Reviews

  • Honest Thief (2020)

    Honest Thief (2020)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (Netflix Streaming, November 2021) As far as the biannual Liamsploitation thrillers are concerned, Honest Thief finds itself in the average middle: Not terrible, but not particularly distinctive either. Every time I see Liam Neeson and focus more on his terrific voice is a sign that maybe the rest of the film isn’t quite pulling its weight. Our story takes us to Boston, where a master thief (Neeson), having stolen millions of dollars from New England banks, has fallen in love and is now contemplating not simply retiring, but atoning by confessing everything to the police. Having somehow not spent the money (a virtuous thief!) becomes an important point in his negotiations with a curiously apathetic FBI, especially when the policemen sent to investigate his confession end up being crooked cops more interested in the money than justice. There are plenty of problems with the premise here, starting with a supposedly master criminal not even bothering to provide the kind of details that would set his confession apart from those of mere pretenders, and short-circuit the film’s entire story. But no — before long, we’re chasing cars and shooting guns throughout the greater Boston area, not knowing who to trust. It’s all quite conventional and mildly entertaining if you’re in the mood for a straight-ahead action movie. Where Honest Thief falls short, however, is that in an increasingly crowded filmography of Neeson thrillers, it doesn’t quite have the spark of the wilder or better entries. It’s a by-the-numbers exercise, with Neeson’s presence carrying much of the film on his shoulders. It could have been worse, though, and Neeson only has so many films in which he gets to punch people in the face. Might as well enjoy what we’ve got.

  • Pieces of a Woman (2020)

    Pieces of a Woman (2020)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (Netflix Streaming, November 2021) Aaand this year’s entry in the “heartbreaking downer drama that lets actors act and earn Oscar nominations” is the very Manchester-by-the-Sea-ish Pieces of a Woman, which wows viewers with a single uninterrupted take of pregnancy, delivery and newborn mortality and then spends an hour wallowing in the ensuing grief. But is grief the right word, given that the lead character seems to keep her head while others lose theirs? Shot in sparse Montréal winter tones (passing itself off as Boston), Pieces of a Woman is a kind of low-key drama meant to solicit awards and critical attention, while leaving larger audiences to decide if that’s the kind of film that they really want to see. Nearly every actor does their best in navigating this nuanced drama, from Shia Labeouf’s take on a blue-collar bridge worker who can’t deal with losing his child, to Vanessa Kirby’s gradual acceptance of the situation, to Ellen Burstyn’s near-villainous take on a controlling mother. Kirby is particularly interesting here, as she switches from attention-getting performances in crowd-pleasing action blockbusters (Mission Impossible 6, Hobbs and Shaw) to the kinds of dramatic roles that lead to more than a flash-in-the-pan career. For cinephiles, the big draw here is the sustained drama of the childbirth scene that runs over 24 minutes of a single uninterrupted, very emotionally challenging take: a showy bravura showcase, but nonetheless an effective one. The rest of the film is far more conventional and even familiar: films about living in the shadow of a profound loss tend to run against the same lines, and while the lead character’s ability to move past at a faster pace than people around her is interesting, it’s still very much of the same tone as similar films. Pieces of a Woman is obviously the furthest away from an uplifting film as it’s possible to be (although the ending is thankfully not as bleak as it could have been), and not the kind of film that can be seen by anyone at any time.

  • Meander (2020)

    Meander (2020)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, November 2021) It’s a cheap shot to say that Meander’s biggest problem is that it… meanders. But it’s not untrue. Trailers of this film quickly position it as “Cube in a Tube” (not my original expression) and that’s indeed what’s most interesting about the result: a woman stuck in a small passageway, where every step feels like a new videogame puzzle to figure out: blades, flames, and acid. As far as minimalistic filmmaking goes, those segments are not bad at all — claustrophobic, visually distinct, carrying suspense and mystery. The problem, of course, is everything surrounding those segments, from an opening segment that doesn’t add much to a half-hearted alien ending that both explains too much and not enough. Like many high-concept films that are driven primarily by audio-visual set-pieces rather than plot, you can feel Meander meander as it attempts to justify its own existence from a storytelling perspective. That’s maybe not as much of a problem when it’s done perfunctorily (as in Cube, indeed), but when significant time is given to justifications that end up weakening the film, it feels like a self-imposed foul. Writer-director Mathieu Turi doesn’t feel as if he has a point to make, so don’t be surprised if your attention starts to wander the more the film tries to explain itself. If you do focus on the set-pieces, however, Meander is more focused: the action moments are tightly shot, and the cinematography does wonders in a tight enclosed space. It flirts with intriguing parallels with videogaming conventions but ultimately stops exploring that idea just when it was becoming interesting. Other hints about purgatory, redemption and aliens are left around in almost a perfunctory manner, going to some lazy explanations being pieced together. (Or maybe the haze is intentional because the most obvious answers are disappointing in their familiarity.)  All in all, though — Meander is a disappointment that suffers from its lack of focus. Or, to beat a dead joke into the ground, because it meanders.

