For It Is Man's Number: November 2024

Tuesday 5 November 2024

Noirvember: The Mob (1951)

Let’s start at the end with this one. If you somehow caught the final scene of this film when it was on TV then you could be forgiven for thinking it was an episode of Police Squad. It ends on a light note that I could easily see being played out by Leslie Nielsen and company while some major perp figured out that they could escape as everyone stayed in a freeze-frame position. That’s quite a difference when compared to how it all starts, but I feel that it’s only fair to warn people who may want their film noirs to be hard-boiled from start to finish.

Based on a novel, Waterfront, by Ferguson Findley, this is the tale of a tough cop (Johnny Damico, played by Broderick Crawford) who is tasked with going undercover to gain entry to, and climb, the criminal underworld career ladder. Damico needs to get to the top man, but that might only happen if he stays alive long enough.

One of the earlier films to be directed by Robert Parrish, who wore a number of hats during his time in the movie business, The Mob is a serviceable screenplay from William Bowers that is elevated by some choice cast members doing their bit to help everything move along quickly and entertainingly enough.

Crawford may not be the best lead, but he definitely has the attitude for the role. He convinces as someone tough and fearless enough to do what he has been asked to do, and there’s never any doubt about him keeping his moral compass pointing in the right direction. A couple of the main heavies are played by Neville Brand and Ernest Borgnine, both fantastic in their roles, and the latter having the added bonus of just having that Borgnine presence (of course). Betty Buehler, Lynn Baggett, and Jean Alexander portray a variety of women who are slightly connected to a couple of the main characters, and Richard Kiley, Otto Hulett, and Matt Crowley play important roles in guiding the fate of our lead.

There are enough good moments throughout to make this worth a viewing, but the teeth of the film are filed down more when they should be getting sharper. The third act feels far too safe and tame, and also slightly rushed when the very last scenes start to play out, despite the 87-minute runtime that should be more than enough for this kind of thing.

Good enough for crime film fans, but far from essential viewing. At least you can keep your eyes peeled for that briefest appearance of a young Charles Bronson though. That’s a small bonus.

6/10

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Monday 4 November 2024

Mubi Monday: The Tsugua Diaries (2021)

Hmmm. That's about the best thing I can say about The Tsugua Diaries. Hmmm. Showing a series of days in reverse chronological order (hence the title, see how August is spelled backwards in the title, get it?), this is a fairly weak work of meta-fiction that blends lines between reality and fiction in a surprisingly uninteresting way. The fact that it is set during the 2020 pandemic is the only interesting thing about it, providing an interesting time capsule and a look at how everybody, but especially creative artists, started to think about interactions, keeping themselves safe, and being able to continue their work.

The main characters onscreen are Crista, Carloto, and João, played respectively by Crista Alfaiate, Carloto Cotta, and João Nunes Monteiro, which I think tells you everything you need to know. They're part of a group of people trying to make a movie during a situation that has taken a turn for the strange. Lockdown, new rules about masking and distancing, and general concerns make things extra tense for people, as is crystallised in a scene at about the halfway point showing someone being berated for taking himself away for some time at the beach.

Co-directed by Maureen Fazendeiro and Miguel Gomes, who also apparently co-wrote the thing with Mariana Ricardo, and all three also appear in front of the camera (of course), this is a loose and rambling examination of an unsettling reality. It's worth remembering two main things though. First of all, Hitchcock once said that drama is simply life with "the dull bits cut out", which doesn't happen here, so you have a slice of life, dullness and all. Second, lockdown was, for many people, even more dull than usual. It's when people started making lots of home-made bread, and trying out other recipes in their kitchens. Many of us found shows to binge-watch, some started to go a bit stir crazy, and news reports showed the worst of humanity when people would race against one another to stock up on rice, pasta, and huge multipacks of toilet rolls. Some people loved it, I still wish every establishment had codes for table ordering to save me from extra social interactions, but many found it intolerably dull, and not great for their mental health. So . . . here's a film allowing you to remember those days. It's not exactly the nostalgia we crave a la Stand By Me.

