Movie Blog | InSession Film

Poll: What is the best music biopic?

Brendan Cassidy

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February 24, 2021

If there’s one genre that film critics give the hardest time, it’s the often dreaded music biopic. Most commonly associated with “Wikipedia storytelling”, the music biopic often gets by on the use of its subject’s music, urging us critics to scream, “That’s not enough!” However, ever since we last asked this question (back on Episode 130 for the release of Straight Outta Compton), we have begun to see more successes in the genre, covering the gamut from country to jazz to rocketmen. Here’s hoping the new release of Lee Daniels’s The United States vs. Billie Holiday sustains that upward musical trend.

With that said, what is the best music biopic?

Podcast: The Dig / Badlands – Episode 418

JD Duran

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February 23, 2021

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Podcast: The Dig / Badlands – Episode 418

This week’s episode is brought to you by Amazon Music Unlimited. Sign up and get it free for 90 days!

This week on the InSession Film Podcast, we discuss the Netflix film The Dig and begin our Terrence Malick Movie Series with his 1973 film Badlands! Plus, a few thoughts on Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar and I Care A Lot.

For those that have listened to the show over the years, you’ll know that we are big fans of one Terrence Malick. We’ve talked about doing a series for him many times in the past, and after seeing Simon Stone’s The Dig, we felt that now was the time. Seeing just how impassioned Stone is over Malick, we couldn’t let him stand alone, and we took the plunge. We understand that not everyone loves Malick like we do, but we hope that you still enjoy the movie series as we cover everything from Badlands to The Tree of Life.

On that note, check out this week’s show and let us know what you think in the comment section. Thanks for listening and for supporting the InSession Film Podcast!

– Movie Review: The Dig (6:39)
Director: Simon Stone
Writers: Moira Buffini (screenplay), John Preston (novel)
Stars: Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Lily James

– Notes / Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar / I Care A Lot (48:51)
As noted above, we joyfully caught up with the Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo’s latest collaboration in Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, and boy is that a wild ride. Additionally, JD caught up with the Netflix film I Care A Lot, which has sparked some fascinating discourse on social media over the weekend.

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– Terrence Malick Movie Series: Badlands (1:17:20)
Director: Terrence Malick
Writers: Terrence Malick
Stars: Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek

Show Sponsor: First Time Watchers Podcast

– Music

The Dig – Stefan Gregory
Edgar’s Prayer – Jamie Dornan
Gassenhauer – Carl Orff
The Return of the Eagle – Atli Ã–rvarsson

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InSession Film Podcast – Episode 418

InSession Film · The Dig / Badlands – Episode 418

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Next week on the show:

Review: The United States vs Billie Holiday
Top 3: N/A
Terrence Malick Movie Series: Days of Heaven

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Criterion Crunch Time: ‘Zama’

Dave Giannini

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February 23, 2021

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If I’m being completely honest, the film we are covering in this column is exactly the type of work I was looking forward to covering. Let’s face it, there are entire bodies of work from artists that we have heard of, but never bothered or found an avenue to get around to. What does the name Lucrecia Martel mean to you? I’m sure if you asked the general public, you would be met with a chorus of “Who?” And if you ask cinephiles, it would likely be split. You would have those that could give you examples of her work, but then you would have viewers like me. “Oh yeah, her, I’ve heard of her. What did she do again?” If you are in my camp, you can likely be forgiven. Martel has directed just four features in between 2001-2017, but she is well known in auteur circles, especially at numerous film festivals. A few of her films are leaving the Criterion Channel this month, and we will be focusing on her most recent work, Zama.

Given my previous description of Lucrecia Martel, it will likely not surprise you that Zama is not for everyone. It is slow moving, difficult, and takes some real work to access as a viewer. That said, it is also a wonderful film. It follows Don Diego de Zama (Daniel Giménez Cacho), a relatively low ranking Spanish functionary at an outpost in Argentina. It feels foolish to simply provide a plot synopsis, as, especially on first watch, one is overwhelmed by the feel of Zama. Given its setting, in the late 18th century, Martel’s work is admirable, as you almost immediately forget that this is a film set of any kind. She makes the choice to throw you into the middle of this world and not obey a typical screenplay structure. This forces the audience to catch up, which leaves precious little time to slowly acclimate. Because of this, we simply follow Zama from one frustration to the next and soon find that we are essentially lost in his world.

