What classics did you see last week ? (17 Mar - 23 Mar 2019)

Hi all,on Monday my friend of over 20 years went to pick his dad up to take him for a routine check-up,and found that he had passed away in his sleep. Trying to keep myself busy after terrible news, (his dad was a great guy)decided to get Easter presents for family and friends in Birmingham, and to visit the oldest working cinema in the UK (The Electric.):



Captain Meh (2019)6

Whilst facially de-aged with seamless CGI,Samuel (yel)L. Jackson swaggers with a coolness that has not aged one bit, with Jackson hitting Fury's comedic punch-lines with a smooth as silk ease. The first woman superhero in the Disney Marvel films to have her own solo movie, Brie Larson brings out the heroic in Marvel's passion to save the Skrulls, but fails to fly to a super height in the comedic,and establishment of her own origins,as Larson delivers punch lines with a stilted awkwardness which allows Jackson (who has worked with Larson three times) to outshine her in the jokes, and Larson also keeps a cold distance from giving Marvel the enthusiasm other superheros have when using their powers.

Designed as a origin for Captain Marvel, the writers visibly show more interest in the side characters than they do in lead, with the plight of the Skrulls bringing a heart and urgency to the mission, which drifts away in the mid-section that focuses on Marvel's dry beginnings. Dipping into the Dr Strange-style fantastical with a striking sequence of Marvel fighting her inner turmoil, co-directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are joined by cinematographer Ben Davis in largely skipping over the enticing fantastical (save for a cute cat) to deliver slick Marvel Comics action set-pieces and Star Wars-inspired space ship races, wrapped in a catchy 90's soundtrack leaving No Doubt on Captain Marvel's powers.

French cinema:



Night at the Crossroads (1932) 8

Blamed on either a missing reel or (as the author claims) the breakdown of the directors first marriage and heavy drinking causing the film maker to skip shooting scenes,the visible gaps remarkably work to the advantage of writer/directing auteur Jean Renoir goal with the production,which Renoir said was that: "I tried to give the feeling of mud sticking to your feet,and of fog obscuring your sight." Riding in to puncture the activities of a gang of thieves, Renoir,his soon to be ex-wife/editor Marguerite Renoir and future director Jacques Becker working as a assistant director and production manager,draw up an eerie misty atmosphere from the town being covered in layers of deep fog,which in stylish panning shots following Maigret reveal an inability to gain a clear sight at the inner workings of the gang.

Sticking mud on the feet of the viewer, Renoir also displays a sharp artistic eye in using objects on the set, (such as wheels and ropes) to obscure the full faces of the suspects,and make their lies stick to Maigret. Getting the first ever adaptation rights to a Georges Simenon novel after driving to Simenon's boathouse and making him a offer on the spot,Renoir signals a continuation of his Film Noir theme,of Maigret being unable to fit into the town of foggy morals he is surrounded by. Left with rough odds and ends sticking out, the missing scenes give Maigret's investigation to arrest the thieves an intriguing missing puzzle mood,where each attempt Maigret to put a gang profile together never quite fits. Offered the role by his brother,Pierre Renoir gives an excellent performance as Maigret, thanks to Renoir giving Maigret a subtle inquisitiveness over digging into secrets of the gang during a night at the crossroads.



Stupéfiants (1932) 6


Filmed simultaneously with the German film Der Weisse Daemon and joined by co-director Roger Le Bon, director Kurt Gerron, (who turned down offers from Peter Lorre and Josef von Sternberg's agent for Hollywood projects, and was murdered with his wife Olga by the Nazis in Auschwitz in 1944) does very well in bringing out stylishly flourishes under the tight production schedule, with the excellent extended opening tracking shots on a cruise ship establishing the heroic hero status of Henri,and over saturated lights making Liliane look like she is wasting herself away.

Joined by writer Georges Neveux in adapting their German script, the screenplay by Neveux/ Philipp Lothar Mayring & Fritz Zeckendorf (who IMDb do not list as having been killed by the Nazis in 1943 in Auschwitz-Birkenau) is a fine mix of Melodrama and Thriller, as Liliane's descent into drug addition brings the drama as Henri tries to free her from it, whilst the hands of "bossu" (and his ingenious use of blanc vinyl to record faked messages) push Liliane deeper into the abyss. Caught between bossu and Henri, sweet Daniele Parola gives a very good performance as Liliane,whose singing ambitions Parola has get chipped away by the drugs. Sliding Parola deeper into her addiction, Peter Lorre gives a wonderfully slippery turn as bossu, whose calm, matter of fact manner is used by Lorre as a veil for ruthlessness that leaves Liliane dying for a hit.



Marked Eyes (1964) 7


Reuniting after the New Wave-styled The Wretches (1960),co-writer/(with Claude Desailly/Andre Tabet and Georges Tabet) director/actor Robert Hossein and Michele Morgan give eye-catching turns as Florence and Franz,with Morgan cleverly using Florence's estranged state in the town to make her a detached Femme Fatale, who even when rolling down hills with a lover keeps her guard up over suspicions of mind-games being played. Fitting into the woodland backdrop with a fresh face appearance, Robert Hossein gives a performance with real warmth as Franz,who Hossein has keep striking the ambiguity note, as Franz's sincerity comes off as just a bit off to Florence.

Along with reuniting with Morgan, Robert is joined by his composing dad Andre, who types up an excellent rumbling blues score which heighten the cracks of paranoia in Florence's mind.Appearing to have been filmed in the real Austrian woodlands, Hossien & cinematographer Jean Boffety craft a chilly mysterious atmosphere in circling wide-shots across the isolated location. Cutting open the movie with an obscured eyeful of a murder, Hossien sharply pins the Noir visuals to a carefully designed sound mix, where the tapping of a mysterious type writer stylishly matches up to the splintered sightings of the writer/killer,and the looming panning shots down corridors following Florence sinking into doubt. Building up suspense superbly in a silent set-piece of Florence attempting to locate the typing noise, the writers spill ink on the anticipation,by going for the easy option of "borrowing" from Henri-Georges Clouzot, which dents the light Film Noir unease that the title had been building up over Florence's increasing mistrust of the locals over marked eyes.