Stage Mother plus Short Takes on I Used To Go Here, suggestions for TCM cable offerings, along with a few mentions of other cinematic topics

Home May Be Where The Heart Is … But Where, Exactly, Is Home?

Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke

I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the CCAL (Collective Critics at Large) when they’re supportive or the OCCU (Often Cranky Critics Universe) when they go negative.

                  Stage Mother (Thom Fitzgerald)   rated R

Opening Chatter (no spoilers): Amidst raging wildfires, unhealthy air, COVID-19, and the Republican Convention this week it’s barely safe to go outside here right now so it’s no surprise CA cinemas (except some drive-ins) remain closed while I’m still streaming on your behalf, this time with a couple of movies that have some direct appeal for me, even as the OCCU didn’t have much use for my first pick although they switched to being the CCAL for my next one (yet the Rotten Tomatoes audience score was only 58% based on 36 responses while the Metacritic audience was more supportive [as best I can understand their point system], 4.8 of 6 [?], but that’s based on only 5 people so there’s not much to celebrate statistically here).  Stage Mother appeals to me because it focuses on a conservative woman who leaves her small Texas town for San Francisco to inherent a drag club owned by her now-deceased-young-adult-son, bringing scorn from her disgusted husband as well as the son’s partner/lover who’s disgusted over how Ricky’s parents essentially disowned him for 10 years as well as how his livelihood, residence, life in general will disappear/be diminished if Mom simply sells the place; fortunately for all concerned she makes a sympathetic turn toward the club hoping to improve its attraction, boost its clientele.  While I have no direct connection with conservative Texas Christianity (I was about as liberal and agnostic as you can get by the time I left that state in 1984) or gay nightclubs (I don’t even live in SF, although I’m just across the bay), I’m easily heartened by a story of a Texan who comes to northern California, embraces a new worldview.

 Also, in the Short Takes section I’ll offer comments on I Used To Go Here about a not-quite-so-young-anymore-woman trying to make a career as a novelist but her first book’s not selling well, her fiancée’s gone, so she accepts an invitation from her former creative writing professor to return to her undergrad campus for a reading where she finds herself involved in all sorts of intrigue unlike what she’d known in her previous time there.  While I’ve never been invited to do anything for my alma mater, U. of Texas at Austin, except donate to alumni causes, this premise is still intriguing for me given how I’ve lived most of my professional life in higher ed, not always avoiding the situation Kate’s prof has gotten into (now that I’m retired maybe I’ll reveal more a little bit later).  Both movies are available on several platforms; for convenience I chose Amazon Prime where the former’s $5.99 for rental, the latter’s $6.99.  Additionally in that section I’ll offer suggestions for some choices on the Turner Classic Movies channel (but too much extra text for line-justified-layout like you see here [Related Links stuff at each posting’s end is similarly-ragged], at least to be done by this burned-out-BlogSpot-drone—oh, tedious software!) along with my standard options of industry-related-trivia.

Here’s the trailer for Stage Mother:

                   (Use the full screen button in the image’s lower right to enlarge it; activate 

                   that same button or use the “esc” keyboard key to return to normal size.)

            

If you can abide plot spoilers read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $.  To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid those important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters like this: 

⇒The first and last words will be noted with arrows and red.⇐ OK, now continue on if you prefer.

What Happens: Maybelline Metcalfe’s (Jacki Weaver) a choir director in a Protestant church in a small, conservative (what else?) town, Red Vine, somewhere in Texas (in this movie, not in reality; when I lived there, though, I wondered at times how much reality there was in the state itself); she and husband Jeb (Hugh Thompson) disowned their gay son, Ricky (Eldon Thiele), 10 years ago so the young man moved to San Francisco (where else?), owns a drag club, Pandora’s Box, also performs in it until he suddenly collapses on stage one night, dead.  When informed of their son’s demise Mom’s heartbroken, Dad still wants nothing to do with him, leaving Maybelline to head west by herself for the funeral.  Once there, however, she walks out of the service when the preacher starts extolling Ricky’s super-gayness intended as praise for the deceased, yet it’s just too much for Maybelline who never could understand or accept her son’s gender-orientation.  She finds a friendly ear from Ricky’s best friend, Sienna (Lucy Liu), whose baby’s also named Ricky but not because Maybelline’s boy was the father.  She gets a more hostile reception, though, from Ricky’s lover/club manager, Nathan (Adrian Grenier), upset about how isolated Ricky was from his family for all those years, further incensed Ricky left the nightclub to his parents with Mom’s first inclination being to sell it.  (Adding a sense of insult to injury, Ricky and Nathan never married as the ostracized son was hoping Mom would accept him first, so Nathan’s now about to be evicted from his apartment as well.)

 However, when she goes to get a sense of the place Maybelline immediately (despite no sense of connection with the club, its performers, or its patrons) shifts her attention to helping the employees revive the sagging attendance, convincing the main trio of performers—Cherry (Mya Taylor), Tequila Mockingbird (Oscar Moreno), Joan of Arkansas (Allister MacDonald)—to sing live with help from this experienced choir director (Anybody get a sense of a bit of an overlap here from Sister Act [Emile Ardolino, 1992]?  At least we’re in a different neighborhood from Whoopi Goldberg’s church.) instead of lip-synching to popular songs.  This results in an almost-instant-turnaround in the club’s finances (not unlike Maybelline’s quick shift toward acceptance of a culture about as foreign to her as one from central Asia), attention toward Maybelline from maybe the only straight patron of the place, hotel-concierge August (Anthony Skordi)—a Texan-transplant (but no other sort of trans)—along with a slowly-warming attitude from Nathan.  As if she weren’t successful enough already with the club-improvement Maybelline also proves herself to be a useful mother-confessor/acquaintance-protector, helping the club’s singers with their various personal problems, even pulling a gun at one point (well, she is from Texas after all) on one male creep who hassles Pandora’s former hostess, Dusty Muffin (Jackie Beat [Ken Fuhur]), who'd served as Ricky’s “drag mother” when he arrived in San Francisco.

 Maybelline’s successful in broadening the club’s appeal, bringing in curious tourists especially to hear a number about not bothering with waiting for “Mr. Right” but instead connecting with “Mr. Right Now” (evoking another past reminder for me, this time from yet-another-Texan: Stephen Stills’ song "Love the One You're With" [live 2000 version, joined by Crosby, Nash, and Young at Farm Aid during one of those rare times when they were all still talking to each other], but that’s just an aside, not a Musical Metaphor for this movie; however, you can find it on his 1970 album named for the song if you like).  Jeb keeps trying to make contact but Maybelline won’t take his calls, preferring to push forward for the moment with Pandora’s Box rather than likely be ordered to return home when she has more-pressing-interpersonal-tasks to deal with including helping Joan break her drug habit (in response to how no one tried to pull Ricky back from his brink).  ⇒By now Jeb’s waited long enough so he comes to SF to retrieve his wife, wants to just sell the bar and be done with the whole scene, but ultimately he goes along with Maybelline giving it to Nathan for 20% of the ongoing profits.  She then returns to Texas with Jeb but finally puts a photo of Ricky on their mantelpiece which still makes Dad uncomfortable, so ultimately she returns to Tony Bennett’s “city by the bay,” even joins the show by singing at Pandora’s Box a rousing rendition of "Total Eclipse of the Heart"; no, still not the official Musical Metaphor (just doesn’t seem appropriate for the overall upbeat arc of this movie, kind of makes for an odd finale also; I guess it’s intended to acknowledge all the pain and loss these various Pandora’s characters have experienced, ultimately overcome, in their challenged-lives, captured in Weaver’s spirited rendition—I can’t give you that one so you’ll just have to make do with Bonnie Tyler’s version—from her 1983 Faster Than the Speed of Light album—live from 2019, evocative of the flamboyant display you’d see in Stage Mother).⇐    An actual Musical Metaphor will appear in this review, though, I promise, soon as I can conjure up something even more appropriate.

