Film Reviews from Two Guys in the Dark: January 2022

Thursday, January 27, 2022

Munich – The Edge of War plus Short Takes on suggestions for TCM cable offerings and other cinematic topics

“Hope is waiting for someone else to do it.

We’d all be much better off without it!”

(Paul to Hugh within the film reviewed below, as they argue about

whether to take drastic action against Hitler.)

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) if they agree with me or the OCCU (Often Cranky Critics Universe) if they choose to disagree.

Munich – The Edge of War (Christian Schwochow)

rated PG-13 131 min.

Opening Chatter (no spoilers): Omicron continues to chase me away from movie theaters in my local San Francisco area (the damn virus seems to be on the wane, though), but streaming’s still actively available, even if I was only attracted to the available new options to pick just one for this week (but there are some big-ticket-items on the horizon for the coming weekend so I’ll be back with considerably more next time around), allowing us to wander through the events of Munich – The Edge of War based on a novel focused on a spy story but set in the historical events of heightened-tensions in 1938 as Britain and other allies attempt to prevent Hitler from engulfing all of Europe by agreeing to allow him to annex part of Czechoslovakia. Jeremy Irons stars as Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain; the film’s available for no extra charge to Netflix streaming subscribers. 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, such tedious software!), along with my standard dose of industry-related-trivia.

Here’s the trailer:

(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 $ (as well as recognizing those readers like me who aren’t that tech-savvy)—to help any of you who’d like to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows:

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

What Happens: (While the essential facts of Chamberlain’s agreements with Hitler are part of the historical record which you can easily look up, some of this story is fiction so I’m still using a Spoiler alert below.) We begin in 1932 at Great Britain’s Oxford U. where friendships have grown strong among Englishman Hugh Legat (George MacKay), Germans Paul von Hartmann (Jannis Niewöhner) and girlfriend Lena (Liv Lisa Fries)—no surname given for her—yet we’ll see in a later flashback how their friendship angrily-ended when Paul supported Hitler’s rise as a needed return to prominence for Germany after its crushing defeat in WW I (then economic/sociopolitical chaos) while Hugh and Lena saw him as a dangerous madman. Most of the rest of this story takes place in late September 1938 when Hitler’s already occupied Austria, now intends to annex the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia which borders German because it has a large German-heritage-population (as the result of Allied-dictated-border-drawings after the previous “Great War”). By now, Hugh’s married to Pamela (Jessica Brown Findlay), has a young son, Arthur (Aidan Hennessey), but is constantly distracted from his home life due to obligations as a secretary to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (Jeremy Irons), including the sudden interruption of a planned anniversary celebration at a hotel when Hugh’s called back to work with Pamela returning home in a huff (well, actually she's in a taxi, but you get the idea [even with my joke, roughly stolen from Groucho Marx]).

Hugh’s needed at the PM’s office due to a scheduled conference (Sept. 29-30) in Munich with Hitler in an attempt by Britain and France (represented by Prime Minister Edouard Daladier [Stéphane Boucher]) to call off the invasion (yet no Czech representatives are to be present at these negotiations, although Chamberlain comes up with the idea of inviting Italy’s dictator, Benito Mussolini [Domenico Fortunato] to join in, hoping he might be able to help persuade Hitler to agree to taking the Sudetenland but stop his aggression at that point). As a surprise to Hugh, Paul (now a German diplomat) requests his old friend accompany Chamberlain to the event, which Chamberlain reluctantly agrees to, given the young man’s multi-lingual-command. However, we learn through scenes in Germany Paul’s now involved with a clandestine group of anti-Hitler forces who seemingly have enough muscle to stage a coup against der Führer if no agreement with the other countries is reached in Munich; further, Paul has a purloined copy of the Hossbach Memorandum, cooked up by Hitler and some of his top honchos in late 1937 outlining his plans to wage war in Europe to solidify German superiority in the region, so the oncoming catastrophe isn’t paranoia on Paul’s part.

Unfortunately for Paul, he’s being watched carefully by former childhood friend/now suspicious, fierce Schutzstaffel (SS) officer, Franz Sauer (August Diehl); further unfortunate situations occur for Paul and Hugh once they meet (with Hugh receiving the prized document in a crowded café, using the old stash-it-in-a-newspaper-trick) because Chamberlain’s not about to be persuaded to abandon his “peace” project, still haunted by the graves of friends in WW I, determined to save Europe from further military-conflagration as he believes Hitler’s signature on these appeasement documents will prevent Germany's dictator from suffering humiliation of the world’s rejection should he continue further aggressions. This is the stance taken by Chamberlain when he hesitantly agrees to meet privately with Paul and Hugh, even giving the document to Hugh to destroy (which he doesn’t do). ⇒Paul then takes Hugh to a nursing home to see paralyzed Lena, thrown through a window in 1935 at an anti-Nazi rally; afterward, they argue as Paul’s ready to take action, including killing Hitler, but Hugh insists they need to put hope in further talks (Paul’s angry response is the title of this posting). Then, some frenzied final scenes: Sauer attacks Hugh (but doesn’t get the Memorandum because it was slipped out of Hugh’s room by typist Joan Menzies [Anjil Mohindra], a bit of a spy herself, who returns it to Hugh); Paul has an opportunity to smuggle a pistol into a private meeting with Hitler but can’t bring himself to use it because he ultimately doesn’t feel he has the right to take such drastic action against another person so he privately commits himself to continue the clandestine struggle against the Nazis; Chamberlain returns home to a hero’s welcome because Hitler not only signed the Munich Agreement of taking only the Sudetenland but also a direct promise between Germany and Great Britain not to go to war with each other. Hugh’s happy to be back with his family but knows war’s inevitable so he plans to quit government service, join the Royal Air Force, worrying Pamela.⇐

Pre-credits graphics inform us Hitler moved on the rest of Czechoslovakia, then Poland in 1939, leading to WW II, with Chamberlain resigning from his office a few months later (to be replaced by Winston Churchill—who gets the wartime victor’s treatment in Darkest Hour [Joe Wright, 2017; review in our December 14, 2017 posting]), dying in 1940, although it’s clear the intent of this film is to honor Chamberlain as best the filmmakers can by stating that extra year before the war allowed the Allies to build up their military forces, so needed to ultimately achieve a victory against the Nazis.

