Sunday 28 March 2010

Movie Review: Kelly's Heroes (1970)


Back in 1970, this must have seemed like a good idea: infuse modern anti-war cultural elements into a World War II movie to appeal to the hippie and flower-child audience of the day.

Hence Donald Sutherland as Oddball (indeed) is a laid-back, seemingly perpetually stoned tank commander. The rag-tag soldiers under his command are doing all they can to sit-out the war, living in a tent compound that can only be described as a hippie commune. In future Hollywood war films, characters like Sutherland and his anti-authoritarian crew make regular appearances in movies about the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. In the World War II setting of Kelly's Heroes, they are jarringly out of place. The main song of the movie, "Burning Bridges", is also straight out of the late 1960's and totally irrelevant to the World War II era.

Thankfully, Kelly's Heroes also offers Clint Eastwood as Private Kelly. Eastwood brings his typical restrained but tough persona to the war arena as the demoted Sergeant who, in the days after D-Day, stumbles onto the location of 14,000 bars of Nazi gold stored in the small town of Clermont, 30 miles behind enemy lines in France. He hatches a plan for a small force of disenchanted US soldiers to strike out on their own, defy orders, breakthrough the German lines and steal the gold from the bank where it is held. His reluctant companion is Big Joe, a Master Sergeant effectively brought to life by Telly Savalas.

As rumours of the gold spread, Kelly's small force unwittingly mushrooms into a full-fledged breakthrough of the German lines through which a large chunk of the allied army starts streaming in. What starts as a theft is transformed into a race to the bank before the American army unit arrives to liberate the town.

Kelly's Heroes is not trying to be serious, and it is does contain several memorable action sequences and some impressive explosions. Director Brian G. Hutton keeps the action moving and allows his stars time to stamp their personalities on proceedings. The final battle between Kelly's unit and the small armoured German force tasked with defending the bank is also well choreographed, with a nice blend of action and humour, and Hutton finds time to weave in a clever salute to Eastwood's Spaghetti Western roots.

Eastwood and Savalas are capably supported by a colourful cast that includes Don Rickles as a supply sergeant, and Carroll O'Connor as the General who spots the opportunity to exploit the gap created by Kelly's expedition.

Kelly's Heroes would have a made quite a solid comic-oriented war movie; the artificial imposition of a 1960's ethos unfortunately both undermines and unhinges the film. Oddball is not just the name of Sutherland's character -- it's an apt description of the movie itself.






All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.

Friday 26 March 2010

Movie Review: The Dirty Dozen (1967)


A World War II action movie, The Dirty Dozen boasts a star-studded cast thrust into a suicide mission as a ticket to freedom from incarceration.

Major John Reisman (Lee Marvin) is an anti-authoritarian US Army commander based in England in the days leading up to the D-Day Normandy invasion. He is tasked with a high-risk behind-enemy-lines-mission: train a unit composed of 12 hardened convicts to attack and destroy a chateau in France popular as a retreat for high-ranking German army officers.

From the ranks of criminals facing the death penalty or long-term sentences for violent crimes, Reisman's recruits include Wladislaw (Charles Bronson), Maggott (Telly Savalas), Franko (John Cassavetes), Pinkley (Donald Sutherland), and Jefferson (Jim Brown). They are all promised freedom in the unlikely event they survive the mission. Arduous training follows, Reisman finding his hands full with men more likely to turn on each other and on him before they ever get deployed. And despite detailed planning, the attack on the chateau will encounter unforeseen challenges.

Neatly divided into forming then storming segments, The Dirty Dozen is jovial, violent, and unafraid to take casualties. Director Robert Aldrich keeps the action moving with a straightforward and generally unobtrusive style, alternating scenes of the convicts clashing with Reisman during training with examples of their progression into a fighting unit. The training culminates in a lengthy war-game sequence where the dozen prove their resourcefulness and combat readiness.

The premise of criminals as heroes creates a natural edge. The men are intrinsically unstable, and in some cases unhinged. Instilling military discipline to pull off a dangerous mission is a mission onto itself, and the anything-can-happen tension stems both from enemy response and the men's propensity for ill-conceived improvisation.

Lee Marvin delivers a steely-eyed performance as the renegade Major appropriately given control of an insane assignment. He manages to maintain a strong hold on the core of the film, despite the many other familiar faces and loud explosions swirling all around him. Although John Cassavetes and Charles Bronson are given the most prominent roles among the convicts, Donald Sutherland, as the most intellectually challenged of the group, and Telly Savalas, as a racist woman-hating religious nut, are the most memorable. The rich cast also includes Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, and George Kennedy.

The final 45 minutes of the relatively long 140 minutes of running time depict the actual raid itself, and of course nothing goes as planned. The tension, excitement, and action are continuous, and both sides suffer high casualties. Here Aldrich merges crime with war, and challenges the definition of success: German wives and girlfriends, trapped and cowering in a shelter, are not spared the ravages of battle. In return, many of the dozen will find coveted freedom in the form of dirty death.






All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.

