The Darkest Hour (2011) Is Dark Indeed

Ho-hum. Another aliens invade earth, exterminating most of its inhabitants, and leading the few survivors into battle to save themselves and their planet flick. Ho-hum? No, not at all, if we’re talking about The Darkest Hour, a 2011 film released on DVD and Blu-ray April 10, 2012. Despite the story that has been told many times before, The Darkest Hour takes a fresh approach to ragtag-survivors-vs.-aliens conventions. 

Stranded in Moscow following an alien invasion, Seattle entrepreneurs Ben (Max Minghella) and Sean (Emile Hirsch), find they are facing a far worse fate than having their Internet international bar-hopping site stolen by the very people from whom they expected to make ten million dollars. Commiserating in a club after being ripped off, Ben and Sean meet two women, Natalie (Olivia Thirlby) and Anne (Rachel Taylor) when the lights go out. Everyone in the club goes outside to see what’s happening and are greeted by a fantastic light show. As the golden lights touch close to earth, though, they reduce living things to ashes.Ben, Sean, Natalie, and Anne take shelter in a storeroom where they are joined by Skyler (Joel Kinnaman), the arrogant bastard who stole their concept. 

In some ways reminiscent of The Divide, The Darkest Hour minimizes the locked-in-the-basement dramatics and follows the small band of survivors as they search out others like themselves and try to find their way home. As the story progresses, some of the characters are exterminated by the aliens, and others join the small group in their mission. Creepy scenes of wind-blown dust on deserted streets remind us of the millions who were annihilated by the unfriendly visitors. 

The Darkest Hour is a well-acted survival tale that is only slightly marred by its sweet, optimistic ending. Palpable tension and suspense keep the audience engaged, hoping for the best but expecting the worst. In addition to the expected audio commentary, special features include deleted and extended scenes, “The Darkest Hour: Visualizing an Invasion,” and an “all new short film,” The Darkest Hour: Survivors.

 

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The Darkest Hour (2011) Is Dark Indeed - Technorati Film

Vice Raid (1960): More Sermon than Sex

There may not be a lot of good reasons to watch Vice Raid, but Mamie Van Doren has got to be the best. Mamie was not the world’s greatest actress—she might not be included in the top 1000 or so, but Mamie was real. For those who think that a sex symbol is a woman with the build of a 12-year-old boy enhanced by huge breast implants, the sight of Van Doren may come as a shock. Like Monroe, the woman had curves and she didn’t get them on the operating table (in later life she did have cosmetic surgery). Baring as much as she could get away with, she did things for angora sweaters that Ed Wood could only dream about.

As sensationalistic as its subject matter (modeling agencies posing as cover for call girl rings), Vice Raid is relatively tame (although a young woman is raped and beaten up, with the details left to the audience’s imagination). There is no nudity and sex is implied; it certainly lacked the controversy of contemporaneous Tennessee Williams’ plays translated to the silver screen. Now Vice Raid appeals not because it’s about sex (“’Models’ Booked on Morals Charge!”), but because it is campy. From the overly self-righteousness of the narrator to its scenery-chewing stars to its happily-ever-after, Vice Raid entertains because it is so terribly dated.

As Vice Raid  opens, two cops await the arrival of a bus on which a “transporter” and a babe (to use the sexist term) are arriving. One cop takes the girl to the station and puts her on a bus home while the other is arresting the transporter for a federal offense: transporting a woman across state lines (if that was a federal offense, Trailways and Greyhound bus drivers must have faced long prison terms). The perp needn’t worry about going to jail, though; the cop shoots him in the back. Thus we learn there are bad cops on the force. We also learn that there’s a “syndicate” responsible for recruiting prostitutes, selling drugs, and engaging in other antisocial activities like beating up cops and killing people.

