#128. Murder by Decree (1979)

 

 

You're unlikely to find a mystery as cynical, paranoid, and gloomy as this. Welcome to the '70s, Sherlock Holmes.

 

Murder by Decree has a lot worth recommending. Christopher Plummer and James Mason are near-perfect as Holmes and Watson (especially Plummer, who brings a sense of sentimentality to the role that makes the character a lot more likeable than usual), the foggy London sets are wonderfully atmospheric, and I think the Jack the Ripper premise fits pretty seamlessly. So the foundation is solid.

 

Unfortunately, the mystery started to lose me after a while. I mean, I suppose it's sporadically thrilling, especially on the many occasions where our leads are in imminent danger, but I also thought it all unfolded a little too slowly and aimlessly (like, did we really need the Donald Sutherland stuff?) to ever get fully invested. And that final explanation/accusation scene is downright interminable.

 

Still, while the story didn't always grab me, I liked the darker tone and presentation - especially because they're sporadically offset by some winsome humour. For the rest of my life, I'll never be able to eat peas without thinking of this movie.

 

Grade: B

 

#127. White Christmas (1954)

 

 

I'm starting to notice a trend with these Golden-age Hollywood musicals. They always start off so warm and likeable, and then the magic starts to wear off a bit once the conflict is introduced.

 

The first forty-five minutes or so of White Christmas are adorably sweet (perhaps to a sickly degree, but I have no problem with it). The tone, the comedy, and the chemistry are all a joy to behold. But then we reach Vermont, and are presented with one of those tedious and bizarrely common misunderstanding subplots, and it really starts to harsh the mellow for me - especially because we have to spend upwards of half an hour watching these two romantic leads argue with each other over literally nothing.

 

Fortunately, everything else keeps spirits bright. The songs are still pleasant, the performances are still charming, and, most of all, the whole thing just looks fantastic. Between the VistaVision format (which this movie was apparently the very first to use), the Technicolor processing, and the beautiful sets, every single frame pops off the screen, really adding to the buoyant mood and colourful presentation.

 

Wouldn't have minded a little more Christmas, though. Outside of the title track and the closing scene, you might as well have called this movie Green Summer. 

 

Grade: B+

 

#126. Ms .45 (1981)

 

 

A.K.A. Angel of Vengeance. I like that title better, mainly because there's something about Ms .45 including a period before the 45 but not after the Ms that bugs me.

 

Exploitation can be a tough tightrope to walk. You need to incorporate all the typical hallmarks (violence, campiness, exaggerated acting), while still presenting a tender side - something the audience can root for. And Ms .45 strikes that emotional balance in the form of a vulnerable young character who gets pushed to her limits after being raped twice in the same day. Fun premise, right?

 

Actually, it is kinda fun. Once Thana decides she's gonna get some revenge, it's just scene after scene of her taking out her frustrations by shooting men in the head. And while it starts to get slightly repetitive after a while (and it feels like a bit of a copout that almost all of these guys are assholes who get what they deserve), it's still cathartic and entertaining stuff. And Abel Ferrara's scuzzy direction greatly adds to both the realism and the deranged state of mind.

 

Unlike King of New York or Bad Lieutenant, I can't see myself returning to this one all that often. But the action sure packs a similar punch, and Zoë Lund's powerful and emotive performance is right up there with the likes of Walken and Keitel.

 

Grade: B+

 

#125. Big Eyes (2014)

 

 

Tim... my man... what the hell happened?

 

If we hone in on the first decade or so of his career, Tim Burton is one of my all-time favourite filmmakers. Beetlejuice, Batman, and Batman Returns are all locks for my top 100, and Ed Wood has an outside chance of qualifying as well. And yet, I don't think I've loved - or even strongly liked - anything he's made this century.

 

For a long time, I thought his increasing reliance on CGI and Johnny Depp were largely to blame, but it clearly runs deeper than that, considering neither are present here and I still greatly disliked the movie. It's more like Burton has simply lost interest in bringing any kind of creativity or passion or originality to his work (which is an observation that would've sounded downright absurd in the '90s), hence why most of his recent output feels so lazy and half-assed.

