Oscar-winning short offers powerful Holocaust story

SPIELZEUGLAND (TOYLAND)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO 

First, I apologize for the sparse updates on my Web site. My other work teaching and doing political consulting have been consuming my time. Nevertheless, I plan to do a better job updating this site and offering you more viewing tips, in-depth analysis and film commentary.

Meanwhile, I am giving you a treat.

American cinema has seen many landmark dramas concerning the Holocaust. Certainly Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece “Schindler’s List” is the finest, a bold, sweeping, emotionally draining epic that illustrates exactly whast life was like for Jews in Europe during World War II. Spielberg came close to topping it with his D-Day follow-up “Saving Private Ryan.” But notice I say he came close. “Schindler’s List” remains today a remarkable achievement.

That said, below you will find an embedded video window where you can watch the Oscar-winning German short “Spielzeugland” (“Toyland”), a powerful, 13-minute film about the Holocaust. While certainly not another “Schindler’s List,” “Spielzeugland” is an amazing feat in itself. I will not spoil the film for you; watch it below yourself.

I first saw 2007’s “Spielzeugland” (“Toyland”) a couple of years ago on the Sundance Channel. I was blown away. I hope you find it as powerful and emotional as I did. Please drop me a line or comment below. Despite some problems with the English subtitles, I hope you enjoy the film.






Spielzeugland by Toan-01

Bad movies I love: ‘Airport ’77’ is insipid, idiotic entertainment

AIRPORT ’77

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Shortly after Jack Lemmon’s character is knocked out, his co-pilot takes control of the private Boeing 747 and crashes it in the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle.

So begins “Airport ’77,” the second sequel to the 1970 film “Airport” – the original blockbuster disaster potboiler about a day at an airport and the flight threatened by a man with a bomb.

But “Airport ’77” is cheesier, more unbelievable and incredibly more melodramatic than “Airport” and its first awful sequel “Airport 1975.”

As the 747 sinks in the Atlantic and lands perilously on the edge of an abyss, the film becomes a sloppy, unintentionally funny riff on the disaster classic “The Poseidon Adventure.”

Sneak Prevue Mailbag: We’re back after a brief absence

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

After a brief respite, Sneak Prevue returns today.

And one of the first things we’ll do is dig deep into our mailbag to answer several burning questions. You have questions – we have answers. You don’t have to agree with them, but we have answers.

So, let’s get down to business.

Mr. Cassreino: Where have you been? I’ve checked and checked and checked Sneak Prevue for a new critique, but haven’t seen one in a while. Did you shutter your blog? – Emily in Dallas


Dear Emily: No. I haven’t shuttered the blog. Sneak Prevue is still around. I’ve had a lot going on the past month, starting a new job and taking care of two beautiful children. I needed the time to settle into my new position before I could set aside the time I need to maintain the blog.

Hot movie trailer alert: ‘A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas’

I don’t like 3-D – I’ve made that point explicitly clear in several posts on the Sneak Prevue blog. I hate the effects. I don’t think it’s necessary. And I absolutely despise the extra surcharge theaters add to admission prices for the privilege to see a movie in 3-D.

That said, here is the trailer for “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas.” This actually looks quite funny. And it looks like the makers exploit 3-D effects in a fun way. I might actually have to see this film at theaters. We’ll wait and see.

– TERRY R. CASSREINO

Sneak Prevue Mailbag: ‘Mary Poppins’ is practically perfect

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Good, live-action family films that appeal to children and adults are few and far between.

So, it should be no surprise that my pick for the best family film ever made is a movie the legendary Walt Disney produced in 1964. “Mary Poppins” is a classic, original screen musical.

In this week’s edition of the Sneak Prevue Mailbag, I answer questions about family films, movie lengths and other topics related to motion pictures. Every Friday I dig deep into the Sneak Prevue Mailbag to answer reader questions. If you have a burning question you need answered, write me at editor@sneakprevue.info.

Mr. Cassreino: What is the best family film ever made? – Ralph in Colorado Springs

Michael Crichton’s ‘Westworld’ fun, suspenseful entertainment

WESTWORLD (1973)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Twenty years before author Michael Crichton wrote “Jurassic Park,” he wrote and directed a small, low-budget film that shared a similar main plot: A high-tech amusement park goes madly out of control.

“Westworld” stars James Brolin and Richard Benjamin as two friends escaping for the week to Delos, a futuristic resort where vacationers interact with robots in Western, medieval Europe and Ancient Rome settings.

Shortly after Brolin and Benjamin arrive at Westworld, the computerized, life-like robots that populate a detailed reproduction of a Western town begin to act strange. Instead of shooting blanks, they fire real bullets.

Brolin and Benjamin suddenly find themselves stalked by The Gunslinger, a robot killer who looks exactly like Yul Brynner – a nod to the role he played in the classic Western “The Magnificent Seven.”

Overlooked and underrated: Coppola’s ‘The Conversation’

THE CONVERSATION (1974)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Between filming “The Godfather” and “The Godfather, Part II,” writer-director Francis Ford Coppola shot a small, fascinating drama – and one of the great paranoid thrillers that filled screens in the mid-1970s.

Gene Hackman stars in “The Conversation” as Harry Caul, a professional surveillance expert hired to eavesdrop on a conversation between two adults in San Francisco. While filtering through the tapes, Caul begins to suspect someone is in danger.

Coppola wrote, directed and produced this efficient, low-budget film – the second movie of the greatest four-film stretch in motion picture history.”The Godfather” in 1972, “The Conversation” in 1974, “The Godfather Part II” in 1974 and “Apocalypse Now” in 1978.

