The Producers

March 19th, 2009
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With a stroke of genius, the young accountant Gene Wider observed that “a producer (Zero Mostel) can actually make more money with a flop than he does with a profitable one”. Thus unraveled the pursuit of the greenback by Zero Mostel and Gene Wider, the new partner he coaxed into a bold venture.

What to look for are the two faces. Zero Mostel has a versatile look. He can beg (ladykiller), howl at (Gene Wilder) and be as tame as a little kitten (just to calm the hysterical Gene Wilder down) within seconds.

He is cunning and sophisticated, a wolf under sheep’s skin. He is no longer the Fiddler in the Roof, his another stage success. Gene Wider is the good-natured, timid and interesting guy who was nudged along by the persistent producer to join the farce. He is naïve yet meticulous. He has the brains and delivers the lines softly yet powerfully.

These two characters have been copycats for a number of subsequent movies. Yet their performances are not surpassed. Just watch them waiting at the bar celebrating their would-be-disaster play but, alas, the rich people love it! Thus, it is these two people who put magic in the movie and make it a very special piece of art.

Cast

  • Zero Mostel as Max Bialystock
  • Gene Wilder as Leo Bloom
  • Kenneth Mars as Franz Liebkind
  • Lee Meredith as Ulla
  • Estelle Winwood as Hold Me-Touch Me
  • Christopher Hewett as Roger De Bris
  • Andréas Voutsinas as Carmen Ghia
  • Dick Shawn as Lorenzo St. DuBois (L.S.D.)
  • Renée Taylor as Eva Braun

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Other People’s Money

March 19th, 2009
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Other People’s Money is a good “feel good” and yet hilarious movie about a Wall St. corporate raider played by Danny Devito who sets his target on a debt free, nearly century old company whose balance sheets are whistle clean.

However, the fictitious company, New England Wire & Cable has a few gatekeepers that are prepared to give this capitalist a run for his money. The head gatekeeper, “Jorgy” played by legendary screen star Gregory Peck delivers a sensational performance as its chairman and major shareholder.

This clash of the titans sets the stage for a battle, full of comedy I might add, between New England Wire’s champion, played by Penelope Ann Miller, as the rival attorney who challenges Devito’s character at his game. Weapons of choice- a concoction of wit, connivery, wheedling, deception, charm, and what else, seduction.

The movie is a good primer on the nomenclatures of hostile takeovers and corporate dealings. You learn various buzz words like 13-Ds, green mail, and stock buybacks. You also get to witness a good ol’ fashion throw back proxy fight at a shareholder’s meeting.

Your time invested will be amusingly rewarded.

Cast

  • Danny DeVito …. Lawrence Garfield
  • Gregory Peck …. Andrew Jorgenson
  • Penelope Ann Miller …. Kate Sullivan
  • Piper Laurie …. Bea Sullivan
  • Dean Jones …. Bill Coles
  • R.D. Call …. Arthur
  • Mo Gaffney …. Harriet

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Barbarians at the Gate

March 19th, 2009
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This movie, based on a true story, chronicles the sale of RJR Nabisco during an era when Mergers and Acquisitions were at an all time high. James Garner, in a brilliant performance, plays F. Ross Johnson, the CEO of RJR Nabisco who wants to take Nabisco private and be its majority owner.

The movie does a nice job explaining the financial aspects of a LBO(Leveraged Buyout) on such a basic level that anyone can understand. Throughout the film the storyline flows quickly, although at times certain scenes were a little canned and the satire a bit corny.

The backdrop of the movie is loaded with back and forth backstabbing, blatant greed, under the table dealing, and Jonathan Pryce’s depiction of Henry Kravis, a Wall Street mover and shaker and corporate raider is outstanding.

Of course by no means this work supersedes the book, but nevertheless you may find the effort quite entertaining.

Over all, I really enjoyed this movie.

Cast

  • Tom Aldredge as Charlie Hugel
  • Graham Beckel as Don Kelly
  • Joanna Cassidy as Linda Robinson
  • Matt Clark as Ed Horrigan
  • Jeffrey DeMunn as John Greeniaus
  • Peter Dvorsky as George R. Roberts
  • James Garner as F. Ross Johnson
  • Mark Harelik as Peter Atkins
  • Joseph Kell as Nick Forstmann
  • Jonathan Pryce as Henry Kravis
  • David Rasche as Ted Forstmann
  • Peter Riegert as Peter Cohen
  • Leilani Sarelle as Laurie Johnson
  • Fred Dalton Thompson as Jim Robinson
  • Rita Wilson as Carolyne Roehm-Kravis

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American Psycho

March 19th, 2009
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After watching this film twice, I am of the opinion that it really is a satire rather than a horror film. I say this because the majority of the film is really about Patrick Bateman’s pitiful attempt to define himself through his obsession with his model-like appearance, his outlandish purchases (such as two Robert Longo drawings in his living room), music selections, and his choices in nightclubs and restaurants. The man is adrift with no real meaning in his life, and thus this is why he is “psycho”.

