Tag: Leadership

“The Caine Mutiny” (1954) starring Humphrey Bogart, Jose Ferrer, Van Johnson, & Fred MacMurray

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When a U.S. Naval captain shows signs of mental instability that jeopardizes the ship, the first officer is urged to consider relieving him of command. -Synopsis

During WWII, the crew of a ship in the Pacific fleet experiences something unlike any event experienced by the US Navy before. The ship’s captain, Lt. Cmdr. Queeg (Humphrey Bogart), is removed from command by his Executive Officer, Lt. Maryk (Van Johnson), in an act of mutiny. As the trial of the mutineers unfolds, we realize that Queeg is mentally unstable. The Navy must decide: Was the Caine mutiny a criminal act, or was it an act of courage to save a ship from destruction? If you’re a fan of A Few Good Men (1992) and/or Crimson Tide (1995), then you should check out this classic film.

As one viewer noted: “in the 1950’s, films about the problems that you encounter during wartime (that have nothing to do with the enemy itself) began to appear.” WWII threw all kinds of people together; here we find career Navy, along w/ the other men drafted into the service b/c of war (disrupting their plans, BUT they had to make the best of it). Queeg is a petty jerk everybody ends up hating; he’s a compulsive authoritarian who sticks to the minute details of the rules (to the detriment of the ship). This film received 7 Oscar noms, incl. one for Bogie. His performance in the (climactic) courtroom scene even captivated the crew; after filming was done, they burst into applause!

A romantic subplot which frames the story w/ a young couple (played by newbies Robert Francis and May Wynn) distracts attention from the real story. I’m sure this was written to appeal to women and younger viewers; too bad it wasn’t effective. Sadly, Francis (who plays college grad/pampered son- Ensign Keith) had an untimely death about a year after this movie was released! I’m usually NOT impressed by Johnson, BUT this role suits him V well. I recently learned that Johnson was one of the (closeted) gay stars from the “golden age of Hollywood.” The actor I most enjoyed watching (aside from Bogie) was MacMurray; he plays Lt. Keefer (a writer in civilian life/reluctant naval officer). As the defendant’s assigned lawyer, Lt. Greenwald (Ferrer), gets to show his stuff in the last 30 mins. of the film; being recently injured, he is (finally) able to practice law. Lt. Cmdr. Challee (E.G Marshall- a prolific character actor) is a worthy counterpoint for Greenwald, as he is an experienced lawyer/no-nonsense proponent of Naval protocol.

[1] Having served in the U.S. Navy for 32 years, I can accurately state that many of the characters and situations depicted in Wouk’s book and in the film are all very real...

[2] The Caine Mutiny works well on so many levels. It is a great insight into navy life, a first rate legal drama, and an unforgettable character study. […]

Bogart spectacularly conveys the sheer complexity of his character: the quirks, the devotion to duty, the demand for perfection, the refusal to accept his own fallibility. 

[3] Bogart is brilliant, giving the greatest performance of his career, his quirky mannerisms and tortured demeanor contrasting starkly with his usual roles. MacMurray is superb as the glib slippery novelist who must eventually deal with his own cowardice, more damning than Queeg’s because of his intelligence and insight.

-Excerpts from IMDb reviews

“Love Crime” (2010) starring Ludivine Sagnier, Kristin Scott Thomas, & Patrick Mille

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An elegant business exec, Christine Rivière (Kristin Scott Thomas- who speaks fluent French), brings on Isabelle Guérin (Ludivine Sagnier) as her protege. Christine seems to enjoy toying w/ the young/naive woman. Christine is involved w/ Phillipe (Patrick Mille), an arrogant/charming lawyer who consults w/ this company. Soon, Isabelle’s ideas become creative enough for Christine to pass off as her own. In time, we see that Christine has underestimated Isabelle’s ambition/cunning!

As one viewer commented, this is “not a whodunit, but more of a what’s-she-gonna-do next” story. I heard about this French neo noir film on the Fatal Attractions podcast. Alain Corneau (1943-2010) was a Cesar Award-winning French writer/director; he died soon after Love Crime was released. The American remake (undercooked and boring) was titled Passion (2012); it was directed by Brian De Palma and stars Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace. If you like this movie, you may want to check out The Business of Strangers (2001) starring Stockard Channing and Julia Stiles.

The French ain’t like us (Americans) y’all- that can be surprising (yet refreshing) to watch! They don’t need big budgets, expensive sets, action scenes, or likeable lead characters. They also don’t carry the (Puritan) baggage when is comes to nudity, sex, or relationships btwn men and women. After a meeting out of town, Isabelle jumps into Phillipe’s arms and kisses him w/ fervor (looks a BIT aggressive). These women are battling it out in (and out) of the boardroom! The filmmakers don’t shy away from melodrama. If you like psychological thrillers, then I recommend this movie.

