The Abandoned (2006)

THE ABANDONED (2006)

By Ralph Santini - **½

In 2006 Spanish filmmaker Nacho Cerdá decided to make a film in Bulgaria within his production country in collaboration with both the United Kingdom and Bulgaria itself. The result was a horror film called “The Abandoned”. The film is about a woman called Marie (Anastasia Hille) who was born in Russia and adopted in the United States now visiting her initial native country and reclaim the rights to a house where her family lived 40 years ago after her birth. She eventually ends up in a remote Russian island where she eventually seems to see strange things in the house and eventually meets up with her estranged twin brother Nicolai (Karel Roden). Both Marie and Nicolai experience some sort of supernatural maze where Marie must battle evil spirits, including a creepy clone of herself that she can’t end up harming because the effect allows it to harm herself plus some more bizarre secrets that link to her horrendous past.

Despite some rather chilling moments that does it’s best for the film to be scary, I really don’t see how it can build all the tension within this film’s premise. I do, however, admire Nacho Cerda’s style of using the screen’s creepy moments in this film. I would like to mention how well the clones were made up, some clever performances from the cast especially Karel Roden who really does a good job as the disturbed Nicolai and Anastasia Hille is satisfying enough as the victim of her own past. Also, Xavi Gimenez’s cinematography is absolutely dark and brooding. Even the scenery in the woods do look appealing for horror fans. Overall, for a movie with a clever premise, it’s execution falls short with the very little tension in which I couldn’t feel that much. It’s too slim for my personal taste. But I think one can do a lot worse with other horror films of the mid-late 2000s.

 

 

Abandon (2002)

 

ABANDON (2002)

By Ralph Santini - **

After noted screenwriter Stephen Gaghan won his Oscar® for Best Adapted Screenplay of the 2000 drama Traffic, he decided to do some directorial work of his own. And that first project is a psychological dramatic thriller called Abandon. At the time the movie was released I was really obsessed with taking a look at celebrity gossip by watching tv, reading magazines, etc. and when I first saw the TV spot of the film I was amazed at Katie Holmes having a starring in role in that film. I then knew miss Holmes as romantic lead in The WB prime time soap “Dawson’s Creek” and that show had plenty of attractive press when it was first aired. After all I was only an undiscriminating teenager back then and I wanted to know plenty much about Generation-X celebrities especially according to teen oriented magazines I was reading at time like Seventeen or Teen People. However having social difficulties at the time, I never got the chance to see it in theatres because I was already in High School trying to adapt new waves of study.

Anyhow I finally got the chance to see it as an adult, and by then I have already outgrown by obsession with gossip after studying film criticism in college even though I majored in History through Humanities. With my looking the film with my critical eye I felt that the result of “Abandon” is a gloomy whodunit with some paranormal traits that I could not get whatsoever failing to see the impact of it. The story is basically Holmes cast as a senior college student named Katie Burke who needs to struggle with emotional stress by completing a thesis and being able to make it in in a rigid job interview process. However she is about to be questioned by a recovering alcoholic police investigator Wade Handler (Benjamin Bratt who could have promised a lot better himself) about a reopened case concerning her old boyfriend Embry Larkin (Charlie Hunnam, from what I can see being stuck in a script with some mediocre dialogue he was unfortunately given) who is apparently declared as missing. When that happens, she seems to be witnessing his return to the college starting in a party she goes with her friends.

However the film not only focuses on Katie Burke feeling that Embry is coming back to her but also tells some troubled past she had with her deceased father. Anyway back to the main focus, Burke suddenly gets a bad feeling that Embry is actually chasing her and wants to get even with her after his disappearance. When the story keeps on going, Detective Handler keeps on with his research of the Larkin disappearance case and eventually him and Katie develop a certain relationship which can sometimes get the case his mind off duty. Not trying to give away certain spoilers we can sometimes suspect that Katie may be having a premonition when it comes to her being stalked by Embry.

My overall impression with “Abandon” is that although I admire how dark the movie is, it’s paranormal traits don’t seem to be very effective because in my opinion they don’t make intelligible sense. Katie Holmes performance is somewhat perplexed and I think she seems rather unfocused in her starring role here. Benjamin Bratt seems to be recycling his performance in some of the seasons of Law And Order he appeared and I couldn’t see much chemistry with him and Katie. Worst of all, Charlie Hunnam seems rather hammy as Embry Larkin and his “villain” role doesn’t seem very effective. I even find the storyline of this film rather intricate because of the effects of the unimpressive paranormal material that I can’t get. It’s just cliched mystery with a mediocre screenplay that Stephen Gaghan did not deserve to be involved.

