Shadows and Fog and Walker: Two Comedies About Sticking Our Noses Where They Don't Belong

Shadows and Fog, by Woody Allen, 1991


I've seen most of Woody Allen's films at this point, although I've fallen off in recent years. I was pretty sure I had seen most, if not all, of the best ones, which left me pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed his 1991 film, Shadows and Fog.

A darkly comedic homage to German Expressionism, Shadows and Fog has some really beautiful black and white cinematography. In fact, there are tons of shadows and lots of fog in the movie, as I suppose should be expected. Set, I think, in the 1920's, a serial killer is stalking the streets and strangling his victims. Kleinman, a nebbishy 50-ish Woody Allen type, played by Woody Allen, is awakened in the middle of the night by the men of the neighborhood, who are forming a vigilante group to hunt this guy down. He is peer pressured into joining, despite his well-founded reservations.

At the same time, at a travelling circus outside of town, a couple, a sword swallower (Mia Farrow) and a clown (John Malkovich) to be exact, get in a fight over cheating and having kids, and the sword swallower, Irmy, leaves the clown. In the city, she falls in with a prostitute (Lily Tomlin), who takes her into her whorehouse for safety, and the two main stories begin to collide.

I really liked Shadows and Fog. The story is complex, funny, spooky, and interesting, Allen's directing is at its best, and the cast is top notch. It includes Allen, Farrow, Malkovitch, Tomlin, Madonna, Kathy Bates, Jodie Foster, Donald Pleasance, John Cusack, and even a brief appearance by William H. Macy. I especially enjoyed Pleasance's small part as a coroner, and Cusack as a young student infatuated with Farrow, who he believes to be a prostitute. The payoff at the end is pretty great too.

Woody Allen has made a lot of movies. I'm not sure where Shadows and Fog would rank among them, but I'd put it somewhere in the top half, and that's saying quite a lot.

Walker, by Alex Cox, 1987


I didn't know what to expect when I turned on Alex Cox's trippy anti-Biopic, Walker. Cox, director of Repo Man and Sid & Nancy (which I still haven't seen!), brought his punk-rock ethos to the Historical Biography genre, and destroyed his own Hollywood career in the process. Walker is a truly strange mess of a movie, and I kind of loved it.

Walker is the story of William Walker (Ed Harris), an American soldier of fortune in the 1850's who leads a group of mercenaries into Nicaragua to liberate the locals, only to take over and become dictator himself. Cox is not so much interested in historical facts, however, and he plays fast and loose with the truth. He's more interested in commenting on what America was actually doing in Latin America in the 1980's, and he viciously comments on it throughout.

There's lots of hilarious black comedy in Walker, such as the battalion drummer who asks to sit out on the next day's battle because he's noticed in all the war paintings that the drummer is always one of the corpses. Walker looks him in the eye like a holy man and says "as long as I am your commander, no harm shall come to you." Of course, at the battle he is gunned down violently and repeatedly, as Walker is somehow able to walk through all the carnage magically unscathed.

In addition to the comedy and the carnage, there is a surrealist element to Cox's film as well. As the movie progresses, he starts sneaking in historical anachronisms, to remind us that this isn't the 1850's he's talking about, this is today (1987). At first it's something like someone lighting a fuse with a Zippo lighter, or a guy drinking a bottle of Coke, but by the end, there are helicopters disrupting the period authenticity.

Add to all this an excellent, moody musical score by Joe Strummer of The Clash, and you have in Walker a great piece of anti-establishment cinema; shocking, funny, violent, and rebellious. I think it was slammed by critics at the time of its release, but like the best cult movies, has later experienced some rehabilitation and found an audience. Some even hold it up as Alex Cox's best film. I still need to watch Sid and Nancy, so I don't know yet. I sure dug it, though.

Grab Bag: Tunes of Glory, Another Woman, Underwater Love (Onna No Kappa)

Hey, I have another three reviews ready here, just thought I'd throw in a quick little disclaimer. In my third review, there is a photograph of a lady's BOTTOM. I know, scandalous, right? I just thought you should know that this entry is mildly NSFW (Not Safe For Work, for the internet lingo uninitiated), so don't go scrolling down when your boss is walking by, alright? You've been warned!

Tunes of Glory, by Ronald Neame, 1960

Screen legends Alec Guinness and John Mills face off in a battle of wills in this story of two commanding officers vying for dominance and respect in a peacetime Scottish army regiment. Guinness plays Jock Sinclair, a tough-as-nails, frequently drunk major, who is beloved by his men. Mills is Lieutenant Colonel Barrow, assigned to take over the unit, and determined to whip the men into shape after the lax discipline of Sinclair's command. The two strong-willed commanders clash, ultimately leading to tragedy.

This is a powerful film, with a well written script and understated direction from Ronald Neame both serving to enhance the strong performances of its two leads. Guinness believed this to be one of his best performances, and he might have been right. Within all his big speeches and boisterous Scottish bluster, there is a much more subtle side to Guinness' character, that of a functional alcoholic. Jock Sinclair is pretty much always drinking and/or drunk, but Guinness doesn't telegraph it, it's just a part of who this man is. Mills has a tough role to play as well, having to make sympathetic a character that the audience is basically told not to like. He's not even doing anything wrong, but the men love Sinclair and don't respect Barrow. Ultimately, both characters are sympathetic and heartbreaking.

