Slapstick Death

Wait a minute, someone must be pulling my leg...the guy who owns Segway (James Heselden) goes off a cliff while riding on a Segway and plunges into a river, killing himself? 

This is the kind of comically absurd death that Blake Edwards might have invented for one of his '60s or '70s farces. The man's death is tragic but it does make you chuckle in an abstract way. You picture a grainy black and white image straight out of a Buster Keaton two-reeler.

Films have been able to make death funny when keeping  the particulars vague and emphasizing the random bad luck that goes into suddenly being killed -- its inevitability, illogic, lack of fairness.

There's a moment in John Frankenheimer's "The Train" when a bespectacled German sergeant wakes up from a nap in a caboose on a stalled train, opens up the rear door and sees another train heading right for him. He barely has time to react before the crash decimates the caboose.  Why is this funny? Because of the timing of the cuts and the fact that we don't see the sergeant suffer.

There's another moment in Mike Nichols' "Day of the Dolphin" when a dolphin plants a magnetized bomb on the hull of a yacht carrying a group of scheming bad guys. Cut to a shot of them sitting around a poker table. One of the baddies -- a young dolphin trainer who has betrayed his colleagues -- hears a sound, gets up, goes to a porthole and sees the dolphin swimming away. He puts two and two together, goes "oh, shit" and BLAM! It's funny because of the editing, and the way the actor delivers the "oh, shit" line. If it hadn't been done just so it wouldn't have worked.

The Top 5 Fall Films

There's a chill in the morning air. The leaves have started to fall. This could only mean the beginning of the next cycle of films to spin through your local cinema. Here is a quick list of 5 movies that I'll be seeing opening weekend. By the way I'm only including films from September, October and the beginning of November. Thanksgiving is the start of the Winter film season no matter what Entertainment Weekly says.

5) The Town (September 17th) Who would have thought that Ben Affleck would turn out to be one of the brightest young directors in Hollywood. He follows up the excellent "Gone BabyGone" with this crime thriller set in his hometown of Boston. The cast is strong featuring Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall and Jeremy Renner. But has Affleck overextended himself by taking the lead role? We shall see.

4) Buried (September 24th) Before he saves the universe next summer as a member of the Green Lantern Corps. Ryan Reynolds stretches his acing muscles by starring in this unique thriller.   Reynolds plays a U.S. contractor in Iraq who is kidnapped and finds himself buried inside a coffin with only a lighter and cell phone. The entire film takes place inside the coffin. The film was shot on the cheap very quickly so there is little risk but if it works it could lead to meatier dramatic roles for Reynolds and I like to see actors take chances.

3) 127 Hours (November 19th) Oddly, another solo acting gig but this one is directed by Danny Boyle so I'm hoping for some fantastic visuals.  In this true life story James Franco plays a mountain climber who cuts off his own arm to free himself from a boulder that had trapped him. Not sure how that will translate to film but even Boyle's failures ("Sunshine," "Life Less Ordinary" and "The Beach") are interesting. 

2) Red (October 15) This looks like a fun change of pace and much better than the last film based on a hitman graphic novel "Wanted". Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirran, John Malkovich, Brian Cox, Mary-Louise Parker, Karl Urban, Richard Dreyfuss and Earnest Borgnine make a formidable cast and they appear to be in on the joke (unlike the crew from "The Expendables".)  When motivated no one is better than Willis at melding action and comedy.

1) The Social Network (October 1st) Early reviews from the Toronto Film Festival for Dad Fincher's opus on the creation of Facebook have been gushing Valentines. Fincher's body of work has been a mixed bag for me. After a unimpressive debut with "Alien 3" he has directed classics ("Seven" and "Zodiac") and failures ("The Game" and "Panic Room")  but his work is always pushing the boundaries of cinema in new and interesting directions. The youthful cast has all ready nabbed some of the most sought after roles in Hollywood. Andrew Garfield is the new Peter Parker in the spider-Man reboot and Rooney Mara nabbed the title role in the American remake of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" also directed by Fincher. 

American Hitman Picnics in Italy

Anton Corbijn's "The American" is a soothing art piece that respects the audience's intelligence but never fully connects on any emotional level. The cinematography is photography is exquisite and the whole affair feels like a lost film from Antonioni. Anyone expecting a slam bang action thriller will be disappointed as the film is more a meditation on paranoia. Clooney does a fine job as a man unable to live because he's forced to use all his wits in order to avoid the predators that he knows are after him.

Machete Don't Text

 

Robert Rodriguez's latest callback to the golden age of grindhouse is pretty entertaining, even if it's not really very good. The movie is essentially is a two-minute joke expanded to an overlong 105 minutes just like the films based on a SNL skit. Trejo isn't an actor with very much range and Machete should be in his wheelhouse but he lacks the charisma to be an effective leading man. A doughy looking Steven Seagal is out acted by his shoe polish black hairpiece.

