Apologies and Regrets
Rick’s Flicks post, scheduled for today, is delayed for two weeks. We regret any inconvenience.
Thank you for checking in.
Next FRIDAY Post , including continuation of Harry Richards’ THE JUDY WATCH, will be July 5.
New York Times photo
Until then,
Enjoy a movie,
Rick
NOTES FROM RICK’S PERSONAL DIARY
I am happy to learn that a group of directors which includes Alfonso Cuarón and Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan has organized to save the Village Theatre in West Los Angeles. I once lived five blocks from the theater and attended more than one premiere there — attended as a sidewalk spectator. At the premiere of A MAJORITY OF ONE I can’t remember why the marquee on the Bruin Theatre, directly opposite the Village, was dark that night. What I remember is that when Rosalind Russell arrived, she exited her vehicle on the passenger side, facing the Bruin. I still remember how her face fell. No lights, no sidewalk spectators. Then ol’ Roz wheeled about and found the Village’s lighted marquee and the assembled crowd. The lights and the applause brought the smile back to her face.*
Readers will recall that it was the Village Theatre where the Margot Robbie character went to watch herself in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
LIFE AS A HOUSE Irwin Winkler 2001
This touching story about learning to live life while facing death is given its life by an excellent cast. Kevin Kline is outstanding. Kristin Scott-Thomas, in a smaller role as his ex-wife, is always believable and very affecting. A shockingly mean-spirited Mary Steenburgen is also very good as the neighbor, and Hayden Christensen as the son is perfectly cast.
THE HORSE WHISPERER Robert Redford 1998
This is an indulgent film indulgently paced, but it remains engrossing. A teenage girl is recovering from an accident which took one of her legs and the life of her beloved horse. She is helped by her parents and a knowledgeable horseman played by Robert Redford. But the film belongs to Kristin Scott-Thomas as the mother. She makes us care about a not very likeable character. As the girl, a very young Scarlett Johansson is already a very fine actress.
Through the camera lens Montana looks high, wide and handsome.
Photography, Robert Richardson
MONTANA STORY David Siegel and Scott McGehee 2021
This is not a Montana story. This dysfunctional family is universal. It is an American tale. But there ARE Indians. And a horse is central to the tale. The film is superbly acted by Owen Teague and Haley Lu Nuttgens as estranged brother and sister.
The Montana-set film was shot NOT in Alberta, NOT in Wyoming but IN Montana, in and near the city of Bozeman in what is now called Paradise Valley.
Photography, Giles Nuttgens
Editing, Isaac Hagy
*Rick’s Flicks thanks Nicole Sperling for information on the Village Theatre: “A Landmark Movie Palace Is Bought by Star Directors,” New York Times, 2/24/24.
NEXT Friday POST April 5
Until then,
If you live near a restored theater,
See you AT the movies,
Rick
DELAYED POST
Today’s post is delayed until FRIDAY August 4..
Rick’s Flicks regrets the inconvenience and thanks you for checking in.
Meanwhile,
Search out a great performance,
Enjoy a movie!
Rick
Guy Pearce
Cath Clarke writing in The Guardian about ZONE 414
“The script feels completely devoid of ideas . . . But what it does prove is that Pearce adds a basic layer of credibility to any film just by showing up.” (A genuine appreciation of the much-underappreciated Guy Pearce.)
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TWO ADDED PRODUCTION DESIGN PLAUDITS
NEBRASKA
Extraordinary Nebraska, with its sadness, bleakness and a humor all its own, boasts a black and white winter landscape also all its own. The design is in keeping with the emotional setting and theme and contributes to the narrative development.
production design by Alexander Payne
art direction by Sandy Veneziano
set decoration by Beauchamp Fontaine
MONEYBALL
Moneyball never looks like a movie. Not a single interior, with its lowkey lighting, resembles a set. But the design does not seem out of keeping for yet another near-fantasy baseball film. All is vivid thanks to stirring performances all round led by their brilliant, versatile star.
production design by Jess Gonchor
art direction by Brad Ricker and David Scott (uncredited)
set decoration by Nancy Hugh
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ZONE 414 Andrew Baird 2021
NEBRASKA Alexander Payne 2013
MONEYBALL Bennett Hall 2011 with Brad Pitt
Next Friday Post July 7
Until then,
Enjoy a movie,
Rick
Rick’s Flicks regrets delay of this promised post because of unforeseen circumstances.
We hope to resume posting two weeks from today.
Until then,
Enjoy a movie,
Rick
LE JOUR SE LEVE
Continuing Rick’s Flick’s list of favorite production designs
LE JOUR SE LÈVE Marcel Carné 1939
production design by Alexandre Trauner (uncredited)
MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS Vincente Minnelli 1944
art direction by Leonard Ayers, Cedric Gibbons, Jack Martin Smith
set decoration by Edwin B. Willis
CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA Gabriel Pascal 1946
art direction by John Bryan, Hein Heckroth
decor by Oliver Messel
CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA, Vivien Leigh as the Queen
THE RED SHOES Emeric Powell and Michael Pressburger 1948
production design by Hein Heckroth
art direction by Arthur Lawson
THE PIRATE Vincente Minnelli 1948
art direction by Cedric Gibbons, Jack Martin Smith
set decoration by Edwin B. Willis
MOULIN ROUGE
MOULIN ROUGE John Huston 1952
production design by Marcel Vertès (uncredited)
art direction by Paul Sheriff
set decoration by Marcel Vertès
LILI Charles Walters 1953
art direction by Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse
set decoration by Arthhur Krams, Edwin B. Willis
WAR AND PEACE King Vidor 1956
art direction by Mario Chiari
set decoration by Piero Gherard
construction coordinator, Mario Garbuglia (uncredited)
THE SEVENTH SEAL Ingmar Bergman 1957
production design by P.A. Lundgren
WILD STRAWBERRIES Ingmar Bergman 1957
production design by Gittan Gustafsson
WILD STRAWBERRIES
NOTE that the list of FINAL TEN includes thirteen titles. Rick’s Flicks could not choose between The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries and was unable choose among The Pirate and Meet Me in St. Louis and Lili so decided to include them all. (This stems in part from the firm belief that an arbitrary number is the bane of list makers and award givers.)