Tunes of Glory is an excellent military drama, and worth watching for the performances alone.

Another Woman, by Woody Allen, 1988

Like Alice, which I recently wrote about, Another Woman is one of the Woody Allen films I hadn't yet seen. It isn't one of his comedies, which, of course, I prefer, and that may have been a reason why I had never sought it out. Another Woman has an interesting premise: it's about Marion Post, a middle-aged woman (Gena Rowlands) who rents an apartment for the purpose of having the privacy to finish writing a book. She then discovers that she can overhear everything being said in the therapist's office next door. The patient's (Mia Farrow) fear that her life is empty resonates with Marion, and drives her to reevaluate her life.

I thought Another Woman was pretty solid, possibly one of Allen's more underrated films. I'm never as into his dramas as I am his comedies, but I thought this was a pretty well-made film. Rowlands does good work, and I also liked Gene Hackman as her husband's best friend that Marion missed her shot with. I see on Wikipedia that he drew heavily from Ingmar Bergman, a well that Allen has dipped into often in his career. Much to my shame, I haven't seen any Bergman films yet. Guess I should get on that, huh?

Underwater Love (Onna no Kappa), by Shinji Imaoka, 2011

Underwater Love may be among the strangest films I've seen: a Japanese pink musical fantasy about a girl who falls in love with a magical turtle man, with stunning cinematography by Christopher Doyle, perhaps best known as the cinematographer behind Wong Kar Wai's films. By the way, "Pink" films in Japan are sex movies.

It's about Asuka, a 35-year-old woman who works at a fish factory, engaged to its manager. When she finds a fish still alive, she rushes out to the nearby lake to return it to the water, where she encounters a Kappa, a legendary Japanese creature which is a turtle with a beak and a bare scalp that must never get too dry. If the turtle-with-a-beak part sounds familiar, I think it might be because Kappa are the basis for Koopas in the Super Mario Bros. games. I don't know that for sure, but I suspect. Anyway, this Kappa happens to have been one of Asuka's classmates in a past life, and his high school love for her lives on.

The movie gets crazier from there, with the Kappa getting a job at her plant, working his way into her life. When his motives are made clear, they journey into the marsh together to find a magical "anal pearl" that makes Asuka invisible to Death. There are also musical numbers where characters sing catchy songs by the German pop group Stereo Total, and dance hastily put together, but still charming, dance numbers. Underwater Love was shot in about a week on a tiny budget.

Now, the sex: I think they're really doin' it. I couldn't tell for 100% sure, but I'm pretty sure they were. The actors in the movie aren't glamorous, fake looking porn stars. They all look like normal, out-of-shape, everyday people. The scenes are (somewhat) tastefully shot, with no full frontal nudity. Well, besides the Kappa's gigantic fake rubber turtle dong, they make sure you get plenty of good looks at that. Yeesh. Anyway, I'm not really an adult movie kind of guy, so I'm glad to say that the musical numbers do outnumber the sex scenes.

I think we can safely file Underwater Love in the "NOT FOR EVERYBODY" category without encountering too much controversy. It's mainly for people like me, nerds who hear about some weird-ass foreign film on a weird-ass foreign film website, and decide that this is a film they HAVE TO SEE. It's nuts that stuff like this even exists, and I'm glad it does. The movie isn't great (not even sure it's very good), but it's quirky and charming and raunchy and even kind of sweet, and the beautiful cinematography elevates it from being just a cult curiosity into something resembling, well, legitimate art. This movie has screened at festivals!

Grab Bag: Fist of Fury / The Chinese Connection, The Lion in Winter, Alice

Look at me! I'm back! Writing about movies once again, now with an all-new, all-Chicago-y backdrop. I still don't have the internet yet, so updates may still be sporadic, but I haven't stopped watching movies in my absence. I think I have like 30 movies piled up to talk about, including some real-deal classics.

Fist of Fury / The Chinese Connection, by Lo Wei, 1972

Much like Enter the Dragon, I'm pretty sure I watched The Chinese Connection when I was a kid, but I don't really remember it. Bruce Lee plays, well, a Bruce Lee-type who returns to his home town to find his master murdered by Japanese bad guys. Bruce Lee then kicks everybody's ass to avenge his teacher and prove Chinese superiority. I can't think of too much more to say about it right now because I'm a bad writer, but it's good stuff.

The Lion in Winter, by Anthony Harvey, 1968

Well, I didn't have much to say about Fist of Fury, so hopefully I can make up for that with the next two.

I said I watched some true classics, and this is one of them. Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn star as King Henry II and his wife Lady Eleanor in this vicious adaptation of the play of the same name.