French Goodfellas

Jean-François Richet’s "Mesrine: Killer Instinct" is an explosive, non-stop action thriller detailing an incredible series of transcontinental crimes, all perpetrated by one man. The tale would scarcely be credible even in a Hollywood movie but it is true. Vincent Cassel is an imposing presence, dangerously charming with women, controlled in his fury but reckless in his targets, and he’s very capably supported by partners in crime Gilles Lellouche, Roy Dupuis and Cécile de France. Gérard Depardieu is surprisingly restrained, wisely sitting back and letting Cassel handle the lead. Don't be scared off by the subtitles. This is one of the best films of the year.

The Past Edited for Your Safety

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Disney will release the classic film Fantasia on Blu-ray on November 30th. The release will include all the bells and whistles that collectors have come to expect. But, as with previous DVD releases, the character known as the black centaurette will be removed from "The Pastrol Symphony" sequence via a digital zoom. I have mixed feelings on this.

As a film geek, I'd love to see the original sequence included as a seamless branching option. But in today's PC climate, I understand why Disney would want to sidestep any potential controversy. It's the same reason why we will never see a official release of Song of the South. The racial image would overshadow the release. Disney should release both films uncensored in special editions that address the subject of racism in classic Hollywood films head on with features that examine how far we have come and how far we have yet to go. But in today's talking-head, 24-hour newscycle media, some group would stir up a shitstorm and use the films as an opportunity to grab headlines. History should never be sanitized for the public. These things happened, and to bury past errors is wrong. But to view them in context appears to be beyond the ability or inclination of most people. So while I do understand Disney's decision, it is unfortunate that we have not progressed to the point where we can acknowledge past mistakes and civilly discuss them.
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Performance Capture: Pre-Digital Age

James Cameron’s blockbuster Avatar may feature photorealistic aliens, but for my money, the most magical special effects were created by a single man: Ray Harryhausen.  He brought to life some of the most memorable creatures in film history without the assistance of computers.

The master at work.

I was first introduced to Harryhausen’s work in the second grade when I borrowed the picture book Creatures! from my school’s library. The title was part of a book series that featured entries on Dracula, the Wolfman, Frankenstein’s Monster, and even King Kong. These books were very popular with the boys in my class, and you had to be quick to grab one during our weekly library visit. The photos included in this entry were magnificent and sent my imagination into overdrive. There were pictures of sword-wielding skeletons, a Hydra, a dinosaur attacking a rollercoaster, a giant octopus destroying the Golden Gate Bridge, flying saucers destroying Washington, D.C., and the most mind-blowing of all--an alien fighting an elephant! I felt a primal need to see these films. How could such wondrous images exist and I have yet to see them? I copied the titles from the index and in those pre-home video days would scan the television listings every Sunday hoping against hope that one would appear.
Luckily I didn’t have to wait long as my local UHF channel aired a double feature of Jason and the Argonauts and The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad a few months later. I sat (too close to our console television) totally transfixed as formally static pictures now moved and interacted with real actors. Harryhausen’s creations were things of beauty and horror. The image of the Cyclops cooking a sailor on a spit over a fire haunted my nightmares for months.

I couldn't find a picture with the sailor strapped to the spit.

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad provided me not only with thrilling creatures and swashbuckling action but was the source of my first crush. Caroline Munro was so beautiful that she almost outshined Harryhausen’s work. My 7-year-old self felt oddly uncomfortable sitting next to his mother. Ms. Munro haunted my dreams as well…but that is another story.

As the years went by my admiration for Harryhausen only grew as I learned the secrets of stop motion. He designed, sculpted, and animated the creatures himself. I was flabbergasted by the fact that one minute of footage could take days to complete. How could one man have the patience and the skill to animate these fantastic sequences one frame at a time?  The man was a complete genius and could do no wrong.  I was appalled to learn that none of his films had ever been nominated nor won the Academy Award for Special Effects.  In my eyes, this was a greater sin than Hitchcock never winning Best Director. After all, did Hitch ever choreograph a fight between mythological creatures? The Academy did award Harryhausen the Gordon E. Sawyer Award for contributions to the technology of moviemaking in 1992, and I cheered this overdue recognition.

Long overdue

Harryhausen’s films are the fertile field where imaginations grow. Many artists cite one of his creations as the inspiration for their art. The Cyclops fight with the dragon; the statue of Talos coming to life; Jason fighting the many-headed Hydra; the Kraken rising to destroy Jappa; the terrifying Medusa stalking Perseus; the six-armed, sword-wielding goddess Kali; the Ymir; and numerous others--- classic images that transport many of us to our childhood.  I’ve purchased these films on VHS, laserdisc, DVD, Blu-ray and will pay to have them directly downloaded to my brain without regret when that technology comes on the market, because they are timeless reminders of what one man can accomplish with creativity and patience.

Watch more movies! Demands Medusa.