Know When to Fold 'Em

I've always been curious about Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler (1922) once I figured out that it is a different thing than The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Easy mistake to make: two doctors with mesmeric powers in German silent films.

It starts with Dr. Mabuse (Rudolph Klein-Rogge) shuffling through a deck of photos like they were playing cards. He is deciding on his disguise for the day while berating his man-servant for taking cocaine again. His plan is simple: One of his thugs will get on a train, steal a large commercial contract, and throw it out the window. It drops into a car waiting under the train tracks. Then after Mabuse studies the contract, he will sneak it into the backseat of cab. On the news of the theft of the contract, certain stocks plummet - with Mabuse buying. On the news that the contract is found, he waits until the stocks skyrocket, and sells.

But this is just a side project. His main gig is to go to gambling clubs in disguise snd use his telepathic powers to win. His latest target is Edgar Hull (Paul Richter), a wealthy young man. Mabuse telepathically makes him play and keep playing badly, until he loses his whole stake. When his friends look at the "losing" hand he threw down, they discover it was a strong hand - he can't explain why he gave up. As Mabuse carries out his campaign against him, in different disguises in different clubs, he also sends the beautiful Cara Carozza (Aud Egede-Nissen) to seduce him. We get to see a little of her act, which includes standing around on stage in a skin-colored body suit.

But Mabuse has an opponent: State Prosecutor von Wenk. But will he be able to pierce Mabuse's veil oif secrets?

Let me mention here that this movie comes in two parts, and each part is over two hours long. The above description covers about 30 minutes. At some point, I began drifting in and out of sleep, and gave up and went to bed before I got to Part 2. So I still can't say I've seen Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler. It's a complicated story, with several people using disguises and playing multiple roles. And of course, since it's silent, if your eyes drift closed, there's no dialog to help you keep up. Great soundtrack, though.

In conclusion, there isn't much of the famous German Expressionism here. It is generally realistic with a few flourishes. I hope to watch it someday.

In the Mood

Finally got around to watching Wong Kar Wai's In the Mood for Love (2001). Looked at as a melodrama, it's not my thing. But it is Wong Kar Wai.

It starts in 1960s Hong Kong with Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung separately renting rooms in adjacent apartments. They meet now and then in the hallway or in neighborly gatherings, but remain aloof. Both are somewhat lonely, with spouses who often travel or work late, leaving them alone. They each suspect that their spouse is cheating on them. 

One night they decide to share dinner, since they both are alone. They work out that their spouses are involved with each other. They react by play-acting as the spouses, trying to imagine how the affair started and how they act around each other. They seem to be attracted to each other, but swear that they will never act like them.

After many meetings, Leung decides to make a change in his life - to write a Chinese martial arts novel (he's a journalist, and his paper publishes it). Cheung joins in and they spend a glorious period collaborating. One day, they are reviewing the story together in Leung's room when the landlady starts a long mah-jong party in the living room. Now, Maggie can't get out of the room without being "caught". It's interesting to see Wong treating this absurd "I Love Lucy" farcical situation as high melodrama.

So Leung rents a hotel room as a studio where they can work together - Room 2047. This works for a while, but it begins to look like a temptation. Leung tells Cheung that he loves her and wants her to run away with him. Cheung has to tell Leung that she better not come to the room any more.

So Leung gets a job in Singapore. Cheung calls him and hangs up when he answers. Later, she goes back to visit her old landlady and rents the apartment where she lived next to Leung. Later still, Leung visits his old apartment, but his landlord has moved. He asks about the people next door and finds that they have moved. A single woman with a child lives there now. He doesn't realize that the woman is Cheung, and the child her son (by her (ex-?) huband?). He starts to knock on her door, hesitates, then walks away.

The last act is set in Angkor Wat. Leung, probably there as a journalist, takes in the old temple, then finds a hole in the wall, whispers to it for a moment, then plugs the hole with mud and grass. The End.

This is certainly a story of living with infidelity, lonbeliness, and unrealized love. Leung and Cheung are beautiful people, and Cheung in particular wears fabulous 1960s style cheongam gowns, always super-fashionable. The subtext is that although they are beautiful and deserve love, they are too timid and maybe convention-bound to take what they need. 

But it is also a Wong Kar Wai film - a film of surfaces, lights, volumes. He often films only the feet or torsos of the actors, or the backs of their heads. We never see the faces of the unfaithful spouses, for instance. The faces we do see are Cheung and Leung, sometimes in a two-shot that looks like a Roxy Music album cover. The spaces they occupy are always tight - we never see a vista or city-scape, just rooms, hallways, offices and one narrow street. I was amazed that this was shot mainly on locations, not small sets. 

