Classic Movie Review La Stada

La Strada

Directed by Federico Fellini

Written by Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano

Starring Giulietta Masina, Anthony Quinn, Richard Baseheart

Release Date September 6th, 1954

On June 13th, 2022, Martin Scorsese and The Film Foundation Restoration Screening Room hosted a free online screening of Federico Fellini’s remarkable 1954 romantic tragedy, La Strada. It’s the second free online restoration screening for Scorsese and The Film Foundation and they are going to be doing this once a month for anyone who loves classic films fully restored to their glory by The Film Foundation. And thanks to The Film Foundation, La Strada is another Fellini movie off of my bucket list of classics. 

La Strada begins on a tragedy and ends on a tragedy. In the beginning of the story we find our protagonist, Gelsomina (Giulieta Masina), idly gathering sticks on the beach. Gelsomina is called home for some terrible news. Gelsomina’s sister has died in some far off town. The man who had left with her sister so many years ago, Zampano (Anthony Quinn), a sideshow performer, is now back at her family home requesting the company of Gelsomina to take her sister’s place. He’s given Gelsomina’s mother 10,000 lire for her.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Movie Review Cha Cha Real Smooth

Cha Cha Real Smooth 

Directed by Cooper Raiff

Written by Cooper Raiff

Starring Cooper Raiff, Dakota Johnson, Leslie Mann

Release Date June 17th, 2022 

Cha Cha Real Smooth is a sweet, smart and insightful comedy about what makes us, us. It’s a film about learning about yourself, knowing yourself, and understanding yourself and others. That’s a rather broad idea but under the clever and caring direction of Cooper Raiff it never feels broad, it feels specific to the terrific characters that he and his remarkable cast have created. It’s a lived in and warm and curious story with a wealth of empathy and a dollop of heartache. 

Cooper Raiff wrote, directs and stars in Cha Cha Real Smooth as Andrew, an underachieving recent college graduate. Andrew has hopes and dreams and a romantic soul. He also has no idea who he is or what he really wants to do with his life. What he knows innately however, is how to make other people feel special. As seen throughout a scene set at a bat mitzvah, when Andrew sets his mind to it, he has an instinct for making other people feel included and special.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Classic Movie Review Tokyo Story

Tokyo Story

Directed by Yasujirō Ozu

Written by Kogo Nada, Yasujirō Ozu 

Starring Setsuko Hara, Chishu Ryu, Kyoko Kagawa

Released November 3rd, 1953

It’s a very simple, basic notion of transition in film. And yet, it’s still quite brilliant when you think about it. I’m talking about one edit in the 1953 movie, Tokyo Story by director Yasujiro Ozu. The edit comes at approximately 6 minutes and 40 seconds into the film. In the scene prior to the edit, an elderly Japanese couple is packing bags that they will take with them when they travel to see their grown children in the big city. The scene is gentle and pleasant, beautifully underscored by Takanobu Saito’s elegant score. 

There is not a lot of exposition dialogue, just enough to tell us that the couple is traveling via train to see their kids. Visually however, Ozu tells us more than you might realize. The elderly couple is dressed traditionally, their home is spare and rustic. There is a serene atmosphere surrounding the home. The doddering couple are sweet together, you can sense their bond and, through how they interact with each other, you get a sense of people who have spent long lives together.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Movie Review Jurassic World Dominion

Jurassic World Dominion

Directed by Colin Trevorrow

Written by Colin Trevorrow, Emily Carmichael 

Starring Chris Pratt, Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Bryce Dallas Howard

Release Date June 10th, 2022

Jurassic World Dominion boils down to a series of chase scenes that happen to have CG dinosaurs in them. As a film critic I face a challenge in attempting to give you anymore information that you need about this movie. There is simply nothing else here aside from chase scenes and that awful kind of modern nostalgia. You know the kind I am talking about? That kind of nostalgia where it feels like the movie is constantly nudging you in the ribs and asking you if you remember that thing you liked from that other movie? There it is, there is that thing you liked. 