So What? Despite the geographic locations of this story in (somewhere) Texas and northern California it’s actually shot in Nova Scotia, Canada (with some authentic opening imagery from the gay-heavy Castro district in SF), yet manages to properly give a sense of both script-indicated-locations to me who’s spent about 35 years apiece in both locations (lived/traveled all over the Lone Star State; never actually lived in SF but dwelled in various Bay Area locations, visited The City [as it’s known locally, never as Frisco] countless times).  What doesn’t feel as authentic to me, though, is how quickly Maybelline shifts from seemingly-homophobic-Mom to gay-den-Mom almost overnight, despite how much I’m sure she secretly loved her son (even while living with Jeb’s unwavering hostility).  When I think of how my mother, my grandmothers, both of my aunts (all native Texans) would have reacted if I‘d been like Ricky, I just can’t see such immediate acceptance let alone immersion in the main public arena of her son’s lifestyle; I’m not saying all of them wouldn’t have come around eventually (not necessarily saying they would have either), but so quickly, just to keep a drag club open, is quite a stretch despite how Maybelline's presented with a heart as big as Texas.

 But, that initial concern aside, I was very taken with Weaver’s performance, became willing to suspend my disbelief as her character showed such genuine concern for bettering the lives of her son’s companions, so my next problem comes with the OCCU’s harsh rejection of Stage Mother (more details in the next section of this review—any trick I can think of to keep you reading) so I turned to a couple of them I thought might have reasons for affinity with this story based on their CA locations (with active LGBTQ communities) and female identities, finding at best a level of hesitant-tolerance missing from many other reviews.  The closest writer to the action of the depicted-narrative is Anita Katz of the San Francisco Examiner who ultimately dismisses what she sees: “[…] we’re willing to follow this woman wherever the screenplay takes her. [¶] Unfortunately, though, those places often defy believability, and the predictability of the plot and the underdevelopment of the characters further weaken the story. The film lacks the emotional resonance of upbeat culture-clash fare like the British film ‘Pride’ or, as San Francisco stories go, a distinctive personality, ‘Tales of the City’ style. [¶] As she almost magically brightens one life after another, Maybelline is less Mary Ann than Mary Poppins. She’s almost otherworldly. That’s watchable, thanks to Weaver, but a less perfect, more deeply human heroine would have more satisfyingly embodied Fitzgerald’s message of acceptance and compassion.”  I understand her point, but I still found Maybelline’s transformation (including with her newfound trans friends) to be something I’ll really hope to see more of in real life.

 However, when I traveled south in my adopted state for opinions I found a bit more acceptance from Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter: “Like many a stage mother, Thom Fitzgerald's comic drama is pushy. It tries too hard, in all too obvious ways, to win over the audience. But its optimistic, ultra-schematic story is an olive branch of sorts between Southern Baptist suburbia and San Francisco gaytopia — and who couldn't use an olive branch these days, or a shot of optimism? [… ¶ …] Jacki Weaver is luminous and affecting as a bereaved mother who becomes an absurdly effective catalyst in the lives of her late son's friends. And the central trio of drag performers are terrific, onstage and off. Stage Mother could prove a crowd-pleaser for audiences who are willing to overlook its clunkiness.”  Yet for me, straight old White guy that I am (who, nevertheless, believes Black Lives Matter—eventually, I’ll accept All Lives Matter but only when vast numbers of the undervalued, underpaid, underfed, underacknowledged in our society are given the same respect, opportunities, and love so many in the White Establishment have enjoyed for so long), I didn’t find all that much clunkiness here (surely, I’d be considered not as “woke” as I need to be by those who’d disagree), so, stereotypical man that I am, I turned further to another California guy (from LA, as with Linden), Dennis Harvey of Variety who manages to better clarify what I’m trying to understand, reviewing this film as best I could have hoped to: “But the script mostly defines characters by their dysfunctions, which somehow only a sweet li’l old Texas lady’s folksy wisdoms (and occasional gun-waving) can magically cure. The film inadvertently revives the old-school notion that LGBT folk are outwardly ‘flamboyant’ yet inwardly lonely souls crippled by substance abuse, lack of parental love and self-acceptance, etc. Even pleasingly crass cis [straight] Sienna turns out to be a hot mess of insecurities in need of a Lone Star mom’s healing gumption. There’s a whole lot of twinkle-eyed overnight problem solving and thankful hugs in the last reel here. […] There’s much about ‘Stage Mother’ that’s slightly stale, but like yesterday’s donut, the icing on top makes it both look inviting and go down easily enough.”  OK, I admit, any mention of donuts probably gives me a favorable take on that review, but I do like how he presents his argument (as I did with the 2 other reviews just above).

 When you put all of this together you’d probably think I should have dropped my rating down a notch to just 3 stars but I’m still swayed enough, both by Weaver’s performance and screenwriter Bard Henning’s (another small-town Texan, now happily residing in SF) “glasnost” (look it up if you must, although some would likely consider its concept to be as dated as Stage Mother’s worldview) intentions to be a bit more supportive than those OCCU folks.  You can also find praise for this narrative from one of its cast, transgender Mya Taylor—most famous for her work in Tangerine (Sean Baker, 2015; review in our July 31, 2015 posting [donuts are featured there also])—who’s able to speak more directly about the goals and impact of this movie than I ever could (you can see her conversation as the second item connected to ... Mother in the Related Links section farther below).

Bottom Line Final Comments: OK, here are those OCCU numbers I previously alluded to: Rotten Tomatoes could muster up only 58% positive reviews while those at Metacritic come in with their customary response even lower, a 41% average score.  In scanning through some of these I find the chief complaints mostly echo what the 3 reviews I’ve cited above had to say, that the SF LGBTQ community (and, by extension, all like it) is presented in a too-simplistic, retrograde manner with fundamentally-flawed-characters who need a motherly, White, cis savior to bring themselves (along with their new mentor herself) into a condition of better self-acceptance, life-control, joy in existence.  Well, as this story goes, that’s true enough but such a narrative could also have been constructed around Silicon Valley high-tech-workers or aspiring-NYC-stockbrokers or any other group where personal anxiety, social fragility, economic uncertainty can mask what appears on the surface to be a celebrated, healthy lifestyle fraught with hidden fears, individual failures, even angry-ostracization by others outside their enclaves for too being too financially successful (although that part’s certainly not the case for the Pandora’s Box crowd).  On the other (most important) hand, the trope of downtrodden LGBTQ characters may be tiresome to some audiences who’d otherwise want to appreciate the “come together” (however you may want to interpret that phrase) attitude of this movie because they’re tired of such a long cinematic tradition of gender nonconformists—especially gay men, but also lesbians, trans-folks, others—being treated as deviant, desperate, or dangerous (if you need more background on this see The Celluloid Closet [Rob Epstein and Jeffery Friedman, 1996] because for every La Cage au Folles [Édouard Molinaro, 1978; remade as The Birdcage by Mike Nichols in 1996] that attempts to celebrate gender diversity there are just as many or more such as Boys Don’t Cry [Kimberly Peirce, 1999] that chronicle its difficult, often deadly, resistance).  In truth, there’s no nonconformity at all here (except in the minds of homophobes like Jeb who are quick to “other-ize” anything/anyone threating the fragile security of their learned-identities), a point Stage Mother’s ultimately trying to make despite how its optimistic message (as well as admittedly fictional plot, considering what so many LGBTQ people are still up against even with growing legal acceptance) may feel like too many spoonfuls of sugar (still tasty, though, for me).

