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"THE PIANIST"

It amazes me how many stories came out of World War II and They still make gripping movies. This acclaimed film about Polish victims of the Holocaust stands high among the best, with Oscars deservedly going to Adrien Brody as best actor and Roman Polanski as best director, his personal life aside. It’s a somber movie but also inspirational and vividly recreates the period and tragedy. A brilliantly understated performance comes late in the movie from someone new to me, an East German-born actor named Thomas Kretschmann who plays a sympathetic Nazi officer. I predict stardom for him, very soon. Every politician of every country should be required to see this movie. Even everyone who still thinks any war is a solution to anything.

Max’s rating: the highest.

PLEASANT SURPRISE OF THE MONTH:

“THE FAST RUNNER”
A movie about icy-cold Alaska is always welcome in the heat of the summer, like I love the ice cubes my master tosses me on a hot day. This one is especially good, about a curse put on a small, nomadic Inuit community and how a brave young man braves a harrowing long-distance run across the frozen tundra to break it. Beautifully made and photographed. From Columbia Tri-Star.

Max’s rating: Two paws up and lots of tail wags (the dogs are great in it)

Losers of the Month

“ABOUT SCHMIDT”
I once watched two tortoises race in the Boston Marathon. Neither reached the finish line and it took all day. I was reminded of that watching this opus starring Jack Nicholson in what must be his thirty-fourth movie so far this year. It is unrelieved boredom, a soap opera with less suds than are in my water bowl. His character doesn’t have a clue as to how to be happy or make anyone else happy. I got so tired of Jack’s one expression – hang-dog – that I fell asleep. I woke up just in time to see him lose a towel that showed his naked backside. I guess now all the big male movie stars have showed us their moons. Talk about the Moons of the Misbegotten, there’s Kathy Bates, a big woman by any standards, showing all of herself before getting into a hot tub. Well, I hadn’t exactly been waiting all my life for that. She was nominated for an Oscar as best supporting actress, but it was obvious from her birthday suit scene that she had no support, but needed it badly. Leah Rozen, critic for People magazine, said “About Schmidt is about perfect.” Yeah, Leah: perfectly boring. Entertainment Weekly, which routinely raves about trash, gave it a top “A” rating, admitting “the story moves slowly.” They got that right.

Max’s rating: No paws up

“THE HOURS”
If you’ve ever awakened at 3 am and couldn’t get back to sleep, you have some idea how the hours drag in this turkey. All three leading ladies in stories that intertwine confusingly contemplate suicide while arranging to host a party. How it could get such praise from the critics and win an Oscar as best actress for Nicole Kidman will always mystify me. Meryl Streep was much better in it. At least she had more than one expression. Nicole must have been on the set of “About Schmidt,” taking notes on how Jack Nicholson plays dour, because she sure got it down pat. The putty nose must have helped. I suggest skip this one and instead see the movie based on the Virginia Wolf book that draws each woman in “The Hours” to want to end their life: “Mrs. Dalloway,” which was a much better movie and starred the luminous, incomparable Vanessa Redgrave who deserved an Oscar for it.

Max’s rating: two paws down.

“CATCH ME IF YOU CAN”
I caught it and wanted to toss it back, like a bad bone, wondering again why Hollywood keeps insisting on making movies glorifying the exploits of people who break the law. In this one, based on a real person’s crime spree, a young man plays a con game impersonating an airline pilot, a doctor, and a teacher. Fortunately, no one died as a result of his charades, but banks lost over a million dollars. So how does he get his comeuppance? The FBI springs him from jail so he can go to work for them. Stephen Spielberg hatched this egg with Leonardo DiCaprio playing another teenager (his career may not outlive his twenties), this time the con man-impersonator, and Tom Hanks looking older and more tired than Moses as the FBI agent on his tail. It’s not really all that bad, but if I hadn’t been chewing on a rawhide bone while watching with my master, it would have been even less of an evening.

Max’s rating: one paw up, but not very far.

Chaplin Classics

Four of Charlie Chaplin’s greatest movies are being released this month in restored DVD editions: “The Gold Rush,” “The Great Dictator,” “Limelight,” and “Modern Times.” Surely you’ve seen them before (and don’t call me “Surely”), but you’ll be doing yourself a favor if you see them again in these pristine restorations. And be sure to watch them with family and/or friends. Each movie is on two discs with extras on the second disc. Six more Chaplin classics will be released on DVD in the future.

Max’s rating: Two paws up, tail wags, and lots of “Woo woo’s!”

More Good Funny Stuff

 

“THE MOUSE THAT ROARED”
Peter Sellers plays three of the lunatics in this 1959 classic satire on politics and war. Very timely in today’s troubled times, as it was in the Cold War era. Restored and released by Columbia Tri-Star.