As I have to meet a particular number of words in order to publish this review, let’s talk plot. There isn’t one. Okay, fine there is kind of a plot. But I am being very generous. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are living in the woods with Maisey, the genetically engineered child of that rich guy from that other Jurassic movie or whatever. They are trying to keep her from being kidnapped and they fail miserably because she gets kidnapped. They go to save her and blah blah blah. (Editor, does Blah Blah Blah add to my word count?)

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Movie Review Spirited Away

Spirited Away 

Directed by Hiyao Miyazaki 

Written by Hiyao Miyazaki

Starring Rumi Hiragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki

Released July 20th, 2001

My first exposure to the amazing art form that is Japanese animation came in early 2002 with my personal discovery of Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis; a glorious combination of wildly imaginative visuals and adventurous storytelling. I am certain that Metropolis went to make my Top 10 of the year that year, it absolutely blew my mind. And yet, Metropolis wasn’t even the best Japanese animated film of that year. In Hiyao Miyazaki's moving and evocative masterpiece Spirited Away, I found not just the best animated movie of 2002, but arguably the best work of film art of that long ago year. 

The story of Spirited Away begins with a family moving into their brand new home. However, on the way there, a detour takes them in the wrong direction, leading the family to what they believe is an abandoned amusement park. The young daughter, Chihiro, is terribly frightened by the place but, on her parents' urging, she explores the grounds and discovers its strange secrets. Chihiro's explorations lead her to what looks like a normal Japanese bathhouse. There she meets Haku, a young boy who urges her to leave the park before she and her family become trapped forever.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Movie Review The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Written by Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan

Starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman

Release Date July 8th, 2008 

The death of Heath Ledger casts a pall over the proceedings of The Dark Knight. Watching his performance as the maniacal Joker we are riveted and frightened and, in the end, left exhilarated. And once it is over the sadness sets in. Knowing we will never get to see that talent displayed in full ever again is an incalculable loss. Nevertheless, The Dark Knight is an extraordinary thrill ride. A down and dirty gangster movie, not far off of the real life depths of say American Gangster, only with a guy dressed as a bat.

Establishing himself as the most indelible of all caped crusaders, Christian Bale returns in The Dark Knight as Batman and his playboy alter-ego Bruce Wayne. For the past three years, with the aid of detective Jim Gordon, Batman has swept the streets of Gotham clean. Now, with the arrival of golden boy district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) there seems to be light at the end of the bat tunnel.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Classic Movie Review Lost in America

Lost in America 

Directed by Albert Brooks 

Written by Albert Brooks

Starring Albert Brooks, Julie Hagerty 

Released March 15th, 1985 

Who hasn't thought of the freedom that would come from dropping out of everyday society. The notion of giving up all the oppressive things in your life and giving yourself over to the open road and the freedom to do literally anything. Fear keeps us from realizing this dream. Fear whispers in your ear and says ``you can't quit your job, what will you do for money?" Fear is quite practical that way. 

But what if you had money? I'm not talking about the dilettantish millions of dollars that would set you up for life but merely just enough money where you know that you can get by for a while. Would you be ready to chuck it all and run off in a Winnebago to paint and write books? That's what Albert Brooks and Julie Hagerty's characters in Lost in America had when they decided to chuck it all. What happened next is the end of a rather unusual movie.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here.

Movie Review Hustle

Hustle 

Directed by Jeremiah Zagar

Written by Taylor Materne, Will Fetters

Starring Adam Sandler, Queen Latifah, Ben Foster, Anthony Edwards, Robert Duvall

Released June 3rd, 2022

Hustle stars Adam Sandler as Stanley Sugarman, a scout for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers. It’s Stanley’s job to travel around the world and find the next great European player. On a trip to Spain, he finds that player. Bo Cruz, played by NBA star Juancho Hernangomez, is tall and fast and has a terrific jump shot. Spotting Bo playing streetball late one one night, Stanley recognizes his talent even as he was playing basketball in work boots. 

