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Bella (2006)
I'd take advice from the chef
For most Americans, the most memorable Mexican character is Speedy Gonzales. The producers are trying to change that with a sullen "Mexi-Rican" named Jose. He's a respected chef in a well-run Mexican restaurant which he proceeds to disrupt with a tardy waitress named Nina. These two walk on familiar streets in Manhattan, take the subway, do lunch, take the LIRR, eat with Mama and Papa, and take long walks on the beach and even meet a real Twilight Zone character who may or may not be blind. Not a bad day at all.
It's a movie that moves both fast and slow: I can't figure out who this Veronica character is, who are those two guys in the car at the beginning of the movie, why Jose wants to sit in the death car, and what's the connection between the three little girls some of who only appear in a black-and-white dream sequence? We've seen the tension of platonic relationships before in such classics as Gigi and Pretty Woman. This movie deserves a prequel or a sequel. So many loose ends: I wonder if those kids are still upset that they never got the promised soccer ball, and when will they tell Manny that's he adopted? Is this the first of many movies based on those popular Mexican television novellas? As Speedy or Bart Simpson would say "Ai! Carumba!"
They Won't Forget (1937)
Period film. Worth watching for a few scenes.
This is a fictionalized version of the 1913 murder of Mary Phagan (here called Mary Clay, played by 16 or 17 year old Lana Turner) made 24 years later and before three confessions were made that pointed to the guilt of the black janitor, so at the time of the filming the writers and audience lacked the certainty which we have that a innocent man was lynched.
The "what" of title "They Won't Forget" is not the murder, but the fact that the South for four years was a separate country which proudly defended their distinct way of life. The movie uses Confederate Memorial Day (April 26) as the backdrop for the rationalization of prejudice.
The good parts of the movie: the characters are introduced, Lana Turner's walk across the town, the over-the-top scene where Joe Turner (Elisha Cook Jr) is interrogated (Star Trek fans will recognize him), and the barber shop. And I liked the final scene.
What's wrong with this movie: it's primitive even, I think, by the standards of 1937. Everything is rather stagey. One camera pointed at the center of the stage and roll. No voice coaches, ADR, etc. so you have a bunch of people complaining about "Yankees" in New York accents, Mid-West accents, and Claude Rains' London accent which he's masking only about half the time. When a real Southern accent is spoken, you are shocked to hear it.
If the movie is about prejudice, there's not much of it. It's only implied because a genuine portrayal of prejudice would be unacceptable to audiences.
There was political correctness even back in the 30's. Rains is simply miscast as a Southern bigot.
It's meant to be a mystery but they provide no motive for the murder other than to cover up a rape -- but what's the motive for the rape? Robert Perry Hale has a young attractive wife and the two are deeply in love. Why there wasn't more suspicion towards the janitor in this movie is a bit of a puzzle. In the Phagan case, it was hatred of the Jews that was spectacular and headline-grabbing.
The worst scenes of the movie are the courtroom scenes. I think I and the other commenters have seen many, many movies where a trial is simply written and directed better. Because it's 1937 a lot of elements were not yet clichés (the defendant standing up shouting "That's a lie") and the mother of the victim crying hysterically in the presence of the jury.
I liked the final scene which is a showdown between the wife of the lynched man and the district attorney and a newspaper reported is interesting. She thinks she can reach the consciences of these two who she knows conspired to start the chain of events that killed her husband. Rather than laughing at this naive appeal to honor and conscience they treat her with respect.
Screaming Eagles (1956)
Interesting and unusual
Tom Tryon's first movie. He is over the top as being the most unlikeable soldier in the 101st Division. Some 20 miles behind German lines on Day-D minus 12 hours they are casually taking prisioners. They encounter a tri-lingual French woman for sweet talking the Germans who let them pass thru to the American lines in the North. It's all highly improbable. The bad attitude shown by Private Mason (Tryon) should have gotten him transfered into a less critical position. I think of all the unlikely things in this movie, the fact that no one beats the stuffing out of Mason is the most unusual thing about the movie. Another strange thing about this movie, is that the unit doesn't accomplish its mission, you get reminded at the end what they were supposed to do in the first place.
Command Decision (1948)
People who fought WWII without hearing gunfire
Just saw this on TCM. The story of generals fighting generals, press officers, politicians, etc. There's a few cliches, like the pilot who get news his wife has had a son gets killed during a mission. Don't expect Gable to give an over-the-top performance. It was originally a stage play -- so there are lots of one-on-one confrontations -- they are all done well.
There are no special effects, no women, no air battles. There's spliced in newsreel footage of a plane that lands and explodes. 1948 audiences couldn't really appreciate the abstraction of "air supremacy" that is the heart of the fight here. In our post-Gulf War post-Afghan War -- we now can appreciate the vision of men who took these risks -- so I'd say there's a special historical importance to this film. Check around the web for info on Gable's WW II service record -- he enlisted at age 41 into the Army Air Corps.