The Dirty Dozen (1967) - Aldrich's rough WWII super-entertainment

♥♥♥♥♥

The poster for Robert Aldrich's The Dirty Dozen is an example of a truly exciting, greatly detailed, marvelous ditto

QUICK REVIEW:

Lee Marvin (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)) plays the undisciplined major, who gets a tough mission during World War II: Train 12 hardened criminals to storm a Nazi stronghold and kill everyone.

- Quite naturally, it seems to me, this great premise results in a fiercely entertaining piece of war suspense here in Long Islander Robert Aldrich's (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)) The Dirty Dozen. The screenplay, by Nunnally Johnson (The Angel Wore Red (1960)) and Lukas Heller (The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)), is an adaptation of E. M. Nathanson's (Lovers and Schemers (2003)) 1965 novel of the same name.
Dozen is a joy from start to finish for anyone who likes brawling, military-centered action and great actors. - The ensemble cast truly is the core of the film:
Besides Marvin, who is perfect, Ernest Borgnine (The Wild Bunch (1969)) is priceless as the good-hearted general; Oscar-nominated John Cassavetes (Rosemary's Baby (1968)) is good as the rebel in the pack; and Charles Bronson (Once Upon a Time in the West/C'era una Volta il West (1968)) nails it as the good soldier. - Robert Ryan (The Wild Bunch) is a find as the intractable colonel. The only one I feel a little bad for is the great Jim Brown (Mars Attacks! (1996)), who, as the only black among the dozen, as the cliché seems to stipulate, of course dies... Brown was actually made to choose between his formidable football career and acting around the time of Dozen; at 29, already NFL's all-time greatest rusher at the time, he chose acting.
John Wayne (True Grit (1969)) and Jack Palance (The Silver Chalice (1954)) were approached to star in Dozen but ultimately declined due the fact that their characters were prone to adultery and racism, respectively.
Of the actors portraying the dozen, several were real WWII veterans, including Marvin, who fought with the US Marines in the Pacific.
In the world of today, Dirty Dozen serves as the acknowledged basis of David Ayer's coming superhero mega-movie Suicide Squad (2016), - make of that what you will ...

Lee Marvin leads the 12 untraditional warriors in Robert Aldrich's The Dirty Dozen

Watch the exciting trailer for the film here

Cost: 5.4 mil. $
Box office: 45.3 mil. $
= Huge hit
[Though many critics at the time took aim at Dozen's morally dubious heroes and its violence, the film was also Oscar-nominated 4 times: Aside from Cassavetes as Best Supporting Actor, it was nominated for Editing, Sound and Sound Effects, for which it won its only statuette. The film was a huge commercial success, making 24.2 mil. $ in the US alone, (53 % of the total gross); and also a big hit in European countries like France (4.6 mil. admissions) and Sweden (0.8 mil. admissions). It was the 5th highest-grossing film of '67 and MGM's biggest hit that year.]

What do you think of The Dirty Dozen?

Demons/Dèmoni (1985) or, Cinema of Death!

♥♥♥♥

This Spanish poster for Lamberto Bava's Demons features a strange cut-out of a demon hovering over other demons ascending a staircase

QUICK REVIEW:

Two Italian girls, who attempt to speak American-English in Germany (...), get free tickets to a cinema, in which the demons on the screen suddenly overtake the audience.

The blood bath will never end in Demons. 
Co-writer/director Lamberto Bava (Macabre/Macabro (1980)) walks in Italian horror maestro Dario Argento's (Phenomena (1985)) and his own father, the 'Baron of Blood' Mario Bava's (The Mask of Satan/La Machera del Demonio (1960)) shoes with success here. In Demons, he has created a nightmarish atmosphere that is far from the 'realism' striven for in so many of today's horror films.
The acting and the hopeless dubbing of the film are terrible, but in a certain way this only contributes to the priceless gritty, smutty feel that surrounds this 80s teen gore galore, replete with cocaine junkies, songs by Pretty Maids, Billy Idol and original music by Claudio Simonetti (Deep Red/Profondo Rosso (1975)).
Demons is co-written by Argento (who also produced the film), director Bava, Franco Ferrini (Opera (1987)) and Dardano Sacchetti (Killer Crocodile 2 (1990), based on his story.

Watch the very dark trailer for the film here

Cost: 1.8 mil. $
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertainty
[The film was released in '86 in the US, but I can find no figures detailing its commercial performance, only the fact that 200k paid admission to see it in Spain. But it must have been a success, because Bava and the writing team followed it up with Demons 2/Dèmoni 2 ... l'Incubo Ritorna (1986).]

What do you think of Demons?
What are the best Bava films across the prolific film family's generations?

