Monthly Archives: April 2025

Look Back (2024)

18 Friday Apr 2025

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(For Day 17 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was for a poem about friendship, drawing inspiration from the works of surrealist painters and friends Remedios Varo and Leonora Carrington, like this one perhaps. And what better to pair it with than a film about two female artist friends.)

It’s wonderful and harrowing,
Widening and narrowing,
To know that someone better
Is looking o’er your shoulder,

Better at your chosen art,
Finishing the things you start,
Being there to urge you better,
Fire from a smolder.

Admiration in their eyes,
Even as you fantasize
How to match their passion better
Eye-to-eye beholder.
____________________

Rating: 13+ (about a PG)

Imagine if Quentin Tarantino directed Terms of Endearment or David Cronenberg produced Brian’s Song. That’s the kind of bewildering tonal shift reflected by manga artist Tatsuki Fujimoto, best known for the dark and gory Chainsaw Man, also creating Look Back, a one-shot manga volume adapted into this hour-long tearjerker with a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score.

Grade-schooler Ayumu Fujino (Yuumi Kawai) revels in the praise she gets as her class’s resident artist, drawing short manga strips for the school paper, so she is shocked when another girl named Kyomoto seems more talented than her. This spurs her to improve her drawing even more, and eventually the two girls form a collaborative friendship, working together on mangas throughout high school and driving each other to improve. That drive eventually breaks apart their partnership and leads to unforeseen tragedy.

No doubt pulling in personal experience and sorrow over the 2019 Kyoto Animation attack, Look Back certainly proves Fujimoto’s range as a writer. The story may be short and simple, but that only makes its mastery of emotional and visual storytelling even more impressive. Set to a moving score by Haruka Nakamura, a flurry of gorgeously drawn montages manage to depict so much in such little time: the obsession of practicing to fend off fears of inferiority, a growing friendship as Fujino helps the shy Kyomoto out of her shell, the glow of passion and success yielding to business as usual. By the time the story shifts into a brief what-if scenario, every reminder of the early scenes becomes a reason to sob, as well as be inspired. Despite its limited runtime, it’s a touching masterpiece.

Best line: (Fujino) “Keep your eyes on my back, and you’ll grow too.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

© 2025 S.G. Liput
805 Followers and Counting

Marty (1955)

17 Thursday Apr 2025

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(Yes, I missed yesterday’s post, but I have the poem and will catch up when I have a little extra time for the review. Meanwhile, for Day 16 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was for a poem pairing a place with a particular song, so I went with “Unchained Melody,” a favorite of my parents, which came out the same year as this film.)

Out on the sidewalk outside a dance hall,
A man and a woman were side by side,
Lonely surrounded by strangers.
Romance was on the minds of all,
But these two were done, undanced, untried,
Fated to stay as mere strangers.

A slow dance was drifting outside to the street,
“Unchained Melody,” and the mood was set,
The cars and dogwalkers be damned.
And somehow shared bitterness came to be sweet,
Though little had changed in their lives as yet.
The morning could still leave them damned.

But streetlamps were candlelight under that tune;
The concrete gave way to a dance floor below,
And they didn’t mind being passed over.
Their loneliness withering under the moon,
They would have been happy to bask in its glow
And play that song over and over and over.
_________________________

MPA rating: Approved (G)

Modern dating is rough, as many will acknowledge who have been burnt out by dating apps, ghosting, and a general feeling of being unwanted. I know people who feel hopeless when it comes to finding love and scoff at encouragement, and I’ve had moments of despair myself. Yet it’s important to keep in mind that such feelings are not a new phenomenon and were represented quite poignantly in the Best Picture winner of 1955 Marty. Ernest Borgnine plays the title character, a homely butcher who has resigned himself to the single life. At the urging of his very Italian mother (Esther Minciotti), Marty reluctantly agrees to go to a local ballroom and connects with a woman named Clara (Betsy Blair), shy and similarly despondent as she is consistently regarded as a “dog” by her dates. Against all expectations, these two “dogs” wonder if they have found the person for whom they’ve been waiting.

