Atoll "K" (1952)

"It's like playing hooky." 

Directors

Léo Joannon

John Berry (uncredited)

Cast

Stan Laurel - Stan

Oliver Hardy - Oliver

Suzy Delair - Chérie Lamour

Max Elloy - Antoine

Suzet Maïs - Mrs. Dolan

Adriano Rimoldi - Giovanni Copini

Luigi Tosi - Lt. Jack Frazier

Laurel and Hardy's final film together, "Atoll 'K'" is also their first film in five years following their 1945 movie, "The Bullfighters." 

Having seen a large majority of Laurel and Hardy movies, mostly their short films, I have never seen their last one until recently.

I happened to find a copy at a Half-Priced Books in Omaha, Neb., for $2.50. I had to tap into my soda money to purchase this flick.

Back in the 1950s, "Atoll 'K'" went through production hell. And in the years of home video marketing, it has gone through distribution hell. 

This movie fell into public domain rather quickly.  

According to the book "The Final Film of Laurel and Hardy: A Study of the Chaotic Making and Marketing of Atoll 'K'" by Norbert Aping, a copyright for the film was never filed in the U.S. (p. 193)

"Atoll 'K'" becoming public domain resulted in the distribution of various poor-quality versions, which is what generally happens with public domain films. They're a quick and easy buck for home video companies. 

In a 2008 article called "The Final Film of Laurel and Hardy" writer Phil Hall points out that there's no true version of the movie "Atoll 'K'."

"Four very different versions were theatrically released: a 93-minute French-language version known as 'Atoll K,' a 97-minute Italian version called 'Atollo K,' a 96-minute English-language for British audiences called 'Robinson Crusoeland,' and an 82-minute U.S. release called 'Utopia'," Hall says.

The copy I have, under the title "Utopia (aka Atoll K)" is from Platinum Disc Corporation and is packaged with their 1939 feature film "The Flying Deuces." 

The quality of the overall picture and sound isn't very good. This is a letdown as the package claims the movie is digitally mastered. 

It seems poorly edited at times, too. I don't know if that's the distribution company's fault, or just the way the my cut of the movie happens to be like. 

Based on the run time of 82 minutes, I'm assuming the version I have is the U.S. cut. 

Still, there's a better quality version on YouTube. 

And one YouTube channel - a personal favorite of mine - called "Hats Off Entertainment" has a fan-made edit of the movie which runs a little over one hour, with better sound and picture quality. 

So, what's this movie about?

Stan inherits a boat, an uninhabited island, and a ton of cash from his rich uncle. However, thanks to piles of taxes and legal fees, his monetary inheritance is diminished considerably. He's left with the boat, the island, and a few bucks.

Miffed, Stan and Ollie decide to take the ramshackle boat and head out to the private island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. They decide they want to get away from taxes and laws.

They're accompanied with a nationless refugee named Antoine (Max Elloy), who works as a chef while on the boat. There's also a stowaway on board named Giovanni Copini (Adriano Rimoldi). 

During their voyage, they hit a terrible storm. While trying to navigate through the tempest, an atoll emerges from the water and saves them. 

The four of them decide this atoll is going to be their new home.

A nightclub singer named Chérie Lamour (Suzy Delair) finds her way onto the island in an attempt to run away from her jealous fiancé, Lt. Jack Frazier (Luigi Tosi). 

They welcome Chérie onto the island, and form their own Republic calling it "Robison CrusoeLand." 

They create their own constitution, form their own laws, declare that no one will be taxed, decide what roles each of them will play in governing their new land, and even work on making a flag to represent their nation.

(Left to right) Adriano Rimoldi, Oliver Hardy,
Max Alloy, and Stan Laurel.

Everything goes well until uranium is discovered on the atoll. This leads to other nations of the world going to war over who will claim ownership of the island. 

Greedy adventurers start arriving in boatloads, swarming the shores of the Robinson CrusoeLand.

Soon, the founders of Robinson CrusoeLand find themselves about to be lynched when, by some miracle of nature, an eruption sinks the atoll back into the ocean. 

A ship happens to be sailing along and rescues them. 

It takes Stan and Ollie to the real island Stan inherited. And their left with nothing but the consequences of not paying their taxes. It ends with Ollie's familiar catchphrase, "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into." 

"Atoll 'K'" is co-directed by John Berry and French writer/ film director Léo Joannon. Just this fact of the film's production is tainted in craziness. Berry's name is uncredited as he was blacklisted by the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee for refusing to cooperate with their investigations into Communist infiltrations. Berry was one of several other Hollywood writers and directors who refused to cooperate. American filmmakers Edward Dmytryk and Frank Tuttle both claimed Berry was an alleged Communist. 

As a result, Berry exiled himself and his family to Paris. He was living in France when he was hired to co-direct "Atoll 'K'." 

"While Berry never acknowledged working on this film, [Norbert] Aping was able to get confirmation from leading lady Suzy Delair that he was, in fact, responsible for co-directing much of the movie" Hall says in his article. "Berry's presence was problematic, given that any word of his participation would have killed a U.S. theatrical release. It is unclear just who okayed Berry to be part of the film, and it is equally uncertain which scenes were his and which were directed by Joannon."

As "Atoll 'K'" was produced in France, some of the actors, especially Max Elloy, have their lines dubbed in English. It threw me off while watching it. I didn't know if that was an issue with the sound quality or not.

U.S. audiences didn't see the movie's release until 1954.

At first the film's scenario seemed odd for a Laurel and Hardy picture. But having watched it for the very first time a few days ago, and thinking about it, it really isn't an odd situation for the two considering all the short movies they've done together. 

They've played piano movers, police officers, prisoners, Rhodes Scholars, each other's sisters, Foreign Legion Soldiers, gypsies...the list goes on. So, being the founders of a republic on a small island in the middle of the ocean makes just as much sense. Yet, it's still a film that's unique among all their other pictures.

Stan's appearance in "Atoll 'K'" says a lot about the pair. In all respect, he looks old and unwell. Evidently, he was sick during the production of movie. Sadly, it shows.

Ollie, too, was ill. According to imdb.com, he was suffering from cardiac fibrillation and the flu.

No wonder Stan and Ollie don't have the same gusto and energy like they used to in the 1920s and 1930s. This makes their appearance feel more like a novelty than as comedians to laugh at. Again, I say that with all reverence to these guys. 

That's not to say the movie is void of comedy. It's there.

One scene in particular had me laughing. All the guys are sitting around the table eating when Cherie walks in. They subtly try to see if she's single or not. Stan asks an indirect question, and Cherie mentions she has a fiancé. Soon, all the guys at the table are sobbing uncontrollably. 

In another scene when Oliver is elected the president of Robinson CrusoeLand, he starts handing out governmental positions to the others in their small group. 

Stan, of course, is left out. When he asks Ollie what his government position is going to be, Ollie replies, "Why Stanley, you're the people." 

Stan objects, not wanting to be "the people."

So, Ollie tells him there's more of him than there are of the them - the leaders.

Despite the flaws, Laurel and Hardy made as best an effort as they could to make something different from what they made before with new routines, a new story line, and an original scenario. 

Whether they knew this would be their last movie or not, they certainly accomplished something that stands out in their filmography. 

