Singing and Dancing Her Way Into High Society

"My Fair Lady"

When did films become so serious?  How come we don't see characters break out into song and dance anymore?  Where are the modern day versions (not encouraging remakes) of Oliver, Westside Story, or Singin' in the Rain?  Newer musicals like Moulin Rouge, Chicago, and Across the Universe can't be compared because they employ modern day movie making techniques that lack the feeling and sensation of watching a film that could have been made 40-50 years ago.   Based off of the hit Broadway musical George Cukor's My Fair Lady embodies all the great characteristics of the musical genre by being a big, grand, old fashioned crowd pleasing picture.

Merry old England hasn't been too kind to lower class, Cockney accented, flower peddling Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn.)  She's a "good girl" who's just trying to make her way in the world and distance herself from her binge drinking father Alfred (Stanley Holloway.)  Eliza is a case of interest for phonetics professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) and his colleague Colonel Pickering (Wilfrid Hyde-White) when the two of them make a wager to turn the "gutter snipe" in to a well mannered, proper speaking lady of high society in six months time.   

From the elegant costumes, to the spacious and meticulously detailed sets, and the large format photography My Fair Lady is quite an event to watch unfold on screen.  This was clearly Warner Brothers' big studio picture of that year.  Made on an estimated budget of 17 million dollars (which by 1964 standards had to have been a good chunk of change) Cukor and his production team put every penny into the design of this film.  The sets by Cecil Beaton are deep and wide providing ample, unrestricted space for the actors to sing and dance around.  The costumes (also by Beaton,) are pure eye candy but also add another layer of character development especially in regards to Eliza.  All of her dresses represent Eliza's growth and change throughout the film's three hour run time adding another dimension to Hepburn's already flawless beauty and performance.  Harry Strandling's camera work is gorgeously mounted as though we were watching the Broadway show on the silver screen, giving us the best seat in the house to see every foreground and background actor in step with each musical number.

Harrison and Hepburn are both delightful in their roles.  Harrison's performance as Professor Higgins is sublime.  His style and manner match his quick witted and condescending remarks towards everyone which is rather amusing to watch.  Hepburn does a supreme job of going through a wonderful but ultimately distressing transformation.  Eliza goes on a journey and by the end of the film we too feel as though we were with her every step of the way.

As if this wasn't already made clear My Fair Lady is a musical and just about every song in the film is pleasing and entertaining to listen to.  There are however at least three songs that could have been cut from the picture.  Two of them are sung by Eliza’s father.  Holloway's performance is far from lousy; in fact he gives the role all he's got.  It's the character of Alfred that is problem.  He is not a terribly likable guy and the few scenes he has on screen feel unnecessary and too distracting from the story.  These few detours could have been avoided while still getting the message across about the relationship Eliza had with her father.     

My Fair Lady is what the modern day musical should aspire to be.  Unfortunately studio politics come into play and they don't want to put the time or money into some out of date style of filmmaking.  They figure it'll be unprofitable and today's audiences won't be able to relate to anything that's going on in the film and will be bored with the end result.   If only the studios were willing to take risks every once and while they would find that there is a feasible market for this style of old fashioned filmmaking for a genre that nowadays has been left on the shelf to collect dust.  Wouldn't it be loverly that with a little bit of luck the studios could grow accustomed to churning out some quality musical pictures on a yearly basis like they used to.  Fortunately home video media does exist allowing a younger audience (who appreciates cinema)  to experience the film in some medium.  My Fair Lady stands tall and will leave you too with the feeling of having danced all night alongside Eliza. 

Boy Is It Hot In Here

"In the Heat of the Night"

1967 was a big year for actor Sidney Poitier.  He starred in two racial tension heavy films.  The first was Stanley Kramer's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and the second was Norman Jewison's In the Heat of the Night.  Poitier gives powerfully unforgettable performances in both pictures.  Their stories are quite different from each other but both films deal with the same subject matter.  The latter film deals with racism on a broader societal scale leaving a deeper impact from the issues dealt with on screen.

