'Calibre' one of best films on Netflix

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

After much thought, I am reviving my film blog, Sneak Prevue, a look at classic and contemporary movies overlooked, underrated and underappreciated by many people – including some of the leading critics.

About a week ago, I caught smart little import from Britain called “Calibre.” I first heard of the film from a recommendation author Stephen King posted to his Twitter feed. And King was more than right about this Netflix original film.

To be fair, Netflix original films have been hit-or-miss with most being a miss.

While production values of many of the streaming service’s films is on par with most theatrical films, the substance has been sporadic at best.  After all this is a company that signed Adam Sandler to a contract to produce several, painfully unfunny comedies.

Then again there is the hope that the next Martin Scorsese movie, “The Irishman,” will be a huge hit for Netflix – which is footing the budget for this gangster film starring Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino. I can’t wait.

But that is way down the road. Until then, carve out 101 minutes from your day to watch “Calibre” – a nail-biting thriller that plays as a smart, heart-breaking morality tale.  

The plot it simple enough: A Edinburg businessman takes his longtime friend to a remote village in the Scottish Highlands for a hunting trip. One accident places the friends in mortal danger that becomes increasingly complicated as the story unfolds.

I won’t say anything else about the plot because watching it unfold in a logical manner gives the makes it a haunting, frightening tale. Forget the boogeyman, the mad slashers, the monsters in the dark. Real horror is rooted in innocent people doing questionable acts.

Much of the credit goes to writer-director Matt Palmer who gives the film an edginess found in the best of Hitchcock. Even though Palmer wastes little time jumping head-first into the plot, he still finds a way to create memorable, sympathetic characters.

Leads Jack Lowden and Martin McCann are perfect as best friends who find themselves in the middle of a nightmare.

In some ways, “Calibre” reminded me of another brilliant thriller, Sam Raimi’s “A Simple Plan.”

Raimi’s film was based on a best-selling novel by Scott Smith. The film follows brothers who find a crashed plane filled with $4.4 million in cash buried in the snow in rural Montana; when they decide to keep the cash, they fabricate a lie to cover themselves.

When their plan starts to unravel, they find themselves concocting another lie to cover the initial one. They quickly begin a vicious, dangerous cycle by telling lie after lie after lie as they finding themselves falling deeper and deeper into a living nightmare.

As in “Calibre,.” Raimi, keeps the film a tight ship and the audience on constant edge. Sadly, “A Simple Plan” features one of the last roles by actor Bill Paxton who died almost 20 years later from a stroke at the age of 61.

You can catch “Calibre” now on Netflix. “ A Simple Plan” is available on DVD and Blu-ray and streaming now on Amazon Prime.

Nolan's ‘The Prestige,’ ‘Inception’ entertain, leave you guessing

THE PRESTIGE 

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

With his highly successful “Batman” trilogy coming to a close next week, many people might associate director Christopher Nolan solely to comic book superhero films.

But that’s far from accurate.

Nolan is an incredibly talented filmmaker whose has helmed several well-made, thought-provoking movies that show he has more depth than many people might otherwise think.

Nolan first grabbed the attention with “Memento,” his off-beat thriller story about a man with short-term memory loss. Nolan told the story backward, starting from the end and wrapping up at the beginning.

But the two films I want to highlight came immediately after he finished his first and second “Batman” films.

Hitchcock’s ‘North by Northwest’ withstands test of time

NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

After the personal, dark romanticism of “Vertigo” and just before the stark horrifying vision of “Psycho,” Alfred Hitchcock helmed one of his finest films – one that stands as fresh today as it was when it played theaters in the summer of 1959.

“North by Norwest” is unlike any other film from Hitchcock.

It boasts a lavish budget, spectacular on-location photography and several suspenseful set pieces that remain among the finest put to film. The original screenplay by Ernest Lehman is airtight and full of great dialog. The musical score by Hitchcock regular Bernard Hermann is a classic.

And, of course, “North by Northwest” features an incredible cast headlined by Cary Grant as his most charming, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason. How could a film like that go wrong? Well, the answer is simple: It doesn’t. “North by Northwest” is perfect.

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.