Duck Soup

Duck, You Sucker (A Fistful of Dynamite) (1972) is perhaps Sergio Leone's wackiest movie - and that's saying something.

It starts with Rod Steiger in full Eli Wallach Tuco-the-Rat face, hitching a ride on an armored stage coach - full of rich bankers, priests, and a woman (Maria Monti) who can't stop talking about all the disgusting, lascivious sex the poor people are having. Predictably, the coach is hijacked by a gang of about a dozen boys, all Steiger's sons. He robs the rich, strips them naked, fulfills the woman's fantasy, and drives away in their coach.

While they are divvying up the spoils, they hear some explosions, and a motorcycle drives by. It's driven by James Coburn, an Irish revolutionary on the lam in Mexico. Steiger shoots out a tire to prevent him from driving on, so Coburn stops to inspect the coach. When he comes out he utters the film's title. "Duck. you suckers" and there's an explosion from inside. Here one of the kids says the line that the Film Sack podcast made memorable, "There's a hole in the roof!"

When Steiger realizes he has an explosives expert, he thinks of a bank in Mesa Verde he's been wanting to rob. Coburn refuses, there's a big pissing contest, and Coburn walks out. But sure enough, they both wind up in Mesa Verde, robbing the bank. But now it's heavily guarded by the Mexican Army. When they get into the vaults, Steiger discovers that they are filled with revolutionary prisoners. The money has been moved and Coburn is with the revolution. Steiger is not happy, but the now he is hailed as a hero, and is sort of stuck with it.

All this is done in Leone's famous style, but amped up to 11. instead of cutting to a face, he'll cut to a facc, then closer, then just the eyes, then one eye - and hold. Of course, Ennio Morricone did the score, with a lilting "Sean Sean Sean" theme for Coburn. He's named Sean but Steiger thinks he's John. Since Steiger is Juan, he wants them to be called "Johnny and Johnny" and go to America.

Although it's part of the Once Upon a Time series, it plays more like the Fistful movies, with a lot of comedy along with the tragic bloodshed. Coburn does all right in the Eastwood role, although his Irish accent isn't great (or stable). Steiger is great, but no Tuco, I'm afraid. Maybe needs to be more ugly.

Doors and Sardines

I know I've mentioned it before, but I guess I saw Noises Off! (1992) before I started the blog - so second time watching, first time blogging. Actually, we saw the play first in San Fran, as I'll mention a few times below.

It's about a play called Nothing On, directed by Michael Caine, a typical sex romp. He starts by flashing back to the last rehearsal for opening night in Des Moines. It's the dress rehearsal, but also the technical, because they open the next day. The play in the play stars Carol Burnett, the housekeeper in an old English estate. She's brought out a plate of sardines and is about to put her feet up when the phone rings. A little more business, she goes offstage - and Caine stops the performance. She forgot the sardines. As he explains a little later, the play is all about sardines and doors, doors and sardines, like life. 

After clearing that up, Burnett goes offstage and John Ritter and Nicollette Sheridan come in. He's the rental agent for the house, and they are having an assignation, not realizing that Burnett is there. When they are tucked away in a bedroom, Christopher Reeve and Marilu Henner come in. They are the house's owners, supposedly in Spain for tax reasons, sneaking home for an assignation with each other. The key to the farce is that the two couples don't know each other are around, and Burnett doesn't realize it. Also, there's a burglar played by Denholm Elliot. We see the actors trying to get this all to work with their timing off - Someone wonders who left the sardines there, when Burnett forgot to leave the sardines there, the two couples wind up in the same place when they aren't supposed to know about each other, and so on. Doors and sardines.

Just quickly, the actors that these actors are playing:

• Burnett is a classic comedian who is always getting her lines wrong: "Hold on, I've only got one leg" comes out "I've only got two heads",
• Ritter plays an actor who quibbles with the director, but his arguments mostly amount to "my God, well, you know?"
• Sheridan is a sex kitten who answers every question, "What?" When the play is going to hell and everyone is trying to improvise to fix it, she just sticks to her lines, no matter what anyone on stage is saying or doing. She also plays most of the show in her underwear.
• Reeve is a handsome actor who proclaims how stupid he is about plots and things, and isn't exaggerating.
• Henner seems nice but tends to stir up shit gossiping about who is sleeping with who (Ritter/Burnett, Caine and stage manager).
• Elliot played an ancient but revered actor who is partly deaf and totally alcoholic. When he's not visible, the entire cast has to run around calling his name like a theatrical firedrill.