The time is 1966.  The place is Sparta, Mississippi.  The weather is hot and humid much like the folks of Sparta.  A big time factory owner has just been found murdered.  Police Chief Gillespie (Rod Steiger) and his inept department reluctantly authorize Philadelphia homicide specialist Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) to conduct an investigation to solve the case.  Gillespie keeps Tibbs on a short leash in regards to the safety of both of their lives.  Tibbs is a man on a mission and won't let anyone get in his way even if it means risking his own life.  There's only so much Gillespie can do to keep the local yokels at bay before the town reaches its boiling point. 

Poitier and Steiger each give powerhouse performances.  Every scene with the two of them together is convincing, dynamic, electrifying, and influential.  To see these two actors go head to head with each other is really something to watch.  Gillespie and Tibbs' characters are so richly engrossing with so many complexities about them that we really get a sense of who these men are and where they're coming from given their polar personalities.

The screenplay adapted from the novel of the same name does a fine job of weaving important civil rights issues in and out throughout the overlaying murder mystery plot.  Writing this is tricky because the film clearly has a socially conscious agenda.  However In the Heat of the Night never comes off as egotistic or imposing to its audience.  The film deals with a very real and ugly time period that took place in America.  In the Heat of the Night addresses these weighing issues in such a manner that are both emotionally enthralling and socially perceptive.

Jewison's direction is masterful.  The gravity of each scene is perfectly balanced by Poitier and Steiger's performances and Hal Ashby's editing.  Tension is constantly high throughout the film.  Many scenes have a theatrical quality about them by limiting the camera movement and letting the actors carry us through each confrontation with their rousing performances.  There's nothing fancy or flashy about the aesthetics of this film.  This is old school filmmaking at its best.  Jewison's understanding of the material from the solid screenplay and strong performances he gets from his actors in order to achieve the final on screen result is something exceptional to view.

In the Heat of the Night is of a certain caliber of filmmaking that is seldom seen nowadays.  This is the kind of film that raises awareness without being preachy and self-righteous.  The picture works on so many levels thematically and cinematically it's hard not to feel affected afterwards.  It brings up thought provoking issues because it's a thought provoking film that changed cinema for years to come.  Be sure to leave your sweaters behind for this film, In the Heat of the Night turns up the thermostat and will leave you sweltering from its radiating heat.                      

The Eagle Topples Over In Battle

"The Eagle"

Ancient Roman history has always been a subject of fascination in text books and classrooms.  It is pretty rare though for this place and time in world history to be a rousing  form of entertainment when seen on the big screen.  In recent cinematic memory Ridley Scott's Gladiator was an exception to this particular period genre.  Kevin MacDonald's The Eagle remains in the shadows of its bigger, older brother.

In 120 A.D. Flavius Aquila (Aladár Laklóth,) commanding officer of the Ninth Legion of Rome ventured into the unexplored territory of Northern Great Britain with 5,000 of his men.  They were never seen again along with this great golden eagle they brought with them.  The eagle was considered a supreme symbol of Rome.  Twenty years later Flavius’ son Marcus (Channing Tatum,) a young but high ranking Centurion soldier is honorably discharged from the military because of wounds he sustained in an earlier battle.  Marcus grows restless and unwilling to accept his retirement.  He tells his uncle (Donald Sutherland) he will go back in to the unconquered region of Britain and attempt to restore the family name by reclaiming the eagle for Rome. 

To aid Marcus through the hostile terrain is his slave Esca (Jamie Bell) who can speak the region's language and act as navigator.  The pair soon encounters one of the inhabiting war like tribes and are taken to their camp.  Luckily for Marcus and Esca this specific tribe happens to be the keepers of the golden eagle.  Now it's a question of how to get iconic statue back to its rightful owners.