“DON’T RAISE THE BRIDGE, LOWER THE RIVER” was not one of Jerry Lewis’ best comedies, but the 1969 film is funnier than most made today. He plays a Yank trying to get rich in London at the expense of just about everyone.

Two more comedies from the recent past also are out on DVD and can brighten an evening after you’ve watched the news:

“LOOSE CANNONS” with Gene Hackman and Dan Aykroyd as police buddies; and “FUN WITH DICK AND JANE” with George Segal and Jane Fonda (in a beehive hairdo) as a middle-class couple trying to keep up with the Joneses in the late 1970s.

Two Good Mysteries

 

“SPEEDY DEATH”, a new DVD entry in the Mrs. Bradley Mysteries series with Diana Rigg takes us on a whodunit adventure in Britain in the 1920s. I love this series, and this one is one of the best. >From BBC and WGBH Boston Video.

“A GREAT DELIVERANCE”, a new release in the Mobile Masterpiece Theater series, the Inspector Lynley Mysteries, has Nathaniel Parker and Sharon Small as detectives investigating the murder of a farmer in a country village. There are plenty of suspects and lots of suspense in this mystery based on the novel by Elizabeth George. Also from BBC and WGBH Boston.

Something Different

“CESAR & ROSALIE”

Two of European movies’ best actors, Yves Montand and Romy Schneider, star in this offbeat French romantic comedy from 1972 that has been restored and offered on DVD by Wellspring. It’s great to see two seasoned pros working off each other so well in a story that will keep you guessing. Even hard-to-please critic Pauline Kael liked it, saying “A wry ode on the imperfect, haphazard nature of romantic love.” Does anyone do it better than the French?

“ALEXANDRIA AGAIN AND FOREVER”

Filmmaker Youssef Chahine takes us on a roller-coaster of Emotion in a movie within a movie in the Egyptian film industry. It’s much more than just another “boy meets boy” movie, should that new movie trend turn you off. From Fox Lorber Films’ world classics cinema collection and Wellspring.

 

A Bone to Pick

As I said in my review for “CATCH ME IF YOU CAN,” Hollywood today loves to glorify crooks, killers, con artists, and other societal deadbeats. So it came as no surprise to read that Tom Cruise signed with DreamWorks to play a contract killer in “COLLATERAL” who kidnaps a cab driver to chauffeur him around on a one-night killing spree. Thanks, Tom. Just what we need today, since we are living in such a brotherly-love, nonviolent age, and young moviegoers need another maniacal role model. You’d think an actor who already has more millions than the Sheik of Araby and who professes to follow a religion to which he gives millions would risk his career playing someone in a movie that his adopted kids might benefit from seeing.

Kids' Corner

“SHAPE MASTERS” is the first of a new is a new animated series on DVD and VHS called “NORTHPOINT” that gives kids a chance to use their imagination while interacting with concepts of history, science, and storytelling. Northpoint is a small town in Michigan’s north country where kids hang out together and dream of being characters such as a Samurai warrior in ancient Japan, a veterinarian, or a doctor, then dream up a story in which their characters interact. Created by Matt Welker, a visual effects and computer animation expert, and others working in wholesome educational entertainment for kids. From Fort Fun Productions.

“JAMES AND THE RED BALLOON” is the newest entry in the “THOMAS AND FRIENDS” series for pre-schoolers about some train engines who get into learning adventures. Alec Baldwin again is the storyteller in these six new short films. From Anchor Bay Entertainment.

Goodbye, Gregory

 

This is a very short and inadequate tribute to Gregory Peck who died last month at the age of 87. He was a class act all the way, in movies and real life, showing us as actor and man how dignity should never go out of style. Young people not familiar with his work should treat themselves to seeing some of his best-known films such as “ROMAN HOLIDAY,” “GENTLEMAN’S AGREEMENT,” “SPELLBOUND,” “THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM,” and of course “TO KILL A MOCKINBIRD” for which he won the best actor Academy Award. Except for Paul Newman, he may have been the last of the great actors from a period in movie history when there were really great actors, not actors who just draw great salaries.

 

 

Goodbye, Katie

 

 

This is also a too-short and inadequate tribute to another movie legend, but a lot of admiration can be said in a few words.

Katharine Hepburn was the movies' most-honored actress and one of its most beloved and respected.
From ingenue to senior star she gave us some of the best movies ever made in Hollywood, and graced the stage with memorable performances as well.

My master saw her in "As You Like It" when she starred in the Shakespeare play on tour in Chicago after its Broadway run. He said she acted as if she was performing just for him.

Spencer Tracy said it all when he said about her, in "Pat and Mike," "Not much meat on 'er, but what's there is cherce."

You were cherce in every way, Katharine Hepburn, and they never came any better.