Charade review

 Number 280 on the top 1000 films of all time is Stanley Donen's romantic comedy mystery 'Charade.'

Regina "Reggie" Lampert is a translator holidaying in the French alps when she receives the news that her husband Charles has been murdered while leaving Paris. He is also accused of stealing $250,000 during World War 2. Together with the handsome, morally duplicitous Brian Cruikshank (Cary Grant) she must solve the mystery. George Kennedy, James Coburn and Walter Matthau all co-star.

Charade has been described as the best Hitchcock film that Hitchcock never made and it certainly has all the hallmarks of a Hitchcock film: plenty of plot twists, a knife-edge atmosphere, ambiguous characters and, of course, Cary Grant. But Charade was a formidable effort from Stanley Donen. And it deserves to be reviewed on its own merits.

Thrillers, like any other genre, can tend to be formulaic. Attractive female lead is embroiled in a mystery which she can't possibly solve without the help of an attractive male lead. There's a deformed villain in the shape of the hook-handed Herman Scobie played by the gigantic George Kennedy, and throw in a Henry Mancini score for good measure. Yet Donen kept things refreshing by obscuring Cruikshank in shades of grey. He is not your generic, clear-cut hero, but something far more mysterious. The audience is trying to figure out his identity at the same time as Reggie. And considering his identity changes multiple times, there is a detective work to do. The title 'Charade' has never been more appropriate.

Cary Grant also turned his hand well to the comedy. The tense atmosphere threatens to be a bit stuffy, but he kept things light with his comedic timing and goofy facial expressions. Audrey Hepburn was also a very likeable protagonist. She is just an innocent woman who is inadvertently embroiled in a mystery and it's easy to want her to succeed.

Overall, I absolutely enjoyed this film. Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn were great as the leads. As for being the best Hitchcock film that Hitchcock never made, I would certainly agree with that.

Papillon review

 Number 275 on the top 1000 films of all time is the historical drama epic prison film 'Papillon.'

Henri 'Papillon' Charierre (Steve Mcqueen) is a famed safecracker who is sent to prison after being wrongly convicted for the murder of a pimp. He is sentenced to life imprisonment in the penal system of French Guiana in a supposedly inescapable prison. Within the prison, he meets famed counterfeiter Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffman) and the two become fast friends as they scheme to escape the prison together.

This was the 350th film that I have watched since I've started slogging through this list. And I've come to the conclusion that two hours is my cut off point. If a film is over two hours there has to be a very good reason. The Godfather, the Green Mile and Braveheart are all notable exceptions, but then you get films like the Last of the Mohicans, Gone with the Wind or, indeed, Papillon that just go on and on and on. You think you've reached the ending, but then there's another ending and another and another. This isn't to say that they are necessarily bad films, but they're all much longer than they need to be. Papillon is no exception to this rule.

Similarly to the Last of the Mohicans, it was very bloated. There was a lot of slow-motion and grandiose music that made the film half an hour longer than it needed to be. And then we come to the various endings. We see Papillon, Degas and orderly Maturette (Robert Deman) escape the prison and wash up on Honduras. We could have ended the film there, but then we see Papillon being taken in by a native tribe, in probably one of the slowest portions of the film, before being recaptured and taken back to the prison. 

Again, it could have ended there, but Papillon is moved to the remote Devil's island where he re-unites with Degas who has since lost his marbles. Papillon then tries another escape attempt by diving into the sea. We could have ended things here, but we get a voiceover telling us that he survives and finally the film ends. These constants endings really killed the tension. It would have been nice if things were left up to the viewer, but any ambiguity was completely dispelled. 

Also the sound mixing wasn't very good either. There were multiple scenes especially when Papillon and Degas are being brought by boat to the prison, where it was difficult to hear the characters speaking over the sound of the waves. I'm sure I missed many important details there.

The film wasn't all bad though. Steve McQueen was great as the formidable Papillon. He is sent there after coming to Degas' aid by attacking a guard. Degas returns the favour by sneaking him food in solitary confinement and Papillon never gives up his friend. Papillon almost loses his mind in solitary as the guards starve him and leave him in darkness. It is difficult to believe that anybody could survive torture like that. And the scene where we see a prisoner being guillotined, as a warning, was disturbing to watch.

It is a shame about the bloating and the slow motion and the multiple endings, because it did have the potential to be a great film. 

La Dolce Vita review

 Number 212 on the top 1000 films of all time is Federico Fellini's 'La Dolce Vita.'

Marcello Rubini (Marcello Mastroianni) is a tabloid journalist who is going through a mid-life crisis. To rediscover his passion in life, he spends seven days and nights journeying through Rome.

This is my third Fellini film after 8 1/2 and La Strada and I was really hoping it would be closer to the latter than the former. But alas it was not to be. Just like 8 1/2, La Dolce Vita was slow, boring and surreal. It reminds me of Modernist literature where nothing happens in the real world. Everything plays out in the character's minds. And there's nothing inherently wrong in having films that are effectively character studies, but you need to have interesting and likeable characters. Similarly, to the Great Gatsby, La Dolce Vita is populated by rich people having existential moments. These are people I'm never going to relate to or care about. You can only imagine my horror at realising that I have to watch these characters for three bloody hours.