It's a shame that the movie received poor reviews at the time of its release. 

It showcases new gags, such as Stan leaning out of the boat's porthole, trying to calm the storm and crashing waves with a small can of oil, and actually succeeding.

Also, as a running gag, Stan adopts a pet lobster which he names Oscar. He takes care of Oscar like a true pet, gives him his own lobster house, and even burps him like an infant. 

Though Laurel and Hardy didn't make any more films together after "Atoll 'K'," they did return to the stage in a European tour a few years after the movie's release. And they did rather well on this final tour of theirs. It's the subject of the 2018 biopic "Stan & Ollie" which I thought was a great movie.  

Still, being their last film, the creativity to make something unlike what they've done before is very present. Despite all the hell "Atoll 'K'" has been through, Laurel and Hardy deserve applause for this movie, as well as a nod, and a heartfelt "Well done, boys!" 

Check out my first review on this blog - Pack Up Your Troubles

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) - Comic to Movie #17

"Vengeance blackens the soul, Bruce. I've always feared that you would become that which you fought against. You walk the edge of that abyss every night, but you haven't fallen in and I thank heaven for that."

Directors

Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm

Cast

Kevin Conroy - Batman/ Bruce Wayne 

Dana Delany - Andrea Beaumont

Mark Hamill - The Joker

Abe Vigoda - Sal Valestra

Dick Miller - Chuckie Sol

Efrem Zimbalist - Alfred Pennyworth

Bob Hastings - Commissioner James Gordon

 

The animated film, "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm," released in 1993, feels like an attempt by Warner Bros. to correct some of the shortcomings they made in their earlier Batman films - namely, Tim Burton's 1989 film "Batman" and its 1992 sequel, "Batman Returns." That's just an assumption. If that was the intention of their executives back then, kudos to them. 
By the time this movie came out in theaters, I was at the threshold of my teenage years. Animated movies simply didn't interest me like they used to. So, I passed on seeing "Mask of the Phantasm" until years later. 
This movie comes by way of "Batman: The Animated Series" which aired of the Fox Kids network from 1992 to 1995. I watched the first season fairly regularly. By the time the second season began airing, other things must have grabbed my attention. 
"Batman: The Animated Series" picked up later with a sequel called "The New Adventures of Batman." This ran on the Kids WB Network from 1997 to 1999, and was a sort of third season. 
It's followed by the animated "Batman Beyond" which ran from 1999 to 2001. Other series follow such as "The Batman" (2004-2005), "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" (2008-2011), and "Beware the Batman" (2013-2014).   
Honestly, I haven't seen any of these except for the original animated series.
The film starts as Batman (Kevin Conroy) crashes in on a meeting of Gotham City crime bosses, led by Chuckie Sol (Dick Miller).

Amidst all the chaos of Batman beating everyone up, Sol makes a run for it to the parking garage. As he gets in his car and tries to get away, he sees a mysterious masked figure shrouded in smoke - the Phantasm - a new masked vigilante spreading fear into the criminal gangland of Gotham City.
As Sol tries to ram his car into this mysterious person, the Phantasm dodges his attempt causing him to die in a fatal crash. 
A witness sees Batman at the scene in the garage. Therefor, he's blamed for Sol's death.
City councilman Arthur Reeves, whose on the mob's payroll, wants Batman arrested but Commission James Gordon is quick to defend Batman as he's convinced of Batman's innocence.
The story cuts back to ten years prior, as Bruce Wayne reminisces about Andrea Beaumont (Dana Delany), a young, attractive woman whom he met at the cemetery while visiting his parents' grave. 
The two start a relationship rather quickly. He soon proposes to her, which she initially accepts. But she ends up leaving town with her father, businessman Carl Beaumont (Stacy Keach).  
She ends their engagement with a letter, breaking Wayne's heart.
At this same time, Wayne begins his secret of life of vigilantism. Initially, he doesn't take on the Batman identity. His simple presence at the scene of the crime, even when beating up criminals, isn't instilling fear among the criminals of Gotham City. So, he tries to come up with a way that'll accomplish that.

Soon after, he takes on the identity of "Batman." And fear spreads quickly through the criminal underworld of Gotham City. 

After the incident in the parking garage with Sol, the Phantasm kills gangster, Buzz Bronski (John P. Ryan), at the same cemetery where Wayne met Beaumont years ago. 
Bronski's bodyguards witness the Phantasm and think it's Batman. 
When Batman investigates the crime scene, he wanders over to his parents gravesite. Nearby, he sees Beaumont. When she sees him, he unwittingly reveals his true identity to her because he's standing next to the Wayne's gravesite. 
Hearing the news of all these criminal deaths, another crime boss, Salvatore Valestra (Abe Vigoda) finds an old picture of himself with the now deceased boss. This terrifies him as he now thinks Batman is coming for him next. He turns to the Joker (Mark Hamill) for protection.
When the Phantasm comes to Valestra's house to kill him, he finds that the Joker beat him to it with some of his own deadly venom.
The Joker spots the Phantasm on a security camera. As he realizes that Batman isn't the culprit killing off all these crime lords, he blows up Valestra's mansion with a trap he set to ultimately take out Batman.
The Phantasm escapes the blast, and Batman pursues him. During the chase, Batman finds himself bruised and cornered by police. 
Beaumont happens to drive by the scene, and rescues Batman at the last second.
Bruce Wayne thinks Carl Beaumont is the Phantasm. But when he finds the photograph Valestra had in his possession, he recognizes one of the mobsters in the picture as the Joker. 
He soon determines the Joker is behind the Phantasm. However, the truth will turn out to be something Wayne never anticipated.

There is a lot of effort behind "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" to make a compelling film and it shows.

This film presents Batman/ Bruce Wayne in a more tragic way not necessarily scene before in movies. That might not be the case when it comes to the pages of comic books. 

When I first saw this movie, it was the first time I saw Batman as a truly torn figure. It was the first time I saw more into his origin than what Tim Burton presented in his movie. Burton's "Batman" touches upon Bruce Wayne's chilling and sad past, but the focus is unevenly split between him and the criminal shenanigans of Jack Napier/ Joker. There's more focus on the Joker than on Batman/ Bruce Wayne. 

Batman films after 1993 also touch upon the superhero's origin, especially Christopher Nolan's film, "Batman Begins." 

"Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" makes this aspect of Batman a major focus.  

And, what's great about it is that this animated movie works. It provides a backstory to Batman/ Bruce Wayne, depicting him in a manner different from those scene in movies before.
Batman is truly human in this story. For a crimefighter, he's much more vulnerable, emotionally speaking. 

The animation is well done. The sound track fits in well. And the storyline is nicely balanced between drama and action. Thankfully, this movie doesn't overdo it with a lengthy run time. It's only 78 minutes long. That's perfect!

In the story, Bruce doesn't become Batman until after he receives Andrea's note. And the two are very similar people, at least as far as where their personal tragedies pushes them. 

In one scene, when Bruce puts on his mask for the first time, his butler, Alfred Pennyworth (Efrem Zimbalist) stops dead in his tracks and gasps. 

"My God!" Alfred says, reacting at the sight of Bruce, whom he's known all his life, as he embraces a life of retribution to the fullest extent. 

