Out To Lunch

 

The Movie Buzzard is out circling, riding the thermals and scanning the landscape for signs of fresh roadkill. He'll be back.

"The heights I'm reaching! I'm flying to Mars 

  tomorrow!"

  Nikolai Batalov in "Aeilita: Queen of Mars"

Lisbon Story (1994)

 

LISBON STORY  (1994)  ¢ ¢ ¢

    D: Wim Wenders

    Rudiger Vogler, Patrick Bauchau, Madredeus

A sound man named Winter travels to Lisbon from Germany to connect with a director tor named Friedrich who wants him to help with a film he's working on. When the sound man gets there, the director has disappeared, and Winter spends the next two weeks waiting for Friedrich and wandering around the city with his microphone and equipment, recording what he hears and sees. The result is part "Heart of Darkness" (only not as dark), part street-level travelogue, and part meditation on the nature of film. Like his protagonist, Wenders feels no special commitment to a tight plot. When he comes on something interesting, he'll hang around for a while, watching and listening in. That's especially true when Winter encounters the lead singer for a group called Madredeus, whose beauty and charisma (and voice) are not lost on Winter, or on Wenders. If you won't be going to Portugal anytime soon, you might want to go to this movie instead. 

The White Gorilla (1945)

THE WHITE GORILLA  (1945)  ¢ 1/2

    D: Harry L. Fraser

    Ray Corrigan, Lorraine Miller, George J. Lewis,

    Francis Ford, Budd Buster, Charles King

Jungle explorers dodge lions, tigers, monkeys, elephants and a hippo while looking for a legendary white gorilla. Incoherent storytelling with stock shots of wild animals and footage lifted from a 1927 silent called "Perils of the Jungle" randomly tossed into the pot. Exactly where it's supposed to take place (tigers in Africa?) is never very clear. Ray "Crash" Corrigan plays both the male lead and the white gorilla.

Bikini (2014)

 

BIKINI  (2014)  ¢ ¢ ¢

    D: Óscar Bernàcier

    Sergio Caballero, Carlos Areces, Rosario Pardo

You'd think a movie called "Bikini" would have a bikini in it somewhere, but you don't see one. It's about the mayor of a resort town on the Spanish coast who calls on the country's strongman, Francisco Franco, seeking permission to allow bikinis on the local beach. Also in on the conversation, and threatening to gum up the works, is Franco's straight-laced, music-loving wife. Who knew that a little two-piece swimsuit could be the cause of so much concern? Or that the mere prospect of making money could be enough to bring bikinis to the beach?

White Hunter Black Heart (1990)

 

WHITE HUNTER BLACK HEART  (1990)  ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2

    D: Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood, Jeff Fahey, George Dzundza, 

    Marisa Berenson, Charlotte Cornwell, Timothy Spall,

    Boy Matthias Chuma, Alun Armstrong, Richard Vanstone

Clint Eastwood plays a larger-than-life Hollywood director named John Wilson (think John Huston), who goes off to Africa to shoot a picture (think "The African Queen"), but determined to shoot an elephant first. There are layers and layers of artifice in this, a movie based on a novel about the making of a movie based on a novel, and Eastwood, appropriating just enough of Huston's distinctive drawl and lose-limbed body language to make the connection obvious, gives his most expansive performance. It's a departure, both behind the camera and in front of it, and whether or not it entirely works, Clint's never done anything else quite like it. The final shot, a closeup with one spoken word followed by a cut, is a twisted joke, the movie-making equivalent of point-blank nihilism.

Kingdom of Shadows (1998)

 

KINGDOM OF SHADOWS  (1998)  ¢ ¢ ¢

    D: Bret Wood

A documentary on horror in silent cinema, from "Nosferatu" to "Vampyr" to "Witchcraft Through the Ages". An excellent collection of vintage clips. Campy, over-the-top narration by Rod Steiger. Watch out for a brief segment from 1903 titled "Electrocuting an Elephant". It looks like they're actually doing that. 

The Night My Number Came Up (1955)

 

THE NIGHT MY NUMER CAME UP  (1955)  ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2

    D: Leslie Norman

    Michael Redgrave, Alexander Knox, Sheila Sim,

    Denholm Elliott, Michael Hordern, Ralph Truman,

    Nigel Stock, David Orr, Bill Kerr, Alfie Bass,

    George Rose, Victor Madden, David Yates

A naval commander in Hong Kong has a dream that ends with a plane crash. The next day, a plane takes off for Tokyo, and events start to play out in a way that mirrors the dream. To reveal how it all turns out would spoil the fun. Let's just say the matter of dreams being premonitions is up in the air. 

Playing Unfair (2002)

 

PLAYING UNFAIR: THE MEDIA IMAGE OF THE FEMALE ATHLETE  (2002)  ¢ ¢ ¢

    P: Sut Jhally, Loretta Alper, Kelly Garner, Kenyon King

A documentary about how women in sports are portrayed (i.e. sexualized) in popular culture. Some things haven't changed much since this movie's release, but one thing has: There are out lesbians in the WNBA now. A lot of them. And some of those women are modeling swimsuits, too. Exploitation or empowerment? It depends on who's looking and who you ask. Unfortunately, none of the talking-head witnesses here are female athletes. Maybe it's time for a sequel.

