WHY HAVE YOU PUT THIS RAGE IN ME?

 For a richly-textured look at racism in early twentieth century American, check out Milos Forman's RAGTIME - a film I remember hearing about as a kid, but which for some reason I'd never gotten around to seeing.  It's long, and it starts peculiarly, but the rewards are pretty great if you hang in there, thanks in large part to the majestic, late great Howard E. Rollins Jr.  Watch those tears glisten during his final, brief and brilliant monologue addressed to the Almighty.  I only learned about Rollins' untimely death after putting the Video Hound on him - turns out that he died at the sinfully young age of 46, ten years ago, from AIDS-related complications.  What a waste; he's quite brilliant as Coalhouse Walker, Jr., the piano man with fire in his belly.

If you are preoccupied with the history of race in this country (as I am), you will undoubtedly appreciate this film.  And keep your eyes peeled for Jeff Daniels (one of my personal favorites) and the now-ubiquitous Samuel L. Jackson in teeny-weeny roles.  And oh yeah, RAGTIME also contains the final screen performance from some guy named James Cagney.

Slight disclaimer:  I have a giant-sized soft spot for Milos, as he directed my all-time favorite film, Amadeus.  Here, he shows a similarly remarkable eye for period detail, creating frame after frame of lush, packed images that I just wanted to climb right into.

More than meets the eye

Caught THE ILLUSIONIST almost two weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised. Aside from the fact that the awesome Paul Giamatti has a rather nice turn as Inspector Uhl (does he ever fail to impress? The man's eyebrows even give a good performance), Edward Norton and Rufus Sewell are very entertaining.

The whole film is very sepia-toned and dark - very fitting for turn-of-the-century Vienna - and I was, as always, highly drawn to the production design. I am a huge fan of art nouveau, and there were some lovely pieces in the film - down to the chair the Illusionist (Norton) uses on stage. Very well done.

Considering the rather romantic plot that could get out of hand, there's some mystery, some son versus father torment, morality versus fame struggle, and interesting facial hair (note: Giamatti's and Norton's rival beards and Sewell's, as Prince Leopold, very very distinguished mustache).

ACTION-PACKED

August proved to be an uncharacteristically hectic month (weren't we supposed to spend it lazing on the beach?) and our cinematic choices provedly to be similarly out of character. We took in two big action feasts over the last few weeks, in the form of V FOR VENDETTA and INSIDE MAN. Much to my surprise, I think I preferred V, even with all of its MATRIX-y comic book violence. Maybe because of the political angle (however far-fetched), maybe because Natalie P. surprised me with her chops, her bald head and her pretty consistent English accent, or maybe because Hugo Weaving is one of the greatest actors out there, even when you can't see his face!! Even though we watched it over a few nights rather than in one sitting, I found V to be great entertainment with a little bit of a brain behind it. Nicely done.

INSIDE MAN...well, it was a little disappointing. When it was out in the theater, I heard nothing but praise for the lead trio, and while Denzel is pretty much without parallel as far as pure charm, charisma and general bas-ass-ness, Jodie was woefully underused (not to mention the fact that I didn't really understand what the hell her character was supposed to DO for a living - maybe she was, as Mike put it, simply a "high-class ninja?") and the whole hostage plot was pretty non-sensical.  And Clive, well, he's Clive, but it's a shame his gorgeous face had to be obscured under that silly hood and sunglasses for much of the picture.

The film looked snazzy, and there were a couple of great shots nicely capturing post-9/11 NYC, but over-all I felt like Spike was a little out of his element. The film did, however, make me want to go back and check out some of his recent work which I have missed.

And without spoiling anything, there's a nice ironic twist with Christopher Plummer's character, if you think back to his defining role as the dashing hero in THE SOUND OF MUSIC.  That man is a legend, really.  It was great to see his elegantly craggy face again.

An angel named Dudley

A little bit of early Christmas.

Turner Classic was running a day of films of a particular actor for the month of August, and on the David Niven day, I caught a favorite - THE BISHOP'S WIFE. Some would argue this is a Cary Grant movie, but who cares - they are both delightful.

Niven is the Bishop, Loretta Young is the Bishop's wife, and Grant is the angel Dudley, sent from above to help out the new Bishop get the funding for his new cathedral. And, because Dudley is played by Cary Grant, he charms the pants off of everyone in sight - and even begins to tempt the Bishop's wife. Egads!

In the spirit of all Christmas-y movies, Dudley is sent to show the Bishop that other things in life matter more than money - his family, the community he left at his old parish, ice skating, even the taxi cab driver. It's also hilarious (Niven and Grant are great comedic actors), in the manner that only old movies seem to be - and heartwarming without being shlocky.

I will be sure to watch this again in a few months as I'm wrapping gifts.

Stiff upper lip

I succumbed to the Netflix recommendation. They clearly think I'm a little old lady who collects English crockery and hums "God Save the Queen" while I do the washing up, as they suggested FORTUNES OF WAR to me.

The miniseries from 1987, starring Ken and Em as Guy and Harriet Pringle, respectively, as a pair of newlyweds living in Bucharest at the onset of WWII. Guy is an idealistic, anti-war English professor who teaches at the university who brings his new wife from England to live among the various British expats. The story follows them from Bucharest to Athens to Cairo as they flee from the advancing Germans.

As with any British drama, there are plenty of eccentrics swirling about. In the foreground is the story of Guy and Harriet - a new marriage tested not so much by war, but by Guy's workaholic tendencies and need to know everyone. Ken and Em met on the set of this series, and the issues their characters face eerily foreshadow their own doomed marriage.

Regardless, it's a great story, and they are both excellent (and so young! wow!) and for those who really love Emma, it's a must-see. Plus, for those of us who are waiting for the next FOYLE, it's a nice slice of WWII drama that tells a different story of the war - the war in the deserts of North Africa.

At the end, I wanted to do as Guy, Harriett, and Simon (Rupert Graves) do - climb to the top of one of the pyramids and sing. Simply because one can.