Movie Review: The Master

I'm still digesting "The Master", some films can still do that these days, those are the good ones, or at least the ones worth seeing. So yes, there you have it, let's get it out of the way so there is no misunderstanding, you should see "The Master", run to your local multiplex or arthouse (if you have one) and see it, why? Because it's worth the discussion, the dissection, the interpretation, and the criticism all things that I love about these types of movies.

It's a film that has already gotten love and criticism from various critics not unlike "Tree of Life" did last year. Although I'm not comparing it to that film, I'm just saying it brings out the same kind of passionate Love it/Hate it vibe..

But then I suppose there's the camp that appreciates it at a distance but can't openly say they love it. For me I don't think "The Master" holds a special place in my heart, I will probably at some point see it again, because I would say there is so much to take in and admire, but I don't see it as the sort of film I will come to love like I do with all my favorite films. I will see it again for the fact I am fascinated by its director Paul Thomas Anderson who has not made an uninteresting film and has flirted with greatness throughout his whole career. Anderson is a director of unique ideas, and bold choices, some seem to be right on, some seem to be a dead end, but he still takes risks, which is what I like about him. I for one found a certain catharsis in the ending of "Magnolia" with the raining frogs, it's one of those moments I can't really explain in words why it was the right choice, call it cinematic poetry in its highest form.

However I did have reservations about Anderson's last film "There Will Be Blood" which is commonly seen as his masterpiece. I found the film to be highly ambitious in theme, structure, and tone, but also something, I would argue that never reached its ultimate point, and the idea of who Daniel Plainview was supposed to be or represent alluded me.

"The Master" comes as Anderson' follow-up film, and it shares much in common with its predecessor, but I for the record found it more satisfactory. I can't really pinpoint why, but I find that with this film Anderson really hit a certain transcendence that he didn't with the more nihilistic feel of "There Will Be Blood".

I was more engaged with the story of "The Master" which centers on Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix), a World War 11 veteran who, when we meet him is suffering from some sort of mental shell shock perhaps left over by the war, or perhaps something he's had his whole life.

I would describe Freddie as a restless drifter, he is given a psychiatric test by an army doctor at the beginning the film, diagnosed with a disorder, and is put back into every day society without much fuss or being cured. We see Freddie later working at a department store in 1950 as a family photographer, he's still edgy, mixing drinks with paint thinner, and one day he attacks a customer for no apparent reason; this of course is not normal.

Freddie leaves and ends up working on a farm where he accidentally poisons a worker there with his alcohol mixture. He's able to run away and he finds himself on a boat owned by Lancaster Dodd (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), a strange man who introduces himself as a writer, doctor, a nuclear physicist...but above all a man. Dodd decides to take Freddie in, he feels a kinship with him, a connection that isn't really fully examined.

If you've read anything on "The Master" you would know of the Scientology angle "The Master" represents, in the film it's replaced as "The Cause" with Dodd its leader. Freddie takes up with Dodd and soon becomes his right hand man; and this is the basis for a rather unorthodox and unique relationship between the two men, which is indeed the heart of the film.

I suppose a film for me needs something to cling to, something to invest in, and something that is worth investing, and it's this relationship between Dodd and Freddie that does it. For whatever reason, they are two men who need eachother, almost as if to co-exist, it's deeper and more twisted than a father/son relationship, or even that of lovers. Freddie in fact becomes more of Dodd's pet than anything, in fact there are many instances he's given commands as if he were a dog, with Dodd often describing him as an animal. At the beginning this seems something that Freddie needs or is craving, Dodd represents answers and a meaning. In the film's best scene and one of Anderson's greatest in his entire career, Freddie is taken through processing by Dodd, where he is asked a series of questions. It's here where Freddie finally breaks and you can sense that Dodd has been the only one ever to get through to him in such a way.