He demeans women, seeing them as little more than sex objects or status symbols. He is engaged to a woman (played by Reese Witherspoon) who sees men in the same way he sees women, which is convenient for a while but eventually results in a rupture of the relationship.

He is hyper competitive and overly sensitive to the trappings of success. He becomes especially competitive with a colleague Paul Allen (played by Jared Leto) who has gained recognition that Patrick lacks and seeks.

Early in the film Patrick lapses into psychotic halucinatory behavior, thinking that he is killing the women he picks up and the collegues who out shine him at work. We are given considerable hints throughout the film that his murders are figments of his imagination. I realize that some viewers will not interpret the film in this manner at all, but I suggest they carefully watch the film and seek the clues that Patrick is hallucinating and thus imaging that his desire to kill is in fact overt behaviors rather than impulsive thoughts.

So why is he an American Psycho? Because he is a terrible empty shell of a person, driven to self definition by the American marketplace. The poor fellow had no original opinions. He actually memorizes CD covers as substitutes for developing an original opinion of the pop music that is integrated throughout the film.

And yet, in some ways this really is a horror film, for what could be more horrible that a meaningless existance? The author of the book, Bret Easton Ellis, would let us know that many people experience this horror every day.

The film is actually very good and unfortunately misunderstood and underestimated by most viewers.

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The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre

March 19th, 2009
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1948 was an Oscar duel between the British import “Hamlet” by Laurence Olivier (with six nominations) and the American production of “The Treasure of Sierra Madre” by John Huston (with four Oscar bids). Both dramatic pictures were B/W and were heavy favorites to dominate the awards (and did so with seven wins between them).

John Huston deservedly won best director and best screenplay (with the joke that William Shakespeare wasn’t eligible for “Hamlet” that year). The film is a dark one that explores the themes of greed and madness with superb all-around performances, especially by Walter Huston and Humphrey Bogart. By directing his father, a veteran character actor of stage and screen, to the best suporting actor prize, John Huston made Oscar history — it mark the first time that a father and son won Oscars in the same year for the same film.

Inexplicably, Mr. Bogart was not even nominated for best actor in what arguably was his finest performance of his long career — this oversight would contribute to his win three years later in another John Huston production of “The African Queen.” He is mesmerizing as the American who literally and ever so slowly goes insane over his pot of gold.

At the end of the 1948 Oscar awards, “Hamlet” and “The Treasure Of Sierra Madre” were tied with three Oscars each — “Hamlet” would break the tie by winning best picture and giving Mr Olivier his second Oscar win of the evening (to go with his best actor win). Similiar in themes, both films are worth seeing and the viewer can decide which they prefer more.

Cast

  • Humphrey Bogart as Fred C. Dobbs
  • Walter Huston as Howard
  • Tim Holt as Bob Curtin
  • Bruce Bennett as James Cody
  • Barton MacLane as Pat McCormick
  • Alfonso Bedoya as Gold Hat
  • Arturo Soto Rangel as El Presidente
  • Manuel Dondé as El Jefe
  • José Torvay as Pablo
  • Margarito Luna as Pancho

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Glengarry Glen Ross

March 19th, 2009
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Glengarry Glen Ross is a 1992 independent film, adapted by David Mamet from his acclaimed 1984 Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning play of the same name. The film depicts two days in the lives of four real estate agents and how they become desperate when the corporate office sends a representative to “motivate” them by announcing that, in one week, all except the top two salesmen will be fired. The film, like the play, is notorious for its use of profanity, leading the cast to jokingly refer to the film as “Death of a Fuckin’ Salesman”. The actual title of the film comes from the names of two of the real estate developments being peddled by the salesmen characters (Glengarry Highlands and Glen Ross Farms).

Glengarry Glen Ross had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival where Jack Lemmon won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The film was not a commercial success, only making $10.7 million in North America, just below its $12.5 million budget. It was critically well-received with highly positive reviews by most of the major critics. Al Pacino was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his work in the film.

