking jacket?

Sherlock Holmes: There is no doubt of it in my mind. Or perhaps I should say, my imagination. For that is where spoilers are conceived and they’re solved- in the imagination.

Brought to us by director Sidney Lanfield (Cheer Up and Smile, Three Girls Lost, Hush Money, Red Salute, My Favorite Blond and Where There’s Life) and produced by 20^th Century Fox this was the first of the fourteen movies based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes.    

Holmes (Basil Rathbone of The Last Days of Pompeii, Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Sun Never Sets and The House of Fear) and Watson (Nigel Bruce of Escape!, I Was a Spy, Murder in Trinidad, The Lady is Willing, The Spider Woman and The Woman in Green) are in for the evening when they receive a visit from Dr. Mortimer (Lionel Atwill of Night Monster, Captain America: The Serial, House of Frankenstein, Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon, Fog Island and House of Dracula) who warns the duo of the impending arrival of Sir Henry Baskerville, the last of the line and heir to the estate in Devonshire. He begins to explain that Baskerville Hall is cursed by a demonic beast, a veritable hellhound that killed Sir Hugo Baskerville hundreds of years ago and believes in his heart that this creature roams the moors to kill all Baskervilles. 

BAD DOG!!! DOWN!!!

Naturally Holmes views it as tittle-tattle or poppycock if you will, then Mortimer tells the events leading to his best friend Sir Charles Baskerville’s ghastly death.   Found dead in his garden without so much as a mark on his body but his face was contorted into sheer terror.   The official inquisition did not make the village aware that around his body some distance away was gigantic paw prints.  Mortimer failed to mention this because no one would have believed him in the slightest. 

Holmes sends Watson to Baskerville Hall along with young Sir Henry, stating he is far too busy to attend them at this time and Watson is to keep a wary eye of the goings on there.

I had just a few comments to make at this time.  I have heard constant complaints of the lack of Victorian times rather than the contemporary settings of Rathbone’s Sherlock Holmes movies and I am proud to say this actually holds to that time period but it is the only of the series that does. During the latter 1930s to 1940s Rathbone’s Holmes was a war hero thwarting the Nazi regime and while it did detract from its original beginnings it brought hope and strength to the fighting boys overseas to see a classic English hero as a spy buster across the pond.  Not to be too fan boy but this is one of my favorite versions of this classic chilling tale.   FYI, be on the lookout for character actor John Carradine in this film.

Doctor, please remove your hand from my knee.

The Hound of the Baskervilles Week

Howdy boys and girls and welcome to what I hope to be an amusing week.  This week we will review the same movie 5 times… yeah I did not goof there.  I speak of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s creation that most of us are vividly aware of: Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskerville.  Printed in 1902 this singular story of murder, mystery and mythos has been captured onto the big and small screen  no less than 22 times including 45 minute episodes since 1921. 

Up for raising a little cane, Watson?

 

I would review our first incarnation but alas it is a silent film.  It is quite difficult to critique the actors, lighting and director’s vision with announcements like, “Wow that cue card really captured the moment!”  Lacks punch as you can imagine and so we will go over the later movies and some of the TV movies instead.   For those of you that have always had a captivation for the World’s Greatest Detective, this should be fun to look back.   For those that have never enjoyed the like, then this should be informative.

So join me in ushering in The Hound of the Baskerville in its many incarnations.

Wil Wheaton Week: The Buddy System

Howdy all and welcome to Day 1 of Wil Wheaton Week and I have dug through the archives of both memory and IMDB to bring us Wil’s first major film role after the TV movie known as: Hambone and Hillie.  I recall viewing this particular movie of topic with my folks and thoroughly enjoyed it so yes like myself, it is also dated.  So grab some S’mores, toast them by a fire and take in this light hearted romantic comedy.  This is The Buddy System.

No I don't want candy or a ride ya perv.

Tim: I said he could follow me home and that you weren’t really seeing anybody and you know…spoiler

Precocious Tim Price (Wil Wheaton of Stand by Me, The Curse, Toy Soldiers, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Teen Titans, Legion of Superheroes, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and The Guild) doesn’t live in the best neighborhood, has a tendency to speak whatever is on his mind and lives in a single parent environment.  

His mother Emily (Susan Sarandon of The Front Page, Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Witches of Eastwick, Bull Durham, Thelma & Louise and The Client) is struggling to become a court reporter but manages to flunk her test every time due to nerves and frustration.  Forced to live with her mother (Jean Stapleton of Bells Are Ringing, Something Wild,  All in the Family, Archie Bunker’s Place, Lily Dale and Michael) who showers her boy with affection but somehow has forgotten her own daughter at times.  To keep her son in a great school they have lied on the address to where they live but Tim is lonely and can’t have friends over to visit or even play after school. 

So I am thinking a career in Sci-Fi...too obvious?

Joe (Richard Dreyfus of American Graffiti,  Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws, Stakeout, The American President and Mr. Holland’s Opus) an aspiring Great American Novelist/ Inventor and the truant officer the school is hip to the big fib and catches Tim in the act of checking the mail.

