2015 MidAtlantic Nostalgia Convention

The 2015 MidAtlantic Nostalgia Convention in Hunt Valley, MD, was a fascinating collection of movie and TV stars of the past highlighted by a very special reunion of the principal actors of TV's The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman (Lee Majors, Lindsay Wagner, and Richard Anderson). Despite the cancellation of The Wild Wild West star, Robert Conrad and Dean Stockwell, there were stars aplenty and many vendors. 

Lee Majors responded to my admiring his role as a mentor on the 1st season cliffhanger of the wonderful action series Human Target. He liked that role and lamented the changes in the 2nd season which doomed the series among other things. He looked great but moved a bit gingerly having done so many stunts himself on The Six Million Dollar Man. 

Lindsay Wagner looked terrific, and I told her so. She is a vegetarian who made the change in her diet due to concerns about her health.  As an inspiration to so many women and girls, when asked who inspired her, she responded Anne Bancroft (the Oscar winning actress). 

  

During the panel session, all three primary stars of the two shows were together for perhaps the last time as Richard Anderson is getting on in years, at age 89.  He was recounted stories of Hollywood past and even turned to Lee Majors and said, "Pal" which was his Oscar Goldman trademark saying and the audience sighed in appreciation.

 

Angela Cartwright had cancelled her appearance at last year's convention and made it this year to the thrill of many fans especially me.  I loved what may have been a highlight episode of the Lost in Space series for her character Penny-My Friend Mr. Nobody which she liked as well.

  

This was certainly the biggest convention yet for the now 10 year anniversary for the event. Thanks to Martin Grams and his team for a fun and memorable show. Thanks to Laura for her feedback and help. Cannot wait for what comes next year!  

Father's Day

This is the first Father’s Day I will have without my dad who passed away earlier this year.  Now normally the families would get together for lunch or dinner and that would be a nice moment. Now such moments carry a bit of melancholy since I have a family yet my own father is gone. This is how things go in life and while it hurts, I have a feeling of the now with my family and the past with my dad. 

When I was a child, I watched on many occasions The Wizard of Oz on TV and being moved to tears at the end every time.   I remember my dad taking the family to see a new movie whether it be My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, or Mary Poppins.  Because of his affiliation with the US Naval Research Lab, we even saw a special preview of 2001: A Space Odyssey at the Uptown Theater in D.C. which was a stunner and very confusing to a young boy.  My dad took my younger brother and me to see a double feature of James Bond movies, Thunderball and From Russia with Love, and I was hooked on Bond forever.   He was a big Dean Martin Show fan and when the Matt Helm movies came out, we all saw The Silencers and Murderer’s Row, pale Bond imitations.  When I supervised the college movie theater at UMD College Park, mom and dad came up to see Moonraker as dad was a fan of Roger Moore from TV’s The Saint. 

I even remember my first and only drive-in movie that featured a triple bill of The Satan Bug-reasonably exciting, The Train-boring for a kid, and Get Yourself a College Girl featuring the Dave Clark Five-I didn’t get it.  He took us to see Batman the movie based on the hit TV show and it was lame.  I recall my dad taking my brother and me to Cabaret which was powerful and really adult themed. 

 

Pretty soon, I was able to see most movies on my own as I would be dropped off to a theater by myself, and it was a new era for movie watching for me.  We would still see movies together but less frequently.  Even rewatching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom or The Empire Strikes Back was fun to see them with dad.  He and my mom saw Terminator 2 and he liked it which surprised me pleasantly because this was a man who was a physicist and would pick apart any movie’s technical inaccuracies. We saw Glory together and it was a moving experience.  We saw a movie based on my dad’s love of graphic novels of Chinese super heroes and fantasy like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and in the past would see imported Chinese sword and martial arts films that were actually quite good even though some were over the top.  My dad even took us to see Enter the Dragon which was the culmination of Bruce Lee’s prowess in kung fu. Speaking of which, we loved TV’s Kung Fu with its action and philosophy. One of the last movies my brother and I watched with my dad was Lincoln.

