#39- The Best Years of our Lives

Quick recap: This movie follows three servicemen as they return from fighting in World War II and try to readjust to civilian life. Al, a sergeant in the Pacific, returns to his loving family and job as a banker. Fred, who was in the Air Force, comes home to an uncertain future as he and his wife are barely able to make ends meet. Homer, a veteran from the Navy who has had both of his hands removed, must cope with his new disability as well as try to build a relationship with his fiancee.

bonding over a good smoke

Fun (?) fact: Harold Russell, who played Homer, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. The board thought he was a longshot to win so they created a fake award for inspiring courage for his fellow veterans. And then he won the Oscar.

My thoughts: Growing up, I always had this idealized view about World War II. In my mind, America universally supported the war effort and when soldiers returned home, they were greeted as heroes and were given everything they needed as reward for keeping us safe. I became an adult during the war in Afghanistan and Iraq and was able to see more realistically what solders are faced with: unemployment issues, disabilities that aren’t necessarily easy to spot, and the inability for us civilians to truly relate to what they have gone through during combat. After watching this movie, I realize that soldiers have always faced these issues. I can’t comment as to how things have gotten better over time, but it just seems sad to me that these issues are still very much present.

The movie clocks in at almost 3 hours, but it is important to see each character as they navigate through their old life again. It was heartbreaking to watch each character return to their family, especially Fred. He had done so much during the war, saving countless lives and yet comes back to his parents living in squalor, his wife MIA and no job. Most people who have seen the movie tend to focus on Homer’s character- the veteran who has had both hands amputated. And there is good reason for that, especially considering he was a real veteran. But for some reason, it is Fred’s story that really stuck with me. His character also had to deal with ‘combat trauma’, what we now call PTSD and it was moving to see him trying to recover from the past the horrors of war, yet knowing that it will never really be gone.

Final review: 4/5. The only issue I had with the movie was the ending. Everyone ends up happy and ‘back to normal’. It would’ve been nice to have had a grittier ending, but I’ll take it.

Up next: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

#38- Frenzy

Quick recap: A serial killer is loose in London, this time raping his victims and then strangling them with a necktie. It is revealed who the killer is early on so the movie becomes more of a mystery as to how the killer will get caught. Two men, Bob Rusk and Richard Blaney, are in the center of this series of murders- the killer and the man accused of all of the crimes, respectively.

Fun (?) Fact: Alfred Hitchcock had originally planned to do his cameo at the beginning of the movie as a dead body floating in the river, but it was later changed to a nude female because no one wants to see a naked Hitchcock.

Hitchcock and a koala

My thoughts: This was my second Hitchcock film, the first being North by Northwest. I was excited to see ‘Frenzy’ because it is the style he is so well known for. This would end up being one of Hitchcock’s last films and it is also one of his dirtiest, receiving an ‘X’ rating at the time of release. An example of the well earned ‘X’ comes from a joke at the beginning of the movie as a woman and man are discussing the murders and the woman mentions that the victims are raped before they are strangled. The man replies, ‘ There is a silver lining to every cloud’. Lovely. There’s also a surprising amount of nudity in this film, which doesn’t necessarily bother me except in the case that it is being used for shock value.

The plot itself is an interesting one and reminds me a bit of SPOILERS Gone Girl, because the main character acts so incriminating but is in fact innocent. There is a lot stacked against him seeing as how both his ex-wife and current girlfriend are murdered. The case seems like an open and shut one, except not really because the other 9 or so murders are never mentioned once Blaney is fingered as the serial killer. He looks guilty of murdering the two women but he must’ve certainly had an alibi or evidence in his favor for the the others. Rusk, the true murderer, came off as fake to me from the start but I don’t blame the police for not investigating him.

He also reminds me of Rex Manning, another jerk

The murders themselves are quite gruesome and made me feel extremely uncomfortable watching them. Like everyone else, I watched the body of the ex-wife and she was breathing SECONDS after he had just killed her. She could’ve at least practiced holding her breath while the camera was on her. It kind of ruined the moment for me. The most disturbing scene for me was when he took Babs, pictured above, up to his apartment to murder her. She of course has no clue what he will do and as he closes the door, all sound is cut off and there is a gorgeous long tracking shot as the camera leaves the door, goes down the stairs and into the busy market street. It was so much more unnerving knowing what he was doing and that no one would be able to jump in and save her. Apparently this is a trademark of Hitchcock’s to do a long tracking shot and I can see its effectiveness.

There are a few parts of the film that were humorous, like the subplot of the investigator’s wife serving him awful food because she was in culinary school. It was a nice contrast to all the grisly details the audience was having to see. Another oddly humorous scene comes when Rusk has just murdered Babs and puts her in a potato sack only to discover she died with a handful of incriminating evidence. The scene itself wasn’t funny, but the idea that the serial killer had managed to survive this long, only to get stopped by a sack of potatoes.

Final review: 3/5 Hitchcock knows the genre and practically invented it, but this wasn’t the best example of his work.

Where I watched it: Alamo Drafthouse!

