Filmic Friday 248: Night And The City (1950)

In Which Noir is En Vogue

Fun Fact: The director, Jules Dassin, is also the man who created Rififi,
one of the most beloved Noir films of all time.

I'm a huge nerd. You may have noticed this about me. I am a huge silly nerd who loves huge silly things like movies and comics and books and wrestling. So of course I'm going to love a movie based on a book about a guy getting involved in wrestling.

The story of Night and the City follows the life of Harry Fabian, an American living in London. He has big dreams but he's also never met a get-rich-quick scheme he didn't fall for, and that's dangerous in the seedy underbelly of London's nightlife. Working as a club tout (basically a con man who drums up business for a particular club, in his case, the American club his girlfriend sings at), Harry dreams of being somebody in the world.

Preferably somebody who doesn't have to live life on the run.

Harry's girlfriend, Mary, is an honest, hardworking woman who has dreams of her own but has put them all on hold waiting for Harry to get himself together. She genuinely wants him to be happy, but where he sees untold riches in a suspiciously low-priced share of a greyhound track, she sees the truth - he's been taken for a ride yet again.

And Harry knows it. He knows she's the brains of the outfit and he can't stand it.
He feels like an utter disappointment. He just wants to be the one who holds her up,
not the other way around.

Meanwhile, Mary has become friends with the attractive artist next door, Adam. Adam lends Mary money when Harry drains her dry, but he genuinely seems to want Harry to succeed, too. Adam should know what it's like to be a creative mind that's been stifled - he's a working artist waiting for his big break, and that's an especially difficult thing for a sculptor. Paintings are easy to sell to people - they're portable and they don't shatter into a million pieces when dropped. A sculpture is a genuine luxury, fragile and expensive. Still, Adam is doing well enough for himself that he can help his friends and he can afford to burn dinner.

"Harry's an artist who hasn't yet found his art. That's bound to frustrate a man."

The club where both Mary and Harry work is owned by Mr. Nosseross (whose name is so much fun to say) and his shrewd and disloyal wife Helen, who is also Harry's ex. They are fairly dismissive towards Harry's dreams and schemes, mostly because they've heard it all before, but also because Mr. Nosseross senses something is not quite on the up-and-up between Helen and Harry.

And when you see Nosseross, you'll suddenly know what Maury Chaykin
was going for in his portrayal of Nero Wolfe in 2001/2002 on A&E.

One day, while touting for Nosseross's club, Harry comes into contact with Gregorious, a retired Greco-Roman Style Professional Wrestler, who is hurling insults at the in-ring antics of the most famous Pro Wrestler in London, the Strangler. What awes me is that Gregorious is being played by one of the all-time greats in professional wrestling: Stanislas Zbyszko! Now, if Zbyszko sounds familiar and you're in your 30s or older, you probably remember Larry Zbyszko, who was this man's pretend son. Stanislas is a magnificent actor in this movie, and you can absolutely buy that he's a strong man who's lead a hard life and is disappointed that his son, Mr. Kristo, is a slick promoter who will not give his other son, Nikolas, a shot in his promotion.

Everything Zbyszko does is believable in this film, and he very nearly made me cry at times.
Also, it's hard to believe it, but apparently he really loved experimental cinema and would often
go to movies with Jules Dassin, the director. He also formed a close relationship with Widmark,
the star (Harry!), which makes me unbelievably happy! What a cast!

Helen sneakily helps Harry secure funding to create Fabian Promotions, where he plans to run a show with Gregorious' son Nikolas, but since part of his funding is with Nosseross, who is very unhappy with his wife running around with his tout, he has to go and secure the services of the Strangler. All of this serves to infuriate Mr. Kristo, and I'm leaving quite a lot of the story out because you have to watch this movie!

But Nosseross and Kristo won't be the only ones furious with Harry by the end of this...

Something horrible ends up happening which seals Harry's fate. In the span of an afternoon, Harry goes from having it all to being on the run.

