The Odessa File (1974)

Based on a novel by Frederick Forsyth, this spy-thriller actually introduces its protagonist with a polka. Jon Voight looks fittingly scared and distraught. Like a man who has not slept for weeks. It's only about to get worse for him, though.

These opening scenes are strangely long, and it's unknown what effect they are trying to achieve or show. Not even the opening credit is long enough for it, nor the main theme. 

As this film deals with the aftermath of the war, and in particular parts of the holocaust, it is a bleak story. Slow, unnerving at times, particularly the first third. The Germans are not interested in more stories about Jews as it reminds them of the war, thus making clear the frustrations of our protagonist as no one will support his work. This angle disappears after a while, but gradually enough for it not to feel disjointed.

Where the film goes very right, is in the creation of increasing danger. In the beginning, the hidden agendas consider our protagonist as little more than a nuisance, and his biggest problem is that he is stonewalled. A further poke at the right people, and he is given a beating. A little further and they make an attempt to kill him. After this, it is obvious he has been noticed, and the danger spreads to those around him. Very nice build-up.

I do prefer the older spy-flicks to the modern. Particularly for the fact that they don't have a timer for when they have to have someone shoot or blow something up. Thus meaning one does not lose the natural flow of the story. And more importantly: It leaves room for clever dialogue and intellectual traps. Try to find that in Jason Bourne!

Why they would hire a known quantity as Andrew Lloyd Webber to compose the music seems strange, as music is very rarely used (and God-awful). I like the effect though. Silence leaves so much more room for little sounds and observations. Kudos to director Roland Neame. It leaves the sneaking parts much, much more tense and has the viewer at the edge of his sear.  
On a more sour note, it feels unnecessary that all actors speak with a German accent. OK, so the story is German, but if you want to make a German story in German, then hire German actors. Hearing Americans trying to have a German accent is most annoying. That they shout "prost" when they drink schnaps, only strengthens the hypocrisy.

All in all, this is a good spymovie with a decent plot, and as it is an old one, it even has a cool twist, that isn't simply stupid.

7/10

Shaft (2000)

This was the part they had been waiting for Samuel L. Jackson to get old enough to play. It is impossible to imagine anyone else replacing Richard Roundtree (naturally given a cameo) as John Shaft. So does it deliver?

It's all business as usual from the beginning as the voice of Isaac Hayes dwarfs some very funky guitars and the vignette has many boobs and cool effects like handcuffs and guns. From there, it's straight to the murder scene and only two minutes later, Jackson is having a very interesting tête-à-tête with a young Christian Bale, and naturally solving all mystery in seconds. Bale really is discusting as a racist yuppie, though. There is nothing you want more than to see Shaft get him. Though at five minutes in, it makes everything a bit simple and cut & dry.

Jeffrey Wright is most entertaining, but other than that the cast here is negligible, both the actors and the parts. It's painfully clear that they're all décor for the force that is John Shaft in this flick. It's always nice to see Pat Hingle though, even if he only has a couple of lines.

As for humour, Jacksons one-liners are very cool and very, very black (It's my duty, to please that booty).

A bigger problem is that there is no real plot here. We know the killer, we know the hero, and, quite frankly, we know the ending. There's not even a twist to be found. There are some clever moves, and ideas though, and Toni Collette does provide a MacGuffin of sorts. But I've seen Indiana Jones dig for 3000 year old artifacts, that have more of a backstory than her.

The action is decent, but not very well divided. Meaning you are bored at times, and exhausted at others. And the cursing is most solid. Enough for them to must have hired consultants on the area.

So in summation, Jackson as John Shaft is one of the coolest characters of the decade. Unfortunately, they couldn't be bothered to get him much of a script, and all other characters have the depths of a puddle in Sahara

5/10

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

For a 39-year old it is hard to judge a film by 100 year old standards. But let's give it a go nonetheless.

As is fitting for a film displaying the horrors of war, it starts of with a big parade and a fine march as the new soldiers are treated as heroes, leaving the town. The war is generally spoken of in big words and enlisting as the ultimate honour.

As is expected a bit of the acting is very theatrical and over-the-top by modern standards, but it serves to illustrate the development of films, and it's still better than watching actors from High School Musical or all the Vampire-crap made these days. The standout actor is Louis Wolheim, who strikes a note as an officer that only Bill Murray could play with more wry coolness. I doubt he would do callous as well, though. The film is not without decent extras either. John Wray as the local postman turned sergeant over the town's boys is particularly delectable.