Captive Women (1952)

 

CAPTIVE WOMEN  (1952)  ¢ ¢ 1/2

    D: Stuart Gilmore

    Robert Clarke, Margaret Field, Gloria Saunders

    Ron Randell, Stuart Randall, William Schallert

In the year 3000, the remaining inhabitants of New York City are divided into three tribes. The Upriver People are thugs. The Mutates are the disfigured descendants of those exposed to deadly radiation during a long-ago nuclear war. The Norms live in civilized harmony in the city's old underground subway system. Let's see, what else? The Mutates have remained true to their Judeo-Christian beliefs, while the Norms have reverted to devil worship. The Upriver People prey on the other tribes and enjoy killing and torture. The Mutates go on raids and kidnap Norm women, so they can mate with them. The Norms don't like that for some reason and treat the Mutates badly. What saves the Mutates is that they apparently live in New Jersey and commute to Manhattan through a tunnel under the Hudson River. Which is actually a pretty interesting setup for a pretty silly movie: a storybook sci-fi adventure for the dawn of the fourth millennium. Somebody involved in writing this must've read "The Time Machine". 

The Columnist (2019)

THE COLUMNIST  (2019)  ¢ ¢ ¢

    D: Ivo van Aart

    Katja Herbers, Bram van der Kelen, Claire Porro,

    Rein Hofman, Harry van Rijthoven, Genio de Groot

A newspaper columnist faced with a serious case of writer's block and a deadline to turn in a novel finds salvation and fulfillment as a serial killer. Internet bullying, freedom of speech and social-media addiction are key themes here, and it ends with a twisted reference to the Statue of Liberty. Katja Herbers plays the fidgety, nail-chewing protagonist, which is a little like Holly Hunter taking over the Kevin Costner role in "Mr. Brooks". 

Kiss and Make-Up (1934)

 

KISS AND MAKE-UP  (1934)  ¢ ¢ 1/2

    D: Harlan Thompson

    Cary Grant, Helen Mack, Genevieve Tobin,

    Edward Everett Horton, Lucien Littlefield

The fast and the frivolous in a pre-Code comedy starring Cary Grant as a plastic surgeon who falls for one of his manufactured creations while ignoring the loyal secretary who thinks he's swell. Grant even has a musical number in this one, but Bing Crosby he's not. Helen Mack and Edward Everett Horton singing "Corned Beef and Cabbage" together are more fun. And speaking of pre-Code, look for the shot of Mack climbing out of the water onto Horton's boat, and see what you think of her swimsuit. 

Strangers In Paradise (1984)

 

STRANGERS IN PARADISE  (1984)  ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢

    D: Ulli Lommel

    Ulli Lommel, Ken Letner, Thom Jones,

    Cliff Brisbois, Paul Murray, Gloria McCord,

    Ann Price, Bette Chapel, Evakay Favia

A time-travel sci-fi musical about a stage-show hypnotist who gets put on ice in Blitz-era London and thawed out 40 years later in punk-era Los Angeles. Lommel shot this on a shoestring, but he makes the most of that. The songs are catchy and the dance routines, especially the production number set in a bowling alley, are lively and fun. It's where "Cabaret" meets "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" meets early MTV, and a movie that deserves a cult following, at least. See it and see for yourself.

Skin: A History of Nudity In the Movies (2020)

 

SKIN: A HISTORY OF NUDITY IN THE MOVIES 

    D: Danny Wolf                                       (2020)  ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2

Ever since there were movies, people have been getting naked in them. This documentary tracks some of the history of that phenomenon, from "Ecstasy" and "Tarzan and His Mate" to "Caligula" and "I Spit On Your Grave" to "Showgirls", "Basic Instinct" and "Personal Best". It's a good, comprehensive survey, the best part being that it doesn't cut away from the naughty bits. It shows you what its witnesses are talking about. They include Linda Blair, Joe Dante, Camille Keaton, Kevin Smith, Mariel Hemingway, Sean Young, Malcolm McDowell and dozens more. A must for fans of skin on the screen. For puritans, maybe not. 

Spin Me Round (2022)

 

SPIN ME ROUND  (2022)  ¢ ¢

    D: Jeff Baena

    Alison Brie, Alessandro Nivola, Aubrey Plaza,

    Molly Shannon, Zach Woods, Ben Sinclair,

    Tim Heidecker, Fred Armisen, Lauren Weedman

The manager of a franchise restaurant in Bakersfield, California, wins a corporate junket to Italy and has a flirtatious fling, for a day or two, with the company's charming but creepy CEO. There's some real potential for satire in this, but the sleaze factor effectively negates the funny stuff. There's something seriously disturbing in what the characters played by Alessandro Nivola and Aubrey Plaza are up to, and the film never really comes to terms with that. It takes way too long (like the whole movie) for the smart but  credulous heroine, attractively played by Alison Brie, to tell her predatory boss to fuck off. She could've done that in about the second reel and saved herself (and us) a lot of trouble. I wouldn't normally advise anybody in Bakersfield to turn  down a free trip to Italy, but this is one of those times.

Quote File / Take 25

 

"You are who you are. The trick is not getting 

  caught."

  Clea DuVall 

  in "But I'm a Cheerleader"

"The only thing worth believing in, ever, is cash."

  Phoebe Waller-Bridge 

  in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny"

"Everything gets old if you do it often enough."

  Ellen Burstyn 

  in "The Last Picture Show"

"Never argue with a truck driver. They're always 

  right."

  Spencer Tracy 

  in "Quick Millions"

"You can't try to have fun. You either have it or you 

  don't."

  Richard Widmark 

  in "Take the High Ground"

"The nicest guys are the most psycho. They're just 

  better at hiding it."

  Addison Rae 

  in "Thanksgiving"