Everything That Dies, Some Day Comes Back

This excellent 1954 Western is a good example of what happens when you hand over a good story to a competent director (Edward Dmytryk) and a decent cast, headed up by  Spencer Tracy as Matt Devereaux, the domineering owner of a ranching empire and father of four sons — Ben (Richard Widmark), Mike, Denny and Joe (Robert Wagner). T he first three were born to a white wife who died long ago, whilst Joe is the son of an Indian woman (Katy Jurado) who Matt married.  The locals disapprove but given Matt's wealth and importance he can afford to ignore it. But, as we learn, all is not well in th e Devereaux family.  All the sons, especially Ben, resent the fact that Matt treats them as little better than hired hands.  Ben also envies Joe because he is Matt's favourite. The film has an interesting structure, starting with Joe being released from prison after serving a three year sentence.  Matt is dead, and Ben as head of the family tries to get Joe to start a new life e...

Joel McCrea always brings a sense of decency to any of his roles, in a way that even in the days of the Wild West (as in this 1957 Western) must have seemed a mite old fashioned. He always wants to do the right thing - here he’s trying to stop a lot of killing but he sure has his work cut out.   On one side is his bull-headed half-brother Bishop who owns more land than he knows what to do with but who's determined to protect it at any cost. On the other side is a devious piece of work, Harper, who wants to get his hands on Bishop’s cattle.  He has a cunning plan to do so, involving a bunch of innocent settlers who he has brought to Bishop's land, so that there will be a battle between them and Bishop's men.  In addition Harper has employed the services of a criminal, Zarata, and his men.  It's an intriguing setup which held my attention throughout.  Admittedly the settlers are largely a forgettable bunch, other than an eye-catching widow, Ellen, played by Virgin...

This Wes Craven film gave the horror genre a shot in the arm by introducing a meta element, by having the teenage protagonists aware of slasher movie tropes.  This is at its most obvious when a movie buff informs his fellow students of the three rules which films of the type we are watching must follow.  The first of these is that you are safe if you are a virgin which is amusing given that at this precise moment our main character Sidney is losing her virginity to her boyfriend Billy. Sidney has been having a bad time of it: we’re just coming up to the anniversary of the horrific rape and murder of her mother, her father has abandoned her for a business conference, and she has been attacked by a killer who at one point she suspects might be Billy himself. To add insult to injury her fellow students aren’t very sympathetic but then again they are a remarkably unpleasant bunch.  The film starts off with the brutal murder of a couple of students, but no one the next day sho...

This is the third variation on ‘The Lady Vanishes‘ theme which I have watched (the others being 'Flightplan' and 'Fractured'. This one is set in 1889 Paris at the opening of the Great Exhibition.  One of the strengths of the film is the period detail and costumes so that one definitely feels one is there. Another plus is the central performance of Jean Simmons as Vicky, a tourist whose brother Johnny, and room (!), mysteriously disappear overnight.  To add to her distress the somewhat sinister Madame who owns the hotel, together with all the staff, claim that Vicky was alone when she arrived the previous day. The following scenes in which, among other things, she tries to enlist the help of the British Consul and a Chief of Police, and occasionally collapsing into tears, might have been tedious with another actress but not here. The white knight who comes to Vicky's rescue is George (a perfectly cast Dirk Bogarde), a Brit trying his hand at this new-fangled Impressi...

This, the fourth instalment, is generally reckoned to have reinvigorated the franchise after a couple of missteps. Fair enough, but this film is far from perfect, even if it does provide the template for the two much better films to follow. It divides very clearly into three acts, set in Moscow, Dubai, and Mumbai, and without the middle of these and the gobsmacking stunt work up the Burj Khalifa, the film’s problems would be much more evident. For starters, the IMF team here is rather lacklustre.  Luther is scarcely present, and instead we have Jeremy Tenner and Paula Patton.  Neither brings much to the party notwithstanding that the latter does look stunning in a green dress in Mumbai.   The villain is deadly dull (especially compared with Philip Seymour Hoffman in the previous outing), and it’s beyond ridiculous that Ethan has so much trouble overcoming him physically. This is director Brad Bird's live-action debut, which perhaps explains why the action sequences a...

Sometimes translating a literary classic to the modern day ends up simply being gimmicky but in this case transplanting Jane Austen’s Emma to a US High School works a treat. Emma is now Cher, the spoilt and self-confident daughter of a wealthy litigator who has very strong views on everything, especially in respect to the fripperies of life such as fashion.  The outfits she and her friend Dionne wear are a constant delight. Cher (right) and her friend Dionne (dig that hat) Dionne is a character for which there is no equivalent in the so urce novel but who rightly has been added for extra comedy value and to give Cher someone to bounce off.   It’s a skilful adaptation from writer-director Amy Heckerling which generally aims to streamline  the novel by removing characters such as Jane Fairfax and Miss Bates.  Making the Frank Churchill character gay is a nice touch.  For the first half of the film Cher's shallowness is in danger of making her an irritating ch...