Good cop Sgt. Whitey Brandon is determined to take down the syndicate, but they import Carol Hudson (Van Doren), a hooker from another city, to frame him. Carol is involved with mob-boss Vince Malone (Brad Dexter) and lusted after by Malone’s henchman, Phil Evans (Barry Atwater). When Carol’s teenage sister (Carol Nugent) shows up in town and plans to stay with her, thinks get sticky. Rejected by Carol, Phil makes a play for the kid sister who is too naïve to be let out on her own. Things get nasty and Carol wants revenge.  

Vice Raid is one of those movies that need a narrator to help the story along and inform the ignoramuses in the audience what has just happened and what it all means. The narrator, through his indignantly disapproving voice, is also there to remind us that the prostitutes and syndicate members are bad people and that we don’t want to turn out like them. The message is clear: if you do bad things you will go to jail or someone in your family will be sexually violated.

It’s all very serious, and the humor is found in how seriously Vice Raid takes itself. Thank heavens that Americans could count on virtuous and morally uncontaminated Hollywood to keep them on the right track.

  

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Vice Raid (1960): More Sermon than Sex - Technorati Film

Two New Tribeca DVDs Starring Veteran Actors in End-of-Life Roles

Each month, NewVideo releases several Tribeca Film’s titles on DVD that represent the cream of independent films. On April 17, 2024, two very different movies hit the racks, each starring a respected, veteran actor portraying men nearing the end of their lives who are still trying to make their dreams come true. One, a retired literature professor dreams of being less inhibited and more dangerous; the other, an aging con man, dreams of making that one big score.

The Last Rites of Joe May (2011) stars Dennis Farina as a petty criminal (short money hustler) who spends seven weeks in hospital with pneumonia only to find that when he returns to his old life, it’s gone. His landlord assumed he was dead, threw out all of his belongings, and rented his apartment to a young woman and her seven-year-old daughter. His car, after being plastered with numerous parking tickets, was impounded by the city, then sold; the cost to redeem it would have been far greater than its value. He has little more than $400 in the bank, somebody stole his homing pigeons, and all his friends—like his landlord—thought he was dead.

Estranged from his son, homeless, with no prospects, Joe is taken in by Jenny (Jamie Anne Allman), the woman who rented his apartment, and her daughter Angelina (Meredith Droeger). Besides his collection of opera records that Jenny found in a closet when she moved in, and an old photograph, Joe’s life is empty and spiraling downward. As Joe becomes more involved with Jenny and Angelina, his one great moment turns out to be unlike anything he hoped. The Last Rites of Joe May is beautifully acted, sensitively written and directed by Joe Maggio, and painfully realistic. There is little happiness in this downbeat tale, and many viewers will wonder if Joe deserves to be happy, but will sympathize with him just the same.

The Man on the Train (2011) stars Donald Sutherland as an overly talky, seemingly optimistic, retired professor living in an idealized small town (Orangeville) where doors and gates need not be locked, and Larry Mullen, Jr., as a man who arrives in town with plans to rob the bank. While “The Professor” may not be a compulsive talker, those who find people who talk too much tedious will find him to be especially so. Expounding on the past, literature, and his many disappointments in himself, the Professor utters ten thousand words to every one of the Thief’s, making the viewer that much more appreciative of the new man in town, and making him seem—through his reticence to share reminiscences—the more interesting of the two characters.  

As the men become acquainted, they indulge in fantasies about living each other’s lives. The Professor, who has lived by his mother’s rules of propriety for so many years that they were habit once she died wonders about being the silent stranger, a tough guy, or a man who has “had” a lot of women. The Thief begins to enjoy the comforts of life—the posh home filled with art and artifacts, comfortable slippers—and harbors a desire to improve his intellectual standing.

The Thief is not totally committed to the bank robbery—he has a bad feeling—but with pressure from his partners he decides to go through with it. The Professor is scheduled for a heart bypass the same time as the robbery is to take place, and scenes alternate between the robbery and the surgery, as each man approaches his destiny. The Man on the Train is a more-talk-than-action remake of the French film, L’homme du train. It seems to take a long time to get nowhere, but maybe that’s the point. 