  • Die in a Gunfight (2021)

    Die in a Gunfight (2021)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, November 2021) Hey, random reader, can I be honest for a moment here? There’s a reason why I’m reviewing movies rather than making them, and (other than the whole “being able to finance millions of dollars” thing, quitting my job and taking years off my life to complete production, not having any experience in moviemaking and having no contact with the industry) it’s probably because, even with generous means and skilled specialists at my disposal, I would probably end up making something disappointing like Die in a Gunfight. Something based on a solid core (in this case, a modern-day retelling of Romeo and Juliet set against a metropolitan background), with plenty of showy visual flair and a sarcastic attitude, but which falls apart when everything is put together. Director Collin Schiffli starts on a promising note, with a whirlwind blend of quick cuts, animation, historical flashbacks, and biting narration. But Die in a Gunfight falls into a trap that’s common to those hipper-than-thou crime spectaculars: it’s so obsessed with bon mots, camera moves, atmosphere and attitude that it forgets about having some storytelling basics, such as likable characters or a story that sort of makes sense outside genre conventions. The longer Die in a Gunfight goes on (all the way to a shootout that takes half the remaining cast to the morgue), the more it feels hollow, and even slightly sociopathic. The energy of the execution has nowhere to go, and the hollowness of its fundamentals doesn’t endear itself to viewers. I still like a good chunk of it — Alexandra Daddario is interesting to watch no matter what, and some bits and pieces of the film are stylish enough to be interesting. But it could have been much better, and the film’s long and troubled production history has plenty of branching-off points with more interesting casts and directors. Trying to assemble all of its components into a satisfying whole is harder than it should be, perhaps a testimony to how hard it is to wrangle a complex beast like a film into something that’s more than the sum of its parts. Frankly, reviews are easier to manage.

  • Hubie Halloween (2020)

    Hubie Halloween (2020)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (Netflix Streaming, November 2021) As I’ve mentioned before, a good chunk of my movie viewing is based on lists. I do not question the lists, but I can groan audibly when certain names show up in the plot summary or opening credits, and Adam Sandler is certainly one of the most groan-inducing names out there. Hubie Halloween is one of those typical Sandler movies featuring him in a whiny-voiced man-child character, goofing off with friends and family. (This is not hyperbole — there are a lot of actors here who have worked with Sandler before, and many cameo roles are played by family members.) The setting here is Halloween in Salem, MA, with Sandler being this overgrown boy-scout taking the event so seriously as to be a local fixture — and not in the good way. When prisoners from a local asylum escape and start leaving a trail of bodies, well, it’s up to him to save the day. Despite the PG-13 horror material, it all amounts to a standard Happy Madison production — very broad, low-level humour, with occasional moments to enliven things up. There’s something for everyone — despite my lack of enthusiasm for the kind of film that this is, I could still appreciate Maya Rudolph in a small role, or the way the climax goes out to play with some horror-movie conventions. Still, it’s not much, especially when the best thing to say about Hubie Halloween is that it’s not as terrible as other similar films made by Sandler for Netflix. Those who like his movies will like this one — others may find out that it works best as filler.

  • Son of the Mask (2005)

    Son of the Mask (2005)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, November 2021) There’s a difference between being energetic and being frantic, and while the first one makes for good movies (see: The Mask), the second makes for exhausting experiences—see: Son of the Mask. Coming from filmmakers who understood only the barest, most superficial elements of the first film’s success, this sequel includes more of everything until it all feels like a delirious nightmare in very bright colours. Jim Carrey being conspicuously absent from it all, the story picks up by focusing on a young couple, for which a night under the influence of The Mask leads to conception and a unique baby. (Never mind the tastelessness of that cuckoo premise — even though it’s clearly a film for kids.) A lot of money has been spent on Son of the Mask’s CGI effects, and it shows in the relentless use of not-so-polished visuals throughout the film, ignoring that often less is more. The dialogue is more histrionic than witty, and the climax builds to a special-effects showcase that almost entirely evacuates whatever interest we had for the character. It’s often compelling in that “what will they think of next?” fashion, but there’s a disconnect between waiting for the next big CGI effect and getting involved in the story, and it’s that lack of interest that ends up sinking Son of the Mask despite the frenetic movement and sound expended in a vain effort to make audiences care.

