Crumb

Crumb is an entry within the sub genre of the genre of documentaries which is the fringe biography. This one being about fittingly fringe underground comic book artist R. Crumb. As with any proper fringe biography it exposes its subject strange world and often makes it ground by merely giving the man a voice piece past his work. The film succeeds in terms of that type of fascination no matter how bizarre certain elements of Crumb's frame of mind will be. What it also succeeds with though is expanding this exposure a bit in terms of the specific world around Crumb including his family, specifically his brother who is his own tapestry of something else. It's a film that creates a real investigation within the unique sort of madness associated with a most specific fringe, however in a way that never feels too cloying or exploitative.
5/5

Creed

Creed is perhaps the proof needed to cement Rocky as an illogical franchise in some ways, but also one of, if not the, greatest. The idea of making a seventh film, to continue the story through the son of Apollo Creed could have been, and probably would have been a disaster in the making in most hands. Writer/director Ryan Coogler though manages to not only breath life, perhaps his greatest life, into the character of Rocky played at his very best by Sylvester Stallone here, but also infuse the franchise with a brand new energy through Michael B. Jordan's Adonis "Creed" Johnson. As is so often is the case it is all in the execution. Although it is true that Creed hits some familiar beats it manages to do them in a new way. This isn't merely in terms of fight chorography, cinematography and the direction in general, although that certainly is part of it, but also through the unique, and wholly new examination of Adonis's story of trying to both live up to, and live past his famous name. This combined with also interacting with the aging Rocky delivers a particularly powerful return the idea of Rocky that breaks new ground, but also uses what is already there to craft a rather special return to the underdog. It is the best Rocky film since the original, and I'd almost go further, however unlike the original Rocky that brought us Apollo, the opponent, and some of the other supporting characters are not nearly as rich as they were Rocky. It still stands as quite the achievement as is, and suggests that perhaps with enough talent there are few truly bad ideas for films.
4.5/5

Come and See

Come and See is a stark depiction of Nazi occupation founded from the most intimate perspective of a young boy who attempts to join the partisan fighters in Belarus. The plotting itself seems simple enough but is the approach of director Elem Klimov that makes this film a truly harrowing experience. The film features that perspective closely where the horrors are often just in the peripheral view of the frame, which seems to make them even more disturbing than if they where bluntly placed at the center of the screen. The film attempts to inflict the viewer with the same experience through this constrictor that is very effective in this approach. We are not granted a broader viewer, even a broader hope, we only know what our young boy sees which one horrific sight after another. Now this itself could be numbing if not for the film's particular approach that leaves every instance an impression on your memory. As it creates the sense of the confusion of the life in the occupation, those attempts to fight back, but mostly being lost with the only checkpoints being those moments of the very worst of humanity. The film startling in the ease of the events in a way particularly a village massacre that the perpetrators almost treat like a picnic. What is as disturbing though is the depiction of how this weighs on the people and particularly this boy who seems to age into a hardened older man by the film's haunting last sequence where the boy blindly rages at a photograph of Hitler. Where Downfall portrayed the rot on the man around him, Come and See is a startling depiction of the rot and victims of the man's hate filled agenda.
5/5

Cross of Iron

Cross Of Iron takes an atypical view, particularly for an American film of the time, where he it examines World War II through German soldiers. The film though naturally is an examination of cynical, yet caring, men who continue on through a war they don't believe in, knowing the they will lose sooner or later. This is against the one passionate Captain, well played by Maximilian Schell, who is hell bent on earning a Iron Cross from the higher command, a symbol recognition his fellow soldiers have earned yet have no interest in them. Although I should note this film is somewhat imperfect as the fact that it was not completely finished does seem evident in the rushed finale, however that does not defeat the remarkable efforts from the rest of the film. This is an excellent example of Sam Peckinpah's ways as a director who would never shy from the most brutal violence, in fact one could argue he glories in it with his use of slow motion to emphasize it, however there is this real warmth in his style all the same. There is always a sense that Peckinpah deeply cares for his characters which is pivotal here as it realizes the day to day life of these men attempting to get by in the war despite the odds being against them, as well as their own immediate superior. It's a fascinating film that works in actually often being made up of the little moments between the soldiers, so often of the little joy they still can find in their lives, which results in a powerful film about these men as much as a story about the rot of the Nazi army. It works as the latter as well, but it aims higher than this and succeeds in creating a brutal yet moving portrait of good soldiers on the wrong side.
4.5/5

