DailyView: Day 96, Movie 163

I’m not sure how to start this review off.

The Green Mile does not really have a plot. It is a string of scenes together to tell the narrative of the time during the Great Depression when John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) was in prison awaiting his execution for the rape and murder of two young girls. Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) was the head officer in charge at death row, managing the inmates and trying to make their final days as peaceful as possible.

However, as it turned out, John was special. He had a special gift that made Paul and the other guards question the scheduled execution.

This was powerful. I had tears several times over the 3 + hour run time. Even now as I sit here trying to type this up, I have that knot in my stomach about what I had watched. It is an emotional and absolutely transcendent film with some of the top performances you’re going to find.

Michael Clarke Duncan will break your heart with his work in this film. He had such a pureness to his character. An aura that totally played opposite the image of the gigantic man that stood before the others. Tom Hanks is the perfect foil for Duncan as this pairing is so believable, despite the sensationalism of the story. You can see the conflict within Hanks and how much he carried himself with respect for everybody, even these convicted murderers.

There are several other notable performances including David Morse, James Cromwell, Michael Jeter, Doug Hutchison, Sam Rockwell, Bonnie Hunt, Patricia Clarkson, Jeffrey DeMunn, Harry Dean Stanton, Barry Pepper, and Dabbs Greer.

There was one scene in particular, involving Michael Jeter and Doug Hutchison during an execution that is just about the most horrific thing that I have ever seen. It was devastating to watch and will stick with me for a long time. If you have seen The Green Mile, you know to which scene I am referring. I’m not sure that I could watch it again.

There is such life to the movie despite it being about tragic circumstances. The performances are astounding and do not fail to grasp you every time. It is over three hours, but it did not seem like it. Those three hours flew by. I can think of plenty of 90 minutes movies that feel much longer than this.

The Green Mile is another triumph on Tom Hanks’ resume and deserves every bit of positive credit it can receive.

DailyView: Day 96, Movie 162

I have been following the Fast Saga since the arrival of the Rock in Fast 5. I had not seen the previous four movies. They had never been something that appealed to me. In fact, the last few films in the franchise have not been films that I liked. Still, I wanted to go back and look at how it started. So I pulled up Fast & Furious on Peacock. You see, I thought this was the first film of the franchise, but, about 20 minutes in, I realized that it was not. Doing a little research, I discovered that this was actually Fast 4.

This film was mainly involved in bringing back together Dom (Vin Diesel) and Brian (Paul Walker) from, apparently, previous installments where they had a falling out. Brian is back working for the FBI and Dom is still involved in criminal activity.

When Leddy (Michelle Rodriguez) is killed, (don’t worry… she’s back later in the franchise) Dom goes on a revenge tour to kill the person responsible. This sends him into some kind of drug cartel storyline that crosses paths with Brian.

I don’t know. It is all just an excuse to drive fast and to crash a bunch of cars.

Gal Gadot is here too. What was missing was the whole “Family.” We see some of them at the beginning, but there is a definite lack of crew in this film. In fact, I believe the word “family” is only uttered once, and it was by Dom’s sister (Jordana Brewster). I guess no one thought about calling John Cena.

I can see why they needed to bring in The Rock to resurrect this franchise. This was pretty weak, with a lackluster villain and an uninspiring story.

DailyView: Day 95, Movie 161

Well, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is back at it again this week, showing a classic movie that I would not have known about or watched without this network. This week, the movie featured Bette Davis and one of her most iconic performances in Jezebel.

It was 1852 in New Orleans and Julie Marsden (Bette Davis) was a spoiled and stubborn Southern belle, whose bad behavior cost her the love of her fiancé Preston “Pres” Dillard (Henry Fonda). After a year in the North on business, Pres returned with his new wife Amy (Margaret Lindsay) causing Julie to become even more conniving.