So What? For those of us not all that familiar with the full range of historical facts about this crucial conference in Munich—and the events preceding/following it—plus the second-guessing that’s gone on ever since regarding what Chamberlain either did or didn’t accomplish, you can get some very useful background at this site, which ultimately takes the position the P.M. was some combination of arrogant/a dupe/a naïve failure who didn’t lead Europe in standing up to Hitler when containment seemed to be still possible; within that link, though, there’s another one leading you to a counter-argument by Robert Harris, author of the novel, Munich (2017), on which this film’s based, who says Great Britain, the U.S., etc. weren’t militarily ready to meet the challenge of Hitler in 1938; consequently, Chamberlain was doing the best he could with “the cards he was dealt” (a line from the film used at Chamberlain's triumphant press conference), obviously the perspective ultimately presented in this account, ⇒although it does show Chamberlain as too full of his own goals to even consider the information contained in the Hossback Memorandum, just as it shows Paul’s inability to initiate his planned-decisive-action when he had that split-second-decision-opportunity available.⇐

Clearly, Hitler, Chamberlain, and the other 2 world leaders at the Munich conference are historical figures, but there’s a lot of fiction here as well, with Paul likely based on actual anti-Nazi diplomat Adam von Trott, but it seems Hugh and most of the supporting players are fictional additions to what transpired. (It’s not clear whether Hitler would have been ousted from power from within his own ranks if the Munich Agreement had failed, but if you’d like to see a generally-accurate-dramatization of an actual attempt [July 20, 1944] by conspiring German officers to kill their ruler you can watch Valkyrie [Bryan Singer, 2008]—unfortunately, not that critically-successful but in the process you’ll find solid performances by Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, and Terence Stamp among others in a film which did very well financially yet was not-so-strongly-embraced by the CCAL [Rotten Tomatoes 62% positive reviews, Metacritic 56% average score].) I admit, I haven’t seen Valkyrie in years, but, as I recall, tension was consistently-well-built-up (even though there wasn’t the happy ending to be found in the brutally-revisionist Inglourious Basterds [Quentin Tarantino, 2009]—no, I don’t need a spell-check, that’s just how the director presents the title—where the Nazi high command is slaughtered [sorry if these comments amount to spoilers, but the films being referenced have been out for years now]). Just as some critics and historians (both in the U.S. and Germany) had some distain for Valkyrie, some contemporary viewers might resist the essentially-sympathetic portrayal of Chamberlain in Munich – The Edge of War, but as a drama it’s consistently well-structured, well-acted, and—like Valkyrie—calls useful attention to an aspect of WW II either not that well-known or not known for nuance, as the term “Munich Agreement” now generally is used as shorthand for any short-sighted/cowardly political decisions, an insult to such participants.

Bottom Line Final Comments: The CCAL’s somewhat more supportive of Munich … than they were of Valkyrie, with an RT cluster of 84% positive reviews, although the MC result remains in OCCU territory with a 53% average score* (if you can flow with the blatant-historical-inaccuracies intended for typical-Tarantino-assaults on our sensibilities, maybe you should just skip these more serious subjects noted above and watch … Basterds which got 89% positive responses from RT, a 69% average score from MC, with a worldwide gross of $321.6 million further topping Valkyrie’s global total of $201.5 million—oh, by the way, Inglourious … also got many prestigious awards nominations, including 8 from the Oscars with Christoph Waltz winning Best Supporting Actor). Munich – The Edge of War got only a limited (essentially, invisible) release in theaters but is now easily available for no extra charge to Netflix streaming subscribers. I think it works quite well in all aspects (even though it’s much more low-key than the others on these topics I’ve just referenced), shows how individual people with their lofty intentions often find themselves at odds with what actual circumstances and/or individual human abilities are able to accommodate, and at least provides an alternative interpretation of the goals and results of Chamberlain’s negotiations at this crucial time in world history even if the majority-negative-opinion will likely never swing much in his direction, so I recommend it although you might find the espionage aspects a bit muted in comparison to the actual political posturings, all of which brings us closer to known history despite the larger presence of fictionalization in this story (as well as speaking to a relevant situation in our time, noted just below).

*As with anything I review, you can look in the Related Links section much farther below for more details on these critics-accumulation-sites, where you can access the various evaluators' entire texts.

