Saturday, July 30, 2011

Croupier

"Croupier" is about a man who becomes a casino dealer in order to mine for material for his novel.  After encountering the seedy world of casinos, he agrees to participate in a scam that nets him a crap ton of money.  He totally gets away with it and publishes a novel based on his experiences.

I'm going to keep this one short and sweet.

1) I love Clive Owen.  He doesn't let me down in this.  He's as cool and icy as ever.

2) This is a good, but not great movie.  Fun while it lasts but ultimately forgettable.

3) Why couldn't they find more attractive women to seduce him?  Even if a film is going to have so-so women naked in it, can't they at least look nude?  Ugh.

That's really all there is to say about this one.  If you like voiceover heavy, saxophone-soundtracked, pseudo-noir, than check this out.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Ulzana's Raid

Holy cow!  I've been gone for over a year.  I know no one is reading this blog, but it still feels like I let someone down.  Here's the excuse: my laptop has been broken for 13 months.  I put off fixing my computer for 13 months.  That's some new level of lazy.

Anyway, let's begin.

The more I watch the films of Robert Aldrich, the more convinced I am that he is a bit of an unsung genius.  The man may not have been making classics for the ages ("Kiss Me Deadly" aside), but he did make films that are note perfect for the intended audience: men.

"Ulzana's Raid" is a man-tastic movie.  It centers around an Apache Indian name Ulzana who takes a war party across Arizona in a murderous rampage.  The Army entrusts the hunt to a scout named MacIntosh and a newly graduated lieutenant.  The film alternates between violent Indian attacks and MacIntosh's awesome, manly, Old West wisdom until culminating in the film bloody shootout.

"Ulzana's Raid" is a film about grey areas.  Does the Army have the right to go kill Ulzana?  Of course.  He's out there killing innocent homesteaders.  Does Ulzana have a good reason to kill white people?  Of course.  White men have done wrong by him.  This movie may strike a richer chord today in our world of terrorist threat.  The concept of an enemy that knows no bounds or respect for human life is extremely prescient.

Aldrich pulls no punches.  There is violence in this movie that still shocks nearly 40 years later.  I found myself yelling things like, "Oh shit!" and "Goddamn!!" and "Kill that motherfucker!!!" at my television.  The best recommendation I can give this movie is that I had a great time watching it.  What more can I ask from a movie than that?
The directing is solid.  Nothing fancy, just straightforward storytelling and clean, easy to follow action (modern Hollywood directors could learn a thing or two).  This may be Aldrich's greatest strength.  He is no frills.  This makes him more of an everyman's director than Fuller and Peckinpah.

Combine that simple, masculine direction with an actor like Burt Lancaster (one of my all-time favorite actors!) and "Ulzana's Raid" becomes a great film.  Burt Lancaster was a charming, intensely athletic actor in his youth, but somehow he became more interesting as he aged.  He gained a distinction and wisdom that few other silver screen stars have ever possessed.  His methodical plotting and philosophical musings probably would have been unconvincing coming from a lesser actor.  Thank God he got this role because Aldrich might just as likely have cast Lee Marvin (again) but as much as I love Marvin, this is the kind of role for the older, more sensitive Lancaster.

Please watch this movie.  It's a wonderful film that deserves far more recognition than it receives.  "Ulzana's Raid" is now among my top movies to watch with your dad.  He'd be proud to know that his cinephile son isn't just a Fellini-loving namby pamby.

Rating: 8 out of 10