lee_eisenberg's Reviews

The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927)

6/10

24 May 2024

Probably the most famous movies focusing on the revolution are David Lean's "Dr. Zhivago" (about a physician caught up in the revolution) and Warren Beatty's "Reds" (about US journalist John Reed, who covered the revolution). A lesser known one is "Die Liebe der Jeanne Ney" ("The Love of Jeanne Ney" in English). The convoluted plot of G. W. Pabst's movie depicts intrigue and treachery in the wake of the revolution, with the titular character - the daughter of a French diplomat - in love with a Bolshevik.

The movie is hard to follow at times; this isn't some Michael Bay movie where you can simply shut your brain off to watch it. Even so, you'll feel fulfilled by the end of it. The only cast member whom I recognized was Brigitte Helm, who that same year played the Machine Man in Fritz Lang's "Metropolis".

Not a masterpiece, but worth seeing.

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Watch If You Dare (2018)

2/10

What was this supposed to be?

23 May 2024

"Watch If You Dare" sure didn't come across as a horror movie. More like a loose parody of one, except that it doesn't even work as a parody. Just a series of vignettes where ugly things happen. Not even a connection between them. The last vignette is the only one that at least tries to be an authentic horror movie, but the movie's pretty much worn out its welcome mat by then. The movie has no Wikipedia entry, and quite frankly doesn't deserve one. There are far better horror anthologies out there (especially the old Hammer movies). I don't know who greenlit this movie, but they obviously don't have a real eye for horror. Just avoid it.

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The Dreamers (2003)

9/10

this is the third production that I've seen in less than a week that uses "La mer"

22 May 2024

A number of Bernardo Bertolucci's movies over the years have been sweeping epics - notably "The Last Emperor" - so "The Dreamers" is a different turn for him. Set amid the student uprising in Paris in 1968, it's about a college student from the US who meets a pair of free-spirited siblings. Over the course of the movie, they graphically experiment with sex, discuss cinema and politics, and look for ways to break away from the old order.

I figure that the movie was intended both as a celebration of classic cinema and a look at the era's politics. It was easy to see an analogy to the resurgence in politically-charged topics during the era when the movie got released (a combination of protests against globalization and the so-called War on Terrorism).

All in all, it was a fine piece of work. I've liked every Bertolucci movie that I've seen, including this one.

And yes, this is the third production that I've seen in less than a week to use Charles Trenet's song "La mer". The others were episodes of "Black Mirror" and "Shetland".

So yes, do come see me, Queen Jane.

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Cypher (2002)

7/10

devastated possible reality

21 May 2024

Right after "The Matrix" got released, there was a similar, thought-provoking movie about questionable reality (eXistenz) and a crummy one (The Thirteenth Floor). It took a few years for the genre to return to the silver screen, but it came back with Vincenzo Natali's intense "Cypher". Jeremy Northam (of "The Net" and "Gosford Park") plays an employee at a major corporation hired to spy on other corporations at conferences. That is, until he meets an enigmatic woman (Lucy Liu) who reveals that all is not what it seems.

I wouldn't call this any sort of masterpiece, but I liked the twists and turns. Personally I found Liu's character to be the most interesting, with the evolution that they give her as the movie progresses. We could be cynical and say that the movie has things that we've seen in other movies - I certainly saw a lot of similarities to "The Matrix" - but it still manages to hold you throughout. Worth seeing if you can find a copy.

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Griselda (2024)

7/10

evil men don't like it when an equally evil woman cuts in on their turf

20 May 2024

I've heard quite a bit about the cocaine trade of the '80s, and how Miami was the capital, but I had only loosely heard about Griselda Blanco. Well, with the Netflix miniseries "Griselda", we now get her story.

If you only know Sofía Vergara as the feisty stepmom on "Modern Family", then you're in for a pleasant surprise with her performance here. The show apparently minimizes just how brutal and merciless Griselda Blanco was, but it still makes her out to be pretty vile, even if she saw the cocaine business as the only way out of a bad marriage. Another thing was that the cocaine business was mostly a man's world, and the men didn't like a woman cutting in on their turf (evil though she was).

While I admit that I can't verify its veracity, I can say that this is one of the grittiest miniseries that you'll ever see. Sofía Vergara deserves all the acclaim in the world for her performance.

