Movie Number 37: That Touch Of Mink (Delbert Mann, 1962). In 1959 Universal Cast Doris Day Opposite Rock

Movie number 37: That Touch of Mink (Delbert Mann, 1962). In 1959 Universal cast Doris Day opposite Rock Hudson in the risqué romcom Pillow Talk (Michael Gordon). It was a deserved huge critical and commercial success, such that Universal looked to recreate the ol’ Doris-Rock magic with other leading men, casting her alongside James Garner in The Thrill of it All (Norman Jewison, 1963) and less successfully, Cary Grant in That Touch of Mink.

Grant is once again in ageing playboy mode, attempting to woo Miss Day to the chagrin of his neurotic pal, a miscast Gig Young. The movie looks wonderful. With it’s mid-century interior stylings and its fabulous gowns - Day has countless costume changes, it is kind of the filmic equivalent of flicking through an early 60s lifestyle magazine. But really nothing else about the movie works.

At age 58 Grant was far too old for this sort of thing. As too was Miss Day who is filmed through a hazy soft lens to make her appear more youthful (in actuality this was unnecessary - at 40 Doris still looks great). Worse than this is a woefully unfunny screenplay, littered with dated , sexist ‘humour’. Doris’ career girl roles in the 60s often seemed quietly progressive; here it is anything but, as Day goes doe-eyed whenever Grant is in her sights, whilst modelling pretty outfit after pretty outfit. There is also an unforgivable wife-beating gag.

Of course a film with Doris Day and Cary Grant is not a total loss, it’s just that both have been much better in many other movies and have little chemistry together here. That Touch of Mink is worth a watch for Baseball aficionados with appearances from New York Yankees legends Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. It also has an excellent, though underused supporting cast featuring John Fiedler, 2nd Darrin Dick Sargent and best of all TV’s Gomez and occasional Batman baddie ‘The Riddler’ John Astin; as a sleazy potential suitor of Day he is easily the highlight of the movie.

If, like me, you have watched all of Doris Day’s movies at least once you will want to see this for completist purposes. If not you are best seeking out the excellent Pillow Talk, or indeed any of her 39 other movies.

VENOM (Dir: Ruben Fleischer, 2018).

It is rare for a superhero villain to have the lead in a superhero movie. The disastrous Catwoman (Pitof, 2014) is one example, the upcoming Joker (Todd Phillips, 2019) is another. Then we have Venom.

You may recall Venom as Spider-Man’s nemesis, portrayed on screen by Topher Grace in 2007’s Spider-Man 3. In this latest adaptation Tom Hardy stars as Eddie Brock, the investigative journalist who, while attempting to take down corrupt scientist Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), is infected by an alien symbiote transforming him into super-strong, super-hungry super-villain Venom.

However, Venom isn’t really the bad guy here. Perhaps sensing that audiences would have trouble identifying with a baddie, the character is more ambiguous here, an anti-hero rather than an all out no-good. Gone is the white Spidey logo emblazoned across his chest and indeed any obvious connection to the world of the friendly neighbourhood arachnid. Although a future onscreen hook-up is said to be in the works.

As a Marvel character to which Disney does not hold the movie rights, Venom is not destined to be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in spite of the fact that Spider-Man is now part of the MCU. What this means for future films in the series is uncertain. What is certain is that Venom as a stand-alone movie is a lot of fun. Granted it is not particularly original or groundbreaking. This may account for its lukewarm critical reception. It is certainly no Black Panther (Ryan Coogler, 2018). However, the effects are top notch, the action set pieces are thrilling and the movie is genuinely funny, reminiscent of a somewhat moodier The Mask (Charles Russell, 1994). Tom Hardy is also great in the title role.

While the movie does not rank among the greatest superhero titles neither is it one of the worst. Its relatively short runtime (90 odd minutes if you discount the title sequences) means Venom is a fun, exciting action movie which never gets too dark and doesn’t outstay it’s welcome.

With a positive audience response and a worldwide box office exceeding $850 million a sequel is guaranteed. Venom 2 is set for release in Autumn 2020.

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WINNIE THE POOH (Stephen J Anderson & Don Hall, 2011).

Disney’s 5th cinematic feature-length venture into the Hundred Acre Wood acts as a direct sequel to the compilation feature The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (Wolfgang Reitherman & John Lounsbery, 1977). Roughly separated into three sequences, the bulk of the movie concerns the search for the mythical Backson, a fearful creature to rival Heffalumps and Woozles, who Pooh and pals mistakenly believe has kidnapped Christopher Robin after misreading the phrase ‘back soon’ on a note from Christopher to Pooh.

Thematically Winnie the Pooh covers much of the same ground as the straight-to-video sequel Pooh’s Grand Adventure (Karl Geurs, 1997). However, where that movie was dark and at times somewhat depressing, this one is an inventive, humorous and warm-hearted delight.

Animated in handcrafted 2D, the movie is visually pleasing throwback to the original Pooh featurettes (the 3 shorts comprise ‘The Many Adventures... movie). It is more faithful to Milne and to Walt Disney’s original vision of Pooh than any of the intervening features or TV adaptations.

While Sterling Holloway will never quite be replaced as the voice of Pooh, nor Paul Winchell as Tigger, Jim Cummings does a decent job of imitating both. Likewise, John Cleese is a welcome choice of narrator, although perhaps not quite possessing the warm yet authoritative tone of Sebastian Cabot. However, to criticise a fine vocal cast for not replacing the childhood memory of now deceased actors in one’s mind would be churlish; younger audience members will neither notice nor care.