And yet, this is more than a slice of life movie. There is a clear narrative, it just takes a good long time to reveal itself. Looking back on it, the consistent lies about Vicuña Porto are the true focus. All of Zama’s desires to go home, to see his wife and child, to bed the one white woman on the island, these are all secondary. They do not feel secondary because Zama is our protagonist and we feel his desires. But there are many mentions of Vicuña Porto, almost as if he and his men are spirits haunting the colonizers. And every time his existence is denied, whether through statements of his death or his supposed ears taken as a trophy, his presence increases. As the lies grow and the fear of the people refuses to dissipate, it becomes more and more clear that the specter of this rapist and murderer is becoming increasingly real, and dangerous.

It should be noted that, because this is a story of colonizers, there are certainly more rapists and murderers besides Vicuña Porto. But like any story, the perspective matters. This is where Martel truly shines. It is stunningly difficult to create a realistic portrait of slavery without focusing on an uplifting slave narrative, usually through voiceover and triumph. Martel, instead, populates her shots with these men and women, forced into slavery by the Spanish, sometimes purely as background. There is no giant revolt, but there is a pure, realized sorrow that she never shies away from. It is a lesson, teaching us as viewers that we do not need to see the brutalization of bodies, especially brown and black bodies to know that this is inherently wrong and cruel. Among other choices, Martel dresses many of their upper bodies in noble finery, including powdered wigs and coats, but keeps their lower halves only barely covered with cloth. This decision shows us that their place in this society is easily stripped at the slightest indiscretion.

Don Diego de Zama, despite missing his family, lives a relatively comfortable life in this story. And yes, he is subject to the whim of his superiors. He is repeatedly lied to by them and this puts him at risk. However, what truly unravels him is both his temper and his lack of patience. Zama could have lived there for years at almost no risk to his safety. His brawl with another Spaniard leads to him losing a coveted transfer and helps him realize that he has been strung along. After many requests, the governor, begrudgingly agrees to write a letter to the King on his behalf. However, he also mentions that he will follow up with a second letter months later to convince him. This frustration at the bureaucracy inherent in the system leads Zama to a dangerous decision.

And this sequence, after said decision, is where everything comes to fruition. Zama makes all of the wrong choices and, because he wants to stand out to the governor (and indirectly, the King) he puts himself and others in mortal danger. Despite being the titular character, Zama is brutally punished for his crimes, but even without horrific visuals, Martel reminds us that he is a part of a system that has subjugated, enslaved, raped, and murdered others en masse. No one in this system is innocent, we are all implicated.

These movies on The Criterion Channel can be quite difficult, but they are also an opportunity. Every day, and especially every month, is an opportunity to expand our horizons. I can say with almost certainty that without this column, Lucrecia Martel would not have been on my radar. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to watch more of her work. I hope you join me before February ends!

New Criterion Releases: March 2021

InSession Film Staff

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February 23, 2021

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At the of the first quarter of this year, we have a brand new set of films for the Collection. One film from Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation will get its own release, two directors will have another film of theirs get the treatment, and a new director joins the list with one of the most postmodernist films ever in the Collection. Speaking of new films to check out, I will put out soon my first quarterly list of favorite films from the Criterion Channel, movies I have not seen before. For those who haven’t checked the CC out, some of these new movies can be seen there as if it is a digital copy you own. Make sure you check that out. Now, for the movies coming out this month:

Touki Bouki (1973)

Writer/director Djibril Diop Mambéty put the cinema of post-colonial Senegal on the map with a road trip featuring two young lovers leaving the country for the dreams of France. But remaining connected to their roots proves to be a harder task to disconnect from as they reach the dock for their journey to the modern world. Mambéty comments on the post-colonial world and this newfound sense of independence from a nation’s inhabitants after decades of exploitation. Yet, it also puts forward how the young generation seeks to move on past the struggles of fighting for that independence their ancestors sought for them, yet they want something bigger.