But Freddie becomes more and more disillusioned as Dodd is made out to be a fraud and a fake to most people, and his ideal master is seen more as a man. This to me is the key to the film's final heartbreaking moments as Freddie comes to realize this. I felt sympathy for Freddie, he is the film's damaged character, mentally unstable, maybe insane, but Anderson, with the help of Phoenix make him completely believable and a human being.

As Dodd, Hoffman is less mannered than Phoenix, he sounds more down to Earth even though what he is saying most of the time seems out of this world, but he's able to tap in this man's humanity, and our sympathy leans towards him even.

I guess that's Anderson's main feat is going about this story as an outsider, looking into this world and these characters with a keen eye for detail and being able to hold back without being giving judgement. This might be viewed as a cold approach on Anderson's part especially contrasting this with his earlier ensemble pieces of "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia" where the characters behaved like an extended family. But I feel Anderson's more objective view is a growing maturity and confidence, something I will give him credit for. He's asking us to look closer, and to make up our own minds, telling us it's not that easy to get in but can be far more rewarding.

The ending of the film might appear abrupt, but I didn't think it was anything compared to the bowling alley in "There Will be Blood" which left me bewildered and scratching my head. This ending is more subdued and in its own way rather perfect. There are sure to be arguments coming from people about certain questions not being answered, or things not being as well developed as they should've been. I think Anderson answers all the questions he wanted to, there isn't much hidden meaning, but the joy is getting something out that might be different for everyone, that's the magic of ambiguity, it gives the viewer much more power.

Come to think of it, this could be a film about not finding the answers we are searching for. One of the things about Freddie is how restless he is and how things are left unfinished with him, perhaps we are left to suffer with him, so is life sometimes.

"The Master" is full of great scenes and wonderful performances by Phoenix and Hoffman both of whom are no doubt reserving their tuxedos for Oscar night. This may not be your answer for great cinema, but it's worth searching for and seeking out, perhaps in time we will have our answer for its greatness.

Sergio Leone and The Infield Fly Rule Movie Quiz

1) What is the biggest issue for you in the digital vs. film debate? Not that I mind either, it's that film is being depleted as an artistic option for filmmakers.

2) Without more than one minute’s consideration, name three great faces from the movies Buster Keaton, Greta Garbo, Humphrey Bogart

3) The movie you think could be interesting if remade as a movie musical Goodfellas

4) The last movie you saw theatrically/on DVD, Blu-ray, streaming Theatrically: The Master; DVD: Monkey Business (1931 version)

5) Favorite movie about work The Shop Around the Corner

6) The movie you loved as a child that did not hold up when seen through adult eyes Hook

7) Favorite “road” movie Two-Lane Blacktop

8) Does Clint Eastwood’s appearance at the Republican National Convention change or confirm your perspective on him as a filmmaker/movie icon? Is that appearance relevant to his legacy as a filmmaker? I have not seen Clint Eastwood's appearance, but it does not change my perspective of him, I have always respected his career and the way he does things, and continue to get a lot out of his movies. As far as I'm concerned it's not relevant.

9) Longest-lasting movie or movie-related obsession My obsession of It's a Wonderful Life has lived in me since I first saw it as a kid, there's something about it that still shakes me.

10) Favorite artifact of movie exploitation The Drive-In

11) Have you ever fallen asleep in a movie theater? If so, when and why? Not, I don't think I could ever.

12) Favorite performance by an athlete in a movie Maybe Babe Ruth in Pride of the Yankees

13) Second favorite Rainer Werner Fassbinder movie I regret to say I have yet to see one of his movies.

14) Favorite film of 1931 City Lights

15) Second favorite Raoul Walsh movie The Roaring Twenties, my first would be High Sierra.

