Written On The Wind (1956)

Another Douglas Sirk movie must mean another selection of simmering tensions and moments of heated drama, and that's exactly what you get with Written On The Wind.

The plot sees Rock Hudson and Robert Stack playing two good friends, Mitch and Kyle. Mitch is a decent and dependable guy, Robert . . . not so much. But Robert has the money, and has been used to passing blame along to his friend as he has encountered various problems over the years. Both men find themselves smitten with a young woman named Lucy (Lauren Bacall), and things really start to become problematic when she opts to marry Robert. Meanwhile, Robert's sister (Marylee, played by Dorothy Malone) despairs as she finds herself constantly spurned by Mitch.

First of all, Written On The Wind is a very good film. I have now seen about half a dozen Douglas Sirk movies and not had a bad experience yet. This ticks a lot of the same boxes as both Magnificent Obsession and All That Heaven Allows. Yet it doesn't QUITE work as well as those films, mainly because it feels a bit more forced in the way that all of the characters are moved into place.

The script by George Zuckerman is fine, particularly when it comes to highlighting the damaging behaviours of some of the main characters while staying on just the right side of tastefulness (obviously essential for the box office prospects when it was first released). With a bit of harsh editing and streamlining it would be easy to imagine this as a very simple chamber piece but Zuckerman, and Sirk, try to open things up a bit to take in more of the local environment, and also the past lives of all involved.

I have to say that, until very recently, I was as unfamiliar with Hudson as I was with Sirk. Whether he was always such a dependable lead or whether Sirk brought out the best in him, he delivers yet another winning performance. Stack gets to deliver more histrionics than anyone else in the cast, which he does well, although it can be very hard to keep a straight face if you know him best (as I do) from his superb comedic turn in Airplane! Malone is both sweet and potentially dangerous, in a way that is obvious in almost every scene she has. The only weak link is Bacall, who doesn't do a bad job but just never really feels like the desirable, amazing, woman that she is obviously supposed to be, at least in the eyes of her male co-stars.

It's well-paced, with a portentous atmosphere throughout that makes the whole thing feel as if thunderstorm clouds are literally gathering over the heads of the leads, and fans of Sirk won't be disappointed. It just doesn't rank up there with his best, but that's more a comment on the consistent greatness of his filmography than any condemnation of this work.

8/10

This is, once again, an easy choice for shoppers.

Ani-MAY-tion Month: Beavis And Butt-Head Do America (1996)

I was never a fan of Beavis and Butt-Head. I have to start off this review with that confession. I'm still not a fan of their TV work, but that's because I have never gone back to give them another chance. I watched some clips years ago when MTV was still a bit of a novelty to us here in the UK (well, still a bit of a novelty to me, at least) and I just didn't find them that amusing. I'd rather watch the music videos that were featured on their show without any surrounding distractions. When this movie came out I had no interest in it at all. Then I started to hear some good word on it. And then some more, and some more. It seemed to be winning over even people, like myself, who didn't expect to enjoy it. So I took a chance and bought it. Thankfully, I ended up really enjoying it.

The story starts with our two main characters (both voiced by Mike Judge, who also directed and wrote the movie, with help from a few others) at a loss when their TV is stolen. On a quest for a replacement TV, they end up in the same motel room as Muddy Grimes (Bruce Willis), a man waiting for the strangers that he has hired to kill his wife. Misunderstanding the request, Beavis and Butt-Head are only too eager to accept the opportunity to "do" Dallas Grimes (Demi Moore). They immediately embark on a trip across America, and it's not long until the authorities are hot on their tail.

It might seem like Mike Judge is a one-man band at times, but he's helped here by Mike de Seve, Brian Mulroney and Yvette Kaplan in the directing department, and Joe Stillman and Brian Mulroney (again) helped with the script. That may explain why this movie is so enjoyable, but it may also be the case that Judge does better in the feature film context. Having enjoyed Office Space, Idiocracy and Extract, I suspect it may be the latter.

The main characters here are still as stupid and immature as they've always been. Judge is sensible not to change them too much, but the many supporting characters add a lot of humour. Cloris Leachman is a sweet old woman, unaware of the mindset of the young men who keep ending up beside her as they head towards the same destination, Robert Stack is a stern and determined ATF agent, and Eric Bogosian also provides a few different voices.

The animation style is in line with the TV show, the soundtrack has some great rock tracks on there (as well as the beautiful ballad, "Lesbian Seagull"), and there are a lot of laughs to be had as our two juvenile, horny teenagers wander around in a state of blissful ignorance while dangerous situations develop around them.

And I'll admit it, I crack up every time that Beavis has an identity crisis and starts to refer to himself as The Great Cornholio. It's not big, it's not clever, but it's damn funny.

8/10

http://www.amazon.com/Beavis-Butt-Head-Do-America-Various/dp/B00BTYIHY2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1399587887&sr=8-2&keywords=beavis+and+butthead+do+america