One Man's Journey (1933) John Robertson 8/10
A Man to Remember (1938) Garson Kanin 7/10
The first is a pre-Code gem about a country doctor, the latter a literate remake shaped to conform to the Hollywood Production Code.
The former benefits from strong performances by Lionel Barrymore and Dorothy Jordan. Barrymore is the long suffering doctor who is paid in potatoes. Jordan is the abandoned girl he raises until she is four and her father takes her back. His slightly older son grows up to be Joel McCrea.
Jordan has a pre-marital affair with the town's rich kid that results in a pregnancy. When the boy's father refuses to allow him marry Jordan, she attempts suicide but the two eventually marry. However his extra-marital affairs, including a brazen flirtation in front of the family and guests one Christmas, cause Jordan to become desperately ill. When McCrea and his brilliant doctor friends fail to find a way to save her, Barrymore steps in with his bedside manner and a dose of common sense and brings her back from the brink. There is a subplot invloving second billed May Robson as Barrymore's unpaid housekeeper that is played mostly for laughs. The ending, in which, the two go off to Niagara Falls, presumably on their honeymoon, comes out of nowhere and is the weakest part of the film. Another subplot involving McCrea and his real life wife Frances Dee as his fiancee works better.
Dalton Trumbo's literate script and Edward Ellis' fine performance as the doctor impress in the remake, but it's a completely different kind of movie. The film opens with the doctor's funeral and his story is told through flashbacks. There is no housekeeper and the girl's father doesn't take her back. Ellis raises his son and the girl as brother and sister. Instead of all that sex, the rich boy (William Henry) accidentally shoots the girl (Anne Shirley) and she doesn't marry him, instead getting the doctor's son (Lee Bowman) in the end.
These two films were part of a six picture payout deal that Merian C. Cooper got when he left RKO. They were not part of the package Ted Turner bought in the 1980s. They were purchased separately by TCM in 2006 and restored. A Man to Remember, which was thought to be lost, was discovered in Denamrk. The only existing print has unremovable Dutch subtitles.
One Man's Journey was Dorothy Jordan's last film before she married Cooper and left show business until her comeback in three John Ford films of the 1950s - most notably The Searchers in which she played Natalie Wood's mother. She was scheduled to play the part that went instead to Ginger Rogers creating the Rogers-Astaire team in Flying Down to Rio when she married Cooper and went on her honeymoon instead.
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Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
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Precious Doll
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Anamorph (2008) H. S. Miller 2/10
Maradona (2008) Emir Kusturica 1/10
The Old Dark House (1963) William Castle 4/10
2012 (2009) Roland Emmerich 1/10
New Moon (2009) Chris Weitz 4/10
Maradona (2008) Emir Kusturica 1/10
The Old Dark House (1963) William Castle 4/10
2012 (2009) Roland Emmerich 1/10
New Moon (2009) Chris Weitz 4/10
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
Recount (Roach) - 4/10
Big missed opportunity but works as a nostalgia piece. Roach is clearly the wrong man to helm this thing. You can tell he has the wrong sensibility for the film whenever an (O.S.) voice of Gore, Bush, or Lieberman is heard. The emotional timbre of the 2000 Election boiled down to "The Lesser of Two Evils" (how little we knew...), the irony that *these* were the two titans battling. But it had nothing to do with them but the politics of the election process itself. The script is essentially a teleplay of a shit storm that never really delves into the egos of the men and women behind it. Everyone is one dimensional: the jaded Democrats fighting the good fight and the evil Republicans standing in the way of democracy. I personally believe this to be true but it's a little dull when you're "hero" is Kevin Spacey's sleep-walker. Laura Dern fights to find something of interest within the script: that this woman was the star of the moment. They were all stars of the moment! And what became of them? The film gets off on the wrong foot and never really regains balance. The script and director are nothing special, and there's not enough to really engage the talent.