I guarantee you: No American film director can match the quality, depth and lasting power of each of those films. “The Godfather” and “The Godfather Part II” rank as the top two films ever made, closely followed by the other two.

Director John Frankenheimer in top form with ‘Black Sunday’

BLACK SUNDAY (1977)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Long before author Thomas Harris introduced Hannibal Lecter into the film and literary world, he wrote a crackling suspense thriller about a terrorist plot to bomb the Super Bowl in New Orleans.

“Black Sunday” was a page-turner unlike any other. I devoured the book quickly in the fall of 1975 during my one-hour commute after school aboard a series of New Orleans public busses.

So, when veteran film maker John Frankenheimer jumped on board to direct the movie version, I knew it had to be good.

Frankenheimer helmed such important political thrillers as “The Machurian Candidate” and “Seven Days in May.” Frankenheimer even directed the underrated sequel to “The French Connection” in which Gene Hackman reprised his role of Popeye Doyle.

Frankenheimer, to me, seemed a great choice for “Black Sunday.” I was right.

Sellers, Edwards team on only non-‘Pink Panther’ comedy

THE PARTY (1968)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Four years after director Blake Edwards and actor Peter Sellers finished their second Inspector Clouseau film, the two teamed again in 1968 for one of the most unconventional screen comedies ever made.

“The Party” is rarely mentioned when people talk about Edward’s long list of memorable film comedies that include “The Pink Panther” series, “Victor/Victoria” and “10.” And Sellers’ fans seem to forget “The Party” and usually focus on the “Pink Panther” films.

But with “The Party,” Sellers and Edwards prove they had more talent than people ever imagined. This hilarious, fish-out-of-water comedy is droll, off-beat, filled with great sight gags and uncontrollably hilarious.

Sellers stars as Hrundi V. Bakshi, an unknown Indian actor who has a small role in a big-budget epic motion picture. Despite his repeated clumsiness, Bakshi accidentally gets himself invited to a lavish Hollywood dinner party.

Sneak Prevue Mailbag: You have questions ... we have answers

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

In today’s edition of the Sneak Prevue Mailbag, I answer a question about Peter Jackson’s extended version of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, which was recently released in high definition on Blu-ray disc.

I also talk a little about two worn-out film franchises that have seen better days: “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones.” Let’s hope both film series remain dormant for the rest of their lives.

Every week I dig deep into the Sneak Prevue Mailbag and answer a handful of reader questions. As always, feel free to drop me a question. Write me at editor@sneakprevue.info.

Mr. Cassreino: Now that Peter Jackson is filming “The Hobbit,” Warner Bros. just released ‘The Lord of the Rings” trilogy on high-definition Blu-ray disc in what is labeled an “extended cut.” The three films are each significantly longer than the versions that originally played in theaters. Which version do you recommend: The theatrical cut or the extended director’s cut? – Sidney in Lexington

Overlooked and underrated: ‘Once Upon a Time in America’

ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA (1984)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

The phone rings and rings and rings.

For nearly 20 minutes that open “Once Upon a Time in America,” the constant ringing of a phone fills the soundtrack as the film jumps from the 1930s to the 1960s. At first, it’s irritating. But as you settle into the film, you realize this is just a stylistic device by the director to unite different ti me periods covered by his story.

Sergio Leone’s 1984 gangster film masterpiece – the final motion picture directed by the Italian film maker before his untimely death from a heart attack in 1989 at age 60 – is one of the great overlooked and underrated films of our time.

Adapted from the novel “The Hoods” by Harry Grey, “Once Upon a Time in America” stars Robert De Niro and James Woods in the gripping story of Jewish youths who live in poverty and rise to prominence in the New York mob scene.

‘The Last Temptation of Christ’: Scorsese’s unforgettable epic

THE LAST TEMPTATION
OF CHRIST (1988)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

As an exhausted, dying Jesus hangs on the cross and rejects one last elaborate temptation to renounce his role as the Son of God, I have never been more moved by a motion picture.

Martin Scorsese’s “The Last Temptation of Christ” created major controversy when it played theaters in the fall of 1988, primarily from right-wing, fundamentalist religious fanatics who missed the entire point of the film.

Led by the Rev. Donald Wildmon and the American Family Association, opponents objected to several scenes – including the film’s climax in which Jesus is tempted by Satan who appears in the form of a beautiful young girl.

In that sequence, Jesus sees what life would be like if he denied his role as Savior. He marries, has children and grows old. When Jesus rejects Satan, accepts his destiny and willingly dies on the cross to save us, Scorsese movie packs powerful jolt.

Bad movies I love: Julie Christie carries the ‘Demon Seed’

DEMON SEED (1977)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Aside from “Alien” in 1979 and its first sequel “Aliens” in 1986, the science fiction-horror genre has never produced many memorable box-office hit films – especially during the 1970s.

“Alien” itself was a huge gamble for 20th Century Fox. The film was, essentially, a haunted house film set in deep space featuring a man in a monster suit hunting and killing the crew of a spaceship.

As conventional as the plot was, “Alien” worked magnificently thanks to taut direction, a brilliant production design and one of best horror film scores ever composed.

In an odd way, the same can be said of the little-seen, 1977 sci-fi horror film “Demon Seed.” This strange film, based on the novel of the same name by Dean Koontz, is one of the most bizarre horror films ever made. An artificial intelligence named Proteus IV overtakes the computerized home of its inventor, Dr. Alex Harris, and holds his estranged wife, Susan, captive.

Chaplin’s silent comedies still hilarious nearly a century later

CHARLIE CHAPLIN AND JACKIE COOGAN
IN THE KID (1921)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

“Blazing Saddles,” “Annie Hall,” “Animal House” and “The Hangover” have more in common than simply being smash hit film comedies at the time they played in theaters.

