November Films Update

10 films I watched earlier this year

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1. The Great Gatsby (1974)

In the 1920s Nick Carraway has rented a cottage on Long Island for the summer; across the bay is his much richer cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband Tom. His neighbour is Jay Gatsby who has extravagant parties, is mysterious but rumoured to have been a WW1 hero and an Oxford student. Nick and Tom go into New York. On the way they call in at a garage where George the owner wants to buy Tom’s car but Tom is actually there to signal to George's wife Myrtle to go into town, where they are having an affair.

Daisy tries to set Nick up with her friend Jordan, but he’s too poor for her (he's a bond salesman on Wall Street), though they seem to enjoy each other’s company. When Gatsby invites Nick to a party, he takes Jordan, and he invites Nick to come to lunch the next day. They have lunch with an old gangster and gambler; Nick sells alcohol (prohibited) through a chain of pharmacies. A complicated series of events has Nick invite Daisy for lunch so that Gatsby can meet her.

Gatsby knew Daisy before the war, and they were lovers but he was too poor for her. The two start an affair. Eventually it becomes obvious to everyone and in New York Tom, Gatsby and Daisy have a confrontation with Nick and Jordan looking on awkwardly. Gatsby tries to get Daisy to admit she doesn’t love Tom. Daisy won’t and flees in Gatsby’s car. The others discover that the car has hit and killed Myrtle. Thinking Gatsby killed her George shoots Gatsby. Nick arranges the funeral, where he and Mr Gatz, Gatsby’s father, are the only ones to turn up.

This is the third film adaption of the novel, and a bit of a mess. Gatsby’s parties are loud, raucous, tasteless even. I don’t think anyone’s going to have a party (or wedding!) based on this version. Everything seems a bit airless, though the leads do a workmanlike job at showing the desperation of these bored rich people.

Watch This: Easily watchable adaption of the classic novel
Don’t Watch This: There are three other adaptions, or you could read it I suppose

2. Anora

Ani, full name Anora Mikheeva is a stripper in New York; when a big spender requests a Russian speaker she joins his party. This is Vanya (Ivan Zakharov), the son of a Russian oligarch, here in America to study, in theory, though he mostly parties and games in his parents’ house. His English is bad; she understands Russian from her grandmother but speaks it badly. The two hit it off and he hires her as an escort. After a New Year party he then hires her as his girlfriend for a week for $15,000.

In Las Vegas he explains that he will have to return to Russia and work for his family after this. Wanting to stay in America he proposes marriage, so he will have the right to stay. He convinces Anora he has real feelings and the two get married in a Las Vegas wedding chapel.

Hearing rumours of this Vanya’s parents call his Armenian godfather Toros to find out and get any marriage annulled. At a christening, Toros sends two henchmen to the house, break in, call Ani a prostitute, claim it’s a sham green card marriage. Vanya flees, they violently subdue Ani until Toros turns up.

They then spend the day looking for Vanya, retracing all the places Ani has been with him. In the end they find him back at the strip club, very drunk, being given a lap dance by Ani’s rival. The film, which has taken a dark, farcical turn, becomes serious again; the oligarchs get their way.

Watch This: Dark sexy sleazy comedy
Don’t Watch This: Dark sexy sleazy tragedy

3. The Birds (1963)

In a posh San Francisco pet shop socialite Melanie Daniels is trying to collect a Myna bird. Lawyer Mitch Brenner comes in and pretends he thinks she works there, which she plays along with. He’s looking for lovebirds for his sister. It turns out he knows who she is from a time she ended up in court for a prank that got out of hand and was pranking her in turn. Intrigued, she buys some lovebirds to deliver, only to find he’s gone out of town for the weekend.

She travels north to Bodega Bay where his mother Lydia and sister Cathy live; questioning people including Annie the schoolteacher (Mitch’s ex-), she’s able to sneak over on a boat and leave the lovebirds for Cathy’s birthday. Mitch spots her and drives around to confront. She’s attacked by a gull and he helps her, then he invites her to dinner.

