#67- Kiss Me Deadly

Quick recap: Mike Hammer is a private eye, known for working divorce cases. One night while driving, he helps a young woman, Christina, escape from her nameless attackers. They eventually catch up to the two, making Hammer crash the car. When he finally wakes up, he is in the hospital and Christina is dead. Instead of letting things go, he decides to pursue who Christina was and who was out to get her.

The title sequence was run backward for some reason and confused me more than it should have

Fun (?) fact: A federal unit whose job it was to investigate what corrupted youth in the 50’s, named this movie the number one menace to teens.

A terrifying picture of corrupted teens

My thoughts: Psycho not living up to my expectations made me even less excited to enjoy this movie. I joke a lot about how easily audiences were influenced back then and maybe that’s why movies seem so tame, but then something like this comes along and changes my perception.I would argue Kiss Me Deadly has parts that are just as violent as what I’m used to seeing nowadays. It was refreshing to know that stuff like this existed, but it also made me wonder why people glorify directors like Hitchcock being the master of horror and thrillers. I’m beginning to think he might be a little overrated.

One of the aspects I loved about this movie was that no one was particularly a good person. Mike Hammer is the protagonist, which typically pegs him as the square, but he is far from it. For one thing, his job in divorce proceedings is to get as much dirt as he can on both partners and then screw them out of money. he is also heavily involved with his secretary, but doesn’t make it official and throughout the movie he has no issues making out with any woman who will have him. And he’s definitely not what the bad guys were expecting him to be. In an early scene, Hammer finds out that he is being followed by someone. Instead of running away, he fights the guy and then bashes his head against the wall repeatedly. Later on, while interrogating an old man, Hammer gleefully breaks a rare vinyl record that the man loves. It made me more intrigued with the mystery since I wasn’t invested in the characters as much.

There was A LOT of kissing. So much kissing.

The mystery itself was sub par. It was exciting to see the next clue and what would happen next, but I got confused several times trying to figure out what Hammer was looking for. Even now, I’m still not sure what Christina, the girl from the beginning of the movie, had to do with all of this. On the other hand, I don’t really care. There were so many twists that I gave up trying to keep up and just enjoyed what I was watching. With all of the action going on, I was reminded of my favorite television show, Lost. I won’t spoil anything, but as each season went by, I became more and more intrigued by the mystery. By the last few episodes, I realized that the reveal, whatever it was, wouldn’t satisfy me. And that’s precisely what happened here. When Hammer finally finds the box Christina has been hiding and opens it up, it really doesn’t matter what’s inside because it has been a hell of a journey so far. And I guess the director felt the same because the contents of the box are never revealed. An homage to this can be seen in Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. The final scene of the box being opened and starting a nuclear explosion was a nice surprise and matched with all the Cold War drama going on in real life.

Final review: 4/5. I wouldn’t call this required viewing, but it was a lot of fun to watch and gave me hope for similar classic films

Up next: Onibaba

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#66- Murmur of the Heart

Quick recap: Laurent is a 15 year old boy who desperately wants to lose his virginity(don’t they all?).IMDb describes this movie as a ‘jolly coming of age story’, which I totally agree with, except for the incest.

Fun (?) fact: Director Louis Malle says the movie is mostly autobiographical, except for the sexual relations with his mother. What a relief!

My thoughts: So, Murmur of the Heart is a French film. I feel like it’s important to point this out because I just don’t believe something like this would’ve ever been ok to American audiences. When looking at it from my perspective as an American girl, every scene seemed outrageous- from the young boys smoking, to the priest coming on to Laurent, and of course, the incest. But maybe if I had been French, only the last scene would’ve been shocking. I recognize that a different culture is at play here so there is no point in judging that, but it’s also impossible to ignore my natural bias.

For starters, I never really warmed up to the character of Laurent. Once again, it might be my bias, but I could never identify with him. Through the entirety of the film, I felt like I was watching something that wasn’t meant for me. As a girl, I have my own share of stories of what it was like in high school as I matured and the awkwardness of it all. And how intimidating it was when I got to college and it felt like all of the guys had so much more experience than I did. But then while watching this movie I realized that a boy going through puberty was no walk in the park, either. For Laurent, it was even more rough having two older brothers constantly pushing him to lose his virginity. It was one of those moments where I felt like I was going ‘behind the scenes’ and entering into a world I knew nothing about.

Everyone seemed to have a relaxed attitude about sex in the film, which once again, seemed shocking to me but might be the norm elsewhere. The second half of the movie takes place in a sanitarium where Laurent recovers from a heart murmur (get it?!? He had a legit medical condition but it was also his symbolic heart! So. Deep). Although he had suspected it, he learns that his mother is having an affair and he wishes her good luck in the endeavor. When she leaves for a couple of days to spend time with her lover, Laurent turns even less likable. There is one girl that he has set his sights on but when she rejects him he calls her a lesbian and becomes upset. Her parents witness the whole thing and even though they seemed offended they didn’t even have him thrown out. Then in a later scene, during Bastille Day, Laurent is back to talking to the girl. He continues to say offensive things and tries to kiss her, but she never really gets too angry about the whole thing. It was as if everyone had the attitude of ‘boys will be boys’.

And finally, we come to the scene with Laurent and his mother. I think the less said about it the better, although I will mention how grateful I was that the entire encounter was only implied and nothing was shown. After it is over, Laurent’s mother tells him that she will think of the time fondly, but that it will never happen again. Laurent seems satisfied by this and I guess the whole thing gave him courage because he ends up sneaking out and having sex with some girl. When he comes back into the room the next morning, he sees his entire family waiting on him. His father talks sternly to him at first but then everyone bursts out laughing, and the movie (thankfully) ends.

