Miracle Mile (1988)

I did not like this movie, despite the cast (Mare Winningham, Robert DoQui, Mykelti Williamson) and premise - a nuclear war/apocalyptic film set in the modern day (late 80s). At the film screening I watched it at, the programmer described this film as a movie that "put an exclamation point" on all cold-war era films, since this was pretty much the last movie that touched the subject of nuclear hysterics. The director only made a couple of other low-budget movies like this one, but this one has a number of effects and stunts that might normally be found in a slighter higher budget film.

I felt as if I was constantly being asked by this movie to suspend my disbelief, and I gave up about a quarter into the movie. The movie starts out as a cute John Hughes-esque romantic comedy (the director has admitted this) but about a quarter into the film, the main character Anthony Edwards learns about an coming nuclear attack and everyone around him panics, which spreads. I liked the scenes in the cafe/diner and was hoping the entire movie would take place there with just those characters and their lives we focus on.

That might have made for a good movie.

But instead, it becomes a horror/thriller/action film. The worst part is when Edwards runs into a gym at 5 AM and asks random people, "does anyone know how to fly a helicopter"? I suppose that could be funny, but come on. If the end of the world is nigh, wouldn't you try to call your family and friends? Maybe he didn't have any.

The Shape of Water (2017) - an original story or an adapted story?

Last summer I saw a trailer for the film The Shape of Water, which really piqued my interest, as it seemed to be a mysterious and visually intriguing movie, with actors I really enjoy (Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer).

I watched the film in December, and though I found it watchable for the most part, I didn't think it was very a original story; as it was essentially a new twist on an old tale. One thing that especially didn't sit with me well was the dialogue; it felt as if the actors were all using language and speaking as if it were modern times and not early 1960s, and that was a bit distracting. I imagined what the film would be like if it were in a foreign language with subtitles, or set in another country, as it may have worked for me a bit better.

I was surprised that the film received so many Oscar nominations this year; it may win some technical awards, and possibly best picture, director, actress, and possibly Best Original Screenplay - emphasis on "Original".

Leading up to the Awards ceremony, there's been some controversy surrounding the film, with questions being raised as to whether the filmmakers are guilty of plagiarizing the story from another work - a play called Let Me Hear You Whisper by Paul Zindel. The play was also made into two films - 1969 version and a 1990 version. 

I was not familiar with the story or the films, but people who have been pointing out the similarities on Twitter and other social media since last summer. In this article from Hollywood Nerd, the similarities are pointed out, and they are remarkable.  There's also some people who are questioning that director Guillermo del Toro was influenced to write the film based on a story idea he heard from  novelist Daniel Kraus who may have been familiar with the Zindel story (article here). A few other similar court cases about plagiarism are noted in this article here.

According to a recent Deadline article, del Toro claims he's never seen nor heard of the original play, which may be true but quite a coincidence because the two stories are so similar. One would think that at least a credit such as "Inspired by a Story by Paul Zindel" would be appropriate. If the film wins Best Picture, I may be a bit miffed not so much because of this controversy, but because I still feel that in 1992, Beauty and the Beast should have won the Best Picture Oscar, and feel that was a far better fairy tale film.

The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming! (1966)

Zany comedy about a group of Russian sailors - led by Alan Arkin -  who find themselves stranded on a small, tight-knit New England island town. Not able to speak the language, they try to steal a boat to get off of the island hoping not to encounter any of the locals. Eventually rumors spread all over the island about invaders and everyone panics ("It's all over!" predicts one paranoid resident).

The Russians disguise themselves as as locals

There are some funny sight gags and comedic bits involving the paranoid townsfolk. One bit has Jonathan Winters at the kitchen table with his 8 little children prepping the family about a possible attack. There's a town drunk that's funny, and an old woman who gets tied to a chair while her near-sighted husband hardly notices.

But there are some softer moments, too, especially the scenes involving one of the Russians falling in love with a young woman.  Carl Reiner and Eva Marie Saint are the only two people who know why the Russians are there and try to explain it to everyone else. Another voice of reason is Brian Keith, who plays the police chief. Also starring Theodore Bikel.