The common denominator is simple: Those films – and, by extension, any and all successful film comedies – owe a large debt of gratitude to the brilliant, unsurpassed work of the screen’s first comic superstar, Charlie Chaplin.

Chaplin was an English comic actor and a silent film auteur, a man who wrote, directed and starred in a series of slapstick comedies in the early 1900s that remain as fresh and funny today as they were almost 100 years ago.

Best known for his endearing on-screen character, “The Tramp,” Chaplin created such timeless, feature-length, silent classics in the 1920s and 1930s as “The Kid,” “The Circus,” “The Gold Rush,” City Lights” and “Modern Times.”

‘Lagaan’: Unlike anything you’ve ever seen in American film

LAGAAN (2001)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

About a half hour into the four-hour epic “Lagaan,” the cast suddenly breaks into the first of several spirited, infectious, hook-laden musical production numbers filled with great singing and choreography.

But this isn’t Hollywood. It’s Bollywood. “Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India” is a typical, Hindi-language melodramatic film, the type that will pack thousands of movie goers into air conditioned cinemas across India.

And it’s all incredibly enjoyable.

“Lagaan,” an Oscar-nominated drama, is set in Victorian period of India’s colonial British rule. The film is about a small village whose residents are struggling with a severe drought and also with oppressive, unfair taxes levied by the evil ruling British authorities.

Like most Hindi films, “Lagaan” includes many conventions common to Bollywood films; They feature popular Indian stars, melodramatic stories, over-the-top acting, clearly defined good and bad characters and lavishly staged musical numbers.

Scorsese, De Niro paint portrait of madness with ‘Taxi Driver’

TAXI DRIVER (1976)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

From the minute Travis Bickle explains he is a Marine, many people quickly lump “Taxi Driver” into the category of movies about crazed, mentally disturbed Vietnam veterans.

But Martin Scorsese’s film is about more than Vietnam. While the specter of America’s failed Vietnam policy haunts every minute of “Taxi Driver,” Scorsese’s movie in the end is about redemption.

That’s what makes this movie so memorable – and such an important part of Scorsese’s overall body of work. For all the problems and issues “Taxi Driver” touches on and the character of Travis Bickle raises, in the end everything comes down to redemption.

Whether or not that redemption is real or a fantasy is debatable. But make no doubt about it: Scorsese slowly and methodically layers his film and tightens the tension as he approaches an unforgettable denouement.

Sneak Prevue Mailbag: Sneaking into R-rated films as a teenager

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Nothing is better than a silly, pointless comedy. And “Kentucky Fried Movie” fits that requirement perfectly. I write a little about “Kentucky Fried Movie” in this edition of the Sneak Prevue Mailbag.

I also talk about the high cost of movie concessions and reminisce about sneaking into R-rated film as an underage teenager.

Every Friday, I dig deep into the mailbag and answer some of the more interesting questions from readers of this blog. If you have a question, write me at editor@sneakprevue.info and I’ll try to answer it on this blog.

Mr. Cassreino: I’ve been reading your blog now since it began last month. I find it quite interesting and even used your suggestions in deciding which films to watch on Netflix. Have you ever seen “Kentucky Fried Movie?” – John in Durango.

George Clooney’s thriller ‘The Ides of March’ set for November

THE IDES OF MARCH

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

On the same day I wrote about my pick for the Top Five Political Films, Sony Pictures released the trailer of George Clooney’s new political thriller: “The Ides of March.”

The film, about presidential politics, is perfectly timed to coincide with the 2012 presidential race. The cast includes Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti and Ryan Gosling.

“The Ides of March” is based on the play “Farragut North” by Beau Willimon. The play, in turn, is loosely based on the 2004 presidential primary campaign of Howard Dean.

The film is set to open Oct. 7. Here is the trailer.

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‘JFK’ raises serious questions about John F. Kennedy’s death

JFK (1991)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

The best American political films make you think, challenge you and present old information in a new light – which is exactly what Oliver Stone’s 1991 movie “JFK” does.

Stone is a sometimes heavy-handed, preachy director who often leaves audiences feeling like they’ve been hit over the head with a ton of bricks. But in “JFK,” Stone found the perfect vehicle to channel his film making style. “JFK” is his finest motion picture and the screen’s best political film.

Kevin Costner stars as New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, the only person to bring criminal charges related to Kennedy’s assassination. Although Garrison failed to win a conviction in his case, his lengthy investigation allows Stone to revisit a pivotal point in U.S. history.

Garrison, a loose cannon in New Orleans politics, was ridiculed by the many people who thought his efforts were an embarrassing waste of time. Stone, though, uses the Garrison investigation to examine any and every conspiracy theory about Kennedy’s death.

Top Five Week continues at Sneak Prevue, and today I look at the Top Five Political films. “JFK” leads the list at No. 1.

Blatty’s classic ‘The Exorcist’ raised the bar for screen horror

THE EXORCIST (1973)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Rarely does a major motion picture succeed in frightening you while also challenging your core beliefs.

William Peter Blatty’s “The Exorcist” does just that. It’s an extremely effective and frightening film. It’s well directed by a film maker at the top of his game. And it’s a classic motion picture that has never been topped.

“The Exorcist” also is one of the most intently personal and religious stories ever put to film. This film firmly believes in the existence of good and evil, of God and Satan, and it dares you to do the same.

William Friedkin was fresh off directing the award-winning “The French Connection” when he took on Blatty’s best-selling novel. Blatty produced the film and wrote the script – which was based on the true story of the exorcism of a young boy.

