Dennis Schwartz' Short Reviews  'I'  21

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I AM CUBA (director: Mikheil Kalatozishvili; screenwriters: Yevgeni Yevtushenko/Enrique Pineda Barnet; cinematographer: Sergei Urusevsky; editor: Nina Glagoleva; music: Carlos Fariñas; cast: Raul Garcia (Enrique), Celia Rodriguez (Gloria), Sergio Corrieri (Alberto), José Gallardo (Pedro), Luz Maria Collazo (Maria Betty), Mario Gonzalez Broche (Pablo); Runtime: 141; MPAA Rating: NR; Criterion Collection; 1964-Cuba/Russia-in Spanish with English subtitles)

If you don't mind the Communist propaganda being spouted, then this epic lesson in the fall of the dictator Batista's corrupt capitalistic government and the success of the dictator Castro's Communist revolution is a beautifully made and photographed movie. It can be enjoyed just for the visual delights it supplies. For me, the most powerful scenes were just viewing the mud road leading to the shack the prostitute took her tourist john home to and the menacing dance and song number in the main street of Havana, as a group of U.S. sailors try to force an unwilling attactive young lady to come with them. It was done with so much panache, that it could have been a Gene Kelly routine that went over-the-edge. Definetly a movie worth seeing. GRADE: B+

There is a series of granny murders taking place in Paris. This is a film that is based on factual events. There was a serial killer in the 1980s who brought fear to the community by murdering old ladies. What this film does is weave a story around those newspaper headlines involving three characters, whose lives crossed paths without them being prepared for what is to eventually take place. Daiga (Katerina) is an attractive Lithuanian visitor to Paris, looking for work; Theo is an African musician, trying to keep custody of his interracial son; and Camille is the gay brother of Theo... . What results is a most engaging film, even if we were kept emotionally detached from any of the characters. GRADE: B-

Just how many Jesse James films are there? They seem to keep coming. Well, Fuller's film, is as good as any of them. He places an emphasis on the downslide of Bob Ford's (Ireland) life after he killed Jesse. He was emotionally devoid of love and reduced to recreating this role on the stage to earn the money he desperately needed. Well-done flick. GRADE: B

The gangsters in this noir feature are organized like corporations. A bargain between bootleggers goes awry when Douglas refuses to give Lancaster his share of the empire when he gets out of prison, as promised. It is now Lancaster fighting against the injustice he received from his fellow criminals. In the end, Burt goes legit. Solid film. GRADE: B-

A revolting made for the idiot box formulaic cop film from Australia. A black New Zealand detective sergeant, Ihaka, (Temuera Morrison), known for his unorthodox and violent police methods is sent to the Federal Police Academy in Sydney, Australia, in order to keep him out of the way until he's cleared of police brutality charges. A training exercise is being conducted and the class is asked to work on an unsolved case from 3 years ago of a rape/murder of an attractive but wild 20-year-old girl, that has erroneously been attributed to a psycho.The rebellious but seasoned cop is teamed up with a beautiful but uptight and inexperienced blonde public relations inspector (Rebecca Gibney). Their dialogue goes like this Gibney: "So, who are you?" Ihaka: "I’m a card-carrying member of the don't-give-a-shit-party" Gibney: "Rebels without a cause, eh?" These two flaunt the rules, exasperate the chief inspector (Haft), bond, and eventually track down the rich businessman killer (Steve Jacobs). It's all too predictable and mindless.  GRADE: D

A bomb. A supposedly metaphysical film about dopers in Miami, seeking redemption from past and current misdeeds. They philosophize as if they were Zen masters. Its philosophy is, "Everybody gets what he deserves." I gave them a C-. GRADE: C-

A provocative documentary with the narration done in English. Filmmaker Farocki contrasts several ways photographs and images have been looked at throughout time and comes to the bitter conclusion that they are only clearly seen through despair and heroic courage. His three main points of references are the following: 1) Dr. Meydenbauer, who in 1858 came to the conclusion it was safer to do scale measurements for the church he was working on through photography than measurements taken on the spot. 2) That in 1960 the subject came up of how to face a camera for Algerian women who were previously veiled, but were now forced to have their photos taken for identity cards for their colonist government. 3) And, how in April 4, 1944, the U.S. took aerial photos of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp and saw the I.G. Farben chemical plants, where 30 out of every 200 hundred workers died each day; but, it wasn't until 33- years later that the concentration camp itself was noticed. Fascinating insights. GRADE: A-

Director Mark Rappaport presents a low-budget indie that somehow connects scams, murder, lesbianism and vaudeville. It's a weird comedy about possible murders involving two eccentric nightclub magicians who are also twins--the gay Chuckie (Ludlam) and the heterosexual Mikey (Burg). They are strangely funny, in an asinine plot involving their lesbian assistant Tina (Ellen McElduff) and a stage door Johnny named Peter (Peter Evans). It all takes place in NYC's SoHo district. Not as good as other Rappaports, as the film dragged at times, but still verbally good enough to slash away at American taboos and icons. It is chock full of lines such as, "They don't know spit from Spinoza."  GRADE: B-

A not funny enough farcical comedy to be sustained for a full-length feature film. Two unemployed actors, Tucci and Platt, become impostors aboard a ship, hiding out from an actor they got into a fracas with when he overheard them thrashing his performance as Hamlet. It reminds me most of a Laurel and Hardy kind of comedy. GRADE: C