To bring this to closure, I’ll use my usual tactic of a Musical Metaphor intended as commentary on the previous commentary (how meta of me), which in this case will be referring to a famous English politician by using a song from a famous English band, The Beatles, with “We Can Work It Out” (on the 1966 U.S. album Yesterday and Today, the 1973 U.K. compilation The Beatles/1962-1966 [the “Red Album]) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qyclqo_AV2M because that lyrical-concept presents the essential crux of this story: from Chamberlain’s perspective to everyone, “Try to see it my way / Do I have to keep on talking ‘till I can’t go on?” while his assumption about everyone—specifically Hugh, Paul, and even Hitler—is “While you see it your way / Run the risk of knowing that our [world] may soon be gone.” The P.M,’s determined “Life is very short, and there’s no time / For fussing and fighting, my friend […] We can work it out.” Obviously, his optimism (grounded in harsh-pragmatism or fear depending on how you interpret him) doesn’t lead to "peace for our time," but it certainly was his hope cooler heads would prevail, even though the Axis hotheads had no real interest in that, just as we, in our time, have to wonder (with caution/preparation) what Mr. Putin wants regarding his version of acquiring a “Sudetenland” of Russian-heritage realms in Ukraine. Time will tell how well the current West and semi-East (given Russia’s sprawl across 2 continents, rather than just the initial-intra-West of decades long ago) are able to work it out because whatever we collectively do “Only time will tell if [we are] right or [we are] wrong.” On the edge of war, indeed!

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.

Thursday January 27, 2022

5:00 PM A Place in the Sun (George Stevens, 1951) Based on Theodore Dreiser’s 1925 novel An American Tragedy, a poor guy (Montgomery Clift) working for his uncle, secretly dating a co-worker (Shelly Winters) gets her pregnant, then falls in love with a socialite (Elizabeth Taylor); he needs to break off from Alice but she refuses so he contemplates killing her, making it look like an accident. Won Oscars for Best Director, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Costume Design (last 2 for B&W films), Film Editing, Music Scoring (+ noms for Best Picture, Actor [Clift], Actress [Winters]).

7:15 PM Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944) Most marvelous film noir co-written by Wilder and Raymond Chandler about a scheming housewife (Barbara Stanwyck) working with a clearly shady insurance salesman (Fred McMurray) to kill her husband, collect a big payout, but a claims adjuster (Edward G. Robinson) smells a rat so the deadly plot begins to unravel, betrayals increase (inspired Body Heat [Lawrence Kasdan, 1981] as a sort of glorious remake several unsettled decades later).

Friday January 28. 2022

11:00 PM Putney Swope (Robert Downey, 1969) A vicious satire of American consumerism where the Chairman of the Board of a big ad agency suddenly dies, the remaining Board members are forbidden to vote for themselves, so unlikely Swope (Arnold Johnson)—only Black on the Board—is accidently voted in, renames the agency Truth and Soul, Inc., brings in a full crew of Blacks, makes outrageous ads that resonate with audiences so the agency is suddenly rolling in cash even as Whites in the government are fearful. The director is the father of Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr.

Saturday January 29, 2022

2:30 PM Red River (Howard Hawks, 1948) Fiction about Chisholm Trail cattle drives from Texas to Midwest railroad centers; John Wayne as Thomas Dunson, a grizzled tyrant in charge of a large herd who feuds with adopted son Matt (Montgomery Clift) leading to Matt overthrowing Tom’s leadership, leaving a lady love (Joanne Dru) behind in a rush to beat Tom to Abilene, KS to sell the herd but inevitable confrontation between the 2 men occurs. Often considered one of the best westerns.

5:00 PM Gandhi (Richard Attenborough, 1982) Biography of famous nonviolent-activist Mahatma Gandhi whose protests for rights for Asian Indians led to legal victories against the British Empire in South Africa and India, later contributes to his home-country’s freedom from the Empire; marvelous lead by Ben Kingsley. Won Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Actor (Kingsley), Original Screenplay (John Briley), Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, and Editing (nominated for 3 more).

Sunday January 30, 2022

3:15 PM His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940) Adapted from Ben Hecht-Charles MacArthur play, The Front Page, this turns a sensationalistic-journalism-story into something with those aspects but also becomes a screwball comedy where now-divorced newspaper editor Walter Burns (Gary Grant) conspires to get ex-wife Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell) back (and on the payroll to cover a big story) despite her upcoming marriage to mild-mannered Ralph Bellamy. Famous rapid-fire dialogue.

5:00 PM The Verdict (Sidney Lumet, 1982) One of Paul Newman’s finest performances as alcoholic, near-washed-up lawyer Frank Galvin given a chance for a fat payout from a medical malpractice case but rejects the settlement, takes the Catholic hospital to trial shocking everyone involved. Things start going against Frank in the courtroom, though, while he finds out his new lover (Charlotte Rampling) is secretly working for the defense lawyer (James Mason). Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Director, Actor (Newman), Supporting Actor (Mason), Adapted Screenplay (David Mamet).

Tuesday February 1, 2022

1:15 PM Giant (George Stevens, 1956) An epic story of the West (3 hrs. 21 min.) but presented in a contemporary plot where the owner of a huge west Texas ranch (Rock Hudson) goes East to buy a horse, ends up also with a wife (Elizabeth Taylor) who has more supportive attitudes toward their Mexican workers. His older sister Luz (Mercedes McCambridge) dies, leaves a small plot to a local rounder (James Dean) who finds oil on his land, gets quickly rich, continues over the years to bedevil the main family. Oscar for Best Director (plus 9 more nominations), Dean’s last role before his car-crash death. For the time and location, a surprising ongoing theme of emerging social tolerance.