As the “The Exorcist” opens, a little girl and her mom are living in a rental home in Georgetown when strange things begin to happen. Eventually, Chris MacNeil begins to believe her daughter, Reagan, is possessed by a demon. Beds levitate, bodies fling, heads spin 360 degrees. And you believe it all.

Top Five Week at Sneak Prevue continues. Today’s edition: The Top Five Horror Films.

Mel Brooks’ ‘Blazing Saddles’ unequaled in film comedy

BLAZING SADDLES (1974)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Madeline Kahn spoofs the great Marlene Dietrich, Slim Pickens runs a railroad chain gang, Gene Wilder plays a drunken gunslinger and Cleavon Little stars as Rock Ridge’s new black sheriff.

Together, they make up the cast of the funniest, and one of the most socially conscious, screen comedies: Mel Brooks’ classic “Blazing Saddles.” This is Brooks at his side-splitting best, a movie that has no equals.

Brooks came close with “Young Frankenstein,” his black-and-white parody of the classic “Frankenstein” films. But “Blazing Saddles” is something different – a zany, no-holds-barred, non-stop, laugh-fest masterpiece.

Working from a script by five writers that included Brooks and Richard Pryor, “Blazing Saddles” finds the small Western town of Rock Ridge getting its first black sheriff. Brooks pokes fun at Western film conventions and uses his off-beat, crude humor to criticize racism.

Welcome to Top Five week at Sneak Prevue. Today’s edition: The Top Five Film Comedies.

Nothing can top the disastrous excess of ‘Exorcist 2’

EXORCIST 2: THE HERETIC (1977)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Between Richard Burton’s bizarre overacting and the incomprehensible and totally preposterous plot, “Exorcist 2: The Heretic” makes you wonder what the film makers were thinking.

Director John Boorman and company faced an uphill battle from the start: They attempted to create a sequel to the most frightening horror film of all time. That they failed is no shock.

What is surprising, however, is the depth of the failure. From the acting to the writing, directing and special effects, this movie is a major, high-profile train wreck.

Boorman frantically tried to salvage the film by re-editing it days after its initial release. But his efforts made a disastrous film worse. “Exorcist 2: The Heretic” is, without a doubt, the single-worst motion picture sequel ever to grace the big screen.

Welcome to Top Five week at Sneak Prevue. Today’s edition: The Top Five Worst Film Sequels.

‘West Side Story’ tops my list of Top Five Best Screen Musicals

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

BROADWAY: HOME OF THE STAGE MUSICAL

Earlier this month, I wrote about two recent American film musicals I love: Julie Taymor’s “Across the Universe” featuring Beatles songs and Tim Burton’s adaptation of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

Musicals are a home-grown escapist entertainment – an important part of American popular culture that was born on the Broadway stage and later successfully moved to the big screen.

The genre demands a willing suspension of disbelief and your complete acceptance that characters at any moment will break out in spontaneous song and dance accompanied by an unseen, full-blown orchestra. If you do, if you wholeheartedly accept the basic conventions of a musical, you can often find yourself swept away.

While I have seen great film musicals in recent years, including versions of such stage hits as “Evita,” “The Producers” and “Hairspray,” the heyday of the genre was in the 1950s and early 1960s when a rich stable of long-running Broadway productions graced the screen.

Today, in honor of one of my favorite film genres, I open “Top Five Week” at Sneak Prevue with my picks for the top five film musicals. I will share other Top Five picks in other genres Monday through Thursday of this week – so don’t forget to bookmark this site and visit often.

Bad movies I love: Joe Dante’s hilarious ‘Jaws’ rip-off ‘Piranha’

PIRANHA (1978)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

I loved drive-in theaters and the cheap, trashy films that often played there – usually melodramatic revenge dramas, car-chase thrillers and rip-offs of high-profile, big-budget movies from major studios.

By the mid- to late 1970s, the spate of “Exorcist” clones significantly slowed. In its place came a series of “Jaws” rip-offs that saw fair to middling success from people hungry for the same thrills and scares they experienced when they saw the 1975 Steven Spielberg classic.

“Grizzly” led the way in 1976 with its story of an 18-foot rampaging grizzly bear. The next year saw “Tentacles,” about a killer octopus, and “Tintorera,” about a killer tiger shark. Then, in June 1978, the sub-par sequel “Jaws 2” hit screens.

My favorite is a small film that opened in drive-ins and second-run  houses in August 1978. Joe Dante’s “Piranha” belongs to the class of films that are so pathetically bad, so poorly acted, so horribly directed that they instantly become a classic unequaled in cinema history.

Sneak Prevue Mailbag: Waiting forever just to see a movie

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

I have stood in line literally hours just to buy a ticket to see a film high on my want-to-see-list – a list that through the years has included “Earthquake,” “The Towering Inferno,” “Jaws” and “Star Wars.”

I know “Earthquake” and “The Towering Inferno” are embarrassing, guilty pleasures. But, hey, “Earthquake” played at the Joy Theater in downtown New Orleans in late 1974 accompanied by that wonderful, ear-piercing gimmick called Sensurround (“Feel it as well as see it in Sensurround”).

And I couldn’t wait to experience a real, live, 9.0-magnitude, end-of-the-world, Armageddon-is-coming earthquake in the comfort and safety of a climate-controlled movie theater. I wasn’t disappointed.

But “Jaws?” Now that’s a different story. In fact I’ll talk about my experiences with that film when I answer questions in this week’s edition of the Sneak Prevue Mailbag. As you no doubt already have discovered, the Sneak Prevue Mailbag feature moves to Fridays beginning this week.