Known to me previously as the answer Herb Stempel was forced to get wrong in Quiz Show, Marty is such a short and simple romance. It has no clever twists or enemies-to-lovers tension, just a sweet and meaningful date between two people close to giving up. Borgnine is a perfect lead here, his workaday looks and expressive face serving the character well and deservedly winning him a Best Actor Oscar, while Blair shares a cutely understated chemistry with him, reflective of the fact these two just met yet are hoping that their hopes have been answered. From the unexpected finding of love to the need to defend it when others scorn it, Marty is that welcome reminder that even old films can be utterly relatable.

Best line (though I really love the final scene): (Marty, to Clara) “See, dogs like us, we ain’t such dogs as we think we are.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

© 2025 S.G. Liput
805 Followers and Counting

The Wild Robot (2024)

15 Tuesday Apr 2025

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(For Day 14 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was for a poem describing a place in terms of the animals and natural sounds, so I thought of a certain humanless island from a recent animated film.)

The island was peaceful, no humans as kings,
Serene with the sounds of dying things.
Nature was spinning the circle of life
That ends with a cry and then silence.
The ocean was beating its breast on the rocks,
As the yelp of a whelp and the laugh of a fox
Echoed through trees as indifferent as death,
So soothing (ignoring the violence).

The geese were declaring their edge over ducks,
The does were all teases outrunning the bucks,
The woodpeckers gifted headaches to the squirrels,
And nothing was likely to change.
But then a new creature came, bringing new noises,
The whirring of servos, the shock that a voice is,
No fur and no feathers, just a fool metal jacket,
A new kind of racket, exciting and strange.
________________________

MPA rating: PG

My favorite film of 2024, The Wild Robot is further proof that DreamWorks can match and even surpass Disney at its best. Based on a 2016 children’s novel by Peter Brown, the first in a trilogy, this animated adventure set in the future sees an unprogrammed robot, ROZZUM Unit 7134 or “Roz” (Lupita Nyong’o), wash up on an unpopulated island full of unfriendly wildlife. Seeking some meaningful service to offer, Roz stumbles into the care of a baby gosling eventually named Brightbill (Kit Connor), raising it with the aid of a crafty fox (Pedro Pascal) and gradually weaving herself into the ecosystem in a way none would have guessed.

The early scenes of Roz exploring the island, before she is able to communicate with the animals, bring to mind the beginning of WALL-E, near-wordless storytelling at its finest. And once she does make contact, the film is surprisingly candid about the dog-eat-dog nature of nature, slipping in some darker-than-expected humor for a kids movie. The film’s emotional core lies in Roz’s connection to Brightbill, a poignant bond of adoptive motherhood that is likely to draw out tears from the tenderhearted, especially when backed by Kris Bowers’ moving, instantly iconic score.

The animation is also a sheer joy to behold, a gorgeous watercolor style that puts other 3D animation to shame with its warmth and natural detail, and, although I quite enjoyed Flow too, it’s a crime that this didn’t win the Best Animated Feature Oscar. Nyong’o brings an excellent balance of robotic coolness and burgeoning emotion as the voice of Roz, while Pascal is a special delight as the wise-cracking fox she befriends. And did I mention the score? It still gives me goosebumps.

It’s true there’s nothing particularly new about The Wild Robot’s themes, borrowing from the likes of The Iron Giant and Wolf Children, and the latter half has some holes (the exciting climax feels a bit pointless by the end). But this fable of a robot learning humanity even without humans around is exceptionally well-crafted otherwise and will always hold a special place in my heart. I’m skeptical whether the planned sequel can match it, but I hope so.

Best line: (Roz) “Sometimes, to survive, we must become more than we were programmed to be.”