Top 10: The best adaptations reviewed by Film Excess to date

1. Apocalypse Now (1979) - Francis Ford Coppola 

2. The Shining (1980) - Stanley Kubrick

3. The Big Sleep (1946) - Howard Hawks

4. Italian for Beginners/Italiensk for Begyndere (2000) - Lone Scherfig

5. Die Hard (1988) - John McTiernan

6. Coraline (2009) - Henry Selick 

7. The Chorus/Les Choristes (2004) - Christophe Barratier

8. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) - Andrew Adamson

9. House of Usher (1960) - Roger Corman

10. Barry Lyndon (1975) - Stanley Kubrick

Other great adaptations reviewed by Film Excess

Albert Nobbs (2011) 
The Bear/L'Ours (1988) 
The Beguiled (1971) 
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage/L'uccello Dalle Piume di Cristallo (1970) 
The Birds (1963) 
Blade Runner (1982) 
The Blue Angel/Der Blaue Engel (1930) 
The Boys from Brazil (1978)
The Boys in the Band (1970) 
Cape Fear (1962) 
Carlito's Way (1993) 
Carnage (2011) 
Carrie (1976) 
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) 
Charley Varrick (1973) 
Children of Men (2006) 
The Commitments (1991) 
The Constant Gardner (2005) 
The Homesman (2014) 
Manhunter (1986) 
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) 
The Notebook (2004) 
The Reader (2008) 

Good adaptations reviewed by Film Excess

1408 (2007) 
A Bridge Too Far (1977) 
A Most Wanted Man (2014) 
A Scanner Darkly (2006) 
Caesar and Cleopatra (1945) 
Cimarron (1960) 
A Clockwork Orange (1971) 
A Single Man (2009) 
The Age of Innocence (1993)
The Beach (2000) 
The Call of the Wild (1972) 
Casino Royale (1967) 
Catch-22 (1970) 
Centennial (1978-79) 
Children of the Corn (1984) 
Christine (1983) 
The Class/Entre les Murs (2008) 
Closer (2004)  
Congo (1995) 
Crazy Heart (2009)
Dances with Wolves (1990) 
Dead Ringers (1988) 
The Human Beast/La Bête Humaine (1938)
Jack Reacher (2012) 
The Method/El Método (2005) 
The Name of the Rose (1986) 
The Paperboy (2012)
The Pledge (2001) 
The Sting (1973) 
Stolen Spring/Det Forsømte Forår (1993)
The Two Faces of January (2014)

Mediocre or poor adaptations reviewed by Film Excess

A Home at the End of the World (2004)
Alice in Wonderland (1999)
American Psycho (2000)
Bloodlust (1961) 
Body Snatchers (1993) 
Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) 
Chocolat (2000) 
Cobra Verde/Slave Coast (1987) 
Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) 
Derailed (2005) 
The Devil's Advocate (1997) 
The Dogs of War (1980) 
Dune (1984) 
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) 
Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)
John Carter (2012) 
John Dies at the End (2012) 
The Keeper of Lost Causes/Kvinden i Buret (2013) 
Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014) 
Odd Thomas (2013)
Pet Sematary (1989) 
Solaris (2002) 
Spider (2002) 
The Woman in Black (2012)

[88 titles in all]

Related posts:

The best action movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  
The best adventure movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
The best true story movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  

What do you think of the list?
Let your opinion be heard in a comment

Dancer in the Dark (2000) or, Selma the Immigrant

♥♥♥♥♥

The French poster for Lars Von Trier's Dancer in the Dark

In Washington state in 1964, a Czechoslovakian woman named Selma fights with increasing blindness and her ambition to save up for a vital operation for her son, but SPOILER through the greed of her neighbors, she is pushed to commit a murder and be executed for it.

Icelandic singer Björk (Drawing Restraint 9 (2005)) plays the decisive role of Selma beautifully, with a childlike demeanor that is at times charming and at times disturbing. And Catherine Deneuve (Belle de Jour (1967)) and Peter Stormare (Fargo (1996)) are also outstanding here in Danish master filmmaker Lars Von Trier's (Breaking the Waves (1996)) political musical drama, which uses the musical format in a bold direction that earned Von Trier the Palme d'Or in Cannes and ended his Golden Heart trilogy, (which also comprises Breaking the Waves and The Idiots/Idioterne (1998). Political in that Von Trier here implicitly makes a very critical statement of the US.
The train scene with the song is fantastically beautiful and fairytale-like, and in general the film's breakout singing and dancing scenes are its best: Colors go from muted, depressive greys and get life and fullness, as sounds become musical, and blind Selma the musical star. Exhilarating and singular, the film's impressive cast also has Joel Grey (Cabaret (1972)). It is an exciting and creative meeting.
Later, in the courtroom scene, Von Trier's distaste for America shines though, as all of America, it seems, collectively abuse the blind woman, who refuses to defend herself. But you don't have to agree with Von Trier's anti-American sentiments to enjoy Dancer in the Dark.