NEXT FRIDAY POST May 26
Until then,
Enjoy a movie (check out the production design),
Rick
CHISHU RYU AND SETSUKO HARA
Our last duo made films together for Japan’s masterful director Yasujiro Ozu. The two most celebrated of the films outside Japan are Late Spring and Tokyo Story. In Late Spring Setsuko Hara plays the daughter of a widower. She still lives at home and delights in being with her father and serving as a dutiful daughter. The father, played by Chishu Ryu, is happy in the situation until family and friends begin telling him that he is selfish and that he should be seeing to the marrying off of his daughter. The hurt for both of them at the thought of impending separation — and the hurt for the daughter at thinking her father wants her gone — are superbly played and heartbreaking, especially by Ryu who feels he must not show her how hard this is for him.
Tokyo Story is one of the most celebrated of all Japanese exports and regularly makes critics’ and directors’ lists of the ten greatest films of all time. Chishu Ryu plays the husband of a couple who decide to go and visit their adult, married children in Tokyo. During the visit they gradually become aware that they are not wanted, that they are in the way. Their hurt is overwhelming for the viewer because husband and wife endure it so stoically — nay, heroically. The only family member welcoming them is their daughter-in-law, wife of their son, killed in the war. She is played by Setsuko Hara.
Setsuko Hara may have lacked versatility, but she was excellent in all her roles. Reflecting on her career, I find that I think of Henry Fonda. I have often said and written about Fonda: You believe every word he says. Setsuko Hara is believable at every moment in every role.
Words fail to capture the work of charismatic superstar and subtle actor Chishu Ryu. He made, literally, over 100 films, and he appeared in 50 of the 56 made by Ozu. Rick’s Flicks has asked before: Was he Ozu’s muse? Or was Ozu his? (See Rick’s Flicks post for 8/7/20 in which Chishu Ryu numbers among our top 5 performances of all time.)
Rick’s Flicks is pleased to close its series of DUOs with an incomparable pair from Japan.
Rick’s Flicks would be happy to hear from readers concerning duos you admire.
Next FRIDAY post December 9.
Until then,
Enjoy a movie,
Rick
Today’s post is delayed until FRIDAY November 25.
Until then,
Enjoy a movie,
Apologetically yours,
Rick
MISTER CINEMA
Jean-Luc Godard 1930 – 2022
NEXT POST FRIDAY September 23
Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman were beautiful. They were beautiful — together — in color — in The Long Hot Summer. Director Martin Ritt allowed the camera to fall in love with Newman in the manner of the Hollywood camera on Hollywood’s love goddesses. This was the duo’s first film together. It is a bowdlerization and abridgment and expansion and distortion of at least two William Faulkner stories. But Woodward and Newman make it sing. Lee Remick and Anthony Franciosa are just right for their scripted characters. Angela Lansbury is miscast. And Orson Welles is terrible, delivering his role in the worst bogus Southern accent in the history of screen accents. But our duo make it live.
They made 10 films together. Newman directed his wife three times.*
She was one of the finest actresses of her time. She twice received the best actress award of the New York Film Critics. (She also received the Golden Globe award twice, and she received the Motion Picture Academy’s best actress Oscar for The Three Faces of Eve.) (Note: Her performance in Eve is among Rick’s Flicks’ greatest five performances of all time — see Rick’s Flicks for 10/20/20.)
Paul Newman may have been a super star. But he was a very good actor, too. Watch The Sting, and you will see the difference between a talented movie star (Robert Redford) and a real actor.
Rick’s Flicks favorite Newman performances: The Hustler and Hud.
Joanne Woodward: No Down Payment, The Fugitive Kind and The Three Faces of Eve.
P N R (Personal Note from Rick)
I saw Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman on stage in James Costigan’s Baby Want a Kiss. Costigan was the only other actor in the play. The two of them lit up the stage. Great stage presence, but presence confined to their roles in the play. Not stars. Real pros. Real actors.
During the second act someone in the fourth row down front right snapped a photograph, and Woodward stumbled over her line. At the curtain call, as the three performers were taking their bow, two policemen appeared and called out from her seat the lady in the fourth row. I won’t forget the smile of satisfaction on Joanne Woodward’s face and her refusal to hide it.
*Newman and Woodward appeared together in the television miniseries Empire Falls, and he directed her in a television version of The Glass Menagerie.
* * * * * * * * * *
German director WOLFGANG PETERSEN has died, director of one of the most outstanding of all war films, Das Boot. Among his English-language films were In the Line of Fire, Air Force One, The Perfect Storm and Troy.
NEXT Friday POST September 9
Until then,
Enjoy a movie,
Rick
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