What classics did you see last week? (26 Nov to 2 Dec 2017)

fis ts in my pocket and caprice.

yep, and I didn't mind it but it felt tonally jarring honestly.

November 26 to December 2
(Zetes, wherever you are, my apologies for taking your thread last December)

HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE (2005) Dubbed version. Saw it in my local Tinseltown as part of its six-film-month Miyazaki screenings (the final one).

DAVID COPPERFIELD (1934) Viewed the first part on Warner DVD, but when the disc failed to continue, I watched the remainder on my MGM/UA VHS.

DARK SHADOWS (1967) Episodes 371-375 50th Anniversary. Angelique gains an unwitting servant Ben Stokes and begins to wreck Barnabas and Josette's wedding with the unwitting help of Jeremiah Collins. MPI Video DVD.

MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 TURKEY DAY '92 HOST SEGMENTS (1992). Thanksgiving was MST3Ks official debut on Comedy Central, so for a few years, a highlight for many a fan was its Turkey Day marathon on the subsequent Thanksgivings. This marathon on November 25-26, 1992, had host segments of Dr. Clayton Forrester introducing the selections by forcefeeding TV's Frank a Turkey for each film. This is from the MST3K Turkey Day Edition DVD.

DRACULA (1993) A BBC-TV Documentary about the creation, creator, and films of Dracula (with honorable mentions of Schreck, Lugosi, and Lee) and the social era of the time. It majorly is a tie-in to BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA, with clips and interviews by Coppola, James V. Hart, Oldman, Ryder, and Sadie Frost, as well as Lee, and historians Stephen Jones, Christopher Fryling, and Leonard Wolf. It was my first experience to COUNT DRACULA (1977). Viewed on a VHS recording of an A&E BIOGRAPHY (presented by Jack Perkins) in October 1994 (commercials include promos for SHERLOCK HOLMES, LOVEJOY, THE GREEN MAN, and an A&E Remembers for Burt Lancaster).

MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000/GENERAL HOSPITAL/CRASH OF THE MOONS (1992). 25th Anniversary of broadcast. Shout factory DVD.

MARY AND JOSEPH: A STORY OF FAITH (1979) The success of JESUS OF NAZARETH led to several TV movies like The Nativity (1978 starring Madeline Stowe) and this production, with Jeff East and Blanche Baker as the expectant parents. I only viewed most of the second half, with Mary visiting Elizabeth (with Colleen Dewhurst stealing the show), and Joseph doing some zealotry and learning the error of his ways. Viewed on a Warner Home Video VHS.

And with December 1, my 24-day-long tradition of watching Christmas films begins. From the morning of December 1 to the morning of Christmas Day, the only films I will trigger (put a DVD/Blu-Ray or VHS into the player) into watching will have something to do with Christmas. The only non-Christmas shows will either be television broadcasts, anniversary viewings, or theatrical viewings.

BEN-HUR: MAKING OF AN EPIC (1993) Narrated by Christopher Plummer (who had also narrated THE MAKING OF A LEGEND: GONE WITH THE WIND). Created as an accompaniment for the film’s 35th Anniversary VHS/Laserdisc release in 1994, this documentary covers the story from Lew Wallace to Stage to Silent films (with a rather lengthy coverage on the 1925 version, using footage and script from the Kevin Brownlow/David Gill documentary series HOLLYWOOD) and finally the 1959 film version. Lacking interviews from the main cast and crew (the only real associate is Gore Vidal and stunt man Joe Cannutt), the focus goes to historians like Rudy Belmer, relatives like Christina Wyler and Edward Carfagno Jr., and archival bits from J.J. Cohn, Yakima Canutt, and Wyler himself (there are several interviews by Richard Edlund and David Raskin in a gallery set of blown-up Ben-Hur stills and a line of eleven statuettes; wonder if this clip was made for the docu or belongs to a different documentary). Plenty of behind-the-scenes footage: a Camera 65 POV shot of chariots crashing into the lens, test reels of Cesare Donova and Leslie Neilsen wearing Robert Taylor’s costumes from QUO VADIS? (1951), plus a test by some unbilled British actor whom I would later recognize as George Baker (who would play ‘The Emperor’ himself in the 1976 BBC serial I, CLAUDIUS; Andre Morell also played Tiberius in the 1968 Granada-TV serial THE CAESARS). Although THE CELLULOID CLOSET (1995) is reported in bringing the story of Gore Vidal putting a homosexual slant to the Judah-Messala friendship into the public mentality, this documentary predates it (then again, the first mention of the story dates back to the late-1970s ). The docu has been a Christmas perennial (24 years) that I usually begin my Holiday viewings. This comes from the 35th Anniversary MGM/UA Video of BEN-HUR.

