xWRL Reviews

The Maltese Falcon (1931)

"The Maltese Falcon" as a high school play

[5/10 · 30 April 2024]

The plot follows the celebrated Bogart, Astor, Greenstreet, and Lorre version of the film quite closely, and this makes it easy and fun to look for parallels and differences. Had it not been for that, I would not have chosen to sit through the whole inept film, so poorly acted and directed i often felt I was watching a not very competent high school play.

I don't believe the art of acting was sorudimenyary back then , so I place the blame on the film. Or maybe it's just me, since some reviewers actually liked it. But it was sad to see zingers from the script of the famous version of the film fall totally flat in this version. For me the entertainment value of the film came from seeing how badly it did what was so well done.just ten years later.

The Awful Truth (1937)

Such a fine movie and such a shame it's so dated

[7/10 · 16 April 2024]

Beautifully cast and acted, well written and exceptionally well put together, but the plot and man-woman interactions are Very dated. Movies have moved on from these predictable, frothy tales, and this one worked for me more as a period piece than as the source of delight it must once have been to its audience.

That said, one of the most successful aspects of the film is that the actors look like they're generally enjoying themselves throughout. There's also an effortlessness to the acting that has preserved it as an enduring work f art. One can only imagine how it charmed it's audience back in its heyday, but that day is long past.

Rustin (2023)

Great leading actor telling a great story

[8/10 · 13 January 2024]

This film tells a great story and features some great performances, especially from the leading actor, Colman Domingo, whose unforgettable performance as Bayard Rustin should not be missed.

The storyline follows the details of organizing the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom along with the personal and political challenges that event organizer Rustin faced as a gay man. Even though we have at least a general idea of how it will end, new obstacles come up every step along the way, and seeing how they're dealt with keeps the story moving and heighten the drama.

Too much of the dialog sounds speechy rather than conversational, but Rustin's lines are powerful and powerfully delivered. Some actors are better than others, but overall the acting is credible. Most actors--and Domingo in particular--look like they gave it their all.

It's hard to watch the movie without feeling deeply affected at the end. That's a good sign of a successful piece of work.

Twenty Plus Two (1961)

Solid and suspenseful

[7/10 · 4 December 2023]

Not everyone liked this film as much as I did, and maybe some were better at second-guessing the ending than I was. I thought the plot was artfully constructed, with the realization of the ending dawning on us gradually, step by step. I didn't detect any false clues, just clues that became more and more revealing as the story went on.

David Janssen and Jeanne Crain put in fine performances, and most of the minor characters did well, too. Agnes Moorehead, who usually has enough presence to fill any role, was not convincing as a Park Avenue blueblood. Her lines didn't help, but it just seemed like she didn't have her heart in the role.

Overall, the writing was good, as was the staging. Unlike some reviewers who found that this seemed more like something written TV, I thought it was well put together.

Luce (I) (2019)

Taut, beautifully written

[9/10 · 26 November 2023]

This unique drama had me on the edge of my seat throughout. The writing was unsurpassed--you can tell it's an indie, not a copy of familiar Hollywood genres. And it was beautifully filmed. The plot was a little contrived, but the issues it dealt with--trust between generations and between races--are real and were handled squarely.

Any excesses in the plot were rescued by excellent acting on the part of just about everyone, and most brilliantly by the two with the most demanding roles, Octaviai Spencer and. Kelvin Harrison, Jr.

Here's a film so tightly woven and written, so filled with challenges to our expectations, and so well made that it's worth repeated viewings.

The Face Behind the Mask (1941)

Lurid Peter Lorre makes this movie fun

[7/10 · 2 October 2023]

Apart from Peter Lorre's expectedly unhinged performance, this drama is run-of-the-mill, with an odd, poorly developed plot. To its benefit, it's short and unusually fast-paced, though the pacing comes mostly from abrupt cuts from one scene to the next.

But Lorre lets out a memorable blood-curdling shriek near the beginning and follows up throughout with the cherished mannerisms we know him for from much better films. TCM indicates he was inebriated pretty much throughout the filming, something I'd never have guessed even knowing this was so. Maybe the mask helped? It also helped to view this as a fantasy, to keep in mind that there was no intended message or connection with reality.