Cabaret

Cabaret may be to many the film that nearly beat the Godfather for best picture, after all the film won more Oscars overall including best director for Bob Fosse. This film though is not some simple musical adaptation from the stage as Fosse, who despite coming from the stage himself as a choreographer and director, strives to adapt the stage musical into a truly cinematic work. Well for this non-fan of musicals, I will say this is quite a success. Fosse cuts the flab, often a problem in the adaptation, by limiting songs to only where they make sense. Those scenes tend to have an even greater impact as the songs never feel there for the sake of it, but relate far more directly to themes also realized outside the club. There is only a single song we see outside of the club, where singing comes naturally in performances, and that is the anthem "Tomorrow Belongs to Me". That scene stands as one of the most single brilliant pieces of direction in the 70's as it leads into the song of seeming of just beauty and pride, to reveal it to be this fervent anthem for Nazism. The film excels in keeping that underlying current of dread as related to the Nazis even as it reveals purposefully in the excess of our main characters. What it carefully does though is never becomes caricature giving life to everyone even granting sympathy to Liza Minelli's Sally Bowles, partially because of her striking performance, but also because Fosse never demonizes the character despite her nature. He instead captures this sense of the people on the edge some hopeful, yet tragically so, in the pure relationship of the Jewish couple, then the more lustful examination of the writer, the count, and Sally who seem to shy away when any substance seems to be found in their relationships. It's a great film and it is interesting that a man who came from the stage knew so clearly that a dynamic adaptations needs liberties, and changes to become truly cinematic.
5/5

Champion

Champion presents the rags to riches story of a boxing, very well played by Kirk Douglas. Douglas excels in creating this endearing protagonist which is actually one of his early starring roles. Boxing pictures were a dime a dozen during the period but this one does standout through the vivid world it creates, granting a sense of desperation before the period of success. The success though is not an inspirational story instead depicting the central character becoming a vicious egomaniac, which Douglas also happens to excel at. The film delves deeper into the psyche of a man who fights for his life, but rather than finding the solace he only finds pain in his strive to be on top.
4.5/5

Carnal Knowledge

Carnal Knowledge is another foray by Mike Nichols into "romantic" relationship which because it is Nichols it means it's a descent into emotional pain. This film is not nearly intense as say a Closer, or Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf, but it takes a similar approach that presents almost every human as this irritable soul who act in ways only satisfy their own needs without even a base concern with others. We get three acts of a man (Jack Nicholson) and his friend (Art Garfunkle) as they get into various sexual relationships with women. Their college years based mostly on exploration, their middle years based upon their inability to deal with a woman past sex, and the his final years facing their inability to even perform. The film's message may be that men are pigs, right? Not really all the women are shown to be either hollow in a different way, emotional wrecks, as cruel as the men, or just a detached prostitute. The film has nothing to say beyond the a surface examination that sexual relationships can be paradoxically unpleasant affairs. It's execution is mildly intriguing at times, its vaguely amusing in moments. Jack Nicholson is technically at his prime but this is easily one of his least compelling performances from the 70's. A film of some controversy in its days. That feature is long forgotten now, seeming rather tame by today's standards, leaving only a middling film behind.
2.5/5

Come Fill The Cup

Come Fill the Cup is a bit of strange one. The film begins as though it will something akin to The Lost Weekend as we follow a newspaperman, played by James Cagney, fall into the lower depths of alcoholism. About a third of the way in though he's already hit rock bottom and come back up again in short order. The film then instead extends to the man helping a rich man suffering the same problem, but unfortunately for the both of them a gangster wants the rich guy dead. It becomes a thriller suddenly. The thing is despite the rather scattered nature of the film, it's  actually pretty good in every aspect. The performances are solid and each side of the story is well done.  Now the film does flow rather strangely, but within its strange thru line it never becomes bad. All sections are good even if they don't make absolute sense being pieced together in this way.
3.5/5

Cromwell

The English Civil War has the material for what seems could be a masterpiece, well Cromwell's not quite that. I won't disparage the film too much though because that does not mean it's bad either. The film reduces some of the complexity, the religious element is underplayed here, to make it more about a struggle for freedom in a more general sense. This makes Cromwell a fairly straight forward figure, as man who wants to do what is right, and Richard Harris plays him as basically a reluctant hero. The more interesting character is in Charles I played with great nuance by Alec Guinness. The depiction of the war it has a bit of fun with the parley, and the battle scenes are effective though not awe inspiring. The best portion of the film is actually after the war is over and the film allows for a bit more complexity as the winners struggle to decide what to do. We also get the most emotional scenes through Guinness's portrayal of Charles as a good man, but a bad leader. Cromwell is a good film, but I do hope they'll make a great film out of the events some day.
4/5

