Transit

Transit 2018

• Director: Christian Petzold
• Based on the book by Anna Seghers
• Cast: Franz Rogowski, Paula Beer, Godehard Gieser, Lilien Batman,
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• None of them
• Why? It sounded interesting.
• Seen: 22 October 2023 

       The book was written in 1944 and took place in 1942. I wish the director had put it in that time instead of transporting it to the present, but retaining the setting of occupied France in the story. As it is, it doesn’t make sense. I suppose the point was that refugees still seek to flee oppression but why not instead make a film about refugees today fleeing war and oppression?

       The film is colourful, even though much of it takes place in long queues at embassies and consulates, and it is well acted, though the characters aren’t especially interesting.

       A pity. It could have been good, but isn’t, especially. 

2* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

The Haunting

 

The Haunting 1963

• Director: Robert Wise
• Seen by this director: The Sound of Music, West Side Story, I Want to Live
• Based on the book by Shirley Jackson
• Cast: Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, Ross Tamblyn
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Julie Harris – Ellen Foster, Gorillas in the Mist, The Voyage of the Damned, Reflections in a Golden Eye, East of Eden, many TV series
• Claire Bloom – The King’s Speech, Doctor Who, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, The Life and Death of King John, Cymbeline, Hamlet, Charly
• Richard Johnson – The Man Who Knew Infinity, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Lara Croft Tomb Raider, Lady Jane, Cymbeline, Antony and Cleopatra
• Ross Tamblyn – Django Unchained, Twin Peaks, West Side Story
• Why? It’s a classic, as is the book.
• Seen: Once before. Now 21 October 2023 

       Hill House is a huge gloomy Gothic mansion in New England, known for its hundred-year history of mysterious deaths. Professor Markway (Johnson) now wants to do a scientific experiment to prove the house is haunted. He invites three assistants: Eleanor (Harris) escapes her domineering sister after caring for their demanding ailing mother for years. She is timid and downtrodden, but also brave and feisty. Theo (Bloom) is a mod swinger with experience as a psychic. Luke (Tamblyn) is the money hungry playboy nephew of the current owner of Hill House. He regards all this supernatural stuff as nonsense.

       Artistically and dramatically filmed in black and white, it is a spooky and intelligent character study. 

3 ½ * of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Call to Spy

 

A Call to Spy 2019

• Director: Lydia Dean Pilcher
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Sarah Megan Thomas, Stana Katic, Radhika Apted, Linus Roache, Rossif Sutherland
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Stana Katic – Quantum of Solace
• Linus Roache – Yonkers Joe, The Namesake, Batman Begins, The Forgotten, The Chronicles of Riddick, Beyond Borders, Seaforth
• Why? Possibly interesting
• Seen: 20 October 2023                     

            Women spies, WWII. A most worthy subject, the important roles of women in the fight against the Nazis.

       But it all seems so familiar. I know I haven’t seen this particular film but I’ve read so many books and seen other films of the story of women spies, including an episode of Doctor Who.

       Spy stories, even commendable ones like this, generally bore me. But if you know nothing about this period in history, it’s well worth seeing.

 3* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any Day Now

 

Any Day Now 2012

• Director: Travis Fine
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Alan Cumming, Garret Dillahunt, Isaac Leyva, Frances Ford
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Alan Cumming – Doctor Who, The Tempest, X-Men, Titus, Romy and Michelle’s High Scholl Reunion, Golden Eye, Circle of Friends
• Garret Dillahunt – Widows, 12 Years a Slave, Winter’s Bone, The Road, Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, No Country for Old Men
• Frances Fisher – Woman in Gold, The Lincoln Lawyer, Jolene, A House of Sand and Fog
• Why? Possibly interesting
• Seen: 19 October 2023                     

             Rudy (Cumming) is a drag queen just barely getting by financially. He enters into a whirlwind romance with Paul (Dillahunt), an uptight district attorney who when the film starts hasn’t left the closet.

       Rudy’s neighbour boy Marco (Leyva) has Down’s syndrome, his mother has been arrested for drugs and soliciting. Marco runs away from the family care home. Rudy and Paul take Marco under their wing. They start fighting the legal system to get custody of Marco, and eventually adopt him. Though it is clear that they’re wonderful parents and that Marco wants nothing more than to live with them, this is the 70s.

       It’s a very moving film.

 4* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Angel (Engelen)

 

The Angel (Engelen) 2009

• Director: Margreth Olin
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Maria Bonnevie, Gunilla Röör, Antti Reini, Benjamin Helstad, Helena Michaelsen, Milla Olin
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Maria Bonnevie – Fenix
• Gunilla Röör - Tusenbröder
• Antti Reini – Tusenbröder, Moln på drift
• Benjamin Helstad – Flykten från Bastöy
• Why? It sounded good.
• Seen: 16 October 2023                     

             Lea (Bonnevie, Olin and Michaelsen) is a heroin addict and the film starts with her visiting her baby who lives with foster parents.

       Flashbacks to her childhood. Her beloved father dies of cancer. Her mother (Röör) marries an abusive drunk (Reini). Lea grows up and meets Henrik (Helstad), has a baby, gets hooked on heroin, becomes a prostitute to pay for her and Henrik’s addiction.

       It’s depressing and sordid and though the acting is good, it doesn’t really delve into the characters. As tragic as it is, it’s almost banal.

3* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the King's Men

 

All the King’s Men 2006

• Director: Steven Zaillian
• Based on the book by Robert Penn Warren
• Cast: Sean Penn, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Anthony Hopkins, Mark Ruffalo, Patricia Clarkson, James Gondolfini, Kathy Baker
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Sean Penn – many
• Jude Law – many
• Kate Winslet – many including Hamlet
• Anthony Hopkins – Many including Titus
• Patricia Clarkson – many
•  James Gandolfini – many
• Kathy Baker - many
• Why? The Cast
• Seen: 15 October 2023                     

             Fooled by the great cast. Politics, crooked and otherwise. I almost never like films about politics. This one is sort of based on Huey Long, the radical governor of Louisiana in the 30s, who is actually interesting, but the film isn’t.

       I suppose I’ll watch the rest since I’ve got this far.

 2* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love Field

 Love Field 1992

• Director: Jonathan Kaplan

o   Seen by this director: The Accused

• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Michelle Pfeiffer, Dennis Haysbert, Stephanie McFadden, Brian Kerwin, Louise Latham
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:

o   Michelle Pfeiffer – many, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream

o   Dennis Haysbert – The Dark Tower, Dear White People, Good-bye Bafana, Far from Heaven, Heat

o   Brian Kerwin – The Help, The Exonerated

o   Jane Louise Latham – Sugarland Express, many series

• ·        Why? I remember it as good.
• Seen: Once before. Now 14 October 2023       

     

       Lurene (Pfeiffer) idolises Jacqueline Kennedy. When the president is assassinated in Lurene’s hometown Dallas she’s determined to go to the funeral. Her husband Ray (Kerwin) forbids her to go.

       She goes. On the Greyhound bus she befriends a black man Paul (Haysbert) and his little girl Jonelle (McFadden). There is a serious misunderstanding involving cops and the FBI that leads to severe complications.

       Lurene is a sweet, friendly, helpful, ignorant and naïve typical dumb blonde of the early 60’s. Only she’s far from dumb and she’s determined. She learns a lot on this pilgrimage, especially about racism and what black people in America face every day.

 4* of 5