 

 

TV watching was a huge thing in our household and I remember the old black and white sets with manual channel knobs and no remote control-we would wear out the knobs and have to get a new one, or the TV would break down and we would go shopping for a new transistor tube at the local drug store.  We got our first color TV later on and it was glorious!  I grew up vividly recalling early 1960s shows like The Untouchables, The Twilight Zone, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and Combat.  My dad often liked the same shows as me although once in a while he would watch something I really didn’t care for or tolerated.  For example, he loved The Lawrence Welk Show which had old standards and ended with the maestro dancing at the end of the show with a bevy of older women.  It was a tradition for many years.  The Wonderful World of Disney was a staple on Sundays which usually started out with Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom with Marlin Perkins. It was also the mainstay of Irwin Allen’s Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea at 7PM which would have our family having dinner that night usually at a Chinese restaurant or the local Hot Shoppes and my dad faithfully rushing us back to catch the beginning of my favorite sci-fi TV show (this when there were no VCRs.) In fact I couldn’t get enough of Allen’s sci-fi shows like Lost in Space or the short lived The Time Tunnel. The Outer Limits scared the crap out of me! Yet I could not get into Alfred Hitchcock Presents even though I liked his movies. 

 Mondays was usually the domain of  one of my dad’s favorites, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In (which foreshadowed Saturday Night Live.) CBS comedies were very popular in our home like Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, Gomer Pyle, and The Beverly Hillbillies.  I remember Friday was a comedy block of The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, Nanny and the Professor, The Odd Couple, and Love American Style.  Comedy was big in our home as the fantasy ones ruled like Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, and My Favorite Martian. 

Saturday mornings were so much fun and I would get up early just to watch my favorite cartoon like Underdog or any of a number of Hanna Barbara regulars. I started collecting comic books early on especially since I loved all things with dinosaurs. I had plastic small dinosaurs and models and watched movies with dinosaurs.  I had books and studied about all things dinosaurs and loved going to the museums in Chicago and D.C. to see the dinosaur skeleton exhibits.  I loved buying those G.I. Combat comics showing soldiers battling dinosaurs! After a while my dad suggested I buy something other than just dinosaurs and so I picked up a super hero one and thus was born my love for DC and ultimately Marvel comics.  Imagine reading and salivating over Captain America and The Avengers with storylines that are now being made into blockbuster movies, and my dad is partly to blame (or praise). Even old repeats of The Adventures of Superman and later watching The Six Million Dollar Man were part of this appeal.

Saturday evening was a lock with All in the Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show (and its model That Girl), The Bob Newhart Show, and The Carol Burnett Show (with Harvey Korman busting up at Tim Conway’s brilliance.) In fact variety shows were huge and Ed Sullivan Show, The Red Skelton Show, The Danny Kaye Show, The Jackie Gleason Show and The Honeymooners, and The Andy Williams Show were staples in my household. The earliest recollections I had were of Sing a Long with Mitch Miller and his singers.  

 

I remember watching TVs Batman and my dad and I thought it was the coolest thing and so did he! Westerns were popular like Gunsmoke and Bonanza, but he and I preferred The Wild Wild West. In fact it was part of the spy genre of the Bond films and The Man from UNCLE was terrific fun!  Get Smart and Agent 99 appealed to my dad. The British import of The Avengers especially with Diana Rigg showed a female agent way way ahead of her time. Mission Impossible was so innovative and tense those first few years, and we loved it!  Police shows were big too like the indestructible Hawaii Five-O and the early private eyes like 77 Sunset Strip, Peter Gunn, Burke’s Law (he loved Gene Barry) and Honey West were cool, and Mannix was THE Gumshoe! He liked the intelligence of Columbo (and NBC Mystery Movies with McCloud and McMillan and Wife) and loved to watch Angie Dickinson in Police Woman. He even liked Hee Haw and The Golddiggers mostly because of the pretty female stars.