…Mr. Corneau makes witty use of the contrasting faces and temperaments of the two main actresses. Ms. Thomas, her manner as impeccable and dry as her French, is all angles and edges, most terrifying when she seems most at ease. Ms. Sagnier, soft and skittish and visibly struggling to maintain her composure, turns out to be even scarier.

-Excerpt from NYT review by A.O. Scott

[1] The narrative style is one of omniscient point of view. As an audience, you are along with the perpetrator for a ride all the time. The fun is in seeing (and sometimes guessing) how she uses the “self-framing” trick (think “The Wrong Man,” but in that movie the audience is in the dark and are in for a big surprise, unless they are really smart) to get away with murder, literally.

[2] What makes the film so fascinating is the clever move/countermove screenplay that provides tantalizing hints increasing skullduggery. The two female leads play beautifully off each other and the hapless men that get in their way are interesting in their own right.

[3] …here we have real human action. With women as the characters, “action” does not have to constitute external phenomena as is the case with men. For women, “action” is the deadly silent conflict between personalities, and how they outwit each other. This is a true “psychological thriller,” whereas many claims of that kind are made by films which are not all that psychological.

-Excerpts from IMDb reviews

“Internal Affairs” (1990) starring Richard Gere, Andy Garcia, Nancy Travis, Laurie Metcalf, & William Baldwin

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Vicious manipulations and power games between men made all the more dramatic being set inside a police drama. –Gene Siskel

A young/Hispanic cop, Raymond Avila (Andy Garcia- aged 33), has just joined the Internal Affairs bureau of the LAPD. He and his partner, Amy Wallace (Laurie Metcalf), get a case involving a young/hot-headed patrolman known for getting rough w/ suspects, Van Stretch (William Baldwin). However, they soon come to realize that Stretch’s more experienced partner, Dennis Peck (Richard Gere- aged 40), might be at the root of many illegal activities. This is a movie that seems of its time, yet also ahead of it’s time; issues incl. domestic violence, racism, adultery, and police corruption are explored.

As Garcia explained on the pod WTF with Marc Maron, Paramount selected this movie for him; one of its producers (Frank Mancuso) became like a father-figure to the actor. This was Mike Figgis’ 1st American movie; Garcia brought the British/indie director onto the project (for his fresh takes). I’m a fan of Garcia; I don’t know why he didn’t become a bigger star. (I even saw the movie he directed a few yrs ago- it was pretty good.) Gere has the more fascinating role as a multi-layered villain who manipulates (almost) everyone around him! Did y’all know that this movie came out the same year as Pretty Woman!? As some critics/fans commented, the haircuts may be bad (too short), BUT the jeans fit V well! In the scene where his character is introduced, there is a long/close-up shot on Baldwin’s butt.

Dennis Peck [to Van Stretch]: How many cops you know, huh? Got nothing. Divorced, alcoholic, kids won’t talk to them anymore, can’t get it up. Sitting there in their little apartments, alone in the dark, playing lollipop with a service revolver?

From the opening scenes, Peck is the “Alpha” among his circle; he puts a knife into the hand of the unarmed dead man to cover for the young/Black cop who shot him, Dorian Fletcher (Michael Beach). There is an instant dislike btwn Avila (ambitious) and Peck (working on the street); I learned that Garcia and Gere didn’t get along during filming. These two characters glare at each other w/ such animosity that we feel a fight could break out at any minute. Given his erratic schedule, Avila misses out on quality time w/ his wife/manager of an art gallery, Kathleen (Nancy Travis). Peck thinks of himself as a “family man;” he lives in a spacious house w/ a pool. He’s on his 4th marriage; his current wife is Heather (Annabella Sciorra), and father to 8 kids (no joke)!

It’s NOT easy to be in police work; the conditions can be V rough and the pay quite low (so that many cops have off-duty jobs). Peck helps Fletcher get a 2nd job at a good location; he counsels Van Stretch to return to his family- wife/banker Penny (Faye Grant) and young son. However, there have always been some who are “a disgrace to the uniform;” in one scene Peck is in bed w/ Penny fully clothed in his uniform. In another scene, Peck (in a calm tone w/ quiet menace) opens Stretch’s button-down and gently pats his chest down (looking for a wire) w/ one hand, while playing tea party w/ his daughter w/ the other hand.

Man, Gere was nasty in that movie- Internal Affairs! -Marc Maron

Yeah, Gere was terrific in that movie! – Andy Garcia

[1] Gere is on best form here, playing a character against type, he is the embodiment of corruption, deceit and murder. Garcia is also excellent as Raymond, who blends his actions well from good into bad. Metcalf is excellent as Garcia’s partner…

[2] Internal Affairs is a character study at it’s finest. There are few films out there that can compare to this one and that can be attributed to the director, Mike Figgis. He hits every note perfectly and the performances he gets from his cast is such a joy to watch.

