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Satan Met a Lady (1936)
Decent Comedy Take on Dashiell Hammet Classic
Satan Met a Lady (1936). This version of The Maltese Falcon is the least like the book. The names are changed and it's become a vehicle for Bette Davis. Warren William plays the detective here named Shane. It follows the main bones of the The Maltese Falcon plot, though here the Macguffin is changed to a horn filled with gems.
It goes by breezy enough and the dialogue is really snappy. It doesn't hit anywhere near the 1941 classic, but it might be a little bit better than the 1931 film. It works well enough as a comedy. For some reason, Bette Davis apparently considered this to be her worst movie. Of course Ms. Davis is much better in 1936 in The Petrified Forest.
The version I watched is on the old Maltese Falcon 3 dvd set that I bought so that I could get the other two versions of the film. Unfortunately, in addition to being a pretty ragged print, it also suffers from too much compression which makes it tougher to watch.
In conclusion, I think it's a fun ride especially if you lower your expectations.
Tarzan of the Apes (1918)
Early Tarzan is a Good Film to see Tarzan's Origin.
Tarzan of the Apes(1918). I watched this based on picking up a post in the Silent Film News Thread. This is the PD version that is hosted on IMDB.
This is a really good film for giving the basic outline of the Tarzan origin story. It takes place from the Greystokes fleeing their ship after a mutiny that lands them in the African Jungle. Tarzan is played in the growing up part of the story by Gordon Griffith, who does an admirable job playing the Tarzan of adolescence. As he gets older he starts to realize he's not like the rest of the apes in his tribe and he is able to learn things the apes are unable to. He also gets his trusty knife that gives young Tarzan an important weapon to help him against other animals (and sometimes other humans).
Elmo Lincoln provides a rather stout version of the adult Tarzan. We see him conquer different wild animals, while also getting revenge for the death of his ape mother who took him in and raised him. There was an interesting play of emotions on his first time to see a European female, who tells him "You do not steal love from a woman", a lesson that one of her own companions in the rescue party from England can't seem to understand.
The print on IMDB was in extremely bad shape. There are parts of the film where the image was completely wiped clean from being used over the last Century and a bit. I was glad to see it, as I had wondered how well this first Tarzan film was. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)
Surprisingly Good Sequel Not Like Every Other Superhero Movie
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is an entertaining second outing for this DC franchise. The themes that made the first movie so memorable, the importance of family by choice, learning to fit in, what makes a real hero all are present in this film that features not just Captain Marvel but the whole Shazam family.
It's a shame that after Black Adam tanked WB decided not to properly fund marketing this film. The mix of humor and investment in the characters made this sequel so much better than any other superhero films out this year.
This movie was so much more than just one superhero, and maybe the fact that the entire movie really features the whole Shazam family and not just Zachary Levi's character might have caused some pause, but featuring the whole family keeps this from being a by the numbers affair.
Special effects are awesome, the last act is thrilling, you really should see it on the big screen to get the full effect. Shazam! Fur of the Gods brings the goods!
Chance (2002)
Quirky Comedy Hits Home!
I was lucky enough to catch "Chance" when it played at Birmingham's Sidewalk Film Festival. Being a "Buffy" fan I was very familiar with Amber Benson, James Marsters, and Andy Hallet's work for Mutant Enemy. I was hoping for the best, but not sure what to expect.
I came away very satisfied. Chance is a very quirky, very funny movie that is only too accurate in its description of the modern dating scene. Amber's acting ability is easily able to carry as the star of a feature length film. She has great chemistry with James Marsters, who can change from hilarious to poignant at the drop of a hat. Seeing them together in this film makes me wish Joss Whedon had made more use of these two together when both were on "Buffy".
I was startled at the difference between the character Chance with her frank sexuality and all things "alpha", and the sweet, somewhat demure personality that Benson displays on Internet forums and in public appearances. It's good to see Amber playing against type to great effect.
The script is a little on the short side, but this just keeps the film from getting bogged down. There is a lot of shifting of time and space, story within a story, flashbacks, etc., which the brevity of the film keeps from becoming too confusing. The script is very witty and it is readily apparent that the actress is also an accomplished writer.
Now all that we can do is hope that the film secures a distribution deal so that everyone can get the CHANCE to see it (sorry for the bad pun!)
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
The first true American Cinematic Masterpiece
Perhaps it is fitting that the first American Masterpiece, is also one of the most controversial films ever made.
D. W. Griffith may not have invented every single technique used in Birth of a Nation (that is a hotly debated topic, since other filmmakers were also experimenting with similar techniques at around the same time), but he nonetheless provided a seemless use of closeups,panning shots, cross cutting and other devices we now take for granted, and put them in a package that made it seem like it was *the* natural way for a director to tell a story in film. And in fact it has been the natural way directors have told stories for the last 87 years.
It's unfortunate that the visionary scope of this picture has been overshadowed of late by the rising tide of Political Correctness in America. There is no doubt that bad racial stereotyping occurs throughout the movie. And our vantage point from the present can easily see that the Ku Klux Klan are not the right people to set up as "saviors" of the ways of the Old South.
But to appreciate this movie, one must watch with the hindsight of history. Griffith was the son of a confederate solder, the War Between the States was still within living memory for many Americans in 1915. And let's face it... Reconstruction was deliberately demeaning and punishing to the South. This was not Lincoln's fault at the film clearly states, but it was the policy of the Union towards the South after his death. The resentment of this treatment was still alive in Griffith and many others living in the early 20th century.
If one can put the subject matter into the context of the times the film was made, they will find a stirring melodrama with tremendous scope, and the Birth of modern movie making.