Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Movie Roundup

We’ve seen several movies lately, but none of them impressed me very much, so instead of individual posts about them I’m just going to make a few comments about each.

I was interested in THE LAST MIMZY because it’s based on a short story by one of my favorite science fiction writers, Henry Kuttner. However, it’s been too long since I read the story, so I don’t know how faithful an adaptation the movie is. I’m guessing, even given the need for updating things, that it’s not very faithful. The movie, about two little kids who find a mysterious artifact, is good-hearted, but that’s part of the problem: it’s not long before everything gets bogged down in touchy-feely political correctness, and that’s not a very good fit with Kuttner’s sly humor.

THE PRIZE WINNER OF DEFIANCE, OHIO is a heartwarming, based-on-a-true-story, Fifties-set family drama about a woman who supports her large family by winning advertising contests, coming up with jingles and slogans, etc. The performances are good and there’s a fine sense of time and place, but overall I didn’t find this film very compelling.

THE QUIET AMERICAN is based on a novel by Graham Greene, and I’m pretty sure that this version, starring Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser, is a remake of an earlier film. But I’m too lazy these days to look up the specifics. It’s also set in the Fifties, in French Indochina (Vietnam) and is full of war, political intrigue, and romance. There are some good scenes here and there, but the slow pace made it hard for me to stay awake. This is also one of those movies where everybody mutters and whispers, so that much of the dialogue is incomprehensible. Thank goodness for captions or I wouldn’t have had the slightest idea what was going on.

I guess watching BANDIDAS and GHOST RIDER recently fouled me up. I got this crazy idea that movies are supposed to be entertaining.

7 comments:

Graham Powell said...

Ha! We've got THE GUNS OF NAVARONE coming in from NetFlix for tonight. The wife is a huge Gregory Peck fan and she's never seen this one. It's very possibly my favorite war/adventure movie ever, up there with WHERE EAGLES DARE, and entertaining as hell.

On the other hand, someday they'll probably remake it with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Movies haven't been very entertaining since they started making them for fourteen year olds because they will go to the same one over and over. We've got The Hard Way, (Ida Lupino , 1943) on tap for tonight.

Bill said...

Thank goodness for Turner Classic Movies!

Anonymous said...

The earlier version of the Quiet American was with Audie Murphy. I think it was from 1958. I saw it about a month ago. I've seen Michael Caine's version too and I think that Audie Murphy's is easier to follow. I think both movies are on the slow side. I like the actors though.

Charles Gramlich said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Charles Gramlich said...

Pretty much all I look for in movies is entertainment. I don't find much depth in them.

Anonymous said...

Your guess is correct about THE LAST MIMZY, if you haven't gone back to check, James. I seem to have made an unpopular decision in pointing this out at YahooFilms and on IMDb.