Review – Carnival of Souls

This odd little picture from 1962 should serve as at least some inspiration for indy film-makers everywhere. Herk Harvey manages to make a not-too-bad movie with minimal resources, something that was a lot harder to do in the early 60s than it is now. Sure, the picture has rough spots. The script is weak. The acting is strictly amateur hour. Even the dimmest audience member must surely see the final turn of the screw coming almost from the beginning of the picture. But some of the defects add to the impact. For example, Candace Hilligoss (as Mary, our protagonist) looks so much like a 60s-era department story mannequin that it’s actually a little surprising every time she talks. In some roles that would be off-putting to say the least. But here it adds to the general sense of disorientation that the director is trying to convey. An abandoned amusement park in Salt Lake City serves as the location for a lot of the key action, and the weirdness of these visuals is almost enough to make the whole movie worthwhile all by itself. I should also admit that I like this picture at least in part because some scenes were shot in Lawrence, Kan., a town where I lived for several years. Thus I got a kick out of the whole “so that’s what that looked like back in ‘62” thing, an experience other audience members might not share. Still, overall this is a solid piece of work considering the era and the budget. Mildly amusing

Review – The Shopworn Angel

Usually about the worst thing I have to say about a movie from Hollywood’s “golden age” is that I didn’t care about it one way or another. But this one actually managed to be terrible. Margaret Sullivan stars as a Broadway actress torn between Jimmy Stewart and some guy I didn’t recognize. Stewart plays a young, naïve GI with google-eyed crush on the actress, a relationship that seems doomed to failure not only by the differences in their lifestyles but also by his imminent departure for the trenches of World War One. For the most part this is a fluffy little picture from the early days of talkies. But toward the end the film-makers paint themselves into a corner and then decide to burn the house down in order to escape. Honestly, this picture has the worst ending of just about anything I’ve ever seen. More than that I can’t say without giving away the conclusion, so unless you watch it for yourself you’ll just have to take my word about what a disappointment it was. See if desperate

Review – The Day Mars Invaded Earth

Imagine Invasion of the Body Snatchers reworked as one of the bad episodes of The Twilight Zone and then stretched to more than three times its natural length. Judging by appearances, the producers of this little treasure rented (or otherwise wrangled access to) a deserted mansion out in the Hollywood hills somewhere. Then, armed with somewhere around 20 minutes’ worth of script, they created nearly 80 minutes’ worth of movie by having the characters wander aimlessly around the grounds. If you’re trying to see every humans-replaced-by-alien-look-alikes movie ever made, then sooner or later you’re going to have to sit through this. Otherwise it’s completely missable. VSee if desperate

Review – Finding Neverland

Here we have the “inspired by true events” version of the creation of Peter Pan. Apparently J.M. Barrie based his most popular work on the children of a woman he befriended. The kids lost their father to some ailment or another, and now Mom has the consumption. Fortunately Barrie is able to step into their lives – and out of his own loveless marriage and recent theatrical flop. He brings the kids a heart-warming sense of play and wonder, something particularly desperately needed by middle child Peter. That’s the movie in a nutshell; the rest is mostly soap-opera twists and turns. Johnny Depp does a good job as Barrie, and Kate Winslett is adequate as the love interest. There’s nothing wrong with this production aside from the fact that – as one might expect – it’s somewhat depressing. On the other hand, Barrie’s life apparently doesn’t make anywhere near as good a movie as his famous tale. Mildly amusing

Review – Mrs. Henderson Presents

Wealthy aristocrat and recent widow Henderson (Judi Dench) is lonely and bored. She buys a theater in London and hires an experienced producer (Bob Hoskins, who also has executive producer credit for this movie) to put on a musical variety show. The show succeeds at first but then slumps. Our heroine decides that the entertainment needs a boost in the form of nude models. That’s enough plot for half an hour or so, with maybe another fifteen minutes for resolving complications and tying up subplots. However, the production keeps going for double that length. For the most part this is an entertaining show. It just runs out of material before it runs out of film stock. Mildly amusing

Review – The Brothers Grimm

The movie dreadful. This is the exact opposite of what we’ve come to expect from Terry Gilliam. There’s almost no plot at all here, the story consisting almost exclusively of fairy tale sub-references and sight gags. And even these elements frequently don’t work on their own, let alone as part of a larger production. The acting was terrible; why oh why did Matt Damon feel the need to adopt a highly-ineffective English accent in order to play a German character? And don’t even get me started on the animal cruelty. Even the theme is unnecessary. As ever, Gilliam makes a valid point about the importance of imagination. But this is a subject he’s explored to much better effect in other productions ranging from Time Bandits down to Baron Munchausen. Because I was in a fairly good mood when I wrote this, the movie managed to escape a “skip” rating. But just barely. See if desperate