And that is especially true of the arrogant and unlikeable Marcello who very much has a meltdown at film's conclusion. All of the movie's themes culminate in the surrealist and most vulgar way. Marcello and his friends break into a beach house. Marcello becomes drunk and tries inciting the partygoers into having an orgy. He then has a young woman crawling on her knees and starts to ride her before covering her in alcohol, ripping a pillow and sticking feathers to her. And he only does this out of spite as the partygoers refused to agree to his demands. Yet the young woman is fine with it? And nobody else reacts to this. It's just so weird.

You get surrealism and then you get Fellini. He is on a whole other level. Let me tell you, I did not have a good life while watching this film.

His Girl Friday review

 Number 260 on the top 1000 films of all time is Howard Hawks' 1940 screwball comedy 'His Girl Friday.'

Walter Burns (Cary Grant) is a newspaper editor who is about to lose his top journalist and ex-wife Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell) to another man. To win her back, he convinces her to cover one more story with him - the case of murderer Earl Williams (John Qualen.)

Something interesting happened when I explained this film to my girlfriend. She didn't know what I meant by a screwball comedy. And that's when I realised that like film-noir, screwball comedies are a film genre that has been left behind in the Golden Age of Hollywood. I was trying to think of modern-day examples of screwball comedies and I couldn't. And I think that's because they don't make comedies quite like these anymore.

Modern-day comedy, for the most part, have an over-reliance on crude double entendre or crass, over-the-top physical comedy. Of course there are exceptions, but that is generally the rule. They lack all the subtlety and nuance of screwball films like The Apartment, Some Like it Hot or even His Girl Friday. His Girl Friday balances farcical situations and understated physical comedy well. So that Hily and Walter can gain a scoop in the story, they hide Williams in a rolltop desk which leads to a bunch of great gags. One of the best is to emphasise how the desk is empty Walter bangs on it. Unfortunately, Williams bangs back and is discovered.

You could argue that Walter isn't the most likeable of protagonists. He very much manipulates his wife into staying with him and mystifyingly his ploys work - by the film's end, Walter and Hildy reconcile and agree to remarry. But then again this is a screwball comedy - effectively a reworked love story and a love story always needs to have a happy ending. 

The Help review

 Number 247 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 2011 period comedy-drama 'The Help.' 

Based on Kathryn's Stockett's book of the same name, the Help follows aspiring writer Eugenia 'Skeeter' Phelan (Emma Stone) in 1960's Mississippi. Skeeter, inspired by the horrific racism inflicted upon African American maids, decides to write a book telling their side of the story. Two of the maids she interviews are Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) and Minerva 'Minny' Jackson (Octavia Spencer.) Aibileen has the misfortune of serving the vile and racist Hillary "Hilly" Walters Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard) while Minny serves the ditzy but kind-hearted Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain.)

In modern cinema, representation remains a divisive issue. However, I would argue that the Help is representation done right. It There is constant outrage over characters who are historically white being recast with POC actors in the name of diversity i.e the Little Mermaid. The outrage isn't focussed on seeing POC characters represented on screen, but rather with how they're represented. It's argued that instead of taking stories and replacing the white character with a black actor, film makers should be more creative and think of an original story or instead adapt a story with historically black characters. Hidden Figures, Green Book and Twelve years a Slave are all great examples of representation done right. And I would add the Help to that list.

It is a film that takes the challenging topic of race relations and tells it through the perspective of its victims. The stories of the African-American maids are put front-and-centre. Aibileen and Minny both retell the horrific abuse they've experienced - Minny is fired from her job for using the guest bathroom, which she is forbidden from because she's black. Meanwhile, Aibileen reveals that her son died after an accident at works leads to him being dumped at the "coloured hospital." Maybe if he was white, he would have received the medical attention he deserved. Davis and Spencer worked brilliantly together, playing the comedic and dramatic roles with a great sensitivity.

Inevitably, the film has been accused of a white saviour narrative, as although it is recounting the stories of African-American maids, it is doing so through a white voice i.e Skeeter's book. But I wouldn't agree with this. Minny initially refuses to help Skeeter, because she has neither asked or wanted Skeeter's help to tell her story. When Minny relents and agrees to tell her story, she stresses that it is on her terms. In some ways, the Help is acknowledging and dispelling the accusations of white savourism in one fell swoop. Furthermore, this isn't some non-issue that's been blown out of proportion, these are serious issues that need to be told.

Unlike Twelve Years a Slave which is brutal and unflinching in its portrayal of race relations, The Help is far more subtle and understated. It shows the insidious nature of racism. Hilly is a socialite who is campaigning for there to be segregated toilets in the household - one for the white people and one for the black people. And of course the toilets for black people are in a far worse condition. In her misguided way, she thinks she is doing this for the benefit of everybody, white and black, when her actions, of course, only benefit white people.

