The African Queen (Huston)
Jack Cardiff! My man! What an incredible cinematographer, with a natural eye for exotic landscapes that both engulf and encase the two leads in this film. What's sad is how plain the story meanders down the pivotal river with, exploring typical Hollywood themes of the era and often suffering from a lack of climax in some sections. I loved Bogie and liked Hepburn, considering the performances they put out for their roles, but whatever significance The African Queen has as a film simply seems historical and not as timeless as I wished. Huston's movie, in short, doesn't strive for ambition like many of his other projects.
Nonetheless, I enjoyed it. The African Queen holds up in many ways today, from the shifting ground upon which Charlie and Rose must navigate a landscape hostile to Westerners, and to their near encounters with dearth, disease, and death that connect them through shared experiences. Bogart puts in a superior performance, while Hepburn does her usual lip quiver like the original Oscar bait she is (though she plays her character damn well!). When all's said and done, this makes for a great, predictable, consistent start to one's cinematic evening.
Joe Bob sez check it out!
****
Foxy Brown (Hill)
There's nothing more beautiful than an old, naked judge sentenced to execution by old ladies equipped with umbrellas in the middle of a motel hall. Hell, not even the fatherly dolts running the Ranch down in wherever could top that! And one of them resembles Colonel Blimp!
Anyway, this turned out just the way I expected: blunt acting and a dirty-ass exterior, courtesy of Jack Hill and his AIP crew. I could talk about Pam Grier, the connections between this flick and Coffy, and so forth. But I'd like to point out how good the fight scenes are. Aside from a few bad angles, some raw crazy stuff happens in bars and outside cars in Foxy Brown. The story's blaxploitation brutality works because of the titular character's sheer normalcy: even when forced to address superhuman issues, her motivations and manner of speech reflects a roundedness otherwise lacking throughout the plot. Everyone's a caricature bu Foxy Brown! Sure: this film never set out to do anything grand or spectacular; from start to finish, Foxy Brown's a quaint drug thriller with a timely style. But I can't help but enjoy camp like this, especially since it's done convincingly.
Joe Bob sez check it out!
***
Convoy (Peckinpah)
Is it strange that, of all the Peckinpah flicks out there I need to watch, this is the first I've seen? Worse: it's a song vehicle comparable with the Monkees' Head, another film that befuddles most of the people that watch it. This movie, at least, has some kind of forward narrative; other elements suffer alongside.
For example: Graeme Clifford's editing style either works or doesn't, depending on the situation. When used to juxtapose the truckers' schadenfreude with the senator's conniving, the kind of thematic editing (think The Man Who Fell to Earth, but toned down) makes the viewing experience more disorienting than normal. On the other hand, the viewing experience seems more disorienting than normal. Certain parts of Convoy benefit from Clifford's eclectic montages and space-compressing zoom cuts, while others just don't work very well.
How odd, then, that Kris Kristofferson went on to star in Heaven's Gate, another film critiqued for its odd stylings! With Peckinpah as director and his production posse in line, Convoy constructs a roller-coaster line of ups and downs throughout the new American west, as if the director simply saw the film as another western he got to make. It doesn't always work: many characters suffer from underdevelopment, the pacing inconsistently goes from suck to blow, and boy are the themes conventional and cliched. But it's the way they're presented, with surreal slow-motion cuts and outrageous CB-radio dialogue, that helps it surpass it's original marketing purpose to become an interesting trucker westernthing.
Joe Bob sez check it out!
***