‘Manhattan’ remains Woody Allen’s timeless masterpiece

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

MANHATTAN (1979)

One year after winning the Oscar for “Annie Hall” in 1977, Woody Allen helmed his first serious drama – an absorbing film no doubt inspired by one his favorite directors, Sweden’s Ingmar Bergman.

Diane Keaton heads an ensemble cast for “Interiors,” the story about three sisters whose lives spiral downward when their parents divorce. The drama was a milestone in Allen’s career.

And, I believe, “Interiors” made Allen a better filmmaker, someone who is unafraid to tackle honest, emotional issues. It also prepared him well for his next film, “Manhattan,” a comedy-drama that opened in theaters the following year.

Allen has created many great films in his career, from the laugh-fests of the 1970s like “Sleepers” and “Love and Death” to the rich, character-driven comedies of the 1980s like “Broadway Danny Rose” and “Radio Days.”

But of all his works, “Manhattan” is the one I enjoy the most. “Manhattan” ranks up there with “Annie Hall,” “Hannah and Her Sisters” and “Everyone Says I love You” as the best of Allen’s lengthy screen career.

Fosse’s ‘Lenny’ offers intimate look at controversial comic

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

LENNY (1974)

With “Lenny,” his third film as director, Bob Fosse was on a role – one that almost led to his own self destruction dramatized five years later in the autobiographical musical “All That Jazz.”

“Lenny” from 1974 cemented Fosse’s reputation as a daring, visionary film maker. Fosse’s biographical drama stars Dustin Hoffman in a standout performance as comedian, satirist and social critic Lenny Bruce.

Fosse won the Best Director Oscar for “Cabaret” in 1972. “Lenny” proved the award was no fluke.

Filmed in semi-documentary style, “Lenny” is based on the stage play of the same name and tells the rise, fall and death of Bruce – one of the most controversial comics of all time who saw himself as a crusader for free speech.

Hitchcock’s classic ‘Psycho’ still scares more than 50 years later

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

PSYCHO (1960)

Shortly after “Psycho” settles into its story, Alfred Hitchcock does the unthinkable: He knocks off one of the film’s top-billed stars in a scene that still frightens today.

The infamous “Psycho” shower scene is a technical tour de force, an intricately designed and meticulously filmed sequence that remains one of  many highlights of Hitchcock’s lengthy film career. The sequence is so effective that film scholars still study it in-depth.

More than 50 years after “Psycho” opened in 1960, the movie still packs significant scares and suspense into a small, intimate story. A year after helming the hit comic thriller “North by Northwest” in 1959, Hitchcock went for something totally different: a scaled-down, low-budget, black-and-white thriller filmed with the crew from his hit television show.

With strong performances from Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins, a lean script from writer Joseph Stefano and taut direction from Hitchcock, “Psycho” is in a class all its own. “Psycho” jolted film-goers in much the same way that “The Exorcist” did 13 years later. Audiences had never seen anything quite like Hitchcock’s film.

Warners unveils teaser trailer for ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

Warner Bros. has just released a teaser trailer for next summer’s certain blockbuster, “The Dark Knight Rises.” The film is the final installment of Christopher Nolan’s successful resurrection of the “Batman” film franchise. Enjoy.

Friedkin returns to the streets with ‘To Live and Die in L.A.’

TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. (1985)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

By winning the Oscar for “The French Connection” in 1971 and following it two years later with “The Exorcist,” William Friedkin made a name for himself as one of the best, most successful young film directors of his time.

Then came a string of misses. A long string of misses. In fact, Friedkin’s spotty career has produced a host of disasters that include the killer tree film “The Guardian” and a so-so cable television remake of “12 Angry Men.”

Friedkin recently finished his first film in five years, “Killer Joe,” set for release later this year; the film is about a man in debt who decides to kill his mother for the insurance. With a cast that includes Matthew McConaughey and Emile Hirsh, Friedkin hopefully will regain his voice.

Until then, you have go back almost 26 years to find the last great film Friedkin directed. “To Live and Die in L.A.” hit movie screens in November 1985 – the first Friedkin crime drama since “The French Connection.” While the action this time is on the West Coast, “To Live and Die in L.A.” is just as riveting and exciting.

Robert Duvall does justice to Pat Conroy’s ‘The Great Santini’

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

THE GREAT SANTINI (1979)

Robert Duvall has had an impressive film career playing a key role in many classic American motion pictures, including a memorable three from Francis Ford Coppola: “The Godfather,” “The Godfather, Part II” and “Apocalypse Now.”

But one of Duvall’s best performances, and a wonderful film in its own right, almost never was released to theaters. Duvall played the title role in the 1979 film “The Great Santini” – but the movie sat on the shelf for months.

Based on the best-selling autobiographical novel by Pat Conroy, Duvall played the main role of Bull Meechum, “The Great Santini,” a gruff, bull-headed, hard-nosed Marine colonel who had a complex relationship with his family – especially his son.

The film, adapted by director Lewis John Carlino, remains faithful to Conroy’s book. As the Meechum family settles into their new home in Beaufort, S.C., son Ben struggles to build a relationship with his overbearing father.

Sondheim’s ‘Sweeney Todd’ bloodies its way to big screen

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON
 BARBER OF FLEET STREET (2007)

From the minute Johnny Depp appears on screen, gazes toward the distant skyline and sings in a deep voice “No, there’s no place like London,” the movie had me hopelessly hooked.

For two hours, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” didn’t let go. The acting, the direction from Tim Burton, the music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim – all were perfect.

I sat in the Grandview Theater in Madison, Miss., with my wife one night in January 2009 glued to the seat and screen watching what she and I knew instantly was one of the greatest and strangest filmed musicals ever made.

