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

Natural Women

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.

 To begin, you won’t find a Two Guys posting from me in the vicinity of October 7, 2021 because I’ll be taking that week off to help my wife, Nina, celebrate her birthday as well as relieve her of cooking duties for 3 additional nights while I concoct my “complex” cuisine of spinach salad, spaghetti, and Chianti in honor of our annual viewing of Francis Ford Coppola’s trilogy of The Godfather (1972, 1974, 1990), postponed from last summer due to the "minor" distraction of me getting a new aortic value inserted in my heart (healing marvelously, thanks).  I intend to be back about 10/14/21, though.

        Respect (Liesl Tommy)   rated PG-13   145 min.

Opening Chatter (no spoilers): I’m still staying away from moviehouses at least until I get my Pfizer booster (this week, so maybe I’ll feel safe enough by the time Daniel Craig finishes up his run as James Bond in No Time to Die [Cary Joji Fukunaga; U.S. premiere on October 8, 2021]), I’ve got a review for you of something streaming (see JustWatch for options) but also in theaters, so, depending on where you live or how you’d prefer to view it, I’ll encourage you to consider this marvelous biopic of part of the life of Aretha Franklin (1952-’72 within this scenario), headlined by the terrific combination of acting and singing displayed by Jennifer Hudson.  Yeah, you could just listen to a double-CD of Aretha’s greatest hits (including those coming after 1972) rather than paying to see something essentially already covered by National Geographic’s streaming Genius series earlier this year, but then you’d be missing some great big (or your TV-size)-screen performances not only by Hudson but also Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Mary J. Blige, and others, so I encourage you pay up in some manner to see what I hope will be a strong presence as Oscar (and other) nominations are announced when we swing into awards season.  Generally, there’s little point in avoiding spoilers in a biography, but I will note some below just to keep my presentation format consistent.  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 a standardized dose of industry-related-trivia.

Here’s the trailer for Respect:

                   (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: Detroit, 1952, where 10-year-old Aretha “Ree” Franklin (Skye Dakota Turner)  is often called on at his Saturday night house parties by her father, charismatic pastor Rev. C.L. Franklin (Forest Whitaker)—of the New Bethel Baptist Church—to come downstairs to sing for his guests who often include celebrities like singer Dinah Washington (Mary J. Blige) and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Gilbert Glenn Brown).  Her sisters, Erma (Saycon Sengbloh) and Carolyn (Hailey Kilgore), live there (as does her brother, Cecil [Leroy McClain], yet he doesn’t factor into this story until much later when he becomes Ree’s manager) along with grandmother Mama Franklin (Kimberly Scott), but the kids only see mother Barbara (Audra McDonald)—a talented pianist/singer—on arranged visits due to her being separated from Dad.  We see one such interaction of mother and daughter as Mom encourages her talented offspring to make life decisions for herself, not for what men (including C.L.) expect of her, but such direct advice is short-lived as Barbara dies in 1952, traumatizing Ree who refuses to speak for a few weeks until Dad forces her to sing in church the following Sunday (while we don’t see anything directly of another source of her childhood traumas, it’s clear from one of Dad’s male buddies visiting Ree in her bedroom on one of those Saturday nights when she was 12 that he’s responsible for this child being pregnant [a few years later this same guy impregnated her again, leaving her with 2 little sons—and no help from him—by age 15]).

 Then we shift to 1959 where Aretha’s (now played by Jennifer Hudson) a regular vocalist at C.L.’s church as well as traveling to Birmingham, AL where she sings but also talks with Dr. King about joining his next civil rights march, which he objects to, fearing for her safety.  Back in Detroit at another of Dad’s house parties she’s approached by local music producer Ted White (Marlon Wayans), who shows a professional—also personal—interest in her, inspiring Dad to throw him out of the house.  Later, C.L. surprises Aretha with plane tickets to NYC for her to meet (legendary) Columbia Records exec John Hammond (Tate Donovan) who eagerly signs her up, but after recording a few albums her career barely has a pulse.  Aretha gets a jolt, though, when performing one night in 1963 at a club where Ms. Washington’s in attendance; Aretha tries to honor her by singing one of her hits, leading to a horrible outburst as Dinah upends her table in disgust this kid would attempt to sing one of her signature songs.  In the dressing room later, Washington’s more helpful, insisting Aretha stop trying to sing numbers to please her father but instead follow her own interests, develop a more personal career rather than trying to emulate famous singers she respects.

 This advice furthers her break from Dad as Aretha chooses Ted as her manager (they married in 1961).  Dropped by Columbia, she ends up at Atlantic Records (1967) after Ted brings her to (also now-famous) producer Jerry Wexler (Marc Maron), who sends her to work with session musicians in Muscle Shoals, AL, an all-White-group Ted’s taken aback by, although Aretha finds a successful working relationship in recording “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)”; Ted continues to intrude, gets in a fight with studio manager Rick Hall (Myk Watford), so Aretha heads back to Detroit, assuming her career’s at a stalemate.  Back home, though, she and her sisters hear Aretha’s recording on the radio, so with this step toward success she works with Carolyn to notably-rework Otis Redding’s “Respect,” heads back South to record it, a huge #1 hit (1967).  Professionally, her life continues upward as Dr. King gives her an award from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, followed by her performance of Carole King and Gerry Goffin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” (another big 1967 hit); personally, though, her life hits the rocks after Ted insists she drop her plans to join with Dr. King at another civil rights event in Memphis to instead meet with Wexler about a European tour, resulting in audience adulation for Aretha but separation from Ted when he’s furious about a TIME magazine cover story, revealing his physical abuse of her.  

 They divorce, after which she actively takes up with her tour manager, Ken Cunningham (Albert Jones), leading to a 4^th child (she had 1 with Ted too), but her emotions are shattered by Dr. King’s 1968 assassination, leading to a break with C.L. as he rails against his daughter/other younger activists not showing the patience of integration leading to social acceptance that King preached.  ⇒As we get into the early 1970s Aretha’s a psychological mess, though, depending too much on booze and pills, double-booking herself, pushing too hard to maintain the fame of the “Queen of Soul” status she’s now achieved.  Her sisters, recording and stage performers with her, try to intervene but she snaps back it’s her career that supports them, until one drunken night she falls off the stage, so Ken leaves her.  She continues drinking, though, until getting a vision from Mom, leading to her sobriety, reconciliation with Ken.  To further integrate herself back into “the spirit,” she wants to record a gospel album; Wexler balks at this idea until she agrees to have the performances at L.A.’s New Temple Missionary Baptist Church filmed (during the time of these recordings C.L. attends, privately apologizes for all the pain he’s given her), with the resulting album, Amazing Grace (1972) becoming her all-time-biggest-seller.⇐   Graphics prior to the closing credits enumerate some of the many awards and honors she earned over her lengthy career (died in 2018; if you’d like more extensive details on her life and accomplishments, visit this link along with her official site).