 

The evening news was usually centered on the most trusted man on the news, Walter Cronkite.  Of course the local evening news was always centered on newscasters like Gordon Peterson and Max Robinson and sports with Warner Wolf-what a great team! We would watch the latter’s show about the Redskins.

 

Late night TV was dominated by The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and we loved his monologues which sometimes bombed and we waited for him to do the soft shoe dance when this happened. I loved some of the routines he would do like Ed McMahon claiming that Johnny’s small book on his desk had “everything you would want to know about a random subject” and Johnny retorting, “You are wrong bated breath” or some joke.  It got so I wanted to stay up later but often had school the next day and thus began my night owl habits. Sometimes my dad and I would fight over my staying up late-imagine that! I eventually had a TV in my room and would sneak watch late shows, and finally my dad got wise and would come up later and feel the back of the set to see if it was still warm!

I saw many movies that came to TV during that period and into the 1970s.  It was sort of a cinematic education for me and nurtured a love for film that continues to this day.  

Then there are the moments in film and TV that make you feel emotions and memories about my dad.  A couple titles come readily to mind, and one may have directly influenced the other; TV’s The Twilight Zone episode, Walking Distance, about a man walking back to his childhood town and meeting his dad and compare that to Field of Dreams and its deep sentiment of a father and son bonding amid Americana.  Both of these, and I’m sure there are others, touched my heart and soul, and since my dad’s passing will forever stay with me and have an added meaning.

The last thing we watched together was the Super Bowl which he paid attention to intently, and it felt good to share a quality few hours with him as we had over 40 years before as we would watch the Washington Redskins on TV during the George Allen glory days.   I realize and treasure the bonds of watching a movie or TV show with my dad and laughing and watching him laugh too that are irreplaceable memories.  Thank you dad.

 

 

Awesome Con -The More the Merrier!

 

I attended my first Awesome Con in Washington DC this past weekend. Held at the DC Convention Center and featuring dozens of TV and film stars of the scifi/fantasy/comic book genres, there were endless booths with vendors that heavily featured artwork, comic books, and related merchandise.  Among the notables were Michael Biehn (Aliens), John Rhys-Davies (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Lord of the Rings) Julie Adams (Creature from the Black Lagoon), and many TV cult series stars from shows like Dr. Who. Many attendees were dressed as their favorite super hero or star. 

The highlight was a couple of stars from the original Star Trek show, William Shatner (who left early) and George Takei (Mr. Sulu).  Takei signed posters, posed for fan photos, and spoke before an appreciative audience about his career, acting with John Wayne, advocating equal rights, and the new Star Trek movies.  He was engaging, personable, and amusing with his signature catchphrase, "Oh my!"

OSCAR PREDICTION FOR 2014 FILMS

OK, I am finishing up at the last minute as many Oscar worthy titles as possible.  Everything ground to a halt when my father passed away recently, but he liked movies and knew I loved them so I carry on the tradition. 

PICTURE-Boyhood over Birdman by a feather (American Sniper is the wild card possibly)

ACTOR-Eddie Redmayne of The Theory of Everything but I absolutely loved Michael Keaton in Birdman

ACTRESS-Julianne Moore of Still Alice 

SUPPORTING ACTOR-J. K. Simmons of Whiplash

SUPPORTING ACTRESS-Patricia Arquette in Boyhood

DIRECTOR-Alejandro G. Inarritu for Birdman for out-innovating everyone except Richard Linklater ‘s Boyhood

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY-The Grand Budapest Hotel

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY-The Imitation Game

ANIMATED FEATURE-Big Hero 6 but How to Train Your Dragon 2 is a strong contender

FILM EDITING-Boyhood
                                                                                                  
CINEMATOGRAPHY-Birdman

PRODUCTION DESIGN-The Grand Budapest Hotel

ORIGINAL SCORE-The Theory of Everything

ORIGINAL SONG-Glory from Selma

SOUND EDITING-American Sniper

SOUND MIXING- American Sniper

COSTUME DESIGN-The Grand Budapest Hotel

MAKEUP& HAIRSTYLING- The Grand Budapest Hotel

VISUAL EFFECTS-Interstellar  but the titles are all mind boggling

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM-Ida           

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE-Citizenfour

Various SHORTS-who cares?