Last week, I wrote about my love of movie musicals [click here], about how they often touch deep emotional chords as the story’s characters suddenly burst into song to express feelings they might not be able to otherwise.

Redford, Dunaway headline thrilling ‘3 Days of the Condor’

THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1975)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Robert Redford was at his best in the 1970s when he used his box-office drawing power to make a series of well-crafted, well-acted films that showcased his talent and on-screen charisma.

Besides “The Sting,” “The Way We Were” and “All the President’s Men,” one of my all-time favorite Redford films from that period is “Three Days of the Condor” – a tightly-wound, paranoia-laced thriller from 1975.

Redford teamed with actress Faye Dunaway a year after her critically-acclaimed performance in “Chinatown.” Under Sydney Pollack’s precise direction, the three turned a so-so novel into a crackling suspense film.

The movie’s timing was perfect. By building a thriller around an man caught in a CIA web of deceit, “Three Days of the Condor” appealed to the cynical beliefs of a nation still recovering from Watergate and Vietnam.

Bad movies I love: Cheap, hilarious rip-offs of ‘The Exorcist’

ABBY (1974)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Shortly after the box-office success of “The Exorcist” in 1973, studios flooded screens with cheap, American and European knock-offs that played second-run theaters and the drive-in circuit.

From Italian films like “The Return of the Exorcist” and “House of Exorcism”  to Spain’s “Exorcismo” and Turkey’s hysterically funny “Seytan,” film makers cashed in on the hottest craze in cinema: Satanic possession.

Even backers of the original “Exorcist” produced a terrible sequel, “Exorcist 2: The Heretic.” That film was followed years later by the equally bad “The Exorcist 3” and two separate, completely different versions of what was, essentially, “The Exorcist 4.” Let’s hear it for another shining example of Hollywood originality. How could anyone dare to think he or she could duplicate the success of the greatest horror film of all time?

Now, here’s where the fun begins. Buried in this huge, overflowing pile of rotting, stinking garbage of “Exorcist” sequels and cheesy rip-offs are two small gems – movies that are wildly entertaining simply because they are so pathetically awful.

Sneak Prevue Mailbag: Confessions of a movie junkie

By TERRY R.CASSREINO

It’s Wednesday, Middle of the week. And it’s time to introduce a new mid-week feature here at our fast-growing blog: The Sneak Prevue Mail Bag.

Every Wednesday starting today, I will dig deep into the overflowing Sneak Prevue mailbag (yes, in the two weeks we have been publishing we have received a slew of e-mails with questions from readers). And I will try to answer some of the more interesting queries.

So, here goes. And remember, if you have a question for me on anything related to film, both classic and contemporary, feel free to drop us a line at editor@sneakprevue.info. We’ll answer them as soon as possible.

Mr. Cassreino: You mentioned in your Sneak Prevue Web site biography that you worked at the Plaza Cinema 4 in New Orleans East while you were in high school. Did you really? I went there once a long, long time ago with my girlfriend, I think it was back in 1979. We tried one busy Saturday night to enter a sold-out showing of “The Main Event” with Barbra Streisand. And when the usher refused to let me in the sold-out auditorium, I purposely threw a full glass of Coke and popcorn all over him. Was that you? If so, I’m sorry. – J.P. from New Orleans

‘Hard-Boiled,’ ‘The Killer’: The best of Hong Kong action films

HARD BOILED (1992)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Early in the violent and entertaining Hong Kong crime thriller “Hard-Boiled,” police Inspector “Tequila” Yuen joins his partner Benny at a local tea house where they plan to arrest a ring of gun smugglers.

After an ambush from another gang member, an explosive gun fight breaks out. Firey-hot tea pots slam into gangsters’ faces. Guns blaze. People, a lot of people, die. The action is over-the-top, heightened by slow-motion effects.

Then we see one of director John Woo’s signature shots: Chow Yun-Fat, who stars as Tequila, slides down the railing of a flight of stairs, a loaded gun in each hand furiously firing away.

Welcome to violent world of the Hong Kong cop and gangster films of the late 1980s and early 1990s, a genre that produced a series of rich, viscerally exciting movies unlike anything seen on screen in the West.

Cars crash, guns fire and the body count steadily rises. These are highly stylized, extremely violent action films. And they are incredibly fun to watch.

Lumet’s last great film: ‘Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead’

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

BEFORE THE DEVIL
KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD (2007)

Few American film makers can match the quality and breadth of  morally complex dramas that make up the long list of motion pictures Sidney Lumet helmed for the big screen.

By the time Lumet died April 9 at age 86, he left a legacy that included such classics as the courtroom drama “12 Angry Men,” the doomsday thriller “Fail Safe” and crime dramas “Serpico” and “Prince of the City.”

His films are funny, edgy and deep. His best are about people so committed to and, in many instances, obsessed with a specific issue or cause that they are unaware or simply don’t care how their decisions and actions affect others.

It’s especially bittersweet that Lumet’s last film, “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” in 2007, hit the screen 50 years after his first, “12 Angry Men.” Not surprisingly, “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” ranks among his best.

Anthony Hopkins shines in ‘Magic,’ his finest screen role

MAGIC (1978)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Thirteen years before his Oscar-winning role as Hannibal Lecter, Anthony Hopkins gave an even better, more impressive performance headlining one of the best horror thrillers of the 1970s.

Based on the best-seller by William Goldman, “Magic” opened at theaters on Friday, Nov. 8, 1978 – two weeks after John Carpenter’s sleeper hit “Halloween” shocked everyone by raking in millions at the box office.