 Still, when I see daily documentation of how divided this country has become, first in entrenched resistance to a long-denied Black leader in charge of our government from 2008-2016, then in the staunch embrace of an antagonistic White one who claims to be open to “fine people on both sides” but only seems able to truly accept the QAnon-types and dirty dealers who flaunt law, tradition, and decency, I can’t help but be buoyed a bit by something as openly hopeful as Stage Mother, so think carefully if such a story (in its contents as well as its intentions) might be attractive to you (even with such possible flaws as I’ve noted above) and, if so, look over the various options of how you can stream it at JustWatch where it’s cheap to rent (Nina and I are already hooked up with Amazon Prime so we chose that option for a $5.99 rental, but several other platforms also have the same price for the HD version).  That’s about all I can find to say right now about this movie so let’s wrap up with that long-ago-promised-Musical Metaphor; however, because I earlier gave you 2 songs that weren’t even intended as Metaphors I think you deserve 2 that are official ones, in recognition of competing attitudes in this story which reflect similar competing values in our troubled society today.  

 So, I’ll start with Jeb, or at least a version of those like him who might try to see things from a different viewpoint but ultimately can’t make the leap, by using Paul Simon’s “Slip Slidin’ Away” (from his 1977 Greatest Hits, Etc. album) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC-ZaUDUiwc (live from 2012) to cite “[...] a father Who had a son He longed to tell him all the reasons For the things he’d done He came a long way Just to explain He kissed his boy as he lay sleeping Then he turned around and headed home again,” even though you don’t have to modify the situation behind these lyrics at all when referring to Maybelline: “I know a woman Became a wife These are the very words she uses to describe her life She said a good day Ain’t got no rain She said a bad day’s when I lie in bed And think of things that might have been.”  On a more positive (or saccharin, depending on how you see it in this context) note, I’ll offer you Graham Nash’s “Teach Your Children” (from the CSN&Y 1970 Déjà Vu album) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLoX5_CjC2c (live at the Oakland Arena in 1988 [joined by Tracy Chapman] because I might have been there, not sure as time plays tricks with memories [but, as they thank their audience, I thank you for reading my reviews]) in hopes that somehow, someday, someway “the past [will be] just a good-bye” where children and parents will be taught well even if we have to learn to “[never] ask them why, if they told you, you will cry So just look at them and sign and know they love you.”  That’s what everyone associated with Stage Mother is hoping for, even if those of us who respond well to it are just fed on our dreams as we try to find “a code that [we] can live by.”  All of us have hell that needs to “slowly go by,” but we’ve got to find ways to help it leave; maybe voting, however you’re able to, next November can be a useful step forward. 

         

SHORT TAKES (spoilers also appear here)

                 I Used to Go Here (Kris Rey)   Not Rated

Kate’s a woman 15 years removed from her undergrad college days facing some problems—her first novel’s not selling well, her fiancée’s broken up with her—when she gets a offer from her former writing teacher to come back to her college as a guest speaker; however, once there she falls into familiar old habits while discovering secrets that challenge her sense of propriety.

Here’s the trailer:

        Before reading further, please refer to the plot spoilers warning detailed far above.

 Kate Conklin (Gillian Jacobs) graduated from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (director’s alma mater) 15 years ago; now she’s living in Chicago, trying to succeed as an author especially as her personal life’s in turmoil due to a breakup with fiancée Michael (we see some Instagram photos of him on her phone, but he’s not really a cast-list-presence); however, her first novel, Seasons Past, isn’t selling well so her publisher’s cancelled her book tour leaving her with little else than trying to be supportive of 3 of her friends, all pregnant.  Into this gloom comes a sunny break when her former creative-writing-professor, David Kirkpatrick (Jemaine Clement), invites her back to SIU for a reading from her book/meeting with some of his current students.  She eagerly accepts, travels downstate, is put up in a B&B right across the street from the Writers Retreat co-op where she used to live (she even named the place) but gets off on the wrong foot with stern B&B manager Mrs. Beeter (Cindy Gold), who advises her to wear her key around her neck as it’s the only one she’ll get (David makes a joke about it so she hides it in her purse, later can’t find it, gets more grief from the proprietor).  The reading goes well, followed by a drink with David who brings his wife, Alexis (Kristina Valada-Viars); she's underwhelmed with Kate's book, seems aloof with Kate, probably because she’s aware of some attraction on David's part to his former student (which Kate’s picking up on as well, even though way back when he first came to SIU just out of grad school, not all that much older than Kate, he resisted her advances in respect for campus rules about non-fraternization with students; he seems more casual toward that now), even offering her a lectureship for the upcoming fall semester.

 When attending David’s class, Kate hears a brief reading from a class assignment by April (Hannah Marks), quite compelling, although she's aloof as well.  Things move along casually for Kate, running into an old classmate, Brad Cooper (Jorma Taccone), so she has a beer with him (He admits he used to jerk off thinking of her; how’s that for sharing?) but he also brings a mate, Rachel (Kate Micucci), who loses herself kissing Brad as Kate’s trying to claim, in her more-adult-perspective, life is “restrained.”  Kate also ends up a keg party at the co-op, meets some of the residents, finds those photos of Michael on her phone with a new girlfriend, gets depressed (even though she never really wanted to be engaged to him but took it hard when he called it off), spends the night at the co-op (lost her new B&B key too), goes to the lake the next day with Hugo (Josh Wiggins), Animal (Forrest Goodluck), Emma (Khloe Janel), and Tall Brandon (Brandon Daley) until she’s rushed back to a bookstore to meet with April, so convinced of her abilities she wants to establish her very own press.

 ⇒Later, chatter among these new friends leads them to believe David’s having an affair with April (Alexis is in Kentucky, visiting her sister)—Hugo’s upset because he’s dating April, has seen her at David’s house right across the backyard from his Mom—so they all sneak over to David’s house that night to catch them in the act, which they do (although Brandon doesn’t make it over the fence, ends up watching TV with Mom [Jennifer Joan Taylor]).  David explains to Kate the “unique” nature of his marriage, as Alexis is actually in Kentucky with her ex-husband, whereupon she turns down his job offer, goes back to the co-op, has sex with Hugo, runs into April next morning as they exchange jabs about hypocrisy even as Kate admits her book sucks and she admires April’s writing, hopes to improve; Kate finally has a nice breakfast at her B&B, gets a call from Chicago friend (former classmate) Laura (Zoë Chao) who’s close to delivery, husband’s out of town, needs Kate back in Chicago quickly so away she goes, leaving all connections to SIU behind.⇐  There’s quite a lot of pleasant humor here as well as the standard lesson about not being able to go “home” (wherever, whatever that may be) again, with the CCAL being notably more impressed than me: RT has 85% positive reviews, MC with their more-supportive-range this time of a 68% average score.  I liked it, I just didn’t find it going anywhere particular except for some occasionally witty exchanges among various characters.  (As for my own admissions, hinted at many paragraphs ago, I can’t be too critical of David because in my younger college prof days I also had a few affairs with students—one of which dragged on for years, far beyond its “use by” date—which was wrong, probably [rightfully] cost me my first tenure-track-job [got me out of Dallas, though, thank God], taught me to refrain from ever doing so again, helped me keep my focus for 26 years at Mills College in Oakland as well as in my marriage of 30 years [and counting] to Nina Kindblad, too marvelous to ever consider fooling around on nor have I ever wanted to.)  In her interview in Related Links director Rey notes there’s personal stuff here which I can relate to overall, think potential viewers would find useful whimsy while considering this a good $6.99 investment (also available on many platforms; we chose Prime).