As mentioned. there is a stage manager, Julie Haggerty (Airplane!) who is haggard and self-conscious. Mark Linn-Baker plays the sleep-deprived and bullied set carpenter.

The second act is the same as the first, except this time we see a disastrous matinee in Florida, mainly from backstage. When we saw this theatrically, it was entirely backstage, but the film didn't stick to this strictly. 

The last act is closing night in Cleveland, facing the stage, when things go very wrong. Elliot is late for a cue, so Linn-Baker shows up as understudy, then Caine shows up as understudy, then Elliot shows up. Three burglars - calls for some clever improvisation. Too bad the cast isn't up to it.

The play was written by Michael Frayn, and it really is a wonder, both a send up of the sex farce doors-and-sardines and a tribute to it. There's a scene backstage where a bottle of scotch and a fire axe are past around and used in various ways that shows precise staging, all the while threatening to derail the show going on in front.

Peter Bogdanovich directed this (our second in a row! With John Ritter!) but tried to keep it the play's vision pure. It was funnier seeing it in the theater, and sharper too, because it was a play in a play, not in a movie. He did change it from England to America, and added a happy ending. 

I guess people didn't really love this movie - I don't know if the problem was the script or the direction. We loved it, even if it was only a reflection of the play. 

Who's Laughing Now?

Peter Bogdanovich's They All Laughed (1981) is kind of an oddball. In some ways it is exactly of its time, in others, a throwback to the movies of the 70s and of the 30s.

It's a movie about New York - filmed on location, mostly on the streets. It starts with pretty, freckled Patti Hansen driving a cab. She's listening to country music on the radio, and taking a grumpy passenger to the NY Heliport. The passenger meets a rich man, his young son, and wife - Audrey Hepburn, looking a bit like Jackie O, all slim and perfect in a black pantsuit and huge sunglasses. When they leave in a limo, Ben Gazzara gets in the cab and follows them into the city. Gazzara calls Hansen Sam and flirts with her quite a bit. A sly dog.

He has her drop him off when he picks up his two daughters (played by Bogdanovich's daughters). They like Hansen, but they seem to like all of his girlfriends, singling out Christy (Colleen Camp), because she's funny.

We also find John Ritter and Blaine Novack tailing a woman, Dorothy Stratten. Ritter has oversized glasses and is acting something between Woody Allen and Rick Moranis. Novack, who co-wrote the script with Bogdanovich, has a biker Fu-Manchu, a huge newsboy cap and rollerskates tied around his neck. Great way to blend in. Later, we find a massive head of curly hair under the cap, so maybe it's for the best. 

They track her to her house, and Novack hands him a joint to keep him company on the stakeout. They're stoner detectives, a genre you don't see that often.

Gazarra, Ritter and Novack meet up at the detective agency they work at. Gazarra is assigned to follow Hepburn and Ritter and Novack are following Stratten, who Ritter has clearly fallen for. Christy, a country singer played by Colleen Camp bursts in, breaks up with Gazarra and drags Ritter away. And on we go.

Gazarra's method of tailing Hepburn leads to him introducing himself, and disarming her by letting his daughters meet his son. And eventually sleeping with her. Meanwhile Ritter has to use Camp as a beard to get close to Stratten - although he also tries to track her at the Roxy skating rink. Since he has finished a joint and can't skate anyway, this is a good way to show off his pratfall skills.

This is all shot in and around New York locations, including the Rockefeller Center and F.A.O. Schwartz. With Ben Gazarra juggling girlfriends and soulfully wooing Hepburn, it could almost be a Cassavetes. The male attitudes about love and marriage, plus the free-wheeling script make it seem like classic New Hollywood. But there's also a strong screwball feeling, like old Hollywood (like Bogdanovich reached for in For Pete's Sake). Then there's the inside stuff - Gazarra and Hepburn had recently had an affair. Hepburn's son was in the movie, but not playing her son. He was an adult, so he played the guy Stratten was fooling around with, until Camp snagged him. 

And then there's Dorothy Stratten. She was living with Bogdanovich, and her husband killed her between the movie wrapping and its opening. That sort of killed this movie's chances of finding an audience. No one would release it, so Bogdanovich tried to distribute it himself, which didn't work. He lost his shirt and most of his sanity over this. It definitely affects the way you think about Ritter stalking her.

So I'm not sure if this is a good movie, but it sure is interesting. It even showcased that time window of time were New York was into country music. I guess this period lasted from Urban Cowboy until Rhinestone Cowboy?

Super Freaky

Although I'm always trying to find horror movies for Ms. Spenser, Freaky (2020), which is a slasher body-swap comedy, doesn't count. But I wanted to see it myself, and she was willing to try.