Celine And Julie Go Boating (1974)

Director Jacques Rivette went on an experiment with two girfriends who take a trip into Paris and embark on a rules-breaking adventure that sends viewers into another realm. Daydreams become real, investigating a murder becomes an adventure, and the road trip film with these women is shattered for another type of travel. Juliet Berto and Dominique Labourier are both the titular characters and co-writers with Rivette and others in this super collaboration where no idea is discarded and lets the imagination run wild.

Defending Your Life (1991)

Albert Brooks gets another wonderful comedy of his in the Collection with this romantic-comedy of a recently dead man, played by Brooks himself, stuck in purgatory and meets a woman (Meryl Streep) whose personality is the opposite of his, but falls in love with her and seeks to be judged worthy of heaven to be with her. Brooks’ directing credits have all touched upon a human element that pushes characters into a scenario that challenges their own beliefs and feelings. His other Criterionized film, Lost In America, satirized an American’s wish to be “free” and explore. Co-starring Buck Henry, Rip Torn, and Lee Grant (plus a cameo by Shirley MacLaine with her views on reincarnation), Defending Your Life is about handling our fears and being able to live life as it was intended to be.

Secrets & Lies (1996)

Mike Leigh’s Palme d’Or-winning, Oscar-nominated drama follows a black woman (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) who was adopted at birth finding her birth mother, only to make the shocking discovery that she is a white woman (Brenda Blethyn) from a dysfunctional family. Blethyn’s performance is the amazing standout, innocent but fragile to her own family’s behavior while having to confront a secret to the entire family. One of Mike Leigh’s best features, it once again taps into middle-class life and the surprises that come along that either gives a thrilling or shocking surprise. Whether it be a contemporary or a period piece, Leigh once again provides a provocative portrait on a subject that can (dis)connect the family dynamics in any area.

Follow me on Twitter: @brian_cine (Cine-A-Man)

Chasing the Gold FYC: ‘Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey’ – Production Design

Brett Doze

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February 23, 2021

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Chasing the Gold FYC: ‘Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey’ – Production Design

When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed shortlists for nine Oscar categories on February 9th, I was pleased to see three mentions for David E. Talbert’s holiday-themed musical, Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey. The film showed up on the shortlists for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song for “Make it Work.” Though the film still has a bit of an uphill battle to receive nominations in these categories, it was nice to see some recognition for a film that may have familiarities in its plot, but also features a sense of awe and wonder in a Christmas tale that centers Black characters. And of course, the technical aspects of the film are marvelous.

It would be a joy to see this film make the cut in any of the three aforementioned categories, especially Best Makeup and Hairstyling. The film should be in contention for a nomination in Best Costume Design as well. However, the category for which the film is most deserving of an Oscar nomination, in my opinion, is Best Production Design.

Production design is such a fascinating category, as the Academy tends to recognize various styles with the honorees. In the last decade, we’ve seen winners featuring expert inclusion of objects and styles that signify a time and place (such as Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), the construction of sets that echo the distant past (Lincoln), and grand designs with gorgeous colors that are a feast for the eyes (The Grand Budapest Hotel, my favorite winner of the 2010s). But perhaps most of all, the Academy has recently displayed a longing for epic, visual-effect-infused designs that evoke a sense of wonder, through the likes of Hugo, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Black Panther.

Jingle Jangle fits right in with this latter group of winners, employing CGI effects that blend with lavish sets and decorations. Much of the film takes place inside of a toy store, Jangles and Things, owned and operated by Jeronicus Jangle (Forest Whitaker). In the earliest scenes of the film, we get a taste of what the shop was at its height, and it’s beautifully brought to life by production designer Gavin Bocquet. The configuration works perfectly with the story, giving the shop a hometown feeling while also delivering on spectacle. The classic interior, complete with dual staircases and a balcony, helps to establish the assumed time period of Christmases past. Of course, this is expanded upon when we are introduced to the back rooms, nooks, and crannies of the shop.

Much of the joy elicited by Jangles and Things, however, is a result of the set decoration by Rob Cameron. In every shot of the early scenes in the store, there is some sort of toy or mechanism moving in the background. These are accented by stunning colors that draw the eye to everything happening. And though some of these aspects are created through the use of CGI, they each have their place in the setting. As time goes on in the film, and the shop is virtually shut down, the production design and set decoration are useful tools for maintaining the attitudes of Jeronicus. The bright colors are no more, but the extravagance of the shop of old remains. And throughout the unique location, there are surprises to be found, normally by his granddaughter Journey (Madalen Mills).