So as a melodrama, it was interesting, if a little frustrating to see these beautiful people in a trap they made themselves. As pure abstract cinema, it was fascinating. But I must admit, I mainly watched because I want to see Wong Kar Wai's 2047, a sequel-in-spirit with some sci-fi elements. 

In conclusion, they never used the song "In the Mood for Love" in the soundtrack. But there is a lot of Nat King Cole singing in Spanish. 

Consolations of Philosophy

Agora (2009) has been on my list for a while - it seemed to be very 'for me'. A period drama set in late Antiquity, starring Rachel Weisz as famed teacher, philosopher, mathematician and female role model Hypatia. But I was pretty sure Ms. Spenser wouldn't care for it. So when she was busy, I put it on.

It is set in 5th-century Alexandria, a part of the Eastern Roman Empire. Hypatia (Weisz) is the daughter of influential scholar Theon (Michael Lonsdale). She runs a school of philosophy, where she teaches math, astronomy, and the principle that all persons are equal. One of her students is Orestes (Oscar Isaacs), the handsome and talented son of a wealthy family. He frequently professes his love for Hypatia. To discourage him, she "gifts" him with a handkerchief soaked in her menstrual blood. Another student is Davus (Max Minghella), a slave in Hypatia's household. Although she works him as a slave, she treats him as an equal in the classroom, and encourages his scientific research. He is also in love with her, although he keeps it quiet.

Alexandria is going through changes, with Christianity becoming stronger. A fanatical Christian rabble-rouser, Ashraf Barhom, begins riling up mobs against the pagan gods. When the elders of the city, like Theon, resist, the mobs attack them. Davus gets caught up in the religious fervor, to the point that he rebels against his master, screaming, "I am a Christian!" as he stabs Theon.

And so it goes. One of Hypatia's other students, Synesius (Rupert Evans), advances in the Christian hierarchy, to become bishop of Cyrene. He is an open-minded, diplomatic sort. But the more rabid and intolerant type of Christians gain more and more power in Alexandria. But Hypatia seems more interested in the motions of the planets than in the foment in her city - and certainly more than in the men who are in love with her.

I went into this expecting a strange sort of movie - small and philosophical. I feel like I got what I expected. The setting was lush and exotic, a mix of Greek, Roman and Egyptian buildings, clothing and mores. (Historical realism level: so-so.) The actors are first-rate. But considering the amount of actual blood, the story seems somewhat bloodless - maybe due to Hypatia's philosophical stoicism. The story of violent Christianity vs. decadent paganism vs. nascent science is interesting, but doesn't get the blood boiling. Even Davus' somewhat kinky fixation on his mistress (timidly reaching out to touch her foot when she is sleeping, later attempting to force himslef on her) is observed, but not dealt with.

I choose to believe that this was director Alejandro Amenabar's intention - to show us all of this at a distance. He often pulls the camera back to show the blue globe of the Earth floating in space, and at the end lets us knmow that one thing all of these people have in common: They are all now long dead. It's an interesting choice - not one that I expect to be popular, but I'm glad I got to enjoy it.

In conclusion. we know almost nothing about the historical Hypatia. Who can say how true any of this is?

Paint It Black

We ignored the weak reception to watch Dwayne Johnson in Black Adam (2022). I'd say we made the right decision.

It starts in olden times, in the peaceful city state of KandyQ. The good times come to an end when they are conquered by Ahk-Tion using the magical crown Saddiq (NB: Names may be phony). But one boy is given the power of Shazam to become Teth-Adam, and frees the country.

In modern times, Khanduck has been taken over by InterGang, an international criminal organization indistinguishable from a modern nation or corporation. Sarah Sahi is an anthropologist who is secretly part of the nationalist underground, along with her skateboarding son Bodhi Sabongui and her chubby brother Mohammed Amer. Funny, we've got another anti-colonialist movie like the last two.

Anyway, Sahi thinks she has found the crown of Sabbat. When she goes after it, she is attacked by a bunch of InterGang goons. When all looks like it it lost, she says the magic thing to the magic spot and "SHAZAM" - Dwayne Johnson, aka Teth-Adam. He begins with the slaying and mayhem and just doesn't quit.

At this point, Amanda Waller calls out the Justice Society, which consists for Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, Quintessa Swindell (what.a name!) as Cyclone, Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher, but mostly Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate. They get him under control and take him to Sahi's apartment for a hilarious sequence where Johnson just hovers around smashing through walls like they were gauzy curtains. "Didn't they have doors in your time?'