Rank: List-Worthy

© 2025 S.G. Liput
805 Followers and Counting

A Real Pain (2024)

13 Sunday Apr 2025

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(For Day 13 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was for a poem in the same unique stanza/rhyme form as Donald Justice’s “There is a gold light in certain old paintings.”)

Truth is beauty and beauty is truth, said Keats,
Yet beauty is beloved and truth is hard.
If truths were as easy on the eyes as beauty,
They wouldn’t be hidden and hated and hard,
            Veiled under changing subjects and yelling and smiles.
            Truth is pain, and nothing hides pain as well as smiles.

Horrors happen, in countries and eras far-flung
And houses next door, just out of earshot.
Tragedies are nothing new, so must they all hurt?
Every life snuffed, innocence scarred, or errant shot?
            If I don’t care when strangers shed their distant tears,
            Why would anyone share my own predestined tears?

There’s something rare in a tragedy endured,
Like insight begotten by blindness run amok.
A lack of tragedy is apathy’s recipe,
And the world hates apathy running amok.
            Pain cycles, cloaked in smiles and history lessons,
            Wondering when there will be no need for lessons.
__________________________

MPA rating: R (for frequent language)

The sophomore directorial effort of Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain doesn’t live up to its name, in that it’s actually quite a pleasure. This familial dramedy pairs Eisenberg as David Kaplan with Kieran Culkin as his maverick of a cousin Benji, both of whom join a Jewish heritage tour in Poland to see where their late grandmother once lived before the Holocaust. While David is reserved and slightly neurotic, Benji is an unfiltered free spirit bordering on bipolar, attentive to strangers yet generally inconsiderate, the life of the party yet quick to complain if something rubs him the wrong way. (Having just been on a European tour several months ago, I’m grateful that my group didn’t include a Benji.) 

With good reason, Culkin received universal acclaim for his layered performance, though I think Eisenberg deserved some of that love as well, more than just for the Oscar-nominated screenplay he also wrote. Benji is easily the most memorable character, both of the film and in the minds of his fellow tourgoers, but I found Eisenberg’s more understated role to be more relatable, always trying to keep up and apologize for his cousin’s eccentricities yet loving him despite it, a dichotomy that bubbles to the surface in an especially emotional dinner scene.

As a writer-director, Eisenberg also handles the tone with skilled sensitivity. The banter between David and Benji is frequently funny yet can easily segue to latent grief or lingering anxiety, and the visit to the Majdanek concentration camp plays out in near silence, as their tour guide (Will Sharpe) says, letting the haunting location speak for itself. Realistic in its open-ended return to “normal life,” A Real Pain is a testament to generational trauma and strained family dynamics, both of which are sadly all too common.

Best line: (Marcia, on their tour) “David, we numb ourselves to avoid thinking about our impact.”
(Eloge, another tourist) “Ignoring the proverbial slaughterhouse to enjoy the steak, as it were.”
(Benji) “Yes, Eloge! Damn, that’s a good analogy.”
(David) “No, and I get that, I get all that. It just seems like maybe there’s, like, a time and a place to grieve, and maybe it’s not…”
(Benji) “Yo, Dave.”
(David) “What?”
(Benji) “We’re on a f***ing Holocaust tour. If now is not the time and place to grieve, to open up, I don’t know what to tell you, man.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

© 2025 S.G. Liput
805 Followers and Counting

The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

13 Sunday Apr 2025

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(For Day 12 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was a doozy: a multi-section poem drawing from myths and legends featuring rhyme and mixed formal and informal language. So, with this film in mind, I mused on what to do if offered three wishes by a genie.)

Wish 1

To access wishes, surely I
Must be in dire straits myself.
Trapped within a tomb of stone
Or stranded on an icy shelf,
Marooned upon an isle alone
Or chained in jail, condemned to die.

For my first wish, therefore, I must
Escape the fate that brought me here,
Wish myself above the ground
Or make what threatens disappear,
Unstuck, unbound, uncooked, undrowned,
Ideally somewhere I can trust.

