

Crash landed behind enemy lines, the soldiers formulate a rather skimpy plan to return to the safety of their lines, all the while finding every opportunity to place themselves in open exposure to the enemy while noisily engaging in nonsensical speechifying that lean heavily toward incomprehensible hallucinogenic rants rather than philosophical musings. Written by future Pulitzer Prize playwright Howard Sackler, there isn’t a believable line of dialogue in the entire film; every utterance strains for a philosophical gravitas more appropriate to a haughty group of stragglers from a creative writing seminar rather than a ragtag squad of soldiers. The film features several impressively composed shots (especially during an assault on a small enemy cabin, the sole sequence which demonstrates a practiced photographic eye inching into a fledgling cinematic intelligence at work) though these too are marred by jarring editing which contributes little except to call attention to itself. The film is chronically peppered with reaction shots that look as though they are randomly selected, as if the editing of each scene was haphazardly cobbled together due to a dearth of properly matching covering footage. With the exception of the lovely newcomer Virginia Leith (as a mute maiden who seems to walk in from a different picture) and the embarrassing histrionics of a young Paul Mazursky, the acting is stilted when not wholly unmemorable. The film’s deadly pacing eventually leads to a climactically premature Twilight Zone allegorical twist that was less pretentiously (and far more succinctly) expressed in a Walt Kelly cartoon strip. ______________________________________ “Twilight’s Last Gleaming” (1977) Starring Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Paul Winfield, Charles Durning, Burt Young, Gerald S. O’Laughlin, Melvyn Douglas, Joseph Cotten, Richard Jaeckel, William Marshall. Screenplay by Ronald M. Cohen & Edward Huebsch, based on the novel ‘Viper Three’ by Walter Wager. Directed by Robert Aldrich. Faithfulness is not always an admirable trait. When a film’s fidelity to its source material is inclusive of the more problematic characteristics of the original novel, one may question as to whether such an adaptive misjudgment is a creative inability in the filmmakers to either recognize those deficiencies or simply a failure to reconcile the material into a more workable alteration; which would beg the question as to the attraction of the material in the first place. In Robert Aldrich’s “Twilight’s Last Gleaming”, the problems manifest in Walter Wager’s novel ‘Viper Three’ are readily apparent despite a drastically altered motivational direction invested in the narrative which changes the reasons for the film’s actions if not the credibility of the characters. Disgraced General Lawrence Dell (Burt Lancaster) and a handful of confederates (played by Paul Winfield in full street hipster mode and Burt Young inappropriately inserted to contribute his usual ethnic half-wit act that results in obliterating any trace of suspense in favor of low humor)













______________________________________________________________ “The War Wagon” (1967) Starring John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Howard Keel, Robert Walker Jr. Bruce Cabot, Keenan Wynn. Written by Clair Huffaker, based on his novel. Directed by Burt Kennedy. Standard serio-comic western which places Wayne in the rare role of the pseudo-bad guy, or is he?. In this film he’s Taw Jackson, an ex-con who’s out to rob the even badder guys who stole his ranch and then set him up to serve a stretch in prison. So technically there is no break in the Wayne persona, which veered explosively in John Ford’s “The Searchers” and then returned to the relative comfort zone. The supporting characters are a grab bag of western “types” usually played for background color, but in this case brought to the forefront to give the illusion of a density of incident that just isn’t there: they include a jealous, compulsive thief (Wynn), a drunken explosives expert with an inconveniently loose tongue (Walker Jr.), an Indian who can’t stay out of trouble (Keel) and Taw’s eventual partner Lomax, (Douglas) a gunslinger who is contracted to kill him and was also instrumental in helping frame him in the first place. If it all sounds rather forced and gimmicky, it is that, but Wayne and Douglas make an amusing duo helped by some brisk witty dialogue that often doesn’t know when to quit and gets too cute for it’s own good; as if the two are accompanied across the landscape by a team of overworked comedy writers. However, Bruce


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“Deliverance” (1972) Starring Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds. Ronny Cox, Ned Beatty. Directed by John Boorman. Written by James Dickey, based on his novel. James Dickey’s cross-cultural regional survival tale “Deliverance” arrives on the screen as a bit of a letdown. Technically, the film is an impressive achievement, strikingly shot and edited, with an astonishing sound mix during the rugged rapids








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Regarding “Shadows And Fog” – to me, one of his most frustrating films. He seems to toss them off annually without giving them the focus he used to – that said, here is the link to my “Blue Jasmine” review – best film of 2013 so far to me:
http://johnrieber.com/2013/09/01/blue-jasmine-best-film-of-2013-woody-allens-bumpy-road-to-brilliance/
Greetings fair Bijouxjube (No doubt named after America’s favorite movie theater confection- one box lasts a lifetime). I am once again happy to be the inaugural sour grapes on another actor’s otherwise fine reputation. I think Diane Keaton’s worst role- as I believe she didn’t have a clue in how to play it -was as Kay in both “The Godfather” and “The Godfather Part II”, though in her defense, I think the conceptual weakness of the character didn’t give her much assistance. Coppola’s strong suit was never in writing female characters. (Though his pasta is excellent.)
Steal anything you like. It may be useful as practical experience if you ever enter Smarterin U.’s Film School class in Creative Screenwriting Plagiarism 101: Successful Redistribution of Intellectual Property Through Gender Bending, Changing License Plates and Costuming With Culottes. [1 semester, 3 credits]
I’d never heard a negative remark about Diane Keaton’s acting, but now you have me wanting to revisit some of her signature roles. I’ve always liked her, but I do remember thinking her part in Love and Death was the worst part of that film. But there’s something about her performances that I usually enjoy. What do you think her worst role is??
Also, I stole your idea of putting a paragraph on my home page that directs others to the actual review. And if you haven’t noticed yet, I mention your site in my sidebar, but I’m going to attempt to make it more eye-catching like the advert for BijouxU. Hope you are doing well!!
I really enjoy studying on this web site , it has got fantastic blog posts. “Beauty in things exist in the mind which contemplates them.” by David Hume.