Dogs Bark

The Watcher In The Barcalounger - - The Call Of Cthulhu (2005) - - 23 August 2012

Recommended. Perhaps the most merciful thing about writing an on-line blog is the inability of the computer to correlate and cross-reference the contents (evaluating its significance at the P = 0.05 level.) For if it did, that computer might become a shambling, outré, non-Euclidian thing, loathsomely redolent of spheres and dimensions apart from ours. Indeed, unhallowed blasphemies notwithstanding,  The Call Of Cthulhu is truly a feel-good movie . . . if you like being felt up by a hybrid, human/squid elder dude. And considering that silent movies are now Oscar bait, it’s amazing, and, daresay, a bit loathsome that this fine flick has been overlooked. One can only imagine that the Academy, that braying, bellowing and batrachian spawn, saw the movie and went instantly insane. But be comforted, gentle reader, for Cthulhu waits, dreaming in his subterranean lair of a Kelsey Grammar series on Starz.

Who Are Those Guys? - - Blackthorn (2011) - - 19 August 2012

Strongly recommended. I’m pleased to report that not only is the Western still alive but so is Butch Cassidy, when last seen. Blackthorn takes the enigma of Cassidy’s Bolivian end and weaves an explanatory tale of refreshing verve. Brilliant Spanish screenwriter Mateo Gil (Open Your Eyes/Vanilla Sky, The Others),  makes a strong directorial debut and Sam Shepard (The Right Stuff), as Cassidy, pits his grizzled charm against the smarmy good looks of Eduardo Noriega (Open Your Eyes, The Devil’s Backbone). Much of the plot quotes the Newman/Redford movie - - old men trying to outlive their wicked past, including a relentless, long-focus pursuit across the Saltar de Uyuni. A weary Pinkerton is nicely played by Stephen Rea (The Crying Game). The film acquired a half-dozen, well-deserved Goya nods, including score (Lucio Godoy, The Others), direction and best picture along with a win for photography (Juan Ruiz Anchía, Glengarry Glen Ross).

 

Just As Every Cop Is A Criminal - - The Friends Of Eddie Coyle (1973) - - 4 August 2012

Strongly recommended. The Friends Of Eddie Coyle was released by Paramount the year after they opened The Godfather; the comparison was inevitable. The two movies define twin trajectories for American crime movies - - possibly for Coppola, as well; however, the lineage of mob movies that passed through The Friends Of Eddie Coyle began with film noir and its French godchildren and is still alive in well-made independent films. Simply put, if TFEC isn’t on your list of the best movies about the mob, you never saw it. Partly this comes from the stellar cast . . . primarily Peter Boyle, Richard Jordon and Steven Keats, spinning a web of deception and treachery. They are led by Robert Mitchum (Cape Fear) in his purest role ever and director Peter Yates (Bullett). Music by Dave Grusin, dialogue by George V. Higgins. Hollywood legend says Whitey Bulger was a technical consultant.