The Eagle is quite lovely to look at in regards to its broad landscapes.  The film was shot on location in Hungary and Scotland under the camera work of Director of Photography Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire.)  Earthy greens and browns are abundant throughout the film's color palette with splashes of sunlight that pierce through the tall trees.  Sorry to say that Mantle's praiseworthy photography just isn't enough to keep The Eagle from standing tall.

The battle sequences are hastily cut together without ever giving us a chance to become fully enveloped in the restrained PG-13 action.  The ways these soldiers are talked about and described for the duration of the film are never fully realized.  These are brutal, unforgiving Centurions we're talking about here.  Let's see them act like it; spill some blood on the battlefield for crying out loud. 

The first hour is consumed by tedious character and plot development.  With only roughly 40 minutes remaining does the plot begin to pick up the pace.  The film is barely able to hold our attention up to that point except for the previously mentioned sub par action sequences.  Bell and Tatum's performances are passable but their characters are ho hum and aren't given a lot to do.  Marcus and Esca are physically demanding roles which Bell and Tatum do meet the challenge of but their characters lack the emotional investment we should feel towards the two of them.

There are probably bits and pieces of an interesting history lesson somewhere in The Eagle.  For the most part it's lost due to the inadequate screenplay with its tepid, predicable storyline and lackluster characters.  There isn't anything terribly memorable about the film because most of the scenes don't carry any sort of weight to them.  While The Eagle is able to achieve a noteworthy cinematic display it ceases to rise above that.  The Roman sandals on this film are only half laced.   

 

This Superhero Stays Grounded

"Super"

Superman can fly, The Hulk has super strength, Spiderman can web sling his way across a city skyline, and The Crimson Bolt aka Frank D'Arbo (Rainn Wilson) can bash people's heads in with a pipe wrench.  That's right, the hero of director James Gunn's latest flick Super uses a pipe wrench to thwart his villainous foes.  Their criminal deeds include dealing drugs, molesting children, mugging, and butting in line.

Inspiration comes to Frank after catching bits and pieces of show off the AJN (All Jesus Network) from an actor playing a character called The Holy Avenger (Nathan Fillion.)  He also has a vision of being touched by the hand (or finger in this case) of God.  Frank then receives his calling to become a super hero. His mission is to save Sarah (Liv Tyler) his recovering addict of a wife, who has fallen under the seduction of the drug dealing lowlife Jacques (Kevin Bacon.)  With the help of his side kick Boltie aka Libby (Ellen Page,) a foul mouthed 22 year old comic book store employee, together they dash off to save the day under their motto, "Shut up crime!"

        This film does have some humorous and also considerably bloody sequences that retain a certain comic book panel quality about them. This is due in part to some stylistic gore effects used throughout the film.  It's Super's characters that aren't as engaging as they could be.  

Unfortunately, despite decent performances from Wilson and Page, Super's protagonists lack the real one two punch that dynamic duos should have.  At first we are on Frank's side and want him to succeed but slowly we lose interest in him.  His character never seems to achieve superhero status.  All the religious implications that seem to drive Frank to something that he ultimately does not want to be are in retrospect too silly and out of place in the story.

Libby is a real fire cracker when we first encounter her.  Page brings a level of energy to Super's first and second acts.  By the time the third rolls around though her character is now a nuisance and Libby's intentions towards Frank become crass and uneven to the plot.  In fact the whole third act comes off as quite rushed with the characters scrambling around in the blood splattered finale as if making up for time that was used in some unnecessary scenes from the previous two acts.

There are moments when Gunn knows what a superhero should look like.  Those scenes are few and far between even with the film's brisk 96 minute run time.  Super wants to deliver on a number of levels the characteristics of a superhero flick. But ultimately the film never really accomplishes the goals it sets for itself.  A good effort by its cast and crew that just doesn’t shatter through brick walls, stop speeding locomotives, or zip around skyscrapers.