The John Wayne Collection
Okay, we all know John Wayne became a real pain in the neck in the very late 1960s and early 1970s. Especially, when he started to think he was actually the epitome of the American ‘Hero’ he only played. Still, there is absolutely nothing wrong with early and mid-career John Wayne. Particularly, when he was under the tutelage and guidance of Director John Ford, who was instrumental in creating John Wayne’s screen persona. John Wayne was born in 1907 and died in 1979. Perhaps, to commemorate these events, a fantastic collection of John Wayne movies has just been released on DVD. All the prints have been digitally re-mastered. The black and white movies sparkle like a Saturday afternoon matinee, and the other movies are awash with chocolate-box color. Included in the titles are movies like: ‘Sands of Iwo Jima’ (1949), ‘Rio Grande’ (1950), ‘Hondo’ (1953), ‘The High and The Mighty’ (1954), ‘The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance’ (1962), ‘Hatari!’ (1962), ‘Donovan’s Reef (1963), ‘McLintock’ (1963), ‘The Sons of Katie Elder’ (1965), ‘El Dorado’ (1967), ‘True Grit’ (1969), ‘Rio Lobo’ (1970) and ‘Big Jake’ (1971). There are some genuine classics in that selection, but, all the movies belong in any movie buff’s collection!
Red Cliff
Screenwriter and director John Woo was born in China in 1946, but he spent his childhood in Hong Kong. There he trained at Cathy Studios, and became a director at the Shaw Brothers Studios in the 1970s. He went to Hollywood in the early 1990s, and quickly became renowned as a creator of stylish action movies. John Woo now returns to China, to make a movie for the Beijing Film Studios which is phenomenal. All that he has ever learnt as a director goes into this movie, which is set in China in 208 A.D. A pivotal time for Chinese history. For his own reasons, a shrewd Prime Minister convinces a weak Emperor that they must embark on a war uniting all of China. Various intrigues then follow, which culminate in a decisive battle at ‘Red Cliff’. A strategic position on the Yangtze River. Everything about this movie, from the fascinating script, to the direction, acting, photography, costumes and staging, is absolutely superb. It is John Woo’s masterpiece. But, it is extremely annoying and damn unsatisfying, to discover at the end of the movie that it is ‘to be continued’. The ultimate battle still has to be fought, the slowly emerging love stories still have to be resolved, and the eventual outcomes of the main protagonists still have to be revealed. When?
Tropic Thunder
Ben Stiller writes, produces, directs and stars in a movie which is rather good and pretty funny. Stiller sends up Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Apocalypse Now’, and the complete series of Sylvester Stallone’s ‘Rambo’, plus he has digs at many other Vietnam War movies. However, it is not fair to tell you too much about the movie, or who else is in it for that matter, as that would reveal many of the ‘in-jokes’, on which most of the movie’s humor is based.
Female Agents
Sophie Marceau, Julie Depardieu, Marie Gillain and Maya Sansa star in this French war movie, set in May 1944. A group of French servicewomen and resistance fighters are enlisted into the British Special Operations Executive Commando Group, and are sent to France to rescue a British army geologist. His capture by the Nazis could jeopardize D-Day. The story is predictable, but there is enough manufactured suspense, plus an evocative and nostalgic re-creation of 1940s cinema style, to maintain interest throughout the movie.
The Edge of Love
This movie is set in war torn England in the 1940s. Notorious Welsh poet Dylan Thomas is working for the War Ministry, writing commentaries for propaganda newsreels. His promiscuous wife comes to join him in London, where he is conducting a torrid affair with a glamorous cabaret singer. Pretty soon they embark on an amiable threesome, but, a handsome Army Officer, who is fascinated by the singer, soon disrupts their equilibrium. Inevitably, this has harrowing consequences. The movie doesn’t really give any great insights into the poetry of Dylan Thomas, but it is an attractive enough depiction of the British bohemian lifestyle, during the turbulent war years.
Righteous Kill
Fans of those two old actors, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, will probably enjoy this ordinary crime movie. There are no surprises in this tale about two cops searching for a serial killer. It is not difficult to figure out the ending, well in advance. The movie is really only of interest because it is the first time, in very long careers, that De Niro and Pacino have actually worked together. Apparently, while shooting ‘The Godfather’, they never met, and, in ‘Heat’, they never worked in the same scene or appeared on the screen together. In ‘Righteous Kill’ Pacino reduces himself to a caricature of his former talent, becoming unbearable. Whereas, De Niro never gives up. He keeps trying to slug it out. But, there is something really grotesque about watching him make love to a woman, who has to be at least half his age.
Elegy
Love and sex in the ‘mature’ years is also explored in this rather frank movie based on a novel by Philip Roth. Ben Kingsley is an aging literary professor. Penelope Cruz his luscious object of affection. They go through the motions.