 

 

Aaron Loves Angela (1975)

 

AARON LOVES ANGELA (1975)

 By Ralph Santini - **½ 

Before we get into this movie, I’d like to tell a decent explanation in my own words concerning a certain film genre. Blaxploitation (as far as most of us film buffs know) is a racial and cultural subgenre of that of the Exploitation film genre and it was enormously popular in especially the 1970s. It’s actually a mix of words that combine both the word “black” (concerning in this case African American people) and “exploitation”. According to the information cited in Wikipedia from a 2018 article from the Los Angeles Times, investigated by writer Tre’vell Anderson this mix of words was actually coined by Junius Griffin, an NAACP official for the cultural organization’s Beverly Hills and Hollywood sector. That’s because Griffin cited the term with a negative reaction proclaiming "proliferating offenses" to African American people’s depictions in the films with some stereotypical traits of their criminal involvement. Even in 1976 film critic Vincent Canby described this subgenre as the following: “[S]upercharged, bad-talking, highly romanticized melodramas about Harlem superstuds, the pimps, the private eyes and the pushers who more or less singlehandedly make whitey's corrupt world safe for black pimping, black private-eyeing and black pushing”. These films are set in either the East or West coasts of the United States and focus on the poor sides of the urban African American community. Blaxploitation sometimes contain some racist insults towards Caucasians such as “honky” or to an obscure extent “cracker”. When a Blaxploitation film is set in the south it can deal with excessive slavery and cruel miscegenation. Historian Bill Lynne describes Blaxploitation films being “often bold in their statements and utilize violence, sex, drug trade, and other shocking qualities to provoke the audience”. Another anecdote I just learned from Blaxploitation is that it’s African American heroes overcome such terms as “The Man” or other insignias of Whites oppressing the heroes’ people.

The film of such subgenre I’m about to review is Aaron Loves Angela from 1975 and it stars a then 16-year-old Kevin Hooks as Aaron, the African American lovesick hero who falls for Angela, portrayed by also 16-year old Irene Cara, best known for performing both the theme song of the 1980 film musical “Fame” and “What A Feeling” from 1983’s Flashdance. The story is basically “West Side Story” only with African Americans vs. Puerto Ricans with not much dance numbers and a soundtrack composed by Puerto Rican singer songwriter Jose Feliciano. But that’s because this film and WWS are not only both renditions to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet but both films are set in New York City, the big apple.  As we all know, in the beginning of the film, there is basketball game in high school concerning a team with African Americans and their rival team of Puerto Ricans. The glitch occurs when Aaron seems to have an enormous crush on Angela and the African Americans lose the game. Aaron’s African American friends are upset but that doesn’t seem to bother him so. Aaron and Angela’s interracial romance seem to compose at lot of factors in their lives; in Aaron’s case his father (played effectively by Moses Gunn) gets rather suspicious when several things do not appear in his apartment and that’s because Aaron takes them to an abandoned building where he keeps developing his love affair with Angela. In Angela’s case her mother constantly worries about her absence of their apartment and she keeps lying that she still is dating her former boyfriend Ricardo.

This film has got some good moments but I can’t quite recommend it enough due to its rather cliched Romeo and Juliet-related traits. Good moments of the film include Moses Gunn’s terrific performance as Aaron’s domineering father, the lovely daytime views of New York City (where the movie was entirely and authentically filmed), and Jose Feliciano’s beautiful music including the lovely song “Angela”. The other moments that are so-so are the cliched chemistry between Aaron and Angela (no offense to the actors’ talent though) and many of the results concerning the danger they must face.

 

The Thief (1952)

THE THIEF (1952)
By Ralph Santini - ***½

The criminally undervalued team of filmmakers, Clarence Greene and Russell Rouse have made lots of often overlooked rare gems and their speechless 1952 Film Noir title, The Thief, is no exception. That’s right when you notice the word speechless I’m not even joking. The film contains no dialogue at all but that doesn’t mean it contains no sound. It contains plenty of compelling ringing on telephones and a very moving scene at the near-end but I’ll get to that later. The minimal cast of this film stars Ray Milland, Martin Gabel and the beautiful Rita Gam. Greene and Rouse not only produced and directed the film, respectably, but they also co-wrote this rather unique script together. It’s that genuinely interesting.

The story is about a Nuclear scientist, Dr. Phillips (magnificently portrayed by Milland) who decides to become a Spy for a gang of communist infiltrators led by Martin Gabel who secretly keeps sending private messages to Dr. Phillips concerning his mission to betray his country’s ideals. During the mission when Dr. Phillips delivers those messages it keeps passing to one different spy to another so that they can accomplish the mission. The biggest problem in this process however is that Dr. Phillips becomes so affected by the mission that he frequently becomes a heavy drinker and sometimes ignores some of Gabel’s callings on the telephone. Despite all that Gabel keeps watching Milland to make sure he doesn’t fail this mission.