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 Oscars-focused/Marilyn Monroe items you might like: (1) Only 276 features from 2021 are available to vote on for this year's Oscars (includes full eligibility list); (2) NY Times critics' Oscar noms recommendations; (3) Entertainment Weekly's tracking of the top Oscar contenders; (4) Variety's advice to Oscar voters and extensive predictions on who's likely to get nominated. Now, here's a little-side-diversion with a note about how my marvelous wife, Nina, and I finished watching last weekend the new, wonderful CNN 4-episode miniseries, Reframed: Marilyn Monroe (already available to stream via free trial on Sling TV), which then led us back to My Week with Marilyn (Simon Curtis, 2011), another England-set, fictionalized-based-in-fact drama with Michelle Williams, Sir Kenneth Branagh (Oscar noms for both), Eddie Redmayne, Emma Watson, and Dame Judi Dench about Ms. Monroe’s actual trip to England in 1956 to work with Sir Laurence Olivier on The Prince and the Showgirl (Olivier, 1957 [on Amazon Prime Video streaming and other platforms for $2.99 rental; we’ll watch it soon])—because My Week … had been on our local PBS station (also free on Amazon streaming, $3.99-$4.99 on several other platforms; see JustWatch just below for options)—with particular interest for me because it was the subject of my 2^nd-ever-review on this blog (December 15, 2011), with the usual poor layout of those days (many more photos would have been useful) but a surprising amount of text given I’d seen it prior to the decision to launch the blog so I had no notes, wasn’t yet aware of Wikipedia plot summaries, had to squeeze out the whole ramble from hoped-for-accurate-memory, but you know I’m rarely at a loss for words. (I gave it 3½ stars, trying to not be too generous early on without a larger-ratings-context; seeing it again I’d say 4 stars, but I’m not about to rethink the 995 reviews I’ve done thus far, so I’ll just have to live with my earlier decision. If I were to attempt such total revisionism, though, I’d also want to add missing Musical Metaphors, which with My Week … would have to be Elton John’s "Candle in the Wind" [from his 1973 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album].) 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:

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.

AND … at least until the Oscars for 2020’s releases have been awarded on Sunday, March 27, 2022 we’re also going to include reminders in each posting of very informative links where you can get updated tallies of which films have been nominated for and/or received various awards and which ones made various individual critic’s Top 10 lists. You may find the diversity among the various awards competitions and the various critics hard to reconcile at times—not to mention the often-significant-gap between critics’ choices and competitive-award-winners (which pales when they’re compared to the even-more-noticeable-gap between specific award winners and big box-office-grosses you might want to monitor here)—but as that less-than-enthusiastic-patron-of-the-arts, Plato, noted in The Symposium (385-380 BC)—roughly translated, depending on how accurate you wish the actual quote to be—“Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder,” so your choices for success are as valid as any of these others, especially if you offer some rationale for your decisions (unlike any awards voters who blindly fill out ballots, sometimes—damn it!—for films they’ve never seen).

Here’s more information about Munich – The Edge of War:

https://www.netflix.com/title/81144852

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_BwDGBS-yc (5:19 historical context of this

fictionalized film)

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

https://www.metacritic.com/movie/munich-the-edge-of-war

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, but maybe while there you’ll get a chance to meet Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey, RIP). 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 17,937 (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):

Thursday, January 20, 2022

The Tragedy of Macbeth plus Short Takes on Mass, suggestions for TCM cable offerings, and a few other cinematic topics

“Something wicked this way comes”

(William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 1, line 45)

Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke

The Tragedy of Macbeth (Joel Coen, 2021)

rated R 107 min.

(Original 4x3 format here; other photos resized by me for layout purposes.)

Opening Chatter (no spoilers): Omicron still keeps me away from theaters (although there’s hope we may soon be on the downside of this virus-variant’s attack-curve), but that mattered none as streaming offers 2 of 2021’s best, well-rewarded by me with ratings used infrequently over this blog's past 10 years, beginning with a stunning adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, an age-old (truly, over 6 centuries on stage, then brought to film) narrative, slimly based in history (mostly fictionalized, to serve the famous playwright’s own socioeconomic-situation) but more lauded for its moral warnings about the corruptive power of overwrought-ambition focused on personal gain at the horrid expense of innocent others. This version’s a haunting combination of B&W cinematography, Expressionism in the visuals and soundtrack, enhanced with Oscar-caliber-acting from past-Oscar-winner-leads Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand; you might find this in a few theaters, but it’s easily available on Apple TV+ for no extra cost beyond their standard monthly subscription rate. I realize the story’s well-known, yet I’ll still note a Spoilers section for those not yet so familiar with it.

In the Short Takes section I’ll explore another engaging drama, Mass, out several months ago (kept eluding me), now available on several platforms (including Amazon Prime Video) for rent at $4.99-$6.99. Sadly, this is an still-relevant-story of attempted-reconciliation between 2 sets of parents: one whose son killed many of his high-school-classmates before taking his own life, the other mourning their son as one of the victims. 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, ye tedious software!) along with my standard dose of industry-related-trivia.

Here’s the trailer for The Tragedy of Macbeth:

(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.)

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

What Happens: (Before reading any of this you might like to watch an animated summary of the plot of the Macbeth play [6:49], but that gets you into Spoiler territory relative to this film adaptation, so go forth as you will.) Scottish Thanes (royal officials) Macbeth (Denzel Washington) and Banquo (Bertie Carvel) have led King Duncan’s (Brendan Gleeson) army to victory over some invaders from Norway, the enemy aided by the traitor Thane of Cawdor; on their way back home they encounter 3 witches (all seen as/voiced by Kathryn Hunter in a most joint-bending-presence) who offer prophecies: Macbeth will be promoted from his present role as Thane of Glamis to be the new Thane of Cawdor (soon comes true as the previous Thane’s executed), then will become King; Banquo’s heirs will be kings also (in that these characters are somewhat based in history this is verified beyond our story as the actual Banquo’s descendants are among those who eventually lead to Scotland’s King James VI [took the throne in 1567]/England’s King James I [1603-death in 1625], a patron of Shakespeare). Macbeth sends a letter home to his wife (Frances McDormand) about all this, which she reads with an immediate sense of ambition, then burns the letter. Macbeth and Banquo are warmly received by Duncan, although Macbeth’s troubled when the king names his son, Malcolm (Henry Melling), as Prince of Cumberland as this complicates any ascension of Macbeth to royalty as he’s already a bit elderly (some have praised Coen’s casting of older Washington and McDormand rather than a more-traditional-younger-version of the Macbeths, as their advanced age puts all the more pressure on them to take the throne soon as time may be running out). Next, Duncan, along with sons Malcolm and Donalbain (Matt Helm), come to visit the Macbeths at their castle with Lady M. pushing her reluctant husband to kill the king that night after she puts knockout-powders in the wine of his 2 guards; Hubbie hesitates, then goes through with the murder, but she’s the one who takes the guards’ knives, smears them with the dead king’s blood to incriminate them.