16) Favorite film of 1951 The River

17) Second favorite Wong Kar-wai movie Haven't seen his films sadly

18) Favorite film of 1971 Two Lane Black-Top

19) Second favorite Henri-Georges Clouzot movieHAven't seen his movies

20) Favorite film of 1991 The Double Life of Veronique but Barton Fink would be a close second

21) Second favorite John Sturges movie Bad Day at Black Rock

22) Favorite celebrity biopic "Yankee Doodle Dandy"

23) Name a good script idea which was let down either by the director or circumstances of production The Return of Doctor X, I thought it had potential, it's like my favorite bad movie of all time. I like the idea of a reporter and a doctor investigating a mystery.

24) Heaven’s Gate-- yes or no? I'm waiting for the criterion release of it, but I'll see it.

25) Favorite pairing of movie sex symbols Jane Russel and Marilyn Monroe in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"

26) One word that you could say which would instantly evoke images and memories of your favorite movie. (Naming the movie is optional—might be more fun to see if we can guess what it is from the word itself) Minimal

27) Name one moment which to you demarcates a significant change, for better or worse, on the landscape of the movies over the last 20 years. I would say the digital technology has made films look more like they are coming from a computer than anything else, I'm not saying that as a bad thing, but you can see a difference in a film's aesthetic because of it.

28) Favorite pre-Code talkie Trouble in Paradise

29) Oldest film in your personal collection (Thanks, Peter Nellhaus) I have a collection of Chaplin shorts from his early days, but as far as features go it would be "Birth of the Nation"

30) Longest film in your personal collection. (Thanks, Brian Darr) "The Decalogue" but if you don't consider that a true film than "Carlos"

31) Have your movie collection habits changed in the past 10 years? If so, how? Yes, I would say more than ever I followed a certain pattern of seeking out films, now, I go from seeking out to picking at random any film that I may stumble upon, I try to keep within the boundaries of a budget but that may go out the window if I stumble upon a film I've been searching for a very long time. I still haunt movie stores just to see in case a find a hidden treasure.

32) Wackiest, most unlikely “directed by” credit you can namee "Annie" directed by John Huston

33) Best documentary you’ve seen in 2012 (made in 2012 or any other year) I actually don't think I've seen any so far this year.

34) What’s your favorite “(this star) was almost cast in (this movie)” anecdote? I think I heard Cary Grant being the lead male in "Ninochka" I find that interesting just to think what it would be like to see him in a film with Greta Garbo. Also all the roles Harrison Ford was offered but turned down, mostly for "Syrianna"

35) Program three nights of double bills at a revival theater that might best illuminate your love of the movies Night One: the theme of the joy of laughter "Ninochka" and "Sullivan's Travels", Night Two: two sides of the coin, the disappointment and joys of life "Toyko Story" and "It Happened One Night", Night Three: Movies as an escape "Swing Time", and "Rear Window"

36) You have been granted permission to invite any three people, alive or dead, to your house to watch the Oscars. Who are they? My three best friends

37) Favorite Mr. Chips. (Careful...) Peter O'Toole even though I haven't seen his Mr. Chips, he is still one of my favorite actors, so thereby wins.

Annie Hall

I love "Annie Hall", or maybe I just love Diane Keaton, or maybe it's just Woody Allen, or his dialogue, it's really the whole package. It's hard to believe what a little movie "Annie Hall" really is, even by Woody Allen's standards, yet it was a sleeper hit in 1977 beating out "Star Wars" for the Best Picture Oscar back then, also picking up statues for Keaton's performance plus Screenplay, and Director for Allen. It marked brave new territory for Allen, who before then made mostly comedies with great wit and visual gags, but this was the first film that hinted at a more personal and reflective work.

The film actually started off with a more ambitious outline, but Allen cut it down from an original print that ran 140 minutes to the one we have today at a little more than 90. The film we have today remains a bare bones relationship comedy about an on and off romance between Allen's stand-up comic Alvy Singer, and Keaton's title character.