 

Big Eyes is another in that increasingly long line. It's got the usual latter-day Burton flaws of uninteresting characters, cliched dialogue, and weak performances, and then chucks on the kind of lie-based conflict that I can't imagine anyone finding remotely fun to watch. And the result is a bland, tedious, uninspired mess. Frankly, if not for the fact that it looks a million times better than Alice in Wonderland, I'd call it possibly the weakest film of the man's career.

 

Grade: C-

 

P.S. Christoph Waltz is pretty terrible in this, but I'll concede that his courtroom antics are quite funny. Dude might've had a better non-Tarantino Hollywood career if he took on more roles that played to his comedic strengths.

 

#124. Mouse Hunt (1997)

 

 

Prior Viewings: 2-3

 

I was feeling a bit nostalgic, so I thought I'd return to this unhinged piece of mayhem. And it didn't disappoint. Actually, if anything, it went over even better than it did in my youth.

 

One thing I've learned about myself from years of endlessly rewatching the first three Home Alone movies is that I very much enjoy seeing cocky, dim-witted villains get their comeuppance at the hands of small underdogs. It's also part of the reason why I grew up loving Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry (even if I was one of those precocious snobs who rooted for Tom). And that's pretty much the entire appeal of this one. Probably doesn't sound like much, but it's all I need, and Nathan Lane and Lee Evans (and Christopher Walken, in a fantastic cameo) are committed enough to ensure that the slapstick remains fresh and satisfying from beginning to end.

 

Also contributing to the quality of this thing is rookie Gore Verbinski, who gives the movie a gothic style and palette that wouldn't look out of place next to The Addams Family and Batman Returns (which, if you know anything about me, is extremely high praise). It's shockingly gorgeous to look at, in both architecture and cinematography, and it carries a dark-yet-whimsical tone and texture that hits my sweet spot. Might explain why I grew up to be such a big Coen Brothers fan.

 

Grade: A

 

#123. Odd Man Out (1947)

 

 

Carol Reed sure knew how to stylize these kinds of movies, didn't he? Much like The Third Man, Odd Man Out is heavy on dark tones, tactile settings, and political anxieties, with a lot of shadowy figures in trench-coats running down backlit alleys (maybe my single favourite noir trope). So, at least texturally, this one's for me.

 

Structurally, I'm not so sure. I mean, I like that the movie spends the first half-hour presenting itself as a straightforward heist thriller only to shuffle around to different perspectives and genres as it goes along, but I think my problem is that I'm not always interested in these new perspectives. For every one that works, there's probably two that feel like unnecessary padding. And it doesn't help that the pacing slows down considerably once the crime stuff is out of the way.

 

Still, I guess it all comes together pretty well, both because it turns this character's incapacitated state into something of a journey and because this journey slowly paints a distinct portrait of the entire community. And, again, even when I wasn't super invested in the story, I was always captivated by the vivid moods and compositions.

 

Plus, it's nice to see a little blood in something this old. Gives the movie an added edge. 

 

Grade: B+

 

#122. Fat City (1972)

 

 

Gotta give John Huston some credit: he knew how to keep up with the times. This movie is so aggressively '70s that you can practically smell the cigarettes and body odor.

 

Fat City is essentially the un-Rocky. It's bleak, it's unsentimental, and it never once makes you want to stand up and cheer (unless you're a big fan of alcoholism). Doesn't make for an especially lively or likeable movie, but it reeks of legitimacy. Every frame feels incredibly authentic and lived-in, and you really get the sense that these people are going to be stuck in their shitty situations forever, regardless of what they do.

 

I just wish the whole thing was a bit more focused. Despite the realism, it's all kinda soft and episodic for my liking, to the point where the material doesn't quite leave the impact that it probably should. As a domestic drama, I don't find any of these dynamics interesting or developed enough to care about (and it doesn't help that I think most of the characters are either bland or annoying), and, as a boxing movie, the bouts are almost laughably unconvincing. So a good chunk of it falls a bit flat for me.

 

Still, I can see why many people consider this to be among Huston's best work. The tone's unique, the point of view is distinct, and Stacy Keach gives a great performance. It's just too bad that there's a vaguely aimless vibe to the presentation that makes it difficult for me to latch onto anything.

 

Grade: B-