Category: 1991

Reel 43: Dublin Calling

It’s the Lost Episode! Sean and I went back and re-recorded this episode. Fortunately I store hardcopies of the film synopses, and Sean takes a ton of notes, and I do my usual blundering in between, and I’m pretty positive that we covered literally everything that we covered the first time around, with the exception of something I actually added that wasn’t there previously (it’s something I said at the end of the first segment).

This time, we’re looking at a pair of musicals set in the city of Dublin, Ireland. Our first film is 1991’s The Commitments, directed by Alan Parker. It’s the story of a group that aspires to become a soul band in the 1960s Stax/Atlantic tradition. That said, I don’t think it’s 100% clear that the film is set any earlier than the 1980s. No matter, though: it’s a fun movie, especially if you’re fond of that F-bomb. (Heh.)

From there we move forward to 2007, and a film called Once, written and directed by John Carney. It’s the story of a couple of musicians who find each other. And they discover that they’re yearning for something more than what they have in their lives. Whether or not that’s each other is something that’s explored during the film. You’ll find yourself rooting for them as a couple. Never mind that there are some perfectly good reasons not to do that.

While both films have the commonality of being set in Dublin, there’s another thing about them that many fans have suggested. We discuss it briefly in the second half of the show, and while it’s plausible, there’s really nothing anywhere to back it up. But it’s a truly fun coincidence, assuming it is one.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: 

In our next episode, we look at two musical films that are period pieces. Specifically, they take place shortly before a seismic shift in the music scene. First, from 2007 is the criminally-underrated Honeydripper,  written and directed by John Sayles, and from there we move on to 2014’s Inside Llewyn Davis, written and directed by the Coen Brothers.

Reel 27: Gangsters Fighting Nazis

Gather ’round while I tell a story.

Once upon a time, there was a time when it was universally agreed that Nazis were Bad People. As the late Norm Macdonald said, “You know, with Hitler, the more I learn about that guy, the more I don’t care for him.”

Those were the days, weren’t they!

Anyway, Nazism was so unpopular in the 1940s that even the organized crime syndicates fought actively to discourage their popularity here in the United States. Meyer Lansky and the Jewish mob were among the first, but it was a nationwide phenomenon that even caught the attention of Hollywood. Then the Hays Code came along and reminded everyone that traditional villains (e.g. mobsters) weren’t allowed to appear to be heroes.

But at least one film sneaked by, in 1942. All Through the Night, starring Humphrey Bogart and a huge stable of character actors, follows one shady character as he checks out the death of a local baker, which leads to a huge Nazi infiltration plot.

Several years later, in 1991 we have The Rocketeer, a live-action Disney film directed by Joe Johnston and starring Billy Campbell and Jennifer Connelly, and another stable of character actors. It’s based on the 1982 graphic novel by Dave Stevens. This film also deals with someone inadvertenly getting mixed up in a Nazi plot. This time they’re doing it to steal technology that could turn the tide of the war.

Both films are quite suspenseful and a lot of fun, with several comic turns that don’t take away from the main plotline.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:

Our next episode will be dropping shortly before Christmas, so what better time to break out a couple of Christmas miracles? We’ll be checking out 1944’s Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, a film with a decidedly controversial topic attached to it, and 1947’s Miracle on 34th Street. Join us, won’t you?