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The Misfits (1961)
Grossly under-appreciated. Highly recommended.
This is one of the most strangely beautiful movies I've ever seen. The opening credits, with its uncertain, uneasy score by Alex North, sets the tone. The modernist, Matisse-like puzzle pieces that won't fit each other sets the theme. This ain't gonna be no cowboy movie and it sure ain't gonna be no comedy (despite the categorization by IMDb, even the "comic relief" scenes are immersed in pathos). The Misfits, directed by John Huston (The Maltese Falcon, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Key Largo, Wise Blood, et al.), stars Clark Gable and Marylin Monroe--both in their last movies before they died--and Montgomery Clift, soon to be another Hollywood tragedy.
The story and screenplay were written by Arthur Miller (The Crucible), who was married to Monroe at the time, and had her in mind for the role of Roslyn. Monroe certainly gives the performance of her career, and Gable, although panned by critics at the time, does as well. He called his performance his best ever, because Huston, in his typical fashion, was "hands off," and allowed him to push himself.
The dialogue is outstanding. In one scene, while driving through the Nevada desert, Isabelle, Roslyn's older friend and played by Thelma Ritter, says,"Cowboys are the last real men in the world, and they're about as reliable as jackrabbits." Roslyn replies,"Is anybody any different? Maybe you're not supposed to believe what people say. Maybe it's not even fair to them."
The overlay of the theme of the death of the Old West--it's 1961 and the men are still chasing mustangs in the desert, which leads to the gripping climax scene--gives the whole thing a Cormac McCarthyesque feel. A grossly under-appreciated film. Highly recommended.
Léon (1994)
It's a shame.
The downer about this film is finding out that Natalie Portman used to be an actress. What the heck happened? I didn't even recognize her as the same dis-engaged pretty face that she has become. Okay, do I really have to write ten lines about the film? I highly recommend it based on Portman's performance alone. Also, the interaction between her character Mathilda--a twelve-year-old--and Jean Reno's Leon is at once touching and horrifying, given the nature of the material. Is Leon criticizing Mathilda for talking to the boy in the street and her liberal use of profanity as a father-figure, or because he's training her to be the "professional cleaner" she wants to become. Portman really does steal the show, though. Her ease with delivering her lines, many quite profane and vulgar, is amazing. Entertaining without being vacuous, this is a fine movie.
Westworld (1973)
Cheeseburger Deluxe with Too Much Mayo
Okay, some questions. Why are they sophisticated enough in the "control room" to have oxygen sensors (oxygen sensors?), but no provision for emergency escape in case of power failure? Why does the robot-wench at the end (who Richard Benjamin thinks is real) short out when he gives her water, yet the Yul Brenner robot-gunslinger character (among other robots)can pour whiskey down its mouth? Hmmm. Okay, and I'll buy the "pistols have sensors in them so the guests won't get killed" thing, but there are swords and maces in Medieval World. What, when a violent enemy swings a mace at your head, it has a "sensor" to stop it in mid-air just short of splattering your head? And the robot-gunslinger can hear Benjamin's breathing 100 yards away in the desert to locate him, but somehow can't locate his breathing four feet away in the castle--because the fire is distracting him? Come on. Do I have to go on? One more. If the robots don't have a normal body temperature, how good can sex be with them? Cold! Oh yeah. Watch the Black Knight's hand in the castle near the end. He is supposed to be "off," yet when we first see him, his thumb is turned up. The next time, his hand is hanging down.
Great story concept, but good science fiction demands more plausibility. And what was supposed to be "authentic" is just every Hollywood cliché about the West. I guess you could make some argument that this is some sort of "meta-thematic" cultural commentary about the authentic West vis-a-vis our conception of it as transmitted to us by Hollywood. But, honestly, the film just isn't that smart. And I'm not going to let it off the hook even if I agreed, since it ignores basic nuts and bolts.