We'll Always Have Paris

Seeing that the famous bar in Houston, Marfrelee's is closing at the end of this week after a 40 year run makes me think of my one and only experience there.

Marfrelee's is a speakeasy type of place, no windows, no sign on the outside, and a place you think of yourself as in-the-know to go to.  In the 80s when I was much younger, it had a mythical reputation behind it of a dreamlike place a la Blue Velvet.  Few of my generation had much experience there, and we knew of it only by hearsay.  It was rumored to be a dark place and upstairs there were couches and room partitions where you might take your date for a private tete-a-tete and, ...  

Now because, or maybe in spite of this perception, not many people I knew frequented Marfrelee's.  Perhaps the suggestion of even going there was too forward, too bold.  But it was there beckoning, in fact right next to two others places regularly frequented by the 20-something crowd of the day, XIT and Birraporetti's.

There might as well have been a red light outside of Marfrelee's, right next to the "safe" places and yet so far away.

So one fall week, I happened to be out during the week and ran into some friends I knew pretty well,  a group of young women.  One of them I didn't know but of course I realized that she was quite pretty.  When we were introduced, I had to nearly bite my lip - she was "Abby" - a cheerleader from our days in middle school, one of the "finest" girls of that class.  Using our terminology of that day.  

Now of course, she didn't know me then, and had just met me.  She had not idea that we had gone to middle school together years ago, and I was happy not to remind her of those days.  It was a fresh start for me and for us!

Thereafter from that night, I got her number from our mutual friend and called to ask her out, and she accepted.  We went for dinner and then a drink or two at XIT.  As things progressed during the night, she must have gently inquired, what next?  With the courage of a soldier, I suggested "Why don't we go next door to Marfrelee's?   Good idea she said.  [cue the soaring music]

We went next door and the hostess escorted us upstairs to the couches.  It wasn't  tawdry as I expected, more like going into a room in a home where no one else was.  I think there were curtains but there was a hallway of sorts where the waitresses were going in and out.  Lights were low but not completely dark.

In this hallway as we were going to our private sitting area, Abby and I were somewhat surprised to see.... someone we had both gone to middle school with.  In fact he was "Jeff" who was Abby's boyfriend in middle school.   They were the classic football/cheerleader All American Couple that Everybody Loved back then.  They were the popular ones.  I had just see Jeff a few months ago so we were at least familiar to each other at that point.

And here, at Marfrelees', 10 years later, in the inner sanctum, was I, out on a date going great with Abby, and Jeff was simply an onlooker.  I felt I had struck a blow for all Late Bloomers in Middle School.  Anthony Michael Hall would have been proud.  I know I was.

I never let on to Abby that we had all gone to school together, or how that moment made me feel.  Needless to say, that was the high point of the night.  We had a nice drink and conversation upstairs in Marfrelee's and it was a most pleasant time.  That's it.  Afterwards I took her home and we said goodbye with a handshake.  We never went out again, and I think she moved to New York City to make it big.   It wouldn't surprise me if she is still there.

Twenty five years later, I'll remember that evening for a long, long time.  I'm sorry to see Marfrelee's close, as it did live up to its lofty reputation as a magical place.  I guess that makes me
a real sentimentalist.

Dead Man Down

Again, we have the Colin Farrell film festival, with an action-packed shoot-em-up.  Sounds familiar?

Colin Farrell plays Victor/Lazlo who has gone undercover in the gang of a group of criminals to avenge the death of his wife and son.  He's principled, for a psycho killer.  He meets his neighbor Beatrice (Noomi Rapac) in a Friends-like way, their high-rise apartments look into one another's.  Neither is quite as they seem.  From a distance Beatrice is beautiful but up close she has deep scars on her face like Marla Hanson in the 80s from an assaultive drunk driver.

In a nod to Rear Window, Beatrice has seen the psycho killer Victor in action through her window. She attempts to blackmail him to get him to knock off her drunk driver.  This presents Victor with a dilemma:  he's busy trying to get back on the group of criminals and at the same time still holds a torch for his former wife, and did I mention, Beatrice is beautiful and single?

Done by  Niels Arden Oplev director of the Swedish version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and director of photography Paul Cameron (late of Total Recall 2012 remake), the film has a nice dark and blue hue that some items like Beatrice's dresses stand out in.  