So What? Despite the passing of this musical/cultural/activist-icon, her presence continues to be with us on-screen: first was the Amazing Grace documentary (Alan Elliott [Sydney Pollock uncredited but oversaw the original filming], 2018) constructed from footage Wexler insisted be shot back in 1972 (got 99% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, a 94% average score at Metacritic; I forget why I didn’t review it); then in the spring of 2021 there was an 8-espisode-streaming-series, Genius: Aretha, available from National Geographic and Hulu, starring Cynthia Erivo as Ms. Franklin (that one I liked a lot, follows the same trajectory as Respect but continues well beyond events of 1972—however, Franklin's family doesn't like it at all); followed, recently, of course by Respect, which is one of the best movies I’ve seen in 2021, hopefully will be a strong contender when various awards-giving-organizations make their decisions this coming winter or in spring 2022.  I can never say anything definitively this far into the 2021 release-cycle yet, but at this point I’d certainly assume Hudson would be a solid contender for Oscar’s Best Actress (she’s already won one Academy Award, as Best Supporting Actress for her cinematic debut in Dreamgirls [Bill Condon, 2006] a role adapted from the Broadway play of the same name [music by Henry Krieger, lyrics and book by Tom Eyen,1981], inspired by the Supremes’ Florence Ballard, as that whole concept reflected Motown and their most-famous “girl group”) so Hudson’s got experience in such portrayals.

 If nothing else (although her acting is superb), Hudson should be honored for her ability to recreate beloved tunes by one of the most celebrated vocalists of our time when it would have been easy enough to simply have her lip-synch Aretha’s recordings (as Jamie Foxx mostly did when portraying Ray Charles in Ray [Taylor Hackford, 2004]—winning him a Best Actor Oscar—as that unique voice is not one to even try to be imitated) whose intonations are so well known that Hudson’s aural-presence might have been condemned as an insult to the Queen had not her own talent been so strong as to nullify any such objections.  In fact, after seeing Hudson in Dreamgirls, along with her Broadway role in The Color Purple (music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, Stephen Bray; book by Marsha Norman; 2005), Franklin requested that Hudson would portray her on-screen, even worked with her in preparation for the role, but, sadly, as with Ray Charles and Ray, she didn’t live long enough to see this finished product.  Most of the rest of the cast is quite effective as well, although I can’t say that Brown as Dr. King hits me as being the appropriate actor cast for this part, as I’ve seen several others in this crucial role who seemed to me to be more-commedable-representations of this civil rights crusader, including David Oyelowo in Selma (Ava DuVernay, 2014).

 As has been the case with some of my reviews lately, though, the critical establishment and I are in disagreement about the worth of this film (more details in the next section of this review), with me finding it much better than many of them did (although I’ll note that as I rummaged through the 170 Rotten Tomatoes reviews [at the time of this posting], looking to see what the complaints are about, most of the critics whom I read on a fairly regular basis and respect [consistent agreements or not] are in support of Respect so many of those naysayers are folks I’ve never even heard of [same situation of them toward me I’m sure] so maybe those who didn’t care for it are people I might not give much credence to anyway), leading me to look for some insight in why some critics are so dismissive.  Of voices I often listen to, one who lambasted this film is Katie Walsh of the Tribune News Service who piles on thusly: "Though Hudson of course excels musically, her performance of Aretha is a bit stiff, too focused on nailing the odd voice and accent she’s chosen. It’s an unnatural performance, rendering the character a bit alien among everyone else, and frustratingly enigmatic, even as the script insists upon, over and over again, the ways in which Aretha was disrespected, before she learned to demand her own respect. […] But what makes watching ‘Respect’ jarring is the wild swings of the emotional pendulum from scene to scene. There’s no modulation in the transitions, resulting in emotional whiplash and tonal dissonance. Themes and issues are clumsily threaded throughout, especially Aretha’s alcoholism. It’s almost impossible to get into a proper groove with ‘Respect,’ especially as it keeps cutting from the songs, denying what we came to see. […] Sometimes the biopic just can’t match the charisma of the real person at the center of it all, which is sadly the case with ‘Respect.’ "  A less-than-“respect-able”-opinion to which I fully disagree.

 Many others, such as Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times, however, are more supportive overall: “Hudson kills it in the performance numbers (where she’s singing live), she kills it in the recording and writing sessions, and we would be remiss to overlook her strong dramatic work as she portrays Franklin from a teenager filling a Baptist church in Detroit with the sound of her once-in-a-generation voice through her slow climb to stardom to her struggles with alcoholism and abusive relationships, to her triumphant comeback, which brought her full circle back to church. […] This film never shies away from the turmoil and the messiness that plagued Aretha in her personal life. […] but an old-fashioned show-business biopic such as this rises and falls on the talents of the lead, and it’s hard to imagine anyone in the world doing more justice to the legacy of Aretha Franklin than Jennifer Hudson.”  Clearly, I am more in line with this argument than ones who dis-respect Respect.

Bottom Line Final Comments: Now, on to the specifics from the CCAL, borderlining into OCCU territory, as those surveyed by Rotten Tomatoes have come up with just 66% positive reviews while those over at Metacritic are (as is usually the case) a bit lower with a 62% average score.  In general, critics included in these 2 review-accumulation-sites who skew negatively often complain the structure is too clichéd in terms of a protagonist triumphing over adversity (although from what I know of Ms. Franklin from biographical summaries and the events of that Genius series the plot here seems to me to be largely-factually-based) and/or that Jennifer Hudson—despite her talent—just can’t replicate what we’d get in a dazzling 2-hour-documentary of Aretha’s mesmerizing presence on stage.*  Of course, Jennifer Hudson’s not a mirror-image of Aretha Franklin any more than Joaquin Phoenix or Reese Witherspoon were perfect substitutions for Johnny and June Carter Cash in Walk the Line (James Mangold, 2005), but all of them have done admirable work in these movies (including an Oscar nom for Phoenix as Best Actor, an Oscar win for Witherspoon as Best Actress), yet if Franklin herself wanted Hudson in this role (even, though, sadly she didn’t get to see the result) who are we to question her choice, especially when it works so terrifically as it does here.