Believing that Bo is the next great player, the one to take the 76ers to the next level, Stanley has to convince the higher ups. This means convincing his long time rival, Vince Merrick (Ben Foster), the talentless son of the late owner (Robert Duvall), to take a chance. When Vince says no and tells Stanley to forget about Bo, Stanley risks his job and financial security to bring Bo to America on his own dime. Putting him up in a hotel, Stanley has to try and get the kid into the NBA draft while keeping Vince in the dark.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Classic Movie Review The Tales of Hoffman

The Tales of Hoffman 

Directed by Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger 

Written by Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, Dennis Arundell, Jules Barbier, E.T.A Hoffman

Starring Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann

Released April 4th, 1951 

The Michael Powell-Emeric Pressburger film, The Tales of Hoffmann, is receiving a brand new Criterion Collection release on Tuesday, June 7th, 2022. Though it is not as well known as Powell and Pressburger’s unparalleled classic, The Red Shoes (1948), The Tales of Hoffmann is quite similar to that 1948 film in terms of style and ambition. Powell and Pressburger’s unprecedented challenge was to bring Opera and Ballet to the big screen in a cinematic package. Their accomplishment of that ambition makes The Tales of Hoffmann historic. 

The Tales of Hoffmann tells three tales, not counting the story being told within the framing device employed by Powell and Pressburger. The framing device has our protagonist, Hoffmann (Robert Rounseville), attending a ballet performance by his beloved Stella (Moira Shearer). During intermission, Hoffman joins his friends and fellow poets in a pub where he is called upon to tell tales. Hoffmann agrees and sets about telling three tales of his failed romances.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Classic Movie Review The Philadelphia Story

The Philadelphia Story 

Directed by George Cukor

Written by David Ogden Stewart

Starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart, Ruth Hussey

Released January 27th, 1941

Class warfare comedies, and especially romantic comedies, have a particular tenor and familiar pattern and much of that pattern was navigated first by the legendary director George Cukor whose films such as Born Yesterday and My Fair Lady were all about the clash of cultures as the background to comic romance. Arguably, Cukor’s finest example of the culture clash romance is the 1940 Academy Award nominee The Philadelphia Story starring Katharine Hepburn, Ruth Hussey, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart.

The Philadelphia Story stars Hepburn as Tracy, ha ha, get it, Tracy, a famous member of a rich Philadelphia clan. Two years earlier she’d called off a big, upper crust marriage to fellow rich family man, C.K Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), in a fashion that was somewhat scandalous. Now, Tracy is set to marry again, this time to a self-made man named George Kitteridge (John Howard) who isn’t all that exciting or glamorous but is stable and well-heeled.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Classic Movie Review Jaws

Jaws 

Directed by Steven Spielberg 

Written by Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb

Starring Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw

Release Date June 20th, 1975 

I’ve seen Jaws at least 15 times in my life and it remains consistently entertaining and exciting. Steven Speilberg’s assured direction, Roy Scheider’s steady lead performance, and Robert Shaw’s incredible performance as Quint never fail to sweep me up in the action at Amity Beach. That action is underlined by the remarkable behind the scenes stories that have become legends in their own right and have served to make Jaws so unforgettable.

Jaws stars Roy Scheider as Police Chief Brody. Chief Brody gave up life as a New York City beat cop for the peace and tranquility of a small town beach community. In my own head-canon, Scheider’s tough as nails French Connection detective simply dropped out of society and assumed the identity of Brody to escape Popeye Doyle and his cloud of corruption. That aside, Brody is at peace with the slow pace of life in Amity.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Movie Review The Black Phone

The Black Phone

Directed by Scott Derrickson 

Written by Scott Derrickson, C.Robert Cargill

Starring Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies

Release Date June 24th, 2022

The Black Phone is a terrifically terrifying tale. Directed by arguably the best horror movie director working today, Scott Derrickson, The Black Phone delivers both an incredibly rich story and a legitimately scary horror movie. Featuring one of the best performances of Ethan Hawke’s extraordinary career, The Black Phone is far more than a one man show. Scott Derrickson has thought of everything in The Black Phone and takes care to cast the movie perfectly while pacing it to near perfection as well. 

