April Screenings: Best & Worst
April total: 34
2024 total: 239
All-Time total: 9,011
The "Race to 10,000 Has Begun!"
Hello and welcome to Cinema Wellman. I am your host David, and another month has passed us by as April (and its showers) gives way to May (and all of its flowers) along with a new crop of movies (as always).
April was a down month as far as recent monthly totals go, and it was also a bit of a down month for movies that I’ll be recommending.
I watched a bunch of Oscar nominated films from the 40s and 50s and nothing really stood out to me, so today’s list is going to be a bit small by comparison to previous Best & Worst episodes.
Not to worry, there are always movies to talk about here in Cinema Wellman.
Slow month or not.
Let’s start with the bottom as we always do.
The first two were leftovers from our airplane movie screenings, and they were so bad I didn’t want to sully that list with their inclusion.
I will, however, sully today’s list because it’s all about the Worst and the Best of the month.
They were also screened in late March, so...
First up, Kiefer Sutherland plays the same character he always does, but this one is an air traffic controller!
Ground Control (1998)
PG-13/93 min/IMDb: 5.7/directed by Richard Howard
IMDb for starters: “A disgraced former air traffic controller is called back into service when the airport’s traffic control system malfunctions.”
With apologies to Bill Hader and Stefon…
Ground Control has everything…
*Kiefer Sutherland playing Jack Bauer as an air traffic controller without killing anyone!
*Hot shot young gun disrespecting the disgraced veteran!
*” You gotta come take a look at this!” cliche more than a couple times!
*Former disgraced character is the only chance and comes through against all odds!
*Computer genius who needs “just 20 minutes” to totally fix the entire situation. Is that FONZIE?!?!? They dragged poor Henry Winkler into this!
*And I love the fact that I think this was the same exact soundtrack used for Under Siege.
Next on the worst list is a movie I think I’ll only have to say the name of before moving on.
Airplane vs. Volcano (2014)
NR/91 min/IMDb: 2.6/directed by James Kondelik
Right?
Next up, the worst of the month is a movie that I’m sure had good intentions when released in 1970, but good god it looks awful today.
Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970)
R/95 min/IMDb: 7.0/directed by Frank Perry
Let me begin by saying the negative reaction to this film has NOTHING to do with star Carrie Snodgress who plays the title character named Tina. Snodgress received her only Oscar nomination for this film, and it was well deserved.
She was tremendous in what I’m sure was a groundbreaking performance dealing with a current topic 54 years ago.
A trigger warning that this film, and my “review” deals with spousal abuse.
IMDb: “A housewife with an abusive husband has an affair with a writer.”
It should have read, “A housewife with an abusive husband has an affair with an abusive writer.”
The abusive husband is played by Richard Benjamin, and he is hateful. He is condescending and even belittles his wife in front of their children.
No surprise that her children treat her very disrespectfully as well because of how their father behaves.
He is critical of Tina’s appearance and treats her like a servant for much of the film. I hated him, which means Benjamin did his job, but it also made me kind of sick thinking that this was possibly a societal norm at the time.
Tina looks for escape in an affair with a writer played by Frank Langella.
His character makes Richard Benjamin’s character look like Husband of the Year at times.
He is just as abusive, if not more abusive as Tina’s husband.
And none of this is physical abuse. It’s all psychological abuse which I can only imagine is just as damaging.
I felt the same reaction as I do when I watch scenes that feature physical violence against women.
I guess the real reason this film is on the worst list this month, and I don’t want to spoil anything, is that, in the end, Tina doesn’t win.
I was hoping she would escape her abusive marriage and dump the abusive boyfriend and start her life over with the emphasis on her.
Instead, the film ends with a closeup of Snodgress’s eyes over audio of a dinner table argument.
She’s stuck, and she’ll remain stuck. She’s abused, and she’ll remain abused.
Great performance, but such a downer of a movie that left me disappointed in men’s behavior. I never could understand how men could be so hurtful to the women they supposedly love.
Difficult segue, but let’s move on to the good stuff we screened in April!
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024)
R/120 min/IMDb: 7.3/directed by Guy Ritchie
I almost didn’t see this because of the title. It reminded me too much of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which is a movie I did not enjoy.
Why such an odd title? Well, it’s based on a true story, and that’s the name that was used!
IMDb: “The British military recruits a small group of highly skilled soldiers to strike against German forces behind enemy lines during World War II.”
I think what I liked the most about this film is that it reminded me of the way war movies used to be made when I was a kid.
Other than the violence! This film is ultra violent, and I couldn’t even begin to guess what the body count is.
I wonder if the Interwebs has that info for us?
You do realize there’s a website titled “Movie Body Counts,” yes?
This film isn’t in their database yet, or their counter broke.
Suffice to say that hundreds of people are killed by this ministry in this movie.
The humorous part is that this ministry is made up of only about a half dozen people.
This is a little like The Dirty Half-Dozen.
And don’t fret about all those dead people. They were Nazis. Can’t have enough dead Nazis, I always say.
While the violence leans a bit towards comic book stuff occasionally, Guy Ritchie still delivers a satisfying WWII action film.
Since it’s based on a true story, we see photos of the men who were really part of the ministry.
I’m sure they’d be stunned to find out that they were portrayed by Henry Cavill, Alex Pettyfer, and Alan “Reacher” Ritchson!
That is one handsome trio right there, no offense intended toward the men whose photos I saw.
I would have liked a bit more background for some of the characters, but the action sequences made up for that which happens quite a bit in action movies.
Speaking of action, our Best film of April is a Wuxia film, so you’ll get all kinds of action!
Wuxia literally means “martial arts and chivalry,” and it’s a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China.
The Magnificent Ruffians (1979)
NR/82 min/IMDb: 6.6/directed by Cheh Chang
Wuxia films are an important piece to the Cinema Wellman Universe.
My roommate Robert and I spent many a Saturday afternoon at BU watching “Martial Arts Theater” on Channel 56 or Channel 38. I can never remember, and that may be due to what Robert and I did during every one of those screenings, but that’s neither here nor there.
These poorly dubbed Kung-Fu movies featured all sorts of fighting (with and without weapons, sometimes using stools and benches) along with the universal conflict of which Kung-Fu school or style was the best.
Oh, and people fly every once in a while.
No explanation given. No one ever even talks about it. People just fly every now and then while they’re fighting.
The Magnificent Ruffians isn’t the best Wuxia film I’ve ever seen, but it’s on the Best list this month because of its overall significance.
It happens to be the 9,000th film I’ve screened, and ever since #5,000 (Mad Monkey Kung-Fu), I’ve celebrated the milestones with a Wuxia film.
Special thanks to Larry for assisting with choices these past few years. We always try to choose a Shaw Brothers Production (Venom Mob if we can find them), or a film directed by the great Cheh Chang.
The Magnificent Ruffians checked all of those boxes.
And it also flew now and then!
Well that is a wrap from here in Cinema Wellman for our Best & Worst of April.
We have a couple of special episodes coming up very soon with surprise guests, so I’m not going to tease next week yet!
We hope you’ll be joining us regardless of what’s going on. You know you’re always welcome at Cinema Wellman.
Until next time, take care.
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