Ray Milland later makes his tough decision to go on with the purpose and then infiltrate a respected scientists’ office. Milland then photographs a good number of documents in the desk so he can then continue transferring the films to other double agents in the mission. The bad news is that when one of the double agents gets involved in a traffic accident, the FBI quickly discovers this case and it’s up to them hunt everybody involved in it, including Ray Milland himself. Afterwards Gabel instructs Milland to go to New York in hiding from the FBI and his leader suggests him get refuge in a low-rent apartment where he is aided by a sexy femme fatale (Gam) involved in the case. Things don’t go well however when he eventually is chased by an FBI agent and the results are going to be more risky than ever. 

The Thief, to be perfectly honest, is truly underappreciated rare gem in it’s own right. It’s sometimes dismissed as somewhat slow but I don’t think that bothers me in the case of this very good treasure. I mean, come on, I don’t think you can go wrong with Ray Milland in many of his forgotten vehicles because even if he lost his fame since the 1950s I can still make sure he’s still got it. And this film really proves it. I really loved how the film didn’t use one single line for this unique screenplay because I think it helps it not to be too cliched nor routine. I really don’t want to give that many spoilers but I think director Russell Rouse does an excellent job of using the cast to make great emotions like for example Ray Milland crying and going out his mind when he knows that the mission is actually failing miserably. There are some shots when Milland sometimes has to go to the Library Of Congress as part of his mission to give a lot of top secret information to communist spies that would really give great impact on later spy works like The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. And I really admire how the film gets so dark when the camera uses it’s close ups to Martin Gabel looking really threatening and very stone-cold with his earnest looks on his mean eyes.

The Thief is one of those rare gems that don’t deserve it’s unfair obscurity and least needs a second look even you see it the first time. Personally I’d recommend it with very little reserve and lot of enthusiasm given the lack of dialogue the script has.

 

 

Return to form and trolling disclaimer

 

Ralphie is back! With a disclaimer alert! 

Good afternoon fellow movie lovers. It's me Ralph Santini. I know what you people are thinking. It's been 2 years since I haven't been posting that many reviews. You see the COVID-19 Pandemic not only provoked drastic effects on the movie industry but also my spirit to write reviews during it. But now that I've been considering that things are more or less getting better (even though that is not to say the pandemic is over to a strong degree) I think it's time for me to get back on my feet with this blog. However I must write a very important disclaimer. Another reason I couldn't continue writing reviews is that when I once posted my review of Joker (2019) with Joaquin Phoenix a troll called me a child. People, try to understand we film reviewers have a certain declaration of principles that tell us that we all are entitled to our own opinions and even if "Joker" is already destined to become a cult classic in it's own right, it will not change my mind about how my reaction to the film. Sure I am in a great minority of film buffs who did not care about Todd Phillips rendition to the DC comic book character but that is no reason for trolling around in my blog. On top of that I consider myself a non-political person, sure I can appreciate a story attacking The Establishment but I just don't see it that way with The Joker as a countercultural icon. Please kindly understand we are ALL ENTITLED TO OUR OWN OPINIONS! Disagree if you like but say it in a more constructive way not with insults. That's my disclaimer. 

Criminal Laywer (1951)

CRIMINAL LAWYER (1951)

By Ralph Santini - ***

After his tenure with RKO Radio Pictures has ended, screen legend Pat O’Brien’s career has begun to wane drastically. After all Television began dominating the home entertainment system which was definitely a bad sign for the major studios. But one of the very few movies he has done in this period is a little known and largely underrated Film Noir  B-film from Columbia Pictures called “Criminal Lawyer”. I know it contains a rather corny tone and the production values seem rather poor. So what? I think the story is nothing to laugh about, on the contrary, I find it intriguing.

I think Pat O’Brien does a good job of portraying an alcoholic lawyer James Edward Regan who contains a rotten reputation of handling his cases in a rather cheating sort of way. After handling another of those cases that were crawling with dubious tactics, Regan announces his firm colleagues that he has been nominated for a Judgeship. The bad news is that he eventually does not win the nomination and Regan goes on more and more alcoholic until his tough sidekick Moose (Mike Mazurki only the character’s last name is not Malloy; on the contrary he is cast against type this time) decides to simmer him down.

Moose meanwhile receives a call from Maggie (Jane Wyatt who still looked very good at 41) about a case concerning a nephew (Daryl Hickman) of a bar association’s secretary (Carl Benton Reid), who initially rejected granting Regan’s judgeship nomination, because the youth is charged with manslaughter and was even falsely accused of driving while intoxicated, in fact the secretary’s nephew said he only had three drinks but that was about all. So Regan decides to blackmail the jury by asking his employees to get involved in accidents themselves caused by the jury members. The blackmail is successful so the secretary’s nephew is thereby acquitted. However things don’t go right when the widow of the crash victim threatens to kill Regan calling him a murderer which shames him bitterly leading him to more depression before Moose gets caught in a murder he didn’t do concerning the death of a client’s nasty, self-absorbed brother (a riveting Douglas Fowley) and Regan his only hope for clearing him from the crime leading the film to many thrilling results.

