Category: Hawks, Howard

Films directed by Howard Hawks

Reel 83: In the Style of Howard Hawks

Our first episode of 2025 is the last of our “In the Style of” series, and this was a fun one to make for us. This time around we’re looking at films that emulate director Howard Hawks in one way or another. Maybe it’s dialogue, maybe it’s the overall vibe, maybe it’s the cinematography…

…Nah. It’s not the cinematography. But it is the vibe and the dialogue. Both of these films, which couldn’t be more different in content and tone from one another (or from most of Hawks’ work, for that matter), definitely have an echo that could get you thinking, “Yeah…he would have handled this pretty much the same way.”

On to fhe movies themselves. And we open up with 1994’s The Bus That Couldn’t Slow Down Speed, directed by Jan de Bont in his American feature debut as a director, and starring Keanu Reeves and a then largely-unknown Sandra Bullock. It’s a tense thriller that still manages to overlay a lot of laugh-out-loud  humor, and a little bit of romantic comedy. Dennis Hopper plays a pretty definitive crazy guy as only he can, and we get some smaller-but-solid performances from the likes of Jeff Daniels, Joe Morton and Alan Ruck.

From there we jump ahead to 2015 and The Martian, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon for half the movie, and Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels (again), and a lot of other solid talent holding up the other half. Matt Damon is stranded on Mars and needs to stay alive for much longer than his equipment was designed to do. And all the folks on Earth have to find a way to get to Mars much faster than they expected they’d ever need. Again, a taut, serious story with a humorous overlay that’s quite faithful to its source material. Is the story good science? …eh…mostly. There are a few spots where Andy Weir, the book’s author, concedes he had to break the rules to get some characters where they needed to be. But in the long run you don’t care because it’s a fun ride.


COMING ATTRACTIONS:

If you like Denzel Washington, you’re going to love the next episode. Denzel is on the case, as we screen The Mighty Quinn, which wasn’t his first film role but it was his first after St. Elsewhere (I think…I’m pretty sure), and then it’s Inside Man, a heist film with an ending that we think will surprise you.

Reel 67: Modern Fairy Tales, Part 1

Apologies for the delay to this episode, but I got Covid last week at the same time as a sinus infection, and I was definitely laid low for awhile. Not a cool way to spend your birthday week, to be sure. Anyway, thanks for your patience.

In today’s episode we’re looking at two films that are updated versions of classic fairy tales, even if they don’t necessarily look like it on the surface. And we start with Ball of Fire, directed by Howard Hawks from 1941. Barbara Stanwyck is a woman hiding out from the police by staying with a group of scholars who are putting together an encyclopedia. In exchange for the room and board, she offers the men lessons in modern lingo and other forms of popular culture. Of course, there’s a little more to it as she finds herself attracted to one of them. Hijinks ensue as the man who’s benefitting from her being hidden gets the idea to marry her as a means of keeping her from testifying against him. It’s a bunch of screwball fun involving lots of character actors.

In the second half of the episode, we move forward to 1986’s Mona Lisa, a kind of neo-noir film directed and co-written by Neil Jordan. It features Bob Hoskins and Cathy Tyson as an unlikely couple who have an unlikely adventure together. It’s guaranteed that this film doesn’t end the way you expect it to, but you won’t be dissatisfied by that.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: 

In Reel 68, we’ll be checking out another pair of modern fairy tales, but they’ll be foreign-based and a little more esoteric. First we’ll screen The Bride With White Hair (1993), a Hong Kong film directed by Ronny Yu. After that we go to Scandinavia for Hanna (2011), directed by Joe Wright and the inspiration for the 2019 Netflix series.

Reel 36: You Can Like Both, Part 1

When it comes to daily emails, there are only a few that Claude reads on a regular basis. You know how it goes: you skim the rest of them and maybe click if something is of interest, but generally you’re deleting them until finally you realize that you’re deleting ALL of them and haven’t bothered to unsubscribe.

The point here—and we do have one—is that there’s one daily email that he reads every day, without fail. It’s Seth Godin’s Blog. Godin is a business wizard, and while Claude isn’t in the world of business, Godin’s advice for relationship-building in the business world is something that anyone can take, and use, and generally improve their work surroundings.

As it happens, this past Sunday, Godin’s daily email was specifically about these two films, and the approach that the main character takes to the situation that they’re in. Godin, of course, takes a different view of what was done and why, and—because he’s Seth Godin—he’s absolutely right. Read for yourself and see if you don’t agree. 

And in an amazing case of post hoc, ergo propter hoc, we’re going to conclude that Godin watched these films in preparation for this episode of the podcast, because he’s a huge fan, and it occurred to him to write a blog post about it.

At any rate, this episode is the first in a series of five episodes wherein we look at two films that people tend to compare to one another and decide that you can like one or the other, but not both. And to that, we say, “Nonsense.” Of course you can like both.

So we start off with 1952’s High Noon, starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly, and about 182 character actors. Fred Zinneman does a terrific job of keeping the tension ratcheted up, while Floyd Crosby’s cinematography is flawless, indoors and out. From there we slide on over to 1959 and a little film called Rio Bravo, starring John Wayne and Dean Martin, and directed by Howard Hawks. It’s an overstuffed episode, and the intermission (as usual) is only 30 seconds long, so get ready for some fantastic discussion.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:

In Reel 37 we bring you Part 2 of our five-part series with a pair of films that are vastly different in nearly every way, but there still seems to be insistence on one or the other. We have The Best Years of Our Lives, starring Frederic March and Dana Andrews, and It’s a Wonderful Life, starring James Stewart and Donna Reed, both from 1947. The Best Years of Our Lives is an epic-length film with no intermission, so be ready for that. And we know it’s warming up outside, but go watch It’s a Wonderful Life anyway, because now you have a reason to.