Elle s'appelait Grace Kelly (2020 TV Movie)

The anti-Marilyn

[7/10 · 8 September 2023]

Beautifully done documentary covers Grace Kelly's transition from Hollywood royalty to Monaco royalty. Cutting into the glamor are a number of harsh realities-her father's negative feelings about her seeking an acting career, the 250 unsuccessful auditions before her career officially began, the initial negative feelings of some in Monaco who questioned the propriety of their prince marrying an American movie star (and who later came to embrace her in her role), the sometime tedium of performing her official role as princess, which she took seriously, the paparazzi, and of course her death due to having a stroke while driving on a hairpin curve.

While showing all this, the documentary sustains an upbeat tone, with many film clips of her as a fun friend and caring mother and loving wife. A dozen relatives and former friends bear witness to the fine person and friend she was to them. It was not quite the fairy tale life I was expecting, but it comes across as a very full life that was tragically cut short.

Stephen Curry: Underrated (2023)

Understated is what this documentary is

[7/10 · 22 July 2023]

Stephen Curry, one of the most accomplished, exciting athletes of our era, deserves better than this uninspired hagiography that just rehashes major events in his life. If you didn't already know, you would not learn from this film that he's one of our most articulate sports figures, one of our wisest, one of our most generous and charitable to causes including ones he's a prime mover for, and one of the most effective advocates of family and community values.

It's all done attractively, and the video clips from the earlier stages of Curry's life add something new, but the film pales next to the real Stephen Curry.

The Good Liar (2019)

The price we pay for seeing Mirren and McKellan together

[7/10 · 24 March 2021]

Watching this ridiculous movie is the price we pay for seeing Mirren and McKellan together. The two are delightful, well worth the price. But the movie, constructed around plot twists that individually and together are wildly implausible, is a very weak vehicle. The two actors deserve a better film. Conceivably they serried on this one for lack of a better choice.

Apart from the plot, the production is fine. The different locales where the action takes place are a feast for the eyes, and each scene is visually interesting. All the actors manage their roles well. Let's hope the two stars of this film soon find a better vehicle for their enormous talents.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Satire that has held up well

[10/10 · 25 October 2020]

They say our 45th president killed satire, but this classic shows that satire is as healthy as it was in 1964. The American and military stereotypes have held up well, and Sellers' three characters-the mealy-mouthed president, the British officer, and Dr. Strangelove-are unforgettable, as are the crisp images of planes in flight and of the huge war room, with its graphic projections and extra-long well-stocked buffet table.

The Library of Congress chose this film as one of the select few for preservation in its National Film Registry. The big question is whether Americans can still laugh at themselves as they once could.

Abandoned in the Arctic (2007)

Chilling adventure

[9/10 · 24 October 2020]

The documentary cleverly juxtaposes the original expedition led by Adolphus Greely with one in which Greely's great-grandson retraces his steps. Both journeys run into unforeseen problems, and the element of suspense adds to the already extreme sense of adventure.

Thanks to technology and better luck, the practical and human challenges for second expedition were less harrowing than the ones faced by the first one. What's most surprising is that so much graphic documentation remains from the first journey, which dates back to 1881-1884.

It's fascinating adventure story, grippingly told.

American Masters: Michael Tilson Thomas: Where Now Is (2020) Season 34, Episode 6

A fabled career

[10/10 · 24 October 2020]

This American Masters segment lives up to its potential--quite a remarkable accomplishment given how much there is to tell. The documentary traces Michael Tilson Thomas's life from early childhood to the present, adding details from his family background that helped to shape him as a person and as a performer.

MTT's talent was recognized early on by his teachers and by his high school classmates (one of whom later went on to become his husband), and from there his ascent was steep, and, as far as we can gather from this documentary, unbroken. Along the way, the classical music world, including his biggest fans, may have expressed doubts about some of his daring choices of repertoire and of performance style, but he and the musical giants that helped him along always seem to have made the right choices.

What makes this documentary stand out most is the first-hand feel we gain for MTT's special talents--his musical judgment and his ability to out the best in performers. As we watch him working with orchestras and with students, we see him embracing his own humanity while drawing out the humanity in others.

Central to the success of this documentary is MTT's own articulateness. In the interviews that dominate the program, he is admirably forthright--without seeming at all full of himself--about what he gained from his teachers and about his career choices.

Circus of Books (2019)

When your family business is a porn shop

[8/10 · 6 October 2020]

Circus of Books was a famous, thriving gay porn bookstore in West Hollywood for several decades that went through some interesting times, including getting into the movie making business with some famous male porn stars and a federal obscenity rap that could have easily wound one of the owners up in federal prison had not Bill Clinton become president when he did.