The Lion in Winter follows the machinations and maneuverings of an aging Henry and Eleanor, their three children, Richard, Geoffrey, and John, in determining the succession of the British Crown. Henry wants his youngest, the snivelling John on the throne. Eleanor wants the eldest, the kingly Richard (Anthony Hopkins in his first movie role). Geoffrey, the middle child, wants Geoffrey on the throne, but nobody else seems to care. Backstabbing, eavesdropping, and manipulation abounds. It's like watching two hours of the most epic domestic dispute of all time.

The characters are all thoroughly wretched people who care for little outside of themselves, but they're thoroughly wretched interesting people, especially O'Toole's Henry. Hepburn won a well-deserved Oscar for her performance.

I didn't know what this movie was going to be like when I started it, and I did not expect it to be so dark and filled with such acidic dialogue. I assume it's a fairly straight adaptation of the play. The family kind of reminded me of the Lannisters in A Game of Thrones. The Lion in Winter is thoroughly engrossing. The writing and the performances pull you in and don't let go for the entire 2 hour plus running time.

Alice, by Woody Allen, 1990

When I was 21 or so, I discovered the films of Woody Allen and never looked back. Like most comedy guys, I prefer the early, zany stuff, but I still appreciate a lot of his later work, all the while yearning for the Woody Allen of old. I've seen the majority of his films, though I've fallen off in recent years. Every once in a while, I look into one of the movies I've overlooked. Alice is one of those movies.

Alice is one of his whimsical fantasy comedies, along the lines of The Purple Rose of Cairo or Midnight in Paris, two of my favorite post-Manhattan Allen films. It is the story of Alice, (Mia Farrow) an unhappy rich housewife who lives a boring, struggle-free life. When she is recommended to a Chinese holistic healer, he gives her all sorts of magic herbs that allow her to fly around the city, speak to ghosts, turn invisible, and so on. Through these she is able to see herself and others in a new light and can make the changes that will allow her to live the life she had intended for herself.

Alice was a decent enough movie, but I wouldn't even put it in my top 10 Allen films. I guess it was said to be a riff on Alice in Wonderland, but really, the only similarity is that she ingests things that give her powers. I also found Allen's take on the mystical Chinese healer to be pretty outdated and borderline racist, in that way where grandpas are racist even when they don't realize it. Still, it has some really fun and funny moments, and it's better than some of his films. I would say check out Alice, but only if you have already seen all the really great Woody Allen films and feel the need to watch more.

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I was hoping to have time for more reviews but this entry alone has taken me days to put together! Things will be calming down in the next week or so, and hopefully I can get back to a regular schedule by then. See you soon!

Midnight in Paris

I haven't watched any of Woody Allen's recent movies since Scoop, so I don't know how he's been doing lately, but based on the overall integrity his huge body of work, he'll always be one of my favorite filmmakers. He's made some stinkers in his time, but when he's on, his movies shine.

Midnight in Paris is one of those shiny movies, a whimsical fantasy about the magic of Paris; the city's ability to transport you to another time. At the same time, it's also a dose of reality. The past can never live up to the nostalgia-laced version you see in your mind's eye. It is very much a companion piece to Allen's classic, The Purple Rose of Cairo.

Owen Wilson stars as Gil Pender, a successful screenwriter of hacky Hollywood movies, trying to launch a more fulfilling career as a novelist. On a visit to Paris with his fiancee Inez (Rachel McAdams), he expresses his desire to stay in the city and live a Bohemian life like his heroes of the 1920's. Inez scoffs at this, and encourages Gil to spend time with her parents (Tea Party Republicans who don't like him) and know-it-all friends.

Fed up with the people in his life, Gil opts out of yet another night out, and chooses to wander the streets of Paris. At midnight, a 1920's car rolls up and waves him in. Inside, he finds the life he always dreamed of. He befriends F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso. He shows his manuscript and takes writing advice from Gertrude Stein. He meets and falls in love with Picasso's mistress, Adriana (Marion Cotillard).

Soon, Gil is carrying out a love affair with the 1920's, spending his days in the cold reality of today, and his nights living it up with his heroes in the past. Eventually his night life gets complicated, too, though, and Gil must decide between his two lives.

I do believe this is the best Owen Wilson has been in a movie in ages. Since Royal Tenenbaums, perhaps? Heck, maybe ever. This is exactly the kind of movie he should be making. He's great at playing intelligent, soul searching, existential characters. I always thought his diversion down the path of dumb "Frat Pack" comedies like Wedding Crashers was a mistake (though I do love Zoolander). In Midnight in Paris, Wilson plays the Woody Allen analogue without doing a Woody Allen impression, something I never enjoy as much. My favorite moments were the dumbfounded look on his face when he realizes where he is, and the scene where he confesses that he's from the future to Salvador Dali and his surrealist friends.

Midnight in Paris is a delight. It is my favorite Woody Allen film that I've seen since 1999's Sweet and Lowdown. I never hammered down a list or anything, but I would probably also put it somewhere in my top 10 for 2011, and hey, it might even creep its way into my top 10 favorite Woody Allen movies! The guy has a LOT of great movies, so this is high praise indeed.