Cast

  • Jack Lemmon as Shelley “The Machine” Levene: He is an older man, a once-successful and respected salesman who has recently fallen on hard times, and has not closed a big deal in a long time. Lemmon said of his character, “Shelly’s actions question where the morals and ethics are in America and how they have eroded in the quest for success”.
  • Al Pacino as Ricky Roma: He is the most successful salesman in the office. He is ruthless, dishonest and immoral, but succeeds because he has a talent for figuring out a client’s weaknesses and crafting a pitch that will exploit those weaknesses.
  • Ed Harris as Dave Moss: He is a big-mouthed salesman with big dreams and ambitions. Harris describes his character as “the kind of guy who, when anything’s wrong, it’s not him. Blames everybody else”.
  • Alan Arkin as George Aaronow: He is an aging and nervous salesman with low self-esteem who lacks confidence and hope. Despite this, he means well.
  • Kevin Spacey as John Williamson: He is the office manager. The salesmen despise Williamson, but need him because he is the one who hands out the sales leads. Spacey saw his character as “the catalyst for events, since people are either struggling for or against him”.
  • Alec Baldwin as Blake: He is brought in by Mitch and Murray to motivate the salesmen in a ruthless manner; this character was created for the film and did not appear in the stage version.
  • Jonathan Pryce as James Lingk: He is a timid, middle-aged man who becomes Roma’s latest client. Lingk is easily manipulated.
  • Jude Ciccolella as the police detective.
  • Bruce Altman has a brief role as an uninterested customer for Levene.

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Casino

March 19th, 2009
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asino is an Academy Award nominated 1995 crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Scorsese. Robert De Niro stars as Sam “Ace” Rothstein, a Jewish chain-smoking top gambling handicapper who is called by the Mob to oversee the day-to-day operations at the fictional Tangiers Casino in Las Vegas. The story is based on the late Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, who ran the Stardust, Fremont and the Hacienda casinos in Las Vegas for the Chicago Outfit from the 1970s until the early 1980s.

Joe Pesci plays Nicky Santoro, based on the real-life Anthony “Tony the Ant” Spilotro, an intimidating enforcer and psychopath. Nicky is sent by the Chicago Outfit to Vegas to make sure that money from the Tangiers is skimmed off the top and that the casinos and mobsters in Vegas are kept in line. Sharon Stone plays Ace’s wife, the self-obsessed, spoiled, devious and sly Ginger, a role that earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

When released, Casino had the most uses of the word “fuck” (422) in a feature length film, but was outdone two years later by the film Nil by Mouth although it remains the highest number of uses of the word in an American film excluding documentaries. Casino has been considered a companion piece to Scorsese’s earlier film, Goodfellas (1990), which also starred De Niro and Pesci.

Reception

While the movie was heavily criticized for its excessive violence and sometimes-superfluous blood, it garnered a mostly-positive critical response. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an 83% “fresh” rating. On Metacritic, the rating is 73(Generally favourable reviews) out of 100 based on 17 reviews.

Cast

  • Robert De Niro - Sam “Ace” Rothstein Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal
  • Joe Pesci Nicky – Santoro Tony “The Ant” Spilotro
  • Sharon Stone - Ginger McKenna Rothstein Geraldine McGee Rosenthal
  • Frank Vincent - Frankie Marino Frank Cullotta
  • Don Rickles - Billy Sherbert Murray Ehrenberg
  • Pasquale Cajano - Remo Gaggi Joseph Aiuppa
  • James Woods - Lester Diamond Leonard Marmor

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It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World

March 19th, 2009
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It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is a 1963 American comedy film directed by Stanley Kramer about the madcap pursuit of $350,000 of stolen cash by a diverse and colorful group of strangers. The ensemble comedy premiered on November 7, 1963.

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Although well known for serious films such as Inherit the Wind and Judgment at Nuremberg (both starring Spencer Tracy), Kramer set out to make the ultimate comedy film with It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. At more than three hours in its original roadshow version, including overture, intermission and exit music, the result is certainly one of the longest.

Filmed in Ultra Panavision 70 and presented in Cinerama (becoming one of the first Cinerama films originated with one camera), it also had an all-star cast, with dozens of major comedy stars from all eras of cinema making appearances in the film.

The film followed a Hollywood trend in the 1960s of producing “epic” films as a way of wooing audiences away from television and back to movie theaters. Television had sapped the regular movie going audience and box-office revenues were dropping, so the major studios experimented with a number of gimmicks to attract audiences, including widescreen films.

The title was taken from Thomas Middleton’s 1605 comedy A Mad World, My Masters. Kramer considered adding a fifth “mad” to the title before deciding that it would be redundant, but noted in interviews that he later regretted it.

The film’s theme music was written by Ernest Gold with lyrics by Mack David.

In the 1970s, ABC broadcast the film on New Year’s Eve. The last reported showing of the film on major network television was on May 16, 1978. The movie aired on December 30, 2008 on the Retroplex network.