The subtle ‘hums’ of Richard and Robert Sherman are missed, although Frozen songsmiths Kristen Anderson Lopez and Robert Lopez’s more elaborate musical numbers are a satisfactory substitute.

At little under an hour before the end credits roll, the movie could stand being a mite longer. As it is, Winnie the Pooh is still a winning tribute to the Pooh movies of the past. A short and sweet old-school treat that should appeal to original Pooh fans as well as newcomers.

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DUMBO (Dir: Ben Sharpsteen, 1941).

Walt Disney’s 4th animated feature is the story of the circus elephant born with oversized ears who uses his disadvantage to his advantage when he discovers his ears enable him to fly.

At 64 minutes it is one of the shortest Disney movies but is a masterclass in storytelling. Not a second of screen time is wasted; in fact its tight narrative and snappy pace make it an advocate for shorter movies!

It is also the most emotionally moving Disney feature. Many a tear has formed in audiences eyes as Dumbo is separated from his mother and ostracised by the other elephants. It is a credit to writers Joe Grant and Dick Huemer that the emotion never descends into false sentiment and there is also much humour to offset the heartache.

The animation too is exemplary, as one incredible animation set piece follows another. Highlights include the shadowy roustabout sequence, the tragicomic disastrous pachyderm pyramid, Dumbo’s inaugural flight and best of all the surrealist Pink Elephants On Parade. The character animation, opting for a more ‘cartoony’ look than in previous features, is also among the studios best as are the beautiful watercolour backgrounds against which the action takes place.

Add to this a fantastic score by Frank Churchill and Oliver Wallace, including the tender Baby Mine and the clever wordplay of When I See An Elephant Fly, and a powerful message of acceptance and the result is one of the greatest movies, animated or otherwise, of all time. In my opinion only rivalled for greatness by Walt Disney’s Pinocchio (B Sharpsteen & Hamilton Luske, 1940). Dumbo is unarguably a masterpiece and a work of art.

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Dumbo (1941)

Dumbo    (Dir: Ben Sharpsteen, 1941).  Walt Disney’s 4th animated feature is the story of the circus elephant born with oversized e

AVENGERS ENDGAME (Dir: Anthony Russo & Joe Russo, 2019).

Approximately 3 years after the rest of the world, I finally watched Avengers Endgame and I was not disappointed. For what it’s worth, what follows is spoiler free. Not that it probably maters much now anyhow.

Over 11 years Marvel have rewritten the superhero movie playbook, becoming the most critically and commercially successful franchise in film history. For better or worse the MCU has had a profound effect on movie making with every other Hollywood studio scrabbling around to compete with their own cinematic universe, but with only a fraction of the success. As the ‘Infinity Saga’ draws to a close Marvel further cement their reputation as comic book movie king.

Anybody who has sat through the previous 21 Marvel Avengers movies will know what to expect as the surviving Avengers assemble to take down bad guy Thanos and restore order to the Universe.

Thankfully Avengers Endgame is at least as enthralling as the movies which preceded it. It looks amazing. Art direction, costumes, special effects and action set pieces are all exemplary; every cent of the $356 million budget is up there on the screen to see. The performances from the star studded cast are faultless, the Russo Brothers direction is a stylish as always and Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely’s screenplay is exciting, funny and ultimately, surprisingly moving.

At 3 hours long I would suggest emptying your bladder before watching. (Fittingly for such a lengthy movie the end credits roll over Harry James and Kitty Kallen’s recording of the Jules Styne and Sammy Cahn standard It’s Been a Long, Long Time.) I would also NOT recommend watching without having seen Avengers Infinity War (A Russo & J Russo, 2018). For everybody else watch, enjoy and maybe shed a tear.

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PET SEMATARY (Dir: Mary Lambert, 1989).

Probably to my detriment I have never read a Stephen King novel, although I have enjoyed many movies based upon his works notably Stand By Me (Rob Reiner, 1986), Misery (Rob Reiner, 1990), Shawskank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994) and the recent It (Andy Muschietti, 2017). So I sat down to this, my first viewing of Pet Sematary, with reasonably high expectations.

King’s novel was first published in 1983 to critical and commercial success so a movie adaptation was inevitable. The plot, which concerns the resurrection of dead pets and - whoops!- one or two humans, should have made for a creepy, maybe even darkly humorous horror. Instead we have a movie that feels cheaply made, is both schlocky and hokey and is occasionally unintentionally funny. Herman Munster himself Mr Fred Gwynne is a welcome familiar face and offers easily the best performance from an otherwise no star cast. He and the decent end-title song by a past their prime Ramones are the undoubted highlights of this sorry affair.

To be honest, I am not particularly a fan of the horror genre; gore does nothing for me but I do enjoy a creepy atmosphere. Pet Sematary has its share of gore but unfortunately little atmosphere, unless the atmosphere is that of a made for TV movie. Although critically reviled upon release the movie did spawn a sequel: the largely forgotten Pet Sematary Two (Mary Lambert, 1992). A remake was released in April 2019 and for once, perhaps, a remake is justified as it will almost certainly be an improvement on the original.

Perhaps I am being a little too harsh on a film belonging to a genre of which I am admittedly not fond. I realise this movie has its fans and if you can see something in it that I cannot then fair play to you. Ultimately I just expected more than Pet Sematary was able to deliver.

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