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.