Lydia doesn’t like her because she’s portrayed badly in the gossip columns; of course Lydia didn’t like Annie either for being a small town schoolteacher. Melanie explains that her father is a newspaper tycoon which is why the others exaggerate her exploits (for example she was fully dressed when she fell in the fountain in Rome etc). They are interrupted by sparrows coming down the chimney.

The light-hearted romance takes a second place now to the bird-horror. A dead gull is found outside Annie’s door. When Lydia goes to talk to a neighbour about her hens (they won’t eat) she discovers him dead, pecked and eyeless. Events rapidly move out of control, with scenes of people wondering what’s up with the birds, spooky scenes of lots of birds perched on things and slightly awkward special effects of bird attacks. When a gas station attendant is attacked a fire starts in the town.

The scenes with minimal effects work well, just people trying to avoid provoking the birds. When the birds go into action the frantic speed covers some of the flaws. The ongoing romantic comedy story basically ends when the birds go into action.

Watch This: Classic animal attack horror film whose very inexplicability keeps it’s power
Don’t Watch This: Rather annoying romantic comedy married to odd effects horror

4. Jane Eyre (1997)

Orphan Jane Eyre (Samantha Morton as an adult) is mistreated by her aunt, who claims she’s deceitful; in fact she is if anything too bluntly honest, outspoken and forthright. She’s sent off to school which is bad; her friend dies. Things improve a bit and she becomes a teacher, then accepts a job as a governess at Thornfield Hall.

She has been employed by the housekeeper Alice Fairfax as the tutor to Adele, a young French girl. The mysterious owner of the house, Mr Rochester (Ciarán Hinds) is abroad. There is some oddness, people wandering about upstairs which is kept locked. Mrs Fairfax blames Grace Poole, a drunk old retainer.

Mr Rochester comes home, initially meeting Jane incognito out in the fields where his horse is spooked; he accuses her and she defends herself. Adele is delighted to see him, thanks to the presents he brings. Mr Rochester is gruff to the point of rudeness, and finds his match in Jane’s plainspokenness.

Mr Rochester brings guests including the young, beautiful and polished Blanche Ingram who everyone thinks he will marry. Jane, poor, plainly dressed, feels her inferiority. Still, she saves Mr Rochester when a mysterious fire starts in his room; again Grace Poole is blamed to Jane’s consternation. She is almost relieved when she learns her aunt has died and goes to sort out her affairs with her cousins.

Coming back Rochester and Jane reveal their feelings for each other, and Rochester proposes they marry. More strange events occur, Jane’s veil is ripped in two when someone comes into her room. Grace Poole is again blamed and Jane insists she be sent away before someone gets hurt. The wedding is sensationally interrupted by Mr Mason, a previous mysterious visitor, accompanied by a lawyer; they reveal Rochester is already married to Mason’s sister Bertha. Bertha, insane, is locked in the attic, except when her keeper Grace Poole gets drunk and she escapes. Rochester admits this, just wanted to be happy, he was convinced to marry Bertha for her money and her congenital madness concealed from him.

Jane flees, taking a coach as far as she can with the money she has, then walking across the moors. She’s taken in by brother and sister St John and Diana Rivers. She makes herself useful at the local school run by Diana. St John, preparing to become a missionary abroad proposes, believing she has been sent by God to be his helpmeet. She hears Rochester’s voice and rejects the proposal returning to Thornfield.

Bertha escaped the attic, burned the house down then threw herself off the roof. Rochester was badly burned rescuing people, has lost his sight. He and Jane reconcile, get married and bring up Adele together, Rochester recovering somewhat.

As an adaption this one ignores Jane’s family as much as possible, to the extent of making the Rivers strangers who take Jane in. It considers Jane and Rochester’s relationship the heart of the story, and ruthlessly cutting back anything beyond that. Indeed maybe the entire early life of Jane could have been trimmed down more, revealed in exposition or flashback if that’s what you want. The family and inheritance gone, it’s very much Jane refusing to investigate mysteries that aren’t any of her business and sparring verbally with Rochester. Which is pretty good, the two leads knowing what they’re about.