Big missed opportunity but works as a nostalgia piece. Roach is clearly the wrong man to helm this thing. You can tell he has the wrong sensibility for the film whenever an (O.S.) voice of Gore, Bush, or Lieberman is heard. The emotional timbre of the 2000 Election boiled down to "The Lesser of Two Evils" (how little we knew...), the irony that *these* were the two titans battling. But it had nothing to do with them but the politics of the election process itself. The script is essentially a teleplay of a shit storm that never really delves into the egos of the men and women behind it. Everyone is one dimensional: the jaded Democrats fighting the good fight and the evil Republicans standing in the way of democracy. I personally believe this to be true but it's a little dull when you're "hero" is Kevin Spacey's sleep-walker. Laura Dern fights to find something of interest within the script: that this woman was the star of the moment. They were all stars of the moment! And what became of them? The film gets off on the wrong foot and never really regains balance. The script and director are nothing special, and there's not enough to really engage the talent.
"How's the despair?"
/The Brothers Bloom/ (Rian Johnson) 8.5/10
Watching the deleted scenes on the DVD confirms to me that much of the third act was edited out for streamlining resulting in discord. Also, The Brothers Bloom becomes the kind of con film where the con is a more symbolic thing rather than having any true insight into the con itself, giving it the feel more of a lark than the rare great film that synthesizes the two. Ultimately the parts are more than the whole, but the parts are as endearing as anything I've seen this year. It's a zippy, wonderful film that announces Rian Johnson as a real talent, and the cinematography, film editing, production design, costume design, musical score, script, and performance by Rachel Wesiz rank among the year's best.
Watching the deleted scenes on the DVD confirms to me that much of the third act was edited out for streamlining resulting in discord. Also, The Brothers Bloom becomes the kind of con film where the con is a more symbolic thing rather than having any true insight into the con itself, giving it the feel more of a lark than the rare great film that synthesizes the two. Ultimately the parts are more than the whole, but the parts are as endearing as anything I've seen this year. It's a zippy, wonderful film that announces Rian Johnson as a real talent, and the cinematography, film editing, production design, costume design, musical score, script, and performance by Rachel Wesiz rank among the year's best.
"How's the despair?"
Last Orders (Schepisi) - 8/10
Lovely evocation of life, death, and memory through Irish laughter. Could've used a stronger visual stylist. Schepisi excels at flashbacks and unity in joyous performance but the film to me is slightly lacking in pause. Hard to knock it though. It's a resonating, lovely film.
Lovely evocation of life, death, and memory through Irish laughter. Could've used a stronger visual stylist. Schepisi excels at flashbacks and unity in joyous performance but the film to me is slightly lacking in pause. Hard to knock it though. It's a resonating, lovely film.
"How's the despair?"
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Precious Doll
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Just Like Home (2007) Lone Scherfig 6/10
Go Go Tales (2007) Abel Ferrara 2/10
Prime Mover (2009) David Caesar 1/10
Jellyfish (2007) Etgar Keret & Shira Geffen 5/10
Dorian Gray (2009) Oliver Parker 4/10
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Go Go Tales (2007) Abel Ferrara 2/10
Prime Mover (2009) David Caesar 1/10
Jellyfish (2007) Etgar Keret & Shira Geffen 5/10
Dorian Gray (2009) Oliver Parker 4/10
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"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Big Magilla
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Raggedy Man (1981) Jack Fisk 7/10
Sissy Spacek's husband directed her in this, her best non-Oscar nominated performance as a WWII divorcee stuck in a nowhere Texas town with her two kids, a pre-E.T. Henry Thomas and Carey Hollis, Jr. (his only fim). Eric Roberts is also excellent as a passing sailor in what was only his second film.
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Sissy Spacek's husband directed her in this, her best non-Oscar nominated performance as a WWII divorcee stuck in a nowhere Texas town with her two kids, a pre-E.T. Henry Thomas and Carey Hollis, Jr. (his only fim). Eric Roberts is also excellent as a passing sailor in what was only his second film.
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anonymous1980
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Big Magilla
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Orphan (2009) Juame Collet Serra 7.5/10
Surprisingly well made horror movie, especially considering the director's last film was the Paris Hilton remake of House of Wax.
A little Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist with a lot of The Bad Seed and The Omen as Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard adopt a nine year orphan to replace a baby who died in childbirth. It has the year's best last line: "I'm not your fucking mommy!"
Surprisingly well made horror movie, especially considering the director's last film was the Paris Hilton remake of House of Wax.
A little Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist with a lot of The Bad Seed and The Omen as Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard adopt a nine year orphan to replace a baby who died in childbirth. It has the year's best last line: "I'm not your fucking mommy!"