Related reviews:

Lars Von Trier:  Nymphomaniac (2013) short version, vol. 1 & vol. 2, or, Lars Von Trier's Suck It
Antichrist (2009) - Trier's cabin-in-the-woods psycho-horror 
Dear Wendy (2005) - Vinterberg and Von Trier's unpopular, gun-themed megaflop (writer)

Watch the exciting trailer for the film here

Cost: 12.5 mil. $
Box office: 45.6 mil. $
= Big hit
[Dancer also won Björk the Best Actress award in Cannes, and the song I've Seen It All was Oscar-nominated. The film seems to be Von Trier's biggest commercial hit to date. It was a co-production between companies from no less than 12 countries! The film made 4.1 mil. $ (9 % of the total gross) in the US, and was a relatively big hit in a number of other countries like Denmark, France and Spain.]

What do you think of Dancer in the Dark?
Do you know other unusual, dark musicals?

Dead Man (1995) - Jarmusch's bold, poetic, rich Americana masterpiece

♥♥♥♥♥♥

Johnny Depp is Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man

QUICK REVIEW:

William Blake arrives with train to the little town of Machine, where he doesn't get the job that he had expected. Instead he gets into a fix that makes him kill a man, and he is thereafter hunted through the wilderness with an Indian named Nobody by his side.

Dead Man is a fairytale-like, postmodern, philosophical western in B/W (photographed by the great Robby Müller (Breaking the Waves (1996))) with a superb ensemble cast, led by Johnny Depp (Donnie Brasco (1997)): Gary Farmer (Twist (2003)) as Nobody, Crispin Glover (Back to the Future (1985)), Lance Henriksen (Aliens (1986)), John Hurt (The Elephant Man (1980)), Robert Mitchum (The Night of the Hunter (1955)) - in his last screen performance, - Iggy Pop (Persepolis (2008), voice), Gabriel Byrne (Miller's Crossing (1990)), Jared Harris (Mad Men (2009-12)) and Mili Avital (The Human Stain (2003)). - And that's not even all of them!
Neil Young (Year of the Horse (1997)) has composed an outstanding score, which perfectly compliments the psychedelic feel that master filmmaker writer-director Jim Jarmusch's (Down by Law (1986)) characters spark.
Whether Dead Men hits you like a spiritual kick in the gut or as a more intellectually meaningful offering, the film is a rich, rewarding and very unique experience. - And one that requires an open mind.
It is possibly Ohioan Jarmusch's best film, equaled perhaps only by Mystery Train (1989).

Related reviews:

Jim Jarmusch: Broken Flowers (2005) - Hip search for son and self with Jarmusch and Murray
Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) - Pleasant, precious vignette sit-down with some wonderful people  
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) - Whitaker serves ancient samurai justive in Jarmusch's cool treat 
Top 10: The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  

Watch the long trailer for the film here

Cost: 9 mil. $
Box office: 1 mil. $ (US only)
= Some uncertainty
[But most likely Dead Man should, appallingly, be counted as a huge flop. I have only a few international figures for the film's performance: It made 0.8 mil. $ in Australia, and in France, Germany and the Netherlands together, around 600k paid admission to see it. The film premiered in Cannes, and it is highly esteemed among Native Americans, who regard it as an extremely well-researched depiction of their different tribal cultures, use of different native languages etc. Critics reacted very differently to the film: Roger Ebert gave it a paltry 1½ stars; it seems he didn't understand the film at all! - While others, like Greil Marcus, Jonathan Rosenbaum and A. O. Scott, recognize it as a masterpiece.]

What do you think of Dead Man?
Do you think it is Jarmusch's greatest film?

Dial M for Murder (1954) - Hitchcock's 3D thriller is hindered by theatrics

♥♥♥

The deliciously red poster for Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder

QUICK REVIEW:

Tony (Ray Milland (The Lost Weekend (1945)) and Margot (Grace Kelly (Rear Window (1954)) are, on the outside, a happily married couple. But below the surface, SPOILER he contracts a stranger to do her off, because her infidelity is threatening his future. But, alas, everything goes all wrong ...