Watch This: Solid adaption of a classic novel of secrets and romance
Don’t Watch This: Remakes a novel of faith, learning, growing up and weirdness into a romance

5. Joker: Folie À Deux

At the end of Joker Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) was arrested; now two years later he’s in Arkham State Hospital, his trial about to begin. His lawyer plans an insanity plea, that he has dissociative personality disorder and the Joker personality is responsible. The prosecutor, ADA Harvey Dent, intends to use the television coverage of the trial (new in 1983, and continuing the TV theme of Joker) to make his reputation.

Fleck goes to a musical therapy session where he meets Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga). She tells him she’s from his old neighbourhood and was abused and then burned down her parents’ apartment building. The two begin a relationship which includes various song and dance numbers in a heightened reality. Lee starts a fire at movie night and the two try to escape, but fail, Fleck being sent into solitary.

The trial is, inevitably, a circus. Dent calls witnesses to dismiss the psychological defence. Fleck’s lawyer reveals that Lee is actually a psychiatry student from a nice part of town whose doctor father is alive, and she committed herself voluntarily. Fleck dismisses his lawyer and appears in his Joker outfit and face paint. He faces witness and former co-worker Gary Puddles who is reluctant and reveals that Fleck was the only one nice to him. Fleck is moved, offers no defence, tells the court and television about abuse at Arkham, after which the guards then beat him when he goes back that night.

Fleck explains in court there is no Joker, just him, the jury find him guilty of murder. A bomb goes off destroying the wall and Fleck escapes with the aid of a guy dressed as a Joker. He finds Lee on the stairs outside his apartment where she rejects him, saying she only wanted the Joker. He’s re-arrested, then later, back in Arkham, a creepy inmate who has been spying on him tries to tell a joke then stabs him, laughing and cutting his own face.

As a sequel this is both wackier and more depressing than Joker. In Joker late night shows and comedy clubs were the focus of media. Now we get television news and elaborate fantasy song and dance numbers. Gotham’s mental health system is still bad, the legal system no better. The unrest of the Joker riots has gone underground and comes back with the trial. It’s only 1983 so the 80s are still figuring out what they are, everyone is basically still stuck in the 70s, a grim age for American cities.

Watch This: Boldly imagined drama showing cracks in society, framed by amazing fantasy sequences
Don’t Watch This: Limp continuation of weird period supervillain spin-off

6. The Stone Tape

The research department of an electronics firm moves into Taskerlands, an old Victorian mansion. Peter is unhappy to learn that the refurbishment is behind schedule and one room, meant to be for computer banks, is untouched as the workers thought it was haunted. It turns out this is the oldest part of the building, pre-dating the Victorian building, with foundations going back to Saxon times.

Curious about this the researchers explore the room and hear running and screams. Jill, the lead computer programmer, already seemingly on the verge of a nervous breakdown (she panics when her car is caught between two lorries in the crowded car park/building site in the opening scene) thinks she sees a vision of a woman running up stairs. Tearing out the wooden walls they find the stairs, also some odd papers from when it was used by the army in WW2.

Peter comes to the conclusion that these so-called ghosts have been recorded in the walls – as stone tapes. This is good because recording media is how they hope to get back dominance in electronics from the Japanese. They then spend a lot of time trying to get the visions and sounds to return using various triggers and trying to record it. Meanwhile they do some research and learn about a maid in 1890 who panicked, fell and died.

Eventually it seems to stop, and Jill hypothesises they’ve wiped the tape. Peter is disappointed, and then learns a rival team working on washing machines will be taking half the place over. When Jill thinks she sees more he puts her on leave, but she goes in that night with tragic consequences.

This 1972 science fiction ghost horror story is claustrophobic (a BBC budget ensures most of it takes place on sets) and Jane Asher’s performance as Jill manages to stay just this side of convincing. The period technology ranges between cool and hilarious – of course you’re not picking up the sounds on your machine, have you looked at it? Slow, spooky, originally a modern Christmas ghost story, so there are a few otherwise puzzling Christmas references.