It’s enthralling to see the role the production design plays in the conflict of the film between Jeronicus and his rival Gustafson (played by Keegan-Michael Key). While Jangles and Things contains a charmingly clustered and old-timey nature, Gustafson’s is much more tidy and modern, placing it at odds with the village itself. It uses green in a way that evokes memories of the Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz, juxtaposing it with the less intense colors of Jeronicus’s store. This is underscored by twisting decorations on the wall, keying in on the snakelike personality of the character.

Of course, Jeronicus’s toy store, as well as the more modern toy store of his rival, would not exist without the holiday-themed town that surrounds them. Bocquet and Cameron built a charming but bustling little village, with shops and locations that maintain clues of uniqueness within the uniformity. For much of the film, it’s refreshing to step outside of the interiors and take in the delight of the town. This is especially true in a scene that consists of a huge snowball fight between the villagers, with the action and the design working together to provide a sense of community.

When it comes to effective production design, and especially Oscar-worthy production design, I tend to look for how the craft enhances the narrative and tone of the film. In Jingle Jangle, the production design and set decoration indicate the differences between Jeronicus and Gustafson as characters. They also successfully create a sense of place with the design, clueing viewers into the type of time period and location we are working with. It’s fortunate that the Academy recognizes both production designers and set decorators with the award, as Gavin Bocquet and Rob Cameron both do great work here that is worthy of at least a nomination.

Movie Review: ‘I Care a Lot’ Falls Apart in its Third Act

Zita Short

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February 22, 2021

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Movie Review: ‘I Care a Lot’ Falls Apart in its Third Act

Director: J Blakeson
Writers: J Blakeson
Stars: Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage, Eiza González, Chris Messina, Dianne Wiest

Synopsis: A shady legal guardian lands in hot water when she tries to bilk a woman who has ties to a powerful gangster.

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Have you ever had that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach where you can just anticipate that an experience that you were enjoying is about to sour on you? I had that feeling about 80 minutes into I Care a Lot (2020). The first two acts were deliciously nasty and the script accurately depicted the behavior of ruthless sociopaths who are driven by a desire to earn money and achieve a twisted version of the American Dream. You are fascinated by the anti-hero at the center of the story but for this sort of unlikeable character to remain interesting, she has to be challenged and tested. If she is just allowed to continue breezing through life without being shaken by anything that happens to her, we wonder why we are watching somebody failing to go through any progression. We want to see this sort of person suffer in order to atone for their sins and we enjoy seeing them humiliated because it forces them to up their game. I Care a Lot mistakes fascination with a character for deep personal interest in them and its ending is deeply unsatisfying for the audience. It throws the film so wildly off kilter that I struggle to hold onto the aspects of the picture that I had previously loved.

Marla Grayson, Rosamund Pike, serves as the legal guardian for a large number of vulnerable, elderly people. She has them involuntarily committed to rest homes where they are treated for conditions such as dementia and then proceeds to sell all of their assets and use this money to financially support herself. She gets into trouble when she takes on Jennifer Peterson, Dianne Wiest, and has her committed to a facility. She was not previously aware of the fact that Peterson is connected to a powerful Russian Mob family. Her son Roman Lunyov, Peter Dinklage, is determined to ensure that his mother is safe but also wants to win back some precious diamonds that Grayson stole from his mother’s safety deposit box. Suddenly Grayson feels threatened by him and realises that her life is threatened if she continues to move forward with this scheme.

I suppose I can’t reveal that much about the ending itself in terms of specifics but it will have you rolling your eyes and wondering why they didn’t take more risks. We are told that Lunyov is threatening and terrifying, we’re meant to believe that he strikes fear into Grayson’s heart and yet she easily fights back against him. It never feels like she is punching above her weight or being forced to go to extreme lengths in order to stay alive. We don’t get one of those thrilling moments where the smartest person in the room is thrown off balance and has to scramble to catch up with their adversary. Our anti-heroine is barely troubled by the warnings that Lunyov gives her. I think out concern for her is meant to hinge on her relationship with Fran, Eiza Gonzalez. We get to see the two of them kissing a lot but Fran just isn’t a well-developed character. That approach would work if she was just a pretty, subservient young thing who was a slave to money and attached herself to somebody who could keep her rolling in the green. When we’re meant to cry as her life is threatened, I just shook my head. The screenwriters put their eggs in the wrong basket and assumed that we cared about characters who just felt like plot devices.