Overall it's easy to see how many war movies have been inspired by this earlier instalment. The war seen as a picture of national pride, the young boys wanting to play heroes, the harsh reality of training, the even harsher reality of meeting the more experienced soldiers and the utter hell that is the actual fighting ("Full Metal Jacket" anyone?).

This film is made before special effects were a big thing, so they have to rely on the feeling of danger with other things than big cans of gasoline. Like in "Das Boot" they create a claustrophobic environment that it is impossible to leave (a couple panic and try. Immediate death awaits). And you can see the soldiers slowly (some actually extremely quickly, making the scenes less effective) lose their calm and later their minds as they sit weeks without food or decent sleep. That being said, the war scenes in the field are quite exquisite for their age, and gruelling at times.

And our protagonist soon learns: as much as you hate the war, it is better than being in your old life with your new knowledge. A cliché now, but in 1930 it was controversial and would be considered a modern piece of psychology and anti-establishment at its most disloyal. It does however, to a great extent, and with great skill, portray the friendship and comradery that arises between men in war.
For its time, this film is surprisingly insightful and critical of war, not only WW1, but in general. And as such, much of the criticism is based on the hierarchy in society as a whole.

Where the film doesn't quite hold up to modern standards is the thrills and excitement. Though in fairness, it does state in the pretext that that is not a value for a film such as this.

The ending though is so simple, serene and beautiful. Something for newer filmmakers to remember.

8/10

The Man from U.N.C.L.E (2015)

Let me start this review by stating that I never saw a single episode of the TV-show, so I guess readers will either feel I am not worthy of having an opinion, or see me as a breath of fresh air. For those of you who are now thinking "what TV-show?", I recommend "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" instead.

An original car-chase is  hard to come by, but using a pair of Trabants is actually a very cool set-piece to introduce your action-flick. Though you don't need to be an expert in these cars to realize that the artistic freedom is substantial. Apart from this the action is quite alright. Both quantity and quality are decent, without excelling.

Where this movie falls flat, is in the characters/casting. Henry Cavill is supposed to be a blend of Len Deighton's Harry Palmer and Ian Fleming's James Bond. With Palmer's background and ethics, Bond's suave demeanour and great dressing, and both agents arrogance and calm. The big problem is that his character is not British. He is an American trying very hard to be an Englishman. And with all the traits of the two most known British spies supposed to be in his arsenal, he falls shy on most. Vikander isn't much better. She is nowhere near credible as an East-German mechanic, and only slightly better as a British spy. And was there ever an actor that looked less like a Russian than Armie Hammer? The cast had to be blind (or blindly in love) to feel that he would make a great Russian agent. His acting is better than Cavill and Vikander, though. He's just very badly cast.

And so, ironically, the only eastern-European in a leading part is the best by a long shot. Elizabeth Debicki is delectable as she takes the style of Holly Golightly to a new level whilst adding great spices of smartness and callousness. One of the finest female villains in a long, long while.

So though you are rarely bored, you are never anywhere near fulfilled either. It seems Guy Ritchie still knows how to make cool scenes, but it would appear as if he has lost the ability to make a cool movie.

5/10

Maverick (1994)

Who loves dust more than Richard Donner? Seriously: whatever time and geography brings, there must be some dust. So why not do a western! Much more dust!

Let's start with the music for a change: There was hardly ever a better composer of comedic music than Randy Newman, and he delivers here as well. A perfect rendition of quirky, upbeat and humorous. Not unlike Basil Poledouris' score for "Quigley down under" 4 years earlier.

Gibson was of course born to play a character that has a constant need to talk and joke. However, it doesn't play to his strengths that in this movie, most of the cast are trying to screw him, and not the other way around. There are other actors who play befuddled, frustrated and mockishly angry better than him. When push comes to shove, Gibson isn't a comedian.

Nor is Jodie Foster, and though her chemistry with Gibson is far from bad, we don't get the constant grin that a better pair would have provided. The reason I bring up that none of the actors on display here are comedians is that this is a comedy. It doesn't take itself seriously enough at anything else, be it action, suspense or drama. It's all in a jovial, good-humoured way. Which is fine, but if you're making a comedy we really should be laughing more.