It starts on Weds the 11th. That right there would be a great title for a horror movie. Four rich teens are partying at a mansion when a large slasher, Vince Vaughan, in a ceremonial mask, kills them all, and makes off with a ceremonial knife.

Thurs the 12th, we meet Kathryn Newton, a quiet high-school girl. Her father died about a year ago, her mother is a needy alcoholic, and her older sister is a tough cop. She's bullied at school by the mean girls, but has two good friends, a black girl (Celeste O'Connor) and a gay guy (Misha Osherovich). She also has a crush on Uriah Shelton, who is in her woodworking class, where she is also bullied.

At the football game that night, she wears the Beavers' mascot costume (and get bullied), then waits alone for her mother - who has passed out after drinking a bottle of wine. Then the Vince Vaughan shows up, chases her around the field, and starts to stab her with the dagger. At just that moment, Newton's sister shows up and shoots Vaughan, wounding him in the same spot he wounded Newton.

That night, at midnight (Fri the 13th), a change occurs, and they wake up in each other's body. Newton, that is Vaughan playing Newton, wakes up in a scummy room in a deserted factory, filled with dissected mannequins, and other serial killer art projects. Newton, that is Newton playing Vaughan, sort of grunts his way through the morning - he gets gets a break because mom and sis figure she's a little shellshocked after being attacked. When he realizes he can go to school and kill all kinds of kids, he perks up.

So Vaughan-as-Newton has to convince her friends that she is body-swapped with the butcher. Meanwhile, Newton-as-Vaughan is going around the school killing bullies. So win-win. But the legend says that they have one day to reverse the curse, so they have until midnight.

This was directed by Christopher Landon, one of the writers and director of the Happy Death Day movies, and Scouts Guide to the Apocalypse. So I guess he sort of specializes in teen horror comedies. I think the original title for this was Freaky Friday the Thirteenth. It's pretty clever, and Vaughan acting like a teen girl is a lot of the fun. There's a spot where Newton's crush starts to make out with her (Vaughan), and the they have to stop because awkward. But also, the teens are pretty well written. Newton isn't a nerd like in Booksmart - she's the team mascot. But losing her father has made her withdraw, and some of the kids picked up on that, hence the bullying. The one black friend, one gay friend thing is played for laughs, but they don't get killed first. And Newton finds joy in being in a big, strong, imposing body. 

So if you don't mind a little gore (like a woodshop teacher being fed into a table saw), and like teen movies, you can give this a try. After all, body-swap movies are all the rage. 

Cozy Apocalypse

I think I queued up Love and Monsters (2020) because of another monster movie that was announced around the same time. I'll note that when we watch it, but I'll stick to this one for now. 

We were a little apprehensive going in because we were afraid it was going to be excessively Disneyfied. It turned out to be kind of kid-friendly, but in a nice way.

It stars Dylan O'Brien as a young man who lives in an underground bunker with a small group of survivors. There was a disaster, illustrated in cartoon form, that cause cold-blooded life to mutate into giant monster who killed 95% of the world's population. Seven years later, everyone left lives in underground colonies. With everyone else in his colony paired up, and going on dangerous supply runs, O'Brien is kind of out of place. He tends to freeze in dangerous situations, so the rest of the colony is kind of protective of him. He dreams about when he was in high school - he was on a date the day the disaster happens and is still in love with the girl, Jessica Henwick (Colleen Wing). He has recently gotten in contact with her via radio, and longs to be with her in Jenner, 85 miles away.

When the colony is attacked (and he freezes again), he decides it's time to go for it, and heads out into the world above to find his love. At first it isn't so bad, but he eventually gets attacked by a monster. Fortunately, a dog rescues him and takes him back to a school bus. There O'Brien figures out that the dog's name is Boy, and that his mistress is gone. All the god has left is a red dress that he takes everywhere. When O'Brien leaves, the dog accompanies him. 

The dog helps him survive, but when he falls into a pit of sand gobblers, he can't do much. But a couple of hardcore survivalists can. Michael Rooker and the pre-teen Ariana Greenblatt seem to be doing very well, and they help him hone his survival skills, which are terrible to begin with. One thing they teach him is that some monsters are nice - you can tell by the eyes. But they are heading for the mountains and he is heading for the coast. 

After tripping out from swamp leech bites and losing Boy, he finally gets to Jenner, and meets Henwick. She's a little distracted, because a yacht full of survivors have shown up to take her colony somewhere safe. The captain. Dan Ewing, is a friendly, capable, handsome Australian, and everyone loves him, except O'Brien, who hates him. You can guess what happens.

