jdeureka

"Sergeant Madden" is a remarkable movie on many levels. First, it's an excellent Irish-American melodrama -- and unashamedly so. You don't like melodrama, don't watch this movie. You like strong emotions and interpersonal conflicts, extravagant actions and feelings, people and situations that push it just that little bit too far -- watch it. Second, Berry does what he always does perfectly - - the tough old guy with a heart of gold, with an edge of the maniac in the glint of his eye. The other actors are equally strong, play each part to the melodramatic, Irish-American hilt; family, loyalty, work, love, comradeship, the whole wonderful and emotional lot. Third, the crowing touch is the blend of direction and scenery & settings, the rich tapestry of indoors and outdoors urban backdrop of late 1930s USA. Josef von Sternberg, as usual, saw and found God in the details. (Inspect the living room or the boarding house!) Watch it. Enjoy. They don't make'em like this anymore. Except as a parody. Which this is not. Here's the real thing.

"Two Men in Town" (2014)" is a brilliant blend of acting, directing, cinematography and setting. Why isn't this film better known? It's a real sleeper that ranks up there with series noir classics of the US Southwest -- from "Bad Day At Black Rock" (1955) through "No Country For Old Men" (2007). Yet one can see why this gets a low IMDb rating, probably low US Box Office too. This is not a happy film. This is not sunny, funny New Mexico. Another "Milagro Beanfield War" with a magically satisfying ending. "Two Men in Town" is richer; traditional and innovative at the same time. Acting A+; equally the DP work. This is both Cop Show and Western. Bigger than a single genre. Here be the desert -- of the soul. Here be echoes of Camus' "The Stranger". Here be an austere foreboding world from which man or woman cannot escape. God has left. Check it out. Good luck.

One thing that makes "Hyena Road" excellent is that the film continues a cinematic and literary tradition of the Canadian ability to fight back, of intelligent opposition. In popular literature this goes back as far as Robert Service. In film it goes back to the (serious) Royal Mounties movies and to such Hollywood blockbusters as "The Wild North" (1952) and Stewart Grangers' character of Jules Vincent. Because Canada has become such an appendage to the USA in modern times we forget how outstanding the fighting ability of these people and their institutions can be. I do Not write this as a Canadian, mind you. But as an objective, non-Canadian who was very impressed by the combative intelligence and cross-cultural savvy of "Hyena Road". This is a sleeper. This is a keeper.