*Full—highly-embarrassed—disclosure: I missed my only chance (at least that I can remember, not having a full schedule since the late 1960s available of every concert she ever did in a city where I was close enough to attend) to see Aretha Franklin live when she came to Oakland, CA on August 19, 2015, not being attentive enough to Nina’s interest in the event (I can’t remember the reason for my lackadaisical response back then, maybe the high ticket prices), saying something to the effect of “Let’s catch her next time she’s in town” (although she hadn’t been out this way for decades, performing mostly in train-distance to locales close enough to home due to a fear of flying).  Well, of course, she died in 2018, allowing no “next time,” but at least Nina still speaks to me (what she says sometimes is another matter), despite her (and my) disappointment at missing this great opportunity; one guy who didn’t miss it is Jim Harrington, a local San Francisco Bay-area music critic whose recap helped fill Nina and me in on what happened at the Oakland Oracle Arena that eventful night.

 Given that Respect’s been in theaters for 7 weeks—opening in 3,207 domestic (U.S.-Canada) venues (but it’s now down to 457), earning 24 million domestic dollars in that time (worldwide $31.2 million)—you still might have a chance to catch it on the big screen if that fits your COVID-response-strategy or you can join me in streaming options of which there are several at rental prices from $11.99 (DIRECT TV) up to $19.99 (VUDU and others); I chose Amazon Prime for $14.99 as we’re already paying for that subscription.  So, to wrap up these comments before taking leave of Two Guys postings for a little bit, I’ll offer the easiest Musical Metaphor choice I’ve had to make for I don’t know how long, simply directing you to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5umK25gRcM (6:46) where you get Ms. Hudson doing a medley-tribute to Ms. Franklin (who’s in the audience; no Dinah Washington-fury here) with “Rock Steady,” “Think,” “Day Dreaming,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” and “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You).”  OK, it’s more literal than a Metaphor, but it can’t get much better or more appropriate than this.  However, for those who insist on hearing the authentic Queen of Soul, here’s Aretha herself, doing her own honors for Carole King at the marvelous 2015 Kennedy Center Awards with her show-stopping version of "... Natural Woman" (recorded versions by Franklin on her 1967 album Lady Soul, King on her 1971 Tapestry).  With that, I wish you well until we meet again, leaving you with a hearty encouragement to see Respect (you can’t miss with any of the Godfather films either)—but if you just need something to further occupy your time until I’m back you might check out my 6 (so far) permanent additions to a collection of my favorite tunes, found at the very end of this posting down much, much farther below.

             

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 for U.S. Pacific zone 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 even better; feel free to explore their entire schedule here. You can also click the down arrow at the right of each listing for additional, useful info.

I’ll bet if you checked that entire schedule link just above you’d find other options of interest, but these are the only ones grabbing my attention at present.  Please dig in further for other possibilities.

Friday October 1, 2021

3:00 AM King Kong (Merian C. Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack, 1933) Original tale of a huge ape on a secluded island with natives and dinosaurs, taken away by an entrepreneurial filmmaker as an NYC stage attraction until all hell breaks loose.  Marvelous stop-motion-animation by Willis O’Brien of the island’s creatures (racist stereotypes of the natives, though), culminating with Kong’s capture of Fay Wray, carrying her with him to the top of the Empire State Building for the (sad) grand finale.

3:45 PM Freaks (Tod Browning, 1932) A very disturbing horror film (pre-Hays Code when movies had minimal restrictions) about a circus trapeze artist who plans to marry a dwarf only to collect his huge inheritance, so she pretends to buddy up with all the sideshow folks who sport various physical abnormalities even though privately she can’t stand these people.  What happens to her must be seen to be believed, although the original cut was too unnerving for audiences of the time so it was edited, didn’t do well at the box-office, but has since become a classic of unrelenting social critique.

Saturday October 2, 2021

10:45 PM Being There (Hal Ashby, 1979) Marvelous satirical exploration of the concept of cognitive dissonance as various self-absorbed characters encounter a man with mental limitations, a gardener (Peter Sellers) whose vague statements lead them to interpret him as a newly-emerged genius with political agendas sought to be implemented by high government officials, even putting him in line for the Presidency. Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden, Richard Dysart, Richard Basehart (Oscar for Best Supporting Actor [Douglas], Sellers nominated for Best Actor). Ends on a great shot.

Tuesday October 5, 2021

11:15 AM 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.

7:00 PM La Strada (Federico Fellini, 1954) Cinema masterpiece, shows Fellini’s roots in Neorealism as he moves toward the realm of Lyrical Realism (before his full shift into Modernism). Story of a brutish strongman circus performer (Anthony Quinn) who buys a woman (Giulietta Masina) from a poor family to be his assistant, treats her badly, is violent toward a tightrope walker (Richard Basehart) who tries to befriend her. Superb acting. Won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film

Wednesday October 6, 2021    

5:15 AM 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968) Sci-fi spectacular, on my All-Time Top 10 list, lots of mysterious, difficult interpretations back then (since clarified with a novel and sequel) about a powerful object enhancing human evolution, with astronauts to Jupiter aided/thwarted by super-computer HAL 9000 as the lone human fights for survival, encounters a transformation. “Star Gate” scene at the end visually-groundbreaking for its time, still impressive; Oscar for Best Special Visual Effects. Followed at 7:45 AM by the helpfully-explanatory sequel, 2010 (Peter Hyams, 1984).

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: Extra items you might like: (1) Marvel sues to retain character copyrights including Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange; (2) Argument that Dune shouldn't be released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max.  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 to search 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 problem’s been manually fixed so that all postings since July 11, 2013 now have the proper functioning link.

Here’s more information about Respect:

https://www.unitedartistsreleasing.com/respect/ (click on the 2 little bars in the upper left corner or the arrow in the lower left to see more)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnTg4pHgQL8 (7:05 photos of many cast members and the real-life-people they portray in this movie) and more depth at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCNOWS9MuCk (41:17 interview with director Liesl Tommy and actor Jennifer Hudson about the making of their film [ads interrupt at about 1:00, 9:45, 20:20, 32:00; also, sound levels drop and rise at various times during this video so be prepared to adjust or just click on the captions—CC—button on the lower right of the video screen])

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/respect_2021

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

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. But, just as we can raunchy at times (in private of course) Neil and his backing band, Promise of the Real, on that same night also did a lengthy, fantastic version of "Cowgirl in the Sand"

(19:06) which I’d also like to commit to this blog’s always-ending-tunes; I never get tired of listening to it, then and now (one of my idle dreams is to play guitar even half this good).