This reflects another scene where Bruce tells Alfred, "You think you know everything about me, don't you?"

"I diapered your bottom. I bloody well ought to, sir," Alfred says.

I seem to recall this movie wasn't marketed well when it was released. The story line is deeper than an average animated movie directed at children. Even Siskel and Ebert gave it positive reviews. Still, it bombed at the box office, which is a shame. 

This Batman story deserves recognition along side other well-loved and admired Batman films that have come before and after. It presents the caped crusader with depth, anguish and pain that carries on even past the story. As far as the Batman films of the 1990s, "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" is the best we got. I'll add that I still have a special place in my heart for Burton's '89 film.

Dick Tracy (1990) - Comic to Movie #16

"You know, Tracy, for a tough guy you do a lot of pansy things."

Director 
Warren Beatty

Cast

Warren Beatty - Dick Tracy

Al Pacino - 'Big Boy' Caprice

Charlie Korsmo - The Kid

Madonna - Breathless Mahoney

Glenne Headly - Tess Trueheart

Dustin Hoffman - Mumbles

William Forsythe - Flattop

Charles Durning - Chief Brandon

Seymour Cassel - Sam Catchem

James Keane - Pat Patton

When Disney, via Touchstone Pictures, released the movie "Dick Tracy" in 1990, it was promoted everywhere. The movie, directed by Warren Beatty, was treated like the next big blockbuster following Tim Burton's "Batman" which came out the year before. The movie has an all-star cast with Beatty taking the lead role. And it has a soundtrack starring Madonna. Surely that's enough to make a huge hit. 

The yellow trench coat wearing, no nonsense, crime fighting, chili eating detective was created by cartoonist Chester Gould. The comic strip "Dick Tracy" premiered in the Detroit Mirror newspaper on October, 4 1931. 

In the strip, Tracy faces a wide-ranging rogues gallery of distinctly strange gangsters like Flattop, Itchy, the Stooge, Shoulders, Pruneface, Johnny Ramm, Nails, Little Face, Influence, Mumbles, 88 Keys... the list is long. These villains each have strange and unique appearances, quarks, and distinct peculiarities. Characters like these show that crime is just as ugly on the outside as it is on the inside. 

Not only does Tracy sport his famous yellow coat and Fedora, he also wears a two-way wrist watch which he uses to communicate with the police department.
Incidentally, I started this broken chain of "comic to movie" movie reviews with the early Dick Tracy film, "Dick Tracy, Detective" (1945). That movie is the first of a four-part installment of film-noir pulp style films. It's followed by "Dick Tracy vs. Cueball" (1946), "Dick Tracy's Dilemma" (1947) and "Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome" (1947) which stars Boris Karloff. 
I've played with the idea of reviewing these other films.  And now that I'm throwing in this "Dick Tracy" movie, I'm leaning towards foregoing commentary on those early Tracy movies. Time will tell.
As I've previously mention on this blog, the comic-based movies I initially wanted to review for this thread are still hard to come by. Some, I have to pay for through streaming services. I don't want to get into that habit. Others I just can't find. Earlier adaptations such as Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel, and Flash Gordon are multi-episode serials. I found a bunch of those, but I just need time watch them all. So, once again, I'm straying off my list (and I do have a handwritten list) of "not-so-popular" or "off-the-radar" comic book movies to blog about.
"Dick Tracy" is a movie I've liked since I first saw it back in 1990. I even dressed as Dick Tracy for Halloween that year. I was in second grade at that time. Mom packed my lunches back then in my Dick Tracy lunchbox. And I still have the Dick Tracy action figures which came out in time for the movie. They're all proudly displayed on a bookshelf at home as they somehow survived being thrown away. 
I've talked about this movie before on this blog where I tossed a few talking points around rather than give it a proper critique.
The film starts as a young street kid (Charlie Korsmo) rummages through a garbage can outside a warehouse looking for food. 
He hears a commotion inside, and sneaks in to see what's going on. He stumbles upon a group of mobsters playing a game of cards.
As he spies on them, possibly hoping to get his hands on some of the cash they have on the table, a car crashes through the doors and showers bullets onto the unexpecting card party. 

Warren Beatty in "Dick Tracy."

Once they're all dead, two gangsters, Flattop (William Forsythe) and Itchy (Ed O'Ross), get out of the car, tommy guns still in hand. They both work for crime boss, Al "Big Boy" Caprice (Al Pacino). 

The Kid, as he's later called, escapes without harm into the night. 
The massacre is part of Big Boy's ultimate goal to take over small businesses in the city, and grow in power. Taking out rival gangs and making sure police and officials are kept in his back pocket is crucial. 
Next, he kidnaps rival crime boss, "Lips" Manlis (Paul Sorvino), and his girlfriend Breathless Mahoney (Madonna). Lips owns the popular night spot, the Club Ritz, where Breathless works as a singer. 

Big Boy has them taken down to the docs where he forces Lips at gunpoint to sign over the Club Ritz to him, and then bumps him off by giving him "the bath."
It's not as pleasant as it sounds.

With one rival gone, Big Boy declares all of Lips's territory now belongs to him, and everyone who works for Lips is now working for him. 
Dick Tracy begins investigating the whereabouts of Lips. He starts with interrogating Flattop and Itchy. He also finds evidence that places Breathless Mahoney at the docs where Lips was killed.
Tracy tries to persuade her to testify against Big Boy. She's torn, however. Breathless falls in love with him, but is worried what Big Boy will do to her if she testifies. 
Also, Tracy stumbles upon the Kid as he steels a man's watch inside a diner and tries to run off. 

He follows the boy down to a ramshackle little shed where he presumably lives with an abusive bum who goes by "the Tramp." 
Tracy beats up this bum after he pushes the Kid around. The Kid soon warms up to Tracy and sees him as a hero 
Outside of work, Tracy wants to start a family with his girlfriend, Tess Trueheart (Glenne Headly) but can't get himself to propose. She, however, thinks Tracy cares more about his job than about her. Being a cop is extremely demanding.

Since Big Boy can't buy off Tracy, he ruthlessly does what he can to get Tracy out of his way - permanently. 

A mysterious mobster with no face (literally) appears on the crime scene and hatches a plan to get Tracy out of the way. 

"The Blank," as he's called, gets to Big Boy's piano player, 88 Keys (Mandy Patinkin) in order to talk to Big Boy on his behalf. After some persuading, Big Boy goes along with the Blank's scheme. The plan is to kill the corrupt District Attorney, John Fletcher (Dick Van Dyke), and pin it on Tracy who'll then end up in jail.

Tracy continues to pursue Big Boy. And when he puts Big Boy's right-hand henchman, Mumbles (Dustin Hoffman), under the interrogation light, he finds that Mumbles has a lot to say. It's just a matter of understanding what it is he's saying.
The big selling point for this movie was its huge all-star cast such Al Pacino, Warren Beatty, Madonna, Dustin Hoffman, William Forsythe, Dick Van Dyke, and Paul Sorvino. There's also an array of notable cameos -Catherine O'Hara (Texie Garcia), James Caan (Spaldoni), and Kathy Bates (Mrs. Green). 