Both The Man on the Train and The Last Rites of Joe May are character studies tinged with violence, melancholia, and irony. The difference between the two is that The Man on the Train is not bad, and The Last Rites of Joe May is very good. 

 

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Two New Tribeca DVDs Starring Veteran Actors in End-of-Life Roles - Technorati Film

The Commander Is Tremendously Entertaining UK Crime Drama (DVD)

Released by Acorn Media on April 3, 2012, The Commander – Set 2 is comprised of four excellent mysteries from the ever-fertile mind of Lynda LaPlante, creator of Prime Suspect and Above Suspicion. Starring Amanda Burton as Commander Clare Blake, leader of New Scotland Yard’s Murder Review Team, The Commandermerrily leads the audience down blind alleys and dead-end streets in search of the who and why behind brutal killings. No one should be surprised when favorite suspects prove to be innocent, while likely innocents are indeed guilty.

The Commander is distinguished by superlative scripts, crisp writing, and first-class performances. The cases are complex, sensational, controversial, and provocative. The first, “The Devil You Know,” opens with the discovery of a child’s body sealed in a drum on the psychiatric floor of an abandoned hospital. Construction crew members find the drum in the course of clearing out the building. Commander Blake is transferred to the Homicide and Serious Crime division, where she anticipates greater participation in investigations, and the girl in the drum is her first case. (Throughout the four mysteries we see her evolve from dispassionate commander to team member who commands.)

The investigation into the girl in the drum repeatedly turns up two men’s names (both former patients), and the investigators must determine if either or both are in any way involved with the child or her death. One of the pleasures of The Commander is viewing the sumptuous homes of the frightfully rich (and often quite kooky). “The Devil You Know” grants viewers entry into luxury we only dream exists. Unfortunately, the luxurious surroundings are generally marred by violence and dead bodies.

Humor is well incorporated in The Commander, as evidenced by “The Fraudster,” a mystery involving the death of a man who was exceptionally careless with other people’s money and affections. Because he had defrauded so many people out of their life savings and pensions, there is a plethora of suspects which narrows considerably when we discover that this upstanding, married businessman was also carrying on a number of affairs, including one in which he fathered a child. Along with the investors, his wife, girlfriends, and business associates all have credible motives.

In episodes about the vicious murder of a priest who turned a violent neighborhood around, “Windows of the Soul,” Blake and her team must conduct their investigation amid suspicious residents who resent their presence and cannot forgive a past police blunder. Rumors of sexual abuse, drug dealers, and theft complicate the case.

The first three mysteries are two episodes each, and the fourth, “Abduction,” is three episodes. When a suspended detective is accused of murder, the division is given the uneasy task of gathering evidence against a man with whom they worked and who is considered to be a friend by some, who was found at the murder scene, covered in blood and so heavily intoxicated he has no memory of what happened. And, yes, his prints are on the weapon. Were this not enough to keep the team busy, the newborn son of another detective is kidnapped from hospital and they are involved in that search as well. Faked pregnancy, baby-selling, fraud, and theft add to the complexity of the case.

Although “Abduction” features the most surprising turn of events of all the cases, it is the least satisfying. One suspects it would have benefitted from severance into two separate stories; however, limiting it to two episodes might have also been beneficial.

The Commander – Set 2 offers entertainment far superior to much of what is found in theaters, boasting high production values and exceptional story-telling. It is impossible to pick out a favorite among Britain’s excellent crime dramas, but The Commander would have to be near (if not at) the top of the list.

 

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We Bought a Zoo (2011), Now What? (DVD)

There are several ways one could classify We Bought a Zoo, the 2011 family film starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson. Some may call it heart-warming and a “feel-good” film; others might insist it’s manipulative and syrupy. As jaded and cynical as I can be, I have to admit I’m in the first group. We Bought a Zoo is a movie I could watch with children and not feel uncomfortable because it was either too adult for the kids or too childish for me. 