But, while I’m at it, I should also include another of my top favorites, from the night before 

at Desert Trip, the Rolling Stones’ "Gimme Shelter" (Wow!), a song always “just a shot 

away” in my memory (along with my memory of the great drummer, Charlie Watts; RIP).

               

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 24,965 (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 those responses have come from within the previous week (with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site):

Cry Macho plus Short Takes on Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, suggestions for TCM cable offerings, and a few other cinematic topics

 Boys Will Be Boys (more or less)

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.

                                 Cry Macho (Clint Eastwood)

                                       rated PG-13   103 min.

Opening Chatter (no spoilers): So, once again concerns about the COVID Delta-variant are keeping my 73-year-old-body away from my local theaters (maybe after I get a booster shot—hopefully next month—that might change), but were I going to see what’s available beyond my realm of streaming I’d be most interested in Blue Bayou (Justin Chon) and The Eyes of Tammy Faye (Michael Showalter),* although both of them are playing in just under 500 domestic (U.S.-Canada) venues so they’re making a pittance at the box office, even compared to Cry Macho which I can see at home due to the WB 2021 policy (not being repeated next year) of simultaneously releasing all of their new product both in theaters and on HBO Max; thus, I got to see Eastwood’s latest as soon as anyone else did with the old guy (91) still turning in a decent on-screen performance to go along with a solid hand in the directing (although the script—not by Clint, as none of his films are—is a bit clunky at first but improves nicely as it goes along) of a story about an aging cowboy sent by his former boss deep into Mexico to bring back the guy’s teenage son, now living on the streets with his cock-fighting-champ, Macho, but not allowed to leave the country by his domineering mother so all sorts of complications arise as man and boy make their hesitant, detour-prone journey to the border.

 In the Short Takes section (not so short this time in most of its entries, but that’s likely no surprise) I’ll offer comments on Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, adapted from a stage musical, itself based on the actual events concerning a 16-year-old out English lad whose post-high-school dream is to be a famous drag queen, which surprisingly gets little resistance in his town, especially from his supportive Mum, although the only real tension in this movie comes from homophobic-to-the-end-Dad (this one’s free to Amazon Prime Video subscribers, just as Cry Macho is for those connected in any manner to HBO Max).  Also 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!) plus my standard dose of industry-related-trivia. 

*I'll give you a taste of … Tammy Faye, though, with an anatomy of a scene {#} (2:42) exploring how she's determined to insert herself into this male-upper-echelon of Evangelical media stalwarts.

Here’s the trailer for Cry Macho:

                   (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: In 1979 Mike Milo (Clint Eastwood) is an elderly (a tactful way to put it) Texas cowboy/rodeo rider who suffered a debilitating back injury some time ago (in a B & W flashback we see him on horseback as the horse suddenly falls over on him) leaving him still employed for years by Howard Polk (Dwight Yoakam), a wealthy rancher who decides he’s carried Mike long enough (in that he’s usually late for work, doesn’t do enough when he’s on duty, takes too many pain pills), paying for his rent after the injury prevented him from making the kinds of prize money he collected as a rodeo star (with a houseful of trophies and framed press clippings to prove it) so one day he suddenly fires Mike.  Months later Howard contacts Mike again to go on a journey into Mexico to bring back his 13-year-old-estranged-son, Rafael “Rafo” Polk (Eduardo Minett), in that Howard has some unspecified legal issues preventing him from entering the country.  Mike initially rejects the idea, noting how his age and limited mobility don’t peg him as the man for such a job; however, Howard gets belligerent: “You owe me!” he yells, citing the support he's provided after “the accident.”

 We assume Howard means the rodeo catastrophe, but later we learn Mike’s wife and son died in a car crash awhile back, putting Mike into a steady funk due to that tragedy, so there may be a double meaning here (the script’s a bit clumsy in these opening scenes, conveying just enough clarity why Mike’s soon crossing the Mexican border [in a dusty, tiny entrance, just behind some young women heading for fun on a beach; obviously, such casual entry would be impossible if this story were set in our polarized-immigration-crisis of today]).  After the long trip in his beat-up-truck to Mexico City, Mike (bankrolled by Howard for the journey) goes to the lavish hacienda of Leta (Fernanda Urrejola), Rafo’s mother, who initially laughs at the shabby journeyman sent to retrieve the boy, then spews negativity about Howard before telling Mike to just take Rafo to Texas—once he can find him because he’s now essentially living on the streets, making a living in illegal cockfights with his aggressive rooster, Macho.  Following that tip, Mike sees Rafo just as cops arrive to break up an impending cockfight, everyone  scattering, but Mike waits until the dust settles, finds Rafo, convinces him to go to his father’s ranch where he’d have a horse of his own.  When Mike returns to Leta’s palace to inform her of this, she now objects, further angered Mike turned down her offer of sex.  After he leaves she has some of her goons—primarily Aurelio (Horacio Garcia Rojas)—tail Mike to make sure he doesn’t have the boy, although Mike takes the easy assumption the kid’s not with him.

 However, not far on the road Mike realizes Rafo and Macho are hiding in the back seat so he tries to leave the kid to find his own way home until he becomes convinced Rafo really does want to be with Howard, especially after hearing of physical abuse by Mom’s thugs at this rejected-home. At a café stop along the way Mike calls Howard to tell him they’re headed north but Aurelio arrives, tries to convince a crowd of locals Mike’s kidnapping his son; however, when Rafo pulls up his shirt to show his scars the crowd turns on Aureilo, allowing Mike and Rafo to keep going briefly (although Mike’s getting sick from the local water until Rafo gives him a cactus remedy), then the truck’s stolen by wandering thieves (later they see the these guys have been caught on the road by cops, so some justice prevails here).  Soon, though, Rafo convinces Mike to take what seems to be an abandoned car which gets them to the next café where they meet Marta (Natalia Traven) who runs the joint with her 4 granddaughters because her husband, daughter, son-in-law are all dead.  Marta shoos away a deputy (Federales are paid off by Leta too) looking for these fugitives so they’re safe for now, yet later as they approach a police roadblock Mike goes back to Marta’s village to take shelter in a small Virgin Mary shrine where Marta finds them, brings breakfast.  Soon they realize they’re not going anywhere, though, because their car’s broken down, so they choose to stay, essentially out of sight, although Mike comes across a ranch with a wild horse which he tames, teaches Rafo how to ride it.  