Final review: 2/5. On a positive note, I’ve been learning French and was quite pleased to recognize about 10 different words during the movie.

Up next: Kiss me Deadly

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#65- Brokeback Mountain

Quick recap: This is the one about the gay cowboys.

Fun (?) fact: Annie Proulx, author of the short story of which Brokeback Mountain is based on, sent autograph copies to the two main stars. She addressed one to Jake Gyllenhaal but the other she accidentally addressed to Ennis instead of Heath Ledger, because she felt he was the perfect representation of that character.

My thoughts: I saw Brokeback Mountain for the first time in 2005 at a small theater in Lufkin, Texas. I had recently ‘come out’, so to speak, as liberal and felt that this is the sort of movie I should see. I can’t say that I have always been an ally for LGBT rights, but in sitting in that theater and listening to the slurs being yelled out to the screen from the audience, I knew it was the right thing to do.

I don’t believe Brokeback Mountain to be the best representation of the gay culture, past or present, but I do think the movie serves a purpose to a certain extent. For a girl growing up in Texas, I really didn’t have much knowledge about what it meant to truly be gay. I guess I always saw it as a sexual thing, since that is what everyone focused on, instead of the more simple idea that two people love one another. And then when I saw the relationship between Jack and Ennis in the movie, it really opened my eyes to the whole concept of homosexuality. In watching the film a couple of nights ago, I still didn’t find the sex scene very romantic, or many of the other scenes when the characters made out. But I recognized the love and passion the two had for each other. It was even more evident when contrasted with their marriages to the women they settled with. The kicker for me was the last scene with Ennis and the shirt. I normally don’t hold back on spoilers,but I did on that one because I reacted to it the same way I did back in 2005. It broke me.

As for the ‘technical’ aspects of the film, I felt that Jake Gyllenhaal was more recognizable as a gay character but it was Heath Ledger who really owned the emotional mess his character was in. And because of that, I agree with Proulx that his acting was more believable. The scenery was gorgeous and still makes me want to visit the area at some point in my life. I also loved the choice of music: simple so as not to distract from the plot, yet helping the emotional scenes resonate even more.

Despite all of the victories this year for LGBT rights, we are far from over. There are many places where being called ‘gay’ is still the worst thing you can say to a person. And even for the more liberal cities in America, a stereotype still lingers as to what ‘gay’ looks like- and it’s certainly not a pair of cowboys. I’m not sure people who are homophobic would watch this movie and turn their beliefs around, and in fact, with a few of the explicit scenes, it’s bound to cement what they believe even further. But the movie is a good reminder of how things used to be, and in many parts of the world, still are. And hopefully, maybe in 20 or 50 years, Brokeback Mountain will be the kind of classic that we look back on and have trouble fathoming a world in which so much inequality and hatred existed.

Final review: 4/5.

Up next: Murmur of the Heart or Kiss Me Deadly

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#64- Mildred Pierce

Quick recap: Mildred Pierce is the story of a woman who started out as a housewife whose husband had just left her, to becoming a successful restaurant owner. Her life seems perfect, except for the fact that her second husband is only in it for the money and her daughter Veda is about as spoiled as you can get. It’s almost as if there is a lesson to be learned here, maybe something about money and selling out?

Joan Crawford as Mildred Pierce

Fun (?) fact: Nobody really wanted Joan Crawford in this movie. Everyone was gunning for Bette Davis, but when she turned it down, they had no choice. Crawford ended up earning an Academy award for her performance, but that didn’t change the fact that people didn’t much care for her.

This probably didn’t help her image much

My thoughts: At this point in my list, nothing strikes more fear in me than the word ‘melodrama’. As has previously been noted, I am not a fan of the genre. It just seems like such a cheap way to do cinema: to tug on the heartsrings of the audience and make them love you. On the other hand, the formula works. This movie did very well in its time and won several awards. I’m sure that back when it was first released, it was a film that appealed to a wide audience and had many plot points that people loved to discuss. I do understand why it made the list, but it just wasn’t the movie for me.

For starters, nothing screams ‘melodrama!’ more than someone getting murdered during the very first scene of the film. And as what has become my pet peeve, the death was in no way realistic. I don’t know why I expected more because that was just how you did things back then. But it just made the movie seem even more cheap and hokey.

Although I didn’t love the plot, I do think some of the actors did a fine job telling the story. The actress who played Veda was my favorite. She played the bratty socialite to perfection. She did a fine job showing her true colors, as well as attempting to hide them when she was trying to get what she wanted. The performance I didn’t love, however, was that of Joan Crawford. I admit that there was some bias beforehand, because the only thing I knew about her was ‘Mommie Dearest’.I wavered back and forth throughout the entire movie, trying to decide if I could really see her talent or not. And even now, I don’t know. The movie called for a strong woman, someone who doesn’t crumble in the face of adversity, and Crawford plays that like no one else can. But also, the character of Mildred Pierce is supposed to invoke sympathy with the audience. I was supposed to sit there and think, ‘oh my god, that poor woman’, and I didn’t feel that way at all. Crawford could never seem to lose the ‘bitch’ face, like when she was interacting with her children. The acting stopped being realistic and started to take on the melodrama title proudly.

I think I want to be Joan Crawford for Halloween next year

The revelation that Veda was the real killer was not a surprise, but I liked that the movie turned salacious when it was revealed she was having an affair with Pierce’s second husband. I’m sure that was shocking at the time. The twist seemed reminiscent of a VC Andrews book, which, if she were still alive, Joan Crawford would’ve been perfect for a role in an adaptation of any one of those books.

Final review: 2/5. Melodrama.

Up next: most likely Brokeback Mountain

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