 I’ll close out this review with the Musical Metaphor of “My Back Pages” (from the 1964 Another Side of Bob Dylan) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_Df39PjkwA (a 1992 live performance where Roger McGuinn, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Dylan, and George Harrison each sing a verse, along with guitar solos by Clapton and Young; lyrics below the YouTube screen if you want to join in with them) due to my sense Kate found some of this wisdom in that trip back to her former life: “A self-ordained professor’s tongue too serious to fool Spouted out that liberty is just equality in school […] In a soldier’s stance, I aimed my hand at the mongrel dogs who teach Fearing not that I’d become my enemy in the instant that I preach My existence led by confusion boats, mutiny from stern to bow Ah, but I was so much order then, I’m younger than that now.”  Even while still an undergrad myself in 1966 I bought all of Dylan’s albums up to that point, was particularly taken by this song which helped me overcome some of my own know-it-all-pomposity (not often enough), continues to be a useful lesson in humility I think Kate, but not yet David, is coming around to grasp.

              

Suggestions for TCM cablecasts

At least until the pandemic subsides Two Guys also want to encourage you to consider movies you might be interested in that don’t require subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon Prime, similar Internet platforms (we may well be stuck inside for longer than those 30-day-free-initial-offers), or premium-tier-cable-TV-fees.  While there are a good number of video networks offering movies of various sorts (mostly broken up by commercials), one dependable source of fine cinematic programming is Turner Classic Movies (available in lots of basic-cable-packages) so I’ll be offering suggestions of possible choices for you running from Thursday afternoon of the current week (I usually get this blog posted by early Thursday mornings) on through Thursday morning of the following week.  All times are U.S. Eastern Daylight so if you see something of interest please verify actual show time in your area for the day listed.  These recommendations are my particular favorites (no matter when they’re on, although some of those early-day-ones might need to be recorded, watched later), but there’s considerably more to pick from you might like better; feel free to explore their entire schedule here. You can also click on that + sign at the right of each listing to get additional, useful info.

Thursday August 27, 2020

8:00 PM It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934) Hailed, sometimes as origin of screwball comedy, as a desperate-reporter (Clark Gable) chases a big story when an heiress (Claudette Colbert) elopes (Dad’s mad), then disappears until Gable encounters her. 1 of 3 (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest [1975], The Silence of the Lambs [1991]) ever to win the top 5 Oscars: Best Picture, Director, Actor (Gable), Actress (Colbert), and Screenplay, Adapted in this case (Robert Riskin).

Saturday August 29, 2020

12:00 AM Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) Do you really need to know what this one’s about?  

If so, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre are “looking at you, kid,” to watch it! (This one truly defines what I consider to be a 5 stars-“classic,” celebrated for decades as a story of hope, patriotism, and 

making the right decision when romance conflicts with greater needs in the early years of WW II.)

6:00 PM On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan, 1954) Deserving winner of 8 Oscars including Best Picture, Director, Actor (Marlon Brando), Supporting Actress (Eva Marie Saint).  A mob/union boss (Lee J. Cobb) runs the waterfront but a sub-honcho’s (Rod Steiger) in trouble because his brother’s (Brando) witnessed a killing, is being pressured to testify by a priest (Karl Malden).  Contains the famous “I coulda been a contenda” scene between Brando and Steiger during a testy cab ride.

8:00 PM North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959) One of Hitchcock’s top achievements (that’s saying a lot) about a case of mistaken-identity gone terribly wrong as ad executive Roger Thornhill (Gary Grant) is thought to be a U.S. spy, hunted by thugs working for a foreign agent (James Mason).  A marvelous collage of great scenes including the crop-duster-in-the-cornfield; also stars Eve Marie Saint, Leo G. Carroll, Martin Landau providing a great combination of tension and laughs.

Sunday August 30, 2020

4:00 PM Ben-Hur (William Wyler, 1959) A Jewish prince (Charlton Heston!) runs afoul of his childhood friend Messala (Steven Boyd), now a Roman tribune, who wrongly condemns noble Judah to slavery; from here it’s all about the long road back for Judah, culminating in a magnificent chariot race, all during the time of Christ. Won 11 Oscars from 12 nominations (only Titanic [1998], The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King [2004] have also won that many): Best Picture, Director, Actor (Heston), Supporting Actor (Hugh Griffith), Film Editing, Music Scoring, Sound Recording, Special Effects, Art Direction-Set Decoration, Cinematography, Costume Design (the last 3 for color films).

4:00 PM Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958) After Citizen Kane (1941), I consider this Welles' best work; he plays a corrupt U.S. sheriff on the porous USA/Mexico border, making trouble for a Mexican detective (Charlton Heston!) and his new bride (Janet Leigh) as Heston’s determined to hold Hank Quinlan responsible for his crimes, ultimately with the aid of a long-time associate (Joseph Calleia). Marlene Dietrich has a small role but delivers a zinger final line.  It seems TCM has the 1998 re-edit (111 min.) based on Welles’ notes, not the atrocious studio cut (95 min.) with credits mucking up a magnificent 3-min. opening traveling shot; the re-edited version is how I define a 5 stars-rated-film. 

Tuesday September 1, 2020

3:45 PM Dial M for Murder (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954) A perennial favorite on stage brought to screen; famed tennis player Ray Milland sets up an accomplice to terminate wife Grace Kelly yet she kills the assailant instead in self-defense, then is set up by her husband to be convicted of murder, but … . This comes within a full morning/afternoon of Hitchcock hits on TCM starting at 6:00 AM that day.

Wednesday September 2, 2020

3:30 AM Seven Beauties (Lina Wertmüller, 1975) Set before/during WW II, this story follows the adventures of Pasqualino (Giancarlo Giannini), a small-time Naples hood in jail, a psych ward, the Italian army, a German concentration camp, all due to family dishonorment because of prostitution. Helmed by a German-named Italian director, she’s the first woman nominated for a Best Director Oscar (didn’t win as it was the year of a big sweep by One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest); subtitles!

Thursday September 3, 2020

1:00 AM Cabaret (Bob Fosse, 1972) An 8-Oscar winner: Best Director, Actress (Liza Minnelli), Supporting Actor (Joel Grey), Art Direction, Sound, Score Adaptation and Original Song Score, Cinematography, Film Editing (I’d say close call on these last 2 with The Godfather which won Best Picture [yes!]).  A great film, best musical of all-time for me, set in 1931 Berlin with an American performer and an English academic in love, Nazis on the rise, notable differences from the play.

If you’d like your own PDF of ratings/summaries of this week's reviews, suggestions for TCM cablecasts, links to Two Guys info click this link to access then save, print, or whatever you need.

Other Cinema-Related Stuff: This week I've found just a few items of possible interest: (1) The Batman set for October 2021; (2)  Slow, steady reopening of domestic theaters. Then, as usual in these times, I’ll finish this (skimpier than usual) section with Joni Mitchell’s "Big Yellow Taxi" (from her 1970 Ladies of the Canyon album)—because “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone”—and my reminder of searching many streaming/rental/purchase movie options at JustWatch.

              

Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:

              

We encourage you to visit the summary of Two Guys reviews for our past posts.*  Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our Two Guys in the Dark homepage.  If you’d like to Like us on Facebook please visit our Facebook page. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it!

*Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problems’ been manually fixed so that all postings since July 11, 2013 now have the proper functioning link.

Here’s more information about Stage Mother:

http://www.momentumpictures.net/stage-mother (not a lot here for an official site so here’s the IMDb link also: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8364138/reference)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsGvz2gNlZI (1:11 hope from actor Jacki Weaver this film might encourage homophobic parents to accept their homosexual child) and more extensive comments at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blpEnoB0MYY (16:25 actor Mya Taylor discusses this film and her previous success in Tangerine and other topics [interrupted by ads at about 5:00 and 15:45])

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stage_mother_2020

https://www.metacritic.com/movie/stage-mother

Here’s more information about I Used To Go Here:

http://gravitasventures.com/i-used-to-go-here/ (another sparse official site, so, once again, a bit more at the IMDb link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10887902/reference) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woXbqpdWClQ (11:36 interview with screenwriter-director Kris Rey and actor Gillian Jacobs)

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_used_to_go_here

https://www.metacritic.com/movie/i-used-to-go-here

Please note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account (which you can easily get at https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount if you need to sign up) or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post.  You can also leave comments at our Facebook page, although you may have to somehow connect 

with us at that site in order to do it (most FB procedures are still a bit of a mystery to us old farts).

If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here please use my email address of kenburke409@gmail.com—type it directly if the link doesn’t work.  (But if you truly have too much time on your hands you might want to explore some even-longer-and-more-obtuse-than-my-film-reviews-academic-articles about various cinematic topics at my website, https://kenburke.academia.edu, which could really give you something to talk to me about.)

If we did talk, though, you’d easily see how my early-70s-age informs my references, Musical Metaphors, etc. in these reviews because I’m clearly a guy of the later 20^th century, not so much the contemporary world.  I’ve come to accept my ongoing situation, though, realizing we all (if fate allows) keep getting older, we just have to embrace it, as Joni Mitchell did so well in "The Circle Game," offering sage advice even when she was quite young herself.

By the way, if you’re ever at The Hotel California knock on my door—but you know what the check-out policy is so be prepared to stay for awhile (quite an eternal while, in fact).  Ken

P.S.  Just to show that I haven’t fully flushed Texas out of my system here’s an alternative destination for you, Home in a Texas Bar, with Gary P. Nunn and Jerry Jeff Walker.  But wherever the rest of my body may be my heart’s always with my longtime-companion, lover, and wife, Nina Kindblad, so here’s our favorite shared song—Neil Young’s "Harvest Moon"

—from the performance we saw at the Desert Trip concerts in Indio, CA on October 15, 2016 (as a full moon was rising over the stadium) because “I’m still in love with you,” my dearest, a never-changing-reality even as the moon waxes and wanes over the months/years to come.

             

OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER (although Google Chrome usually is decent also); OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES

         

Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were 28,586 (as always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers); below is a snapshot of where and by what means those responses have come from within the previous week (with appreciation for all those unspecified “Others” also):

Sputnik plus Short Takes on suggestions for TCM cable offerings and other cinematic topics

 “Illegal Alien”: Worst-Case Scenario

Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke

           

I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the CCAL (Collective Critics at Large) when they’re supportive or the OCCU (Often Cranky Critics Universe) when they go negative.

Opening Chatter (no spoilers): Heres' another week where I chose only 1 option to write about because of other logistics last Friday and Saturday (due to ongoing plans I usually do my review-intended-viewing on weekends [helps me retain some semblance of the public-cinema-experience before the pandemic curse]): Friday was devoted to the first official 2020 baseball games between my beloved Oakland Athletics vs. those much-more-financially-well-endowed (but not necessarily more talented) San Francisco Giants, just across the bay; so, beer in hand, I cheered on the A’s.*  Saturday nights lately have become the designated time to watch 3-hour-cinematic-stories that have accumulated for me and my wife, Nina, either from cablecasts or Netflix DVD (eating takeout leftovers from Friday allows us to get to viewing earlier than usual), so last weekend it was Ingmar Bergman’s final masterpiece, Fanny and Alexander (1982—Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film), which is fascinating (somewhat autobiographical), even as I admit I kept dozing, trying to keep up with the huge cast’s exploits because of the unusual heat wave in our area right now with the fans in our non-air-conditioned-condo working overtime to deal with 100^o+ temperatures while deadly wildfires spring up all around us (yes, I spent decades in the Texas blast furnace so I should be used to such heat [wildfires were rare there due to regular rain]; however, after living in northern CA for just as many decades I’ve lost my taste for such heat when 75^o usually defines a hot summer day now).  Still, it was nice to rewatch (what I can recall of) this Bergman classic.  This week it’ll be Reds (Warren Beatty, 1981), continuing our Russian theme in this posting.

*Watching all 3hrs. 23 min. was worth it as the A’s trailed 7-2, top of the 9^th inning, until a well-timed solo homer soon followed by a grand slam tied the game, which they won in the 10^th.  More joy came in another come-from-behind, home-run-fueled victory on Saturday, followed by a 15-3 Sunday rout, sweeping this mini-series.  Nina and I were so pleased we spent a generous sum (all goes to charity) to send in our photos to be made into large cardboard “fans” for the stadium seats in lieu of actual attendees during this coronavirus-dictated-MLB season.  Hers is from the one above, taken at a Scottsdale AZ bar we frequented when attending 2014 Spring Training in Phoenix (the photo I used is no big deal, but at least you can see my face; for this shot above I was showing off the autographs I’d just gotten from some famous 1970s players).  So, if you’re ever watching a 2020 A’s game from the Oakland Coliseum look for us in the stands; she’ll likely be the only one holding a cocktail.  Sadly, once the A’s returned to Arizona this week their magic ran out as they lost 2 in a row.

               

Sputnik (Egor Abramenko)   Not Rated

 Nevertheless, this isn’t likely the sort of beginning you’d expect in a film review blog (although maybe it helped take your mind off politics and other natural disasters for a bit) so in an attempt to shake off my heat stroke and get to the matter at hand let’s turn to a fascinating Russian film,* Sputnik, set in 1983 when 2 cosmonauts come back to Earth with one of them acting strangely so an unorthodox doctor’s brought in to help steer this seeming-U.S.S.R.-hero into more presentable publicity-shape despite his denials anything’s wrong; what we quickly learn, though (no spoiler, I swear) is he’s somehow been taken over by an ugly alien creature who slithers out of his mouth every night to feed on inmates in this research facility/prison while the officials in charge have brought the doctor in to help them break the symbiotic connection between man and monster while learning to control this beast as a military weapon (you can’t be faulted for seeing parallels here with Alien [Ridley Scott, 1979], but this story goes into other directions entirely in a compelling drama that keeps the on-screen-gore to a minimum while exploring the kind of fright Outer Space Sci-Fi movies often haunt us with concerning malevolent invaders attacking Earth).  This one’s available on several platforms; I chose an Amazon Prime rental for $6.99 (gave me some presentational problems I detail later in this review).  Also, in the Short Takes section I’ll offer suggestions for some choices on the Turner Classic Movies channel (but too much extra text for line-justified-layout like you see here [Related Links stuff at each posting’s end is similarly-ragged], at least to be done by this burned-out-BlogSpot-drone—oh, ye tedious software!) along with my standard dose of industry-related-trivia.