The film begins with Allen addressing the camera in monologue, this is probably the image people associate with Allen the most, and it's really a bold move by the filmmaker, something that has been repeated mostly unsuccessfully by others. We find out at the beginning that Alvy and Annie have broken up, and the film moves in flashbacks going back to Alvy's childhood, to the moment the two first meet and fall in love, and to their eventual break up.

We see Alvy and Annie meet, talk, fall in love, fight, break up, get back together, then break up again. It's all done very economically, with Allen's usual visual aesthetic of people walking and talking. He rarely does cutaways, and it's really the actors in the frame that keep the film alive.

But unlike his later ensemble films which juggled multiple characters like "Manhattan", "Hannah and her Sisters" or "Crimes and Misdemeanors", "Annie Hall" doesn't stray from its main story, it has a more intimate feel then his later films, and because of this we start to care about Alvy and Annie probably more than any one of Allen's other characters. We want to see them make it, because we get the sense they are meant to be together, but it's Alvy's own anxiety and indecisiveness about love, and life that becomes the relationship's undoing. It's only when it's too late does he realize that Annie was the girl for him.

There are other women in Alvy's life that we meet, including a political advocate, (Carol Kane) who he dates before Annie, and a religious follower of the Dalai Llama (Shelley Duvall) who he sleeps with while he and Annie are broken up. But none of these come close to having the same kind of dynamic he has with Annie, we feel that she gets him,and they can match barbs better together than with anyone else.

It's probably no surprise that at the making of this film Allen and Keaton were in a relationship, and Keaton's nickname was in fact Annie. Allen also instructed Keaton to wear the same kinds of clothes she wears in real life for the film. It's also been hinted that Allen added many Keatonisms in Annie's speech such as the famous "la,di,da" scene when Annie and Alvy first meet.

Wherever the lines between fact and fiction get blurred, Keaton gives a purely naturalistic performance, so much so it's hard not to fall in love with her. This is one of my absolute favorite performances by any actress because it feels so real, look for example at Keaton's monologue about an Uncle of hers who is a narcaleptic, who one day doesn't wake up and is dead; her reaction is funny because it's an honest moment. There's also the scene where Annie and Alvy are cooking live lobster, something that had to have been improvised by both actors, especially since dealing with live lobster crawling around the floor, one must.

"Annie Hall" was also made at the time Allen liked to experiment with structure on his film. The movie weaves in and out of various comedic moments that, if you think about it might interrupt the flow of the film, yet it imbeds itself with the tone quite well. I'm speaking of such moments as the exaggerated childhood flashbacks where Alvy swears his family lived underneath a rollercoaster, and his hilarious take on his former school mates and where they ended up. My favorite has always been the kid who says "I used to be a heroin addict, now I'm a methadone addict."

At one point Allen even cuts to an animated sequence where Annie is portrayed as the Evil Queen from Disney's "Snow White". Yet Allen makes all this randomness work, they are portrayed more or less as sketch ideas, but fill in the tapestry of the story he's telling.

But what really counts and what I think makes this Allen's most beloved film is the relationship between Alvy and Annie, it's a human comedy about two very intelligent and neurotic people. They are unsure about what makes them happy, they are too concerned about life and how to live it, and analyzing it, they don't seem to settle down with each other. You could call this an anti-romantic comedy since it ends with the two not being together, but it's really Allen's tale about love, and even if it doesn't last, it makes life worth living.

Throughout the film Alvy uses jokes as an analogy on how he sees his life, he ends the film with a joke that basically explains why people like him enter into relationships, and it's really a bittersweet and beautiful sentiment the way it's delivered, and it's usually what I think of when I am reminded of this film.