To this day, I believe “Halloween” was an unintentionally funny, vastly overrated low-budget shocker – one that sadly initiated the mad-slasher genre that saw a series of pointless “Halloween” sequels and the “Friday the 13th” series. “Magic,” however, is totally different.

This is the story of Corky Withers, a man who finds sudden fame as a successful magician; of Peggy Ann Snow, an attractive middle-aged woman afloat in a dying marriage; and of Fats, Corky’s ventriloquist dummy that is slowly taking over his personality.

Overlooked and underrated: Spielberg’s ‘Empire of the Sun’

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

EMPIRE OF THE SUN (1987)

Before “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan,” director Steven Spielberg tackled a lavish, complicated and personal World War II film that wound up tanking at the box office and attracting few fans.

I was among the many people who trashed “Empire of the Sun,” dismissing the 1987 film as a waste of talented actors and a rare failure from a great film maker. The 2½-hour film was stiff, hard-headed and drab. And I hated it.

Man, was I wrong.

I caught the film on Home Box Office a year later. And this time, I had a distinctly different reaction. That night in my apartment, I found “Empire of the Sun” a fascinating, touching and boldly moving experience. This is one of Spielberg’s unsung greats.

I rarely change my mind about films, certainly not as drastic a swing as I did with “Empire of the Sun.”

‘Across the Universe’ affirms the power of great movie musicals

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (2007)

I’m a sucker for great movie musicals.

There’s something about watching a film in which the story’s main characters suddenly burst into beautifully crafted songs expressing broad, sweeping emotions that they otherwise wouldn’t or couldn’t express.

Unfortunately, the golden age of movie musicals is long gone. While musicals still flourish on Broadway, they’ve all but vanished from the big screen – save for short-lived revivals of the genre that sometimes produce one or two memorable films.

Recent Broadway hits have, indeed, spawned great film musical comedies, including “Hairspray” and “The Producers.” And word has it that Oscar-winning British director Tom Hooper is planning a screen version of the award-winning musical “Les Miserables.”

Among the few recent musicals to grace the screen is also one of the most unusual and one of my favorites – “Across the Universe” from 2007, stage director Julie Taymor’s imaginative, original musical that uses classic songs from the Beatles’ catalog to tell a moving love story.

Original ‘Taking of Pelham One Two Three’ tops insipid remake

THE TAKING OF PELHAM
ONE TWO THREE (1974)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

From the thumping, repetitive bass line of the main title theme to the gritty New York City atmosphere, “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” remains one of the screen’s most successful crime thrillers.

Of course, I’m referring to the 1974 original film – not the pointless 2009 remake featuring Denzel Washington and John Travolta, an unsuccessful and totally unnecessary exercise.

“The Taking of Pelham One Two Three,” based on the book of the same name by John Godey, tells the gripping story of a group of heavily armed men who hijack a New York City subway and hold its passengers for ransom.

Meanwhile, Lt. Zachary Garber of the New York City Transit Authority leads efforts above ground to negotiate with the terrorists, secure the $1 million ransom and rescue the passengers. The back-and-forth play, above and below ground, heightens the film’s tense suspense.

A timeless classic of French cinema: ‘King of Hearts’

KING OF HEARTS (1968)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

In the darkened auditorium of New Orleans’ only art house theater, I saw my first foreign language film – a wonderful, timeless French fable that opened my eyes to world cinema.

The year was 1975. The movie was Philippe De Broca’s 1966 film “King of Hearts,” a comedy-drama set in World War I France and starring Alan Bates as a Scottish soldier chosen to enter a small French town to defuse a German bomb.

As the local residents flee the town, the patients of an insane asylum escape the hospital and cheerfully take over the entire city oblivious to what is happening or to the ongoing war. They also thoroughly confuse Bates, whom they believe is the “King of Hearts.”

De Broca’s film has a simple and obvious message: Who is more insane – the folks who live in the asylum or the soldiers who wage war. The film’s joys come from watching De Broca and his talented cast work their magic, using sympathetic characters and poignant humor to drag you deeper into the story.

‘Squirm’: Among the best of 1970s drive-in schlock classics

SQUIRM (1976) 

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

During the mid-1970s, schlocky exploitation films from American International Pictures and New World Pictures filled second-run theaters and drive-ins every summer across the Deep South and the United States.

Marketed with catchy titles, bizarre concepts and trailers that promised violence, horror and crashing cars, many of these low-budget quickies played to packed theaters and turned an impressive profit.

But once hooked into the theaters, it was more than obvious most of the films were pure trash – films that had no redeeming value and weren’t nearly as interesting as the trailers that advertised them.

Every once in a while, though, one of those low-budget films would click. And when they did – like the 1976 horror, flesh-eating worm thriller “Squirm” – they often turned out to be an undiscovered gem buried in the middle of an otherwise large pile of pure junk.

Italian director Sergio Leone helms big screen’s best Western

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968)
ITALIAN MOVIE POSTER

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

From the brilliant 20-minute showdown at a train station depicted with almost no dialog to the pitch-perfect performances throughout, “Once Upon a Time in the West” is unlike any other Western ever made.

It’s also the greatest, the product of Italian director Sergio Leone – who had just completed the Clint Eastwood Western trilogy of a “Fistful of Dollars,” “For a Few Dollars More” and “The Good the Bad and the Ugly.”

Leone’s films are distinctively different from Westerns made by American film makers.

While Leone had an obvious love for the genre and was heavily influenced by such classics as “3:10 to Yuma,” “High Noon” and “The Searchers,” his films were nevertheless distinctively different.