Wish 2

My second wish
Depends on much.

Has the djinn at least been kind,
Or left half of me behind?

Am I truly free from harm,
Or acquired a new alarm?

Am I not falling from the sky
With no faculty to fly?

Is my friend in peril somewhere?
Do I like them enough to care?

Does the djinn insist on rules,
Like no death or love or ghouls?

And, unlike the foolish herds,
Am I careful with my words?

If yes to all above,
Then I guess I’ll side with love
For my friend who’s so in need
And ensure they’re also freed.
Aren’t I nice? I am indeed.

Wish 3

Assuming both my prior wishes
Haven’t spiraled far awry,
Now that I’m not about to die,
I have an epic choice ahead.

The world is mine to seize and form.
With but a wish, I’d gain renown,
A merry harem, a sultan’s crown,
A sorcerer or god instead.

In place of a dark lord or queen,
The world will love me and despair!
I’m kidding, no, I wouldn’t dare,
But I have to end this with a bang.

Hypnosis, health, wisdom, wealth?
Would they be subject to some twist?
I wish I knew the perfect wish
To satisfy me… dang.
_________________________

MPA rating: Approved (a likely G)

Having grown up with The Wizard of Oz, I’ve loved it from the start, viewing its dated or hokey elements as charming rather than a detraction, and I suspect the same would be true for The Thief of Bagdad, had it been an old childhood favorite as well. Boasting 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, this fantasy adventure draws elements from the One Thousand and One Nights to tell a partially non-linear tale of the betrayed Prince Ahmad of Bagdad (John Justin) and his wily friend/thief Abu (young Indian actor Sabu) as they fight against the evil vizier Jaffar (Conrad Veidt) and save a princess (June Duprez).

It was especially amusing to see how many aspects of Disney’s Aladdin were borrowed directly from this film. Sharing a name with Aladdin’s monkey, Abu flees a crowd with stolen food in an early scene, instantly bringing to mind the opening number from the animated film. In addition, you have a vizier named Jaffar/Jafar, a weak-minded sultan (Miles Malleson) who loves toys and is looking to give his daughter in marriage, a sheltered royal sneaking out of the palace to mingle with the common folk, and a genie and magic carpet aiding the heroes. The Djinn/genie (Rex Ingram) is quite different, though, more malevolent and helping Abu grudgingly, and there are plenty of other differences to set it apart.

Sabu and Justin make an appealing heroic team, while Veidt has an excellent Vincent Price-like coldness that made him a popular villain actor at the time. Of course, it’s a bit odd that most of the main roles (save for Sabu) are clearly white actors surrounded by Middle Eastern extras and settings, but I suppose that’s just due to the time period. The sets and props really add to the world-building, and the film is known for pioneering the first use of bluescreen/greenscreen to place Sabu within the extravagant special effects sequences of the latter half. While The Thief of Bagdad starts off a bit awkwardly before the plot gets rolling, it’s a genre classic that deserves wider appreciation as an entertaining fantasy of Old Hollywood.

Best line: (the Djinn, to Abu) “You’re a clever little man, little master of the universe, but mortals are weak and frail. If their stomach speaks, they forget their brain. If their brain speaks, they forget their heart. And if their heart speaks [laughing], they forget everything.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

© 2025 S.G. Liput
805 Followers and Counting

Camelot (1967)

12 Saturday Apr 2025

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(I may be late, but not defeated! For yesterday’s Day 11 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was for a poem that incorporates song lyrics as a refrain, so I drew from a certain musical and went with the suggested example of a villanelle.)

King and kingdom may yet fall,
But my fealty shall remain.
No, never could I leave you at all.

Laughter may yet leave this hall,
Pleasured memories turned pain.
King and kingdom may yet fall.

Our first meeting, I recall,
Was joy God only could ordain.
No, never could I leave you at all.

