The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936)

  'The Prisoner of Shark Island' is a 1936 film directed by John Ford and starring Warner Baxter.

  On the night of President Lincoln's assassination, John Wilkes Booth stops by a doctor's house to tend to his broken leg. The doctor, called Samuel Mudd, lets him in, and tends to his leg, without knowing that he was the one who shot President Lincoln. The following day, the army are trying to find Booth and stop in on Mudd's house. They find a shoe with Booth's name on it, and accuse him of being an accomplice in the assassination. Soon after his trial, he is sent to life imprisonment in a prison in the Dry Tortugas (of the edge of Key West).

  This is another rare OOP Masters of Cinema DVD that I bought a few weeks ago. They release the definitive editions of the films (in region 2), and take care over their releases. What attracted me to this film was the awesome title, and that it's a John Ford film (a director I should know more of). 'The Prisoner of Shark Island' is one of his patriotic American films, as oppose to his small Irish films. Not a western, the genre he is most known for, but a mixture of different genres, starting of as a retelling of events, then turning into a court drama, then an prison-escape film, before finishing as a heroic biopic. The film is relatively unpredictable, but it's clear Mudd will eventually find freedom (similar to '12 Years a Slave', 'The Shawshank Redemption' etc).

  The story is told in a typical, celebratory way, as seen in 'The Birth of a Nation', that over-emphasizes America and fills the story with considerable patriotism. This is a film taken place after a turbulent period in American history, and allows Ford to show the love for the country (even if he is Irish). Ford makes the audience sympathize with a heroic underdog as he eventually succeeds, a plotline that is similar to some of his other films, but this is the best example. For me, the 1930s is the worst decade in film, partially due to the lack of style and beauty. John Ford does counter this belief (Cahiers du Cinemalove him), making his films unique for the time period.

  As the events the film takes gets worse and worse, the courage that Mudd displays is humongous. It's hard to believe this was based on a true story of the real-life Samuel Mudd. Warner Baxter portrays him with real authenticity and is often perceived as his finest performance. It may even be considered his best if the film wasn't forgotten over time.

TO CONCLUDE
It may not be his best film (that would be 'The Grapes of Wrath'), and the film is often cliche and predictable, but it's enjoyable and has a great pay off at the end.

SCORE

77

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

  'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' is a 2013 film directed by and starring Ben Stiller.

  Walter Mitty is a daydreamer, who often imagines his life being better. He works for LIFE magazine, which are firing employees due to an acquisition. It's his duty to sort out the final cover of the last ever edition, but the negative has disappeared...

  Most films with this low of a score are dull and boring. 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' is many things but it is not boring. It constantly barrages the audience with luscious visuals, and constant action for it to be dull. The amazing visuals do feel out of place and the action does feel unnecessary and inconsequential, but it did prevented me from falling asleep.

  It's not the worst movie of the year but the most cringe-worthiest movie of the year. Some scenes made me feel physically sick, especially the ending (where he sees what's on the LIFE magazine cover). Very predictable as well. I could guess what was on the negative the second it went missing. The film gets incredibly stupid in places, trading the stretchy doll for the skateboard was probably the dumbest thing I have ever seen. The film is meant to be escapism, so the intention is for it to be unrealistic, but scenes like this take the piss.

  The film adds storylines and interesting characters, then drops them after three minutes. I never did understand the point of the radio he dropped in the ocean or why the photographer took a photograph of his mothers piano. I didn't find the product placement as annoying as other people have, but it did take me out of the action a few times, to sigh heavily. Most of the advertisements are America-specific so they are completely pointless anyway, regardless of the effort they take to try and make them blend in.

  The cringe-worthy, stupid moments and the awful script, is forgiven in a couple of films by amazing acting. Not in this film, with Ben Stiller starring as an awful protagonist. I never liked Ben Stiller, and now I don't like him more. It's not that he is bad in the role, he is atrocious. Anyone else rooting for the shark?

  To be fair the cinematography is excellent and Sean Penn was surprisingly good. But in the end it's a film about Ben Stiller imagining of living life, then living life, then not, then living it again. Way too much bullshit manipulated excessively to try and hit every feel-good bone in the body, but misses them all. It does hit the stomach.

TO CONCLUDE
This film has split audience and critics. Some even claim it to be the next Forrest Gump (as seen on every bus poster in England for about three months). I thought it was a physically painful experience and I am surprised at the amount of people who loved it, how can they be spoon-fed this Americanized bullshit so easily.

SCORE
38