[3] Gere fires on all cylinders in this performance, full of swagger and aggression, with a character that would easily dupe you into believing he’s on your side, while all the while setting up your execution. 

-Excerpts from IMDb reviews

“The Holdovers” (2023) starring Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, & Dominic Sessa

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SPOILER ALERT: Don’t read this post if you haven’t seen, or don’t want to know, details from The Holdovers (now available for streaming).

Discomfort and Joy. -Tagline for the movie

At Barton Academy in a small town of New England, nobody likes the history teacher, Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti). The staff and students find his pomposity and rigidity exasperating. With nowhere to go over Christmas break of 1970, Paul remains to supervise a few boys unable to travel home. After a few days, only one student remains- Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa)- a V smart senior w/ a bad attitude. Joining these men is the school’s head cook, Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), a Black woman whose son was recently killed in the Vietnam War. These three lonely people form an unlikely/family-like bond for 2 snowy wks.

Paul Hunham [remembering her son]: He was a great kid. I had him one semester. Very insightful.

Mary Lamb: Mm-hmm. He hated you. He said you were a real asshole.

Paul Hunham: Well, uh, like I said… sharp kid, insightful.

A star is born! And how lucky are we to discover his talent from this early stage? Sessa (then 17 y.o.) was encouraged by his theater teacher at Deerfield Academy (a private HS) to audition for this indie (directed by Alexander Payne). A team was scouting locations at several high schools; the casting agent also met w/ boys for possible roles. Sessa assumed that it wasn’t a big movie; after all, they were considering his school. As Giamatti noted, Sessa has the kind of face out of the ’70s; he is also tall, V slim, w/ naturally curly hair. The respected/veteran character actor (lead in Sideways, directed by Payne) commented that the newbie actor “reminded me of my own son.”

He was a pretty grounded, level-headed person. And I also think his generation is comfortable around cameras, which is a big sort of leg up they have. I felt an affection for him that mimicked the movie in a way. I came to really like him even more, and more, and more, as we went on. -Paul Giamatti (actor) when asked about working w/ his young/newcomer co-star Dominic Sessa

It’s a bit weird in some ways. Maybe it gets easier as you keep coming back. For me, I have no expectations about it. There’s something a little wrong with you if this feels normal! -Dominic Sessa (actor, age 21) when asked re: his opinion of award shows on the EE BAFTA red carpet

Authenticity is the word that 1st comes to mind here (the snow is real); the film looks and sounds like it was made in the ’70s. Issues of class, race, privilege, loneliness/disconnection, and grief are explored, though NOT in a heavy-handed manner. As we’d expect from an actor at Giamatti’s level, the acting is seamless (as he becomes the character). Giamatti said he attended an all-boys school IRL, though didn’t live in the dorms (as his family lived in town). Both he and Randolph (who has won many supporting actress awards this season) are graduates of Yale. Sessa (nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the EE BAFTAs) said that his co-stars were V helpful, as they’d had formal acting education and a LOT of experience.

Randolph (who loves to research her roles) modeled Mary’s look on her aunts and grandmother. She studied the Boston accent historically accurate for a woman of Mary’s generation/background. Mary is the character who grounds the story; she has the lived experience of someone outside the privileged bubble of these (mostly white) students and teachers. We learn that her son joined the military hoping that it’d help pay for college, BUT he didn’t even make it past age 20! One of the holdovers is rude/disrespectful to Mary, BUT Angus and Paul don’t let him get away w/ it. Though she is plagued by grief, she still has to do her job of feeding the school community. Notice that her son is the only one killed in this current war, as otherwise “Barton men don’t go to Vietnam” (Paul and Angus discuss after they leave the local diner).

Paul Hunham: I guess I thought I could make a difference. I mean, I used to think I could prepare them for the world even a little. Provide standards and grounding like Dr. Greene always drilled into us. But, uh, the world doesn’t make sense anymore. I mean, it’s on fire. The rich don’t give a shit. Poor kids are cannon fodder. Integrity is a punch line. Trust is just a name on a bank.

Paul Giamatti is our real-life Brad Pitt. We can’t all be Brad Pitt, and I mean that in the most positive way. Paul is a man of a certain age that men can relate to. That’s why I think Paul is our real-life Brad Pitt- [he’s] a champion of reality. What is real? An everyday man. -Da’Vine Joy Randolph (actress) in Variety magazine

I have to admit that this film made me cry (yup, even more than Past Lives and American Fiction). It’s a unique blend of drama and comedy w/ well-developed characters. The themes in this movie are universal, though we get a slice of life story. At the center of the story is empathy, as Payne and the lead actors all noted. I esp. enjoyed the 2 scenes where Paul and Angus convince others they’re family– father-son (at the hospital) and uncle-nephew (in Boston upon running into a Barton alumnus). The revelation re: Angus’ father was a BIT of a shock; when they meet, Sessa is transformed into a vulnerable boy desperate for approval!