It's an enjoyable satire about paranoia in the days before cable news, the internet, smart phones phones, and Twitter.

Ladybug Ladybug (1963)

William Daniels playing a teacher 30 years before
he played one on television on Boy Meets World

"...a picture dedicated to life"

That's the tagline to this haunting anti-war film, which attempted to express on film how people were feeling about nuclear war at the time. The setting is a rural school that has frequent duck-and-cover drills. One day an alarm goes off; its color-coded light indicates a nuclear attack within an hour. The principal dismisses all of the children per protocol, even though no one is sure whether it's a malfunction or the real thing. The concept makes for a good, thrilling drama.

William Daniels, one of my favorite actors, plays the straight laced principal convincingly. Nancy Marchand is one of the teachers who is assigned to walk the pupils home, breaking her heels in the process. Along the way, one her music students says to another, "I'm a Soprano", which is kind of funny to a modern viewer who might be familiar with Ms. Marchand's work on the television show The Sopranos.

Estelle Parsons assures her frightened daughter that
if there really was going to be a nuclear attack,
they'd hear announcements on the radio.

In the meantime, the principal and the other school employees frantically try to connect with someone via the one telephone line in the building, but they keep getting busy signals (there was no voice mail back then) They also have no way of communicating any status updates with the other teachers who have left to walk the children home. This movie should really make you appreciate your cell phone, among other things.

The main focus of the film is on how the children react. As one child goes home, she's frightened to death; her down-to-earth mother (Estelle Parsons) tries to calm her senses. It's sad to see the little girl run to her room and hide under the bed with her fish in the fishbowl. Another group of students stick together in a shelter and argue amongst each other about war.

This film serves as another interesting time capsule of this period in history.

I didn't know what the title meant until I looked it up and found it was the title of a nursery rhyme which I was never familiar with it during my school days in the 1980s. I did recognize the monkey doll in one of the rooms to be Curious George; I did read and loved all those books.

Hard-boiled Cinema: Exploring Communism in American films of the 1950s

In the Spring of 2004, I enrolled in Facets Film School's 6-week appreciation series that dealt with the subject of blacklisted and/or propagandized American films from the 1950s, during the Cold War era.

Our instructor was Robert Keser. I learned alot from this course about communism and the impact the cold war had on the society and in films. We discussed the blacklisting of filmmakers/actors and how communism, socialism, activist movements, and public/government attitudes were was portrayed on the screen during this time.

Each week we watched a feature film from the 1950s during the McCarthy years. After each film, we discussed and analyzed the messages in the films. My notes are summarized below.

Week 1 (5/6/2004)
Christ in Concrete / Give Us This Day
Starring actor Sam Wanamaker. British audiences did not like the fact that the film had "Christ" in the title, so the title was changed in the UK to "Give Us This Day". In some other parts of the world it was called "Salt of the Devil".

Week 2 (5/14/2004)
I Can Get It For You Wholesale (951)

In 1947, there was the Taft Hartley act, which forced people to renounce communist ties if they are in unions. There was the Hollywood 19, who were all subpoenaed. In 1951 we had the Hollywood 10. Almost all were writers. One of these who were called in was actor Larry Parks.

We also discussed the following films:

• The Iron Curtain, the first movie to discuss the communist scare.
• Red Scare (1949), one of the most famous movies about communism, from New Republic Films.
• Joan of Ozark (1942) starring Judy Canova, made by Republic Films. Not about communism but about Nazi spys.

Week 3 (5/21/2004)
My Son John (1952)
A very interesting movie on so many levels. Stars Ms. Helen Hayes, Oscar-winning actress and stage veteran. Directed by 3-time Oscar winning director, Leo McCarey.  Before the film started, our instructor warned the class by calling the film "A Very bad film".

As the movie began, I was eager to see what was so bad about it. I was surprised; the film was not really as bad as our teacher made it seem, at least in my opinion. In fact, I found the film to be very memorable, especially the final scene which I can't give away just yet.

Week 4 (5/29/2004)
Pickup on South Street (1953) Starring Richard Widmark, Thelma Ritter, Jean Peters. Directed by Samuel Fuller

Week 5

Salt of the Earth (1954 - Dir: Herbert Biberman).