My policy for major criticisms of a motion picture is generally the story and this film thankfully contains an effective one. I don’t think a film noir fan can go wrong with a lawyer like Pat O’Brien’s Regan and he really delivers as the title role mentioned here. And I’m not kidding, Mike Mazurki does a terrific job against type as a good guy sidekick who is willing to keep his boss out of trouble whatever the cost of his life. Jane Wyatt is also very good adding the feminine touch at 41 with also an effective performance as O’Brien’s fiercely loyal colleague. I don’t care if this film has a corny tone nor boring cliches, this B-Movie is first rate with an effective plot that might teach the justice system about how to handle people on Trial that are possibly presumed innocent. I also thought that director Seymour Friedman did tight job of handling the rest cast very well, including Douglas Fowley as a no good mobster brother one of O’Brien’s clients in the film and Robert Shayne in a no-nonsense role of a partner lawyer who does his best to help O’Brien despite very little tolerance for his tactics.

 I’d say even if you get confused at first with this film’s tone I’d say give it a second look. It’s that good. 

 

The Sister Brothers (2018)

 

THE SISTERS BROTHERS (2018)

By Ralph Santini - ***½ 

There have been some speculation about the reception and radar status of French director Jacques Audiard’s western with dark comic touches “The Sisters Brothers”. All I know is that it’s his first film in English and it’s a coproduction between French and American filmmakers and that the director co-wrote the script with Thomas Bidegain as an adaptation of a same name book by Patrick De Witt who’s from Canada. The title role is given by two millennium Hollywood greats John C. Reilly (co-producer of the movie as well) as Eli and Joaquin Phoenix (excellent) as Charlie. Their objective is to hunt down a young scientist (Pakistani-British actor Riz Ahmed) on the hunt for gold with the “help” of a private investigator played by the equally excellent Jake Gyllenhaal. Coming back to the film’s speculation the film apparently bombed at the box office and there have been some criticism with the film’s dark comic traits confusing some reviewers, including Owen Gleiberman, formerly who said and quote “he Sisters Brothers is too light to be a true drama and too heavy to be a comedy”. Personally I didn’t mind any of that because I think this film is brilliant from start to finish.

A corrupt commodore (The sadly late Rutger Hauer) offers two gunslingers known as the Sisters Brothers to hunt down a young chemist named Herman Kermit Warm who wants to find some valuable gold in the west. That same young chemist is not only pursued by the Sisters Brothers themselves but also Private Investigator, John Morris. We are first told that Morris wants to actually befriend the chemist by disguising himself as a journalist. It turns out that Morris P.I. job happens to be co-involved with that of the Sisters Brothers engineered by the commodore. Warm’s goal is to go on a trial headed for Jacksonville. No, it’s not the well-known city in Florida, it’s actually a roughly-similarly named town in Oregon which, yes, in fact exists. So like I said The Sisters Brothers and John Morris are both involved in this job against Mr. Warm. Morris is supposed to hand over this scientist to the Sisters Brothers, however Warm gets wise by staring at Morris’ handcuffs. So the scientist gives the private gumshoe a surprise at gunpoint attempting to escape but unfortunately he is put under restraint. We then get the answer concerning the scientist’s goal and that is to find gold so he can develop a chemical formula. The only problem is that the Sisters brothers must retrieve that formula for the absolute, no-good commodore. Morris then spares Warm then both of them leave Jacksonville. Warm then explains that the chemical formula is to free American society from all evils of mankind starting with Dallas, Texas.

Considering the unfortunate bombing at the box-office, I think this is a true miracle of 21^st century filmmaking. Both Reilly and Phoenix have terrific chemistry as the constantly bickering brothers who would make one big slappy family. There is an absolutely hilarious scene where Reilly is upset because he retorts Phoenix that he hit him, so Phoenix hysterically tells him to hit him back and Reilly punches him with pleasures. I also love the movie’s dark sense of humor because the old west was never exactly a pleasant place to live. In fact that’s what makes this film superior to Seth McFarlane’s simple but tired “A Million Ways To Die In The West”. It’s a colossal leap forward in the sense that “The Sisters Brothers” is, as the way I personally see it, a Western parody but with more intellectual traits and darker comic slapstick. Credit must also be given by the rest of the cast, particularly Riz Ahmed as the consciously aware scientist and Jake Gylenhaal as the private investigator.