Grand Budapest Hotel and possibly American Sniper have momentum but the awards should be heavily divided among several films.

Field of Dreams and Its Everlasting Power

So I catch the last 30 minutes of Field of Dreams on TCM. I saw this with close friends when it first opened in 1989. It was a wonderful film filled with mystery, drama, humor, and magic, but when the end came and it all came to fruition, we were stunned by the emotional bond and the answer to the cryptic voice, "If you build it he will come." We were all blubbering wrecks, grateful for reconnecting with our inner selves and with each other's shared experiences. It mattered... not how old or young or what sex or what ethnic background, every one of us was affected. How a simple fable could have such power can only be summed up by a fortuitous confluence of writer, director, acting and sheer inspiration. I have watched parts or all of the film over the years, always drawn to its glow and shamelessly tearing up by the end. Tonight, as I sit (with a bit of melancholy that my two local baseball teams , The Nats and Orioles didn't make it through the playoffs,) on the eve of a David vs Goliath kind of World Series between the Royals and Giants, the film has just concluded. It has been 25 years since it first played. It doesn't feel like it. I still have tears in my grateful eyes.

The Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention is now in the books for 2014. What a fun, walk down memory lane as I met George Lazenby whose On Her Majesty Secret Service was a solo Bond effort.  Sporting a nice sense of humor, I asked him if costar Telly Savalas did some of his own stunts, and it appears no, while Lazenby did nearly all his own action scenes. He also revealed how he was considered for the original Equalizer TV series only to have Edward Woodward take the role per the powers that be.

I also met Connie Stevens, a Hollywood star from the 60s and 70s, who began with TV's Hawaiian Eye and was a staple of TV and movies.  When I told her I remembered watching her singing the Oscar nominated song, The Morning After, at the 1973 Oscars, she had forgotten and then remembered it winning.

Veronica Cartwright has been acting since a child when she had a memorable role in Hitchcock's The Birds and later starred in many films and TV shows (The X Files). Her role in the terrifying classic, Alien, led me to ask if that ensemble cast got along, and she said they did and kept in touch with them especially Tom Skerritt.

Piper Laurie is Hollywood royalty having come up through the studio system through TV roles like the classic, Twin Peaks.  She costarred in The Hustler and was nominated for an Oscar which would happen numerous times including her signature role as the mother in Carrie.  In that film, she told me the script was kind of clichéd but she brought her performance to the part-boy did she ever!

Although Angela Cartwright (Lost in Space) couldn't make it, there were plenty of celebrities and vendors to satisfy any TV/film/radio nostalgia. OK, I was a groupie today, and in the words of Maxwell Smart, "and loving it!" Thanks Martin Grams for your efforts.

X MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST and Its Bold Mission

These are remarkable times for Marvel comic fans as film effects have enabled story and imagination to produce a visually stunning, realistic experience. With X Men: Days of Future Past, a strong team of writers and director Bryan Singer have created a highly entertaining quasi-sequel/prequel which reinvents the X Men world from all the previous versions. A logistical challenge from the get go, this film has accomplished the near impossible and approaches the excellence of The Avengers.

 

 

In a bleak vision of the future, mutants are being hunted down along with any human sympathizers by enhanced, robotic Sentinel hunters. With the last vestiges of hope at a remote location, Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Erik Lehnsherr AKA Magneto (Ian McKellen) join forces in a last ditch effort to alter the timeline using Kitty Pryde’s (Ellen Page) transferring powers to send Logan AKA Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) back to his body in the 1970s.  His desperate mission is to convince the younger Charles (James McAvoy) and Erik (Michael Fassbender) to stop Raven AKA Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), from carrying out a vendetta against humans including a scientist named Dr. Trask (Peter Dinklage), who holds the key to the Sentinel army. However, tracking Raven is problematic while the younger Charles has lost his purpose having withdrawn into seclusion, and a young, embittered Erik is locked away for a significant crime. How Wolverine can ‘put the band back together’ is just the beginning of a convoluted storyline that not only involves time travel but exposing old, emotional wounds and the fleeting hope of salvation from a doomed future.