It is maddening that this film so thoroughly squanders its potential because it does have quite a few assets on its side. Pike’s performance is well-modulated for the cynical, angry tone of the film and she rarely allows that icy facade to crack. The script prevents her from getting a few scenes in which she gets to be darkly funny. She is restricted to playing one note over and over again and while it is a very entertaining note, I couldn’t help but yearn for more. Wiest gets to have even more fun as she playfully taunts the woman who has been controlling her life. She’s under the influence of dangerous amounts of medication and could be reprimanded for threatening Grayson but she finds a way to quietly get back at her. The devious grin on her face reminds us that she is a force to be reckoned with. For once, she actually appears to be intimidating Grayson and Wiest seems to be revelling in the opportunity to play a character who is slightly darker than a lot of the mothers that she played in 1980s teen movies. Gone are the pearls that she clutched at in The Lost Boys (1987), now she’s playing a predator who will happily dish out punishment to anybody who crosses her. If there was more of Wiest, I wouldn’t have been complaining.

The pacing also feels zippy during the first two acts and we aren’t checking our watches as Grayson zooms from Peterson’s house to a courtroom and then back to her love shack. We do start to fidget during the overly convoluted second act and I think this is down to the direction. J. Blakeson knows how to dazzle us during the opening scenes as he confidently sets up the world that these characters inhabit and the central conceit but he doesn’t know where to go from there. So often he relies on close-ups of Pike’s smirking face, which are meant to be disturbing, or greets us with an establishing shot of a cityscape which is set to some synth-y composition from the repetitive score. He loses grasp of the tone of this story and his ill-fated attempts to cross over into the romantic melodrama genre are just clunky. He’s not utterly incompetent but he sets up expectations that he doesn’t follow through on. That almost makes it more painful when the third act is an unmitigated disaster.

You get the feeling that this could have been a delight if the script had gone through a few more rewrites. It becomes infuriating to watch at the 80-minute mark but you might like the first hour enough to stick around. This was made for Netflix so it is designed to be half-watched while you perform chores around your house or organise your schedule on your phone. That means that this might go down easy for some viewers. They’ll look up in the middle of watering their plants and be flabbergasted by all of the twists that have been thrown at them. It is never positive when you argue that something would be more enjoyable if you didn’t really focus on it and I don’t think that I Care a Lot deserves a passing grade simply because of the way that it is likely to be consumed.

Grade: C-

Movie Review: ‘Identifying Features’ Captures a Sadly Common Crisis

Ethan Gordon

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February 22, 2021

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Movie Review: ‘Identifying Features’ Captures a Sadly Common Crisis

Director: Fernanda Valadez
Writers: Fernanda Valadez,Astrid Rondero
Stars: Mercedes Hernández, David Illescas

Synopsis : A mother travels across Mexico in search for her missing son despite authorities insistence that he died crossing the border

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It’s hard to overstate the cruelty of the United States’ immigration process. Even after migrants travel thousands of miles through uninviting environments, there is still little chance that they make it to where they intended. With millions of families, this leads to an uncle, sibling, or child that they never see again. For Magdalena (Mercedes Hernández), the towering central figure of Fernanda Valadez’s debut film Identifying Features, this is more than just an anecdote. Two months after her son, Jesus, leaves for Arizona with his best friend, there’s no sign of either of them. Like many in the real world, they have simply slipped through the cracks.