There's no other comic-based movie I've seen that matches the atmosphere and style of "Dick Tracy." 
You can pause any moment in this movie, and it looks like a comic panel with all its vibrant colors, creative framing, mood, and stylized dialogue of the 1930s and 1940s. The use of light and dark also gives the film its true comic book feel. This movie has no dull scenes. Not one! 
The matte drawings, and the universe this story exists in, is amazing and impressive. There's a lot for the eyes to take in, scene by scene. It's like a film noir that takes advantage of the best modern production quality that Disney could offer at the time. 

It's soundtrack adds to that element. The opening musical score, composed by Danny Elfman, is a regimental commanding piece complimented with radio chatter about brazen gang activity taking place throughout the city. No one is safe out there. 
Where the movie lacks with most audiences, I think, is with the story. It's a bit lackluster but it does fit in with the types of stories found in the Dick Tracy comic strip. I don't think it transitions well enough onto a film platform. 

It's not a bad nor even an uninteresting story. It simply doesn't jump out and grab audiences like other crime movies. There's some action, and a huge gun fight in the last act with tommy guns going non-stop. But it's not enough. 

Many of the characters aren't fleshed out well enough, either. While there's no back stories (not that there needs to be any), and Dick Tracy is already well established within his world, a lot of the characters aren't as interesting as they could be. For instance, 88 Keys, the piano player at the Club Ritz, plays a pivotal role in trying to get Big Boy Caprice to go along with the plans of the Blank. But he's a completely forgettable character. He's simply there because someone has to be. 

Mandy Patinkin and Al Pacino in "Dick Tracy."

The most lively among them is Pacino. He plays his character as unpredictable, and as one hell of a loudmouth. He misquotes historical figures and spews out verbose lectures. Yet Pacino pulls off an intimidating villain rather well. 
In one scene were Big Boy calls all the crime bosses of the city together to partner up and take out Tracy, he grows frustrated the more they question him. He starts slamming the table as his voice grows louder to the point where he's shouting. 

"You get behind me, we all profit. You challenge me, we all go down! There was one Napoleon, one Washington, one me!"

Madonna is the biggest mistake in the movie. Not only is her performance lazy and boring, but she brings nothing but trash to her performance. I understand her character is supposed to be a gorgeous club singer. But even a gorgeous club singer can have class. Madonna has none. She simply works to flaunt herself and be as sexually deviant as Touchstone will allow her. She's the major stain on this otherwise good movie. 
I think the storyline and character development are the reason why the Dick Tracy hype quickly faded into footnote shortly after the movie's release. Many of the characters are only memorable because of their humorous appearances and weird quirks. 

As much as I love this movie, I would love to see a new film based on the famous detective.  

As much as Tim Burton's"Batman" holds a special place in my heart, I honestly think "Dick Tracy" is a comic book movie that's more impressive.

Despite what may be lacking, "Dick Tracy" remains one of the truest comic book movies out there. 

Dick Tracy comic stripped published on
July 23, 1979 by Chester Gould.

Don't fast forward this one: If a movie is going to swear, it needs to keep it real...

Mark Wahlberg as Stuart Long in the film "Father Stu."

I recently wrote a review for the biopic "Father Stu", released April 15 in time for Easter. 
While I thought the movie is one of the best religious pictures I've seen, others were less favorable because of the amount of profanity in the film. How can that be tolerated? It's a religious film!
As I noted in my article, "Father Stu" tells the story of amateur Stuart Long, who grew up with no religious background, a distant alcoholic father who became so after the death of Stuart's brother, Stephen, at age six. 
So, needless to say, there's swearing in the film because the real Stuart Long cursed and swore. He was probably a master at it. 
Like Stu in his later life, I too am a Catholic. I'm certainly not a great at being one.
Having been raised in the city of Oakland, California, swearing was all around me throughout life. I'm guilty of it myself. Old f-ing habits die hard, for f--k sake!
For me, even from a religious standpoint, swearing is spitting. It's severity, or sinfulness, depends on how it's used. An f-bomb stings when it's hurled directly at somebody as opposed to dropping one after you stub your toe, or getting a jury summons scheduled the same week as your long-awaited vacation. Even then, it's a gross habit and does nothing good for the swearer. 

Some people are bothered by our society's arsenal of dirty words, and that's completely understandable and worth respect. Others don't seem to mind. In those cases, it is what it is. Swearing has become inconsequential in today's society. People just blurt out their obscenities like its confetti. Yet, there are many pockets of places where it's still frowned upon. 

Mark Wahlberg and Jacki Weaver in "Father Stu."

So, I understand the dismay some religious groups and individuals have at watching the movie "Father Stu" about a convert to Catholicism, that's laced with profanity. 
But it needs to be in there. It's a biographical picture, and that's who Stuart Long was before he converted. 
If a movie is going to depict a real person, and that person swore a lot, then it's important for a biographical story to keep things real. The movie is trying to convey reality, and do so in a way for the audience to relate and become invested in it, even if elements are unpleasant to watch and hear. 
If a character, based on a real person, is a drug using ex-con, and an all-around mean son of a bitch, it would take me out of the story if they never used any profanity but rather spoke lines like "Gosh darn it, you big dumb, dumb head" in intense situations. 
How can the audience take the story seriously if a character, who obviously doesn't care much for what comes out of their mouth, has dialogue that doesn't fit their personality. 
Or, if they come from parts of the country such as New Jersey, like in "Jersey Boys" (2014) with young Catholic Italians swearing here and there, where language like that is commonplace, then obviously it's going to be included.
Sure, some movies might over do it. The movie "Goodfellas" (1990) comes to mind. But, then again, the characters are all pretty much Italian mafioso. So, again, it's expected. There sure is a lot of it, though, in that movie. It's not pleasant to hear. Then again, the characters are unpleasant as well.
I have to add that one of the best scenes I've seen in the movie involves profanity. 
In the 2010 biographical film, "The King's Speech" about King George VI and his speech therapist Lionel Logue, who helps him overcome his terrible stutter during his ascension to the throne in 1936, one the best scenes involves a string of "such language."

After Logue hears the king use the word "bloody," a common vulgarity in the U.K., he tells the king, "Vulger, but fluent. You don't stammer when you swear."

"Oh, bugger off!" the king replies. 

"Is that the best you can do?" 

"Well... bloody bugger to you, you beastly bastard."

"Oh, a public school prig could do better than that."

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!"

And the words keep coming, and coming, and coming, without a stammer. 

"Defecation flows trippingly from the tongue!" Logue later says. 

I know a lot individuals are adamantly, and admirably, opposed to swearing. And that's fine. It turns me off when I hear others use it over and over again. I'm certainly not endorsing it, nor trying to pursued people to just accept it. 

But sometimes, a movie needs colorful language for the sake of realism. What needs more consideration is whether or not a movie should be made in the first place. That's the bigger issue. In "Father Stu's" case, the answer, thankfully, is "yes," swear words and all.

Ella Cinders (1926) - Comic to Movie #15

"It's a darn shame, the way they treat you." 

Director

Alfred E. Green

Cast

Colleen Moore - Ella Cinders

Lloyd Hughes - Waite Lifter

Vera Lewis - Ma Cinders

Emily Gerdes - Prissy Pill

Doris Baker - Lotta Pill

The American syndicated comic strip "Ella Cinders," introduced June 1, 1925, is the creation of American screenwriter Bill Conselman and cartoonist Charles Plumb.