Peter may yet pillage Paul,
Men and what they stood for slain.
King and kingdom may yet fall.

How’d we get here, warts and all?
Is our love a common bain?
No, never could I leave you at all.

Trapped in adoration’s thrall,
Let the legends mourn the reign.
King and kingdom may yet fall.
No, never could I leave you at all.
_____________________________

MPA rating: G

I love musicals, even long musicals like Les Misérables. Yet even I have a limit, and somehow Camelot was too much even for me. Based on the 1960 Lerner and Loewe stage musical, Camelot adapts the King Arthur legend, particularly the creation of the Knights of the Round Table and the doomed love triangle between Arthur (Richard Harris), Guenevere (Vanessa Redgrave), and Lancelot (Franco Nero, with Gene Merlino dubbing his singing voice). 

All the events of the legendary scandal are well-portrayed: Lancelot’s boastful self-regard with the skill to back it up, the gradual transition of Guenevere disdaining and then falling for him, Arthur’s exasperation as he tries to overlook the uncomfortable rumor that everyone but he acknowledges, the corruptive role of Mordred (David Hemmings) in bringing Arthur’s idealistic kingdom low. Much of it is laudable, particularly an insightful script and the Oscar-winning score, production design, and costumes bringing Arthurian myth to life, yet it’s also dully self-indulgent at three hours long, in stark need of a skillful editor yet still leaving out songs from the stage version.

While Redgrave is a bewitching Guenevere and her eventual real-life husband Nero is dashing (if a bit insufferable) as Lancelot, Richard Harris is a strangely mixed bag as Arthur: sometimes, he’s excellent at embodying the king’s charm and deepening desperation while other times have him feeling too frivolous and unregal. It’s funny to think of him growing up to play the more Merlin-like role of Dumbledore, but he was indeed a singer too, known for the original version of “MacArthur Park.” His first number “I Wonder What the King is Doing Tonight” is a good representative of the film’s lack of imaginative staging, as Arthur just dips around some tree branches; Lerner’s lyrics are delightful, yet there’s little in the way of visual interest for the songs. As a poet, I certainly enjoyed the wordplay of “The Lusty Month of May” and “Take Me to the Fair,” but the film around the musical numbers, from its stolid pacing to the strain at an inspiring ending, sadly doesn’t rise above its flaws in my book.

Best lines: (Arthur) “I can’t quite remember all that Merlyn taught me, but I do remember this. That happiness is a virtue. No one can be happy and wicked. Triumphant, perhaps, but not happy.”
and
(young Arthur) “What’s the best thing for being sad?”  (Merlin) “The best thing for being sad is to learn something.”

Rank: Honorable Mention

© 2025 S.G. Liput
805 Followers and Counting

Freaks (1932)

10 Thursday Apr 2025

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(For Day 10 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was for a poem that incorporates alliteration and wordplay, two of my favorite devices.)

The freaks reek (it’s in the name),
Reek of pity, guilt, and shame,
Of all those shattered might-have-beens
Their parents might have held for them.

Anomalies aren’t animals,
Just popular improbables,
While others claim it isn’t cruel
To void for them the Golden Rule.

Abnormalcy (abnormal, see?)
Says, hey, how great can normal be
When normal people tend to hate
The things to which they can’t relate?

Unusual, peculiar, odd,
Yet don’t all share the image of God?
Suggesting human value might
Be more than limbs or average height.

Normalcy can’t stand the thought
That there are lives it fathoms not,
Chained to common, standard, same…
But freaks are free (it’s in the name).
________________________

MPA rating: Not Rated (a strong PG)

I was familiar with Tod Browning’s pre-Hays Code horror classic Freaks, if only for its immortal chant of “one of us,” but I never sat through the short one-hour film until recently. It was notorious from the start for its portrayal of circus freaks played by actual sideshow performers with real disabilities, from a pair of little people (siblings Harry and Daisy Earles of the Doll family, who also played Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz) to conjoined twins (Daisy and Violet Hilton) to a legless “Half-Boy” (Johnny Eck) walking with his arms. In the film, one of the dwarfs Hans is targeted by the scheming trapeze artist Cleopatra, who seduces him for his money, fooling the circus freaks until it’s made clear that she is not “one of them.”