Upon the morning, Thane of Fife Macduff (Corey Hawkins) arrives to visit with the king, finds him slaughtered, after which Macbeth quickly takes it upon himself to kill the still-unconscious guards, followed by Malcolm and Donalbain making a hasty retreat to England as rumors spread they're the actual murderers, intent on quickly giving Malcolm his heritage. Somehow Macbeth is chosen as the new king, but, as his paranoia grows, he sends a couple of duped-assassins (Scott Subiono, Brian Thompson), aided by the Thane of Ross (Alex Hassell), to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance (Lucas Barker) in fear the boy might usurp Macbeth (as well as Banquo knowing of those prophecies); father’s dispatched, son runs but seemingly is caught by Ross. Macbeth continues to deteriorate (much to his wife’s dismay), goes wild at a banquet when confronted by Banquo’s ghost (no one else sees it), then summons the witches who tell him to beware of Macduff yet he’ll continue to be king until the forest of Great Birnam Wood should come to his castle on Dunsinane Hill (that seeming-impossibility reassures him) with even more comfort because he’ll be harmed by no man born of woman (seems airtight protection). ⇒Macbeth sends soldiers to Macduff’s home where they kill his wife (Moses Ingram) and children, though Dad’s already left for England to join up with Malcolm after Ross comes to tell him of his family massacre. Guilt’s driving Lady Macbeth mad, leading to her suicide, even as Malcolm’s large English army arrives holding branches they’ve cut from Birnam Wood so the forest seems to be advancing on the castle. Ultimately, confident Macbeth duels with Macduff until he learns his antagonist was born by Cesarean section, fights on anyway until beheaded, the crown delivered to Malcolm. As the film ends we find Ross kept Fleance hidden in the wilderness, rides away with him, confirming that someday his heirs will take Scotland’s throne.⇐

So What? Coen’s contemporary adaptation reaches back to the original title (The Tragedie of Macbeth) from the 1623 First Folio for a play probably first performed in 1606, a story based in the history of Scotland although actively fictionalized by Shakespeare. I can’t say exactly how Coen’s trimmed a 5-act-tragedy down to just 1 hr. 47 min. (including film credits) because I didn’t attempt to compare it while watching to the written version (although I did try that once, out of curiosity, while viewing the Orson Welles Macbeth [1948] but found it quite difficult to visually skip around on the printed page while listening to the dialogue coming from my TV, especially because Welles’ version uses Scottish accents which made it even harder to follow if [like me] you’re not already familiar with the lines); if you’d care to make such a comparison you can find Macbeth's entire theatrical text here. If not, you’ll likely not care too much about whatever Coen left out unless you’re as obsessive about Macbeth as I am about Hamlet (Shakespeare, 1599-1601), which is why I most appreciate Kenneth Branagh’s film-adaptation of that play in full (1996), although I can still find great value in a condensed approach, as in Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet (1948)—won Best Picture, Best Actor Oscars.

However, based on reading a detailed, documented summary of Shakespeare’s Macbeth (also contains a grand amount of additional, useful context), I see that Coen’s properly captured the essence of this famous narrative about the misery that awaits those overcome with deadly hubris, where pride and unchecked ambition lead to disaster, as Macbeth himself understands shortly before his demise as he summarizes life's failures as “signifying nothing” in his famous "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow" soliloquy (Act 5, Scene 5, lines 17-28), just after he’s learned of his wife’s suicide (which we don’t see directly, but easily surmise from shots at the top, then bottom of a long stone staircase as she lies inert). This short clip offers a taste of how impactful Washington is in this lead performance (where color-blind-casting gives him a chance to go beyond just the role of the Moor in Shakespeare’s Othello [1603], just as is the case too with Blacks as Macduff, Lady Macduff, a few minor characters who transcend the all-Anglo-casting of The Bard’s era [as well as the trope back then of female roles played by men, a situation so well challenged in Shakespeare in Love {John Madden, 1998}]), certainly a major consideration for me when choosing my desired-Best-Actor-Oscar-winner, even if he doesn’t get an official nomination (it helps he does have one from the Screen Actors Guild; it probably doesn’t help that he’s already won 2 of these Oscars, as Best Actor in Training Day [Antoine Fuqua, 2001], Best Supporting Actor in Glory [Edward Zwick, 1989], so the tendency might be to spread the spoils further this year—possibly to Benedict Cumberbatch (winless thus far) for The Power of the Dog [Jane Campion, 2021; review in our December 9, 2021 posting]).