 ⇒After a few days, Howard manages to make phone contact; he wants to know why they’re still traveling after 2 weeks, so they get another car, head for the border; in the process, all hell breaks loose because Mike admits to Rafo that Mike told him the main reason he wants the boy back is as a bargaining-chip with Leta over some properly in Mexico.  Rafo’s furious, assumes Mike knew this all along (despite the old man’s protests), attempts to get away.  Just then a police car that’s been tailing them pulls up, but all these cops want is smuggled drugs which they find none of after considerably trashing the car.  Rafo stays with Mike, berates him for not being macho; Mike counters by noting the concept of “macho” is one of mistaken assumptions that fade with age.  Rafo admits he does want to see Howard, but they’re stopped again, this time by Aurelio who pulls a gun on them, only to drop it when Macho attacks him as Mike takes Aurelio’s gun and car, continues on to the border where Howard’s bribed the few guards to compensate for Rafo’s lack of credentials.  As we come to closure, Rafo gives Macho to Mike, who heads back into Mexico to settle in with Marta.⇐

So What? One reason this story’s set in the late 1970s is the original script, by N. Richard Nash (died in 2000), was written in that long-ago-decade, turned down by 20^th Century Fox, leading Nash to publish it as a novel (same title) in 1975, resulting in the script finally being bought by Fox with various attempts to get a movie made over the next decades starring—at various times—Robert Mitchum, Roy Scheider, Burt Lancaster, Pierce Brosnan, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, although nothing came of any of those attempts until 2020 when it landed at Warner Brothers, with Eastwood signed on as producer (1 of 4), director, star, basically using Nash’s script with additions by Nick Schenk (see this site for supportive references on the history of this project).  That script, however, doesn’t cut it too well with some critics.  For a bitter example,  David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter says: “[…] in Cry Macho, the corn is inescapable […] this is a story so crusty and antiquated in its conveniently resolved conflicts, contrivances and drippy sentimentality that it should have been left on the shelf […] The pedestrian screenplay seldom leaves much doubt about where it’s headed […] it provides the actor with opportunities for self-deprecating digs at his legendary persona (‘This macho thing is overrated’), the writing is too tin-eared and unsubtle for those observations to land.”—I’ll admit it’s pretty clunky in those opening scenes with Mike and Howard, but it gets considerably better as it goes along especially as the connections grow for Mike and Rafo.

 Nor does the whole concept fully connect with others due to the perception of over-reliance on nostalgia for Eastwood’s long screen presence.  Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly says: “Cry Macho, a movie of such complete elemental Clint-ness that it feels in some ways like a summation of his whole career, and a requiem for it too. The story itself is pure Western pulp, a dime-store roundelay of banditos, lost dreams, and femme fatales. But the poignancy of watching him play the cowboy once more feels like its own exercise in a kind of collective connective remembering: a bygone vision of masculinity whose template he didn't just embody on screen for decades, but half-invented our idea of in the first place.”  I was aware of such naysayers about Cry Macho before I chose to watch/review it anyway (largely because I’ve come to greatly admire Eastwood’s directing most of the time—especially for his Best Picture Oscar-winning Unforgiven [1992])—but, fortunately for me, I found it to be working quite well once we shift into road-trip-action.

 After seeing Cry Macho, I was encouraged by reading many whose opinions I respect (consistent agreements or not) who found a lot to laud about this movie.   Stephanie Zacharek of TIME says “To criticize Cry Macho—Clint Eastwood’s 39th or 40th movie as a director, depending on how you’re counting—is like picking on a cave painting because a buffalo’s legs aren’t portrayed realistically, to decry today’s sunset because yesterday’s was redder, to announce loudly that water just isn’t wet enough. The picture is so purely Eastwood—with all the good and bad that implies—it’s as if it had been drawn from his veins. […] The story is almost embarrassingly simple. But the picture slides by pleasantly enough like a stream in a Budd Boetticher movie, a calm place to take off your boots and set a spell as you reflect on the true meaning of manhood, the necessity of overcoming hidden heartache and the pleasures of finally, in your sunset years, succumbing to the love of a good woman.”  I agree, but some of Zacharek’s colleagues don’t care for the age difference between Mike and Marta, even as both of them are obviously desperate for some form of adult-human-interface after years of being too alone.

  A.O. Scott of The New York Times says: “Maybe this will make you restless. Maybe you want car chases, gunfights, quotable catchphrases and somber meditations on violence, justice and the American West. If so, there is a whole Clint Eastwood filmography to peruse. This one is something different — a deep cut for the die-hards, a hangout movie with nothing much to prove and just enough to say, with a pleasing score (by Mark Mancina) and some lovely desert scenery (shot by Ben Davis). If the old man’s driving, my advice is to get in and enjoy the ride.”  Good advice, I'd say.

 This particular story may seem far too familiar in places from other Eastwood titles, but (much as I usually reject his politics away from the screen) he’s contributed so much of value to the American cinema that I don’t mind at all finding some familiar tropes here because his presence still resonates effectively enough with me as if no years had passed at all between now and 1992 when his character in Unforgiven (my choice for the best Western ever made, even if it’s because this film challenges so many conventions of that genre that Eastwood also contributed to over the years of its importance in American culture) says to Gene Hackman’s character (just before blowing his head off): “Deserve’s got nothing to do with it.”  Cry Macho admittedly isn’t of such lasting value, yet it’s still well worth your while to explore, even just for the minor triumphs of sunset cinematography, as noted above by Scott and acknowledged by Rooney as one of the few successes he finds in this Eastwood offering: “Only DP Ben Davis’ atmospheric shooting of the occasional sweeping landscape gives this feeble movie some breadth.”  I find Cry Macho offers more than that, even in limited form.