From the opening 20^th Century Fox fanfare with its highlighted ‘X’, you know Singer has got his mojo back (after the misfire of Superman Returns). Having started the current Marvel era of filmmaking with X Men (2000), he knows these characters better than anyone, and the screenplay has a strong narrative with some genuinely funny lines. Like X Men: First Class, this film crisscrosses the globe from Vietnam to Paris to Washington D.C., and much of the early period parallels actual historic events and figures as in Watchmen.

Fate and destiny: can history be altered and can people change?  The film has such a complex plot you wonder if it will shortchange the emotional content. It doesn’t. In fact, you could almost have made this a two part film and expanded the possibilities. By trying to link the old with the new into one cohesive plot was challenge enough, but by sprinkling in bits of references to the Marvel canon and providing a great ending, comic fans should be giddy and thrilled. You don’t have to have seen every X Men film, but it helps to enrich the experience for fans of Marvel lore by connecting a lot of dots.

 

 

Once again, the interplay between the younger Charles and Erik forms the core of a paradoxical love/hate relationship. First, Charles must find his way back from his self-imposed exile amid personal loss, and then it becomes a fascinating triangle of wills; Raven may be the target, but Erik and Charles struggle for her soul. Stewart lends authority (as the older Charles) as he narrates in grim tones the opening sequence which has parallels (as in the first X Men) to the Holocaust and human intolerance.

The large cast shines especially McAvoy and Lawrence, who gets to speak in Vietnamese much as Fassbender espoused German in First Class. You wish there were more of Stewart and McKellen, who are so good together, and despite relegating some cast members (including Halle Berry as Storm) to brief cameos or short scenes, plenty of familiar faces reappear from previous films to lend an air of continuity, and you feel the casts of both past and present are adequately represented.

New characters are introduced with cool powers particularly Evan Peters as Quicksilver, whose rapid speed proves instrumental in the film’s standout sequence that ranks up there with X 2’s opening White House assault by Nightcrawler. The special effects are that good. Just watching the final showdown where the mutants utilize all their unique powers to do battle with the Sentinels is a treat. Mystique’s special morphing powers are on full display along with her acrobatic fighting style, and Magneto’s powers are dead on as he literally raises RFK Stadium when the action shifts to DC and The White House.

 

 

Ambitious and well executed, X Men: Days of Future Past reaches the heights of X 2 and successfully merges two different universes both past and present, resets the timelines and events in a massive reboot, and results in a cohesive, entertaining story with an expanded, marquee cast. By applying equal parts reverence and boldness with the X Men mythology, Singer and company have accomplished a nearly impossible juggling act. With visionary directors like Joss Whedon (whose The Avengers is the gold standard) and Singer, the Marvel brand is likely to be an exemplary force of film entertainment for many years to come.

(Yes, stay until the end of the credits for a brief, elaborate setup for the next film!)

***1/2 of **** stars (add ½* for Marvel fans)

 

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER and the Paranoia of Fear

Directed with the sure hands of brothers Anthony and Joe Russo (TV’s Community) from an excellent screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is easily the best of the stand alone Marvel films and a thrilling action film full of big surprises and twists with far reaching consequences.  A superior sequel like X Men 2 and The Dark Knight, it raises the stakes of good story telling and intricate plotting of comic book adaptations in the guise of a political thriller. 

Steve Rogers AKA Captain America (Chris Evans) continues his adjustment to 21^st century life after his thaw from the deep freeze (in Captain America: The First Avenger) and befriends a fellow veteran, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie).  On a typical mission for S.H.I.E.L.D., Cap and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) lead a team of agents to rescue a pirated ship which turns up an interesting bit of information.  Meanwhile, as S.H.I.E.L.D. readies the major launch of a defense system in Washington, D.C., there are growing concerns expressed by boss Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) to his superior, Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford).  As suspicions multiply, all hell breaks loose when there is an assassination attempt on one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s own.  The conspiracy leads Captain America to a confrontation with a mysterious, formidable figure, The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), whose strength and skills are extraordinary. With only a small circle of comrades, everything Cap has come to value comes crashing down. Loyalties are tested and just who will survive a major shift in the world order is just the beginning of an insidious plot.   