The other thing I am reminded of is the image of Keaton in the two instances Allen films her singing in a nightclub. The first time, she is overshadowed by the noises of audience members and the ambiance of the nightclub, the second time, Allen gives her the moment to sing a song, but it's as if she is alone, we don't hear anything else but quite murmurs. I'm pretty sure she sings the whole song, and Allen doesn't cut away, he is showing us Keaton in this moment, and she is able to reveal herself to us. It's not just a moment where we get to see the real Keaton, but also the way you feel Allen saw her as well. Allen films Keaton singing again in his later film "Radio Days", where she had a cameo, and you feel in that film that the admiration for this women has not gone away. How he must've really loved her at one time, I'm sure they remained friends, but we know from this film that what they had was very special.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

The Black Knight, The Killer Bunny, The Knights who say Nee, Shrubberies, llamas, swallows, "Run away!", "Bring out your dead", the holy hand grenade. If you haven't heard of any of these references than chances are you have never seen "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", perhaps you haven't even bothered to see it, after all it's very silly.

For the non converted, Monty Python was a comedy troupe started in the 1960s by five Brits (John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin), and one American who did animation for them (Terry Gilliam). They had what is arguably the most influential and groundbreaking sketch comedy show "Monty Python's Flying Circus", which lasted for seasons, where they created inspirational silliness such as "The Dead Parrot sketch", "The Spanish Inquisition", and "Spam". Their show never played it safe, it would change format all the time, in one infamous episode they played their closing credits right in the middle of the program.

Their show would grow more and more until it found itself too big for the small screen, and no doubt the Pythons craved a larger canvas to let loose their madness on. "The Holy Grail" was the first of three very funny films the troupe made together, and it is probably by far the silliest and the one that refers the most to the original television program.

In the film, the Pythons retell the Arthur Legend and the quest for the holy grail, it more or less sticks to the original story about King Arthur, and his knights of the round table, with each Python playing a knight or their trusted steeds (the horses in the film are men galloping with coconuts to make the sound effect). Chapman himself plays Arthur, but every troupe member shows up in multiple character roles.

I could go on about the plot, but that's really the boring part about this film, the plot is more or less a backdrop, an idea that can be parodied by the Python's best ability and they do it in spades.

The beginning of the film starts out almost like a series of sketches, as we see Arthur riding through the country side, the most famous bits coming from Eric Idle, playing a dead collector at a local village, he shouts out "Bring out your dead!". When one citizen isn't "quite dead yet", Idle speeds things up by knocking him upside the head with a mallet. It's all darkly grotesque, but is so ridiculous, you can never take it seriously.

Not soon after that, Arthur encounters the black knight, who loses every limb in a sword fight, but is still convinced "it's only a flesh wound". As a side note on this particular scene, when I first saw it as a kid of ummm I'll say about ten, I don't remember laughing harder at a single scene before in my life, and even though I can anticipate what's to come, I still laugh out loud.

The film really is a series of scenes like the ones described above that work as a sketch, with the idea of the grail being the through line which will give everything a conclusion. The film ends abruptly with the plot being interrupted by policeman coming to arrest them all for the murder of a local historian who was helping narrate the stor. It was said the filmmakers got the idea of breaking the fourth wall like this after Mel Brooks used the same technique at his conclusion of his western parody "Blazing Saddles". But this is just the way to end a film like this, if they were going to actually obtain the grail in a more conventional way then that would be a let down.

Some might argue that "The Holy Grail" doesn't hold up as well as a film compared to the group's later efforts, and a case can be made for their follow-up "The Life of Brian" to be their masterpiece. But I like "The Holy Grail" just a little bit more for the simple reason that it is all very silly, it doesn't seem to concern itself with anything but making us laugh at very ridiculous things. Perhaps some might say it's a scathing indictment on autonomy or religion, or the monarchy, but that metaphor is all but lost in the debris left over from the holy hand grenade.

What the film does do, and does well is one of the reasons I love comedies like these, it breaks the rules and makes something that is usually stuffy and self-important like a costume epic, and brings it down a peg. Most costume epics, at least the bad ones are designed to show off expensive sets and scenery, and actors saying some important but not so interesting things, in fact to quote from another python sketch, it's all very dull, dull, dull, dull. Monty Python takes some of the starch out of films like these, first by showing off their not-so expensive budget, and talking about not-so important things such as if coconuts migrate.