Certainly McDormand’s no slouch either in … Macbeth (no SAG nom, but remember she’s already taken 3 Best Actress Oscars—Nomadland [Chloé Zhao, 2020; review in our February 25, 2021 posting], Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri [Martin McDonagh, 2017; review in our December 7, 2017 posting], Fargo [Joel and Ethan Coen, 1996], along with her Best Picture producer’s Oscar for Nomadland), yet her prior successes precede her here (Oscar buzz is with Kristen Stewart for Spencer [Pablo Larraín, 2021; review in our November 11, 2021 posting] but time will tell how that transpires), although I found McDormand’s performance to be mesmerizing (damn scary at times, too; I wish I could find a clip focusing on her, but you’ll have to settle for what’s in the trailer above, just as I have to settle for a cloudy memory because she played Lady Macbeth at the Berkeley [CA] Repertory Theatre [Feb.-April 2016], a show I think I would have seen as my theatre-loving-wife, Nina, and I (also a big fan) always get season tickets for their shows, yet, honestly I have only a 50-50 chance of actually remembering that (Nina's murky on it too) even if I can’t imagine how we could have missed it). The whole cast is marvelous as well, all of them delivering Shakespeare’s at-times-difficult-dialogue (at least to those of us not actively in familiarity with reading/hearing it) in manners that feel natural and organic, at least as best they can speak such given the poetic wording.

Visually, Coen’s made choices that evoke the ancient setting of the story (probably the 11^th century) by shooting it in black & white in the old 4x3 ratio of pre-1950s-cinema, pre-21^st century-TV, as well as using outstanding cinematography (Bruno Delbonnel) and set design (Stefan Dechant) which he admits (in the interview, second item attached to this film in Related Links far below) is influenced by a combination of Danish silent-film-master Carl Theodor Dreyer (here's a scene [2:46] from his celebrated The Passion of Joan of Arc [1928] as she’s harshly-interrogated by priests, looking for a blasphemy excuse to execute her [intertitles in French, subtitled in English]; you can also see the entire film [1:22:29], but you may have to settle for appreciating the visual power of the closeups [well-replicated in … Macbeth] because intertitles are in French, subtitles in Spanish) and German Expressionism (also serves as a direct influence on Orson Welles’ version of Macbeth—which you can get a taste of with his opening scene of the witches [1:21], the "Tomorrow" speech [1:12], or, if you prefer, Welles' entire film [1:54:16]—for that matter, I see a few shots reminding me of the prototype for such cinematic Expressionism, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari [Robert Wiene, 1920] as well as the apogee of this style, Metropolis [Fritz Lang, 1927]), all of this … Macbeth marvelously structured, shot, edited into a compelling flow often filled with mist, clouds, shadows, other devices obscuring what we see, just as the Macbeths attempt to obscure their crimes from their countrymen.

Coen also offers some intriguing imagery with birds, including how the 3 witches turn into large avians flying away from their first encounter with Macbeth; he later sees Banquo’s ghost—losing his equilibrium—after a large bird flies into, then out of his castle; finally, there’s the end shot as Ross rides off with young Fleance as the screen becomes completely filled with flying birds (yeah, I'm treading into Spoiler territory here, but I'm trying to stay ambiguous) reminding me of Vincent Van Gogh’s famous Wheatfield with Crows (1890), one of the last paintings before his death (which I’ve had the great pleasure of seeing at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam). Delbonnel’s getting some traction toward an Oscar nom for Best Cinematography (although momentum once again seems to be with The Power of the Dog [as it does for Campion for Best Director, her film for Best Picture]) so I can only hope he might enter/triumph in that category (just as I’d likely at this point go for … Macbeth to win Oscar’s Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Adapted Screenplay, but I have slim hope because most—if not all—of these awards will likely go elsewhere). Still, I stand proudly by my 5 stars because—just with the new West Side Story—the “play’s the thing” presenting a magnificent concept, triumphant over time, rendered here in glorious fashion for our cinema milieu.

Bottom Line Final Comments: While I sometimes find myself at odds with the "official" reviewers at Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic (most recently when I was notably higher for Being the Ricardos [Aaron Sorkin, 2021; review in our January 6, 2022 posting]—4 stars for me vs. 69% and 60% respectively for them—Don’t Look Up [Adam McKay, 2021; review in our January 13, 2022 posting]—4 stars vs. 54%, 49%—and The Tender Bar [George Clooney, 2021; also in our Jan. 13, 2022 posting]—3½ stars vs. 52%, 53%), we have little disagreement regarding The Tragedy of Macbeth as the RT folks provide 94% positive reviews, the MC evaluators give it an 87% average score, a very high number for them (of the 84 2020/2021 releases both they and I reviewed in 2021/early 2022 they only went to 80% or higher on 19 of them [I agreed on 16, was a bit lower on the others], with only 4 of them topping their current 87% for … Macbeth—Minari [Lee Isaac Chung, 2020; review in our March 4, 2021 posting] 88%, my 4 stars; The Father [Florian Zeller, 2020; review in our April 1, 2021 posting] 88%, my 4 stars; The Power of the Dog, 88%, my 4 stars; The Summer of Soul (… Or, How the Revolution Could Not Be Televised [Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, 2021; review in our July 8, 2021 posting] an incredible 96%, my 4 stars [on all of these I consider myself in league with their results as I so rarely exceed 4 stars except for truly timeless work {such as ... Macbeth} whereas the critics surveyed at these sites are willing to go to maximum credit for any film they like enough within any given year, not necessarily taking it into context all the preceding classics, which is what makes my 0-5 stars system somewhere different from how most of them do it]). As always with anything that I review, consult RT/MC listings in Related Links for more details.