If anyone hasn't noticed, it's a play on the name "Cinderella." In this case, it's Cinderella for the early 20th Century.

In the strip, Ella Cinders is a young, attractive, and modest girl with big innocent eyes and black shoulder length hair cut in a bob. Ella doesn't initially flaunt her beauty, which progresses through the years of the comic's history. 

She lives with her step family made up of Myrtle "Ma" Cinders, and her step sisters, Prissie and Lotta Pill. 

Prissie is bitter and cold while Lotta is a rotund gal, and still just as mean. Ella is reduced to all the housework around the house at the unsympathetic demands of her step-family.

In the strip, her boyfriend, Waite Lifter, and her brother, Blackie, take her side as emotional support for the poor treatment she gets at home. 

Ella eventually wins a beauty contest, which results in a job at a movie theater. This plays as the "fairy godmother" part of the Cinderella story. It's the opportunity to leave the dire situation she's initially in. 

Ella and Blackie move to Hollywood where she works hard to make a successful life for herself. 

The comic strip ran until 1961. 

And that's the basic premise for the 1926 movie "Ella Cinders" based on the strip. 

In the film, Ella Cinders (Colleen Moore) lives with her step ma (Vera Lewis), Prissy (Emily Gerdes) and Lotta (Doris Baker) in the town of Roseville. 

Her one friend is the ice man, Waite Lifter (Lloyd Hughes) who questions how she can stand living with her horrible step family.

The Ciders hear of a contest being put on by the Gem Film Company in which a winner will receive an all-expense paid trip to Hollywood to appear in a film. 

Ma Cinders, of course, wants to enter Prissy and Lotta. Ella wants to enter the contest as well at the encouragement of Waite. 

To enter, she must send the company head shots of herself which will cost a grand total of $3 to take.

As this is 1926, and money actually had value back then. Three dollars was like...I don't know...a bajillion dollars for people in those days, or something close to that.

Anyways, she babysits the neighbors kids for three nights to raise the necessary cash.

Everything goes according to plan. When Ella goes to have her headshots taken, she's bothered by a persistent fly which causes her headshots come out cross eyed and ridiculous. 

Nevertheless, the photographer submits the pictures to the contest. 

The day of the contest judging arrives, which includes a big gala party. 

Ma and her two daughters attend, but Ella is told she can't go. 

Waite finds Ella crying on the front porch and encourages her to go to the party anyways. 

As she has nothing to wear, he tells her to grab something out of her sister's closet. 

So, she does. 

At first, everything goes well at the party, and her step family doesn't spot her. 

Colleen Moore as "Ella Cinders."

When Ella approaches the judges table, they see her and rip off some of there clothing in anger for her taking their clothes.

She's also embarrassed at the cross-eyed pictures.

Ella leaves the party in tears, not noticing one of her shoes falls off in the middle of the ordeal. 

And, wouldn't you know, Waite finds her shoe.   

Ella packs up her stuff and heads straight to the unemployment office. 

Unexpectedly, she encounters her ma there who promises to punish Ella severely.

At home, the contest judges arrive to let Ella know she won, much to her ma's chagrin.

Despite the bad headshots, the judges like her unusual pictures as they want someone who can make audiences laugh.

So, Ella heads off to Hollywood.

Almost as soon as she steps off the train in Hollywood, Ella finds out the entire contest was a fraud. 

With this major setback, Ella is faced with two options. She can either go home with her tail between her legs. Or, she can stay in Hollywood and turn this loss into a gain.

"Ella Cinders" is the first Colleen Moore film I've seen, and it made me a fan. Moore fits the role of Ella Cinders impressively well. The film makes sure to exhibit Moore's charm and talent to the fullest.

She has a lot of character behind her sincere and doleful eyes.

Moore is almost like a female Charlie Chaplin who describes his Tramp character as "childlike, bumbling but generally good-hearted...who endeavors to behave with the manners and dignity of a gentleman (or lady, in Moore's case) despite his actual social status." 

In "Ella Cinders," Moore's character, like the comic strip, is kind-hearted and undefiant despite the unjust treatment she receives on a daily basis. Yet, she doesn't reconsider leaving her cruel family when the opportunity presents itself. Ella welcomes the freedom with open arms, and doesn't let the opportunity go to waste.

But Moore can convey emotion impressively well without words - sadness, infatuation, silliness, disappointment, helplessness, determination. 

I have to add here that silent films in general impress me more than most modern films. Actors need pure talent to convey emotions to the audience without speaking. I'm convinced many silent film actors can out act a lot of todays actors any day. They still manage to inspire modern actors and filmmakers, which is certainly no surprise. 

In one scene, Cinders crams over a book on how to be a talented success in Hollywood on the night before she leaves. 

She reads over a page about how an actor should work their eyes to capture different emotions. One of the instructions says crossing one's eyes will capture attention. The shot changes to a comedic routine with Moore performing some sort of eyeball aerobics with each eye moving in a different direction. I was left dumbfounded. I couldn't tell if this is a split screen effect, or if Moore actually pulls off these eyeball maneuvers herself. Either way, it deserves to be as iconic as Chaplin's dance of the dinner rolls from "The Gold Rush." 

My favorite part of the movie takes place when Ella falls asleep on a train car she has all to herself. While she's asleep, a group of Native American Indians come aboard, dressed in their customary attire and headdresses. 

An Indian family sits with Ella and begin smoking cigars. 

As the smoke wakes her up, she's surprised to find the entire car, that was vacant moments ago, filled with Native Americans in all their regalia.

The father of the family sitting next to her gives her a glaring look, and then offers her a cigar. 

Not to be rude, she accepts and starts smoking it. It's clear cigar smoking isn't an activity she's ever indulged in. But the sick look on her face as she puffs away so as not to be rude is hilarious. Each time he looks over at her, she perks up and keeps puffing like she knows what she's doing. 

Based on what little I know about the comic strip, the movie adaption really captures the style and humor of the source. 

Some of the classic tropes in Cinderella are changed to something more fitting for the 20th Century.

When an embarrassed Ella runs out of the contest judging, she leaves her shoe behind. 

Waite finds it, and chuckles to himself as if to tell the audience, "you think you know where this is going."

Later, when she's off to Hollywood, Waite gives her a parting gift - a brand new pair of nice dress shoes.

Also, the "fairy godmother" character is replaced by the opportunity to go to Hollywood, as well as Ella own will power.

The movie's director, Alfred E. Green makes a cameo as the movie director in this movie. 

Green later went on to direct some well know movies such as "The Jackie Robinson Story" (1950) and "The Eddie Cantor Story" (1953).

The other, more notable cameo, is that of silent film star Harry Langdon. 

According to imdb.com, Moore recalled famed director Frank Capra directing her scene with Langdon. Capra sat in the directors chair for some noteworthy pictures like "It Happened One Night" (1934), "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939) and "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946).  

When Ella arrives in Hollywood, the film shifts from satirical to drama, and ends up a bit underwhelming by the end. Regardless, I still found this movie adaptation of a by-gone comic strip entertaining, memorable, funny, and worthy of continual attention despite its age. It's definitely a movie I had a fun time watching.