Anyway, they convince Teth-Adam to stand down. He says "Shazam" again and becomes human, and they pack him up into suspended animation. But the situation in Khannedqorn deteriorates, and they have to wake him up for one last caper...

One of the main complaints I heard about this movie is that Johnson wasn't clear on whether Black Adam is a villain or anti-hero. I think it is actually pretty plain - He's a violent, headstrong, egocentric guy with god-like superpowers. He can go either way, depending on what he thinks is best. If they are going to make him a Big Bad in later movies, he will be a very sympathetic one.

What I didn't hear from anyone is how comic-like this movie is. It's full of shots of Dwayne Johnson hovering in the air, cape fluttering, one knee cocked, looking fierce (even as he gently smashes through a wall). Since Johnson is not really moving or changing expression, you might think this isn't acting. Maybe not but it's a good panel from a comicbook. 

And Dr. Fate makes a great antagonist for Black Adam. He also has god-like powers, and is played by the god-like Pierce Brosnan. Both he and Black Adam have the sort of detached, self-confident style that massive power can bring. It was great to see Hodges as Hawkman, although he is a little underused. The other two JSA members are kind of redshirts, although they do survive. 

I don't know if this is a great movie of even a great superhero movie. But for me, it was a great comicbook movie. And I like that.

The Wet and the Dry

After that last movie, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) seemed like the right thing. 

It starts with Letitia Wright, Shuri, frantically trying to synthesize the heart-shaped herb to cure T'Challa of a mysterious ailment. But he dies off-screen. That is how this movie deals with Chadwick Boseman's death, with a short but heartfelt period of mourning.

Next we see Angela Bassett, Queen Ramonda, at the UN, facing down demands that Wakanda share its vibranium with the world. But she presents the UN with a group of commandos that tried to take some by force, and lets them know that Wakanda doesn't trust the UN.

But all this gets pushed aside when a mission to find vibranium deep under the sea is attacked by an army of blue mermen, lead by Tenoch Huerta as Namor. The CIA (except Martin Freeman) think Wakanda is responsible. But Namor suspects that Wakanda created the vibranium detector. He shows up in Wakanda, makes some enemies and demands that the scientist responsible be turned over.

The scientist turns out to be Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, a student at MIT. But Namor shows up to take her and Shuri to his undersea kingdom. We get to see a cool Atlantis and learn how these people are descendants of the ancient Mayan, except Namor, who is an ancient Mayan, I think, or something like that. Anyway, cool throne room with megaladon jaw with jade teeth.

When Shuri and Riri escape. Namor attacks Wakanda, and kills Queen Ramonda in the general mayhem. Lot of fatalities in this one. He threatens to come back with his army and destroy Wakanda, leading to an evacuation of the captial. But Shuri finally manages to recreate the heart-shaped herb. With Black Panther powers, she decides to take the fight to Namor. And Riri has a surprise too: her own set of homemade Ironman armor.

All this is done with a little more than the usual Marvel gloss. Wakanda is glorious, and you've got to love the costumes. Namor and the Namorians are even better. Their Central American background lets them use lots of jade and feathers (underwater? Never mind). Tenoch Huerta has a great look as Namor (Although I still think Hugo Weaving would have killed it). The two hidden kingdoms of Talokan and Wakanda work well together, expanding the anti-colonialist message. All in all, a beautiful movie - good story, sweet tribute to Boseman, good acting, exceptional art direction.

In conclusion, my only complaint is the casting of Julia Louis-Dreyfuss as Contessa Allegra. This famously Italian femme fatale just shouldn't be played by a flagrantly New York ballbuster. Just my opinion.

African Amazons

The Woman King (2022) was one of our most anticipated films of 2022. Finally showed up.

It's set in 1830s Dahomey, ruled by king John Boyega. His kingdom is protected by a group of women warriors called Agojie, lead by Viola Davis. They are forced to pay tribute to the larger neighboring kingdom of Oyo, who have recently taken a group of Dahomey women for the slave trade. Davis leads the Agojie on a successgful raid to retake them. This battle gives you some idea of what to expect - lots of amazing fight scenes.

Thuso Mbedu plays a young woman whose family keeps trying to marry off. She greets each old man suitor with violence, so her family finally send her to become Agojie. She meets tough drill sergeant Lashana Lynch, who will be her mentor, tormentor and friend.