While this story might be familiar to anyone who has paid attention to the U.S.’s border crisis, Identifying Features illustrates the tragedy in evocative detail, especially for those that lack that particular painful experience. Without turning the film into an Alejandro González Iñárritu style tale about the inherent sadism of human nature, co-writers Astrid Rondero and Valadez carefully portray the harshness that comes with trying to track down a missing migrant and family member. For the film’s first half-hour, you follow Magdalena as she moves through bus stations, office buildings, and various other uncaring locations in an attempt to find out anything about her son. Various bystanders are apathetic to her struggle because it’s a story they hear too often to be invested. As she moves through these circumstances, the film begins to feel like a Kafkaesque world of ugly overhead lighting and office desks, a mechanical realm that doesn’t care one bit about the disappearance of an asylum seeker.

A little before the Identifying Features’ halfway point, Valadez shifts to a more human narrative to balance out the harshness of the beginning. While the film opens with looking at the systems that could lose an immigrant, eventually Magdalena stops jumping through these frustrating technological hoops and starts traveling across Mexico to find answers. Along the way, she meets Miguel (David Illescas), who recently returned from America. The duo’s bond is one of the strongest centerpieces that the film has, as their quiet companionship is appealing and captivating. This is where Hernández’s gripping performance takes hold of the film, with her silent furiousness only growing as the run length moves onward. Although Illescas does a solid job playing Miguel, it is nearly impossible to hold one’s own against Hernández’s incredible acting. This is mostly her story, after all.

Plaguing the backdrop of the film is the gang violence of Latin America, which constantly threatens to derail Magdalena’s journey. Especially once the storytelling moves past the mechanical, Magdalena’s search for her son feels like a dangerous ordeal, opposed to just being told vaguely that things are bad. The film finally decides to show us the inherent mood of danger, as opposed to simply preaching it. Because of this emotion, it’s a shame that the film somewhat sputters out and wastes this forward momentum. Valadez’s assured direction helps Identifying Features ratchet up some tension, but the film’s closing twist goes against the wandering tale at its center. The reveal is crushing but somehow also too easy. To some degree, the ending feels like Valadez undercutting the detached, glacial nature of her movie, which is exactly what made it work in the first place.

Grade: B

Classic Film Review: ‘Road to Morocco’ Conforms to the Racist Tropes of its Genre

Zita Short

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February 22, 2021

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Classic Film Review: ‘Road to Morocco’ Conforms to the Racist Tropes of its Genre

The Road to… series probably wouldn’t be massively successful today because all of the entries in the series feel similar to television sitcoms. They’re all fairly short, feature the same cast of characters playing very similar roles and moving through similar storylines. They would go to different locations in each film and Dorothy Lamour would wear a new set of dresses but they never radically changed the formula. Understanding their appeal could be difficult for modern audiences as they seem so dated and un-cinematic now. They’re racist, take a pro-imperialist viewpoint, and support the idea that women should be subservient to men. Not all of the jokes land and Bob Hope ends up sounding like a bigot but the self-referential style might have felt revolutionary at the time. The idea of being in on the joke made the audience feel like they weren’t being talked down to and it prevented the usual criticisms about the series being formulaic. If the writers were already taking jabs at themselves, it was difficult for critics to complain about their laziness. This is what made it different to other comedies from the period and families could titter as Bing Crosby winked at the camera and referenced the salary that Paramount executives were paying him.

I decided to dive into my evaluation of the series with Road to Morocco (1942). It is generally listed as the best of the franchise and has the added bonus of featuring a young Anthony Quinn. It was released following the success of Road to Singapore (1940) and Road to Zanzibar (1941). AFI listed this as one of the top 400 American films of all time and it would go on to inspire legendary screenwriter, director, and actress Elaine May. This set me up to have high expectations but I was also on the lookout for the racism that I was prepared for.

Jeff, Bing Crosby, and his good friend Orville, Bob Hope, were stowaways on a freighter but escaped on a life raft after it exploded. They end up in a secluded part of Morocco and hitch a ride on a camel that leads them into a large city. Jeff sells Orville to a slave trader and this causes Orville to feel animosity towards Jeff. Orville is happy when Princess Shalmar, Dorothy Lamour, takes him on as a concubine and tries to keep Jeff away from the palace by telling him that he is in danger. This causes Jeff to go after him and he is angered when he realizes that Orville enjoys being Shalmar’s concubine. Jeff sticks around and he and Shalmar have an innocent flirtation but she announces her intention to marry Orville. She is only marrying him because her fortune teller has told her that her first husband is destined to die within a week of their marriage. She plans to marry Mullay Kasim, Anthony Quinn after Orville dies. He finds out about this and tries to convince Jeff to stay and serve as Shalmar’s first husband. The fortune teller reveals that his prophecy was incorrect and the two men attempt to run away before they can be attacked by Kasim. The two men are left stranded in the desert and make their way into Kasim’s camp. Kasim and a rival Sheik are so busy fighting with one another that they don’t notice it when Jeff, Orville, Shalmar, and Mihirmah, Dona Drake, run away. They are all happy as they near the New York harbor.