It's a great satirical take on the rags-to-riches premise of Cinderella.

"Ella Cinders" is the earliest film I have found so far that's based on a comic. And I'm really glad I took time to watch it. I hope this movie, and Colleen Moore, continues to obtain the attention and recognition it deserves.

Batman Returns (1992) - Comic to Movie #14

"But when it comes down to it, who's holding the umbrella?"

Director 
Tim Burton

Cast
Batman/ Bruce Wayne - Michael Keaton
Catwoman/ Selina Kyle - Michelle Pfeiffer
Penguin/ Oswald Cobblepot - Danny DeVito
Max Shreck - Christopher Walken 
Michael Gough - Alfred Pennyworth
Pat Hingle - Commissioner Jim Gordon

I want to continue watching and reviewing more obscure, less talked about movies based on comic books and comic strips. This subgenre I started blogging about has been in a sort of limbo, on and off again, on my blog. And a handful of movies I've included are rather popular despite how bad they are. 
Most of the "comic-to-movie" movies I want to watch and review are simply difficult to obtain. At this point, I'm taking what I can get. But I haven't given up on finding those hard-to-come-by movies.
The 1992 Tim Burton film "Batman Returns" is a sequel to his hit 1989 movie "Batman." 
"Batman" has a special place in my movie-loving heart. I saw it with my oldest brother at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland, Calif., back when it was released.
I recall the theater exploding in cheers at the scene when Batman flies his Batwing (or Batplane) through the cloud cover causing it to silhouette against the moon before flying back down to attack the Joker as he releases noxious "Smilex" gas on Gotham City.
I was seven-years old at the time. The movie turned me into a little bat fan boy. In fact, the first CD I ever purchased (probably with my mom's money, of course) was the orchestral soundtrack to "Batman." I bought it new for $12 at Wherehouse Music at the Southland Shopping Center in Alameda, Calif. I still have that CD and it still plays. 
"Batman Returns," release June 19, 1992, is also one of few movies in my lifetime, up to now, that I was fanatically eager to see. So much so, I had dreams about it before actually seeing it. 

Back then, obviously the option to log onto the internet and look for any leaked images or trailers didn't exist. You had to go to the movies and hope a trailer for a movie you wanted to see would play before the feature film. Or you had to wait for a trailer to air on television. Occasionally, some popular films would gain their own TV featurette.
I recall some morning talk show claiming they were going to show an "exclusive clip" of "Batman Returns" later in their program. I watched the entire boring talk show just to see this one clip. And that clip was the scene in the film where Batman meets Penguin for the first time. We got to see first hand the new villains Batman would square off with, in all their reimagined glory. 
Just days before the movie's release, my family and I had were on a trip in Southern California to visit friends. 
During this trip, we visited Hollywood Blvd., and walked passed Grauman's Chinese Theater.
The front of the theater was decked out in Batman imagery, with a giant poster of the movie draped above the theater entrance. Barricades surrounded the front of the theater where celebrity hand prints are. And a red carpet was rolled out. The premier of "Batman Returns" was taking place that evening. 
Michael Keaton had placed his hands in cement the day before - June 15, 1992. I took a picture of all this, including the wet cement with Keaton's prints. Sadly, I have no idea what became of those pictures. 
I don't recall the last time I watched "Batman Returns" before watching it the other day. 

After seeing the recent Batman film "The Batman" I wanted to watch this sequel again. 

The new Batman film has the caped crusader, played by Robert Pattinson, taking on the Penguin, also known as Oswald Cobblepot, played beautifully by Colin Farrell. It also stars Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle/ Catwoman. Sitting there in the theater watching this happen all over again took me back to "Batman Returns." 
The film starts on a dark and very uncomfortable tone. 

Danny DeVito as Oswald Cobblepot/ The Penguin

On Christmas day inside the Cobblepot mansion, Esther Cobblepot (Diane Salinger) gives birth to a new born baby boy off-screen while her husband, Tucker Cobblepot (Paul Reubens) waits patiently, gazing out a window, watching the snow fall gently against the night sky as his wife screams from labor pains. 

As screams of the new born baby join those of Esther's, Tucker rushes into the bedroom and wails in horror. 
The scene cuts to the couple sipping martinis while starring out into the snowy, freezing cold night. 
As they turn, a black crate with a small window sits in the middle of the floor next to a gorgeous Christmas tree. The child inside shakes the crate trying to get free. 

Two small gloved hands then reach out to snatch the family cat and pull it inside. 

Cat screeches mix with the sounds of a grunting child. 

Soon, Esther and Tucker take their child for a hasty stroll. They push their child in its carriage along an icy path towards a stream. When they get to a stone bridge over that stream, they look around to make sure they're alone. The then dump the basket with their first born child over. 
They watch as the basket floats into the dark chasm of the sewers. One last childish screech is heard before the basket is gone from site. 

After a while, a family of penguins - leftovers living underneath the abandoned Gotham City Zoo - discover the basket. 
The story cuts to 33-years later. Rumors of a hideous "Penguin man" living in the sewers are circulating around Gotham City. The newspapers are running stories on people who claim to have had sightings of this alleged Penguin person. 
Meanwhile, millionaire business owner Max Shreck (Christopher Walken), has plans to build a power plant in Gotham City. He claims his power plant will be able to supply the city with more than enough electricity. His dirty little secret, however, is that his proposed power plant will suck power in, stockpile it, and allow Shreck to take control of the entire city.
Shreck meets with Gotham City's mayor, (Michael Murphy) whose generally opposed to Shreck's outward plan.
Shortly after their meeting, Schreck gives a speech outside a department store he owns. It's quickly interrupted when the infamous "Red Triangle Gang" attacks, destroying businesses and threatening the citizens of Gotham. 
In no time, Batman shows up to take on these criminals. But little does anyone know, amidst all the chaos, that Max Shreck is kidnapped and taken into the sewer.
There, he's confronted by the Penguin himself, whose real name is Oswald Cobblepot. 

His hands are deformed and look more like flippers. He takes care of the penguins living below the abandoned zoo. He keeps an arsenal of weaponized umbrellas. And he's also the leader of the Red Triangle Gang.
Cobblepot asks Shreck to help him come out from under the streets of Gotham City and reemerge with a high social standing. He blackmails Shreck with incriminating evidence previously disposed of if he doesn't assist.
"Remember Max - you flush it, I flaunt it," Cobblepot says.
Later, Shreck's secretary, Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfeiffer) accidently discovers Shreck's secret files that expose what his true plans are with the power plant. 
Though she swears she'll keep them a secret, Shreck pushes her out his office window several stories above the ground. 
Moments after her body hits the pavement below, and her last breath dissipates in the winter air, a bunch of feral cats run up to her body start nibbling. This somehow brings Kyle back to life, and also gives her some kind cat fetish.
She heads back to her lonely apartment and goes crazy (literally). In her fit on feline lunacy, Kyle makes herself a cat costume, and takes her cat nonsense to the streets.

Michelle Pfeiffer as Selina Kyle/ Catwoman.

