I know I’ve seen bits of this before, but I think this was my first time seeing it all in one piece and, hopefully, it’ll be my last as well. The premise is confusing and mangled. Everyone’s favourite energetically chaotic funnyman Robin Williams is laboured with playing the least fun person imaginable, strapped to his giant mobile phone instead of spending time with his kids. Way too much time is spent in the real world before heading into the fantasy realm. It’s just so boring!
This year I pledged to fill in all my Steven Spielberg blind spots, reviewing them as I go. I’ve been making reasonable progress with the watching, but customarily slacking when it comes to the actual reviewing, partly because I got side-tracked with the Twin Peaks of it all. So far I’ve watched Always, Hook and Amistad, (along with the already-reviewed Sugarland Express and Empire of the Sun) none of which I feel overly compelled to watch again anytime soon, so these next few reviews will likely be a little lighter than usual, hope that’s OK. I still have Munich and Catch Me If You Can to go, so hopefully look out for them soon!
Okay folks, strap in. Six days after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the United States of America was concerned about another attack on US soil. 1941 follows a bunch of people in and around California over the course of one day, including:
– The crew of a Japanese submarine searching for something honourable to destroy, commanded by Akiro Mitamura (Toshiro Mifune) alongside German officer Wolfgang von Kleinschmidt (Christopher Lee), and eventually kidnapping Christmas tree salesman Hollis P. Wood (Slim Pickens).
– US Air Force captain “Wild” Bill Kelso (John Belushi) apparently chasing Japanese aircraft in his Warhawk.
– Captain Loomis Birkhead (Tim Matheson) attempting to seduce old girlfriend Donna Stratton (Nancy Allen), now the secretary of General Stillwell (Robert Stack), complicated by the fact that Stratton can only become aroused in a flying airplane, and Birkhead is not a qualified pilot.
– Civilian couple Ward and Joan Douglas (Ned Beatty and Lorraine Gary) are presented with an anti-aircraft gun due to the coastal location of their home.
– The Douglas’ daughter, Betty (Dianne Kay), wants to go to the jitterbug dance with newly-unemployed former-dishwasher Wally (Bobby Di Cicco), which becomes a problem when the dance becomes only available to enlisted men, much to the joy of the aggressive Corporal Sitarski (Treat Williams), who has eyes for Betty, whilst Betty’s friend Maxine (Wendie Jo Sperber) very much has the hots for Sitarski.
– Two members of the Ground Observer Corps (Murray Hamilton and Eddie Deezen) are posted atop a Ferris wheel, keeping watch for any approaching enemy forces.
– And finally, devoid of any real through-plot, there’s a tank crew comprised of Sergeant Tree (Dan Aykroyd) and Privates Foley (John Candy), Reese (Mickey Rourke), Henshaw (Walter Olkewicz) and new addition Jones (Frank McRae).
It’s the last day of the summer vacation in 1962. Tomorrow, Curt (Richard Dreyfuss) and Steve (Ron Howard) are heading off to university, leaving behind their two friends Terry (Charles Martin Smith) and John (Paul Le Mat), as well as Steve’s girlfriend and Curt’s younger sister Laurie (Cindy Williams). Over the course of this night spent on their local driving strip, these four friends will undergo various adventures that may change their lives forever.
In 1860s Massachusetts, the March family has four daughters, all with different artistic aspirations. Meg (Emma Watson) is an actress who is happy complying to society’s ideals of feminity, Jo (Saoirse Ronan) is an aspiring writer with intentions to make it on her own, cherubic Beth (Eliza Scanlen) is a musician, favouring the piano, and Amy (Florence Pugh) a painter who sometimes feels put out as the youngest child (although it was only in researching for this post that I discovered she was supposed to be the youngest, as it felt like Beth far more filled out that role). Their mother Marmee (Laura Dern) tries to mould them into good, charitable adults whilst their father is fighting in the American Civil War, and over the seven year period of the film, they all have varying dalliances with their wealthy neighbour’s grandson Laurie (Timothee Chalamet).
This review was originally written for Blueprint: Review. It was written because Kate Winslet appears in the film and one of the missions of this site is to review every Kate Winslet film. The other Kate Winslet reviews can be found here.
There’s all kinds of films in the world. Films to cheer you up, films to terrify you and get your blood pumping, even dramatic weepies designed to emotionally rip you apart, rendering you unable to function for the rest of the day. There’s a time and place for each of these films, and given just how unprecedented the times we’re living in are, and how these days every waking moment can feel like a never-ending naked slide down the spiralling razor blade of life, I for one am trying to limit my exposure to the more emotionally draining films.
This review was originally written for Blueprint: Review.
Tasked with defending settlers in 1879 Texas from attacking Apaches, Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke (Wayne) has an already difficult job complicated when his undermanned regiment is joined by a new recruit in the form of Yorke’s underage son Jeff (Jarman Jr.), whom the Lt. Col. hasn’t seen in a year. Hot on Jeff’s heels is his mother, and Yorke’s wife, Kathleen (O’Hara), eager to retrieve her son, but neither he nor his father is willing to allow that to happen. Elsewhere, an Apache attack on their fort and another enlisted man being wanted for manslaughter further add to Yorke’s plight.
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Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio) is a live-in maid for a middle class family in Mexico City in the 1970s. We follow a year in the life of the household, seen primarily through the interactions with Cleo and her personal life.
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On Coney Island in the 1950s, former actress Ginny (Kate Winslet) works as a waitress at Ruby’s Clam Shack whilst her alcoholic husband Humpty (Jim Belushi) operates the carousel at the fairground and her young son Richie (Jack Gore) enjoys setting fires. Ginny begins an illicit affair with Mickey (Justin Timberlake), a lifeguard with literary aspirations, but when Carolina (Juno Temple), Humpty’s daughter from a previous marriage, arrives on the run from her gangster husband and also catches Mickey’s eye, things get a little complicated.
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Eleanor “Nell” Lance (Julie Harris) is a meek, tormented woman who spent the entirety of the past eleven years caring for her invalid mother until her recent passing. Left with seemingly no real purpose in life, barely anywhere to stay and only half a car to her name, Nell jumps at the chance to partake in a study focusing on people with histories of paranormal occurrences staying at the notoriously haunted Hill House. The only other candidate is the far more free-spirited Theo (Claire Bloom), and the two are joined by the scientist running the experiment, Dr. Markway (Richard Johnson) and the sceptical future heir to the building, Luke (Russ Tamblyn). Upon arriving at the house, however, it becomes clear to Nell that she is meant for more than just an experiment, and the house itself may have other plans for her.
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Life Vs Film 