This film is an intriguing portrait of live in the South pre-Civil War. The film swept everything dealing with slavery under the rug and only slightly touch upon the rivalry between the North and the South, reducing it to ‘political’ talk as it was mentioned a few times. Black characters were shown as servants and not in the manner as one might expect for the time period. However, they were more focused on the Yellow jack fever epidemic that gripped the people of New Orleans in the 1850s.

Bette Davis was great in the role, as she would win her second Academy Award for her performance in Jezebel. There was a glimmer of misbehavior in her eyes that was there the whole film, until the final scenes where she was redeemed. Her powerhouse performance carried the weight of this film and truly set Davis up as a major leading actress of the time. She was given the role, according to rumor, because she had not gotten the role of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind.

Once again, I am happy that TCM continues to show movies that I have not heard of or that I hav eyet to see. They have helped out the DailyView quite a bit.

DailyView: Day 95, Movie 160

This morning’s DailyView heads back into the decade of the 1960s for the classic film, The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman and directed by Mike Nichols.

Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) was a disillusioned graduate who wound up being seduced by an older woman, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft). They continued their secret affair behind her husband’s (Murray Hamilton) back. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson were friends with Ben’s parents and both Mr. Robinson and Ben’s parents were pushing Ben to ask out the Robinsons’ daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross). Mrs. Robinson was completely opposed to it. When Ben took out Elaine to get his parents off his back, he fell for her, leading to a confrontation with all the parties.

Easily my favorite part of the film is the Simon and Garfunkel music that is played throughout The Graduate. The Sound of Silence, Scarborough Fair, and Mrs. Robinson were included and are great.

I have to say that I had a difficult time accepting the relationship between Ben and Elaine at the second part of the film. I can understand why he fell for her, but what possible reason would she have for falling for him after finding out about the affair he had had with her mother? It certainly did not feel as powerful of a connection as the film seemed to imply. Because of that, the second half of the film felt too forced for me.

Solid performance by Dustin Hoffman, but I did have trouble finding the support of the character, who seemed pretty selfish and self-absorbed. I have to say that, even with the big wedding escape at the end, Ben did not look to be happy. I have this feeling that he is destroying his life and he is taking Elaine with him.

Mrs. Robinson is an even worse character than Ben. Mrs. Robinson seduced a young college graduate, has an affair with him, threatened him to stay away from her daughter, accused him of rape when it all came out and tried to marry her daughter off to someone she did not love. She is anything but a sympathetic character.

Mike Nichols won an Academy Award for his direction of The Graduate and Hoffman, Bancroft and Ross were all nominated for acting awards. I would enjoy this more if you were watching it with the idea that all of the characters are rotten people and that we are seeing them all wind up unhappy.

I still loved the Simon & Garfunkel songs

DailyView: Day 94, Movie 159

Jackie Chan’s First Strike is leaving HBO Max today so I thought I would watch it for the DailyView on a last chance viewing. I have not seen much in the filmography of Jackie Chan, but after seeing First Strike, I can say one thing for sure, Jackie Chan is awesome.

Now, the movie? Not so much. The plot was messy and the characters were all over the place. It was a dubbed film and I have historically not liked those. The acting and the dialogue were both simplistic and cheesy.

And yet the film was fun.

It all boils down to the amazing Jackie Chan. The action sequences are so smooth and choreographed so brilliantly that these scenes are all that really matter in the movie. And Jackie Chan is doing his own stunts. There was a scene where Jackie is fighting a group of men with staff while Jackie uses a ladder and the choreography on that action scene is breathtaking. There is an underwater scene that is perfectly constructed and is as original as you are going to find. Then, if you have not seen Jackie Chan on stilts, well, you have not been living. The fact that Jackie Chan does his own stunts is just impressive and buys into the mystique that he has about him.

Jackie Chan also displays a remarkably strong comedic timing that you might not expect. Jackie Chan’s First Strike is certainly as much of a comedy than it is adventure and Chan feels natural in the situations, even as ridiculous as they may be.