For fans of Cap, these are grand times as the filmmakers have chosen a major story arc (The Winter Soldier) from his comic annals and incorporated Silver Age characters, e.g. The Falcon (Mackie) and Batroc.  Recently, super hero films have chosen to bend the rules and take chances with tradition. This film goes much further than any previous Marvel adaptation.  It features a good mystery, topical subject matter on individual privacy, and significant plot twists so much so that it is essential for the viewer to watch them unfold without any spoilers.  The smart script contains witty lines amid a pervasive feeling of mistrust and paranoia.  When Cap responds to Fury’s state of the art weaponry to combat threats and says, “This isn’t freedom. This is fear,” it sums up the theme of the story.  Think of this as homage to 1970s conspiracy classics like Three Days of the Condor, The Parallax View, and Marathon Man.  The film also employs moments that references Mission Impossible, The X Files, RoboCop, and 24.          

Acting is uniformly strong as some old, familiar faces return, and a few new ones get introduced.  By now Evans has become the embodiment of the iconic hero, retaining his sense of justice, duty, and morals, virtues which are downright refreshing in a post 9/11 world.  Rogers is a Rip Van Winkle out of his time and still learning to assimilate the world changes and cultural references with amusing results.  Evans’ chemistry with Johansson is believable yet ironic since their two characters have vastly different backgrounds.  In a costarring role, Johansson’s Black Widow is resourceful, smart, and deadly as a S.H.I.E.L.D. operative whose history is only beginning to be scratched.  Perhaps Black Widow should have her own film!  

Jackson’s Fury has an expanded role and reveals more facets of his mysterious background.  Robert Redford (All the President’s Men) has a significant, atypical role as a high level official, and he is outstanding. His presence alone adds legitimacy and authority to the film.  Mackie (The Hurt Locker) is an ideal buddy in arms to Evans.  Emily VanCamp makes a good first impression as a young agent, and Cobie Smulders (returning as Agent Maria Hill) provides solid backup.

The many impressive action sequences are noteworthy for their ferocity and meticulous detail, but the standouts are a mad, opening car chase through the streets of D.C., and a remarkable fight in a glass elevator that surpasses the gem in Die Hard: With a Vengeance.  There are moments of intense hand to hand combat that recall the best moments of the Bourne films on steroids.  You’ve also got to love that shield; the film wisely displays all the creative ways Cap’s shield is employed in combat.  The violence here is realistically depicted and not cartoonish which pushes its PG-13 rating.  Extensive use of handheld cameras and more live action special effects than CGI lend a stronger sense of realism.  D.C. locations make a splendid backdrop for much of the film.

Taking super hero filmmaking to new heights, Captain America: The Winter Soldier successfully interconnects what we know from previous films and effectively challenges you to reevaluate everything in the Marvel Universe.  It certainly helps to have seen the previous films, but there is sufficient background and context that a casual outsider would still enjoy it.  (Fans of TV’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will have a field day as the events tie directly with the show.)  Though the film ends with open ended story threads that beg for another sequel, consider this as The Empire Strikes Back of Captain America. That’s not such a bad place to be.

(As usual, don’t forget two post credit scenes which are significant.)

***1/2 of **** stars (add 1/2 * for Marvel fans)

 

Under the Spell of LAURA (a retro review)

Based on the novel by Vera Caspary and adapted by various scribes, Laura started modestly as mystery yarn released in 1944 and has grown in stature as a haunting, film noir classic.  It was begun by veteran director Rouben Mamoulian (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) with a young producer, Otto Preminger.  Due to creative differences, Mamoulian was replaced by 20^th Century Fox boss Darryl F. Zanuck, and Preminger took over directorial reins and made significant changes in casting and story.