* * * (of 4)

Annie Hall (1977)

Did you hear the old joke by Woody Allen?  This is the whole premise of Annie Hall - the old joke come to life.  To his credit, so much of this movie has become mainstream through Billy Crystal and Jerry Seinfeld, its hard to realize that it might have started here.  It probably started earlier than that with the old comics Groucho and Milton and such, but reached a wide audience here.

Done at the height of the 70s, we see it all here:  the sexual revolution, drugs, tennis, analysts, even a Paco Rabanne bedroom scene.  There are also a lot of now-common movie premises:  the Jewish/Christian dating conflict, the New York/LA conflict, the New York City v. the world conflict.

Woody Allen plays Alvie, who in flashback, looks back at his life, and in particular, the period when he dated Annie Hall (Diane Keaton).  Alvie is damaged goods, having been married twice.  Annie is a woman on the way up but uncertain in her path.  Alvie is alternatingly supportive and dismissive and appears intent on having Annie for his own, no matter what.  Alvie spends much of the movie either with his analyst or playing his own analyst, to figure out why he is like he is.

To call this a romantic comedy is a stretch:   its not a whole lot of either.  Dialogue was good but not great.  Again, this movie is 40 years old, so its hard to remember what was original and what was not.  But credit that it still seems relevant, even if it is hard to remember what came first.

Best Picture in 1978

* * * (of 4)

Lost In Translation (2003)

Like Up In The Air and Juno, this film is primarily about the young person adrift in an adult world. Interestingly that each of those movies were directed by younger version of established directors:  Reitman (Jason) and Coppola (Sophia).

Bill Murray is in Tokyo shooting a commercial.  Washed up in all senses of the word.  A stranger in a strange land, he meets Scarlett Johansson who is also running from her own marital problems.  They connect platonically in the intimate way of people that will probably never see one another again.  They  float through Tokyo not really every knowing anyone or anything about the place.

Tokyo is the star of the show  in a limited role.  It's designed to be as faceless as any traveling city might be.

* * *

21 and Over

Sometimes you've just got to say, "What the F@#$"  You go and see an 80s style, fully predictable, teens getting drunk movie.  Sometimes, you're pleasantly surprised:    Other times, you get the same as expected.

Despite "The Writers of the Hangover", this looks all too much like what to expect in the Hangover 3 coming May 24.  Alan gets broken out of a mental institution by the old group of the 3 best  friends that anyone could have.  Here it is "Jeff Chang" as the Alan character, or perhaps the Teddy character complete with Disapproving Asian Dad, from Hangover 2.    The tiger/money/buffalo gig reappears.  The flashback - I could go on - just as this storyline will go on.

Good parts include the sorority scenes and of course the character of the Chief, playing the Shakespearian Fool.  Interesting how the teen drunkeness is now taboo, and the filmmakers make it a point that this occurs on Jeff Chang's 21st birthday (not a minute before).  Not sure if the racial stereotypes are supposed to be clever or unintentional.  There are a lot of them.

Let's remember the good times of originality in teen movies:  Risky Business, American Pie and Superbad and give this Hangover 2.5 the same score as most 2.5's

* * 1/2

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.  Sunset Boulevard has so many mighty themes rolled into one.  By that alone, it must get its classic reputation credited.

The stronger woman and the younger man
Youth longing for riches
Unhappiness upon gaining riches
The loss of influence by aging
The changing of the guard
Mental illness/delusion

I tried to associate other movies [The Graduate, King Lear, The Godfather (s)] but I ran out of examples.  Just by those, this movie is in good company.

William Holden plays Joe, a struggling screenwriter.  Running from the repo men, he hides in an old mansion where the former silent movie star Norma Desmond lives (Gloria Swanson) with her butler Max.  She quickly eyes Joe as someone that can help her get back to prominence and arranges in short order for him to move in and start working for her.  He having nothing better going on, is easily obliged.

When Joe starts to realize that he is getting deeper into Norma's life, he seeks to pull out but like a spider in a web gets more stuck.

Written by Billy Wilder, the film reminded me of another of his classics, Double Indemnity with the dialogue, the allure of easy money and the downward spiral.  In a choice between good and evil, sometimes you lose either way.

* * * * (highest rating)