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Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls (2023)

8/10

horror fans are bound to love it

19 May 2024

When I started watching Andrew Bowser's "Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls", I only knew that it co-starred Barbara Crampton, knowing pretty much nothing about the plot. It turned out that she only had a small role. Nevertheless, it was one enjoyable movie. Fans of horror flicks, the occult, satanic stuff, and the like are going to take a lot of pleasure in this one. In addition to star Andrew Bowser and Barbara Crampton, we also have Jeffrey Combs as the satanic leader (you may recall that he and Crampton co-starred in "Re-Animator", wherein a certain shot of her almost certainly turned millions of boys into men).

Basically, this isn't the sort of movie made with the intention of winning Oscars. Its goal is to entertain and stir up some nostalgia, and it succeeds in both regards. I first read about it playing at some festivals, but it didn't come to my city, so I finally managed to watch it on Tubi. You're sure to have a great time with it.

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White Shadows in the South Seas (1928)

9/10

this is the last sort of movie that you'd have expected to get released back then

18 May 2024

A common trope in the propaganda about colonialism was that the rational-minded, forward-thinking white people introduced Christianity to the ignorant natives and civilized them. That's what makes W. S. Van Dyke's "White Shadows in the South Seas" all the more surprising. Far from pushing the image of heroic colonizers, this movie acknowledges the effect that colonialism had on the indigenous populations. Admittedly, it might be a bit cliched to have the single white man who falls in love with an indigenous culture and seeks to defend the natives from the colonizers, but the movie is serious about it. It just goes to show that what's now called wokeness isn't some newfangled phenomenon; there were socially aware people 100 years ago. I recommend this movie.

Every time that the name Fayaway came up, I kept thinking that it said Faye Dunaway. Fayaway's portrayer, Raquel Torres, later co-starred with the Marx Brothers in "Duck Soup".

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Marianne (I) (1929)

6/10

when the US comes to town

17 May 2024

I first learned of Marion Davies when I saw the HBO movie "RKO 281", about William Randolph Hearst's attempts to stop "Citizen Kane" from getting released (Melanie Griffith played Davies). I've finally seen her in her first talkie. Robert Z. Leonard's "Marianne" is nothing special on its own, depicting a US platoon coming to a small town in France during World War I. A lot of the humor derives from the troops' arousal at the sight of the title character, played by Davies. Since this got made before the Hays Code, there's one line that I'm sure couldn't have gotten included just a few years later (you'll know it when you hear it).

I understand that Davies was usually a comedienne. I haven't seen most of her work, so I can't judge how much this movie uses her talent. Sometimes I get the feeling that she mainly got put onscreen for her looks (she WAS a real babe).

All in all, the movie's nothing spectacular. I guess that it wasn't intended to be laugh-out-loud funny like the Marx Brothers. Worth seeing, if only once.

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Night in Paradise (2020)

9/10

I understand that South Korea is one of the safest countries in the world...but its movies don't make it look like such

16 May 2024

Most of the productions that I've seen from South Korea address one of two themes: social stratification ("Parasite" and "Squid Game") or crime ("A Hard Day" and "The Chaser"). Park Hoon-jung's "Nagwonui bam" - "Night in Paradise" in English - looks at a man whose involvement with organized crime has some ugly consequences. Usually it's only movies from Martin Scorsese or Quentin Tarantino that have scenes as graphic as the ones in this movie.

Probably the biggest irony is that South Korea is apparently one of the safest countries in the world, but their cinema makes it look like a crime-ridden hellhole. Maybe they're trying to make a point about the country's endemic class structure; after all, social inequality tends to result in these problems.

Whatever the case, you've rarely seen the level of brutality that this movie depicts. Definitely check it out if you get a chance.

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Crawl (I) (2019)

6/10

A: alligators all around

15 May 2024

One of the many horror flicks about nature running amok depicts a swimmer and her dad besieged by alligators during a violent hurricane. Alexandre Aja's "Crawl" has a lot of the things that we tend to see in these sorts of movies - and it's rife with factual errors - but Aja knows how to pace it right and maintain the ideal level of tension. After watching the movie, you'll probably want to avoid Florida at all costs. Hell, the rising sea levels just might make the state look like what the movie depicts.

Oh, and props to Maurice Sendak for writing a book whose title inspired my review's title. The book got incorporated into the 1975 TV special "Really Rosie".