Some may appreciate that the film-makers still managed to get something made during very difficult times. Some may appreciate the honesty of one or two key moments. I didn't appreciate any of it. This felt a bit too self-indulgent, and also a bit too cavalier about the central subject matter (which, lest we forget, is still affecting many to this day, it just isn't deemed newsworthy right now). I didn't care about anyone onscreen, I wasn't impressed by the editing choices, and it was taking me back to a time that I would much rather see used for educational purposes than art or entertainment. It's 102 minutes, but feels longer, and I am just glad that I hope to never have to sit through it again. In summation, I detah it.

2/10

Sunday 3 November 2024

Netflix And Chill: Anja (2020)

Sometimes you can watch a film that is ambitious enough to make you overlook a variety of flaws. It can be easy to remember that not everyone has the budget and resources to get their vision onscreen in the way they would prefer. But when the biggest flaw is the script, and it feels so sorely misjudged, then it’s hard to look beyond the weaker aspects.

Anja is essentially the tale of a lonely man named Andrej (Roberto Caccavo) and an encounter with the titular young woman (Larthia Galli Nannini) that leads him into a criminal underworld as he tries to figure out a mystery that either connects directly to Anja or connects directly to his own past.

Directors Pablo Benedetti and Paolo Martini, working from a script co-written by Martini and Giuseppe Calandriello, show a disappointing lack of experience and imagination here. They know the tropes they want to work around, they know the style they want to emulate, but they cannot do anything with the material that feels interesting or worthwhile. And the mystery at the heart of it all feels like a mishandled MacGuffin. I might be doing everyone involved a disservice, but this feels at times like a failed attempt to emulate David Lynch without really understanding his skillset.

The cast are fine, arguably better than the material deserves. Caccavo makes for a perfect male lead, slightly naive as he gets himself entangled in something that quickly spirals into a deadly predicament. Nannini looks the part, and is shown in a state of vulnerability that may or may not be accurate, but is certainly enough to motivate our “hero” anyway. Désirée Georgetti and Samuele Batistoni are two other main characters, both potentially manipulating the situation to solve a problem of their own.

I really wanted to like this, and the early scenes pointed at a film that was going to at least deliver what most would expect from this kind of thing, but it soon starts to go downhill, and keeps sliding further and further towards a final scene that it’s almost impossible to care about. The whole thing ends up being an unenjoyable mess, although there’s at least a consistency in the dark visual style used throughout that hints at better things to come from those behind the camera when they have better material to work with.

3/10

Saturday 2 November 2024

Shudder Saturday: The Exorcism (2024)

Co-written and directed by Joshua John Miller, it's worth starting any review of The Exorcism by reminding people of who Joshua John Miller is. He's many things, including an actor, writer, and director. But, and it's most important in relation to this movie, he's also a son of Jason "Father Karras in The Exorcist" Miller. That's most important here because The Exorcism is very much in dialogue with The Exorcist. You could even consider one as an attempt to exorcise the spirits of the other, but maybe that's overthinking things.

Russell Crowe plays Anthony Miller, an actor trying to keep himself in order as he portrays a priest in a horror movie about an exorcism. The film is called The Georgetown Project, and it bears a major resemblance to the landmark horror film famously filmed in that area (although that film is namechecked, which means we're in a world in which that film already exists). Miller is trying to stay away from alcohol, trying to stay connected to his daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), and trying not to be too disorientated by the content of the film, especially while the director (Adam Goldberg) keeps pushing him to tap into uncomfortable memories of abuse and pain.

The last time I watched Russell Crowe get involved with some demon-wrestling exorcisms was when I watched The Pope’s Exorcist. That film was fun, and Crowe seemed to be having a lot of fun in the lead role. This film is the polar opposite of that. Crowe isn’t having fun, and neither are viewers.

