Monday, December 28, 2009

Dirty Harry (1971) - Fascist?


I just watched Dirty Harry and Magnum Force again this weekend. I have always enjoyed the Dirty Harry character. Dirty Harry was a cop who was dedicated to bringing criminals to justice. He was famous for walking loudly and carrying a big stick. Harry had a belief that if you committed a crime, you should pay for it. When a psycho killer kidnaps a fourteen year old girl Harry does everything he can to help free the girl.
When he finally catches up with the killer, and the girl is due to die at any time as her oxygen is cut off, he steps on the psycho's wounded leg in an effort to get him to give the girl's location. He is unsuccessful and the girl is pulled up from the ground dead.
Even though everyone knows who committed the crime the killer is going to get off. The DA tells Harry : "Where the hell does it say that you’ve got a right to kick down doors, torture suspects, deny medical attention and legal counsel? Where have you been? Does Escobedo ring a bell? Miranda? I mean, you must have heard of the Fourth Amendment. What I’m saying is that man had rights.” Everyone sane watching this movie know that there is no way this child rapist and murderer should get away with the crime because of some legal loopholes.
Roger in his review said : "The movie clearly and unmistakably gives us a character who understands the Bill of Rights, understands his legal responsibility as a police officer, and nevertheless takes retribution into his own hands. Sure, Scorpio is portrayed as the most vicious, perverted, warped monster we can imagine -- but that's part of the same stacked deck. The movie's moral position is fascist. No doubt about it." I think there is a doubt about it. Harry doesn't take the law into his own hands. He only does what he knows he must do. If a psycho has a girl buried under ground and time is running out on her I hope there would be a police officer brave enough to stand on his wounded leg in an effort to save the girl.
To me Harry is like Will Kane from High Noon. He was a man who felt that he must do the right thing no matter what those around him told him. He would not subjugate his individual integrity when he knew what he was doing was right. At the end the the movie Harry, like Will Kane, throws his badge away.
In his next movie, Magnum Force, Harry answers the charges that he is a fascist in the following dialogue with his boss.

Harry : That's just fine, But how does murder fit in? When the police start
becoming their own executioners where's it going to end, Briggs? Pretty soon you
start executing people for jaywalking. And executing people for traffic
violations. Then you end up executing your neighbor because the dog pisses on
your lawn.
Briggs : There isn't one man that we've killed that didn't deserve what was
coming to him.
Harry : Yes there is. Charlie McCoy.
Briggs : What would you have done.
Harry : I would have upheld the law.
Briggs : What the hell do you know about the law? You're a great cop, Harry. You had a chance to join the team, but you'd rather stick to the system.
Harry : Briggs, I hate the goddam system. But until someone comes along
with some changes that make sense, I'll stick with it.


Harry Callahan is not a fascist. The movie may have
been saying that the pendulum was swinging too far in favor of individual rights
at the expense of societal rights, but that doesn't make it fascist. Americans
have the rights to express their opinion and that is what this movie did. Roger needs to take another look at this movie and at Magnum Force. We could use a few more people like Harry Callahan around today.
And by the way Roger, in AFI’s Poll of Heroes and Villains, Dirty Harry was ranked as the 17th highest Screen Hero of all time, just above Robin Hood and Virgil Tibbs!

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Inglourious Basterds (2009)


- 4 Eberts


Quentin Tarantino takes on World War II and again brings something new to the table. I was wondering, before I saw this movie, if I was getting tired on seeing Tarantino pay homage to the movies. Why can't he just make a movie without referencing everything else he has ever seen? Everything has to be tongue in cheek, everything has to be bigger than life. While watching this movie I was again reminded of the genius of Tarantino. His genius is that his movies (the good ones) are just so enjoyable to watch. Outrageous, unpredictable and wonderful. Ever since Reservoir Dogs he has been shocking and entertaining his audiences.
I really enjoyed this movie, and I think I will enjoy it more on each viewing. Brad Pitt was great as the leader of the Basterds and Christopher Waltz was equally good as the Jew Killer.
Roger also really enjoyed it. He said (writing only the way he can) :"A Tarantino film resists categorization. “Inglourious Basterds” is no more about war than “Pulp Fiction” is about — what the hell is it about? Of course nothing in the movie is possible, except that it’s so bloody entertaining. His actors don’t chew the scenery, but they lick it. He’s a master at bringing performances as far as they can go toward iconographic exaggeration."
Not for all tastes, but for those who like something different, a unique cinematic experience.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Taste of Cherry (1997)


- 4 Eberts

When I watched the great movie, Goodbye Solo, last week I was immediately reminded of this Iranian movie from 1997. Roger had given this movie 1 star in his review. I thought I really liked it, but I wasn't absolutely sure so I decided to get it again.