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Argylle (2024)

5/10

this is the textbook definition of silly beyond reason

13 May 2024

Basically, Matthew Vaughn's "Argylle" is the sort of movie that you can only enjoy if you're willing to accept movies that are so silly and improbable, they seemingly shouldn't exist. I spent almost every scene thinking "That could so not happen in real life." It's also a bit grating to see a nepo baby in the lead role.

For the record, yes, I've seen the first Kingsman movie (but neither of the sequels); it was certainly enjoyable. You'll like this one if you want to shut your brain off for two hours. Otherwise you'll spend the whole time wondering why you didn't watch "Poor Things" or "The Zone of Interest" (both of which I recommend).

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EO (2022)

10/10

yes, movies about animals can be serious

12 May 2024

Usually when we think of movies about animals, we think of movies geared towards tykes. "Babe" was probably the best one, although most tend to be second- or third-rate.

Well, now we have one geared towards adults. Jerzy Skolimowski's Academy Award-nominated "Eo" is about a the trials and tribulations of a donkey. After the circus in which he performs gets shut down by animal welfare activists, Eo roams around, occasionally getting adopted, but never staying in one place very long.

The movie goes long periods without dialogue, to emphasize Eo's point of view, and it includes some absolutely horrific occurrences. All I can say is that is is one of the most beautiful and shocking movies that I've ever seen, and I recommend it to everyone. I certainly hope that the director gets to make at least one more movie.

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The Dawn Patrol (1930)

7/10

high-flying heroes (or ordinary men)

11 May 2024

Howard Hawk's Academy Award-winning first talkie focuses on a group of fighter pilots in World War I. Like another prominent movie about World War I released in 1930 - Lewis Milestone's "All Quiet on the Western Front" - this is an anti-war movie, focusing on the futility of war. The plot involves the leader of a squadron who defies his commanding officer.

I understand that most of the war movies released in the early '30s were anti-war. People simply remembered that World War I changed nothing significant, merely killing millions of young men senselessly and leaving a lost generation. Attitudes probably would've stayed such had another global war not come about (never mind that World War I set the stage for World War II, with the reparations on Germany leading to Hitler's rise to power; on top of that, Woodrow Wilson's refusal to listen to a young Ho Chi Minh set the stage for the Vietnam War).

Anyway, not a masterpiece but worth seeing.

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On the Beach at Night Alone (2017)

5/10

How many times is art going to imitate life?

10 May 2024

An occasional theme in cinema is art imitating life, or vice versa. That was the gist of Francois Truffaut's "Day for Night", and it's the whole idea behind advertising.

I should note that "Bamui haebyun-eoseo honja" ("On the Beach at Night Alone" in English) is the first Hong Sang-soo movie that I've ever seen. I have some understanding of Korean cinema, thanks to "Parasite" and "Lady Vengeance". This movie is yet another comparison/contrast between life and art. Obviously I can't compare it to the rest of the director's work. What I can say is that it's a movie that tests your attention span: lots of long takes showing people just talking. I wouldn't say that it's exactly a good or bad movie, but I couldn't see what point it was trying to make. Or maybe it was an analysis of the protagonist's choices. Like I said, it requires a lot of concentration.

Whatever the case, it appears that Hong is an acquired taste, like Jim Jarmusch. See what you think.

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Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight (2013)

9/10

whether the court had ruled for him or against him, Ali would still be the greatest

9 May 2024

Warning: Spoilers

If you know about 20th century sports, then you're bound to know about Muhammad Ali. In addition to his boxing career, Ali also made news for his conversion to Islam, and subsequent refusal to go into the army, declaring it against his religion, and the US government's stripping him of his title. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court.

Stephen Frears's "Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight" focuses on the case, following the Justices as they pore over the material and try to reach a conclusion. And the Greatest himself? He appears in footage, affirming that his fight is here in the US.

Playing the SCOTUS members are Frank Langella, Christopher Plummer, Ed Begley Jr., Peter Gerety, Barry Levinson, John Bedford Lloyd, Fritz Weaver, Harris Yulin and Danny Glover. The movie gives us a sense of the court's inner workings, both with the interactions between the Justices, and with their clerks (Dana Ivey plays a secretary). I don't know if I would call it a masterpiece, but it's interesting to see how one of the most important cases of the era played out. Of course, even if they'd ruled against Muhammad Ali, he'd still be the greatest boxer of all time.

