Monthly Movie Reviews – March, 2013

Here are some two sentence reviews of the movies I watched in March.

Stats

• Movies watched – 11
• Movies that were new to me – 7
• John Carpenter movies – 4
• Monthly Masterpieces – Battleship, Deliverance, Beware of a Holy Whore

• Battleship (2012) – Every now and then a Hollywood movie comes along that makes me rethink the normal aspersions that I cast the way of “dumb action movies,” and Battleship is that movie. An absolutely thrilling script that masterfully integrates the intricate set pieces, exposition and some plenty of razor sharp comedic touches is just the icing on the cake of this finely acted film that features the most jaw dropping special effects I’ve ever seen–quite simply, a masterpiece. [Original April Fool’s Day review–basically just imagine the opposite of all that for the real review]
• Run for Cover (1955) – Nice psychological Nicholas Ray western with an aged, but still totally intense Cagney as the lead.  This one has a lot going for it, from the nice cinematography to the interesting script.
• Deliverance (1972) – Really brilliant nightmarish story of what it is to be a helpless human in the face of forces beyond one’s control, be they the natural world or inbred hillbillies.  Harrowing and thoroughly unpleasant, but a masterpiece anyway.

March 27

• Dark Star (1974) – Pretty clever (and actually rather restrained and subtle) low-budget spoof of 2001.  The beach ball alien stuff went on a bit long, but the final showdown with the “smart bomb” is pretty masterfully done.

March 23

• The Petrified Forest (1936) – The film that made Bogart a star, and rightly so as his ferocious gangster steals the film.  It is just too bad that the overwritten script (and Leslie Howard’s whiny poet) are so insufferable throughout.
• The Gangster (1947) – Odd B-movie about a gangster who is a bit past his prime and trying to hang on to his old territory.  Well done, but it has a bit too much of a focus on gangsters moping around instead of just accepting their doom for my taste.

March 19

• The Big Shot (1942) – Bogart’s last gangster film, and still a good one even if it is more of a B movie.  Nothing groundbreaking, but Bogart nails it as usual.

March 15

• The Fog (1980) – A really brilliant followup to the brilliant Halloween, this time with the supernatural brought to the forefront.  All around a great horror film with plenty of siege like elements (much to my delight).