Alongside Crowe and Simpkins are a great mix of players who all deserve better. David Hyde Pierce gets to utter dialogue that his most famous sitcom creation would justifiably ridicule, Goldberg is a cartoon depiction of an angry star director, Chloe Bailey doesn’t get enough to do, and there are irrelevant amounts of screentime for Adrian Pasdar and Sam Worthington. Simpkins probably fares the best, mainly because she’s at the heart of the drama without having to do all of the contorting and snarling that Crowe delivers.

Miller has done good work before this, and I am sure he will do something else worth my time sometime in the future, but this is truly dire. Maybe directing isn’t his strong suit, especially when you consider that this is only the second feature he has helmed in twenty five years. M. A. Fortin doesn’t help in his co-writing role either, despite being a long-term collaborator with Miller, which makes me think the biggest problem here stems from someone wrestling with a project that they cannot view with any objectivity. Miller is the reason this exists, and he is the reason that it collapses like an underbaked soufflé.

Although it’s all put together with the level of technical competence and polish that the budget allows, The Exorcism still manages to sink to the bottom of the 2024 horror movie barrel. And I can only hope that it stays there, perhaps pinned under anything else that we can send down there to ensure it doesn’t try to float back to the top.

2/10

Friday 1 November 2024

Noirvember: 5 Against The House (1955)

Isn't it always the way. You come up with a jape that involves the perfect robbery, with a casino as your main target, and then someone thinks it's a serious idea, meaning they want to see it all played out for real. That's the basic premise of 5 Against The House, a lightweight and fun noir that props up a weak cast of males with a supporting turn from the lovely Kim Novak.

Al, Brick, Ronnie, and Roy are all university students, and all making their way through the education system after already doing their bit for Uncle Sam in the military. While having a fun time at a casino, our leads see an attempted robbery. This leads to Al (Guy Madison) thinking about how the attempt could have been successful. It's all fun and games, until Brick (Brian Keith) keeps chewing over the idea like a toothpick. Al just wants a nice life, and hopes to marry his swell gal, Kay (Novak), but the gang are about to be drawn into a criminal plan that Brick now thinks is foolproof.

Based on a story by Jack Finney, this is a surprisingly tame and sweet noir from director Phil Karlson, who has more than one or two superior gems tucked away in his lengthy filmography (including Kansas City Confidential and the excellent Scandal Sheet). The screenplay, credited to Stirling Silliphant, William Bowers, and John Barnwell, seems to make the mistake of assuming that all of the cast members are charismatic enough to carry viewers through some dull patches (sadly, that's not the case), but it is helped by the many moments that involve one or more interaction from Madison, Keith, or Novak. Alvy Moore and Kerwin Mathews are Roy and Ronnie, respectively, but they never feel like a vital part of the main group.

If you don't like the criminal plot at the heart of things then maybe you'll like the student shenanigans when our leads are trying to convincingly act like they're not too old to be getting up to such hijinks, or maybe you'll like the look at PTSD affecting one of the main characters (which is interesting to see as a main plot point, considering how long it took to really start acknowledging it as an issue). Sadly, however, you may just find that the film jumps between different tones without settling on anything that keeps you truly satisfied. I enjoyed the strange mix, but I can see many others being very disappointed.

Novak shines in a role that could otherwise have been easy to overlook, and she almost completely steals the movie away from everyone else. Keith is an enjoyable force to be reckoned with though, and makes the arc of his character more interesting and entertaining with the force of his presence, which allows Madison to impress opposite him by simply remaining calm and stoic. Moore adds some levity, Mathews adds not very much, and there's a selection of nondescript, but dependable, supporting players filling out the rest of the cast.

I'm unlikely to ever revisit this one (never say never though), and I'm not going to rush to recommend it to others seeking some darker film noir thrills, but I had a good enough time with it, there are a few decent set-pieces, and anyone already a fan of any of the leads should at least watch it once.

6/10