Because Kristo ends up putting a £1000 bounty on his head.

The last act follows Harry in a much more frightening version of his introduction. We meet Harry running through London, and Harry ends up running for his life through London at the end of the film. All of Harry's one-time friends in the London Underbelly see him as a payday, now. There's nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide.

My god, the ending is bleak and heartbreaking (especially if you watch the American version). You know how it will end pretty quickly, but you don't want it to. You don't want things to go the way they do, but, as is true with most Noir films, the end is an inevitability.

If you are looking for a good movie that isn't spoiled by sappy sentimentality, then absolutely pick up Night and the City. Heck, if you just want a taste of what 1950s Pro Wrestling may have been like, check it out! If I remember correctly, the actor playing The Strangler was also a Pro before he went to acting! We watched the Criterion Collection release, and I strongly suggest getting hold of that one for a wonderful viewing experience. It was in our local library system, so if you're on a budget, fret not, and check your library!

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Filmic Friday 246: Dolemite Is My Name

In Which I Learn Some Black History

You may have guessed it by now, but I'm from an area that is... lacking in racial diversity. I had maybe three black classmates growing up. You may also be able to infer from that that I am quite lacking in exposure to black culture, which is true. My first exposure to Blaxploitation was Shaft, which I'm told is a pretty good jumping off point, but let's be honest, most Blaxploitation movies that got famous were probably commissioned by white people. Kinda like Porgy and Bess is a black opera mostly created by a white guy (George Gershwin). And most Jazz and Blues these days seems to be proliferated by a bunch of burnt-out white people with boozy voices :| We may have a Blues Festival locally that drives me nuts every year.

So yeah, I haven't been that exposed to black cinema before now. I mean, I saw GET OUT, and it was brilliant, but! GET OUT was made by a famous black person and mainstreamed in the 21st Century. What about the movies made by renegade filmmakers in the 1970s?

What about the most famous filmmaker?

What about Rudy Ray Moore?

Ah, you may ask, if you're as white as me, but who was Rudy Ray Moore?

Well, I'll just let Eddie Murphy and Netflix tell you:

The blackest movie I'd ever seen,
it blew my white mind from the small tv screen!

If you've ever wondered where rhyming rap came from, it's attributed to Dolemite/Rudy Ray Moore.

Rudy Ray Moore was a man who brute-forced his way to success. That's not to say he wasn't talented! As a singer, he was good. As a comedian, he was hilarious. As an actor... well... there's where things got complicated, because unless he was telling his ridiculously blue stories live on stage, Rudy Ray Moore had a hard time being in character, as evidenced by my viewing of the actual Dolemite movie referenced in the Netflix/Eddie Murphy coproduction of Dolemite Is My Name.

But he was, as he said, a BAD mother.... uh... oh yeah, I don't curse on here.
This is going to be harder than I thought.
...
Rudy Ray Moore was dapper as heck.

Equal parts biopic and comedy, Dolemite Is My Name is a love letter to Rudy Ray Moore and his renegade Black movies. Rudy knew what the people wanted to see (sex, violence, themselves on a screen), and he knew what he wanted to make (a movie where he was the king of all things), but he lacked... well... funding. And knowledge of how to actually go about making a movie. Thankfully, the movie explains how this guy went from selling records from the trunk of his aunt's car (I'm willing to bet it wasn't his car, at least not at first) to selling out theaters across the country, because I'm honestly in awe of him and couldn't do it justice.

This guy was essentially the Old School YouTube of his day.

He was the Angry Video Game Nerd before Video Games and Nerds.

He was a king of social commentary making his presence known through whatever means he had available.

He was 100% unmarketable towards white conservatives.

And he was, most importantly, 100% uncensored and NOT FOR CHILDREN (though, like with all things adult, children found and loved Rudy Ray Moore's comedy albums, lol).

This movie tells the story of Rudy's slow rise from forgotten singer to memorable comedian (including him buying - not stealing, but buying - jokes from homeless guys) to unforgettable filmmaker, and it has one of the most incredible casts I've ever seen in a movie.