Watch This: Great piece of dark ghost fiction that popularised the idea of ghosts being recorded memories
Don’t Watch This: Old, slow, everyone over-reacting

7. The Lost Continent (1951)

A nuclear rocket goes down over the Pacific and a US Airforce plane goes out to find it. Under the command of Major Joe Nolan (Cesar Romero), there is his co-pilot, his mechanic/flight engineer and three scientists. Heading into the area where the rocket vanished they spot an uncharted tropical island following which the plane fails and they crash land. The island is almost deserted; two locals remain who indicate that everyone else fled when something crashed into the high, cloud-crowned plateau that makes up the interior. The expedition decide to look up there for the rocket.

What’s up there? Some of the clouds are toxic, the climb difficult (one member falls and dies, seemingly one of the others failed to help him). At the top there is jungle, dinosaurs and field of Uranium that they think might have downed both the rocket and their plane.

The dinosaur effects are fine, if not especially good in what was a slightly murky black and white film. The uranium field probably seemed a good idea at the time, though anything putting out enough energy to knock a rocket and plane out the sky ought to have killed the expedition – and the dinosaurs. Still, I’ve seen worse science from better films. The film is aware that women exist, with Nolan interrupted in the apartment of Marla Stevens (Hilary Brook) and one of the locals being a woman (Acquanetta), but it can’t bring itself to give either of them more than one scene. The plot feels quite stitched together.

Watch This: Entertaining dinosaur adventure with a charming lead
Don’t Watch This: Bunch of men go to a mysterious island, fight dinosaurs, wreck the place
Not To Be Confused With: The Lost Continent (1968) 

8. The Magic Sword (1962)

George is being brought up by Sibyl, a somewhat dippy sorceress, though he spends most of his time using the Magic Pool to spy on Princess Helene (she’s bathing in another pool when we first see them). She’s kidnapped by the wizard Lodac (Basil Rathbone) who says he will feed her to a dragon in seven days; there are seven curses that protect his castle making it impregnable.

George wants to go and rescue her but Sibyl thinks he’s too young (he’s 20). She shows him all the things he’ll inherit when he turns 21; a magic horse, invulnerable armour, six knights from different countries frozen waiting for him, and the titular magic sword. The sword reveals hidden things, so when he holds it he opens the secret entrance to the cellar. He tricks Sibyl into going down and closes it on her, takes all the magic gear and knights and heads off on his quest.

He arrives at the court just as Sir Branton has volunteered to rescue the princess. The King insists they work together, but also offers Helene’s hand and half the kingdom to whoever rescues her, a somewhat unwieldy arrangement. Worse still it turns out that Sir Branton is secretly in league with Ladoc. Helene sees two other princesses fed to the dragon (last week’s kidnapees become this week’s meal it seems).

They travel through the seven curses, George losing a companion or two to each (with Branton’s treachery). There’s an ogre, a swamp, a beautiful Frenchwoman who becomes a hag, a heat trap and a cave that seals. Ladoc realises that George has magic and mocks Sibyl who disastrously strips George of powers.

There’s a final, complicated set of betrayals with George, Ladoc, Branton, the beautiful Frenchwoman/hag disguising herself as Helene, real Helene, a ring that controls the dragon and Sibyl turning up and returning the magic to George. The stop motion and other effects are charmingly janky, Sibyl very vague, Ladoc villainous and a lot of nonsense in general.

Watch This: Entertaining family friendly fairy tale adventure
Don’t Watch This: Pantomime-esque, silly, bad sets, effects and costumes

9. Salem’s Lot (2024)

Ben Mears returns to his hometown Jerusalem’s Lot in 1975, intending to write a book. He looks into the old Marsten House, site of some sort of tragedy, only to find that a man called Straker has bought it and opened an antiques shop in town. Ben begins a romance with Susan Norton, also meets his old school teacher.