*Another reason I chose Sputnik is to honor our Two Guys Russian readers (almost 5,000 2 weeks ago [see the very end of our last posting], then 1K last week), consistently part of our readership for quite awhile; so, fellow travelers, I hope you enjoy my attention to this marvelous product of your industry (Just please leave our elections alone, even though I know you never have to wonder who’ll win yours).  But, before the review, my thoughts about the heat I’m now baking in reminded me of sweat-drenched days in Texas, bringing back memories of a 1978 slide show using my photos to accompany a Michael Murphy song, "Alleys of Austin" (on his 1973 Cosmic Cowboy Souvenir album).  Then a serendipitous email arrived from an old friend in Texas, Rick Ansell, alerting me to a recent Michael Martin Murphy album, Austinololgy: Alleys of Austin (2018), celebrating 1970s Texas music (which I actively devoured in Austin at the time), done in collaboration with lots of Texas musicians, so here’s "Alleys ..." again with Mr. Murphy joined by Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, and others in my tribute to a couple of guys I appreciate even more than those Russian readers, my long-connection (since Ball High School, Galveston TX, 1963) with Rick and my appreciation for another Texan I’ve never met but who’s been invaluable in giving me feedback (and help) to improve this blog, Richard Parker. Happy listening, y’all!  Now (finally, thank God!) we move onward to the review.

Here’s the trailer for Sputnik:  

                   (Use the full screen button in the image’s lower right to enlarge it; activate 

                   that same button or use the “esc” keyboard key to return to normal size.)

If you can abide plot spoilers read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $.  To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters like this: 

⇒The first and last words will be noted with arrows and red.⇐ OK, now continue on if you prefer.

What Happens: In 1983, during the last decade of the Soviet Union and its Cold War with the West, 2 cosmonauts, mission commander Konstantin Veshnyakov (Pyotr Fyodorov) and Kirill Averchenko (Aleksey Demidov), are returning from an orbital mission (although contact with the ground mysteriously cut off for part of a day preceding their return drop).  When the ground crew locates them they find Averchenko dead with his head partially gone, Veshnyakov somewhat bloody, unconscious.  Then we shift to another location where psychiatrist/neurophysiologist Tatyana Klimova (Oskana Akinshina) appears before a stern Health Ministry board chastising her for using unorthodox procedures on a 17-year-old-boy; the kid survived, but she’s about to be censured when she taken aside by Col. Semiradov (Fedor Bondarchuk), head of a remove science/military/prison facility, who clears her of any problems, takes her to his site where she’s to help get disturbed (yet denying of any problems, claims he can’t be hypnotized, surprisingly fit after his ordeal) Konstantin back into better shape to be put on public display as a hero of the U.S.S.R.  (Semiradov’s sending out false press releases about Konstantin’s recuperation, not admitting his comrade’s death.)  What she finds is an arrogant man, insisting he’s in tip-top-shape, even coming on to her until she tries to shock him loose from his confidence, accusing him of abandoning a son he fathered with a lover (a woman now dead), letting the child essentially disappear into an orphanage while Dad keeps up his public image, focused on his space career.  Soon, though, Tatyana’s shown footage of Konstantin’s nightly sleep (in what’s like a prison cell with one thick glass wall) where an extraterrestrial creature slithers out of his mouth, extends itself into a roughly 2-ft. standing position with a bat-like-head and long extremities, which it usually uses to crawl along rather than walking.  Semiradov admits Tatyana’s purpose there is to find a way to separate creature from human because this monstrous being’s already established a symbiotic relationship with Konstantin (who knows nothing of its existence), lives during the day in his stomach and esophagus, essentially using its human as a sort of space suit while seemingly endowing its host with enhanced physical prowess, mental confidence.

(After learning of his true motives, Tatyana confronts Semiradov about Konstantin.) 

 She soon is told of even more horrifying truths: (1) the creature doesn’t nourish itself from what Konstantin eats (as she was led to believe) but instead is nightly allowed to slither through a series of doors (while his host is apparently unconscious after being given a nightly-knock-out-pill) into a cage where it feeds on bound inmates, responding to their fear before killing them, feasting on their flesh containing the terrified-response-hormone cortisol; (2) Semiradov’s true mission is to get the creature unconnected from Konstantin, in the process learning how to control it for military-weapon-purposes, but her attempts to befriend the creature lead nowhere as it attacks her in Konstantin’s cell, later jumps away from her soothing attempts in the cage to gorge on another inmate.  To make matters worse, Konstantin reveals to her he’s aware of the creature’s nightly sojourns as these mismatched species have achieved a strong bond, although he wants to escape from it, find his son.

 ⇒With the help of disillusioned doctor Yan Rigel (Anton Vasiliev), Tatyana concocts a complex plan involving: Konstantin not swallowing his pill one night; a tactic involving a magnet to distract a guard watching the surveillance cameras; pushing through soldiers, commandeering a truck to plow through the main gate in an attempt to get to Moscow where she thinks she can help him recover (other guards and Semiradov catch them on the way out, but Tatyana gives Konstantin a syringe with drugs to simulate Addison’s disease to force the creature out of his host, hopefully to die from extended exposure—she’d realized through morgue work that however this beast entered their space capsule it chose Konstantin rather than Averchenko because it knew the other possible host had previously-undetected-cancer—so in the ensuing gunfight the creature kills the several guards but is wounded itself); however, before they get far Konstantin collapses, needing the connection with the creature.  Tatyana stops their truck, allows Semiradov and his squad to catch up with them.  The colonel has the weakened creature with him, wants to unite it again with Konstantin, but he directs the creature to kill all their adversaries after which it re-enters Konstantin’s body as he shoots himself to rid Earth of himself and his alien occupant.  As the film ends, Tatyana goes to the orphanage—she found out from Konstantin he originally knew nothing about the kid, having broken up with his lover before the baby was born—to adopt the crippled boy (Vitaliya Kornienko, whose character we’d seen earlier show his determination to get a box belonging to him from a storeroom; it contained some sneakers which he was overjoyed to have after having been denied by the staff).⇐

So What? While I don’t think my viewing conditions impaired my appreciation for Sputnik the situation wasn’t as ideal as it might have been, so if you choose to stream this film (well worth it if you do, I'd say) maybe you’ll get the more-intended-experience; I chose Amazon Prime ($6.99 for HD rental) for convenience (my wife’s already got an account with them—she’s probably on a first-name-basis with Jeff Bezos by now—although it’s also available otherwise); however, I not only got the requested subtitles (useful for a film in unknown-to-me-Russian, given I probably couldn’t follow 2 sentences in Spanish even though I’ve attempted twice to study that language [not as diligently as needed, I'll confess]) but I also got ongoing-narration in English (makes the film accessible for blind audiences) explaining the activities in each scene along with reading those subtitles; I tried to click out of this option but no luck (same situation I had before with another film on Prime* [sounds like it should be a steakhouse rather than a movie channel]), not even with an attempt to switch over to Russian for the dialogue (although that might have been worse if the subtitles were in Russian too; I do have a friend who can read it fairly well [he studied more intensely than I did with Spanish, making him a godsend when he traveled to St. Petersburg with me and Nina—now, there’s a good Russian name, but her mother didn’t choose it for that reason, she just liked it, as do I, but I’d like my wife no matter what her name might be {you know: Shakespeare, names, roses, etc.}—a few years ago or who knows where we might have ended up when we chanced to ride the subway]; however, I doubt he’d be available on the spur of the moment on a Sunday night to rush over for translations).  At least all that audio redundancy made it easy for me to take notes because even as I’m looking down at my pad, scribbling away, that cinema-voice continues to inform me what I could be missing.