  • Finding Love in Big Sky, Montana (2021)

    Finding Love in Big Sky, Montana (2021)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, November 2021) I’m three films deep into American Cinema International’s “Finding Love in [city]” series, and its hook is now as obvious as it seems: these are films with footage shot in the cities where they’re supposed to take place (or close enough). That should not be all that revolutionary, but in the world of low-budget made-for-Hallmark/Lifetime romantic comedies, anything that isn’t shot in Canada or on soundstages is now semi-unusual. Better yet — taking full advantage of its location, Finding Love in Big Sky, Montana (which differs slightly in pedigree from its other “Finding Love in…” stablemates, being adapted from a novel) does feature some nice location shooting for its class. The plot is nothing you haven’t seen before, as a prodigal son returns to his childhood small town, befriends an old flame and saves the ranch from greedy developers. The only bend from formula is in how the story is told from the perspective of the small-town flame but that’s not much of a deviation when everything else feels the same. Clearly playing up the comfort of a familiar recipe, the film stomps through the expected plot beats and delivers exactly what’s expected. Still, the location shooting does set it apart from many undistinguishable films of the same ilk, and Big Sky, MT does make for more spectacular scenery than is the norm for similar romantic comedies. Otherwise, the plot is slightly ridiculous, but executed according to the most perfected formula. It wraps up to an innocuous film, pleasant enough but hardly striking even when set against the mountain background. Hey, I’ll even watch the next movies in the series.

  • The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015)

    The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On TV, November 2021) As someone who doesn’t really follow the SpongeBob SquarePants TV show, I didn’t go out of my way to see The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water during its first run-around in theatres or when it first went around cable TV channels. But my near-complete box-office viewing rate for the 2010s was getting dinged from its absence in my records, and the French dub was right there playing on TV. I’ve seen movies with far less justification. And it turns out… it’s actually pretty good. It’s funny despite many mystifying TV show references, and surprisingly daring in form and content. From the beginning, featuring one live-action pirate and some CGI birds, it’s obvious that this is not going to be your usual animated film. Once SpongeBob and his friends go on their quest, the proceedings get weirder and weirder until we get to the live-action finale featuring computer-animated versions of the Bikini Bottom characters. Handled with some fast pacing and constant invention along the way (including a pretty good scene featuring their universe’s version of the Watchers), Sponge Out of Water is a very entertaining film even for those new to the SpongeBob mythos.

  • American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally (2021)

    American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally (2021)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, November 2021) Rehabilitating reviled historical figures is a favourite game of filmmakers, but not all of them are equally skilled at making their point. Watching American Traitor, it’s easy to get a sense that the writers and the director may have not picked the most deserving subject for redemption. Telling us about “Axis Sally,” an American woman making propaganda broadcasts from Berlin aimed at American soldiers and citizens, the film goes back and forth between her trial in post-war America (where we’re told that she’s American most hated woman) and her activities before and during the war. Al Pacino plays a reluctant lawyer asked to defend someone he loathes, but don’t expect too much out of that subplot, except a last-minute change of mind and a patented Pacino speech about American values that almost makes you forget that this is someone being tried for treason against the United States. The film goes overboard in trying to make “Axis Sally” a victim of patriarchy, most notably in inventing a sexual assault scene featuring no less than Goering (and her reaching for a gun in the middle of it). But it doesn’t work — American Traitor can’t quite make the case for her, and has to contend with the historical record of her convicted for treason. Meadow Williams, playing the lead character, is surprisingly flat in a role that should be far more animated — a few Internet sources have pointed out that the actress is independently wealthy after inheriting from her tycoon husband, and also co-produced the film. You can connect the dots. No matter the behind-the-scenes explanation, American Traitor is a dud: Dead-end topic, dull acting, and misguided execution.