But, moreover, the Help is also nuanced in its portrayal of African-American households. After Minny loses her job, she is beaten by her husband. And it is obvious that this isn't the first time. We don't see this play out on screen, but rather hear it, as Aibileen is phoning her friend at the same time. Hearing the beating and seeing its aftermath will always be more effective than seeing it for real.

If anything, I would say that the white characters were badly represented. They all dressed and looked very similar which, at first, made it very hard to delineate one from the other.  This wasn't just the case for Emma Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard and Jessica, but all of the older white women. I kept getting everybody mixed up.

It was refreshing to see a film that not only had good representation of race, but also gender. It was very refreshing to see a predominantly female cast. And it shows that if representation and diversity are done right, films can be all the more better for it.

Donnie Darko review

 Number 209 on the top 1000 films of all time is Richard Kelly's science-fiction, psychological thriller 'Donnie Darko.'

Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a schizophrenic high schooler who also sleepwalks. He is haunted by an apparition of a man in a bunny mask who warns him about the coming end of the world. Meanwhile, Donnie also becomes fascinated by the notion of time travel and starts researching into spaceships and portals.

This was a weird, surreal film. A film that you think has to mean something. But maybe it doesn't mean anything and maybe that's the point. Nihilism is a central theme of this film. Donnie might be mentally unstable, but he is also very intelligent. His English teacher Karen Pomeroy (Drew Barrymore) thinks so when he gives an astute interpretation of Graham Greene's short story 'the Destructors.' His physics teacher notices Donnie's interest in time travel and gives him a book called 'the Philosophy of Time Travel,' written by once famed scientist Roberta Sparrow, now a senile old woman living on the edge of town. But Donnie also not afraid to challenge authority and to take the meaning that's so important to adults and reducing it to nothing.

His gym teacher Kitty Farmer (Beth Grant) plays self-help tapes by self-help guru Jim Cunningham (Patrick Swayze) as part of her class. Donnie openly criticises these trapes. When Cunningham visits the school, Donnie publicly challenges his ideas. A meaning that holds so much value so so many is scattered into the wind.

And, of course, lots of meaning has been attributed to Donnie's hallucination of the man in the bunny mash. As well as providing ominous warnings, it also acts as the devil on Donnie's shoulder - pushing him into delinquent acts like flooding his school or burning down Cunningham's house. Perhaps the rabbit represents our unconscious desire to cause or mayhem or to challenge the system. it's always waiting in the background ready to strike, only leashed by our own vague senses of morality. A fluid morality that can change on the drop of the hat. 

The time travel aspect links in nicely to a key theme of the film - you have to find happiness wherever you can. As the film progresses, Donnie's nihilism slowly dissolves as he starts to finding meaning, partially due to his new girlfriend Gretchen (Jena Malone.) Once he has found his meaning and his happiness, he enters a wormhole sending him twenty-eight days back in time.

Having said all of that, considering the film's nihilism, a lot of my review is completely meaningless as well. So, I'll end on an unobjectionable point. Gary Jules' cover of Mad World by Tears for Fears, is the perfect way to conclude this film, as well as one of the best covers of all time.

Notorious review

 Number 198 on the top 1000 films of all time is Alfred Hitchcock's spy film noir 'Notorious.'

Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) is the American daughter of a Nazi spy who has just been sent to prison. She is recruited by government agent T.R Devlin (Cary Grant) to investigate Nazi officials who have escaped to Brazil at the end of the second World War especially Alex Sebastian (Claude Rains.) She has orders to seduce him, but things become more complicated when Huberman and Devlin fall in love with each other.

Although this film has considerable star power from Cary Grant to Ingrid Berman to Claude Rains, but the standout star had to be Leopoldine Konstatin as Sebastian's mother 'Madame Anna Sebastian.' She was the true villain of the piece and unlike her son, she actually had a spine. Lady Macbeth characters are always great to watch and Anna was no exception. It wasn't a big or powerful role, but you can always feel her presence in the background.

As part of the plan to glean information, Huberman is ordered to accept Sebastian's proposal of marriage. Anna is naturally suspicious of Huberman, but the hapless Alex is blinded by love. That is, until he eventually discovers the truth. Not only is his beloved an American spy, but she is also in love with another man. But it isn't he who decides her fate, but his mother. She orders that he poison her.

At the film's end, Devlin rescues Huberman from Sebastian's mansion in full view of Sebastian's Nazi pals. He takes her to the hospital, but deliberately leaves the Nazi behind. Sebastian, who has become under suspicion from his supposed allies, is forced to face the music.

This was an enjoyable watch from the Golden Age of Cinema and another great contribution to the film noir genre. Cary Grant fit a little too well into the role of the debonair all-American hero, but Leopoldine Konstatin shone as Madame Anna Sebastian.