GANGSTER SQUAD: (Dir: Ruben Fleischer, 2013).

GANGSTER SQUAD: (Dir: Ruben Fleischer, 2013).

Don’t be fooled into thinking that this movie is the first film in the ‘La La Land’ franchise! In spite of featuring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in leading roles against a backdrop of Los Angeles, Gangster Squad is, as its title would imply, a pretty violent yet kinda glossy mob movie.

Josh Brolin heads up a fabulous cast including Gosling, Stone, Nick Nolte, Giovanni Ribisi and Michael Peña in a fictionalised account of the LAPD’s attempts to wrest control of the city from Mob boss Mickey Cohen, a heavily made-up Sean Penn seemingly channelling Al Pacino’s Big Boy Caprice from Dick Tracy (Warren Beatty, 1990). The cast cannot be faulted. Neither can cinematographer Dion Beebe who utilises every conceivable shade of brown in a stylish recreation of 1949 LA.

However, as terrific as the cast is and as lovely as it looks, Gangster Squad is perhaps not quite the movie it may have been. With its dark, noir-ish themes and its vintage Los Angeles setting it kind of gives the impression of wanting to be LA Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997). While it is undoubtedly a quality production, it just isn’t as good as that masterpiece.

I love a 1930s gangster movie almost as much as I love a 1940s crime thriller, so I guess Gangster Squad had a lot of built-in appeal for me and I did enjoy it. It’s just that I have seen this sort of thing done better. As noir homage LA Confidential can’t be beat. If it’s a lovingly recreated 1930s era gangster flick you want, check out Joel and Ethan Coen’s superior Miller’s Crossing (1990).

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RUBY GENTRY (Dir: King Vidor, 1952).

A ripe slice of Southern Gothic with Jennifer Jones as gun toting, skinny jeans wearing, swamp wildcat Ruby; using her womanly wiles to ensnare local stud Charlton Heston and marrying wealthy, lonely chump Karl Malden.

Jones is literally wild in the part of Ruby and is undoubtedly the movie’s greatest asset. Heston is less effective in a role perhaps slightly underwritten and which does not particularly play to his strengths as an actor. Malden, by contrast, is fantastic in this sort of thing (see ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ and ‘Baby Doll’) and demonstrates why he was one of Hollywood’s most in-demand character actors.

Admittedly, there is, probably, an unpleasant, deeply misogynistic subtext about powerful women in this movie as Ruby, with her new found wealth, wreaks revenge on the townsfolk who hold her in distain and upon the man she thought was in love with her. A better writer than I would go into this in greater depth (and if anyone wishes to, please do so in the comments below - polite, serious discussion is welcome and encouraged!)

In spite of this, I must confess, I love a 50s melodrama, where what was once torrid and sexy has become overblown and camp. Ruby Gentry is hopelessly dated, but that is not to suggest that it isn’t also wholly entertaining if you are in the right mood!

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Movie number 33: Double Switch (David Greenwalt, 1987).

With the creation of The Disney Channel and the return of the Disney anthology series to the ABC network, the 1980s saw a renaissance in Disney made-for-TV movies. Ironically this was at a time when Disney branded cinema releases had all but ground to a halt; 1984 saw no new Disney movies save for Splash (Ron Howard) and Country (Richard Pearce) both distributed under their newly formed ‘adult’ Touchstone Films banner.

Double Switch premiered in two parts on the newly re-titled Disney Sunday Movie series. This contemporary take on Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper stars George Newbern in the dual roles of geeky high school student Matt Bundy and spoiled yet isolated popstar Bartholomew who switch places for some comedy hi-jinks and poignant life lessons. Elizabeth Shue is the only recognisable name in an otherwise no-star cast; the following year would see her breakthrough role in Adventures in Babysitting (Chris Columbus) and two years later she would inherit the part of Jennifer in Back to the Future Part II (Robert Zemeckis, 1989). With its synth rock soundtrack, legwarmer clad dancers and capitalist aesthetics, Double Switch is a movie which could only have been made in the Eighties, the decade of excess. Juxtaposing high school life and rockstar masquerades, Double Switch is kind of John Hughes lite meets Hannah Montana and one gets the feeling that were this made 20 years later we would be shopping for Bartholomew CDs, lunch boxes and backpacks at The Disney Store.