The Black Phone stars Mason Thames as Finney and Madeleine McGraw as Finney’s little sister, Gwen. Together they have navigated losing their mother to mental illness and suicide and their father to his ongoing alcoholism and self loathing. The once loving dad, exceptionally played by Jeremy Davies, has become belligerent and abusive. Brother and sister navigate around his moods amid the outside chaos caused by a recent spate of abductions in their Colorado neighborhood.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Movie Review Elvis

Elvis 

Directed by Baz Luhrmann

Written by Baz Luhrmann, Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, Jeremy Doner

Starring Austin Butler, Tom Hanks

Release Date June 24th, 2022

I am a huge fan of director Baz Luhrmann. I find his brand of colorful, whirling, swirling romance to be a heady and exciting mix. Luhrmann is an undeniable artist. That fact makes reviewing his new movie, Elvis, such a chore. I don’t like having to write negatively about a director I admire as much as I admire Baz Luhrmann. But, sadly, Elvis is far too undercooked, far too chaotic, and far too much for me to recommend. 

Elvis is a pseudo-biopic of the legendary King of Rock N’Roll, Elvis Presley, played by newcomer Austin Butler. The actual star of Elvis however, is a fat suit wearing, comically accented Tom Hanks as Elvis’s snaky guru and manager, Col. Tom Parker. The film loosely tells Elvis’s story through the unreliable prism of Parker’s self-aggrandizing narration. This becomes confusing as Parker appears to narrate scenes he wasn’t present for or scenes that are deeply critical of his actions, which muddy his apparent motivation.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Classic Movie The Blob

The Blob 

Directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. 

Written by Theodore Simonson, Kate Phillips

Starring Steve McQueen, Aneta Corsaut, Olin Howland 

Released September 12th, 1958 

It’s been more than 60 years since audiences mobbed the theaters to see The Blob starring Steve McQueen and 60 years on, The Blob remains one incredibly fun flick. This naked propaganda piece about the slow spread of the Red Menace remains a glorious piece of nostalgia and a genuinely clever piece of filmmaking that combines the best kind of camp with the best kind of star power.

The Blob stars the legendary Steve McQueen as Steve Andrews, a big man on campus who we meet while he is on a date with his girl, Jane (Aneta Corsaut). The two are at a private spot in the woods under the stars, innocently yet romantically, enjoying a night together when they see something fall from the sky. Steve immediately wants to go find it and the two drive off in search. Meanwhile, a nearby hermit named Barney (Olin Howlin) gets to the thing from the sky first.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Documentary Review Rondo & Bob

Rondo and Bob 

Directed by Joe O'Connell

Written by Documentary 

Starring Robert A. Burns, Rondo Hatten

Release Date November 14th, 2020 

Rondo and Bob is a strange documentary. The film purports to tell the story of Robert (Bob) Burns, the legendary propmaster and set designer for the horror classic, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and his obsession with forgotten monster movie star, Rondo Hatton. What we actually get is a confounding series of re-enactments of each man’s life and a few disconnected talking head segments about Burns’ strange life. 

If you are looking for insights into why Bob loved Rondo and how he worked to preserve Rondo's monster movie legend and his unique life, you won’t find that here. What we get instead is a series of facile sketches acted out by amateur actors of suspect acting talent. That, and a bizarre approach to editing that involves slam banging from one story to the next, inelegantly jumping from Burns’ life to Hatton’s life with the care of a sledgehammer through a wall.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Classic Movie Review The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie 

Directed by Luis Bunuel

Written by Luis Bunuel, Jean-Claude Carriere

Starring Fernando Rey, Paul Frankeuer, Delphine Seyrig

Release Date October 22nd, 1972

Dreams within dreams within dreams, that’s Luis Bunuel’s 1972 feature film, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. Normally, when a filmmaker uses the trope of ‘it was all a dream’ I get annoyed. But the elegant and deconstuctionist way that Bunuel employs the trope makes it work. The dream within a dream within a dream structure in The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie enhances the storytelling while taking the trope and turning it into a charming running gag. 