Dial M for Murder was a British hit-play by Frederick Knots (A Perfect Murder (1998), based on the same play), which English master filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock (North by Northwest (1959)) decided to do when his partnership with Sidney Bernstein (Rope (1948), uncredited producer) fell through. It marks the last film in what I see as a minor down period in his long, illustrious career; from Under Capricorn (1949) to Dial M, Hitch made no truly great films, as he'd done both before and would do again after. In fact already later in 1954, he would release Rear Window, one of his all-time masterpieces.
Dial M was presented in 3D, but in the problematic fad's last stages of popularity in the 50's, which meant that it was screened in 2D in most theaters. Its main problem is that it is very theatrical, (Knots also adapted his own play, which he probably shouldn't have), and I miss some of Hitchcock's visual ingenuity and panache in the film.
Milland is sly as a fox in Dial M, but aside from him, I find it an uphill challenge to remain interested in the movie because of its many details, dense dialog and general, dramatic passivity.

Related reviews:

Alfred Hitchcock: The Birds (1963) - Hitchcock spearheads horror sub-genreand innovative special effects in great, odd film
The 39 Steps (1935) or, Murder and High Jinx!

A downright lying poster for Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder erroneously calls it 'the most famous Alfred Hitchcock movie of all time!'

You can't take from Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder that it has Grace Kelly, and that she is some asset for any film

Watch the original trailer for the film here

Cost: 1.4 mil. $
Box office: 6 mil. $
= Big hit
[Although Dial M came out in the last stages of 3D, it still was a popular film, both in the US (where it made 2.7 mil. $ (45 % of its total gross)) and abroad. The film and Knots' play has inspired several other adaptations, and Dial M is generally higher rated than it is here. - It currently sits on #160 on IMDb's Top 250!]

What do you think of Dial M for Murder?

The Dark Knight (2008) - Nolan's best Batman

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Action Movie of the Year + Best Superhero Movie of the Year + Best Villain of the Year: The Joker (Heath Ledger) + Most Profitable Movie of the Year: 217 mil. $ range

The dark, exciting poster for Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight

QUICK REVIEW:

Gotham City is terrorized by the Joker, and the new district attorney Harvey Dent looks like the metropolis' only hope. But when Dent SPOILER loses his wife and burns off half of his face in an accident, he becomes the bitter, resentful Two-Face. - And Batman will have to take the trash out!

Christian Bale (Rescue Dawn (2006)) had by British master filmmaker Christopher Nolan's (Interstellar (2014)) second Batman movie grown into a cult character as excess yuppie Bruce Wayne. Aaron Eckhart (Thank You for Smoking (2005)) is also good here as the torn man Dent.
Quality-wise, Dark Knight is nearly a schematic reflection of Nolan's first Batman movie, Batman Begins (2005), with one major exception; the Joker. Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow was neat as the villain of the first film, but Heath Ledger's (Brokeback Mountain (2005)) anarchistic heavy is larger-than-life. A truly great performance, and Ledger's only Oscar-win. Unfortunately, he died tragically of an overdose six months prior to the release of the film and therefore never received the statue in person.
Ledger's premature demise has most certainly contributed to the undue celebration of The Dark Knight that has since ensued: The film still rests at #4 on IMDb's Top 250! Knight is great entertainment for sure, but held up against the greatest Batman movie to date, Tim Burton's Batman Returns (1992), I still far prefer Burton's colorful, Gothic fantasy adventure over Nolan's stark realism and seriousness.
Knight is co-written by Nolan and his brother Jonathan Nolan (Interstellar), with David S. Goyer (Blade (1998)) contributing story.

Related reviews:

Batman:  Batman Returns (1992) - Burton gives us the ultimate, Gothic spin on Gotham City and its sinister characters
Batman (1989) - A huge, glitzy, empty joker
Batman the Movie (1966) or, Batman and Robin: Kapow!!! 
Christopher Nolan: 2014 in films - according to Film Excess
Interstellar (2014) - Nolan heads to space in oppulent, exciting epic
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) or, Batman and the Storm, Darkness, Anarchy, Evil, Depression

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
Batman Begins (2005) or, Modern, Dark, Smooth Batman

Watch the great trailer for the film here

Cost: 185 mil. $
Box office: 1,005 bil. $
=  Big hit
[The Dark Knight broke records galore: With 8 Oscar nominations, it is the most Oscar-nominated film based on a comic or graphic novel to date, beating Dick Tracy's (1990) 7 nominations. Dark Knight was 2008's highest-grossing film and remains the 4th highest-grossing superhero movie, (almost certain to be bested soon by Avengers: Age of Ultron.) It made 534.9 mil. $ (53 %) of its total gross in the US, where it had an earth-shattering opening weekend of 158.4 mil. $. The film was re-released traditionally and in IMAX in early 2009, which made it break through the 1 bil. $ mark.]

What do you think of The Dark Knight?
And Nolan's other films?