Jackie Chan’s First Strike is not the deepest or most intricately developed story or plot, but who cares when there is so much fun to be had with the action sequences. As a last chance on HBO Max, this was an engaging film.

DailyView: Day 93 Movie 158

This DailyView is coming late today as the day had been reserved for mostly new material, so I looked for something to fill the void tonight. On HBO Max, I looked at a film called Logan’s Run. It’s funny because I tease my friend Todd who works at my comic book shop, ComicWorld, because he had a group of the Marvel Logan’s Run comics bundled together on the table. Every week I make a silly comment about Logan’s Run, the comic. Now I want to make a silly comment about Logan’s Run, the movie.

However, I can’t because I actually enjoyed this quite a bit. I found Logan’s Run to be a well done piece of science fiction, albeit with some 70s camp and designs. That was the time of the film. The ideas and the concepts explored by the movie were top notch.

I think a good comparison is the old Sid and Marty Krofft TV series Land of the Lost (not that horrid movie with Will Farrell). Land of the Lost looked silly with its poor stop-motion dinosaurs and wooden acting. However, if you get past the weak special effects, the stories on that TV show were exceptional sci-fi. Logan’s Run feels very much like that.

In the year 2274, Logan-5 (Michael York) is a Sandman, security who prevents people from running by terminating them. The whole society lived beneath a dome and when they turned 30 years old, which is shown by a color of a jewel on their palm, the people would gather together in a religious ceremony called Carrousel, where the thirty year-olds would be renewed. However, as it turned out, no one is ever renewed and they are just killed.

When Logan is scheduled to try and find a place called the Sanctuary, a location where missing runners escaped to, he was actually aged and his own jewel began flashing. This caused him to reassess everything that he had been doing and, along with a woman named Jessica-6 (Jenny Agutter), he escaped from the dome. Once outside, Logan and Jenny found some surprising truths that shook their beliefs to the core.

There are still some moments in the film that are really unintentionally funny, but that falls into the time it was released in. There are multiple science fiction themes available in Logan’s Run including the Utopia concepts, the old age vs. youth, human beings destroying themselves, free will among others.

The biggest laugh I had is that it sure seemed as if Logan-5 was as good a shot with his blaster as the Stormtroopers were in the Star Wars franchise. He never hit anything!

Peter Ustinov appeared in the movie and his character was a real hoot. He took the movie in a totally different direction and I bought it completely.

Logan’s Run was much better than I ever thought it was going to be. I pictured nothing more than a bad 70s movie, but the sci-fi elements are exceptional and the overall film was wonderful (although the cameo with Farrah Fawcett-Majors could have been left out).

DailyView: Day 92, Movie 157

Today in the DailyView, I am diving into the world of director and member of the EYG Hall of Fame comedy troupe Monty Python, Terry Gilliam and his most recent film, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Many of Gilliam’s films are filled with a surreal, dream-like state that creates a distinct visual and storytelling tone, and The Man Who Killed Don Quixote fits right into that category.

Toby (Adam Driver) was a disillusioned film director working on his latest film focused upon the legend of Don Quixote. Toby found himself stuck in the delusions of an old man (Jonathan Pryce) who believed that he truly was the legend and believed Toby was his faithful sidekick Sancho Panza. During this time, Toby is forced to face the problems he caused to a local village years before when he shot another film.

The performances of Adam Driver and Jonathan Pryce carry this movie. As the plot became more convoluted, the strength of this feature is the two of them. Pryce’s character’s dogged belief that he was, in truth, Don Quixote and Driver’s continuation of that fantasy was a fascinating interaction. Both of these actors are at the top of their game in this film and they are the main reason why it is as entertaining as it is.

The film is too long and the plot is messy. I think this falls into the style of Terry Gilliam and the messiness is intentional considering the surreal feel the film seems to be going for. It does make The Man Who Killed Don Quixote somewhat difficult to follow. It is not your typical movie.