Ostensibly, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie is about a group of six friends trying to get together for a meal. I say they are trying to get together because each time they do, something happens that prevents them from actually sitting down to eat. In the first instance, four members of the group arrive at the home of the other two friends, a couple. They are there for a cocktail party. When they arrive, they are the only guests and the hostess is in her bed-casual clothes. The group came to the party one night early.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Movie Review Good Luck to You Leo Grande

Good Luck to You Leo Grande 

Directed by Sophie Hyde

Written by Katy Brand

Starring Emma Thompson, Daryl McCormick 

Release Date June 17th, 2022

Good Luck to You Leo Grande is the kind of movie that causes you to evaluate yourself, where you are in life, and how you feel about yourself. It’s also a delightful comedy about an older woman and the sex worker she hires to try and break out of her shell. Myself, I was drawn to the more introspective side of things but if you watch this movie just for the delight of Emma Thompson and her magnetic chemistry with newcomer Daryl McCormack, that works just as well. 

Good Luck to You Leo Grande stars Emma Thompson as Nancy Stokes, a college professor, a mother of two, and a widow. For the first time since her stuffy husband died, Nancy wants to have an adventure, specifically a sexual adventure. Thus why she sought out a service that connects women like her with male escorts willing and able to fulfill fantasies. Nancy chose Leo Grande (McCormack), not his real name, out of a group of potential escorts.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Classic Movie Review Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore 

Directed by Martin Scorsese 

Written by Robert Getchell 

Starring Ellen Burstyn, Kris Kristofferson

Release Date December 9th, 1974

The central conflict of Martin Scorsese’s 1974 drama, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, is a conflict between illusion and reality. The film is about the fictional life we create for ourselves as a protective case against harsh reality. It’s not just Alice who does this, we all do it to some extent. Life can be hard and re-framing negatives to positives can be helpful even as a self-deception. For Alice, the self-deceptions multiply in order to justify the choices she made in her life. 

Alice’s first illusion comes in the form of the opening scene of Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Scorsese decides at this moment to start the film as if it were an MGM musical from the golden age of such musicals. The scene is set on a very obvious Hollywood back-lot. The scene is lit in a rose color, evoking the rose colored glasses through which we often see our past. It’s never stated that this is Alice’s fantasy of what life was like for her as a child in Monterey but it doesn’t need to be spelled out. The style of the scene, the set, the idyll, they all communicate what needs to be communicated as we smash cut to Alice’s real life.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Movie Review Welcome to the Dollhouse

Welcome to the Dollhouse 

Directed by Todd Solondz

Written by Todd Solondz

Starring Heather Matarazzo, Brendon Sexton III

Released May 24th, 1996

Junior High and High School Suck! That’s the theses of director Todd Solondz via his second feature film effort, Welcome to the Dollhouse. Solondz set out to make a darker version of the kind of High School movie that had been around for years but always felt a little fake or a little too sunny and optimistic. Solondz’s vision of Junior High, via main character Dawn Wiener, played by Heather Mattarazzo, was one in which the dangers of High School could be literal dangers as threats and taunts can turn to actual, potential, violence. 

Welcome to the Dollhouse introduces the unusual character of Dawn Wiener. Dawn is a gawky, gangly, socially awkward 12 year old girl. She’s remarkably resilient and thoughtful despite having spent much of her time at school and at home being either bullied or forgotten. At school she’s called ‘Weiner-Dog’ or some other choice insults too nasty to be printed here. At home, Dawn’s college bound older brother, Mark (Matthew Faber) and her ballerina younger sister, Missy (Daria Kalinina) are both adored by their parents while Dawn is a pariah.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here.