THE BOX OF DELIGHTS (1984) A six-part BBC Serial based on John Masefield’s children’s fantasy book (which was itself a sequel to THE MIDNIGHT FOLK). The first episode is “The Wolves Are Running.” Set in 1930s England, young schoolboy Kay Harker returns home for Christmas to his aunt Caroline Louisa and the additional guests of the Jones children. He encounters shady priests and befriends an old puppeteer Cole Hawling (Patrick Troughton) whose possession of a magic box makes him a target for the priests and their leader Abner (Robert Stephens). This all leads to Kay traveling through time to an ancient fort at war with wolves. A perennial since 2004 (although I had seen bits of it on Nickelodeon on Christmas Eve 1988), this viewing come from a BBC Video PAL DVD (I had previously viewed this on a NTSC Simon and Schuster VHS which edited the serial into two hours). 14 years.

THE LEGEND OF PRINCE VALIANT (1992) “Peace on Earth” 25th Anniversary. While King Arthur is celebrating Christmas at Camelot, Sir Valiant and his knights-in-training Arn and Rowena are fighting a violent war between the provinces of Gallas and Londom. Created by David Corbett from Hal Foster’s comic strip, this animated series with the voices of Robbie Benson, Noelle North, Tim Curry, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Alan Oppenheimer, Samantha Eggar, and James Avery (with a guest appearance by Ben Savage) aired on the Family channel in the early 1990s. I viewed this from The Complete Series Vol. 2 by Ink and Paint DVD. 9 years.

SANTA CLAUS THE MOVIE (1985) After the Superman films, the Salkinds put their money on another popular legend. It was a huge flop in theaters. Nevertheless, seeing this film in theaters, I’ve always found some interest in the film. I only watch parts of the film, especially the music scenes. Sheena Easton’s “It’s Christmas all over the world” is something of a Christmas perennial for me. Anchor Bay DVD.

WATASHI NO ASHINGA OJISAN- DADDY LONG LEGS (1990) “Our Christmas.” Judy (an orphan supported by a mysterious benefactor she has nicknamed “Daddy Long Legs”) and her school roommate Sally plan to celebrate Christmas with the latter’s brother Robbie. Hearing this, their spoiled roommate Julia invites herself to the proceedings (despite the objections of her mother, who wishes her to spend Christmas in New York as a Debutante). All three spend their free time knitting scarfs to give to Robbie, with the usually catered Julia struggling to make one. Although she is successful, her plans turn to disappointment. Based on Jean Webster’s book, this Japanese Animated series is part of the WORLD MASTERPIECE THEATER, a series that broadcasts serial adaptations of a Western Literature novel or story. Although this adaptation takes some liberties, setting it to the 1920s and de-aging the characters (including Jarvis Pendelton), unlike the 1955 Fred Astaire-Leslie Caron adaptation, it keeps the identity of the titled character secret until the end (although this episode reveals a clue to the truth). Saw this on a Chinese import DVD with flawed subtitles.