Shreck and Cobblepot come up with a plan to lift him out of the sewers and gain the trust of Gotham City.
Cobblepot saves the mayor's baby from one of the Red Triangle Gang members - an attempted kidnapping that they set up to take place during a mayoral speech.

After doing so, pretty much everyone in Gotham City is willing to welcome Cobblepot into the community.
Once this part of the plan is accomplished, Cobblepot spends hours at the Hall of Records giving the appearance that he's researching his childhood, and trying to discover who his parents are. 
Like Shreck, he also has an underlying plan - to kidnap all first born sons in Gotham City as an act of revenge for what his parents did to him.
In no time, Shreck pushes Cobblepot to run for mayor, which he easily agrees to do.

But Bruce Wayne remains skeptical of the Penguin. His first encounter with him is also his first encounter with Catwoman just as she destroys one of Shreck's department stores. 

In no time, Catwoman and Cobblepot partner together to destroy Batman in order to easily carry out both of their evil schemes. 
There's one line in the movie that still cracks me up.
As Batman is highly skeptical of Cobblepot's desires to look into his roots, Alfred asks him "Why are you now determined to prove that this Penguin is not what he seems? Must you be the only lonely man-beast in town?"
I have to mention, though it's been mentioned thousands of times before, that Cobblepot's parents have acted together before in an earlier Tim Burton movie - Pee Wee's Big Adventure (1985). Paul Reubens and Diane Salinger star as Pee-Wee Herman and Simone in that film. 
I was 10-years old when I saw "Batman Returns" with the same brother that took me to see "Batman." And I recall being impressed by the movie, but not as much as I was with "Batman." 

To begin with, Gotham City doesn't have the same feel as before, and I noticed it way back then. Shots of Gotham City in the first "Batman" were filmed at an outdoors at Pinewood Studios. For "Batman Returns," the movie was shot on two huge soundstages at Universal Studios. Gotham City feels more confined and compact compared to part one. 
While the first film is known for placing a darker, grittier Batman in the public's eye, which it successfully accomplished with its well-written, captivating story, "Batman Returns" tries to keep that image going but with a lot more of Tim Burton's style and imagination.

The first "Batman" offers some color with Jack Nicholson's Joker which contrasts brilliantly with Batman's shadows. This move has none of that. It's just dark all around, even though it takes place during the Christmas season. Nothing pops out. 
Warner Brothers executives gave Burton more freedom to be more, well, Tim Burton in this sequel. And it shows. Unfortunately, I think he inserts itself too much which diminishes the story. In other words, we get more Burton, but with plot points that are too often weak. 
"Batman Returns" isn't necessarily a bad movie. I love seeing Batman go against two villains at once. And the premise of Oswald Cobblepot running for Mayor is derivative the 1966 Batman TV series, season seven, episode two called "Hizzonner the Penguin" and the following episode, "Dizzoner the Penguin" in which the Penguin runs for mayor of Gotham City. As a lover of the campy T.V. series, I love this part of the story. 
It was also a premise in the third season of the series "Gotham" with Robin Lord Taylor as Penguin - a series I particularly enjoyed watching.
Still, the writing seems hasty, especially when it comes to the villainous Catwoman. Her origin story in the film is simply strange and, for lack of a better word, too "Tim Burton-y." Catwoman is one character "The Batman" did right. 
In "Batman Returns," before she becomes Catwoman,  Kyle is already a woman on edge thanks to her busy work schedule, apparent loneliness, and underlying frantic nature. 

After falling to her death, to be resurrected by nibbling kitty cats, her personality splits. She goes from a frumpy, lowly secretary to a femme fatale who suddenly knows how to fight and use a whip. If she already knew how to fight, she didn't use her skill when she was grabbed by a deranged a member of the Triangle Gang, brandishing a stun gun, earlier in the movie. 
Not only is she a poorly developed character, but her motives as Catwoman are unclear.
In the comic books, Catwoman does flip from being a vigilante who helps Batman in her own way only to flip elsewhere and turn to burglary. She helps Batman in the newest film. She also helps Batman in Christopher Nolan's third Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises" where she's played by Anne Hathaway.
Pfeiffer's Catwoman hints at both sides of the character, but in a convoluted way. When the audience is officially introduced to Catwoman after she takes out a would-be mugger, she pins the mugger's victim to the wall and scolds her for expecting Batman to save her. Nevermind that the poor victim never mentions Batman nor her expectations that he would come to her rescue. 

Batman (Michael Keaton) takes on the "Red Triangle Gang"
in "Batman Returns."

"I am Catwoman! Hear me roar," she says before backflipping her way off screen. 
When we see her next, she blows up one of Shreck's department stores, gets into a fight with Batman in a rooftop battle scene, and then is suddenly partnering up with Cobblepot to destroy Batman. Why? Is it because they had one fight? Or, is it because she wants to be replace the male vigilante hero in Gotham City with her female kitty self?

She tells Cobblepot, "Batman napalmed my arm, he knocked me off a building just when I was starting to feel good about myself. I wanna play an integral part in his degradation." That's the only motive she gives. This villainous side stems from little. Honestly, there's one line that really boils down Catwoman. After she goes crazy in her apartment, makes her cat suit, puts it on, and becomes the femme fatale I mentioned earlier, she says out loud to her pet cat, "I don't know about you, Miss. Kitty, but I feel so much yummier." Yet, she's not happy as the movie progresses. Catwoman is all around nonsensical and poorly developed. 

Danny DeVito as Penguin really steals the show, despite the constant nasty black crud that coats his nasty teeth and drips from his mouth. That has Tim Burton written all over it.
DeVito puts in a lot of energy and unforgettable character into the Penguin. He's perfectly cast thanks to his energetic personality. 
His Penguin character is a pitiful one. His impulsivity is driven by loneliness, anger, greed, rejection, and a desire for revenge. He's also drive by sexual frustration as he makes clear in one scene where he says, "I could really get into this mayor stuff. It's not about power, it's about reaching out to people - touching people - groping people!" He also tries to mack on Catwoman, but who wouldn't?

With all this motivating him, his anger and desire for revenge intensifies. He's never been loved, so he doesn't return what he never received. He's not crazy like the Joker was in "Batman."  
At first, after visiting the graves of his parents, the press are at the cemetery to bombard him with questions. Reporters refer to him as "Penguin." 

Cobblepot replies, "A penguin is a bird that cannot fly. I am a man. I have a name. Oswald Cobblepot."
Later in the film, after Batman shatters Cobblepot's public image, he returns back to the dank, cold sewers where he started with no way out yet again, thanks to Batman. He intends to exact his revenge on Gotham City, with more vengeance than before. 

One of his gang members calls him "Oswald." 

He shouts back, "My name is not Oswald! It's Penguin! I am not a human being. I am an animal! Cold-blooded!" 
The movie is quickly void of suspense. The moment where things start to become suspenseful and intense is when the Penguin unfolds his plans to kidnap and ultimately kill all of the first born sons in Gotham City. We then get a scene of his Red Triangle Gang taking children out of their homes and placing them into cages. That's quickly thwarted by Batman. As the Penguin sits in his sewer, waiting for the children to be brought to him, he's given a note (literally) written by Batman telling him the kids aren't coming. And, poof - the suspense is gone.