Bottom Line Final Comments: As noted (in, lo, so many paragraphs ago, at the top of this posting), Cry Macho’s in wide-release (3,967 domestic theaters)—along with being available now for streaming on HBO Max—with its $4.4 million debut ($4.7 million worldwide) not so bad during pandemic times but nothing to brag about relative to what the industry normally hopes to gain in return for an investment of $33 million in production budget (many millions more for marketing, other distribution costs), especially compared to Disney’s current 1, 2 punch of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Destin Daniel Cretton)—$176.9 million domestically, $306.7 million worldwide—and Jungle Cruise (Jaume Collet-Serra)—$112.6 million domestically, $204.9 million worldwide—in recent weeks, but, let’s face it, those types of movies are much more likely to pull in the younger demographics who are willing to visit crowded indoor spaces (vaccinated or not, masks up for debate) to see more of what they’ve been conditioned to want from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and/or dramatic narratives based on childhood memories of Disneyland rides.  Clint’s recent works are more likely to appeal to older audiences such as myself so while we’re not helping WB (and our local theaters) put cash in the registers we are keeping Clint’s reputation alive in our living rooms through HBO Max streaming, an opportunity I’m so very glad to have had last weekend.

 

 The CCAL overall seems to be skewing a bit younger, though (based not just on my assumptions of who gets hired/recognized for their opinions but also from the little photos that accompany most of the Rotten Tomatoes critics, just about all of whom look considerably younger than me) because their response to Cry Macho is clearly more of a OCCU attitude with the RT reviews at only 55% positive while the folks at Metacritic are surprisingly higher (not by much) with a 59% average score.  As noted previously, I certainly wouldn’t call Cry Macho one of Eastwood’s Top 10 as a director, but it’s still quite watchable (assuming certain aspects of its 1970s origin don’t bother you as too dated for our ongoing 21^st century), which I’d encourage you to do if you access HBO Max or care to venture into an actual theater.  To finish up here, as you might know I like to cap off a review with a Musical Metaphor that gives one last perspective on what’s been discussed, but in this case I find 2 of them from 1972 (sort of paralleling the original script) to be of some relevance, so I’ll provide both.

 First is “What Am I Doing Hanging Around” from Michael Murphy—now also using his middle name of Martin—(on his 1972 debut album, Geronimo’s Cadillac) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpTd04ME1jQ with lyrics that speak to Mike’s eventual fascination with Marta and his ultimate decision:  “What am I doin’ hangin’ ‘round? I should be on that train and gone I should be ridin’ on that train to San Antone What am I doin’ hangin’ ‘round? […] I didn’t know much Spanish and there was no time for talk She told me that she loved me not with words but with a kiss.”  But I feel some attention also should be paid to another great 1972 song, “Poncho and Lefty” (first found on the Late Great Townes Van Zant album) about Mexican bandit/revolutionary-soldier hero Poncho Villa and his (mostly fictional) friend where I see metaphorical connections of how Poncho’s depicted in the song to Mike (at least in his younger, intentionally-macho days) in lines such as “His horse was fast as polished steel He wore his gun outside his pants For all the honest world to feel” while a little creative-license might give us insight into Rafo’s life after he comes back to Howard (maybe not what he was hoping after all as time went on) in the lines: "The poets tell how Poncho fell And Lefty’s living in a cheap hotel The desert’s quiet, Cleveland’s cold And so the story ends we’re told Poncho needs your prayers it’s true But save a few for Lefty too He only did what he had to do And now he’s growing old All the Federales say We could have had him any day We only let him go so long Out of kindness, I suppose."  While this song’s been recorded by many, my favorite remains the Willie Nelson/Merle Haggard duet on their 1983 album named for the tune at https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=UoKvUYbGu7A (in this video Willie plays Poncho, Merle’s Lefty who apparently betrays his friend [as Rafo was on the verge of doing to Mike many times in their story] in order to get cash for a return to the States); this may not be a perfect Metaphor for Cry Macho (just as the song’s lyrics are more poetic than fully-factual), but I love the song, insist on jamming it in here so I hope it makes some sense for you, just as the content of my next review might raise the need for willing suspension of disbelief (or not, depending on how you feel about LGBTQ social acceptance).

                

(once again, not truly) SHORT TAKES (despite best intentions)

(spoilers also appear here)

                  

                       Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

                 (Jonathan Butterell) rated PG-13 115 min.

               

Adapted from a stage musical, this is the based-on-fact story of a 16-year-old English boy on the verge of high-school graduation whose secret desire is to be a drag queen despite opposition from his school when he plans to attend the prom in a dress, but he’s encouraged by his female friend and his supportive mother, despite taunts from a bully in his class along with rejection from his father.

Here’s the trailer:

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

 Here’s one of the most unique opening statements I’ve ever seen in a movie: “This story really happened, then we added the singing and dancing.”  Therefore, you know this is yet another biopic—made into a musical to boot (as with Come from Away [Christopher Ashley; reviewed in our September 16, 2021 posting] although that example’s a filmed version of a stage play whereas … Jamie’s a full-cinematic-adaptation of a play of the same name [music by Dan Gillespie Sells, book and lyrics by Tom MacRae {2017}, itself inspired by a British TV documentary, Jamie: Drag Queen at 16 {Jenny Popplewell, 2011} exploring the high-school-graduation-events of then-teenage-Jamie Campbell and his mother, Margaret Campbell {brief interview,4:29, with them at this site; images of them also accompany the movie’s credits}])—although my general avoidance of such was tempered by a good number of supportive reviews which proved to be accurate in encouraging audiences to explore the true story of a young gay so (generally) comfortable with his identity he’s ready to set his sights on becoming a noted drag queen even before he gets into college, even in his sometimes-unsupportive-home of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, even defying his rigid, homophobic Dad.

 Despite infrequent-hesitations on Jamie’s (Max Harwood) part (actual Jamie Campbell renamed Jamie New for the semi-fictionalized play, movie), he easily triumphs over just about anything that confronts him (except ongoing-rejection by his estranged father, Wayne New [Ralph Ineson]), so without spouting unannounced spoilers I’ll just say the events of this story build to an inevitable climax, but I won’t belabor plot details you can find in abundance in written text (at 15 paragraphs I’m amazed the Wikipedia editors didn’t cite this lengthy narrative as needing to be trimmed) and farther below in the second item in Related Links connected to this movie, a specific comparison of the flow of the original play and this cinematic-adaptation.  In essence, Jamie’s 16, near the end of his public-school-years where his teacher, Miss Hedge (Sharon Horgan), is desperately trying to convince her students to pursue reasonable careers instead of hoping to be media stars although secretly Jamie yearns to be a celebrated drag queen (at which point he—in his mind—bursts into the active, glitzy disco/fashion runway number “Don’t Even Know It,” which reinforces his self-concept: “You can’t define me, I’m everything”—a frequent tactic in this movie of ordinary circumstances/ environments suddenly exploding into massive fantasy production numbers although by the end at the school prom it’s no longer clear what’s fantasy and what’s dynamic-exuberance by these characters as their lives seem destined for constant celebration rather than any sense of hesitation).