PS: screenwriter Shawn Slovo is the daughter of South African anti-apartheid activists Joe Slovo and Ruth First, depicted in the 1988 movie "A World Apart".

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100 Bloody Acres (2012)

9/10

midday with the devil, here to do the devil's work

8 May 2024

I learned of Colin and Cameron Cairnes from their recent movie "Late Night with the Devil", about a broadcast depicting an exorcism that starts getting too real. It turns out that they've been directing for over a decade. Their first feature was 2012's "100 Bloody Acres", one of the goriest movies that isn't a slasher. The plot involves a situtation that spins out of control involving a fertilizer business.

Without a doubt, this is a fine entry in the Ozsploitation genre (meaning exploitation movies from down under). The only cast member whom I recognized was Damon Herriman, who appeared as Charles Manson in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood". If you like shocking movies, then this is the one for you. I'll have to see the Cairnes brothers' 2009 short and their 2016 feature.

Personally, I thought Lindsay looked like what you'd get if Sacha Baron Cohen played Abraham Lincoln.

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We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)

9/10

Your children are bound to not be what you predict.

7 May 2024

One of the most important elements of movies focusing on families is how children end up different from their parents. Both "A Summer Place" and "The Graduate" showed the younger generation displeased with the parents' decadence and hypocrisy. Lynne Ramsay later gave us the gritty "We Need to Talk About Kevin", about a boy who develops increasingly manipulative and sociopathic tendencies as he ages.

The movie never preaches or moralizes. It's told from the mom's point of view as she sees her son's cruel streak start to damage her family. With a non-linear plot, Ramsay manages to tell much of the story without words, as the ugly conclusion slowly approaches.

It's an impressive piece of work, but definitely not for the fainthearted. Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly and Ezra Miller put on fine performances.

"All happy families are alike. Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." (commonly attributed to Anton Chekhov, although I don't know if he's the one who originally said it)

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The Fall Guy (2024)

9/10

Barbenheimer comes to the screen in stunts

6 May 2024

If ever you needed proof that movies come out right when written by cinephiles instead of algorithms, we now have it, with the co-stars of last year's two most anticipated movies appearing in a movie together. "The Fall Guy" is a tribute to stunt people, probably the most unsung heroes of the silver screen. The movie simultaneously celebrates everything that we love about cinema, while also giving a glimpse into the actual productions.

Basically, this is what entertainment is all about. Once we see this movie, we're bound to wonder whether stunt work will ever be an Oscars category; it should be, considering what they have to go through.

Anyway, great one. Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Winston Duke, Hannah Waddingham and the rest have a lot of fun with their roles.

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Nocebo (II) (2022)

8/10

Ireland and the Philippines have similar histories

5 May 2024

Undeniably, Lorcan Finnegan's "Nocebo" is a thriller that has a shocking revelation at the end. Both Eva Green (as a fashion designer) and Chai Fonacier (as her Filipino caretaker) put on great performances.

But beyond that, the director noted that Ireland and the Philippines share a history of colonization and exploitation.* While they ended up quite different, it still makes sense that an Irishman would sympathize with an oppressed people.

Anyway, it's a good look at the state of the world. You may feel uncomfortable about the objects in your house after watching it.

*A tragic irony is that in filming "Apocalypse Now" - which was all about colonialism - in the Philippines, Francis Ford Coppola created colonialism.

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Honor Among Lovers (1931)

5/10

while it goes without saying that the pre-Code stuff is interesting, the plot has aged poorly

4 May 2024

Suppose an executive started hitting on his secretary. In the 21st century - particularly in the MeToo era - his career would probably be over quickly. But in a 1931 release, it got treated as "cute". Dorothy Arzner's "Honor Among Lovers" casts Fredric March as the suit in question who has the hots for his underling (Claudette Colbert). She's already engaged, but the story isn't over.

We can forgive the archaic depiction of gender relations, considering the era in which the movie got released. It's got some entertaining material, and its release before the establishment of the Hays Code means that it has some stuff that wouldn't be allowed again for decades to come. But overall the plot makes one cringe nowadays. Worth seeing as a historical reference, I guess.

Watch for a young Ginger Rogers in her debut.