His plans change quickly to arming his pet penguins with little rockets which he sends out to the streets of Gotham to blow things up - more of what we've seen already.

We end on a fight between Batman and Penguin, with Catwoman soon joining in to really get her revenge on Shreck.

"Batman Returns" is an entertaining movie with memorable visuals, fantastic makeup, superb special effects, and some decent and memorable dialogue. 
With its story that's sacrificed in parts to make room for Burton to insert his visualizations and imaginings, it's clearly weaker than "Batman."

 

Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993)

"The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering."

Director

Rob Cohen

Cast

Jason Scott Lee - Bruce Lee

Lauren Holly - Linda Lee

Robert Wagner - Bill Krieger

Luoyong Wang - Yip Man

Ric Young - Lee Hoi-chuen

Sterling Macer - Jerome Sprout



Martial arts expert and actor Bruce Lee died in 1973 at the young age of 32. The circumstances behind Lee's death is a topic still discussed especially among fans and students. 
The 1993 biopic "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story," based on the book "Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew" by Lee's wife Linda Lee Cadwell, alludes that his death was mysterious. It has become a bit of an urban legend. 
Firstly, as far as biopics go, I've mentioned before on this blog that they generally seem easier to get involved in when they focus on one aspect of a subject's life rather than cover their entire lifespan in two-hours, give or take. While watching someone's whole life depicted on film has the potential to be  entertaining, it can easily miss the mark of showing audiences why the subject is worthy of a biographical movie in the first place. Or the multiple life events depicted might delude that specific point. It could also be breezed over because of time restraint. I suppose it all depends on the subject, what their life was like, and who's writing the movie. 
"Dragon" focuses mainly on Lee's adult life. 
The story begins as Lee's father, Lee Hoi-chuen (Ric Young), a former Cantonese opera singer and actor, awakens from a dream in which a demon pursues his son Bruce. 
His father enrolls young Lee into Chinese martial arts under the instruction of Yip Man (Luoyong Wang). When Bruce (Jason Scott Lee - no relation to Bruce) is a young adult, Lee Hoi-chuen insists he must leave Hong Kong and head back to America. Part of this is due to the demon that torments the Lee family. 

Luckily, having been born in San Francisco as his father often performed operas in the city, Lee has an American birth certificate which will allow him back in the U.S. 
This rags-to-riches biography follows Lee's early days in the Bay Area working a dishwasher in a Chinese restaurant, going to college, meeting his wife Linda (Lauren Holly), teaching martial arts to anyone who wants to learn regardless of race and background, becoming a father, and opening a Jeet Kune Do Martial Arts Institute in Oakland. 
We follow Lee's rise to fame beginning with his role as Kato on the television series "The Green Hornet."
Soon after, Lee finds he's very popular back in Hong Kong where producers want him to star in martial arts movies.
He takes on his first major lead role in "The Big Boss." 

"Dragon" concludes as Lee is wrapping up filming on his first Hollywood motion picture "Enter the Dragon." 
The goal of the movie is to portray Bruce Lee the person rather than the celebrity. 

Jason Scott Lee as Bruce Lee,
filming a scene for "Enter the Dragon."

The human side of Lee is spontaneous, humorous, and loves life. He's also deep, contemplative, scholarly, and extremely talented. Outside of his fame and notoriety, these qualities are captured well in the film thanks to Jason Scott Lee's performance.
The racism Lee encounters in his time spent in the Bay Area is heavy-handed. It seems everyone he encounters living in the Bay Area is racist. Lee's fellow students at the university are racist. Hollywood producers are racist. (that part is believable.) The maître d' at a random restaurant is racist. Even some in the Chinese community are portrayed as racist. I'm sure Lee sadly encountered prejudice and racism as his career grew. 
At the same time, Lee doesn't let these despicable attitudes hinder him. In one scene, he claims "emotion can be the enemy." 
Even in the 1960s and 1970s, the Bay Area's population consisted of a variety of individuals from different parts of the world. And they were intermingled. I grew up in Oakland from the 1980s through the early 2000s. The rampant racism portrayed as existing in the Bay Area is laid on thick - perhaps too thick.
In the final act of the film, he has an argument with Linda who wants to move out of Hong Kong and back to the States with their children, and she wants Lee to go back with them. Lee gets angry and yells at her claiming opportunity in America is for white people only while Asians are publicly mocked. 
"Here I am somebody, I'm special," Lee says. "Back there, I'm just another two-bit, know-nothing dishwasher from a fishy-stinking restaurant." But by this time, Lee has gained considerable fame and appreciation in the states.
When it comes to the demon pursuing Lee and his family, from what I've previously read there's no evidence to suggest that he had reoccurring hallucinations or dreams of a demon.
However, the Lee's before him believed their family was cursed. His father suffered the loss of his first born son. He even dressed young Bruce as a girl during the initial years of his life in an attempt to fool this demon believed to be tormenting the family. 
The demon is an integral sub-plot in the film. But it becomes a little confusing after one scene in which adult Lee goes to visit his martial arts teacher, Yip Man, while he's working in Hong Kong. He tells his teacher about the demon he keeps seeing.
"We all have inner demons to fight," Yip Man says. "We call these demons 'fear', and 'hatred', and 'anger'. If you don't conquer them, then a life of a hundred years is a tragedy. If you do, a life of a single day can be a triumph."

While filming a scene for "Enter the Dragon" Lee is confronted by the demon one last time. The demon sees Lee's son, Brandon and attempts to go after him instead. This leads to a fight between it and Lee, where Lee comes out victorious.

But, the movie suggests that this demon was the cause of Lee's death. The closing scene has a voice over from Linda telling the audience that  Lee died days before "Enter the Dragon" was released after falling into a "mysterious coma."

"There are many people that want to know the way he died, I want to remember the way he lived," she says.

Various sources point to cerebral edema as the cause of Lee's death as he often suffered from headaches near the end of his life. 

The website www.historyvshollywood.com claims Lee's alleged mistress, Betty Ting Pei, gave him a painkiller for a headache which may have led to an adverse reaction that ultimately led to his death.

Incidentally, Bruce's son, Brandon, died 37 days before the release of "Dragon." 

Like his father, he also died young at the age of 28.

Is it supposed to be left to the audience to determine how Lee died? This part of the movie feels muddled. 
Nevertheless, "Dragon" balances between a martial arts movie on one side, and a biographical depiction on the other. The fighting scenes are well choreographed and entertaining to watch. 

Jason Scott Lee and Lauren Holly.

What's not mentioned in the film is that Lee's first movie appearance is the 1941 film "The Golden Gate Girl." He was three-months old at the time. Since then, he's appeared in 21 films. 
The movie's soundtrack, though, is repetitive. Every time something successful happens, the same triumph tune plays. By the final act, it's almost laughable. 
Overall, the movie is entertaining and intriguing, despite the inaccuracies it contains.

While Lee suffers from various situations that nearly ruin him, including a severe back injury and the racism of those who cross his path, he still comes out with worldwide success. Any anger or hatred he carried with him isn't depicted much save for a few instances of yelling and self-pity. 

"Dragon" aims to pay reference and respect to Lee. It pretty much accomplishes that goal, while giving the audience insight into the person, Bruce Lee.