For starters, they technically were Italian films, Spaghetti Westerns, filmed and financed on location in Europe with a European crew. The Eastwood trilogy was shot in Italian and dubbed in English for American release; Eastwood was one of the few actors to say his lines in English.

Pacino, DePalma team on crime thriller ‘Carlito’s Way’

Editor’s Note: This is the last of three posts on films of Brian DePalma. 

CARLITO’S WAY (1993)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Fresh off his Oscar-winning performance in “Scent of a Woman,” Al Pacino jumped head-first into his second collaboration with director Brian DePalma following the ultra-violent “Scarface” in 1983.

In the process, Pacino wound up starring in yet another of a long line of mob films that have dotted his career that began with “The Godfather” and included that film’s two sequels and “Donnie Brasco.” Ahhh, but “Carlito’s Way” is significantly different.

Like “Scarface”, 1993’s “Carlito’s Way” features an Hispanic hero played by Pacino. But the similarities end there. These are two distinctly different films, both thematically and stylistically.

“Carlito’s Way” eschews the vicious, mean-spirited violence of “Scarface” for a haunting, tragic story of a deeply flawed man.

Brian DePalma’s Vietnam War classic: ‘Casualties of War’

Editor’s Note: This is the second of three posts on films of Brian DePalma.

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

CASUALTIES OF WAR (1989)

Brian DePalma has spent a good bit of his film making career mimicking the work and style of Alfred Hitchcock and occasionally dabbling in comedy and crime films with mixed results.

After experiencing success in 1976 with “Carrie,” DePalma bombed with his next film – the thriller “The Fury.” The same thing happened in 1989 when he bombed with  “Casualties of War,” his first film after the hit thriller “The Untouchables” in 1987.

But while “The Fury” was a stylish horror thriller with plot elements similar to “Carrie” (the main characters in both were telekinetic), “Casualties of War” was drastically different from “The Untouchables.” Here, DePalma jumped head-first into the Vietnam War with powerful results.

The tag line was catchy: “The first casualty of war is innocence.” The cast was impressive: A young Michael J. Fox trying to branch out from comedy and Sean Penn adding to his long list of admirable screen performances.

Overlooked and underrated: Brian DePalma’s ‘Blow Out’

Editor’s Note: This is the first of three posts on films of Brian DePalma. 

By TERRY R.CASSREINO

BLOW OUT (1981

Brian DePalma built his reputation and successful career by directing, and sometimes also writing, suspenseful and memorable character-driven horror thrillers.

He modeled his early work on Alfred Hitchcock. Some critics derided DePalma as nothing more than a Hitchcock hack, directing films that echoed and mimicked the themes and settings of many Hitchcock classics.

“Obsession” (1976), set in New Orleans, was nothing more than a retread of “Vertigo” – replete with a haunting score by Hitchcock regular Bernard Hermann. “Sisters” (1973) and, especially, “Dressed to Kill” (1980) had an awful lot in common with “Psycho.” In fact, “Dressed to Kill” is practically a shot-for-shot remake.

When DePalma tried to re-invent himself, his efforts proved just as troubling. “The Untouchables” (1987) was a slick, uninteresting retread of a popular 1950s television crime drama and “The Bonfire of the Vanities” (1990) was a flat-out, unmitigated, uninteresting disaster.

First trailer for new Steven Spielberg film ‘War Horse’

“War Horse” the novel

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

It’s been a long two years since Steven Spielberg has graced the big screen with a new film – so, to make up for lost time, he has two in store for the end of the year.

First up is Spielberg’s 3-D motion-capture film, “The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn.” The film is based on an obscure, little-known (at least on these shores) comic book hero, Tintin.

I, however, am more interested in “War Horse” – Spielberg’s first live-action film since “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” the dreadful 2008 film that attempted to revive the Indiana Jones franchise.

It’s difficult to make consistently great films every time out of the gate. And even though Spielberg has amassed an impressive filmography, he also has released the occasional dud such as “Always” (1989), “Hook” (1991) and “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” (1997).

Louis Malle’s forgotten masterpiece: ‘Lacombe, Lucien’

LACOMBE, LUCIEN (1974)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Long before he directed the classic American films “Pretty Baby” and “Atlantic City,” French director Louis Malle was a well established and respected film maker in Europe and his native country.

He made an auspicious debut with the 1958 thriller “Elevator to the Gallows” (available on DVD through the Criterion Collection, click here) and followed it with a string of successful films that included his 1971 coming-of-age drama “Murmur of the Heart” (also available on DVD through the Criterion Collection, click here).

But perhaps Malle’s greatest achievement came in 1974 with “Lacombe, Lucien,” the story of a teenage peasant boy in World War II France who, unwittingly at first, joins the French Gestapo – gaining immediate power and respect from Germans occupying the nation.

Overlooked and underrated: Hoffman in ‘Straight Time’

STRAIGHT TIME (1978)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Of all the films in which Dustin Hoffman has starred, the one that constantly surprises me is the little seen crime drama “Straight Time” from 1978.

Helmed by Ulu Grosbard, a Belgian-born theater and film director, and based on the book “No Beast So Fierce” by ex-convict Edward Bunker, “Straight Time” gives us one of Hoffman’s most controlled, nuanced performances.

The story is simple: Hoffman plays Max Dembo, who at the start of the film is released from prison on parole. He vows to go straight, but finds himself ever-so-slowly unable to cope with his freedom, unable to hold a job and unable to avoid one more robbery.

This is a blistering, fascinating character study. Hoffman goes deep inside Dembo, showing us a quiet range that highlights his character’s confusion and frustration – both from dealing with a power-hungry, despicable parole officer and struggling with the lure of one more score.