High Noon (1952)

Directed by Fred Zimmerman

Based on the magazine story “The Tin Star” by John W. Cunningham

Adapted by Carl Foreman

Starring Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Lloyd Bridges, and… Lee Van Cleef!!!

Plot:  A recently married Marshall can’t help but give in to the call of duty when three thugs come to town with their fearless leader en route, newly released from prison and out for revenge on the Marshall.

Review:  Knowing someone who holds this film dear to his heart (his top film of ALL time, or just the last 113-136 years), I’ve been meaning to watch this film for quite a while.  I’ve also been fairly excited for it; Gary Cooper stars, it’s a classic western, and it’s touted to be in real time.  With decently modest anticipation building, and a challenge from the ultimate fan that I would never watch it, I finally started the streaming process.

Right from the get-go, it wasn’t exactly what I expected.  The opening credits start with friendly enough western images of what appear to be friends gathering in the desert and riding off to some distant location.  All normal, except for the song (“The Ballad of High Noon”) which provides the true, ominous nature of the scene: these characters have no good intentions (Lee Van Cleef of The Good The Bad & The Ugly fame should be a clear giveaway).   We proceed to the wedding of Marshall Will Kane (Cooper), and the receiving end of news given about Frank Miller, a released convict the Marshall previously arrested, coming back to take back the town and ostensibly Kane’s life. 

From this moment on it is literally a race against the clock (an instrument we see displayed often) before the eponymous time when Miller returns to town.  We see this race in the form of Kane trying to gather other lawmen and townspeople together to defend the town, only finding apathy from most except for his new wife (who is against her husband because he is defending the town).  All other characters he has previous in-depth history with seem to either not care, or actually appear excited at his possible demise.

DRAW!

Everything leading up to the final (see: only) battle make this movie an excellent alternative to westerns, even in this modern age.  I can see how it is regarded as a “Western for people who don’t like Westerns”.  While it takes place in that familiar setting with basic archetypes present, it holds a uniquely tense atmosphere, not presenting any real action until the end (albeit a slightly anticlimactic end).  It also gives plenty of room for character development in its tight runtime (decent acting from all parties, including Grace Kelly in an early role), showing friends and enemies revealing true feelings and much more in the subtext, not only towards the Marshall but also each other during this trying time.  All of this takes place with the opening song peeking throughout its core, and with the beautifully stark cinematography matching the feelings of real heat and dire consequences in store for our protagonist. 

After reading it was meant to mirror Gary Cooper’s own battle with Hollywood and the House Un-American Activities Committee, my opinion slightly lifted (I always appreciated solid symbolism and allegory without being blatantly obvious).  However, I don’t need this knowledge to appreciate a film; most aspects except for the slightly abrupt ending make for a well-acted piece of western cinema that is taut, tense, and terrific.

"Even I know about the Pendleton Roundup "

Drink of choice: Pendelton's Whisky (even though its Canadian, the name Pendelton makes me think of rodeos due to the Pendelton Rodeo...making me think of Westerns...so there).

 

Waiting For Guffman (1996)

Directed By:  Christopher Guest

Written By:  Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy

Cast:  Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Fred Willard, Catherine O’Hara

Plot:  In the small Missouri town of Blaine, an effeminate wannabe director from the city attempts to reach stardom by bringing a musical with local residents to the attention of a Broadway representative.  And it’s not played cute or fake, but ultimately, and satisfyingly, for REAL.

Review:  How truly and utterly refreshing this was, a low budget down-to-Earth look at interesting and believable characters attempting to reach heights in all their naiveté.  Anyone familiar with director Christopher Guest and his troupe of regulars, as I am, knows what can await them.  All of their other “mockumentaries” including A Mighty Wind, Best in Show, and This Is Spinal Tap (Guest did not direct the latter) impress with their honest takes on unique and hilarious characters.  However I had never been privy to this film until after seeing those mentioned, and what a pleasant and hilarious surprise I had to find this might be the best of the bunch.