Look at these outrageous, amazing, fantastic people!
My only regret is that I don't think I see the most spot-on casting decision in this movie represented here...

I loved this movie. I loved every moment of every scene, and it did not feel like I'd just sat through nearly two hours of film. It felt like forty minutes. If there are cut scenes, they'll probably still be awesome. It really feels like the movie was a labor of love.

It also feels like we, sadly, missed two very important opportunities.

First: D'Urville Martin is played by Wesley Snipes who, if I recall right, was Moore's first choice to play Moore himself in a biopic. This is sad, but! I love Snipes as a frustrated auteur who... then went on to make a Dolemite ripoff when Dolemite took off despite his certainty that it would flop from incompetence.  Snipes is incredible.

Second: It feels like Eddie made this movie with the idea that his brother, the infamous and incredible Charlie Murphy, would play the lead. It's hard not to choke up seeing the In Memoriam card at the end. Charlie would have made an insanely good Rudy Ray Moore, and it breaks my heart that we never got to see that. I'm sure it breaks Eddie's heart too. That sucks.

But Eddie is still insanely good as Rudy Ray Moore. He actually brings way, way more life to the role in the filming scenes, because Rudy was maybe not the best actor, but when Eddie is on, he's 100% on, and he's positively electric here. It gives me hope that we're going to get an Eddie Murphy Renaissance over the next five to ten years :)

Now, if you're like me, and relatively sheltered (most black music was forbidden to me on the grounds that my mother didn't like it - no jazz, no rap, no R&B, no hip hop... and now I love them all), this movie may come as somewhat of a culture shock at first. Sit tight. Let the movie move you. Let yourself acclimate. Even start it over a couple of times if you don't understand at first what you're hearing. This is one time where I'll actively advocate against subtitles for those not hearing impaired, because the movie is so intensely visual and the audio is extremely important as well. You need to see. You need to hear. If you can do both at once, you begin to understand, and that is so important.

Watching this movie gave me a suddenly ravenous appetite for black cinema. From Blaxploitation to the Lincoln Motion Picture Co catalog of Noble Johnson (look him up - he played the Nubian in the 1932 Mummy and was pals with Lon Cheney Jr!), I want it all. I want Blacula, The Human Tornado, and The Realization of a Negro's Ambition. I want the good, the bad, and the ugly of it all.

And I want more Snoop Dogg as a DJ making fun of Rudy Ray Moore.

Seriously, him playing Roj is frickin hilarious!

As a final note, if you're wondering what I was talking about with "impeccable casting"...

Here on the left is the real Jerry Jones, writer and actor on the original Dolemite

And here is Keegan-Michael Key as Jerry Jones in Dolemite Is My Name

So with that, I demand you go watch this movie at least once, preferably twice!

Go Enjoy Something!
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Filmic Friday 245: The Fundamentals of Caring

In Which I Talk About A Really Good Movie Based On A Really Good Book

The first thing I'd like to say is this:

I don't like comedies.

While, yes, one of my favorite horror films, House II, is a "horror comedy", and while, yes, many of the movies I like in general are comedic, Comedy as a genre is not my bag.

I probably don't like your favorite comedy movie. Sorry. It's not necessarily that most comedy is "bad" - it's just not funny to me.

The Fundamentals of Caring, however, is amazing.

It's also not really a comedy, but "drama" has come to mean "incredibly depressing movie about terrible things with no relief in sight", so this movie gets saddled with "comedy" in its description.

Any movie that uses a bold chartreuse background will get my attention.

True fact: my partner has been trying to get me to watch this movie since it came out. Why? Because we're both hot for Paul Rudd. Lol. No.

It's because this movie with its stupid title (and I stand by that statement, that's a dumb, clunky title) are based on a wonderful book by an amazing author named Jonathan Evison.

Look how much better a title that is!