  • The Last Vermeer aka Lyrebird (2019)

    The Last Vermeer aka Lyrebird (2019)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, November 2021) I wasn’t quite looking forward to The Last Vermeer — Another WW2 film about fine arts? Weren’t we done after The Monuments Men or Woman in Gold? As it turns out, no we were not — this film, adapted from a true story, focuses on an allied officer who, in the immediate aftermath of the war, finds himself plunged into the murky world of art forgery, Dutch Nazi collaborators and a charismatic painter whose activities during the war remain to be confirmed. Much of the movie revolves around a courtroom drama in the midst of popular unrest, as our skeptical investigator encounters the grander-than-life Han Van Meegeren and tries to understand how this painter turned forger could fool the Nazis out of large sums of money for a counterfeit work of art. As collaborators are lynched in the street, the painter explains how forging paintings good enough to pass examination can be done, and eventually enlists his help in the kind of last-minute courtroom shenanigans that are only possible in movies. There’s a pretty good story in The Last Vermeer, but you have to wait for the final half-hour to see it, after a first two thirds that squanders much of its dramatic potential and inexplicably makes Van Meegeren (played by a very compelling Guy Pearce) into a secondary character to the rather dull investigator. Rather than focus on its story, The Last Vermeer spends far too much time investigating subplots until the script snaps itself out of its torpor and returns to what should have been its constant focus. I did eventually like the film, but only after a lot of throat-clearing and some heroic acting by Pearce in order to remind us about the real interesting character here. It doesn’t take a lot of research to reveal that the real story being dramatized here was, in many ways, far more interesting than what The Last Vermeer manages to achieve for much of its duration.

  • Wicked, Wicked (1973)

    Wicked, Wicked (1973)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, November 2021) Considering the long and often-amazing history of split-screen cinematography, I’m not sure we can call the late 1960s to be the heyday of the techniques, but it certainly still seems to be the era during which filmmakers discovered (many of them at Montréal’s Expo 67!), got infatuated by, and overused the technique. I’m not sure anyone pushed it as far, or as long, as Wicked, Wicked, though: A feature-length psycho-killer thriller (what would soon be called a slasher) that’s almost entirely shot in split screen. (“Duo-Vision” as the film calls it.) It almost goes without saying that such a conceit leads to very unusual directorial choices — almost a new grammar of film invented for the purpose. For instance, one side of the screen will focus on a character walking in the lobby of a hotel, while another will gradually zoom on the ceiling, revealing detail… and then a camera looking at the new guest. Other moments use the two cameras for context, for alternate angles, for flashbacks, for mild irony and sarcastic counterpoint. At least the audio remains focused on one side of the screen or the other. In case you’re wondering, no, the entire film isn’t all split screen: Brief moments revert to single-image shooting, usually for impact. It’s certainly interesting and worth a watch if you’re interested in cinematic technique. The film even has a slight layer of self-aware comedy to supplement the familiar knife-wielding psycho stuff. This being said, it’s almost inevitable that Wicked, Wicked can’t quite sustain its conceit for even its brief 95-minute duration — it doesn’t help that the slasher shtick is more than painfully familiar now, and that, from a plot perspective, the film often runs through the same motions as countless other movies. Then there’s the filmmaking team’s lack of experience — writer-director Richard L. Bare was known more as a television director than a feature film one, and the sorry state of the film’s restoration (it’s still shown on TCM with intrusive video scan lines) hints at the film’s low budget and even lower reputation. It’s no exaggeration to say that much more could have been done with the premise, either through more cleverness or better means. Still, there’s a small and entertaining place in cinema history for Wicked, Wicked, perhaps as precursors to Timecode, Unfriended and other movies pushing the limits of what can be done within the confines of a single screen.

  • Hellphone (2007)

    Hellphone (2007)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, November 2021) There’s an interesting blend of comedy and horror in Hellphone, and it’s even more unusual in that it’s a French film that often aims for Hollywood slickness. The fun begins when a Parisian high-schooler somehow gets his hands on a demonic cell phone (the phone is red and has horns — even in a pre-smartphone era, this is not a subtle film) that then sets out to creatively destroy his foes and friends. This is clearly a horror film (one character self-impales with the content of a kitchen knife cabinet; another one deep-fries himself,) but one that doesn’t quite go as far as it could on the gore, and does keep a certain sense of humour throughout. Perhaps the one thing that still impresses nearly fifteen years later is writer-director James Huth’s sure-footed fast-paced rhythm (comparisons with Edgar Wright are a bit too laudatory, but still in the same ballpark) Executed with a fair amount of skill and budget, Hellphone is a bit of a surprise if you just happen to fall on it. (Much of my pleasantly surprised reaction comes from a DVR mistake, though — I thought I was recording something from a French-Canadian horror channel that often features half-duds, whereas Hellphone was recorded from a French-European movie channel that does have aspiration of cinematic quality.)  This being said, the dark humour running through Hellphone can be a bit much to take even when the film shies away from gore: there’s no mistaking the terrible things happening between two cuts or just off the camera angle. Some of the material is rote, and technology has advanced quite a bit fifteen years later, even if much of the film’s core has not aged as much as one would think. Hellphone is a fun surprise — keep your expectations in check and you may be swept by the film’s breakneck forward pacing.