Crash

Crash's reputation suffered terribly the moment Jack Nicholson not so enthusiastically announced its victory over Brokeback Mountain. As someone who doesn't love that film, that held no sway in my view. It's now held as one of the worst winners in recent memory. I suppose one can look at it that way given that it is not a very good film. Crash tackles racial tensions in Los Angeles by telling a series of contrived stories. Now I honestly don't mind coincidences being used as a plot device, but the problem is this sets the film up for some sense of importance rather than telling a good story. There are few real characters in the film, and even then that might have a great deal to do with the acting, in those cases. Most characters are reduced to speaking excessively knowing lines of dialogue regarding race or yelling something to increase racial tension. The film offers no real insight, racism is solved by falling down the stairs, the "bad" cop does the right thing, the "good" cop does the wrong thing. The film is a series of events without weight since it is almost impossible to sympathize with the series of thin caricatures we are given that are wrung through a series of improbable circumstances.
1.5/5

A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange now succeeds where Barry Lyndon faltered. Once again the film is visually striking as Kubrick's goes about creating a warped perspective fitting for a story of a very warped mind. This time though we have an alteration through the human element. The human element being that of psychopath, yet still human as played by Malcolm McDowell. McDowell's performance importantly anchors the film within Kubrick's imagery and the purposefully absurd performances from much of the rest of the cast. He brings us through Alex's journey in a captivating if rather disturbing fashion. The visuals never overwhelm the human element, instead that intertwine wonderfully(though that does not feel like the right word for this film), to create a great film.
5/5

The Crying Game

The Crying Game I think is a film that actually was technically a bit mistreated by the way it was originally touted solely around the twist. The reason being it's not really a thriller, yes there are elements of one, but the twist isn't really suppose to be this "No Way!" moment. The twist is a very important part of the story, but of the film it work much more in an emotional rather than plot sort of fashion. I just have always found the way the film has been built up a little strange. The film really is a character study of this man who happens to get involved with violent people but is a decent man at heart. The examination of the man discovering this about himself is definitely quite interesting, and now I'm starting to feel that I've never given the film enough credit. It works definitely as an emotional story of self-discovery as well as an examination of a shifting perspective. 
4.5/5

Cleopatra (1963)

Cleopatra seems like the very definition of Hollywood bloat. It's a curious film that even where it should succeed, the spectacle, it also falters. There is no sequence that can be named in the film that makes you sit in awe. There are obviously expensive looking things with the costumes and some of the sets, but that's just it, they look expensive but that does not mean good. Everything looks overblown and overproduced actually. Past the production there's not much to be appreciated with the bland or over played performances almost throughout. Roddy McDowall is the only guy who seems to be trying to create anything remotely interesting with his work. Every else either seems as stiff as the armor they wear, or embrace the melodrama in the worst sort of fashion. It's a downright lousy film that earned is infamy.
1.5/5

Come and Get It

Come and Get It as a book was apparently a sprawling epic, the film evidently pared this down to just one man Barney who makes binding life decisions for the sake of success rather than love. The film I won't say is not without problems. The fact that the film was directed by two separate directors is noticeable as some seems have a more personal almost screwball style fitting of Howard Hawks, while others seem to be going for the style of a grander epic a la William Wyler. Now for the film's sake both seem to have been on point as it works whether it seems in the style of one or the other. It is perhaps most held together by Edward Arnold's leading performance which carries the whole personal journey on his back, and he always keeps the story clear in his concise and rather powerful portrayal of Barney's dilemma.
4/5

The Comedians

The Comedians fits right into Peter Glenville's oeuvre as a stage director who really did not transition well as a film director. There's a lack of cinematic life to his film, and any effectiveness purely comes from the performances. That's the case here as it seems like the film wants to be an ensemble piece about the various lives and characters being intertwined with a potential government coup. The problem is most of the characters seems superfluous and the purpose of the film does not even seem to present itself until very late in the game when it focus very specifically on one element. Elizabeth Taylor seems only there because Richard Burton's there. The only people who seem to have a purpose are Burton, because he's the lead, Alec Guinness and James Earl Jones the latter two though really only because they manage to performances that alleviate the material and manage to surpass Glenville's uninspired direction.
2/5

Cop Land

It's got a great concept to follow, but it ends up as only being a good film. It never feels like it bothers to fully develop the ideas around the institution of the town, and I don't feel it makes a great use of much of its cast. It actually works best away from that interesting though underused concept and instead just in the emotional journey of Stallone's character who is stuck in a world of indifference.
3.5/5