That's the beauty of comedy, it's the eternal equalizer, drama is there to show that the middle ages had kings, and knights and great battles, and comedy is there to show that it also had a lot of shit in the streets too.

The Man from Laramie

In the 1950s, director Anthony Mann and star Jimmy Stewart made eight successful films together, five of which were westerns, and they stand as some of the finest ones ever made. I could pick any one of those fives to talk about and make an argument as to why they are great, but almost at random I decided to choose their final film the made together, "The Man from Laramie", partly because I see it as their most ambitious (it was filmed in glorious Vista Vision), their most violent, and probably their most psychological.

"The Man from Laramie" casts Stewart as Will Lockhart, a former Army Captain who's come from Laramie a personal vendetta. Lockhart's brother was killed by a group of Apache Indians who had repeating rifles, and he wants to find the man responsible for selling them.

This brings Lockhart to a town that is mostly owned by a cattle baron named Alec Waggoman (Donald Crisp). Alec has his ranch run by his psychotic son Dave (Alex Nicol) and the more level headed Vic (Arthur Kennedy) who was hired on by Alec to more or less look after his son. When Dave mistakes Lockhart for stealing his father's salt, he goes crazy and lassos Lockhart pulling him across a burning fire, while burning his wagons and killing off his mules in the process. When Alec learns about his, he pays off Lockhart, he seems to want to get him out of town as soon as possible. It is later revealed that Alec believes Lockhart is a messenger of death he has dreamed about for years, will inevitably kill his son. We learn Alec is also going blind and knows that he must leave his ranch for Dave to run, something he has mixed feelings about. He feels more certain that Vic is the right man to take over the ranch, he is the adopted son, someone who has always wanted Alec's approval and love, but always comes second in favor of Dave who is his flesh and blood, even though he's obviously crazy.

Things come to a boil on a fateful day when Lockhart is hired by Kate Canady (Aline MacMahon) a rival ranch owner and Alex's former love interst. Kate has Lockhart separate her cattle from Alec's, which Dave sees, which he turns into a gunfight between the two men. Dave is wounded in the hand, but he quickly exacts vengeance on Lockhart as his men hold him down, as he shoots him point blank in the hand. Once this happens, soon all the pieces come together, and it isn't long till everything is revealed and in a way resolved.

Even though Lockhart is the central character, and the man with the mysterious past as the name in the title points out, most of the drama centers on the family dynamic of Alec, Dave, and Vic. Mann focuses on their story, where as Lockhart's own familial vengeance is put on the back burner until the end. Lockhart is more the observer, the witness to everything, he's almost playing detective here to see what everyone's motives are.

I find Anthony Mann to be at his best when he is dealing with high stakes in drama, which usually have a violent outcome. The shooting of Lockhart's hand is so memorable, because it's the culmination of Dave's psychotic behavior, we knew he was crazy, but we didn't know it would turn so sadistic. Even Dave's men feel shame when they see him do this, and they even help Lockhart with his gun and his horse when it is all over.

But you can see Mann revel in the Lear-like drama of Alec and his two sons. The themes of family, love, hate, and jealousy that are at the heart of what he is trying to explore.

The film is also wonderfully shot on location in New Mexico, capturing the desolate landscape, which is the perfect place for this story of family deterioration to take place. Mann shows off great compositions giving long takes with actors sometimes off in the foreground, but also showing great shots of close-ups, particularly Jimmy Stewart who does some of his finest acting in this film.

The casting of Stewart was the other masterstroke, as it was for the other westerns he did for Mann. It might be difficult to buy Stewart as a western hero at first, but that's because he is so unorthodox. He stands tall, yet gangly, he's often soft spoken, but there is a spark of madness in his eyes. Unlike the John Wayne western hero, Stewart looks like someone who could lose in a fight, and it's often that he does in a Mann film, or he struggles to gain the upper hand.