Given how stingy I’ve been with 5 stars at this Two Guys site during these past 10 years you know this would almost automatically land … Macbeth at the head of my Top 10 of 2021 (a list I’ll compile sometime in the next month or so, in hopes a few well-regarded-others—Licorice Pizza [Paul Thomas Anderson, 2021], House of Gucci [Ridley Scott, 2021], Drive My Car [Ryusuke Hamaguchi, 2021]—make it to streaming soon [or that Omicron—along with its potential cousins—eases off so I might reconsider a trip to a theater]). But this time around I’ve got the unusual situation of (at least) one other 5 stars-film to consider, West Side Story (Steven Spielberg, 2021; review in our December 16, 2021 posting), with both of them ultimately based on famous plays, which doesn’t mean that for me a powerful-stage-narrative automatically makes for an astounding-cinematic-adaptation (e.g. the regrettable-flop of A Chorus Line [play: Marvin Hamlisch, Edward Kleban, James Kirkwood Jr., and Nicolas Dante, 1975; film: Richard Attenborough, 1985]), although it certainly can in the case of my 2021-dual-5 stars-successes, just as it did earlier with Cabaret (play: John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Joe Masteroff, 1966; film: Bob Fosse, 1972) and Chicago (play: Kander, Ebb, Fosse, 1975; film: Rob Marshall, 2002), both plays I saw on Broadway (saw A Chorus Line in Miami) so I do have some basis for comparison (of course you could probably do "Cabaret" and "Cell Block Tango" in a high-school-gym [reduced lighting, I'd hope] with success, so these might be seen as too-easy-victories).

For me, Spielberg and Coen have found strategies to transfer stage magic to screen magic so I encourage you to see both (as I ponder which one will be my #1 for 2021, … Macbeth probably on the inside-track at this point; maybe James Cameron can take a break from his Avatar sequels to help me out by cooking up a combo of the 2 where we might have Macbeth singing a version of “Something’s Coming”—“Murder’s comin’, don’t know when […] Maybe tonight” as he’s mentally wrestling with the sin/crime of killing Duncan), possibly still playing in moviehouses in your area (more likely … West [in 1,460 domestic {U.S.-Canada} venues, several global locations] than The Tragedy …, which only seems to be theatrical in a few U.S. sites and Australia) or you can stream … Macbeth at Apple TV+ (free with their normal $4.99 monthly subscription fee). I don’t think you can lose with either one, although possibly one of them will appeal more specifically to your tastes (uncouth-literary-lout that I am, I’ll recommend using closed-captions if you stream … Macbeth as it will likely help in following Shakespeare’s well-crafted-but-at-times-obtuse-language). Well, this has gone on almost as long as a full staging of Macbeth so I’ll bring it to a close with my usual tactic of a Musical Metaphor to react in some manner to what’s just been reviewed; in this case I’ll use more of a commentary than a direct reflection by referring to one masterpiece by taking something from another one (The Beatles 1967 album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band), George Harrison’s “Within You Without You” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsffxGyY4ck where after-the-fact-analysts could easily be talking about the Macbeths as “[…] people who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion / Never glimpse the truth / Then it’s far too late / When they pass away / [… they] gain the world and lose their soul / They don’t know / They can’t see / Are you one of them?” Certainly these doomed regents of Scotland don’t see in time that “[…] You’re really only very small / And life flows on within you and without you.” Maybe if Macbeth had been spared the witches’ prophecies he (and his ready-to-pounce-wife) would have been spared the tribulations they endured, been satisfied with the honors already accorded them, but—as this story has long reminded us—greed is a difficult failing to ignore, often taking us down long, dark, winding roads into certain doom.

SHORT TAKES (spoilers also appear here)

Mass (Fran Kranz, 2021)

rated PG-13/TV 13+ 111 min.

A few years after a high-school tragedy where a boy killed many of his classmates the parents of the killer and one of the victims agree to meet to see if any sort of reconciliation is possible; this is a powerful drama, mostly done as a dialogue among the 4 grieving parents in the confined space of a church room, tempers flaring sometimes, alternating with attempts at a better mutual understanding.

Here’s the trailer:

Before reading any further, I’ll ask you to refer to the plot spoilers warning far above.

This film looks like you’re seeing a direct-stage-to-film-adaptation-of-a-play, but not as cinematically-adapted as ... Macbeth (actually, debut screenwriter-director Kranz began his narrative intended for the stage but evolved it to cinema instead, which doesn’t in any way diminish the power of this claustrophobic-confrontation—same case as with the effective transfer of 12 Angry Men from a TV teleplay [Reginald Rose, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, 1954] to an unforgettable theatrical film [Sidney Lumet, 1957]), where, a few years after a tragic event, parents Linda (Ann Dowd) and Richard (Reed Birney) of teenage Hayden—who killed several of this classmates with a bomb he made, guns he borrowed before shooting himself—have agreed to a face-to-face-reconciliation attempt in a small Idaho Episcopal church with Gail (Martha Plimpton) and Jay (Jason Isaacs), whose son, Evan, was the first body found in the carnage. These couples have been in touch over time, but this is their first direct encounter. What transpires (after the clumsy introductions, then a couple of minor characters depart) becomes a steady rhythm of restrained-recrimination, attempts at apology, heartbreak, with ultimately a sense of uneasy-closure as Evan’s parents ultimately can’t understand how Hayden’s parents could have let their son stray so far from human decency while the accused plead they didn’t know how lost he’d become even as they accept blame for the tragedy (any similarity to the recent school shootings in Michigan is purely coincidental as this film went into production in 2020 [with the restrained setting useful during COVID restrictions], although Kranz says he was impacted by the 2018 Parkland, FL shooting). This is a powerful emotional encounter best seen rather than just read about ⇒although I’ll note the payoff is when Linda comes back, by herself, briefly after she and Richard—who’s tried his best to remain stoic through all this trauma—left, to admit to Evan’s family how terrified she’d become of her son shortly before the massacre.⇐