While the film doesn’t shy from depicting the grotesquerie of sideshow oddities and wringing horror from it, it’s surprisingly empathetic for its time, presenting them as actual people with hopes, relationships, and emotions, living life despite their limitations. It’s Cleopatra, the beautiful but undeniable villain of the tale, that voices disgust toward her fellow circus members, so her comeuppance feels more like a cautionary tale than mere exploitation. It was odd for me watching the climax of the film since I really thought I had seen clips of it but didn’t remember that it all happened in a driving rain storm, making it even more memorable, one would think. Owing to its pre-Code daring, Freaks is more notable than the typical product of its time, both creepy and compassionate in equal measure.

Best line: (the celebrating freaks) “We accept you, one of us! Gooble Gobble!”

Rank: List Runner-Up

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805 Followers and Counting

65 (2023)

09 Wednesday Apr 2025

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(For Day 9 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was for a rhyming poem with varying line lengths, so I thought exploring time might be a good theme.)

The stone on which the house in which the chair in which I sit
Has witnessed quite a bit.
While flesh is quick to disappear,
The bedrock lives in centuries;
It waits for ice to yield to sea to yield to continental sheer
And waits for errant meteors or yet another global freeze,
Eroding into dust and grit,
Chipped and thawed and trod and split,
Ground and pressed and layered deep and never asking “what’s the year?”
Giving purchase to the dirt, the firm foundation of the trees,
Until at last, I came to rest
Here.
____________________

MPA rating: PG-13

I love the idea of 65 more than I do 65 itself. I can absolutely picture the pitch meeting for the concept of aliens stumbling upon Earth in prehistoric times and being met by a dinosaur-filled death trap in the same way humans imagine inhospitable exoplanets. But it’s all in the execution, and 65 (named for the number of millions of years ago) somehow makes that thrilling notion feel ho-hum.

Adam Driver is serviceable as the main character Mills, a grieving father who left his sick daughter to pilot a space expedition, only for the ship to crash-land with only him and a young girl (Ariana Greenblatt) surviving. What follows is rather paint-by-numbers as they fight or evade dinosaurs and grow closer in their shared loss. There’s nothing particularly wrong with the plot or effects-heavy action, and it makes for a decent watch; it just never rises above a slightly futuristic Jurassic Park knock-off. Maybe films like Jurassic Park or King Kong have simply made dinosaurs less scary than they should be, at least when viewed from the comfort of our living rooms.

Best line: (Nevine, Mills’ daughter) “I know that you’re leaving. And I know it’s because of me.” (Mills) “No. It’s not because of you, it’s for you.”

Rank: Honorable Mention

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The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)

09 Wednesday Apr 2025

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(For Day 8 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was for a ghazal, typically a love poem formed by couplets ending with the same word and a self-reference at the end.)

Rich as king and rollicking, I share my heart too easily;
Men may fill the chess board, but I do so love a woman.

The loyal kind that hold the faith despite the politics and pleas,
The kind that seize the title of queen – I do so love a woman.

The flirty kind that mince around, ambition mixed with delicacy,
Wise enough to not lose one’s head – I do so love a woman.

The selfless kind that give and give, but take themselves whene’er they flee,
And haunt your thoughts they once had filled – I do so love a woman.

The clever kind, whose minds outshine their outer physiognomy,
Who play to win to men’s chagrin – I do so love a woman.

The gorgeous kind who cannot help but capture every heart they see,
But don’t go keeping secrets, no… I do so love a woman.

The pious kind who care so true and stay unto the end with thee,
No doubt they’re blessed to outlive the rest – I do so love a woman.