Based on a true story, We Bought a Zoo introduces the Mee family. The mother recently died, father Benjamin (Damon) quits his job, teenaged son Dylan (Colin Ford) is depressed over the loss of his mother, angry, and expelled from school, and seven-year-old daughter Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) is both cute and precocious without being too much of either. Thomas Haden Church is Benjamin’s annoying brother Duncan, the accountant who tries to convince Benjamin that buying a zoo may not be a sound financial decision. 

When Benjamin and Rosie go house-hunting, they find the perfect house for their family, not knowing that it comes with a zooful of exotic animals including camels, lions, tigers, and bears. Their real estate agent tries to dissuade them gently and diplomatically, but Rosie is in love with the house and the animals, and Benjamin (who has always been an adventurer) decides to give it a try. Dylan, on the other hand, is less than thrilled. Resentful that he will have to move far from friends, his participation in the move and enterprise is reluctant at best. 

 A runaway bear, a geriatric tiger, financial woes, unexpectedly liberated snakes, and a churlish inspector conspire to make things even more difficult than Benjamin expected when he bought the place. Fortunately, zookeeper extraordinaire Kelly Foster (Scarlett Johansson) and an incredibly talented and agreeable crew are there to help him prepare for the zoo’s grand re-opening. 

Despite some improbable and predictable situations, We Bought a Zoo handles relationships sensitively and surprises with an unexpected twist to the potential love story between Benjamin and Kelly. Elle Fanning is luminous as Kelly’s young cousin Lily, an optimistic, happy girl who tries to be Dylan’s friend, and Angus Macfadyen adds a touch of the bizarre as the engineer who just wants to kill the zoo inspector. 

Certainly it’s revealing nothing to say that We Bought a Zoo ends happily—it’s a movie that gives the audience what it wants, and the audience for “feel-good” movies is definitely in the market for happy endings. DVD/Blu-ray release date: April 3, 2012.

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We Bought a Zoo (2011), Now What? (DVD) - Technorati Film

The Truth about Kerry Is Not Pretty (DVD)

Haunted by nightmares and depressed, Emma (Stana Katic) travels to Ireland to find the Truth about Kerry (2010), her best friend who was found drowned off the Irish coast. Was she taken by the evil mermaid believed to live in the depths of a nearby lake? According to authorities and villagers, Kerry’s death was an accidental drowning, but Emma is certain that she was murdered. Emma feels guilty about Kerry’s death since she was supposed to accompany Kerry (Jessica Dean) to Ireland but cancelled her participation in the trip because her fiancé suddenly proposed.

Truth about Kerry is a suspenseful tale marred by overacting. Set among overwhelmingly beautiful land- and seascapes tinged with gloom, it is the story of a young woman who accompanies an ill-tempered, disrespectful boyfriend on a trip to an Irish village where everyone drinks too much, especially Kerry. In fact, so much alcohol is consumed we are surprised that Kerry didn’t die of alcohol poisoning.

In the course of Emma’s investigation, she focuses on several men she suspects may have killed Kerry, including boyfriend Hunter (Rick Yudt) and Patrick (Darren Keefe), a local man who seemed particularly fond of Kerry. Emma’s fiancé joins her in Ireland, fearful for her safety—with cause since there have been several threats against it. Emma’s obsession with Kerry’s death strains their relationship, resulting in unpleasant exchanges.

Truth about Kerry is an example of a good premise with a mediocre execution. Some of the dialogue is unnatural and it is often not convincingly delivered. The mystery itself is what keeps the audience tagging along, guessing who—if anyone—did it. Throughout the story, Emma is forced to face things she didn’t know about Kerry (and herself)—many of which she refuses to accept. When she finally concludes what happened, makes amends to those she falsely accused, and returns to America, we learn the truth. It’s a bit of a twist ending, but no matter what happened to Kerry, the truth is she’s still dead.

Truth about Kerry arrived on DVD April 3, 2012 via Video Service.

