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| Witching and Bitching |
The Wachowskis' Speed Racer, from 2008, is a glittering, yet empty vessel. The film lost a ton of money for Warmer Brothers, but has developed a cult following over the years. The original animation series was a slight affair aimed at the pre-pube set and the movie largely follows that template, albeit with a mise-en-scene that resembles a Nintendo game (especially Mario Kart) more than it does the original series. The players, as usual in a Wachowski film, range from terrible (Emile Hirsch, Roger Allam), to those picking up a nice check (John Goodman, Susan Sarandon), to laudable (Christina Ricci, Matthew Fox). The plot is threadbare and the use of multiple flashbacks give it an incoherent and bloated feel. Yet, I can recognize what the film's fans see in its dizzyingly bright, candy-coated facade. The CGI is bolstered by old fashioned techniques like matte painting and rotoscoping to good effect. The film's bold look keeps one's eyes glued to the screen even when one's mind drifts.
John Sturges' Mystery Street, from 1950, is a routine, yet mildly engaging forensic procedural set in a Beantown devoid of skyscrapers. Ricardo Montalban stars as a detective trying to solve a murder after a skeleton is found on a Cape Cod beach. Montalban was using more hard edged roles, such as his successful turns in Battleground and Border Incident, to become a full fledged leading man after first appearing in Hollywood films as Latin fluff in The Kissing Bandit and Fiesta or aquatic fluff such as Neptune's Daughter. It was not to be and he was soon again appearing in film with titles such as Sombrero and Latin Lover. Mystery Street's script was written by Stanley Boehm and Richard Brooks in the then fashionable style of noir inflected realism. Sturges' no-nonsense approach helps things along, as does John Alton's black and white location and studio shooting. Featuring entertaining supporting turns by Elsa Lanchester, Bruce Bennett, Betsy Blair, and Jan Sterling
William A. Seiter's Belle of the Yukon, from 1944, is a comic, musical Western mish-mash set in Alaska. Far from being a good movie, the film has a threadbare plot with inane comic routines interspersed amongst the musical numbers. Dinah Shore, then a top pop and jazz vocalist, is featured warbling some so-so Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke tunes. Shore was no great shakes as an actress, somebody should have told her that it is OK to close your mouth occasionally, but was not helped by Seiter's minimalist direction. Male lead Randolph Scott is paired with Gypsy Rose Lee, primarily famous as a burlesque performer who specialized in striptease routines. Needless to say, her talents are underutilized here, but she does display some chemistry with Scott.
King Vidor's Bardelys the Magnificent, from 1926, has John Gilbert frolicking in a Rafael Sabatini penned swashbuckler. The romantic scenes are swoon worthy, particularly a punt ride through willow branches with Eleanor Boardman, and the action scenes cock a friendly snoot towards Douglas Fairbanks. This was the third and final collaboration between Vidor and Gilbert. There is a sense of this film being concocted for the marketplace to compete with rival studio blockbusters like The Black Pirate (with Fairbanks) and Don Juan. No matter, if you enjoy similar films with Fairbanks or Errol Flynn, you will enjoy this.
The Whale is Darren Aronofsky's worst film since The Fountain. Mother!, at least, had some batshit manic energy, but The Whale lies beached. The cast is fine, Brendan Fraser's fat suit will find a place in the Academy museum alongside the eyepatch from True Grit and Nicole Kidman's nose from The Hours. Aronofsky returns to the realistic style of The Wrestler and the weaknesses of Samuel D. Hunter's play (shallow characterization, silly and predictable plot machinations) are magnified by this kitchen sink approach. Beware.
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