Refractions of Reality

Clint is working on a Hoover movie at the moment so I thought I'd check out Larry Cohen's little biopic The Private Files of J Edgar Hoover. It's not bad but it attempts to cover Hoo's entire career in under two hours so there's little time for detail and it plays out more like a docudrama than anything else. None the less there's two solid performances from Broderick Crawford & Rip Torn that help ground the relentless sprint through some momentous events in US and it's a nicely frank run through given it was made just 5 years after he's popped his clogs.

Animal Kingdom is a Aussie crime drama about a teenager forced to live with his cousin and his bank robbing family after his junkie mum carks it. Unfortunately the locals police are keeping close tabs on the bunch and they seem to prefer shooting first so life gets messy pretty quick. It's pretty good, with bags of tension and it's apparently (loosely) based on some Pettingill family from 80's Melbourne anyways it's a tad flat footed and the sluggish, no blinky central performance didn't help but it's got a nice, Wire-ish naturalism to the criminal life and the rest of the acting was strong.

The King's Speech was actually better than I expected - sure it's one of those Monarchy rimming period dramas our film industry relies on but at least it's well made and has a few laughs to lighten the sycophancy. Firth is good but I thought Rush was better, playing the vocal coach trying to cure the future King of his stuttering. If you were cynical you might suggest it was deliberately crafted to be awards bait - disability? check, period drama on the cusp of historical event? check, glorifies the media? check blah blah blah. It's competent and will do for lazy Sunday but it's so bland it's bound to make big money.

Amicus fatigue, Early Burt & a Bundy Biopic

I think Vault of Horror will be my last of the Amicus portmanteau films, not that it's terrible it's a quite enjoyable 90 mins I just think I need some genuine scares from a proper horror movie and soon - these half amusing/creepy 70's anthologies are beginning to get tiresome. Anyways this one is framed by the tale of 5 men being delivered to a sub-basement dining room by an uncooperative lift & after their meal they each confess to being hounded by awful, vivid nightmares. I liked Tom Baker's Voodoo painter, the Indian rope trick one and Terry Thomas' tale of a fastidious newly wed but the others were pretty weak. I think someone at the Beeb should try and make a genuinely scary anthology thing and I don't mean a homage like Mark Gatiss' Crooked House (though that was quite good).

Customers don't always exhibit the best taste in films yet I keep getting suckered in and giving their recommendations a go, well after sitting through White Lightnin' I think I may just start ignoring them. According to the customer it's Burt Reynolds' only good film after Deliverance and I agree he shows a modicum of acting ability, certainly more than in later years but it's hardly a challenge. Playing a Southern convict turned snitch looking to even the score with a murderous Sheriff turned moonshine baron Reynolds employs a modest array of acting faces, moody, happy scared blah blah blah but none of it convincing and he's still got that irritating chuckle. Anyways this potboiler thriller has a paper thin story so they've padded it out with comedy rednecks & car chases. Must have been a success at the time as there's a sequel called Gator but I won't be watching it.

The Deliberate Stranger is a tv-movie from the 80's about the life and crimes of Ted Bundy. It's ok I suppose. Bundy is certainly a fascinating character and I learnt a fair bit bout the case, I'd no idea he'd escaped from prison twice & defended himself in court like a loon but I'm sure a documentary would have sufficed for me, worst of all, apart from the guy playing Bundy, this has some of the worst acting I've seen in ages. Hopefully the Gacy one with Brian Dennehey stands the test of time better.