Even though this came out on Oct. 8, 2021 (barely made $145.9 thousand worldwide, so most of us were likely unaware of it although a radio-based-film-critic in my San Francisco area kept promoting it as one of the best of the year; he was right), I hadn’t paid much attention to this film on streaming ($4.99 Amazon Prime Video, a little more on some others, see JustWatch) until I recently saw in the Metacritic awards tally (see Related Links farther below) Dowd and Isaacs are getting attention for supporting roles (I see all 4 as equal leads, though), along with the screenplay, so I watched, was highly impressed, can’t recommend it enough (unless such a horror’s invaded your life; maybe still more than you could handle despite best intentions of you and the filmmakers) with the CCAL in full support (RT 95% positive reviews, MC 81% average score); I can’t say with any certainty what the title implies, but, having been raised Catholic, I assume it refers to the Communion ritual (similar in the Episcopal church) where forgiveness is asked in the context of celebrating Christ’s atonement for the sins of humanity (the constant presence of a crucifix behind Linda and Richard is no accident). For a Musical Metaphor I’ll use The Fleetwoods “Tragedy” (on their 1961 Softly album) at https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4wkVrak1Oc where its lyrics about a love gone wrong (“Wind and storm / Gone’s the sun / From the stars / My dark has come / You’ve gone from me, whoa, whoa, tragedy”) easily fit this situation as well. There are bigger, well-promoted films likely to dominate the Oscar race this year, but you owe it to yourself to at least know about Mass, with any awards or not.

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.

Thursday January 20, 2022

12:00 AM It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934) Hailed, sometimes as the 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).

5:00 PM The French Connection (William Friedkin, 1971) Based on a real situation, we follow the grind of NYC narcotics cops Popeye Doyle (Gene Hackman) and Buddy Russo (Roy Scheider) as they stumble onto a huge dope ring run by Frenchman Alain Charnier (Fernando Ray); it features one of the greatest car chase scenes ever filmed as Popeye’s racing under the elevated tracks of the subway, dodging danger. Won Oscars for Best Film, Director, Actor (Hackman), Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, plus additional nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Scheider) and Cinematography.

11:30 PM Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, 1975) Godfather-alums Al Pacino and John Cazale attempt a bank robbery (based in fact) to raise cash for sex reassignment surgery for Pacino’s lover, a botched job resulting in hostages, a standoff, crowd support for the robbers, with Pacino shouting “Attica! Attica!” (referencing an unpopular, vicious assault on a NY prison riot/hostage situation from that time). Won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (Frank Pierson), acting showcase for Pacino.

Friday January 21. 2022

7:00 PM Easy Rider (Dennis Hopper, 1969) A timely chronicle of conflicts of the time, made in low-budget mode (more money went to song rights for the soundtrack) as Peter Fonda and Hopper play motorcycle-riding drug dealers going cross-country to find what America’s all about; on the way they meet, travel with a young lawyer (Jack Nicholson). A big hit with a brutal ending; nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Supporting Actor (Nicholson), Original Screenplay (Hopper, Fonda, Terry Southern).

Sunday January 18, 2022

1:00 AM Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Stanley Kubrick, 1964) Difficult to make a satire about nuclear annihilation but this one succeeds, an hilarious send-up of the Cold War escalation between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. (regarding surviving nuclear holocaust in underground bunkers for years: “Mr. President, we must not allow a mineshaft gap!”) as a very deranged general orders a hit on Russia which looks to succeed. Peter Sellers is in 3 roles, others include George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens, and James Earl Jones.

Wednesday January 26, 2022

12:30 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 (close for me on these last 2 with The Godfather which won Best Picture [I agree]). One of the best musicals of all-time for me, set in 1931 Berlin as an American performer & an English academic get involved, 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: In quicker fashion than usual, here's an extra item you might like: (1) The Power of the Dog wins 21 Best Picture prizes from critics, a new record for a Netflix film. As always 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:

AND … at least until the Oscars for 2020’s releases have been awarded on Sunday, March 27, 2022 we’re also going to include reminders in each posting of very informative links where you can get updated tallies of which films have been nominated for and/or received various awards and which ones made various individual critic’s Top 10 lists. You may find the diversity among the various awards competitions and the various critics hard to reconcile at times—not to mention the often-significant-gap between critics’ choices and competitive-award-winners (which pales when they’re compared to the even-more-noticeable-gap between specific award winners and big box-office-grosses you might want to monitor here—but as that less-than-enthusiastic-patron-of-the-arts, Plato, noted in The Symposium (385-380 BC)—roughly translated, depending on how accurate you wish the actual quote to be—“Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder,” so your choices for success are as valid as any of these others, especially if you offer some rationale for your decisions (unlike any awards voters who blindly fill out ballots, sometimes—damn it!—for films they’ve never seen).

Here’s more information about The Tragedy of Macbeth:

https://a24films.com/films/the-tragedy-of-macbeth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNcGggqJhCY (43:01 interview with director Joel Coen [also a producer] and actors Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand [also a producer], Bertie Carvel, Henry Melling, Moses Ingram)

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_tragedy_of_macbeth_2021

https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-tragedy-of-macbeth

Here’s more information about Mass:

https://www.mass.movie/ (click on the 3 little lines in the upper left for categories)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E2Xt4EZkhc (18:52 interview with director-screenwriter Fran Kranz and actors Martha Plimpton, Jason Isaacs, Reed Birney, Ann Dowd)

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mass_2021

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

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.)

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).