The story is simple enough:  a small town coming together to celebrate their culture and history in an original musical.  What really makes this movie effective are the diverse characters, which is ostensibly the director’s modus operandi.  Guest had a script in hand, but would basically just give an outline of a scene to the actors, and let them proceed how they wanted (the basic procedure of films to follow, but revolutionary here).  In every sense of the word this is a wonderfully goofy character piece, both character driven and character supported.

"A musical is like warm apple pie..."

Other elements in the film come out fine, emulating a fairly cheap documentary atmosphere that completely suits the film, almost to the point that you forget its fake.  The use of real location and lack of music also assist in sucking you into verisimilitude.  There’s even a slightly exciting underdog element, as they acting troop awaits the arrival of the man from Broadway (the titular Guffman) believing success is truly a possibility.

If there’s one complaint to be had, it’s the fully shown realization of the musical.  This does add to the realism of the story, documentary style, and is funny, but it also slightly takes away from the pacing, lacking in the plethora of comedic moments seen earlier.  Perhaps its better this way though; being a character driven piece, and actually being able to care for these people, one can appreciate what they have strived for, and it is pleasing to see the group come to fruition.  

Vanilla Sky (2001)

 Directed by:  Cameron Crowe    

Written By: Alejandro Amenábar & Mateo Gil (film "Abre Los Ojos") and Cameron Crowe (Screenplay) 

Cast:  Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Penelope Cruz, Jason Lee

Plot:  A middle-class average everyday everyman   pretentious and vain magazine heir lives the “dream” until crazy women, bad face days, and varying states of actual/fake dreams alter his “dream” life… whether the dreams are real or are just dreams as he’s sleeping because its hard to tell if he’s dreaming his dream life or dreaming about dreaming or… never mind.

Review:  I could not help but basically loathe much about this movie’s first act.  It appeared to be a romantic comedy sans any conflict, just a yuppie whose toughest trial is not letting Cameron Diaz know that he wants Penelope Cruz (difficult).  However, once the second act takes off with a face-changing event (pun intended), the happy dreamy vision alters its course towards a darker, slightly more interesting dreamy vision about life and scifi conspiracies.

Tom Cruise takes the lead role in stride with his Jerry Maguire cohort Cameron Crowe, and has probably never acted more annoying.  The prose that comes out of his mouth here almost convinced me to quit altogether and watch Legend (less annoying, but still).  The pain generally decreases as the film goes on, especially with Penelope Cruz as the earthy love interest whose ease on the eyes make the film more bearable.  However she is also to blame, with lines like “I’ll tell you in another life, when we are both cats,” which is ridiculous-cute, except Tom Cruise steals it and vomits it later (NOOOO!).  Cameron Diaz actually shines as a very fine fling who brings out surprise in her love craze scene.

Why did you make me do "Knight & Day"?!  TECH SUPPORT!

I remember upon release there was much ado about what really happens, as various interpretations bring different possibilities for psychological states of the main character.  I also remember that I was basically just starting High School, and having just watched it a mature 10 years later, realized that this entire hullabaloo is for naught.  You can take certain things away at first, but overall the result of the plot is fairly clear to me.  Maybe this is a case of “mainstream enigmatism” (BAM, Edward Felt Ph.D., just made that up!); a large budget film with large budget stars acting like concentration of the masses is key to their enlightenment.  Perhaps it was a film truly difficult to breakdown a decade ago, but I can’t imagine its very tough to decipher in this day and age, possibly due to more thought-provoking films like it. Maybe its positive overall, as feelings of belonging and intelligence can arrive through the mind-work completed in understanding the story.

It isn’t exactly the most clear film anyway, or simple for that matter, with surprisingly complex characters.  The almost unjustly pretentious nature is slightly bothersome, but also attractive and beautiful (in visuals too; club scene anyone?).  The “cover” of a Spanish Film, as Crowe likes to call it, Vanilla Sky brings engaging mystery to annoying romantic comedy cliches, with mixed but entertaining results.