This benign spoof on the bias people have against gays, plays like a TV sitcom comedy. It is about a small-town high school teacher (Kline), who is thought to be gay after his former student (Dillon) wins an Oscar and in his acceptance speech thanks his English teacher for helping him; then adds, "and he is gay." This shocks this mainstream town where he was so popular and puts a new light into his upcoming marriage to Joan Cusack. The idea for the film came when producer Rudnick heard Tom Hanks do the same after winning an Oscar for The Philadelphia Story. The satire is all too obvious.The sugary ending to the film was unbelievable. GRADE: C

A London derelict (Rupert) witnesses a banker's execution and tries to get the reporter (Sciorra) to believe him. A watchable movie. It has a good view of a fake cardboard skid row to contrast a fake middle-class London. GRADE: C

A superior Hoppy Western, of the B variety-type, number 33 in the series. This time Hoppy and his two cohorts, Lucky and California, are called to Ma Woods' ranch to help her keep the ranch from debt. Hoppy after getting robbed of the money he brought to buy her cattle figures the battle she is having with another rancher, Davidson, is being instigated by an outsider, who wants them to kill each other off so he can take over both their ranches. The heavy is Joe (Morris Ancrum), he wants their water rights and is willing to do anything with his large gang to get it. The final scene is a shootout overlooking the mountain ranges. Harlan's sparkling cinematography is in B & W which adds a sense of beauty to all the action scenes. GRADE: C

A romantic melodrama, done in flashback, as a deadly car accident is about to happen. The successful architect Gere must choose between his talented wife (Stone) and his more sensual mistress (Lolita). Beautifully shot and directed. This Hollywood version is a remake of the arty French film, Les Choses de la Vie. The ending is very clever, plus it makes for powerful soap opera melodrama. GRADE: C+

The film first began as a medium-budget feature entitled The Mother and the Law, wherein the lives of a poor but happily married couple are disrupted by the misguided interference of a "social reform" group. Receiving many protests for the racist content of Birth of a Nation, Griffith wanted to demonstrate against such bias throughout history. He, thusly, enlarged the story into epic proportions, by intercutting four parallel tales from history into one to make a statement about personal tragedy and political and social oppression through the ages (turn-of-the-century American reform, Christ's Judea, Reformation in France, and Babylon). This thematic approach seems like a museum piece now, as the acting is wooden and the presentation comes over as largely pedantic. What still has a great effect are some of the visual re-creations which are very poetic, such as the Babylon harem scenes and the St. Bartholomew's day massacre of the Huguenots.
GRADE: C+

A small town is being taken over by emotionless aliens. A classic. It is done with subtlety and skill. GRADE: A

When a man makes a mistake in his work he must destroy it--Or must man be a servant to knowledge and reason together? As "the invisible boy" says, "You have to learn all you can." This sci-fi film, is quite the sleeper. It is perceptive of the '50s scene, its cold war paranoia, suburban concerns and parental responsibilities. It is also a wonderful film about a young boy who befriends the robot his father works with. GRADE: B

Caine is Harry Palmer. It is based on a Len Deighton novel, as the film version exploits Caine's brashness and Cockney accent. Harry is looking for a missing scientist and runs into a torture chamber. It's delightfully filmed. GRADE: B

It's a bad film and fails to be funny or even thrilling, just nonsensical and trite and leaden. The acting was more stone-like than the statue of The Golem and the story was sillier than a gaggle of geese. This remake of the silent classic had none of that film's energy or creativeness to it. Roddy McDowall is Arthur Pimm, assistant museum curator, a meek, ambitious, insane Norman Bates (Psycho) type, who keeps his dead mother preserved at home. When the museum's warehouse burns, the statue of The Golem is discovered there, but it mysteriously crushes the curator, Mr. Grove (Clark), to death. When the statue is placed in the museum and Primm is upset that he is not promoted to curator he investigates the origins of the statue very closely, discovering Hebrew writing on it. A rabbi translates the inscription telling him this is the 16th Golem created in Prague to be a force of God to protect its master, that it can't be destroyed by fire, water, or any force. To be its master one has to find a certain scroll with the Hebrew name God on it and place it under the Golem's tongue. That it should only be used for good and for protection or else it will get out of control. When Pimm learns how to control The Golem he murders the next curator and topples a bridge to show off how powerful he is to a girl he is sweet on. Thank God, the Golem decides to destroy itself. I don't think I could have watched the film much longer. There was also a Mr. Perkins (Maxwell), an American trying to buy the Golem for a New York museum. He's an expert on the significance of the statue and helps the police track down Pimm. GRADE: D

A love story between a runaway heiress and an unemployed news reporter. Good chemistry between the stars, who have a flare for both the comic and the romantic. There are two scenes from this film that are most notable: Colbert baring her legs to hitch a ride and Gable hanging a blanket across the room to separate their sleeping quarters. GRADE: B +

Deanna was 18 when she made this film. She is animated playing the part of an aspiring actress on Broadway, daughter of a famous stage star (Francis). She gets her break by getting the starring role her mother wanted. In the bargain, she is courted innocently by Pidgeon, who in reality is interested in her mother. Everything flows amusingly along, with the picture climaxing when Deanna sings "Ave Maria". GRADE: B -

A Christmas story classic about the suicidal Stewart who is redeemed by the good cheer of his small-town friends. A feel good picture about how Americans would like to think of themselves. Too much sugary praise has been heaped on it as far as I'm concerned. GRADE: B

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