The movie has Mr. Badii driving around looking for someone who will do a job for him. The movie is quiet and bleak like the landscape. Mr. Badii is on a mission. At first we think he is gay and he is trying to make a pickup. We find out as the movie slowly unfolds that he is trying to find someone who will throw twenty shovels of dirt on him after he kills himself.

The movie is very much like Goodbye Solo in that the facts are hard to come by. Mr. Badii, like William in Solo keeps things to himself. But both movies turn into mysteries as we search for clues as to why these men would want to end their lives.

The movie is slow, but unlike what Roger said in his review, it is never boring. The movie focuses on Mr. Badii's eyes as he searches and we try to see into his eyes and view his soul. He picks up a someone studying at a seminary and we learn some more about Mr. Badii as he tries to convince him to take the job. He says : "I know that your duty is to preach and guide people. But you're young, you have time, you can do that later. It's your hands that I need. I don't need your tongue or your mind. I'm lucky that these hands belong to a true believer. With the patience, endurance and perseverance that you learn you're the best person to carry out this job. I know my decision goes against your beliefs. You believe God gives life and takes it when he sees fit. But there comes a time when a man can't go on. He's exhausted and can't wait for God to act. So he decides to act himself. There that's what's called 'suicide'". Mr. Badii is in a great deal of pain and he says that he is not able to discuss it. The young man tells him that suicide is against the Muslim religion and that he cannot help him.


Mr. Badii tells him that being unhappy is a sin too because when you are unhappy you hurt other people and that is a sin. Mr. Badii says that he thinks that God is so great and merciful that he doesn't want to see his people unhappy and suffer. He tells the young man that he is going to take all of his sleeping pills and lie in the hole he has dug for himself. He only needs him to cover him with dirt. The young man again tells him that he cannot help him commit a sin.


Mr. Badii finally finds someone willing to help. But that man can't help but try to help him. He says tells him that every problem has a solution - be it family, debt, whatever. The man tells him a story of how when he first got married he had so many problems that he decided to end it all. He climbed a tree and was going to hang himself but he felt a soft mulberry in his hand. He began eating them and then noticed the sun was rising over the mountaintop. He heard children heading off to school. He shook the tree for them and then he gathered some and went home to his wife. A mulberry had saved his life.

The man, Mr. Bagheri, then goes on to tell a parable. "A Turk goes to see a doctor. He tells him:'When I touch my body with my finger, it hurts. When I touch my head it hurts, my legs, it hurts, my belly, my hand, it hurts'. The doctor examines him and then tells him : 'Your body's fine but your finger is broken!' My dear man, your mind is ill but there's nothing wrong with you. Change your outlook. I had left home to kill myself but a mulberry changed me, an ordinary, unimportant mulberry. The world isn't the way you see it. You have to change your outlook and change the world."

The movie is almost over and we are hoping that Mr. Badii has been convinced. This stranger, who is willing to do the job because he needs the money to help cure his child, has made a great speech. What will Mr. Badii decide? The mystery continues.

Roger finishes his review with : "Yes, there is a humanistic feeling underlying the action. Yes, an Iranian director making a film on the forbidden subject of suicide must have courage. Yes, we applaud the stirrings of artistic independence in the strict Islamic republic. But is Taste of Cherry a worthwhile viewing experience? I say it is not." I completely disagree. I think Taste of Cherry is such a wonderful movie. It talks about important things. It doesn't look at life in the satirical way that an American film would. If you are a fan of great films I am sure you will love this movie. Roger, please watch this again.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Goodbye Solo (2008)