Up next: The Best Years of our Lives

3 Comments

#37- The Departed

Quick recap: The film takes place in Boston, where a big time mobster-Frank Costello- owns the place. He does all the stereotypical things like murder people, snort cocaine and have his way with women. The story centers around two cops, one of whom is a mole for Costello and one who is in Costello’s gang, but is a mole for the police. With a synopsis like that, you know it won’t end well.

Fun (?) Fact: The film is actually a remake of the Hong Kong film, ‘Internal Affairs’ and the characters are loosely based off of real life mobster Whitey Bulger.

don’t cross this guy. Also- is that a goat or a dog?

My thoughts: I don’t know what it is about Americans loving the mafia, but it’s definitely a thing. Maybe it’s because the mobster life is so far removed from our own or maybe it’s because deep down, beyond all the murders and drugs, these guys just seem sort of badass. I’m only a casual fan of mafia culture, meaning ‘The Sopranos’ is my favorite tv show of all time but I have yet to see ‘The Godfather’. With that being said, as a casual fan, this movie is perfection.

For one thing, the actors did an amazing job making the characters come alive. Jack Nicholson was the perfect choice to play a murderous, unhinged mobster. Same with Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin and Martin Sheen playing members of the Boston Police. But the actor that really shone for me was Leonardo DiCaprio. His character was especially complex, seeing as how he had to be a mole for the police and yet convince Costello to let him in to his inner circle. I loved watching his downward spiral as he got closer to being found out by Costello. And in my opinion, his character had more to lose. Matt Damn played Sullivan, the cop who was also a mole for Costello. If he had been found out he would’ve had to look forward to jail time at most. Bill Costigan, played by DiCaprio would’ve at the very least been murdered. Being able to portray such a complicated character takes real talent.

As for the violence, I don’t see how someone can do a mafia movie without a large body count. This movie in particular had a final count of 22. What I really like about The Departed, though, is how realistic the violence is. No one has a chance to plead for their life or scream or threaten anyone. One shot and it’s over. I especially loved the final scenes with Sullivan and Corrigan. The whole movie had been leading up to this point and to see everyone get what is coming to them, good and bad, is perfectly poetic.

Final review: 5/5. It’s hard to say whether I prefer The Soprano’s view of the mafia or The Departed, but I love it either way.

Up next: Frenzy

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#36- A Fish Called Wanda

Quick recap: George and Ken plan to go on a jewelry heist so they bring in two Americans to help them pull it off: Wanda and Otto, who are lovers but pretend to be brother and sister so that they can backstab the other two later. The jewelry heist comes off almost perfectly except that no one trusts anyone and every man is in it for himself. Hilarity ensues.

there are in fact fish in this movie.

Fun(?) Fact: A guy in Denmark thought the scene where Ken gets fries up his nose was so hilarious, that he died laughing. That’s not an exaggeration by the way. He LITERALLY died from laughter.

literally.

My thoughts: I had high hopes for this film a) because several people recommended it to me and b) because Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the funniest movie ever created. In retrospect, maybe my expectations were too high because I only found myself actually laughing a couple of times. I’ll be the first one to admit that reviewing a humorous movie is the hardest job because humor is so subjective. That is, unless you are one of those people who have paid money to see Grown-Ups 2. If you are, it’s time to rethink the sad direction your life has taken.

One thing this movie has going for it are the characters. Jamie Lee Curtis as a comedian was a surprise and Otto, played by Kevin Kline, stole the show. The two played off each other so well as Wanda went back and forth from being so turned on by him to thinking he is the stupidest person alive, which he kind of was. Many of my favorite scenes involved Otto spying on Wanda and Archie and then trying to cover up for why he was there. And since I’m on the subject of Archie, John Cleese was wonderful. Archie starts off as a whipped puppy dog with his wife always telling him what to do and his job as barrister not giving him any respect. But then Wanda enters the picture and he slowly starts to transform. My favorite scene of the whole movie is the one where he is dancing naked and singing in German and then in walk a family with children. It perfectly illustrated Archie’s bad luck.

The character that was the most complicated for me was, of course, Ken. I understand the reasoning behind adding the stutter to become a part of who Ken was, but it just turned me off to the comedy anytime he tried to talk. The scene where Otto sticks fries up Ken’s nose just made me feel sorry for him and I especially hated Otto eating his fish in front of him. I knew there was humor in the irony he was such an animal lover and when he had been given the job of murdering the old lady, he kept killing her dogs on accident. But I just didn’t laugh. For many people, Ken was the one who made them love the movie, but it just wasn’t for me. At the same time, I’m not really sure if taking away the stutter would’ve been a good idea, either. I was happy when he ended the movie as a hero of sorts, but that came after feeling sorry for him the whole time.

On a positive note, apparently Michael Palin was confronted by a group of stutterers for how he portrayed their disability and in turn, created a center in London to help children who stutter.

Final review: 2/5. comedy is much harder to pull off than I realized

How I watched it: this one is on Netflix Instant!

Up next: either The Best Years of our Lives or The Departed. It depends on which one Netflix decides to send me first

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