The plot is really incidental in a comedy like this and it’s just an excuse to show off a foreign location and encourage Hope and Crosby to riff. Personally, I didn’t think that the chemistry between Hope and Crosby was all that sparkling. Hope does his usual routine and, perhaps because of over-saturation, I never felt like I was getting anything new from him. I could have just watched a tape of him hosting the Academy Awards back in the 1950s if I wanted to see him pull out this routine. On the other hand, I have always felt as though Crosby had a lot of potential. His dramatic performance as a self-pitying alcoholic in The Country Girl (1954), took my breath away. That meant that I raised my expectations when it came to his acting and I keep expecting him to dazzle me in these stodgy comedies. I tend to forget that he is better known for lame, aggressively conservative musicals like Going My Way (1944) and The Country Girl was an aberration in his career. He’s goofy and genial in this and yet I could never bring myself to be won over by his greasy, insincere charm. I could always sense that he was really a sad, middle-aged man reckoning with the mistakes he had made in his own life rather than being a carefree fool. I understood that Hope was meant to be wacky and outrageous while Crosby was the emotionally repressed straight man but I did not find myself howling with laughter.

I was also resistant to the thoroughly repugnant characters that they played. These films were supposed to serve as parodies of adventure flicks that were popular during these period. They do manage to poke fun at some of the tropes but they carry over the colonialist viewpoint. I don’t understand why most adventure stories have to involve a white, English-speaking man traveling to a financially struggling nation in which non-white people live. I am not against the idea of white people traveling around the world and settling into countries where people speak different languages and are members of different ethnic groups but why do these stories always have a white supremacist angle. You get through a few scenes in which the white man or men have a bit of fun being introduced to the social customs in these new countries but there is inevitably a moment at which they become dictators in the country, impress their values onto the local people and take on a bevy of sex slaves. We’re meant to nod along as they talk about ‘civilizing’ the natives and agree with them as they act like they are owed the right to take helpless indigents on as slaves. Road to Morocco mocks all of the native Moroccans and the far more sophisticated Americans who bumble around in the palace are implied to be better than them because of the values that have been instilled in them back in America. It’s hard not to feel uncomfortable when you watch white actors in brownface playing racist caricatures and this is, unfortunately, representative of the way that most middle class Americans would have seen Moroccans at the time.

The real highlight for me was Lamour’s singing. She has a honeyed voice that is reminiscent of Doris Day and as she delivers her breathy rendition of “Constantly”, you can’t take your eyes off of her. It is a shame that she was cast as a Moroccan princess when she was a white woman but she does bring a unique exuberance to the part. Hope and Crosby seem like they’re coasting and while Lamour is bring out her usual razzmatazz, she is as gorgeous as ever and never seems to take herself too seriously. I wanted to see more of her and I was saddened when I learned that she was later dropped from the series for being too old. Her appeal is timeless and I get why people kept on coming back for her.

Grade: D+

Podcast: The Wachowski Sisters Movie Series

Ryan McQuade

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February 22, 2021

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Podcast: The Wachowski Sisters Movie Series

To start off the 2021 movie year, Ryan and Jay take a look at a sibling pair of directors who have been revolutionary visual storytellers for almost three decades. Lana and Lilly Wachowski debuted in the late 1990s, and since then, they have been trailblazers with an epic scope that leaves the audiences with plenty to talk about. While not every single movie of theirs is a box office or critical hit, they swing for the fences and carry their projects with such tender emotions. Their filmography has changed modern-day cinema, and with that, Extra Film couldn’t think of a better way to start the new year than with these two amazing directors.