- 4 Eberts

Movies like Goodbye Solo are the reason I first starting watching "At the Movies" back in the 70's. I saw so many good movies that Roger and Gene recommended, and no else I knew had ever heard of. As I watched this movie I was immediately reminded of that great Iranian film, A Taste of Cherry, which I loved and Roger hated (Click here for his review).
It's hard to describe why this movie worked so well. There were not a lot of dramatic things happening. We are just observing two lives as they interact with each other. But as the movie goes on and we begin to know William we begin to hope, almost desperately, that Solo can help him.
The movie has a documentary feel to it : the way it is filmed, the truthfulness of the dialogue and the ability of making every day scenes seem fascinating and real. I started hoping early that this was going to have a Hollywood ending and not be a tragedy. I usually feel just the opposite when I watch a film, but I really liked these characters and I didn't know if I was going to be able to watch it again if things didn't end well.
Solo, short for Souleymane, is such a good person. He is not perfect, he has his flaws, but he is the kind of person we should all try to be. He cares about people, even about people he doesn't know very well. When Solo discovers the picture of the movie theatre ticket seller in William's bag he suddenly know what is going on with William. He has had a grandson who he has had no contact with and he wants to see him and get to know him a little before he ends his life. When William punches Solo it almost feels like we are getting punched. But Solo is a great soul. When he approaches the movie theatre, even after all that William has done to put him off, you know that is really brave and selfless act that he is doing. He is without a doubt, a better person than anyone who is viewing the movie.
Goodbye Solo is a movie that really does not have much of a plot. But it was beautifully filmed and it somehow, almost magically, really made you care about its characters. A great, great movie. Roger really loved it too. He had a great line at the end of his review. "Wherever you live, when this film opens, it will be the best film in town." No one can say things like that better than Roger.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Funny People (2009)

- 3 Eberts


"You're my closest friend and
I don't even like you."


I had heard some bad things about this movie but it showed up at the library so I decided to see it and I am glad I did.
George Simmons, played by Adam Sandler, is a successful comic who learns he has a rare disease that is going to kill him. It doesn't seem like he has any real friends, so he hires one, Ira Wright (played by Seth Rogen) to write for him, but mostly just to keep him company.
The movie is a tragedy, but it is also a comedy. Most of the characters are comics. Some of their stuff is funny, most is not. The whole tone of the movie is bitter-sweet and it worked for me.
Real life isn't all good or all bad and this movie shows us that. There are some really funny scenes, like the one with the Swedish doctor

Dr. Lars: It's too early to know who's winning the fight: the medicine or the disease.
George Simmons: Did anybody ever tell you, you have a very scary accent?
Dr. Lars: You are a very funny man. I enjoy your movies.
George Simmons: And I enjoy all of your movies.
Dr. Lars: Which movies?
George Simmons: The ones where you try to kill Bruce Willis.
There were many good short scenes. One of my favorites was of RZA early in the movie saying "Otto is my Lotto" (you have to see it to appreciate it). There were also short cuts with famous comedians and people like Eminem and Ray Romano. Good stuff.
The movie went on a little too long. It started depressing - went to upbeat - then went back to depressing and then of course ended upbeat. There is the good and the bad and then we die : that's life. The switching transitions in tone made the movie very uneven. Overall, however, well it was well worth seeing.
Roger also liked the movie and gave it 3 and a half stars.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008)


- 3 Eberts


Someone had suggested this to me and I thought I would put it into my Netflix queue. I didn't know what to expect, although I had heard it might be something like Spinal Tap, which it wasn't. I have to admit that I was fascinated during the first hour. I had never heard of the group Anvil, but these were real people, and their music was pretty good. I liked the guys and I began cheering for them.
As the movie moved along it became like a thriller or a mystery. I didn't know how it was going to end, but in this case I was hoping for the Hollywood ending. I hoped that their album Thirteen, would sell.

When no one picked up their album I was disappointed. Lips was a good guy. He was very intense but also very down to earth.

As a movie of following your dreams, Anvil was a tremendous movie. These guys had some limited success then chased their dream for thirty years.

It was really cool when Anvil went to Japan and there was a great crowd. And the Japanese crowd loved them, and Anvil sounded really good. I was a little disappointed in the ending. We never did find out what happened. I'm pretty sure however, that this documentary will at least let the guys make a living playing and that is all they really wanted to do anyways.

I'm going to agree with Roger on this one. He also gave it 3 stars.