Not surprisingly, the best acting comes from Alfred Molina. As he is portraying a rather vicious and cruel cowboy, it is quite spectacular to not look stupid and out of place, but Molina always was underestimated. Gibson has some of his better scenes in this flick playing off Molina.

And anyone who is good at making comedies knows that 80-90 minutes is perfect. "Maverick" clocks in at 127. There is nowhere near enough script for that. Not to mention jokes.

So this is a light-hearted and charming as all films Gibson played in during this era, but it doesn't really bring anything else to the table. And as good as Gibson was at that in the 90's, it isn't quite enough.

5/10

Spaceballs (1987)

Was there ever a more loveable spoof than Mel Brooks? Of course not. At least not that managed to maintain any kind of fun for the viewer.

This is from his more straightforward period where he simply made a parody out of another film (or in this case, a franchise). Not as flexible as the concept of "Blazing Saddles", but Brooks was always quick with a joke and for anyone who actually saw "Star Wars", they will find much to muse at in this flick.

First a problem though, and it is a directorial one: Someone should have noticed that Pullman and Zuniga in the leads have different thresholds of parody in them. Whereas Pullman finds a certain balance, Zuniga is a full-fledged parody, making their interactions lacking to the point of confusing in a lot of their scenes. It should have been fairly easy to adjust, but alas. Their time together on screen is limited, and therefore, so is the damage. And as a rugged parody of Harrison Ford, Pullman works brilliantly.

The parody of Star Wars itself is fairly funny but not very imaginative. As usual Brooks hurls puns and gags at the viewer at an alarming pace, and that guarantees a certain amount of laughs. Some of them are more subtle though, so paying attention will be rewarded. The best gag is actually quite without both sound and facial expressions. Genius. Brooks knows the entire spectre of comedy. From the embarrassingly simple and stupid to the brilliantly clever.

This comedy suffers from the same fault as most, though: The simple fact that it has a funny premise, a funny start followed by some good jokes, but then falls into the trap of keeping too much focus on a story that wasn't too good to begin with.

As a the top-billed comedian here, John Candy knows his place perfectly as the highly enjoyable Barf. Other than him, there is limited talent, though Brooks has 2 small parts and Rick Moranis stars as Dark Helmet, nicely flanked by George Wyner.

All in all, Brooks provides more than enough gags for anyone to laugh. As always. And that really is the key thing for a comedy

7/10

Stripes (1981)

Ah! The uneven talent of Ivan Reitman. But he was never better than in the 80's and Stripes surely offers a lot of the best comedians of the decade

This movie has all the necessary features of a comedy of its time. Losers finding strength, titties (even mud-wrestling), women as props and some guns to boot.

Having used up and coming Bill Murray two years earlier in "Meatballs", Reitman knew he could depend on the young comedian. Teaming the misanthropic and impulsive Murray with the smart, careful Harold Ramis, was such a smart move, he did it with even greater success when producing Ghostbusters three years later. 


It's quite obvious that "Police Academy" has stolen its entire first third from this flick, as most elements from the enrollment are similar. There are also, particularly in the early stages, huge similiarities between Murray's Winger and Gutenberg's Mahoney (even the many push-ups in the rain as punishment). Though naturally, Murray has more strengths to play to. His misanthropy, opportunism, shameless flirting and bottomless insolence really is enough for any comedy to survive with honors. He is very nicely flanked by Harold Ramis, John Candy, John Larroquette and Warren Oates (he died only six months later at the age of 53) who all add laughs, smirks and snickers. And some extra credit to Sean Young who really has a dazzling smile to charm everyone present.

The music by Bernstein is brilliant, and the two themes perfectly fitted for the two main phases of the film. Firstly "all goes to hell" at the beginning and later the military phase. Elmer Bernstein certainly was the king of comedies.

The first hour or so is quite funny, and the characters are good. Ramis is a bit more on offence than he was allowed later in his career, so look for his mimics and facial expressions a lot of the time. They seemed to have two scripts and didn't do a good job editing. Hence, the movie is half an hour too long and the last part of it isn't particularly interesting nor funny. The prospect of a war-Winnebago is of course not without promise, but the gags are spent earlier and it adds litle to the whole. If anything. Generally Stripes feels like a lot of good ideas and fun for all involved, but a lack of discipline and structure strips it of status as a classic. It still is a good representative for comedy of its time.

7/10