Stewart's characters in these films are usually seen as loners, either on a quest for vengeance, or escaping a shady past. These are usually typical characters found in film noirs, which is not an accident, considering Mann began his career making some of the most memorable film noirs ever.

Stewart brings a sense of pain and anguish to these characters, however the role he plays in"The Man from Laramie" is more melancholy, he's somewhat quiet and reflective. He's probably the most decent character in all the westerns he made with Mann, yet ironically, he's probably punished the most. He's still dealing with the death of his brother, and we can see the conflict in him as he is trying to find the man responsible, and when he inevitably does, his reaction becomes somewhat much more surprising after all the pain he's had to bare throughout the film.

To me Stewart was always the more real western hero, when he is shot in the hand by Dave, he doesn't hide the true pain and hurt he is feeling, his voice cracks, and he screams in agony, not many movie stars would let you hear them scream. Stewart's always been a fascinating actor, who is mostly known to mainstream audiences as the modern everyman hero, yet his range and choice of characters have always been more interesting than that. Anthony Mann was the right director to tap into his darker side, and they made some of the greatest western because of it.

Though "The Man from Laramie" is a great film on its own, I'd recommend visiting all of the Anthony Mann/James Stewart westerns: "Winchester 73", "Bend of the River", "The Naked Spur", and "The Far Country" being the others, they all deal with dark, and violent themes, and are unique among the western genre.

Strange Impersonation

"Strange Impersonation" is one of the strangest film noirs I have ever seen. I remember when I first watched it, being sucked into its nightmarish soap opera plot. It's got b-movie written all over that, but like the best of film noirs, it transcends its genre trappings, to give us something with substance, what we have is a film about a woman who faces her psychological fears head on.

"Strange Impersonation" is the story of a career scientist Nora Goodrich (Brenda Marshall). She is on the cusp of creating a new state of the art anaesthetic, something that has consumed her life for quite some time. Nora's work has made her put off her engagement with her fiancee Stephen, (William Gargan) for quite some time. Stephen is madly in love with Nora and will wait for her, but there is a lingering doubt about how long Stephen is willing to wait. Nora's assistant Arline (Hillary Brooke) thinks she's being foolish about not marrying Stephen right away, after all he's successful and can support her.

Things begin to get strange when Nora has a run in with a woman named Jane Karanski, who she almost hits with her car. She isn't harmed, but an ambulance chaser by the name of Rinse sees it and gives Jane his car in case she's interested in a settlement. Nora, returns Jane home safe, and goes home to work on her experiment, but something goes wrong. While Nora sedates herself to test the anaesthetic, an explosion sets off which leaves her scarred.

We find the culprit of the explosion was Arline who wanted to be with Stephen all along, Nora doesn't know this right away, she is recovering from her scars at the hospital. When she is released she meets up again with Jane Karanski who now does want a settlement from her. She pulls a gun, and in a struggle with Nora falls from a balcony, and dies, but is mistaken for Nora. Hopeless to win Stephen back because of her scars, Nora takes the identity of the dead woman and leaves, but that is just the beginning.

What I find interesting about "Strange Impersonation" is the subtext underneath its melodramatic plot. Here we have a career woman in Nora, who you could say is being punished for choosing a career over male companionship. The film was made in 1946, where the most recognizable woman character of that year was probably Myrna Loy as the faithful wife to Fredric March in "The Best Years of Our Lives". Woman were very rarely seen in a work place environment, let alone choosing it over a happy life with a man. Nora becomes a victim, because her fear is losing Stephen, and that fear manifests itself to a world of film noir, where her entire life is turned upside down. Friends betray you, people want to kill you, and in order to escape, you must become someone else, only to discover you can't escape your own past. In the end, Nora's anxieties come to a boil until you can almost not take it anymore, things get so bizarre, until it comes to a logical conclusion as most films of this type do, and we get our happy ending.