This, along with other surprising twists of fate, forms an important part of the film, but the focus is how the business affected the lives of the three children of the owners. Given that one of those three is responsible for making the film, we get an inside view including abundant commentary from family members, lots of footage of the family as they were all growing up, and lots of nuance that couldn't have been known or captured otherwise. It's not all pretty, but it's deeply touching and revealing.

What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael (2018)

Everything you want to know about Pauline Kael, lightly

[9/10 · 1 August 2019]

This entertaining, breathlessly paced film covers Kael's upbringing and career well. Over a hundred photos and clips from movies she reviewed serve as a sort of wallpaper against which her life is flashed.

Among the tons of sound bites from interviews with famous people, there are a good number deeper clips with her highly articulate daughter, shedding light on Kael's motivations and reactions to all was going on in her life.

The film does a good job of capturing an event-filled career that attracted superlative comments, not all of them good. It goes back--lightly--over the major controversies she stirred and gives a sympathetic but not hagiographic account of some of her most notorious foibles, such as finding the good in trash and voicing contrarian opinions of some movie giants. It succeeds best at showing off the unique, amiable character of a groundbreaking, gifted, opinionated, wise, and carefree critic.

Craig Ferguson: Tickle Fight (2017 TV Special)

A lot of great punch lines, with a lot of punch

[9/10 · 6 December 2017]

If you enjoyed Craig Ferguson's stand-up routines that began his CBS Late Late Show for 10 years, you will probably like this Netflix special. The tone of this show is similar to the TV show routines-- sly, original, mocking yet somehow gentlemanly. (Maybe it's the accent?)

Many of the topics covered are standard--politics, culture, and self- deprecation. But the wit and disarming delivery are Ferguson's alone, and if some of the topics are familiar, others are new, and the humor itself is fresh--in two senses of the word.

Personally, I was a fan of the opening monologues of Ferguson's Late Late Show, and I found this special even funnier.

Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond (2017)

A Window into the Actor's Craft

[10/10 · 21 November 2017]

For his role in "Man on the Moon," Jim Carrey took on the character of Andy Kaufman so fully that, as he relates here, he found himself reacting off the set as Andy would have reacted rather than as Jim would react.

Along with his known talents, Carrey shows himself in this doc to be a very articulate speaker, even when describing--as he does here a lot--his internal states. If actors need empathy, Carrey here puts that empathy into words--words we can understand and feel.

If you're not familiar with Kaufman, there's a great variety of footage from Kaufman's performances.

It's hard to compare this to any other doc I've seen. Its approach to the subject is as unique as the subject itself. If you want to understand and appreciate a side of Jim Carrey you may never have seen before, or what actors go through when throwing themselves into roles, this film is for you.

Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary (2016)

Chasing inspiration

[10/10 · 7 November 2017]

As you'd expect, this documentary offers a close-up view of the different phases of the life of John Coltrane through lots of family photos and footage of his performing and through the remembrances of family and friends who loved and understood him.

But what's really special is that the mix of interviews, from Sonny Rawlins to Wynton Marsalis, from Cornel West to Bill Clinton, captures how deeply Coltrane's life and art inspired people who happen to be both famous and highly articulate about how Coltrane affected them.

If you're not familiar with Coltrane's music, this may be the best introduction you'll find. If you are familiar, you're still likely to learn something new, because the documtary carefully traces Coltrane's musical development. But its greatest strength is how movingly people describe their experiences of Coltrane.

Citizen Jane: Battle for the City (2016)

Great documentary on urban preservation vs. renewal

[26 June 2017]

Jane Jacobs and the successful battle to oppose Robert Moses' planned lower Manhattan expressway in the 1960s is the focus of this doc, but the film also raises general questions about the overreach of city planners who are too quick to tear buildings down and not very wise about the new buildings and highways that go in their place.

It's a huge topic, so it was wise to focus here on Manhattan, where enough forms of political greed and poor planning took place to document the folly that went into projects that were completed, like the Cross-Bronx Expressway, along with some that weren't, like the prospect of bringing urban renewal to the West Village.

Lots of footage Moses, Jacobs, and the wrecking ball and we'll put together from beginning to end.

You Can't Take It with You (1938)

The bloom is off the rose

[6/10 · 22 April 2017]

You may enjoy this--lots of people still do, judging from reviews that led me to catch it on late night TV. Definitely it's a treat to see such a cast of famous film stars assembled in one place.

It's probably unfair to judge the story line by current standards, but it's weak, and too many lame exchanges mark the dialog. The endless stereotypes--from the snooty upper crust to the always-aimin'-to-please help to the imperious Russian dance teacher--get tiresome after a while, even though they must have charmed a contemporary audience.