A CHRISTMAS STORY (1982) There has been much written about Bob Clark’s adaptation of Jean Shepherd’s nostalgia stories that I see it unnecessary to give any further information. I watched this on an MGM/UA VHS, which allows me to view the ending credits playing Carl Zitter-Paul Zaza’s lovely instrumental for “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” a scene not included in the TBS/TNT annual Christmas Day 24-hour marathon.

SCROOGE (1935) The first sound version of Charles Dickens’ A CHRISTMAS CAROL, starring Seymour Hicks. This comes from an Image DVD which shows the full cut of the film (for a good decade I had to deal with a Goodtimes VHS which excised 15 minutes, including Tiny Tim’s “God Bless Us Everyone” quote, most of the “Hark the Herald Angels Singing” montage, and the ending of Scrooge at church). 21 years.

CHRISTMAS CAROL: THE MOVIE (2001) This UK-US animated production of the Dickens’ tale highlights a subplot of Scrooge’s ex Belle (voiced by Kate Winslet) trying to contact him about saving a hospital. I tend to only watch this version’s ending with Scrooge’s reunion with Belle with the song “What if” (sung by a reluctant Kate Winslet). Viewed on an MGM/UA DVD, which also included a music video of said song starring Winslet.

TORAPPU IKKA MONOGATARI- THE TRAPP FAMILY STORY (1991). “Wish for an Angel/Christmas Carol” Governess Maria and the Trapp children celebrate Christmas much to the delight of Captain Von Trapp and much to the disdain of their stern and class-conscious housekeeper Matilda who is trying to engineer a marriage between the Captain and a rich lady. Her plans become threatened when the children makes a Christmas wish for Maria to stay and the Captain cancels an invitation with the lady to spend the holiday with the children. Meanwhile, an attraction grows between the Captain and Maria, as the latter talks about her abused childhood. This serial is part of the WORLD MASTERPIECE THEATER series, where each season is an adaptation of a Western Literature novel or story. This entry is based on Maria Von Trapp’s memoir THE STORY OF THE TRAPP FAMILY SINGERS, best known to everyone as the source for the musical THE SOUND OF MUSIC. Aside from an opening sequence that used a Japanese “Do Re Mi” (removed in later broadcasts and video), the series is more faithful to the real accounts despite the usual adaptation approach. This two-parter also features Maria and the children singing several Christmas songs, foreshadowing their future occupation. Saw this one on a Chinese import DVD with flawed subtitles.

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (1975) “Candice Bergen/Stylistics” Aired on December 20, 1975, the series’ first Christmas-themed episode, hosted by Candice Bergen (who compared the experience of working with the Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time-Players as the Symbionese Liberation Party) with music by the Stylistics and Martha Reeves. In its first season, the series began with certain segments that would later go by next season: the ill-fated Muppets Land of Gorch, Bridging pieces (The Who’s TOMMY playing Pong), home movies (A montage of airport family reunions set to the music of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Homeward Bound”). There is also a serious piece where Bergen promotes the Gray Panthers, an anti-Ageism group. Universal DVD.

A nephew is going to play a Wise Man for his school pageant, so I've decided to show him clips of cinematic Magi up to 1979. First was the earliest available depiction of the Magi in THE LIFE AND PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST (1902-05), and the Wise Men in the actual Bethelehem area from FROM THE MANGER TO THE CROSS (1912). Image DVD.

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

Directed by Martin McDonagh, U.K., U.S., (2017), 115 minutes

Martin McDonagh’s (“Seven Psychopaths”) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is a mix of black (and politically incorrect) comedy and heartfelt drama that takes us on a wild, mostly improbable but highly entertaining ride. Set in the fictional town of Ebbing, Missouri, Frances McDormand (“Hail, Caesar!”), who carries the film in one of her best roles, is the recently-divorced Mildred Hayes, a feisty, angry, depressed, but very determined woman with a warrior mentality who lost her daughter Angela only seven months ago in a rape and murder that still has not been solved.