The horrific murder of Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney) triggers an investigation headed by cynical detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews).  Among a rogues gallery of suspects is Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb, priceless in a star making turn), an acerbic, caustic writer, Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price), a charming playboy, and Ann Treadwell (Judith Anderson), a socialite.  Told in a series of flashbacks, Laura ascends the world of advertising and garners the admiration and desires among the men in her life.  McPherson becomes intrigued and fascinated by her even in death.  As he searches for more clues in her apartment, he finds himself strangely drawn to her lifelike portrait until one fateful night when his world changes forever.  

What a marvelous cast.  While it lacked a bonafide superstar, the film more than compensated with a roster of wonderful character actors and supporting players at their best.  First and foremost, the priceless Webb was already 53 years old with this breakout role and earned an Oscar nomination.  He subsequently had a distinguished career playing eccentric, loveable leads in such films as Cheaper by the Dozen (which was remade starring Steve Martin), Sitting Pretty (the original Mr. Belvedere before a TV version), and a very credible version of Titanic. Gene Tierney was a stunningly beautiful actress who would grace memorable films as in her Oscar nominated role in Leave Her to Heaven and the classic, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.  Dana Andrews starred in many films over a couple decades including The Best Years of Our Lives and The Crowded Sky (a direct inspiration for the parody Airplane.). You see Vincent Price in a strong role before he made his mark as the king of horror films (House of Wax, Pit and Pendulum).  Judith Anderson was versatile among theater, film, and television in a career spanning a majority of the twentieth century ranging from Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca to Star Trek III: The Search for Spock as a Vulcan! 

What seals Laura’s reputation forever is the romantic pull of not just a gorgeous femme fatale (Tierney), but a dead one at that! The story captivates your attention with its romantic longing and seedy mystery interspersed with humorous moments and unique twists. It’s also filled with sharp dialogue particularly the crackling lines spouted by Webb and ends with what must be one of the most famous last lines in movie history.  The film’s point of view employs the occasional use of voiceover, and one could imagine director Martin Scorsese being inspired by that device to use in some of his films (Good Fellas, The Wolf of Wall Street). 

Technical achievements excelled for what was essentially a B-movie.  Joseph LaShelle won a much deserved Oscar for his imaginative, black and white cinematography which displayed camera movement seldom seen up to that point (even though earlier German cinema had already pioneered the language of film noir).  The film deserves to be seen in a movie theater setting.  I was fortunate to watch this projected on a screen, uncut; it makes a huge difference. 

What has significantly contributed to the legend of this film is its memorable theme music by composer David Raksin.  What other title from film noir’s heyday boasts such a romantic score?  (I don’t count Chinatown or Body Heat which were post-period homages.)

Although Preminger would subsequently have his moments in the sun with films that notoriously courted controversy (Anatomy of a Murder, The Man With the Golden Arm), none of the other principals behind or in front of the camera would ever surpass their success with Laura.  Movie watchers may recognize distinct parallels in plot to a 1981 Burt Reynolds action film, Sharky’s Machine. 

The fact that Laura plays so well in the modern era is a testament to its unique storyline, great characterizations, and a confluence of technical acumen.  The film had a total of five Oscar nominations including one for Preminger.  In 1999, it was added to the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress.  A supreme example of the old studio system at its finest and a highlight of American film noir, Laura is one of the best films from Hollywood’s golden age.  Love that painting!

**** of ****stars

 

OSCAR PREDICTION FOR 2013 FILMS

OK, I have seen all nine best picture nominees and a few other titles but not all. There are very likely surprises in a couple major categories. Enjoy!

PICTURE-3 way race and 12 Years a Slave squeaks by American Hustle and Gravity.

ACTOR-Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club

ACTRESS-Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine is a lock 

SUPPORTING ACTOR-Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club

SUPPORTING ACTRESS-Lupita Nyong’o of 12 Years a Slave in a coin flip over Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle.