The film looks to have been made on a shoestring budget, it looks cheap, and dirty, full of actors most people haven't even heard of. It clocks in at only 68 minutes which makes it lean and quick moving, it was probably made to be the shown at the bottom of a double bill. What probably saves this film from the obscurity it would've found are the people who made it. It was directed by Anthony Mann, who made some of the greatest and most violent film noirs, and later made many memorable westerns mostly starring Jimmy Stewart in the 50s. Mann creates a suffocating world in "Strange Impersonation", it becomes more claustrophobic for Nora and the audience as it goes along. Mann was also a great director of violence that shocks you, the reveal of Nora's disfigured face is truly frightening, and the way Nora is treated up to her recovery is almost a full violation of her identity.

The film was also produced by a very interesting company: Republic Pictures, which was mostly known for b-movies, but in my opinion showed a little artistic side on more than one occasion. Republic has been the home to Orson Welles and John Ford, and helped produce some of their most personal films.

"Strange Impersonation" is one of those films that seems to have gotten through the cracks of film history, it remains there for us to admire. It's a film that is a nightmare, it's paranoia surrounds every frame and doesn't let go until the finale which serves as a relief. Still I'm fascinated that a film such as this was made at the time it was, it shows they had courage back then to do something completely unique and deal with subject matter that today still wouldn't even be considered mainstream, but that's the beauty of film noir.

The Best Films of 2012 ...So Far

I've been out of commission for more than a month now, but not to worry, more blogs will come ASAP. I've seen a lot of movies as of late, not as much as I've wanted to, also it's tough keeping an indie movie cred in a place like Red Deer Alberta. Anyway I thought I'd indulge in some of the films I thought have been the best so far this year.

1. Moonrise Kingdom Wes Anderson's latest is a fairy tale about young love. Perhaps his sweetest comedy with two very appealing (and COOL) little kids. Anderson's stuns with long running shots that are feasts for the eyes. Although he is accused of having films that are emotionally cold in favor of being too clever for his own good, I have not been more emotionally involved in a film as I have with this one all year.

2. Goon Probably the funniest comedy there has been all year. Sean William Scott has never been better, as a tough guy who is hired by a hockey team purely for his skills to win in fights. However it's full of a lot of unexpected heart, and the type of vulgar humour and action fit for the best hockey movies.

3. The Dark Knight Rises Although I'm not going to pretend this isn't without its problems, I was a big fan with how this third Christopher Nolan Batman film turned out. Batman to me seems a lot more mellow in this one, and I think this comes with the appearance of Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle. She adds a spark to Batman and a touch of humour that I always thought the series lacked. I especially liked the scenes she shares with Christian Bale's Batman. Add to that some nice crowd pleasing scenes by Nolan and you got a very satisfying blockbuster.

4. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter How nice it is to see a movie that doesn't take itself too seriously, this wears its B-movie origins proudly and doesn't apologize. I wonder sometimes at people who look for logic in their summer action movies, those who would accuse a fantastical film for being too far-fetched, I feel sorry for those people because they are the ones who would probably find no joy in films like this.

5.The Hunger Games Not knowing much about the story going into this film, I was put off guard with how dark it was. Although the serious and grim story didn't always gel quite right with the satirical stance on reality television, I was enthralled for the most part. This is mostly due to the charisma of the cast lead by Jennifer Lawrence, also Woody Harrelson is worth mentioning too as her trainer.

Well there you have it, honorable mentions might also go to "Cabin in the Woods" which felt more like a Joss Whedon movie than "The Avengers", the Farrelly Brothers loving ode to Larry, Moe, and Curley in "The Three Stooges", "Men in Black 3" which might have been the best of the series, and although it was unnecessary to make "The Amazing Spiderman" had enough original elements to separate itself from the Sam Raimi trilogy.