Saturday 20 March 2010

2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games: 10 Great Moments


The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games were a shining moment for Canada in general and for Vancouver in particular.

Canada's 14 Golds were the most ever by any country at the Winter Olympics. In total, Canada's 27 medals were the country's best ever performance at the Winter games. Canada's athletes won with grace and humility, and gave the country plenty of reasons to celebrate both the hosting of the event and the sporting achievements.

For the country, these Olympics redefined Canadian national pride. Canada renewed its own image of itself, as a country that will always be polite but that can now aim for and achieve victory, and also a country that can be openly proud and exuberant when needed.

And Vancouver took another giant stride towards global recognition as a world-class city. Vancouver has now moved on from just being a great place to live with terrific scenery and a moderate climate -- it's now also a city that has the capacity to host and celebrate a successful world-scale event, and capable of throwing one heck of a party.

From 17 days filled with memories, here are 10 great moments from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, from the perspective of a long-time Vancouver resident:

10. Bilodeau Wins Canada's First Home Gold


The moment that all of Canada was waiting for happened on Sunday February 14, Day 3 of the Olympics. Alex Bilodeau claimed the Gold medal in the moguls, and thus became the first Canadian to win a Gold medal in Canada. At the previous Canadian Olympics held in Montreal (1976) and Calgary (1988), Canad had been kept off the top step of the podium.


9. Joannie Rochette Wins Figure Skating Bronze

Rochette's mother flew from Quebec to Vancouver to watch her daughter compete at the Olympics -- and tragically died of a heart attack soon after arrival. Rochette won the hearts of the world by pulling herself together, competing elegantly, and claiming the Bronze.


8. Canadian Men Win the 5000m Relay in Short Track Skating

The Canadian men used guts, strength, stamina, and an unexpected strategy to win a thrilling race, fractions of a second ahead of South Korea and the US.


7. Sidney Crosby Scores Overtime Hockey Winner

In a moment that will forever be remembered by Canadian hockey fans, Crosby fired home Canada's overtime winner, converting Jerome Iginla's feed past US goalie Ryan Miller at 7:40 of the overtime period. The US had tied the game with a last gasp equalizer, causing what mercifully proved to be temporary agony across Canada, but effectively setting the stage for Crosby to heroically ensure that Canada won the Gold medal in memorable fashion.


6. Vancouver's Downtown Party



There has rarely been a party like this, at any Olympics. For 17 days, pedestrians took over many downtown Vancouver streets and turned the core of the City into a family-oriented party central. LiveCity venues offered entertainment, concerts and big-screen viewing, long but good natured line-ups formed at all downtown attractions, and street entertainers kept many intersections closed due to crowds. With Vancouverites embracing transit like never before and leaving cars at home, it was a demonstration of what happens when happy crowds take over the streets.


5. Maelle Ricker Wins the Snowboard Cross


Was there a cooler Gold medal winner at these Olympics? Local girl Ricker, 31 years old, grew up snowboarding the Cypress and Whistler mountains, suffered heartbreak and a concussion at the 2006 Turin games, and simply obliterated the field in the 2010 Final to claim the Gold. She then exuded the humble coolness of a winner wondering exactly what all the fuss was about, while modestly enjoying the attention anyway. Watch for a spike in the name Maelle among newborn girls in British Columbia.


4. Hamelin Wins 500m Short Track Skating Gold -- and St.-Gelais Watches!



The thrilling race ended with Canada's Charles Hamelin skating almost sideways and off-balance across the finish line in first place, with carnage behind him as skaters toppled and collided in a mad scramble for the medals. Even more thrilling was Marianne St.-Gelais, Hamelin's girlfriend and a medallist herself, watching from the stands, jumping up and down for the entire race, cheering wildly, and finally bounding down the stairs, over the barriers, and into the arms of the jubilant Hamelin.


3. Virtue and Moir win Ice Dancing Gold


Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir were simply flawless -- and breathtaking -- performing under pressure in the Free Dance, to solidify their lead and claim the Gold medal. Virtue is 20 and Moir is 22. They have been skating together since they were children, and they are the youngest couple ever to win the Ice Dancing Gold medal. Young, confidant and leading from the front -- they represented Canada's spirit at the games.


2. The Clown Fixes the Cauldron


Perfectly combining a grand spectacle with Canada's ability to laugh at itself, the closing ceremony started with a clown emerging with a shower of sparks from below the ground at BC Place stadium, connecting a large cable, and pulling the fourth arm of the Olympic flame into place. The stubborn hydraulic arm had embarrassingly refused to cooperate during the opening ceremony.


1. The Crowd Sings Oh Canada! at the Men's Curling Final

It was the final frame of a rather uneventful Final game in the men's curling tournament. Canada's Kevin Martins team was never in trouble during the game against Norway, en route to another Gold medal for the host country. But in the final frame, the game was interrupted when the crowd broke out into a quiet rendition of Oh Canada! All the curlers on both teams paused and respectfully listened to the impromptu anthem, and the emotion on their faces was clear. It was the moment that captured perfectly what these games were about. Fun, emotion, and quiet pride in a job very well done.