Viola Davis begins to lobby the king to get out of the slavery trade, which he justifies by saying they never sell Dahomey people, only war prisoners. Meanwhile, the Oyo come for their tribute, bringing along some Portuguese slaver traders, including Jordan Bolger, whose mother was from Dahomey. Although the Agojie are not allowed outside relationships, Mbedu begins a friendship with him. The Oyo demand 40 slaves to make up for the raid Davis made, and the king and Davis send them off.

But of course, it's a Trojan Horse situation, and the slaves are really Agojie, who fight free. However, Mbedu and Lynch, among others are captured. Davis wants to lead a raid to recover them, but Boyega doesn't want all-out war, and forbids it. Do you think that stops her?

In some ways, this is a simple movie: Viola Davis, the leader, John Boyega, her king, Thuso Mbedu, the ground-level kid, and Latasha Lynch as the hardened veteran. There are big battle scenes, and the theme of slavery in Africa. But it's all a little deeper than that. Boyega's king wants to be a good man, but but doesn't want to give up slavery as a basis for the economy. Davis, the warrior, values discipline even above, for example, hot intelligence on the enemy. Yet, she becomes entangled with Mbedu, and disobeys an order from her king. The Portuguese, at least, are just plain bad guys.

We haven't followed the movies of director Gina Prince-Blythewood, except The Old Guard (which I guess I didn't blog because I used to skip a lot of streaming). So it looks like she can handle action. It was also interesting to see so many women and Africans (and African women) behind the scenes of this movie. Not that that would be a reason to watch or not, but interesting.

Old Dominion

Why did we queue up Jurassic World: Dominion (2022)? We had already determined that we don't care about these movies. Are we hoping that they'll get better? Or is it just because they are there?

My memories of this movie are already a bit hazy. As far as I can reconstruct, Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are living off the grid, raising some dinos and a girl, Isabella Sermon, who is a clone of someone from another movie. They try to keep her from the outside world, but she gets kidnapped by evil corporate head Campbell Scott (character name: Lewis Dodgson, after Mark Twain or something). So they go to find her in Malta.

Meanwhile, Laura Dern figures out that the huge mutant locusts that are eating all the crops (except those from Biosyn seeds, Scott's evil corp) use dino DNA. She teams up with good old Jeff Goldblum, now one of those TEDtalking science influencifiers, and they go after Biosyn. 

Biosyn has a couple of other bad guys. BD Wong is the bioengineer who wants Sermon's clone DNA for something nefarious, and Mamadou Athie is the corporate flunky enabling Scott. They have some good times later on.

What else can I say? This movie has several Elon Musk/Tony Stark style mad scientist/influencers, not just Goldblum. It also has some mildly interesting Malta locations. It has the usual Jurassic franchise competing themes of "Aren't these dinos cute and/or majestic?", "Aren't these dinos deadly/ecologically harmful?", and of course, "Aren't corporations jerks?". It should be possible to balance them successfully, but I don't think director Colin Treverrow succeed.

They do better with the whole grandeur of dinosaurs part, and Chris Pratt gets to do his dino-whisperer act. But I noticed even more swipes from Disney's Fantasia in this one. For example, diplodocus in the swamp with a raging fire in the background. They way they lift their heads as if wondering where the meteor hit - it made me start humming the Rites of Spring. Well, I guess it doesn't hurt to steal from the best.

Slinging the Booze

 What makes a Singapore Sling? The original recipe from the Raffles Hotel is lost, but the current recipe is something like gin, lime juice (and possible other tropical juices), triple sec, Cherry Heering and Benedictine. When it was invented, drinks based on gin, juice and a sweetener were called "Straits Slings". What makes the Raffles version a "Singapore Sling" is the cherry and the Benedictine. 

It's not clear whether the original used Cherry Heering, which has lower alcohol and a strong cherry flavor, or kirsch cherry brandy, more alcohol, less cherry. I don't have either - I soaked a handful of dried cherries in vodka, for a very alcoholic, very cherry infusion (little jar below).

But I got to thinking - I wonder what these two magic ingredients would taste like on their own? Also, I had used up all my gin. So I made a little shot with one part Benedictine, 2 parts cherry infusion. 

It was a delightful dessert-like sipper. Of course, there are probably infinite combinations of liqueurs that would work. For ex, I made myself a shot of 1/2 Chartreuse, 1/2 Galliano. It was also great. But I like the idea of a Singapore Sling without the Sling. 

Edited to add: It is only much later that I realized the name for this Benedictine/cherry concoction should be: the Slingshot.