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hard-boiled eggs, and a few conquests
Jul. 28th, 2008 09:59 amI’m a bachelor these days, what with my wife being away to the Bay Area to attend the Romance Writers of America’s national con and also to visit her family. She’ll be back next week, the afternoon before we drive north to Denver’s worldcon. Yes, our getting ready for the latter in but a few hours is going to be loads of fun. Anyway. Being a bachelor means I can eat hard-boiled eggs without hearing any complaints about the smell. Besides that... Sue made some changes to her NetFlix queue so that movies she wasn’t that keen on but which I had put on the list would be around for me to enjoy. I had planned to watch the original Planet of the Apes movies, which she has zero interest in seeing, and this just because each and every one of the movies ends with a downer. Oh well. Here are the three movies I’ve watched so far.
On to the show.
This is the recently restored version of Fritz Lang’s 1929 movie Woman in the Moon that Fidelio had recently mentioned on her LiveJournal. For some reason, I had never seen that movie although I knew of it, and I’m glad that gap in my education has been filled. The film is a bit long at 2 hours and 50 minutes, and the first half of it could have been condensed considerably. Says about master Lang someone whose only attempt at cinema was a 5-minute spoof of John Boorman’s Excalibur. Still, 90 minutes for what basically serves as a justification for the villain’s presence on that Mission to the Moon – even though he has the best line in the whole story – seems a bit excessive. That being said, I liked the movie’s 2nd half, which is so imbued with the spirit of wanting to explore in spite of all the dangers.
This isn’t the first time I’d seen John Huston’s adaptation of Kipling’s The Man Who Would Be King, but I enjoyed it as much as I originally did. Even though it was released in 1975, it is my understanding that Huston had been wanting to film it with Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart in the mid-1950s. I selfishly am glad that it took him 20 years because Sean Connery and Michael Caine are perfect as two hilariously unrepentant scoundrels who in the 19th Century decide to singlehandedly conquer a small country north of Afghanistan that once was conquered by Alexander the Great. One of the two gents accidentally is thought to be the descendent of Alexander. He then starts believing in the prophecies, and things work out well - at first. Highly recommended.
And now, for something completely different… Richard Lester’s 1965 comedy Help!. To describe it as goofball is an understatement. Yes, I wince at the premise that Worshippers of Kali can’t complete their human sacrifice until they get back the ring sent to Ringo by one of their young females disciples who is also a fan of the Beatles. On the other hand, their evil leader is played by Leo McKern. And there’s an evil scientist, whose bumbling henchman is played by Roy Kinnear. Let’s not forget Alfie Bass in a bit part. Half the songs they sang were so-so things I had never heard, but the other half are classics. Watching this film again, I realized that, of the four Fab Four, my favorites were George and John.
Coming soon, 1934’s French movie Zouzou… As far as I can tell, unlike the three titles above, nobody in this Joséphine Baker story is aiming to conquer anything, except that it is an interracial love story. Maybe it shows love conquering all.
On to the show.
“Choose the lesser of two evils – me!”
This is the recently restored version of Fritz Lang’s 1929 movie Woman in the Moon that Fidelio had recently mentioned on her LiveJournal. For some reason, I had never seen that movie although I knew of it, and I’m glad that gap in my education has been filled. The film is a bit long at 2 hours and 50 minutes, and the first half of it could have been condensed considerably. Says about master Lang someone whose only attempt at cinema was a 5-minute spoof of John Boorman’s Excalibur. Still, 90 minutes for what basically serves as a justification for the villain’s presence on that Mission to the Moon – even though he has the best line in the whole story – seems a bit excessive. That being said, I liked the movie’s 2nd half, which is so imbued with the spirit of wanting to explore in spite of all the dangers.
“If a Greek could do it, we can do it.”
This isn’t the first time I’d seen John Huston’s adaptation of Kipling’s The Man Who Would Be King, but I enjoyed it as much as I originally did. Even though it was released in 1975, it is my understanding that Huston had been wanting to film it with Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart in the mid-1950s. I selfishly am glad that it took him 20 years because Sean Connery and Michael Caine are perfect as two hilariously unrepentant scoundrels who in the 19th Century decide to singlehandedly conquer a small country north of Afghanistan that once was conquered by Alexander the Great. One of the two gents accidentally is thought to be the descendent of Alexander. He then starts believing in the prophecies, and things work out well - at first. Highly recommended.
“With a ring like that I could - dare I say it? - rule the world.”
And now, for something completely different… Richard Lester’s 1965 comedy Help!. To describe it as goofball is an understatement. Yes, I wince at the premise that Worshippers of Kali can’t complete their human sacrifice until they get back the ring sent to Ringo by one of their young females disciples who is also a fan of the Beatles. On the other hand, their evil leader is played by Leo McKern. And there’s an evil scientist, whose bumbling henchman is played by Roy Kinnear. Let’s not forget Alfie Bass in a bit part. Half the songs they sang were so-so things I had never heard, but the other half are classics. Watching this film again, I realized that, of the four Fab Four, my favorites were George and John.
Ringo: There's more here than meets the eye!
George: Ho ho.
John: Ho.
George: Ho ho.
John: Ho.
George: Ho ho ho
John: Ho ho!
George: Ho ho.
John: Huh ho.
Coming soon, 1934’s French movie Zouzou… As far as I can tell, unlike the three titles above, nobody in this Joséphine Baker story is aiming to conquer anything, except that it is an interracial love story. Maybe it shows love conquering all.