To make things worse, her abusive husband Charlie (John Hawkes, “Everest”) has left her for a dim nineteen-year-old zoo attendant, and her son Robbie (Lucas Hedges, “Manchester by the Sea”) just wants to forget the past and get on with his life. Instead of carrying placards and marching in front of the police station the way many people might protest, Mildred catches sight of three dilapidated billboards along an old highway leading into town that have not been used since Superman peanut butter was all the rage. With the help of Red Welby (Caleb Landry Jones, “The Florida Project”) who runs the local advertising agency, she rents the billboards and plasters signs on them in flaming red that carry the messages: : “Raped While Dying”, “And Still No Arrests”, “How Come Chief Willoughby?” Her stated purpose is “to concentrate the mind, some.”

The Willoughby referred to is Ebbing’s Police Chief played by Woody Harrelson (“War for the Planet of the Apes”) who masks a soft heart with a veneer of toughness. Willoughby, who suffers from advanced cancer, takes the opportunity to visit Mildred and take her through what has actually been done on the case. Bottom line, the police are doing everything they can but there are no suspects and nothing has been learned from the DNA evidence. The ensuing media circus, however, brings out the worst in people, many who come to the chief’s defense, especially police deputy Jason Dixon (Sam Rockwell, “The Way Way Back”), an unabashed white racist who lives with his overbearing mother (Sandy Martin).

Mildred behaves irrationally in her single-minded quest for justice/revenge, at one point tossing Molotov cocktails at the police station and kicking high schoolers in the groin (neither of which resulted in any punishment), yet Dixon’s over-the-top antics top hers tenfold. In one scene, he leaves his desk to go to the ad agency across the street to exact vengeance on the unsuspecting Red. There is also tons of snarky dialogue and condescending put-downs, some clever, others not so much, but McDonagh can see the good in people and works to make that available to the viewer.

At a key moment, the characters recognize each other, not as protagonists in the midst of battle, but as human beings and the film becomes more about the complexities of the human condition than the eccentricities of its colorful characters. Willoughby is as frustrated as Mildred by the lack of results in Angela’s death but tries to camouflage it with reassuring talk. On her part, Mildred comforts Willoughby when he coughs up blood that splatters in her face, and the vengeance that is eating away at her is, at least momentarily, replaced by compassion.

Even Dixon shows character growth after a violent outburst separates him from his job. While not much of what happens in the film can be confused with reality, what is real is the residue of decency present in even the most hard-edged characters. What is also real, unfortunately, is the not too startling revelation of how the prevailing police culture often results in violence against women going unpunished.

GRADE: B+

Young And Innocent / Alfred Hitchcock (1937). This comedy thriller was just the kind of picture people wanted to see from Alfred Hitchcock. He was repeating the “39 Steps” formula of the innocent man on the run to prove himself not guilty of a murder charge being helped by a woman who becomes convinced of his innocence. It was just the sort of thing that earned Hitch an international reputation. In fact, as he was beginning production of Y&I, David O. Selznick was making the first overtures about an offer to come to Hollywood. Though not as well known today as “The 39 Steps” or Hitchcock’s next movie “The Lady Vanishes,” Young and Innocent is a smoothly running suspense story with plenty of humor and outright laughs. When a famous movie star is strangled and her body left on a beach, out of work screenwriter Robert Tisdall (popular leading man of the time Derrick de Marney) gets blamed for the crime. During a court appearance, he manages to slip away in a crowded hallway and make his escape. He commanders a car being driven by the Head Constable’s daughter, Erica (Nova Pilbeam). Then they are off on a cross-country chase to find Tisdall’s overcoat before the police find him. Nova Pilbeam, who had just turned 18, had been a well-known child actress. She played the kidnapped child in Hitchcock’s first, 1934, version of “The Man Who Knew Too Much.” Basil Radford (who later appeared in “The Lady Vanishes” partnered with Naughton Wayne as comic relief characters Charters and Caldicott) is Erica’s laid-back uncle. Hitchcock makes his cameo standing outside the courtroom as Tisdall makes his escape. When he was filming this picture, he was at the highest weight of his life. A must-see for Hitchcock fans.