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San Andreas (2015)

4/10

I could pretty much guess what was going to happen

3 May 2024

If you accept Brad Peyton's "San Andreas" as a CGI fest, then you'll enjoy every minute of it. Otherwise, I could predict almost the entire movie, as it has every cliche in a disaster movie:

*Resourceful hero having family problems.

*Hero's estranged wife is in a relationship with a jerk.

*Scientist is trying to explain what's going on, but people aren't listening.

On top of that, I suspect Neil deGrasse Tyson would denounce this as one of the most scientifically offensive movies ever (a title that he applied to Michael Bay's "Armageddon").

My point is that if you just want two hours of special effects, then this is your movie. If you're looking for a 2015 movie with character development, then I recommend Todd Haynes's "Carol".

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Film socialisme (2010)

5/10

Jean-Luc Godard really went all out here, didn't he?

2 May 2024

I'll admit that I've only seen a handful of Jean-Luc Godard's movies. "Film socialisme" is the latest. Very bizarre movie. In fact, it doesn't really emphasize a plot. It's hard to tell what the movie's emphasis is supposed to be, with the focus on a group of people aboard a cruise ship in the Mediterranean. Maybe Godard wanted to address the use of certain places as tourist meccas, but I couldn't be certain. With current events in the world, it's probably significant that the movie includes Palestine.

I'd like to see the rest of Godard's movies, but I doubt that I'll ever be able to truly understand what sort of point he was trying to make with this one.

Watch for singer-songwriter Patti Smith in a brief appearance.

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Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)

6/10

basically, to enjoy this you have to know the old B movies

1 May 2024

An oversized gal. A gelatinous life form. A half-human, half-fish. And on top of it, a gravelly-voiced general meeting the bespectacled president in the war room.

No doubt any movie fan will recognize these characters from old movies, whether B movies or one of the greatest satires of all time. So now we have a combo in the form of "Monsters vs. Aliens", where a group of abnormal beings have to go up against a maniacal extraterrestrial bent on destroying everything.

I suspect that the tykes who watched this simply thought everything looked cool, while the parents got all the references to other movies (assuming that they knew said movies).

Nothing special, but enjoyable. I wonder how many people realized that the general's name looked like warmonger.

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This Is the Life (2008)

8/10

once upon a time before we knew about Ava DuVernay

30 April 2024

In the past decade, Ava DuVernay has become one of the most renowned directors. She turned out "Selma", about Martin Luther King's 1965 march; "13th", about the roots of mass incarceration; and "A Wrinkle in Time", an adaptation of Madeline L'Engle's novel.

It turns out that DuVernay debuted with a documentary in 2008. "This Is the Life" tells the story of the alternative hip hop scene in South Central in the early '90s. Centered at The Good Life, this group of people had a great time with their music. It was one of those things that could only happen for a short period of time.

DuVernay herself appears as one of the interviewees, as she was one of the original Good Life emcees, having been half of the all-female group Figure of Speech. In all these years I'd never known about this early half of her career.

Anyway, it's a fine documentary about a part of culture that most people don't know. I don't know if it's available on any streaming service, so you'll have to see if a neighborhood video (yes, they still exist) has it.

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The Zone of Interest (2023)

10/10

in both the past and present, complacency equals complicity

29 April 2024

The Nazis' mass slaughter of Jews, Roma, leftists and LGBT people is widely recognized as one of the evilest campaigns in history. Countless movies have depicted the genocide, making the Nazis' evil abundantly clear.

But what about the architects of the genocide? Were they cartoonish villains? This is the subject matter of Jonathan Glazer's Academy Award-winning drama "The Zone of Interest". The focus is on Lt. Col. Rudolf Höß's family, living next to Auschwitz in 1943. They go about their daily lives as though nothing is happening. The mass slaughter is heard but not seen. To those in power, evil acts are nothing to think about.

When Glazer accepted his Oscar, he noted that the movie is about not just the past, but also the present. One could make the argument that contentment with one's existence amounts to complicity in the government's evil deeds, even as I write this. It should also get noted that Glazer's condemnation of Israel's war against Gaza was not a repudiation of his Jewish ancestry, just the use of it to justify mass slaughter.

In the end, this movie should make you understand that almost everyone has a link to evil, even if they don't actively participate. Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüller put on fine performances as Rudolf Höß and his wife Hedwig. Definitely see it.

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