*My occasional problems with viewing something on Amazon Prime are minimal, though—except trying to use their rewind or fast-forward functions which move at almost the speed of light so it’s difficult to quickly go back to check something or then return to what you were previously watching so I rarely use that option—compared to another friend of mine who’s now gone a few months into the pandemic without being able to access the subtitles function at all, despite extensive trouble-shooting-sessions with both Amazon and Samsung (her TV, mine’s an LG) which can be useful when dialogue delivery isn’t as clear as some of us aging-viewers would prefer (Nina and I solved that problem by getting hearing aids—although now we’ve gotten so used to the subtitles we continue to use them with movies anyway), so all I can say is Amazon Prime does a lot of intriguing content (even when you have to rent it), but their viewing conditions aren’t always ideal, especially when I’m nostalgically remembering what it was like to actually watch a film in a big-screen-theater, surrounded by other patrons snacking away (see the Other Cinema-Related Stuff section farther below for updates on how that theatrical experience is slowly coming back, but not yet in California).

 As much as I admire overall what I see in Sputnik, I can’t help noticing notable similarities to Alien, both in the concept of an invasive species commandeering a human host and the purpose of the corporation (or government in Sputnik’s case) wanting to command this deadly organism as a brutal military weapon.  Of course, the similarities end with the Alien franchise taking place in a faraway-future and distance, the monsters in that series simply use the human body for an incubation site to be discarded when approaching maturity, and the situation (so far, at least; I don’t put further sequels past Ridley Scott’s plan once he’s finished with those prequels taking us from Prometheus [2012; review in our June 14, 2012 posting] to the events of Alien [so far we’ve only had Alien: Covenant 2017; review in our June 1, 2017 posting], but supposedly there are more to come) of Scott’s creatures so far not making their way to Earth (at least in that specific franchise, although in Alien vs. Predator [Paul W.S. Anderson, 2004]—and a 2007 sequel—we find these creatures were long ago brought to our planet as combatants for the Predator aliens, toughening them up for their own purposes).  Despite the stabilizing presence of Sigourney Weaver in those Alien movies, the ones past Scott’s original (even with high-production values by James Cameron [1986], David Fincher [1992], Jean-Pierre Jeunet [1997]) devolve further and further into Outer Space-monster-stories while Sputnik allows us to see directly how victory-at-all-costs-attitudes are driving a major terrestrial government (an interesting critique by current Russian filmmakers of their Soviet past, although I have no doubt there are American military men—probably some Presidents [I think you know who I mean]—who would jump at such a devious opportunity also) to (hopefully) unthinkable levels of action, all for the glory of conquest (or even scientific recognition, as Tatyana keeps taunting Rigel about his desire to win a Nobel Prize for his attempts at understanding/controlling this vicious creature).  I'll admit I’m not fully aware of the meaning of the title in this context because in Russian the word simply refers to a satellite when used in an astronomical context (but no satellites fly around in this story) so maybe it’s an allusion to the whole space-race-concept between the USA and USSR in the 1960s, driving humanity further into unknown realms where unknown—potentially disastrous—results await.  Yet, I also find this word means "traveling companion" in Russian, so now I think this title’s probably a sly reference to how an extraterrestrial being becomes linked to Konstantin, essentially forming a new joint-entity although with little mutual control on his part.  If nothing else, the title’s another interesting aspect of this film to consider, long after you’ve completed your intense viewing (in whatever mode you might encounter beyond that original Russian dialogue).

Bottom Line Final Comments: Unlike much of what I’ve reviewed since the plague settled in, Sputnik has had some theatrical release (maybe including—or mostly—drive-ins) so that in addition to whatever streaming revenue it may be generating it’s also most recently played in 32 domestic (U.S.-Canada) venues bringing in a wee total of about $11,000 (check my link at the beginning of the Suggestions for TCM cablecasts section to see results for the relatively-successful The Rental [Dave Franco; review in our August 6, 2020 posting] and the decently-performing Made in Italy [James D’Arcy; review in our August 13, 2020 posting]) so maybe you can actually see Sputnik on some big screen near you.  Along with me, the CCAL mostly encourages you to do so, on whatever screen’s available, with the Rotten Tomatoes reviews running at an 89% positive level while Metacritic’s average score is a hesitant 61%, but that’s not so unusual for a site normally-noticeably-lower than RT (more info on both these critics-accumulation-sites in the Related Links section farther below).  I had an easy time responding positively to this film (even with my odd viewing situation) but had a much harder task of coming up with a choice for my usual review-concluding-tactic of a Musical Metaphor which would somehow speak about aliens, conflicting human response to the presence of such on our planet, the age-old-Sci-Fi-problem of scientists vs. military in terms of dealing with these creatures, etc., along with not wanting to get silly (in regard to a thoughtful film, not a cheap monster story) with something like “The Purple People Eater” (a 1958 #1 hit by Sheb Wooley); once again, insightful Nina came to my rescue with a Google search helping me locate Pink Floyd’s “Childhood’s End” (from the 1972 album Obscured by Clouds*) at https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYG0vA07XwU (a video extending this posting’s Russia connection by pairing this song with a Russian short film, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man [Aleksandr Petrov, 1992] about a suicidal guy who regains his will to live after an encounter with a young girl [calm down; nothing sexual], based on a short story of the same name by Fyodor Dostoyevsky [1877]) with lyrics noting “You awake with a start To just the beating of your heart Just one man beneath the sky Just two ears, just two eyes […] All the fears never voiced Say you have to make your final choice Who are you and who am I To say we know the reason why? Some are born; some men die Beneath one infinite sky […] And so all things, time will mend So this song will end.”  Just as implications continue.

*This title’s also connected to grander-concept-Sci-Fi-allusions as it parallels an Arthur C. Clarke novel (1953) about benign aliens, Overlords (looking like traditional Christian-depictions of devils) who take over Earth, leading to a utopia but a corresponding loss of human identity/culture, as the Overlords serve the non-corporal Overmind leading people to evolve toward group consciousness merging with the Overmind as Earth disappears.  This all reminds me of another thematically-related Metaphor, Neil Young’s "After the Gold Rush" (on his 1970 same-named-album), but this video’s shaky at times so here’s also the original recording (lyrics below the YouTube screen; sing along).

 However, you may think this posting will never end because instead of just leaving you with a strong recommendation to seek out Sputnik (which I do) I’m actually closing out by returning to my rambling ways at the beginning of this (ever-sideways) review by giving you a completely-unrelated song (not even an attempt at justifying it as another official Metaphor) from Neil Young (see the footnote above if you haven’t already) that also comes from his magnificent set at the second weekend of Desert Trip (10/15/2016), most memorable to me because Nina and I were there, so in thanks to her for leading me to “Childhood’s End” I’ve packed in music from one of her favorites (Young) including one of mine (along with “Harvest Moon” for other reasons, found at almost the very end of every Two Guys posting), "Cowgirl in the Sand" (also from Desert Trip; song originally on the 1969 album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere), a 19:07 marathon done with Promise of the Real (featuring 2 of Willie Nelson’s sons, so now we’re somewhat full circle back to Austinology …), the kind of performance Nina calls “loadie” music (but which just gets me high without needing any additional substances).  So, that’s it for this week; hopefully, the heat wave will have passed by next time, possibly allowing me to offer better focus, less extraneous wanderings … or maybe not, who knows? (But I do know my precious Oakland A's baseballers came back home last night [still playing the Arizona Diamondbacks in an interleague series] and they won this time, which is a nice bit of positive news amongst all the wildfires, dangerous air, and political maneuverings everywhere in my vicinity.)