Now, I'll be honest with you, I have not read the book myself, but my partner loves to read me passages from books that are good, and I'm pretty sure I ended up having 3/4 of this book read to me aloud. That tends to happen with Evison novels, I've noticed.

They're just that good!

And what is The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving/The Fundamentals of Caring about?

It's about loss, moving on, and Paul Rudd playing an avatar of Jonathan Evison.

While true, that last one is my attempt at a joke. Sorry. Lol.

This is the story of a man (Benjamin Benjamin, played by Paul Rudd), a disabled teenager (Trevor, played by Craig Roberts), and a giant hole in the ground. Trevor suffers from muscular dystrophy and requires a caregiver. He doesn't leave the house. He doesn't do much besides watch tv and be a total dick.

Enter Benjamin Benjamin. Ben was a writer once, but he's trying to duck divorce papers from his estranged wife, and he dreams of better times. I'm told that his tragedy is even more horrific in the book, by the way, so invest in tissues if you pick both book and film up for a weekend. Ben seemingly decides that one of the best ways to avoid his own problems is to pour himself into  someone else's troubles.

His first assignment is Trevor.

It... doesn't go very well at first, since Trevor has no respect for anyone and is generally a huge dick to everyone and everything, but Benjamin Benjamin's desire to avoid divorce proves too strong. Also, y'know, he legitimately cares about Trevor, despite Trevor's best efforts.

Eventually, Ben realized that Trevor may end up dying without having ever experienced anything, so he convinces Trevor's mother (played by Jennifer Ehle) to let him take Trevor on a road trip to see all of the things Trevor has been fascinated by on tv, culminating in a visit to the World's Deepest Hole.

And it goes... great...

Along the way, of course, things happen, and because it's a road trip movie, they get into wacky situations and prank each other (and if you just see a reel of the pranks, you'll think this is a step short of a dang snuff film, but they're vicious for funsies, and both know what they're getting into)... and they pick up hitchhikers.

Two young lady hitchhikers, in fact.

The first hitcher they end up with is Dot, a tough teenage traveler played by Selena Gomez. Dot and Trevor eventually develop an adorable relationship which both know cannot last. Dot fits into the duet of Trevor and Benjamin like a glove, meeting every joke and jab with one of her own, adding a sense of wry, hilariously bitter commentary into the mix as only a girl who seems to be a mix of a biker and Daria could pull off.

Dot travels most of the way with the pair, but about 2/3 of the way to the Hole, they find sweet, innocent, very pregnant Peaches (Megan Ferguson). Peaches is the best foil because at first she seems completely naive and incapable of keeping up with the swirling morass of bitter-but-lovable jerks she's found herself surrounded by, but it quickly becomes obvious that she is more than capable of taking care of herself and everyone else as well. She is their sage, but she also gives them a strong urge to protect her, even Trevor, who is uncharacteristically gentle with her. She brings out their best.

The movie is about a bunch of misfits finding their way in the world. It's about strangers coming together. It's about temporary truces and love and loss. It's about peeing standing up and giant holes in the ground. It's about learning when to let go and when to hold on.

It's so much more than a comedy.

But it's also flipping hilarious.

Almost every scene that isn't about dying and loss (and even some that are) has at least something funny in it. You'll certainly never look at breakfast or Slim-Jims the same way, and if you're a vertical-pee-er, you'll probably have a newfound appreciation of that skill when you're finished.

In short, The Fundamentals of Caring is a fantastic film, and I love that, while it does have a "happy" ending, it's not a perfect one. No one is miraculously cured, there's no sudden revelation that Ben Benjamin is actually Trevor's dad, Peaches doesn't adopt them all (though I doubt anyone would object - she's a treasure), and while there is some healing in some of the relationships throughout the movie, the letting go of a dead relationship is celebrated, finally, as the healthy thing it is.

Poignant, funny, and incredibly well-written, The Fundamentals of Caring is definitely something to watch on Netflix whenever you get a chance.

Go Enjoy Something!
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