House Of Frankenstein / Erle C. Kenton (1944). The Universal horrors from the ‘40s are just so much fun and zip along so fast (at least this one) that you can’t stop long enough to question it. If it paused for too long you might have time to laugh when poor Lon Cheney is burdened with lines like, “Why have you freed me from the ice that imprisoned the beast within me?” and “No earthly power can help those that are marked by the sign of the pentagram” or that there is no straight through story but that it jumps from one thing to another, focusing first on one group of characters then switching to a different grouping. Dr. Neimann (Boris Karloff) wants to replicate Frankenstein’s work. With his physically disabled (the “hunchback”) sidekick Daniel (J. Carrol Naish), Neimann breaks out of prison and heads for Frankenstein’s castle disguised as a traveling show of monstrosities – including what he claims to be the coffin of Dracula. He revives Dracula (John Carradine) and there is a mini-movie about Dracula’s attempt to rope a woman (Anne Gwynne) into vampirism. Once that is told, we are back to Niemann and Daniel who discover the Frankenstein Monster and the Wolf Man alive, frozen in an underground cave. Then attention shifts to wolfman Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney, Jr.) and his doomed romance with a gypsy woman (Elena Verdugo). The Monster only comes to life in the last couple of minutes. You can see what I mean by the lack of a through line story. Yet, it is told with so much speed and energy in a brief 71 minutes that you hardly have time to pause. Classic horror.

Tarzan The Ape Man / John Derek (1981). While watching “Ator, the Invincible” on MST3K, Joel asks, “How much keefe is in this movie?” The bots reply, “Miles O’Keefe!” Well, unfortunately there are Miles O’Keefe in the title role of this contender for Worst Movie Ever Made. I have never fully bought into the “so bad it’s good/funny” idea, but TTAM about half convinces me. (The other half tells me that this movie is agonizing to watch.) The Good News, though, is that O’Keefe isn’t on screen very much and never speaks. The Bad News is that Bo Derek (married to the director at the time) and Richard Harris never shut up. Bo (Archie Bunker calls her Bee Oh Derek) plays Jane Parker who travels to Africa to surprise her father (Richard Harris) who has never seen her. Surprise, indeed. Truly, Harris as Prof. Parker has to be one of the (if not THE) worst performances ever given on screen by a great actor. His purpose, I suppose, is to display the irrepressible spirit of a man who gets the most out of life. What actually happens is that we witness a lot of shouting, talking at the top of the voice, and arm waving which becomes annoying very fast. I, personally, wouldn’t spend 10 minutes in the company of anyone who behaved like this. Finally, Bo. Husband Derek (the director, who began dating Bo when she was 16 and he was 31) is actually a bit restrained in the handling of his wife. He doesn’t get her nekked nearly as quickly as in the other movies he directed with her (“Bolero” and “Ghost Can’t Do It”. [What is it that ghosts can’t do? It’s exactly what you think it is]). Bo, in her first major Hollywood release, with little to zero acting experience, is totally helpless. The poor girl won that year’s coveted Golden Raspberry award for Worst Actress (shared with Faye Dunaway for “Mommie Dearest”). If you love truly, deeply bad movies, this is for you. It was a trial for me. I had to watch if over the course of four evenings.

…Continuing a watch straight through the 10 seasons of Doctor Who: New Series in anticipation of next year’s introduction of the 13th Doctor. First up this week is an unnumbered season of five specials that came about because David Tennant decided to quit Doctor Who and devote a year to live theatrical endeavors. The result was his box office busting bonanza production of Hamlet (with Patrick Stewart as King Claudius) at the Stratford Globe then in London’s West End. He was talked into these “specials” as his good-bye series.

