Welcome to The Penny-Pinching Cinephile, a weekly spotlight of the best free flicks on the web. ‘Cuz sometimes you gotta eat.
1.) Attack the Block
Joe Cornish’s 2011 “inner city vs. out space” film Attack the Block is kind of like a Goonies in the ghetto…with aliens…that look like giant ape-dogs and have glowing blue fangs. As you can imagine, it already has quite the cult reputation. Set in and around a South London housing project, a group of teenage thugs battle the invading creatures with the reluctant aid of a couple of stoners and a young nurse they had previously mugged. The entire film is a fast-paced, slang-heavy action adventure, full of sci-fi violence and impressively old-school creature effects. Cornish’s direction owes a lot of Edgar Wright (who serves as executive producer) and comparisons to Shaun of the Dead are apt, if a little generous. This film is definitely not for everyone; it has some unexpectedly hard edges despite many cartoon-y moments that recall ’80s action/comedies like Gremlins or Big Trouble in Little China. What Attack the Block lacks in polish, it makes up for in ambition, audacity and style; quite simply, it’s a very unique film, from its storyline to its racial/sociopolitical commentary (when’s the last time you watched a sci-fi/action film with four black kids as leads?).
2.) My Man Godfrey
One of the classic screwball comedies, 1936’s My Man Godfrey stars Carole Lombard as Irene Bullock, a scatter-brained heiress who picks up Godfrey (William Powell), a homeless man (or “forgotten man” as he is euphemistically described in Depression-era ’36) at the city dump and enlists him as the Bullock family butler. The Bullocks are about as crazy as a bag of cats, but Godfrey seems perfectly content to have any job at all, even amidst all the absurdity and shenanigans of Park Avenue. During one of the family’s lavish parties, a wealthy guest seems to recognize Godfrey as an old college chum–from Harvard. Could it be that Godfrey is really as upper-crust as Irene, and if so, how’d he get to a “forgotten man”? Meanwhile, Irene has fallen madly in love with Godfrey, while he has managed to avoid her advances at all cost. Powell’s wry humor and subdued manner is perfectly contrasted by Lombard’s childlike petulance (she seems to either be throwing tantrums or sulking dramatically for 90% of the film). Director Gregory La Cava may not have the auteurist cache of Howard Hawks, Ernest Lubitsch or Preston Sturges, but My Man Godfrey stands as a pinnacle of the screwball genre (as well as his 1937 film, the hilarious Stage Door).
3.) Le Cercle Rouge
Jean-Pierre Melville was the master of the policier, a French sub-genre of the crime/thriller variety which took from the American films noir of the 40s/50s and added that ineffable air of Gallic cool. His 1970 film Le Cercle Rouge (The Red Circle) is arguably the director’s greatest effort in the genre, a sophisticated, tightly-plotted, impeccably photographed and choreographed cat-and-mouse thriller about cold, calculating criminals and the grim-faced detective who pursues them. Alain Delon plays Corey, a tight-lipped thief just released from jail. On the same day Corey is released, a criminal named Vogel (Gian Maria Volonte) escapes custody from police superintendent Mattei (Andre Bourvil). Corey and Vogel conspire to commit a jewel heist and enlist a sharp-shooter named Jansen (Yves Montand) to assist them. Meanwhile, Mattei is still hunting Vogel; he will soon discover the larger criminal enterprise at work (the metaphorical “red circle” that ensnares all guilty men). Featuring a sensational, totally silent 25-minute heist sequence, Le Cercle Rouge is Melville’s most ambitious crime movie and one of the most perfect gangster films ever made.
4.) I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale
Actor John Cazale only appeared in five films during his short career, but each of these films–The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather: Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, and The Deer Hunter–was nominated for Best Picture. Yet, today, only the most diehard film fans know his name. This discrepancy is the subject of Richard Shepard’s 2009 documentary I Knew It Was You, which originally aired on HBO. Probably the most impressive aspect of this film is who Shepard got to interview about Cazale–notably co-stars Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and even Meryl Streep, who was engaged to Cazale and rarely speaks about him publicly. It’s clear from these interviews that John Cazale was an actor other great actors respected and, had his life not been cut tragically short by cancer, very well have become the greatest actor of his generation. My only complaint about this doc is its length; at a mere 39 minutes, I Knew It Was You made me want to know much, much more of this great actor’s life. But perhaps the truncated length is fitting, given Cazale’s brief, but perfect, movie career. If anything, this film made me want to re-watch his films and marvel at the subtle but powerful acting of the man who brought Fredo Corleone, and many others, to life.
5.) Soldiers Pay
The documentary short Soldiers Pay originally started as a supplement to the DVD of David O. Russell’s film Three Kings. In 2004–at the height of the Iraq War–Warner Bros. refused to release the film because it was “too controversial” and it’s remained more or less unseen since. Co-directed by Russell, the documentary interviews current and former soldiers in both the Gulf War and Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as politicians, journalists and Iraqis who lived under Saddam’s regime. The result is an interesting look at the opinions of the everyday people who were actively involved in a war that, at that time, nobody was really sure 1) why we were fighting, or 2) what the results would be. The doubts, criticisms, and regrets of the participants is balanced somewhat by testimony from a few Iraqis who argue that a world without Saddam Hussein is worth the invasion of the country. There is really no cohesive vision at play here; as a film, Soldiers Pay is disjointed, meandering and, at 35 minutes, far to short to actually “say” anything constructive about the war or the men and women who fight it. It’s far more fascinating to view the film as an attempt to understand the gigantic, unknowable complexities of a nation at war, and the earnestness of a few people grapple with the moral questions it raises.
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One thought on “The Penny-Pinching Cinephile (1/30/14 — 2/5/14)”
This is certainly the best idea I’ve seen in a while. Having a glance at the very old movie’s ,and seeing the new reveals where we’ve come from in cinema. It also gives us a better understanding that progress has little to do with each, and every actors talent. It is the “Individual” that is always most liked.