                

SHORT TAKES

                 

Suggestions for TCM cablecasts

         

At least until the pandemic subsides Two Guys also want to encourage you to consider movies you might be interested in that don’t require subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon Prime, similar Internet platforms (we may well be stuck inside for longer than those 30-day-free-initial-offers), or premium-tier-cable-TV-fees.  While there are a good number of video networks offering movies of various sorts (mostly broken up by commercials), one dependable source of fine cinematic programming is Turner Classic Movies (available in lots of basic-cable-packages) so I’ll be offering suggestions of possible choices for you running from Thursday afternoon of the current week (I usually get this blog posted by early Thursday mornings) on through Thursday morning of the following week.  All times are U.S. Eastern Daylight so if you see something of interest please verify actual show time in your area for the day listed.  These recommendations are my particular favorites (no matter when they’re on, although some of those early-day-ones might need to be recorded, watched later), but there’s considerably more to pick from you might like better; feel free to explore their entire schedule here.  You can also click on that + sign at the right of each listing to get additional, useful info.

Thursday August 20, 2020

12:00 PM The Thin Man (W.S. Van Dyke, 1934) Noted more for historical value (curiosity?) than significance but a pleasure to watch (also spawns 5 sequels, including one immediately today) as socialites Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell, Myrna Loy) enjoy being detectives (in Sherlock Holmes “sleuth” tradition, not The Maltese Falcon-hardboiled tradition, although Nick, Nora, and 

Sam all come from Dashiell Hammett novels) while downing numerous cocktails in the process.

Saturday August 22, 2020

1:30 PM Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray, 1955) Iconic James Dean role, a strong contender for best of his 3 powerful cinematic appearances (before his untimely death), as he plays a troubled teen whose independent streak just brings more difficulties from adults (including his parents) and a local gang, even as he tries to distance himself from his problems, escape from all of this hostility into a new life with his new friends (Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo), but further crises swirl around them.

8:00 PM The Searchers (John Ford, 1956) Widely-regarded as one of the best westerns as well as part of the long deconstruction of the genre, this focuses on a Civil War Rebel vet (John Wayne) with a hatred for Indians especially because they kidnapped his niece as a child, killed other relatives; he’s on a quest to bring her home but adolescent Debbie (Natalie Wood) wants to stay with Chief Scar (Jeffrey Hunter): further trouble, intolerance, and deaths as neither side can tolerate each other.

Sunday August 23, 2020

8:00 PM Gone with Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939) I may lose readers for mentioning this movie with its despicable, sappy presentation of slavery (even with this racism it gained a crucial Oscar for Hattie McDaniel, first for a Black actor) but from a production-values-perspective for its time it’s a triumph of the old studio system (even as it glorifies the “Lost Cause” of the Confederacy). Famous for romance of scheming Scarlett O’Hara (Vivian Leigh), dashing Rhett Butler (Clark Gable); last prominent cast member, Olivia de Havilland (Melanie Hamilton Wilkes), recently died.  Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay (Sidney Howard), Actress (Leigh), Supporting Actress (McDaniel), Color Cinematography, Film Editing, Art Direction plus a Special Award to Production Designer William Cameron Menzies for use of color, and a Technical Achievement Honorary Award. Still box-office champ, adjusted for inflation; will TCM address it regarding recent Black Lives Matter protests?

Monday August 24, 2020

5:45 PM Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959) Marvelous; big hit then now ranked as one of the best, if not the actual top comedy of all time, with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis disguised as women in a nightclub band in Florida trying to escape gangsters after they witness the St. Valentine’s Day massacre in Chicago; also stars Marilyn Monroe, George Raft, and Pat O’Brien (won an Oscar for Best B&W Costume Design). Joe E. Brown’s final line was terrific for its time, now it’s immortal.

Wednesday August 26, 2020

2:45 PM Henry V (Laurence Olivier, 1944) Adapted from the Shakespeare play (included at the beginning and end of film), focused on the Battle of Agincourt, 1415, starring Olivier as King Henry invading France, claiming its throne as rightfully his; made primarily as a means of stirring homefront morale as WW II continued to drag on after the Allied invasion of France. Olivier won an Honorary Oscar for his “Outstanding achievement” as producer, director, actor (plus 4 competitive noms).

5:15 PM Hamlet (Laurence Olivier, 1948) Masterful but slimmed-down version of Shakespeare’s masterpiece ((no Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, or Fortinbras; still runs 155 min.—only Kenneth Branagh used the entire play [1996], his version runs 242 min.), Oscar winner for Best Picture, Actor (Olivier), B&W Art Direction-Set Decoration, B&W Costume Design. “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” for sure; what’s our conflicted prince going to do about it (you might repeatedly ask)?

If you’d like your own PDF of the rating/summary of this week's review, suggestions for TCM cablecasts, links to Two Guys info click this link to access then save, print, or whatever you need.

Other Cinema-Related Stuff: In quick fashion, here are some other items you might be interested in: (1) Theaters slowly reopen to small audiences; (2) AMC Theaters opening some venues with limited seating capacity; (3) While there's still interest in seeing blockbusters in a theater most potential audience members are OK with waiting for home streaming.  As usual for now I’ll close out this section with Joni Mitchell’s "Big Yellow Taxi" (from her 1970 Ladies of the Canyon album)—because “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone”—and a reminder you can search for so many streaming/rental/purchase movie options at JustWatch.

              

Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:

             

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Here’s more information about Sputnik:

http://vodorodfilm.ru/en/sputnik (here’s another official site at 

http://studio.art-pictures.ru/proekty/sputnik.html—text is in Russian but, on Chrome, 

Google translates it to English [option doesn't come up on Safari or Firefox, at least for me])

I couldn’t find any interview video for this film so here are a couple of short clips from it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEsmBxvJTcc (how the creature feeds on human sacrifices 

[very dark; minimize your light distractions]) and the other one at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vJi5C3HnkM (this is the actual end scene; obviously a SPOILER so decide for yourself if you want to watch it now before seeing the whole film because this might ruin it for you)

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sputnik_2020

https://www.metacritic.com/movie/sputnik

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If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here please use my email address of kenburke409@gmail.com—type it directly if the link doesn’t work.  (But if you truly have too much time on your hands you might want to explore some even-longer-and-more-obtuse-than-my-film-reviews-academic-articles about various cinematic topics at my website, https://kenburke.academia.edu, which could really give you something to talk to me about.)

If we did talk, though, you’d easily see how my early-70s-age informs my references, Musical Metaphors, etc. in these reviews because I’m clearly a guy of the later 20^th century, not so much the contemporary world.  I’ve come to accept my ongoing situation, though, realizing we all (if fate allows) keep getting older, we just have to embrace it, as Joni Mitchell did so well in "The Circle Game" offering sage advice even when she was quite young herself.

By the way, if you’re ever at The Hotel California knock on my door—but you know what the check-out policy is so be prepared to stay for awhile (quite an eternal while, in fact).  Ken

P.S.  Just to show that I haven’t fully flushed Texas out of my system here’s an alternative destination for you, Home in a Texas Bar, with Gary P. Nunn and Jerry Jeff Walker.  But wherever the rest of my body may be my heart’s always with my longtime-companion, lover, and wife, Nina Kindblad, so here’s our favorite shared song—Neil Young’s "Harvest Moon"

—from the performance we saw at the Desert Trip concerts in Indio, CA on October 15, 2016 (as a full moon was rising over the stadium) because “I’m still in love with you,” my dearest, a never-changing-reality even as the moon waxes and wanes over the months/years to come.

          

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Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were 28,586 (as always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers); below is a snapshot of where and by what means those responses have come from within the previous week (with appreciation for all those unspecified “Others” also):