 Jamie’s supported by his school friend, Pritti Pasha (Lauren Patel), a Muslim girl with a Hindu name (who plans to be a doctor), along with his Mum, Margaret (Sarah Lancashire), and her friend, Ray (Shobna Gulati), the latter 2 fixing up a 16^th birthday celebration for Jamie where he gets his desired present of a pair of sparkling, red high heels, the only downside being a no-show from Dad, although Mum constantly lies about his absence in Jamie’s life, trying to spare her son further grief about his father (Jamie sings “Wall in My Head” about how he’s tried to build up defenses regarding this failed-parenting-situation [if you want to extend on this aspect simply play Pink Floyd’s great 1979  double album, The Wall or watch its film adaptation {Alan Parker, 1982}]).  Rejecting attempted harassment by school bully Dean Paxton (Samuel Bottomley), whom Jamie flicks off like an annoying insect, Jamie does hesitate in furthering his drag queen-dreams by wearing a dress to the senior prom until Pritti encourages him so he visits the House of Loco where shopkeeper Hugo Battersby (Richard E. Grant) tells Jamie of his own life as Loco Chanelle (with scenes set to “This Was Me” of how drag queens fiercely fought for their social identities in the 1980s-‘90s until emotionally-crushed by the deaths of colleagues from AIDS), ultimately resulting in Jamie debuting himself as Mimi Me in a local drag show at a club, Legs Eleven, besting Dean’s attempt to heckle him, winning audience approval.

 ⇒Still, Miss Hedge and Principal Iman Masood (Adeel Akhtar) tell Jamie not to show up at the prom in a dress as that will spoil the event for many of the other students, yet he does it anyway (in a tasteful choice, not as a blatant drag queen), at first denied entrance until Pritti and other students say they’re not coming in unless Jamie does too; ultimately Hedge relents, Pritti shames Dean by telling him what a dead-end-life he’s facing even as Jamie offers forgiveness leading to a new friendship with a grand finale number at the prom that extends into a huge street dance the next day (you can see the scene here [3:55]—minus the street follow-up—with the final number, “Out of the Darkness (A Place Where We Belong)” reinforcing the concept of “Out of the darkness, into the sunlight”).⇐  This movie’s so uplifting, so queer-positive it’s hard to find fault with it, which the CCAL’s not eager to do, the RT reviews coming in at 79% positive, the MC average score at 62% (not so negative for them where they often don’t even get in the 70s range), especially as it’s inspired by a real boy with the courage to follow his dreams against society’s callous-expectations.*

*In this short interview (5:41) Harwood talks about the movie, his several auditions for it, and the lively, energetic production process, in which all the songs were sung live by the entire cast on set.

 Yet, from a dramatic-structure-standpoint I can’t help but feel everything goes Jamie’s way far too easily: he wants to be a drag queen, then quickly succeeds at it even before finishing high-school; his one antagonist is easily rebutted by both Jamie and Pritti; Miss Hedge is constantly pushing her students to be prepared for their exit-exams which will determine their college options (even Dean, who assumes he has none) yet we never hear anything about how any of them did on these tests; once Dean and his rowdy buddies are thrown out of the drag club Jamie’s debut performance is an instant hit, further encouraging him to dress and act this way in school; despite the stated concerns about Jamie in a dress ruining the prom for those who’d object this doesn’t happen at all (in the interview with the real Jamie noted above he says that’s how it happened so I admit I don’t know how much creative license is taken with this movie's life-fictionalized-presentation).  Purely from a narrative perspective I think conflicts are raised for dramatic needs, then resolved as if they never existed making this a bit of an arbitrary structure for me (although the reality of discrimination any LGBTQ person faces in most societies worldwide is horribly true so any tale of acceptance is useful) as a movie but not as a viable celebration of the grand-courage this young man found within himself.

 Accordingly, my choice for a Musical Metaphor is “I Whistle a Happy Tune” (from any version of The King and I soundtrack, written by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II for their celebrated 1951 stage original) with this version at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGS029Peq7k from the famous (5 Oscars, including Best Actor Yul Brenner) film adaptation (Walter Lang, 1956) as sung by Deborah Kerr (actually dubbed by Marni Nixon) to her son as they approach a new life in Siam with trepidation: “Whenever I feel afraid I hold my head erect And whistle a happy tune So no one will suspect I’m afraid […] Make believe you’re brave And the trick will take you far You may be as brave As you make believe you are.”  Even in his short-so-far-life Jamie’s successfully learned to do the same, even showing up at a football (soccer) match looking femme as a means to embarrass Dad, despite being beaten up some for his audacious act as he worked out anger at both parents, Dad for being who he is, Mom for covering up for Wayne over the years.  Despite my minor hesitations, I think that many of you would enjoy … Jamie, free to Amazon Prime Video subscribers.

            

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 for U.S. Pacific zone 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 even better; feel free to explore their entire schedule here. You can also click the down arrow at the right of each listing for additional, useful info.

I’ll bet if you checked that entire schedule link just above you’d find other options of interest, but these are the only ones grabbing my attention at present.  Please dig in further for other possibilities.

(Yes, I know, I get more carried away with some of these descriptions than I do with others but, trust me, they’re all well worth your consideration, for those various reasons that I've noted or elaborated.)

Friday September 24, 2021

3:15 PM A Hard Day’s Night (Richard Lester, 1964) Beatles’ big-screen-debut based loosely on their actual Beatlemania lives as world-sensation-rock-musicians now burst upon the scene. While a bit exaggerated in terms of what the Fab Four’s offstage existence was like the performance scenes accurately mirror the fan fanaticism of the time, while the overall movie incorporates French New Wave-inspired looseness with visual approaches, meandering plot lines, taking it to a higher level.

7:15 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 “bum” brother’s (Brando) witnessed a mob 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.

9:15 PM East of Eden (Elia Kazan, 1955) James Dean’s screen debut as Cal Trask, a WW I-era young man living near Monterey, CA trying to win the love of his stern father, Adam (Raymond Massey), who gives more support to other son Aron (Richard Davalos), adapted from the stunning John Steinbeck novel (with its intended Biblical overtones). Even when Cal makes a fortune for Dad he’s rejected so he shames Aron by revealing Mom (Jo Van Fleet) isn’t dead after all but lives nearby, running a brothel.  Won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress (Van Fleet); Dean (already dead by the time of the awards) was nominated for Best Actor (as he was for his last, Giant [1956]).