Spoiler-Free Reviews of Four 2023 Series

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Happy New Year to my FAB readers!

Don’t forget to follow (by subscribing to the RSS feed), IF you haven’t done so before. 

What shows do y’all recommend from this past yr?

Take care,

EMMA

Beef (Neflix) starring Steven Yeun & Ali Wong

A road rage incident in SoCal entwines the lives of a struggling motel owner, Danny Cho (Yeun), and a wealthy art gallery owner, Amy Lau (Wong). This unique/thought-provoking series (renewed for S2) was created by Lee Sung Jin, a Korean-American young man who worked his way up in Hollywood. We get a look into the lives of characters who are NOT often seen in (mainstream) series/movies. There are several supporting players who get their own scenes to shine; they aren’t any “model minority” stereotypes. The role of religion (Christianity- in this case) is delved into; it is treated in a sensitive/nuanced manner. There are hilarious moments, as well as serious ones (I don’t want to give anything away)). IF you’re an immigrant or 1st gen in the US, you’ll be esp. able to relate to this show! I was V impressed by Yeun (who is now 40); I’ve seen him in a few (supporting) roles in recent yrs.

Full Circle (MAX) starring Zazie Beetz, Claire Danes, Jim Gaffigan, Timothy Olyphant, & CCH Pounder

This is a limited series (6 eps) dir. by Steven Soderbergh; he also operates the camera (as is his method). The show was inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 film High and Low, which in turn was based on the novel King’s Ransom by Evan Hunter (pen name of Ed McBain), part of McBain’s 87th Precinct series. However, this is NOT a typical police show; it’s a mix of crime/mystery/social drama. Danes and Olyphant play a wealthy Manhattan couple w/ secrets which come back to affect them after their teen son is kidnapped. Beetz is getting a LOT of roles lately; here she plays a postal inspector who is battling emotional issues. As her boss, Gaffigan gets to do a (rare) dramatic/Everyman role. Pounder plays a powerful/soft-spoken crime leader w/in the Guyanese community of Queens. There are several (young/newcomer) actors who are part of the ensemble; they all do a good job. We get to see neighborhoods of Queens which are NOT often shown in the media. I didn’t know much re: Guyana (a small country in South America where English is spoken) until the semester I worked at an afterschool program in Ozone Park, Queens. As we gather from this series, Guyana’s population is diverse; ethnic groups originated from India, Africa, Europe, China, and incl. indigenous peoples.

The Last of Us (MAX) starring Pedro Pascal & Bella Ramsay

This is probably one of the most talked about series of 2023; it’s based on a V popular video game! Pascal became one of the most searched celebs online (“internet’s boyfriend”). He and Ramsay (British; non-binary) BOTH worked on Game of Thrones. Here is a brief synopsis: 20 yrs after modern civilization is been destroyed, Joel (Pascal), a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie (Ramsay), a 14 y.o. girl, out of a quarantine zone. It becomes a brutal/heartbreaking journey, as they cross the US, depending on ea. other for survival. I was a BIT skeptical of this show, BUT I enjoyed it V much! There are some gruesome elements, incl. blood, fighting, other types of violence (could bother sensitive viewers). We meet a variety of characters; some appear for one ep, others have a wider arc.

Shadow and Bone: Season 2 (Netflix) starring Jessie Mei Li, Ben Barnes, Archie Renaux, Freddy Carter, Amita Suman, & Kit Young

In most fantasy, darkness is metaphorical; it’s just a way of talking about evil: darkness falls across the land, a dark age is coming, etc. I wanted to take something figurative and make it literal. So the question became: what if darkness was a place? What if the monsters lurking there were real and more horrible than anything you’d ever imagined beneath your bed or behind the closet door? What if you had to fight them on their own territory, blind and helpless in the dark? These ideas eventually became the Shadow Fold. -Leigh Bardugo, author

I know what some of y’all are thinking: I’m TOO old for this show! LOL… I’d have to agree, after seeing the hot mess that was S2. Like some other Netflix shows, there are a LOT of cute/diverse/young characters, BUT w/ little development. Some eps are slow, while others go by SO fast, the viewer is left confused. As for S1, I found it interesting (incl. the unique production design and SFX). I was curious b/c SO many (Twitter) gal pals were discussing it. Of course, some are fans of British actor Ben Barnes (Gen. Kirigan); I suggest seeing S1 of Westworld instead (where he also plays a baddie). As for the (main) romance, I didn’t see much chemistry btwn Alina (Mei Li) and Mal (Renaux); I’d have preferred to see more of another couple (who barely got screen time in S2). Young (Jesper) has a LOT of charisma and screen presence; I think he’ll be the breakout among The Crows. I haven’t read the books, though found them at my local Little Free Library.