  • King of Cool (2021)

    King of Cool (2021)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, November 2021) It took me a while to understand the true appeal of Dean Martin. Not because he wasn’t remarkable — his leading-man presence in well-known films such as the original Ocean’s Eleven is obvious even today, and few people won’t have heard at least one of his crooner songs. But the more you dig, especially in material that hasn’t been as well-preserved as his classic movies, the more you discover the true breadth of his achievements. That he was Jerry Lewis’ straight-man partner in their comedy duo days is something that isn’t as prominent now than seventy years ago (especially given the evanescence of cabaret comedy), but then you have plenty of lesser-known films to show the effectiveness of their act. There are plenty of films and songs to testify as to his careers as actor and singer, but his remarkably long-lived variety show is now best remembered for the celebrated “Tony Martin and Frank Sinatra Christmas Special.”  Oh, and he was a leading member of the celebrated Rat Pack, alongside Sinatra and Davis. In other words, Martin did a lot and had at least four separate careers that would have been enough for anyone else. Trying to put this in a single documentary is a lot, but the filmmakers behind King of Cool do about as well as anyone else could have been expected. (One could quibble as to whether Steve MacQueen is the King of Cool, but the film explains that this was a moniker bestowed upon Martin by none other than Elvis Presley.)  Taking a largely chronological approach to Martin’s life, the film chronicles his early days as the son of Italian immigrants (and whose mother tongue was not English), his early days as a boxer, his struggling debut as a cabaret act, the spark of his partnership with Jerry Lewis, the factors that led to their breakup (simply put: Lewis hogging too much of the spotlight), his reinvention as a boozy crooner in the footsteps of Joe. E. Lewis (albeit with practised casualness and apple juice in the glass), his family life across three wives and several children, and his later years, as they included a reconciliation with Lewis. It’s quite a bit and King of Cool does best when it focuses on the nuts and bolts of his career, testimonies from contemporaries and more recent celebrities (including some surprisingly poignant material from RZA) and testimony from family members. There’s a good line in there about how death gives back the dead person at their best rather than the sometimes-sad old person they have become. Where King of Cool overreaches is in trying to find the hidden key to a man who was far less of a boozy cool crooner than his persona became — in trying to find the “Rosebud,” they end up with a dish representing family, which is not bad but presented with perhaps a bit too much enthusiasm to be credible as the answer. Still, it’s a good thing that the documentary could capture the recollection of several people who knew him or people associated with him (including some effective moments with Lewis’ son). It goes without saying that this is not a documentary fit to question its subject: as a friends-and-family thing, it doesn’t poke too much as Lewis’ tumultuous marital history nor portrays him as anything but a victim of Lewis’ solo ambitions. But so it goes in that subgenre — the film becomes a pointer to more in-depth material rather than an in-depth analysis. Even then, there’s a lot to like in the result — Martin was indeed the King of Cool, and the contact high of even a quick overview of his career is still impressive.