DIRECTOR-Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY-Her with possibly American Hustle consolation prize

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY-12 Years a Slave.

ANIMATED FEATURE-Frozen

FILM EDITING-Gravity and a possible Captain Phillips spoiler 
                                                                                                  
CINEMATOGRAPHY-Gravity

PRODUCTION DESIGN-The Great Gatsby

ORIGINAL SCORE-Gravity

ORIGINAL SONG-Let It Go from Frozen, unless U2 gets it for Ordinary Love for Mandela:Long Walk to Freedom

SOUND EDITING-Gravity

SOUND MIXING-Gravity

COSTUME DESIGN-12 Years a Slave

MAKEUP& HAIRSTYLING-Dallas Buyers Club

VISUAL EFFECTS-Gravity hands down

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM-The Great Beauty

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE-The Act of Killing

Various SHORTS-who cares?

Figure Gravity will take a majority of awards at least 6. It is entirely possible American Hustle may be shut out!

AMERICAN HUSTLE -the Art of Seduction and Survival

Suggested by actual events of the Abscam sting in the 1970s, the FBI plans to setup and arrest corrupt politicians. How they get the officials and the professional con artists that help the sting operation are the basis of a nostalgic film.  As directed and co-written by David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter), American Hustle is an acting clinic highlighting a convoluted tale of men and women who are looking for a big score.   

In 1978, ambitious FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper), forces con man Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) and his mistress, Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), to help arrange a con on white collar crime, specifically targeting corrupt politicians.  Richie wants to make a name for himself, and he is immediately attracted to Sydney and has designs on her beyond the con.  Starting with a local, beloved mayor, Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner), high level political figures are drawn in, and there is the possible organized crime connection. Further, Irving’s wife, Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence), threatens to derail the sting.  As Richie’s grand plan comes together, things get more complicated and risky, and Irving and Sydney must rely on their skills to survive. 

These are very well etched characters.  Each has something to gain, and each has an angle to exploit, whether it’s Richie’s dreams of a big bust or Rosalyn’s threats to expose the operation.  Kindred souls and survivors, Irving and Sydney have mastered the art of deception and manipulation.  You feel a degree of sympathy for Irving despite his criminal past and his marital discord.  Not only does he love his women, but he tries to save a friend from jail.  Irving turns out to be someone to root for.  In fact the world is not black and white especially when an FBI agent breaks the rules and gets involved with one of the principals.  Carmine is the noble, elected official who truly believes in doing good for his community.  Just who are the good guys and bad guys? Just who is conning who? 

Memorable scenes include a catty confrontation in a women’s restroom, the faceoff between Richie and his beleaguered boss (played to great effect by Louis C. K.), and an incredibly tense meeting with a head mobster (Robert DeNiro in a lethal cameo). 

Acting is superior throughout as expected in a Russell ensemble with the principals at the top of their game.  Bale transforms his physical appearance as an overweight, balding schlep (a far cry from The Dark Knight’s Batman).  A sultry Adams (Doubt, Her) has a great time playing a kindred con artist with a British accent.  Cooper (Limitless, The Hangover) has a ball as the gung ho agent with a 1970s perm who will step over his boss to get his time in the sun.  Lawrence (The Hunger Games, Winter’s Bone) excels as the wife who exhibits a bold brashness in public which delights her onlookers but risks blowing the sting.

There is liberal use of 1970’s pop songs which blend with the costumes and hair styles seamlessly.  The camera work is fluid and is reminiscent of early Martin Scorsese films. There is a very carefree attitude in the film’s look and feel which is consistent with this loose, uninhibited decade. 

A slice of the seventies with freewheeling hustlers and loose morals, at its core, American Hustle is a love story centering on Irving, an imperfect con artist and the women in his life.  The film is essentially a con within a con and keeps you guessing until the end.  Although the film’s narrative is not as tight as it could have been, Russell has sacrificed a tiny bit of substance for style.  Do admire this film for the many scenes that pit flawed characters against each other.  Acting does not get much better than this.

***1/2 of ****stars