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The Truth about Kerry Is Not Pretty (DVD) - Technorati Film

Of Dolls and Murder (DVD) Recreates the History of Forensics

Who would have imagined that one of the moving forces behind forensic science was an upper-class senior citizen who was so protected in her youth she wasn’t allowed to attend college? Francis Glessner Lee has been described as a “crime-fighting grandmother,” but in so many ways that description minimizes her role in the birth of forensic science.

Lee was the creator of the “Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Deaths,” essentially doll house crime scenes fashioned with miniatures to educate law enforcement personnel. The dioramas Lee produced in the 1930s and 1940s were small-scale reproductions of murders and suicides that are still used to educate investigators on crime scene analysis.

Of Dolls and Murder is a quirky glimpse at Lee’s dollhouse crime scenes and their value, as well as an introduction to forensics, an examination of the differences between CSI and real life criminal investigations, and a look at modern facilities such as the body farm and its function as a learning tool. 

John Waters was a fitting choice to narrate the history of various dioramas; his droll delivery of the facts behind each case provides suitable context for the unknown. Disappointingly, the true facts of each case are kept locked away and are known to one man who has no intention of sharing them. Instead, those involved in law enforcement and forensics view the recreations as part of their training in investigation. 

There is something macabre about dollhouse reproductions of brutal murder scenes, but Of Dolls and Murders puts it into perspective, allowing viewers insight into the workings of crime scene investigation units. It is a fascinating documentary, especially for those interested in forensic sciences. DVD release date: April 24, 2012.

 

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Of Dolls and Murder (DVD) Recreates the History of Forensics - Technorati Film

There's No Such Thing as a Bad Review

“A bad review is like baking a cake with all the best ingredients and having someone sit on it.” When Danielle Steele said this, she might have added, “…but some people like cake that’s been sat upon.”

Bad reviews are not fun to write. (Except for reviews of incredibly awful horror films, which can be a joy to write.) When an author puts heart and soul into the writing of a story or book, who wants to burst balloons with nasty, negative comments? However, books that are sloppily edited tend to insult the person paying for them and invite scathing, angry invective.

Recently, FCEtier wrote a music review that, while not awful, wasn’t good. It wasn’t a recommendation to buy, no matter how far the imagination can be stretched. The publicist who sent the CD got back to him within a few days, thanked him profusely, and asked if he’d like to review more of the PR firm’s clients. I thought this was a freak occurrence until I wrote a lukewarm review of a CD that wasn’t all that great (in my opinion). Since musical tastes differ widely, I did not pan the CD, but I didn’t praise it either. The publicist immediately got back to me with review offers and copious thanks.

The only conclusion I could imagine is that just getting the CD, DVD, or book (although authors seem a little more sensitive) noticed was a coup. It's not praise they are seeking, it's attention.

Back to Danielle Steele and horror films…(no, I don’t think she’s been in any). Horror films are immune to bad reviews (at least the low budget, independent ones are). There are so many fans of truly bad horror, that revealing that a movie was made for thirty-five cents using the employees of a freak show and a script that was never completed (and missing a few pages) is a guarantee that it will get a bigger audience. “Oh, this movie sounds awful, it must be hilarious,” and “I love bad movies,” are phrases commonly heard in connection with such productions. They benefit from anything that gets their titles out there.

No matter how much a reviewer hates a title, there are going to be people that see the review as news. A review reading “Joe Blow’s Current Tour Sucks,” is bound to have some people saying, “Oh, look, Honey, Joe Blow is touring again.”  Brendan Behan is widely quoted as saying, “There is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary,” but when it comes to the arts, even an obituary will start those cash registers cha-chinging.

Danielle Steele may have felt stung by bad reviews, but the crumbs of her cake reached more readers because of them. And, no matter how bad the reviews are, loyal fans will blame them on bad reviewers who obviously don’t know what they’re writing about. And, in many cases, we don’t.

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