    (Second viewing, July 2022) Hmmm. The good thing about King of Cool is that it made me interested enough in Dean Martin to read more about him. The not-so-good thing is that now that I’ve dug deeper into the topic (most notably through Karina Longworth’s magistral ten hours You Must Remember This podcast series on Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.’s careers), I’m far less impressed by the documentary’s deceptive conclusions. I should not be surprised. Movie biographical documentaries are highly selective at best, and often hagiographic by their nature. When you’re building something on footage of friends and family reminiscing on camera, there’s a built-in incentive to be nice about the subject of those fond memories. No one will accept sitting down to talk about their father if the documentary is going to be a warts-and-all piece. (It gets worse when the family produces the film.) All of this to say that asking for second opinions about Dean Martin blows up the “family man” narrative offered in King of Cool. Martin was in many ways an admirable figure — not all that interested in partying to excess with his Rat Pack fellows, consciously not drinking even as he played up a boozy crooner, a savvy investor who eventually provided generational wealth to his children after making some terrible financial decisions early in his career, and someone who — being King of Cool — always maintained a distance between his true self and his public persona. Alas, that same distance could mean that Martin was aloof and uninterested in deeper connections: Other biographical sources highlight the carefully metered time he’d spend with his kids, then retire to watch TV alone; the many romantic dalliances amounting to nothing; the rift with Jerry Lewis being partially a reflection of his reluctance to communicate; the inglorious final years of Martin’s life in which he preferred television and alcohol to his family. Very little of this makes its way to King of Cool, with some omissions looking like deceptions — after their infamous on-air telethon reunion late in their lives, it took months if not years before Lewis and Martin regularly spoke again, for instance. And its concluding idea of the key to Martin’s character being a baked dish representing family seems even more like a stretch born out of desperation by filmmakers trying to provide an emotional climax. Make no mistake: Dean Martin was a fascinating figure defined by his cool. But going to the end of that idea means going to some darker places that this documentary is not interested in exploring. It’s selling us a romantic, glamorous image of a figure that’s far more interesting with his flaws than some sanitized family-man portrait. It’s an entertaining portrait, but it should be approached as a stepping-stone to a more thorough understanding of Dean Martin.

  • All Through the Night (1942)

    All Through the Night (1942)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On DVD, November 2021) Now here’s a curio — a Humphrey Bogart comedy in which he plays a Manhattan gambler with mob connections who goes up against Nazi infiltrators plotting a strike against the United States. I got wind of All Through the Night during a TCM documentary on Bogart’s pre-stardom days, and it’s clearly a film from the period during which Warner Brothers knew he was a charismatic leading man, but before he became The Bogart of legend. As a result, his character is incredibly confident (his establishing moment is in ordering his favourite cheesecake and having restaurant staff panic when they don’t have it on hand) but the film doesn’t bow to him like latter ones would. The result is a strange but pleasant mixture of spying thrills, gangster suspense and lighthearted comedy. It’s not strictly comic, but some sequences come close to it: the gobbledygook sequence in which they try bluffing their way through a saboteur meeting is somewhat amusing, but the scene in which they end up realizing they’re in a Nazi stronghold is clearly not completely at ease with comedy. (A more comic director would have made the reveal stronger and built up the characters’ reaction.)  Not every aspect of All Through the Night works just as well, nor is as harmonious: the film’s production history confirms that some comic sequences were added after the start of shooting to take advantage of studio players and the film’s overall leaning toward comedy. Still, even imperfect results can be fun to watch, and Bogart is at ease as a Big-Man-on-Broadway, lending some credibility to a film otherwise not grounded in realism. A young and slim Peter Lorre shows up as a supporting antagonist (one taken out of the film too swiftly). The dialogue is better than average and the flavour of the time is interesting—the film was shot before Pearl Harbor, but released after the United States entered the war. Despite its shortcomings, I liked All Through the Night quite a bit: it’s fun and unassuming, and even its plotting shortcuts are part of the charm.

  • The Last Starfighter (1984)

    The Last Starfighter (1984)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On DVD, November 2021) If you ask special-effects nerds, The Last Starfighter’s main claim to fame in cinema history is that it was one of the first feature films to use a significant amount of computer-generated imagery. The details will take you back to a cruder age, with the footage being painstakingly rendered on a Cray supercomputer—for results that now look like they come from a low-end computer game. But that’s almost part of the charm of this Star Wars-inspired attempt to blend then-burgeoning computer game culture with a rather blatant retelling of the Campbellian hero’s journey. (How blatant? Well, let’s just say that anyone who knows the arc will predict what’s about to happen.)  I’m convinced that there will either be a remake or a similar film sometime in the near-future, what with the story being about a gamer whose proficiency with an arcade game ends up being recruitment for an extraterrestrial league of starfighters. As wish-fulfillment fantasy for younger teens, this is way up there. Lance Guest is not bad in the lead role, but it’s Robert Preston (in his last role) who gets the smiles as an alien gentleman who ends up being as much of a flimflam artist as his character in The Music Man. While the special effects are clearly outdated, they do get the point across quite well, and act as a benchmark of sorts for how far we’ve come since then. Fortunately, even if The Last Starfighter is clearly aimed at a younger crowd, there’s just a bit more to enjoy to it than a glimpse at the history of CGI.