It feels as if it is a shot at the Hollywood community as well, considering everything that is brought up in the ending sequence, which is exciting, but insincere at the same time. The question of what was real is investigated and I am still not sure I know what was not a delusion.

Still, I did enjoy the relationship with Toby and Don and the rest played reasonably well off of it. The film could have benefited from a shorter run time, but The Man Who Killed Don Quixote was an emotional connection that had its moments.

DailyView: Day 91, Movie 156

Guy Ritchie is one of the more stylistic directors working today, known for specific techniques and story elements that found its origins in his early work, including his second major feature film, Snatch, the DailyView for today.

The plot is extremely convoluted with a bunch of working parts. It is centered around a stolen 84 carat diamond and the world of bare knuckles boxing. There are crooks, criminals and thieves everywhere. Snatch is very funny.

There are definite stand outs here. Brad Pitt is a pikie/gypsy who is the man at the center of the boxing part of the story. Jason Statham is trying to get him to fight, but not to fight. He is trying to get Pitt to throw the fight. Pitt has the greatest, nearly imperceivable accent going here. You legitimately can only understand part of what he says.

Statham is excellent here, his dry and quiet manner working perfectly in the film.

The rest of the ensemble is fantastic. They have to be because the performances are so important in the film. The dialogue is tremendously funny. We have Vinnie Jones, Stephen Graham, Ade, Benicio Del Toro, William Beck, Dennis Farina, Lennie James, Robbie Gee, Alan Ford, Rade Šerbedžija, and Jason Flemyng.

Snatch was a lot of fun, but you really need to pay attention.

DailyView: Day 90, Movie 155

The Looney Tunes have recently come back into some prominence with the release of Space Jam: A New Legacy with LeBron James. I have always enjoyed the Looney Tunes, but their involvement in that project was not quite what I wanted. While listening to the Critically Acclaimed podcast, I heard them reference a movie called Looney Tunes: Back in Action while they were discussing Space Jam. I had not known of this live action/animated mash-up before and I thought it would be a good film to add to the DailyView list. It fit into today’ schedule and I decided to get it on Vudu.

Sadly, it was still not a great movie.

According to Anthony Pereyra at IMDB, “Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are up to their feuding ways again. Tired of playing second fiddle to Bugs, Daffy has decided to leave the Studio for good. He is aided by Warner Bros.’ humor impaired Vice President of Comedy, Kate Houghton (Jenna Elfman), who releases him from his contract and instructs WB security guard/aspiring stunt man DJ Drake (Brendan Fraser) to capture and “escort” Daffy off the studio lot. Suddenly a sidekick without a hero, the duck decides to ally himself with DJ, whether he likes it or not. Consequently, Daffy is on the scene when DJ discovers that his famous movie star father was Damian Drake (Timothy Dalton), known for playing suave international spies onscreen, is actually a suave international spy in real life–and has been kidnapped by the evil insane nerdy, prancing villain known as Mr. Chairman (Steve Martin) of the equally nefarious Acme Corporation. It seems that Damian knows the whereabouts of the mysterious magical and powerful Blue Monkey Diamond, and the Chairman will do anything to get his hands on it!”

The Looney Tunes felt forced into the film and I did not love them here. The first half of the movie was painful at times. The second half was stronger, but it was not enough for it to save the movie for me.

I especially didn’t enjoy the human characters in the movie. Both Brendan Fraser and Steve Martin seemed to be trying to be real-life Looney Tunes and their overacting is so noticeable. I did not feel any chemistry between Brendan Fraser and Jenna Elfman and the relationship was one of the worst parts of the movie for me.

The relationship between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck is actually one of the better ones of the film. It brought me back to the younger days of WB’s Looney Tunes. Daffy is always so jealous of Bugs and Bugs just rubs it in over and again.

Pretty disappointed with Back in Action. I wish it were better.