But you might not guess that Henwick as a maiden in distress can rescue herself, then fight off the whole Australian crew while letting O'Brien take care of their pet monster crab.

This is sort of what you call a cozy apocalypse. There is incredible danger and a huge deathtoll, but our hero does all right. Almost everyone he meets on his journey is kind and generous. He even finds a robot on its last minutes of charge, who shows him a picture of his parents and comforts him. He even gets to like some of the monsters (my favorite trope of "Loving the Alien"). 

All in all, a fun and easy-to-swallow romp, possibly aimed at young teenagers (the 20-something leads seem to be arrested at high-school age). But fun for the whole family. The most frightening thing may have been the town our hero started out from - he lived in Fairfield, which is really 85 miles from Jenner. But we do see a sign for Paradise CA - site of a very real apocalypse. 

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Goes Wrong

Recently, we watched the Goes Wrong Show (2019), a very silly British TV series. The premise is that a regional theater company puts on an original play each episode, and it Goes Wrong. The set was specified in inches, but built in centimeters. An actor steps through a door and into a painted scrim. A character is playing one legged with the other leg tied up behind him, and it keeps coming untied. It's very funny, with a lot of physical comedy (pratfalls), stock situations and clever wordplay. Unfortunately, there are only 6 episodes. But it got us in the mood - so we watched Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1990).

It's not quite the same thing - it's Hamlet from the point of view of two minor characters, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, played by Gary Oldman and Tim Roth. Even they aren't sure which one is which. As minor characters, you see, they don't have much back story. In fact, when Roth asks Oldman what his earliest memory is, he ... forgets the question.

In fact, they ask a lot of questions. On a tennis court, they play Questions, where you must answer a question with a question. Make a statement and you lose the point. When they meet up with Claudius, Gertrude, Hamlet, or others, they can recite their lines properly, but they don't know what's going on. And they are afraid to ask - what if they are sent back?

At first, it seems that their purpose is to bring in the players, led by Richard Dreyfuss. He is not my favorite actor, but great in this role: a combination of hammy, sinister, seductive ("times being what they are") and meta. Of course, the whole movie is very meta.

Or should I say, the whole play? It is of course based on the 1966 play by Tom Stoppard, who directed this movie. Even though I only visited New York once or twice in the 60s and 70s, I was well aware of this play from seeing the title on the tops of New York cabs. So glad I got to see it, and with such a great cast. 

Up the Yin Yang

I think I've mentioned before that sometimes Ms. Spenser doesn't want to spend all night watching movies. Strange, I know. Sometimes she has to get a little work in, as well. Also, she doesn't especially care for Asian martial arts movies. That makes them perfect to watch on streaming while she's taking care of email, etc. They aren't distracting because they aren't in English. That's how I found myself watching The Yin Yang Master (2021).

It starts in media res, with Qingming (Chen Kun) accused of killing the guards and stealing the Scale Stone, an object of power. So he runs away. Seven years later, we find Boya (Qu ChuXiao) guarding a shipment of tribute for the emperor. He is attacked by a demon with three expressionless faces and four arms. After a big fight, he rips one of the faces off, and it's a mask - the demon is actually three weasel-demons in a coat (with three masks and four arms). That's when this movie had me. 

I won't go into the rest of the movie in any detail (partly because I don't remember much - I tend to let these things just wash over me). Qingming is half-human-half-demon, but a good sort. Boya is a bit of a dry stick, but can't bring himself to go after Qingming full force. Woman Warrior Baini (Zhou Xun) can, however, making her a formidable opponent. 

But the real fun comes from the demons. Some are evil, some just goofy, all are fun to watch. It looks like this was made for the Chinese market, but got bought by Netflix for streaming. I liked it so much, I started the prequel/sequel Yin Yang Master: Dream of Eternity (2020).

PS: I finished the YYM:DoE, and it reminded me of something about the series (aside from how bonkers it is). The series seems to focus on the concept of the Spirit Guardian, someone who has your back in the spirit realm, I guess. A demon can be the spirit guardian of a human, a man for another man, a man for a woman, etc. The bond seems to be intimate and sacred, and can lead to trouble if you pledge to guardianship to someone doomed or unworthy. As a plot device, it works sort of like romantic love, which is interesting.

Also, I note that one Spirit Guardian in the sequel is a winged ape name called Snow Hound, who at least has snow powers. Vermillion Bird, on the other hand, is Boya (I think), with black wings. He rides his sword like a surfboard as it slices up a giant snake. Bonkers, I tell you.