Cast

  • Edie Adams as Monica Crump, wife of Melville Crump
  • Milton Berle as edible seaweed company owner J. Russell Finch
  • Sid Caesar as dentist Melville Crump (a role originally meant for Ernie Kovacs before his death in a car accident)
  • Buddy Hackett as comedy writer Benjy Benjamin
  • Ethel Merman as Mrs. Marcus, mother-in-law of J. Russell Finch and a very cranky woman
  • Dorothy Provine as Emeline Marcus-Finch, wife of J. Russell Finch
  • Mickey Rooney as comedy writer Dingy ‘Ding’ Bell
  • Dick Shawn as Sylvester Marcus, Mrs. Marcus’ son and Emeline’s brother
  • Phil Silvers as the out-of-work piano player Otto Meyer
  • Terry-Thomas as Lt. Col. J. Algernon Hawthorne
  • Spencer Tracy as Captain C. G. Culpeper
  • Jonathan Winters as truck driver Lennie Pike

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Ocean’s Eleven

March 19th, 2009
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Ocean’s Eleven (or Ocean’s 11) is a 1960 heist film directed by Lewis Milestone and starring five Rat Packers: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford.

Centered around a series of Las Vegas casino robberies, the film’s other stars included Angie Dickinson, Cesar Romero, Richard Conte, Akim Tamiroff, Henry Silva, Ilka Chase, Norman Fell, Harry Wilson, and Buddy Lester, as well as cameo appearances by Shirley MacLaine, Red Skelton, and George Raft.

A remake, directed by Steven Soderbergh, starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Julia Roberts (among others) appeared in 2001.

Filming

Peter Lawford was first told of the basic story of the film by director Gilbert Kay who had heard the idea from a gas station attendant. Lawford evenutally bought the rights in 1958 imagining William Holden in the lead. Sinatra became interested in the idea and a variety of different writers worked on the project. Shot on location in Las Vegas, “Ocean’s Eleven” is considered to be the first of the Rat Pack films, but it is not the first in which its members appear together. This film formed a framework for subsequent vehicles tailored around Sinatra, Martin and Davis (Sergeants 3, 4 For Texas and Robin and the 7 Hoods).

Shot during the day and the wee hours of the morning on and around the Las Vegas strip, Frank Sinatra not only filmed his scenes in “Ocean’s” but also a cameo appearance in the film Pepe along with performing on stage during the evenings at The Sands hotel. Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop joined him at the Sands on stage during filming. During the crime film’s iconic closing shot, the Sands marquee can be seen in the background featuring the performers’ names.

Influences

While the concept of a casino-heist was used in the more serious film-noir’s Five Against the House and Bob le Flambeur, the idea of a Las Vegas-related heist during a New Year’s Eve celebration was seen in the equally grim Guns, Girls and Gangsters in 1958. An unofficial companion to Ocean’s 11, released in the same year, was Seven Thieves, which although set in Monte-Carlo follows the same plot as well.

Popular culture

Oft referenced over the years, Ocean’s 11 has become hailed as the definitive outing for The Rat Pack and one of star Frank Sinatra’s most popular films. The iconic image of the main players was emulated by Quentin Tarantino in Reservoir Dogs (1992) while a remake starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon signalled the start of a lucrative franchise for the actors. Two sequels to the remake were made, Ocean’s Twelve in 2004 and Ocean’s Thirteen in 2007, the latter referencing the original Danny Ocean, Frank Sinatra, in the plot and featuring one of his songs, This Town.

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Boiler Room

March 19th, 2009
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Boiler Room is a 2000 U.S. drama, written and directed by Ben Younger, and starring Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel and Nia Long. Other characters in the film were played by Ben Affleck, Nicky Katt, Scott Caan, Tom Everett Scott, Ron Rifkin and Jamie Kennedy.

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The film is often compared to Glengarry Glen Ross and Wall Street, and both movies are quoted — by name and with lines of dialogue — by characters in the film, and in one instance a whole scene (from Wall Street) is recited by the characters as they watch it on video. Alec Baldwin’s character in Glengarry is often quoted by Ben Affleck’s character.

Cast

  • Giovanni Ribisi – Seth Davis
  • Vin Diesel – Chris Varick
  • Nia Long – Abbie Halpert
  • Nicky Katt – Greg Weinstein
  • Ron Rifkin – Judge Marty Davis
  • Ben Affleck – Jim Young
  • Tom Everett Scott – Michael Brantley
  • Scott Caan – Richie O’Flaherty
  • Jamie Kennedy – Adam

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