Straker has a coffin brought to the house and unleashes his master, a vampire called Kurt Barlow. Straker kidnaps one of the local students, Ralphie, feeding him to Barlow. Locals blame Ben for no good reason except maybe he’s an offcomer, insulting him when he joins the search parties for Ralphie. Later Danny, Ralphie’s brother is attacked; taken to the hospital he has anemia, and later dies. Then he rises from the dead and attacks the gravedigger. Seeing the gravedigger looking ill, the school teacher takes him home.

The schoolteacher recognises vampire symptoms, which are confirmed when Danny flies in through a window and he has to flee. The next morning the gravedigger is dead and the schoolteacher only hints at what has happened.

Things get worse, as vampire attacks spread throughout the town. Eventually the remaining main characters realise what’s going on and go for a final confrontation at the old Marsten House.

This is, of course, half the length of the miniseries from 1979, compressing the story and removing a lot of characters. This has the advantage of making the story less sprawling, but it does mean that essentially Ben turns up in town, starts dating a librarian and then a vampire destroys the town, when we haven’t had any chance to find out or care about any of this.

Watch This: Straightforward vampire film
Don’t Watch This: Straightforward vampire film

10. Sonic The Hedgehog 3

Sonic the hedgehog, Tails the fox and Knuckles the echidna are relaxing in their home in Montana with their adoptive family (Tom, Maddie, and the dog). They are interrupted by agents from G.U.N.; an alien hedgehog named Shadow has been released from his prison in Japan and the three are needed to stop him. They go to Tokyo where they bicker and fail to stop him.

In flashback we learn that Shadow was captured 50 years ago, experimented on, befriended by Professor Gerard Robotnik (Jim Carrey) and his granddaughter Maria. Gerald, Maria and Shadow try to escape, fail, Maria is killed in an explosion and Captain Walters (later the Commander of G.U.N.) has Shadow sealed in the suspension tube.

Robotnik’s drones attack, killing now-Commander Walters though not before he hands a keycard to Sonic. The team (reluctantly named Team Sonic) are then contacted by Dr Ivo Robotnik (Gerald’s grandson, Jim Carrey) via his comedy sidekick. He’s unhappy someone has used his drones so they team up. They head to the abandoned G.U.N. facility where Shadow used to be, only to discover it’s Gerald Robotnik behind it. Ivo betrays Team Sonic to join his grandfather.

Gerald explains about the keycard; it’s one of two that controls the Eclipse Cannon, a giant orbiting laser he built for G.U.N. He intends to get the other keycard and use the Eclipse Cannon to destroy G.U.N.’s London headquarters to get revenge for Maria*.

The Robotniks and Shadow break into G.U.N.’s HQ at the same time as Team Sonic (Tom and Maddie infiltrating by disguising themselves as Maddie’s sister and brother-in-law, making a brief comic return from Sonic The Hedgehog 2). This goes wrong in various unexpected ways, with a variety of heist, action and puzzle setpieces. Shadow, vengeful against G.U.N. agents, attacks Tom, takes the keycard and escapes with the Robotniks to the Eclipse Cannon. Sonic, furious, abandons his team and goes to where they’ve hidden the chaos emeralds to super-power himself, despite this being vetoed whenever anyone suggested this. There’s then a long complex CGI action sequence with Robotniks, super-powers, Shadow, Sonic, the power of friendship, and the Eclipse Cannon threatening the entire Earth.

An advantage to making your superhero film explicitly for kids is that firstly what everyone thinks and is doing is clear, and secondly there’s no need to over-complicate the reasoning or lore. A disadvantage is that it milks every comic setpiece for every possible bit of slapstick humour, then keeps going. Still, this is fairly clear; Sonic and Dr Robotnik both meet a more ruthless version of themselves and either have to teach them how to love, or alternatively realise they have the capacity themselves. I’ll leave it to you to figure out which is which.

Watch This: Exciting, fun brightly coloured kid’s superhero adventure
Don’t Watch This: Tries the patience for Jim Carrey doing Jim Carrey bits with Jim Carrey

* Ivo’s sister or cousin? I don’t think the film addresses this.