My senses fail with a sweet female, the face, the grace, the repartee…
Come now, Henry, how can one choose that single, perfect woman?
_______________________________

MPA rating: Passed (pretty much G)

The older a film is, the harder it can be to cling to one’s claimed status as a cinefile, but there are still worthwhile movies among the overacting and poor sound quality common to the early era. Charles Laughton’s Oscar-winning role as the title king in The Private Life of Henry VIII did much to shape the popular image of Henry as gluttonous, immature, and volatile, and, while I understand not all of it is historically accurate, he does make for a quintessential portrayal of the infamous monarch.

Leaving Catherine of Aragon as a footnote, the film starts with the execution of Anne Boleyn (Merle Oberon) before cycling through the doomed Jane Seymour (Wendy Barrie), the shrewd Anne of Cleves (Elsa Lanchester), the adulterous Katherine Howard (Binnie Barnes), and finally the uptight Catherine Parr (Everley Gregg). Anne of Cleves gets the best interactions as she proves to be a match of wits with Henry in an ever more expensive card game, while Laughton’s anguished reaction to the revelation of Howard’s cheating is surprisingly poignant, making you almost forget about the real Henry’s rampant unfaithfulness. With its age very apparent, though, The Private Life of Henry VIII is more of a one-time watch than a potential favorite; I’d rather listen to the soundtrack of Six any day.

Best line: (Henry VIII) “Love is drunkenness when one is young. Love is wisdom when one is at my age.”

Rank: Honorable Mention

© 2025 S.G. Liput
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Cocktail (1988)

07 Monday Apr 2025

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(For Day 7 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was for a perhaps outlandish poem explaining “why you are not a particular piece of art,” so I went a bit more cocky and risqué than usual.)

I can’t compare to a well-mixed drink,
Although I go down smooth.
I’m too impassioned to be Old-Fashioned,
But I can also soothe.

The life of a humble bartender
Is only as good as his roll.
The patrons need us for margaritas
So they can lose control.

Complexity is ecstasy,
So savor them, no rush.
Why, try my Mai Tai, and I swear
More than the sky will blush.

I’ll sling in Singapore, slide in mud,
And blow like a Hurricane too.
My expertise is in daiquiris
Or a Slow Comfortable Screw.

My Russians might, both black and white,
Remove your power of speech,
Till you taste some sherry, scream Bloody Mary,
And ask for Sex on the Beach.

Between the Sheets, sour or sweet,
Wallbangers, never wetter –
My cocktails, girl, are works of art,
But let’s face it… I’m better.
________________________

MPA rating:  R (mainly language)

In the long and storied career of Tom Cruise, Cocktail is considered one of the low points, what with its Razzie win for Worst Picture, but it’s not as big a misfire as I thought it might be. Cruise plays self-motivated Brian Flanagan, who takes up flair bartending after his dreams of entering the business world in the big city are dashed. Trained by Australian mentor/rival Doug Coughlin (Bryan Brown), Brian flaunts his natural charisma to get ahead, even to the detriment of his island romance with Jordan (Elizabeth Shue, lovely as always).

As reflected by the film’s financial success in the face of negative reviews, Cocktail is quite entertaining, in no small part due to Cruise himself, who went to bartending school to learn the flipping and throwing tricks seen in the movie. (He even recites a few poems as part of the show.) His and Brown’s characters are frustratingly self-centered for most of the film, though not without consequence, yet there’s still an appeal to want them to succeed. I think the film mainly falls apart toward the end, where its tonal shift from tragedy to crowd-pleaser happens way too fast and saps the film’s themes of their power. Even if Cocktail isn’t Cruise’s finest hour, there are far worse Razzie winners out there; plus, it’s nice to think that he bounced right back with Rain Man later that same year.

Best line: (Brian) “I’m willing to start at the bottom.”  (Job interviewer) “You’re aiming too high.”

Rank:  Honorable Mention

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