Criticker MOM - October 2014

[hellboy76]

[ShogunRua]

Gave Surprise! (1995) a 65, T7;

Morale of the story; Rube Goldberg machines can be absolutely terrifying! Like the nice twist/conceit at the end.

[Dreamer]

Surprise!
65 - T6
"Charming little short with a somewhat twisted sense of humour. It failed to really surprise me, though, despite the promising title."

[Gregzilla]

A couple of good movies this month.

The Devil's Trap - T9
Interesting film that managed to sustain an atmosphere of tension despite what seemed like some beautifully sunny days. The story kept me engaged all the way to the end.

Kongo - T7
Fun bit of pre-code nastiness. Walter Houston was excellent, But I couldn't stop thinking of a demented Popeye. I kept thinking of Heart of Darkness by Segar and wondering if Max Fleischer had already done it.

[snallygaster]

Bit of a slow start to this month I guess, hopefully we'll all find some time to watch these MoMs in the final week.

I watched Kongo the other day. It's definitely worth watching, although it took a while to get interesting. The script is weak, but the Apocalypse Now vs Oldboy premise is intriguing and it manages to build to a good climax.

I suspect that the idea that naive indigenous people can be awed into servitude by Western commodities and and corny magic tricks was probably already a cliche by 1932, but it's pretty effective at creating tension here, as skeptical locals are only temporarily satisfied and soon return expecting something more impressive.
The goofiest parts of the film are probably Huston's character addressing the Africans, either in some obviously made-up "oonga boonga" gibberish we're meant to believe is the local language, or in a Tarzan-style pidgin.
Really the only "pre-code feature" I got a kick out of was Lupe Velez's wardrobe, and I'm not sure why her character just disappeared halfway through the movie.

[mattorama12]

With a very busy schedule, I haven't been able to watch either of the feature length films yet. But I did check out Surprise! and enjoyed it quite a bit. It's got a very nice dark tone to it, and it's the perfect length. Just enough time to build the suspense, and delivers the climax perfectly. My only gripe is that it probably would have been a lot more enjoyable if I had seen a better quality version.

[ribcage]

Kongo -- it succeeds in being grim and dark, and huston gloriously succeeds as the nasty Flint. the script doesn't seemed too concerned with highlighting much else, and passage of days, weeks, months is glossed over very badly.

Devil's Trap -- i liked it more for the direction, cinematography, and the score than it's actual content. which isn't to say it was all style over substance. the story is still engaging. it's just fascinating watching a drama given the atmosphere of a gloomy horror movie.

[snallygaster]

Devil's Trap is very good. I'd previously seen the better-known Marketa Lazarová but I liked this one even more. It's a simpler story with more obvious symbolism, but it's very well-done. I guess I'm going to have to see the third movie now.

[snallygaster]

Surprise! Is also, well, certainly worth 6 minutes of your time. I very much like the idea, but I don't think the punchline was very effectively executed. I guess there's an added layer of difficulty with the gag here, as a Rube Goldberg device will necessarily play out over a period of time, making the titular element of surprise a bit hard to pull off.

[ShogunRua]

Being tardy, as usual, I will watch Kongo tonight; had it downloaded for the last week from Cinemageddon, but was busy watching expiring Netflix movies and reading books to meet my Goodreads goal of 50 by the end of the year.