Being a sly rascal (euphemism big pain in the tuckus) Tim thinks this is an opportune time to get his mother dating again since his father walked out on him given the guy she is on and off seeing is in Tim’s eyes a bit of a peckerhead. 

Joe is having his own dating hell as he and his self-obsessed girlfriend Carrie (Nancy Allen of Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Blow Out and Robocop) keep a steady diet of on and off relationship and strikes up a friendship with Tim and starts to feel genuine emotions for Emily but hang on kids because we need the cliché twist whether or not he should stick with the old girlfriend or pursue this new and amazing relationship with Emily and Tim.

Well at least I am not starring in a film with a Sheen. Phew!

I have just a few side notes about the film itself.  The director Glenn Jordan (The Promise, The Typists, Particular Men, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Echoes of Darkness, Barbarians at the Gate, Jake’s Women and A Streetcar Named Desire) is known primarily for doing dramatic and heart wrenching TV movies and while foul mouthed Wil was a bit of a shocker for the audience it was also true to life that an eleven year old boy would swear up a storm. The timing and reaction between Dreyfus and Sarandon felt like a couple with all the ups and downs. You can really believe what you see on the screen and Wheaton’s performance just steals the movie.  I feel the comparison to the Good Bye Girl and The Buddy System is a bit unfair but I cannot speak for all viewers.

Sydney Pollack Week: The Slender Thread

Hey there again readers and boy I am just digging the nuance of this film today. Day 4 of Sydney Pollack Week and this is a stunning bit of footage and story.  How does a mere college student save the life of a woman that has long lost all hope?  Will there be tragedy?  Will hope reemerge itself? Two things are for certain, one it is in black & white and two I am so digging the opening aerial shots.    So put down that bottle of pills, stay on the line and for God’s sake think of what you are doing.  This is The Slender Thread.

Who loves ya, Sidney?

Spoilers don't just give up, dammit! 

Psychology student Alan Newell (Sidney Poitier of Lilies of the Field, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night, They Call Me Mister Tibbs!, Shoot to Kill and The Jackal) a volunteer worker at the Seattle’s Crisis Clinic, probably earning work credit for his scholastics and genuinely cares for people as well receives a call from one Inga Dyson (Anne Bancroft of The Last Frontier, Nightfall, The Miracle Worker, 7 Women, The Graduate, The Elephant Man, Garbo Talks and Agnes of God) an everyday housewife and mother but with a sorted secret of her past.   She explains to Newell she has taken an overdose of sleeping pills and that it is best to end it all.  While she appreciates the compassion of this total stranger she simply refuses to devulch her whereabouts.    

Get milk and then commit suicide. Got it.

Desperate to save this woman Newell gets ahold of his professor Dr. Coburn (Telly Savalas of The Dirty Dozen, Kelly’s Heroes, Escape to Athena, Kojak, The Muppet Movie, Faceless and The Commish)  in order to get a trace on the line via the police.   Through a series of flashback sequences it is hinted that Inga’s son may not be her husband’s biological child and has wedged distrust in their already rocky relationship.  Counseling never really covered this area I am guessing.   Her husband Mark (Steven Hill of The Fugitive, Mission:  Impossible, King, Eyewitness, Yentl,  The Firm and Law &Order), a commercial fisherman hoists himself out to the sea he loves and attempts to throw himself into work at the same time his wife is throwing herself to the brink of death.  Blissfully unaware (as most men are) that his wife is at the end of her rope he is out in the deep blue pushing past his pain.    Through the coordinated efforts of Detective Judd Ridley (Ed Anser of Police Story, Insight, Roots, Mary Tyler Moore, Lou Grant and Batman the Animated Series) and his fellow policemen they race a dangerous clock trying to find Inga before it is too late.

Hmm do I have any nitpickings?  Well I was blown away by the aerial shots of Seattle; I love how with absolutely no dialogue whatsoever showed these complete strangers’ lives would intersect and soon.  This huge cast of folks that have either or already made or just making it in the Hollywood and TV mainstream and the performances by all actors was sublime.    Now clearly the overall film was shot on studio location and most of the downtown Seattle shots had to be a bit rushed.  I get that and hey it looks like the editing was sound.  While I do thoroughly enjoy a good black & white I am proud to say I did not even know of this film’s existence and was pleasantly surprised of its overall creation.  

No, you shove off.  Heh Nautical humor.

  

I read a similar review on this film and the critic was just pointing out the goofs, like Inga’s previous suicide attempt she dove into the waters but when she was rushed to the hospital her hair was perfect.  Okay points for observation but the point of a review should be objective not simply what you like or thought was painful about a movie.   I just realized that this film was referenced in the latter film Three Days of the Condor.  So thought we would give a negative and a positive.  Bravo on this film and hurrah for those that give it a fair chance.  I can safely say you will not be disappointed.