Specials Season, Ep. 1 “The Next Doctor” December 25, 2008. Since Tennant had already made clear that he would leaving the show at the end of the last Special, fan speculation was rife over who would succeed him. One of the names frequently mentioned by UK viewers was David Morrissey. So, when Morrissey was announced as the guest star in an episode titled “The Next Doctor,” heads exploded all over the world. But this story and its title turned out to be an “in” joke on fans. Morrissey plays a traumatized person, influenced by alien enemies, who believes himself to be The Doctor. Further, he was not selected to play The Doctor after Tennant.

Specials Season, Ep. 2 “Planet Of The Dead” April 11, 2009. The Doctor is riding a London bus when it drives through a wormhole and lands on a distant desert planet. Michelle Ryan (“EastEnders” TV series) also stars as Lady Christine, a thrill-seeking thief.

Specials Season, Ep. 3 “Waters Of Mars” November 15, 2009. Lindsay Duncan (Gifted, Birdman, Rome [TV series]) plays the commander of the first Earth colony on Mars. The Doctor, who has accidentally arrived, has knowledge of what happens to the colonists in the future. He hesitates to interfere because he knows he cannot change an event that is “fixed in time” but agonizes over the tragedy as it begins.

Specials Season, Ep, 4 & Ep, 5 “The End Of Time, Parts One and Two” December 25, 2009 and January 1, 2010. We thought that the Master, that renegade Time Lord, had died, but you can’t keep a bad man down. John Simm returns in this two-part season finale that sees Tennant’s last performance as The Doctor. Also with guest stars Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred (Donna’s grandfather), Timothy Dalton as the leader of the Time Lords, and Claire Bloom as a mysterious woman with strange powers.

At the end of The End Of Time, David Tennant’s Doctor regenerates into a new Time Lord played by the unknown actor Matt Smith. Smith was joined in the TARDIS by the equally unknown Karen Gillan as the new companion, Amy Pond. As Gillan said in a later interview, she and Matt were an unknown quantity the night the first episode aired, but the two young actors (Smith was 26, Gillan 22) woke up the next morning to find themselves famous stars. Smith can be seen in the recent mini-series “The Crown” playing Prince Philip and Gillan is the female lead in the new film “Jumanji: Lost In The Jungle.”

Season 5, Ep. 1 “The Eleventh Hour” April 3, 2010. After an opening 10 minutes of embarrassingly bad comedy as The Doctor recovers from his change of persona, the script settles down and becomes one of the most memorable Doctor debut stories ever. The Doctor encounters 12-year-old Emilia Pond (Caitlin Blackburn) who has a crack in her bedroom wall. She hears voices from inside the wall. Lucky for her that the TARDIS crashes in her back yard. This episode is a delight that I can watch over and over. It is also a good entry point into Doctor Who as Steven Moffat takes over as showrunner and head writer. It comes close to being a reboot, making it a good place to start if you haven’t seen The Doctor before.

Season 5, Ep. 2 “The Beast Below” April 10, 2010. The Doctor and Amy find the British Empire on a spaceship far from earth when the countries of this plant had fled from solar storms. While placid on the surface, The Doctor senses a police state. Sophie Okonedo guest stars as Queen Elizabeth the Tenth.

Season 5, Ep. 3 “Victory Of The Daleks” April 17, 2010. The Doctor receives a phone call in the TARDIS from Winston Churchill. When he arrives in the midst of the Blitz, Churchill tells him about the latest invention that will quickly end the war. The Doctor is shocked when it turns out to be a Dalek. He can’t convince Churchill of the Daleks true nature.

Season 5, Ep. 4 & Ep. 5 “The Time Of Angels” and “Flesh And Stone” April 24 and May 1, 2010. This series seems to fly in its two-part stories. This adventure is filled with chills and tension and great scenes and set-pieces that make it unforgettable. The Weeping Angels and Prof. River Song (Alex Kingston) both make second appearances.