Look at it as a period piece, but overall it's a disappointment.

Behemoth (2015)

Staggering visuals leave a sobering message

[9/10 · 19 February 2017]

This film takes us to a number of gasp-worthy and infrequently filmed places--deep into a mine and into a steel mill where workers sling around white-hot molten metal. The technical quality of the images is extraordinary, heightening the impact.

After seeing the effects of these industries on the environment, we then see footage of the effects on people who work there. The only narration is adapted from Dante's "The Divine Comedy." That was a brilliant idea, letting the visuals essentially speak for themselves.

Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict (2015)

The fruits of art addiction

[26 December 2016]

Peggy Guggenheim accomplished two things noteworthy and lasting enough for books to be written and documentaries to be filmed about her, even to this day. She nurtured a set of talented young artists that turned out to be among the most influential of her century, and she put together one of the world's great collections of work by this same group of artists.

And there's more. She was quite a character. The guts that she showed in following her tastes in art also led her to affairs, brief and occasionally longer, with men, often young men, and especially artists she admired for more than their artistic talents. This led her to be widely gossiped about, not that this mattered enough to her to change her ways.

The film is sympathetic but not at all hagiographic. It's very well put together, framed around a candid oral interview with her late in life, and interspersed with comments from dozens of art world luminaries-- artists, dealers, critics--who knew her (sometimes in several senses of that term).

The film points out the duplicity of the culture that tolerates sexual promiscuity in males more than in females. Looking back on her life at the end of the film, Guggenheim comments on what made her happiest and on what she still desired most. Happily for the viewer, she speaks as honestly and as bluntly then as always.

Eva Hesse (2016)

Eva Hesse, the person and the art

[10/10 · 29 May 2016]

Eva Hesse has been dead for over 45 years. In the short time she had, she became an A- list artist whose work is sometimes classified as post-minimalist. The work is so different from anything else, you may not immediately be drawn to it. But the organic forms, the inventiveness of the materials, and the playfulness make it worth spending time with, and it still has a significant following and is displayed in major exhibits in the U.S, and Europe.

The film does a fine job with the spare resources available--old photos and film, augmented by interviews with people who knew Hesse well. It traces how Hesse's art developed across her brief career with many shots of the work itself along with Hesse's diary entries and comments by contemporaries, including famous ones like Sol Lewitt and Carl Andre.

The film also sketches her personal history, and you get a feeling for what she went through and how she responded to various life events, but as one of the men who loved her said, she really was mainly focused on her work.

Echo Park (2014)

The tender ways that love complicates a relationship

[9/10 · 29 May 2016]

This very special movie is built around the tensions that develop among lovers and close friends, as a result of different needs and, specifically, different takes on what love is.

All the main characters are sympathetic, and the choices they make--even when you figure they might be making a mistake--are understandable and defensible. No one does anything really stupid, but what they do is enough to create the tensions that drive the plot.

The actors bring keen sensitivity to this very human, tender film. The director must be in love with Los Angeles, because the shots around town are among the most gorgeous you're likely to have seen.

Play of the Week: Two by Saroyan: 'Once Around the Block' and 'My Heart's in the Highlands' (1960) Season 2, Episode 7

Two Memorable Gems from Saroyan

[9/10 · 22 January 2016]

If you don't mind the format--plays staged as if for the theater but filmed for TV--these two pieces are highly satisfying. The stories depict scenes from the lives of humble men who happen to be unsuccessful writers and actors.

The plays are quiet but not somber, touching but not depressing. Saroyan's simple art is a good fit for a low-budget production that gets its force from the artful way it reveals the internal states of its characters.

And how special to see Walther Matthau as a young actor. He may look a little different from the actor we're used to but already has the charismatic presence we recognize from his later roles.

Play of the Week: Two by Saroyan: 'Once Around the Block' and 'My Heart's in the Highlands' (1960) Season 2, Episode 7

Two Memorable Gems from Saroyan

[9/10 · 18 January 2016]

If you don't mind the format--plays staged as if for the theater but filmed for TV--these two pieces are highly satisfying. The stories depict scenes from the lives of humble men who happen to be unsuccessful writers and actors.

The plays are quiet but not somber, touching but not depressing. Saroyan's simple art is a good fit for a low-budget production that gets its force from the artful way it reveals the internal states of its characters.

And how special to see Walther Matthau as a young actor. He may look a little different from the actor we're used to but already has the commanding presence we recognize from his later roles.