Saturday September 18, 2021

1:30 PM The Good, the Bad and the Ugly  (Sergio Leone, 1968) Not a classic in the traditional cinematic sense but maybe the best “spaghetti western” from the master of this type of story where Clint Eastwood stars, this time working bounty-hunter-hustles with Eli Wallach while vicious Lee Van Cleef’s in the same territory, all of them looking for a hidden stash of Confederate gold in the Old West as various double-crossings effectively increase the tension of what the outcome might be; great cinematography and an unforgettable score by Ennio Morricone. Preceded by A Fistful of Dollars (Leone, 1964) at 9:00 AM and For a Few Dollars More (Leone, 1965) this same TCM day.

Monday September 27, 2021

5:00 PM Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941) Still my All-Time #1 (even though Sight and Sound’s poll dethroned it in 2012 in favor of Hitchcock’s Vertigo [1958] after 50 years on top); a triumph of script, acting, cinematography, editing, sound design, art direction, special effects, score, with Welles as director, star actor portraying Charles Foster Kane, an enormously wealthy (by chance as a kid) newspaperman (patterned on William Randolph Hearst) whose early progressive ideals succumb to pragmatics destroying marriages to 2 wives (Ruth Warrick, Dorothy Comingore) and a long-time-friend (Joseph Cotton), retaining loyalty only from his business manager (Everett Sloane). Except for the eye-of-God beginning & end told in flashbacks, 5 narrators imparting subjective accounts (hard for us to know what’s true). Won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz [granddad of noted TCM host Ben Mankiewicz]); scripting process the subject of Mank.

7:15 PM Malcolm X (Spike Lee, 1992) Docudrama of inspirational/dangerous (depending on your viewpoint) 1960s civil rights crusader who shifted from small crime to devout Muslim determined for Blacks to resist further White oppression but ultimately breaks from Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam, to promote tolerance rather than segregation, resulting in Malcolm’s assassination. Long film (201 min.) but well worth it. Denzel Washington deserved Best Actor Oscar but denied.

Tuesday September 28, 2021

5:00 PM Network (Sidney Lumet, 1976) Brilliant satire from Paddy Chayefsky (Oscar for Original Screenplay) about TV news, ratings, soulless corporations, and “mad prophet” Howard Beale, a harbinger of Reality TV and Social Media. Ned Beatty’s CEO rant is priceless. Excellent cast: Peter Finch as Beale (posthumous Oscar, Best Actor), William Holden, Faye Dunaway (Oscar, Best Actress), Robert Duval, Beatrice Straight (Oscar, Best Supporting Actress); Oscar nominations for Picture, Director, Actor (Holden), Supporting Actor (Beatty), Cinematography, and Film Editing.

Wednesday September 22, 2021 (an early day of silent film masterpieces)

6:45 AM The Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925) Considered among the best ever 

(#5 on my All-Time list), the content here is a Soviet Union propaganda piece showing continuity of rebellious action against the Tsar (culminating in the 1917 Russian Revolution) by focusing on events during the abortive 1905 revolution aboard this ship and the port city of Odessa, showing brutality against sailors and civilians. Its focus on repression doesn’t bring up concerns about Communist politics as such, so I think you can watch this without objecting to ideological aspects. Today it’s praised for its fantastic use of the montage editing style where most shots run less than 30 sec., delivering an active cinematic experience akin to Picasso’s Cubism, especially the scene of townspeople massacred on a grand staircase. TCM’s info lists this as running only 70 min. (roughly the length of the original release) but the schedule calls for 2 hrs., so maybe there’s considerable additional info and analysis. This is a silent film but uses intertitle dialogue cards between shots.

8:00 AM City Lights (Charlie Chaplin, 1931) On my Top 10 list too (#9), combining the Tramp’s physical-dexterity-comedy (especially in the prizefight scene) with subtly-serious observations during this early-Depression era as he tries to help a blind woman (Virginia Cherrill) he’s fallen in love with, her mistakenly thinking he’s a rich man; there’s an actual millionaire also (Harry Myers) who buddies with the Tramp when drunk, dismisses him when sober. Poignant ending left open to interpretation.

11:00 AM The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928) Also in my All-Time Top 10 (at #10); many say this is the last great silent film, starring René Falconetti (her only major screen role) in the stark, emotionally-impactful story of a heretic (when the story’s set)-turned-martyr (now a revered saint in the same Catholic Church that killed her); enhanced with intertitles and music.

If you’d like your own PDF of ratings/summaries 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: A couple of extra items: (1) Exhibits at the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures; (2) An IATSE strike would shut down all U.S film and TV production.  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 that you can search streaming/rental/purchase movie options at JustWatch.

            

Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:

           

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Here’s more information about Cry Macho:

https://www.crymachofilm.com (click on the 3 bars in the upper left to get more info)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzTQixj_kaI (5:56 commentary on Clint Eastwood as a director, including briefly from Steven Spielberg, Gene Hackman, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, and a bit on Cry Macho)

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

https://www.metacritic.com/movie/cry-macho

Here’s more information about Everybody’s Talking About Jamie:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09C178C4Z/?ref=DVM_US_DL_SL_GO_AST_21ETAJ_mkw_sKMKCv57j-dc_pcrid_546308770062&mrntrk=slid__pgrid_126512916949_pgeo_9032012_x__ptid_kwd-1417293717043&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIj5ztvdGJ8wIVYgytBh2Fewh5EAAYASAAEgIs_fD_BwE 

(competing for the longest official movie site URL ever concocted)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn_nDpnE3pE (18:28 changes from stage to screen discussed in extensive detail; spoilers of course [ads interrupt at about 10:00])

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/everybodys_talking_about_jamie_2021

https://www.metacritic.com/movie/everybodys-talking-about-jamie

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 

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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. But, just as we can raunchy at times (in private of course) Neil and his backing band, Promise of the Real, on that same night also did a lengthy, fantastic version of "Cowgirl in the Sand"

(19:06) which I’d also like to commit to this blog’s always-ending-tunes; I never get tired of listening to it, then and now (one of my idle dreams is to play guitar even half this good).  

But, while i'm at it, I should also include another of my top favorites, from the night before 

at Desert Trip, the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" (Wow!) a song always "just a shot 

away in my memory (along with my memory of the great drummer, Charlie Watts: RIP).

          

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