Thursday Movie Picks: Deserts
1) Mad Max: Fury Road
One of the most gorgeous shots of Fury Road was Charlize Theron dropping to her knees in the desert. I never expected to like this movie at all, and it felt good to be wrong about that.
2) Tracks
Mia Wasikowska's Robyn treks across Australia's deserts with her trusty dog and camels she's learned to train. This was a very quiet film but I enjoyed it.
3) 10,000 B.C
I actually hated this movie and only saw it because I like Camilla Belle. If I recall, there were desert scenes. Now I'm annoyed all over again that Belle isn't a bigger star. I blame Taylor Swift slut shaming her.
I didn't love Fury Road but did like it more than I expected to. I also though 10.000 B.C. was terrible. The first two, the 40's version with Carole Landis and the 60's one with Raquel Welch, were no masterpieces but had a sense of fun and adventure sorely lacking from this soulless enterprise which was just a CGI mess. Haven't seen Tracks.
ReplyDeleteHa, I was unsure about the desert/dessert thing at first too especially with the hot & cold since I always think of deserts as hot but I prepared these and set three dessert titles aside just in case of the need for some last minute rewriting!
The Desert Song (1953)-Sometimes a movie is just so wildly miscast that you love it more for its faults than its strengths, that’s the case with this operetta. The basic story goes like so: There’s a civil war between Morocco’s Berber and Arab populations in the early 1900’s. French Foreign Legionnaire Gen. Birabeau arrives with daughter Margot (Kathryn Grayson) in tow to check the war’s progress while Arab Sheik Yousseff schemes to discredit the mysterious opposition leader El Khobar (Margot’s tutor in disguise) while Margot and El Khobar fall in love. Simple enough but what ratchets up the absurdity factor is that the Sheik is played by Raymond Massey, famous for playing Abraham Lincoln!, while El Khobar the Berber rebel leader is Gordon MacRae…that’s right Curley from Oklahoma!! If you can look beyond that the strapping Gordon and the lovely Kathryn are in great voice and the score is terrific but if you’re looking for realism look elsewhere.
Rawhide (1951)-Feisty young Vinnie Holt (Susan Hayward) traveling with her orphaned niece Callie is stranded at the remote stagecoach stop “Rawhide Pass” in the acrid desert of the old West with stationmaster Sam Todd (Edgar Buchanan) and his assistant Tom Owens (Tyrone Power) when the cavalry won’t permit her to proceed through dangerous territory because of a stage robbery. After the soldiers leave, Jim Zimmerman (Hugh Marlowe) bluffs his way into the station saying he’s a guard but is actually one of the escaped convicts responsible for the robbery. His three fellow escapees quickly appear intent on stealing the gold shipment due in the next day. After killing Sam they must keep Tom and Vinnie, who they mistakenly believe is his wife, alive to carry out their plan. As the four men turn on each other Tom & Vinnie work together to try and escape. Tight suspenseful Western.
Five Graves to Cairo (1943)-British Corporal John Bramble (Franchot Tone) is the lone survivor of a battle against Rommel’s army on the Egyptian border. Wandering through the desert he finds a remote hotel assuming a false identity to elude capture. Arriving shortly after is General Rommel himself (Erich von Stroheim) who takes Bramble for a German spy and lets slip hints of his secret strategy, the 'five graves' to Cairo-hidden excavations of supplies to enable survival across the desert. It’s up to Bramble to find a way to get word of the plan to the Allies and perhaps change the tide of the war.
I haven't seen any of these. Not surprising, I had a tough week.
DeleteGood choice with Fury Road - definitely one of the best action flicks of the new millennium. I love that shot, too! I haven't seen Tracks but I have heard good things, especially about Wasikowska's performance.
ReplyDeleteShe's really good in it. So is Adam Driver.
DeleteLove Fury Road, it was such a surprise! I haven't seen the other two but Tracks in on my watchlist
ReplyDeleteIt really was. I never expected to like it so much.
DeleteYey for Fury Road! I actually use that shot in VP with Logan :P
ReplyDeleteNice!
DeleteFury Road is better than I thought and the vestal virgins in white made me giggle...just slightly. 10,000 is horrible and needs to stay where it is. I don't remember the gal but why would Swift shame her?? What's the point?? I have not seen the Australian film but it sounds interesting and quiet films are usually quite full of thoughtful introspection.
ReplyDeleteSwift slut shamed her because her Jonas brother boyfriend dumped her for Camille. It was really gross, she wrote a song about her being known more for fucking people vs her acting which wasn't true.
DeleteOh good grief! Swift has some issues for sure but didn't know this part.....what a shame
DeleteFury Road was awesome! I think it's the best one of the franchise. I wanted to watch Tracks but when I saw it on TV, I thought it just just started, only to find out that I've just seen the end. I will watch it in its entirety one day.
ReplyDeleteI hate when that happens lol
DeleteHey, we share a pick in Mad Max: Fury Road... YAY!!!!
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen Tracks but I want to because of Mia Wasikowska. Yeah, 10,000 B.C. sucked. Steven Strait is a shit actor who got by with his looks but with no substance. I do like Camilla Belle as she was the reason why I watched it on TV. Fuck that succubus Taylor Swift. I hope someone does write a song about her about all of the bullshit she's done.
lol a song, or a tell all. I'd take anything.
DeleteLooks like Fury Road is the movie of the week. It's well deserved, too. 10,000 B.C., not so much. Good Lawd, was that horrible.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad we can all share how terrible that movie was.
DeleteOn this list, I've only seen Fury Road--I really liked that movie.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I know anyone that hated it.
DeleteI haven't seen 10,000 B.C...only because it looked so dumb.
ReplyDeleteI only heard about the Camilla Belle - Taylor Swift thing recently. I do remember Belle had some good movies in the mid 2000s.
She gave a lot of good performances then she completely disappeared, probably because of Swift.
DeleteTwo great picks and one I would never see. I was going to pick Tracks, fantastic story and I have so much love for Fury Road, really wanted to see this in black and white but I think I;ve missed my chance at the cinema
ReplyDeleteI think Fury Road needs color, personally. I don't think I would've liked the black and white version as much. That beautiful shot in the gif wouldn't be as beautiful.
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