While barely remembered today, this movie isn’t half bad. Sure the music is a little generic and the comedy is somewhat laboured, but Newbern does well in the lead and if, like me, you enjoyed this when you were 12 you will probably get a nostalgic kick out of it now. Disney’s more faithful adaptation of The Prince and the Pauper (Don Chaffey, 1962) and their similarly themed classic The Parent Trap (David Swift, 1961) are both vastly superior movies. Double Switch is nowhere near as essential as those but is entertaining nonsense all the same.

RIP Jan Michael Vincent

WRECK IT RALPH (Dir: Rich Moore, 2012).

Walt Disney Animation Studios first decade of the 21st Century was one of change and uncertainty. The practice of releasing cheaply made straight-to-video sequels to their most successful features was undoubtedly damaging to the Disney brand. The costly failure of ambitious efforts Atlantis: The Lost Empire (Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise, 2001) and Treasure Planet (Ron Clements & Jon Musker, 2002) and a shift in public taste toward computer generated features saw Disney lose its position of industry leader to newer animation studios Pixar and DreamWorks.

Yet with the release of box office hits Bolt (Chris Williams & Byron Howard, 2008) and Tangled (Nathan Greno & Byron Howard) it appeared that Disney had finally regained their footing in the field of feature animation. Disney’s new-found winning streak continued in 2012 with Wreck It Ralph.

Ideally suited to CGI animation, Wreck it Ralph takes place entirely with the video games of Litwak’s Family Fun Center & Arcade. Titular Ralph is the bad guy from 1980s era 8-bit game Fix-It-Felix Jr. In a plot that somewhat recalls The Nightmare Before Christmas (Henry Selick, 1993), Ralph (John C Reilly), tired of his bad guy status travels from his own game to hyper-realistic shoot-‘em-up Hero’s Duty to candy cart racing game Sugar Rush in his attempt to earn a medal and prove himself the good guy. En route he befriends glitchy outcast racer Vanellope Von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) whom he aides in her quest to become a champion racer.

The video game worlds are beautifully realised in director Rich Moore ‘s visually stunning movie. Every aspect of Wreck It Ralph is top notch from Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee’s screenplay to Henry Jackman’s score to the superlative voice work of Riley and Silverman. Whether you are gamer or not there is much to enjoy in this genuinely inventive, surprisingly moving modern classic that I believe is one the best movies released by Disney in the post-Walt era, better even than the mighty Frozen (Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee, 2013). A sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet, was released in 2018, my thoughts on which you can read soon...

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SANTA CLAUS aka SANTA CLAUS VS THE DEVIL (Dir: Rene Cardona, 1959).

Unraveling like one of my better fever dreams, the weird and wonderful Santa Claus is a 1959 Mexican production, re-cut and dubbed into English by schlock movie producer K Gordon Murray and released in the US in 1960.

José Elías Moreno stars as Santa as he is pitted against devil minion Pitch, portrayed by dancer José Luis Aguirre, in a bid to save the festive season from the clutches of Lucifer.

Seemingly made with an eye on the international market, Cardona’s film is a mishmash of Mexican, US and British cultural references (who knew Merlin the Magician was an ally of Santa?). Santa’s workshop (which is in space by the way) is filled with some frankly freaky gadgets. Everyone knows that “he sees you when you’re sleeping” but who ever thought it was through a re-purposed vacuum cleaner hose with a human eye on the end? Or that he listens to us by way of what looks like a severed human ear attached to a fan? All of this is relayed to Santa via a bulky bit of machinery complete with a massive pair of human lips!

It is true that much in this children’s film could terrify those of a sensitive disposition and no one would argue that it is a good film. In fact many would argue that it is a very bad film. It is certainly camp and kitschy and little of it makes much sense, but it does features some weirdly attractive mid-century style sets and it means well; I have to admit that part of me enjoyed it un-ironically.

With its copyright having long-ago lapsed, Santa Claus is easily to find on-line in varying states of decay. If you are inclined to watch it (and you really should be!) I suggest you find a decent print and settle yourself down for 95 minutes of incredulous festive fun!

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