Back to the movie grind stone likely form now through the beginning of the year. With preparations for the Online Film & Television Association Hall of Fame Selection Committee to year-end awards screeners, I’m going to be a busy man. That won’t stop me from putting time in on TV shows when I can find them through Netflix online, but it is going to curb a bit of it. Today: The Band Wagon, Paths of Glory and Stagecoach from the movie section and Glee, Harper’s Island and Psych from the TV section.

So, here is what I watched this weekend:

PATHS OF GLORY

Stanley Kubrick’s filmography is filled with many masterpieces. They have run the gamut of genres and nearly every film he handles is pure brilliance. So, it will come as no surprise that I found Paths of Glory quintessential Kubrick.

This anti-war film stars Kirk Douglas as a French military Colonel ordered to take a strategic piece of land in a show of strength for his country. However, the ulterior motives for wanting this territory highlight the cowardice, bravery and villainy of man when pushed to the brink in war time. Gen. Paul Mireau (George Macready) is approached by Gen. George Broulard (Adolphe Menjou) to take The Ant Hill, currently occupied by German forces during the early stages of World War I. When he assures the Gen. that his eventual promotion will not (but probably will) hinge on his success in pushing the front line farther out, he sets out to push his men into achieving what many of them feel will be the impossible and likely result in more than 50% casualties.

After the assault fails miserably, Mireau seeks punishment for the insubordination of the entire outfit but is given a conciliatory 3-man scapegoat team who will act as examples for the rest of the regiment. They are cited for cowardice in the face of the enemy and as the trial begins, it’s clear that there will be no reprieve and no defense adequate enough to save their lives. One chosen by lot, one chosen out of revenge and the other chosen because he’s a social misfit. None of them deserve to die, but this is the way the film highlights just how disgusting and brutal war can be and how the power hungry and vain can take what they want with little concern for the safety or well being of their men.

Unlike the superior anti-war film All Quiet on the Western Front, Kubrick gives us a sympathetic character in a position of power to symbolize the audience’s struggle with recognizing the right and just course of action and being repulsed by the outcome. Douglas is the perfect vessel for this position. He conveys strength, compassion as well as the viewer’s unquestioning disbelief and frustration at the callousness on display. Every attempt, every thought, every action is taken in vain for the outcome will not be what we hope even if some minor amount of justice is served in the end.

Kubrick’s style was not fully developed in Paths of Glory, but if you’re familiar with his later work, you can pick out a few common elements, the selfishness of men, the corruption inherent in leadership, the mirthful song (in this case sung by Kubrick’s later wife Susanne Christian) giving voice to an antithetical emotional resolution. It’s a film that deserves its place among Kubrick’s great films and may well be one of his finest, simply because it did not feature the excess and pomp of some of his later work, even if that gloss would provide a satisfying backdrop to further depravity.

STAGECOACH

One of the key reasons I’ve never liked westerns is being forced to watch so many John Wayne films as a kid. I never found him to be a compelling actor and his performances are often carbon copies of one another, but there are films in his history that can transcend his occasional woodenness and take advantage of his appeal to tell a grander, more interesting story.

Stagecoach may not have the grit of The Wild Bunch, it may not be as interesting as The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, but it is the perfect historical reference, highlighting many of the common themes, settings and styles of the western genre. The story surrounds a single stagecoach heading across the open west where the Apache are on the war path and threatening to kill anyone who crosses their territory. Along for the ride are a motley crew of western archetypes, each with a complex relationship with the other passengers. Claire Trevor plays a woman of ill-repute forced to leave town by a gaggle of gossips and puritans; John Wayne takes on the role of Ringo Kid, a man escaped from jail attempting to settle the score with men who want him dead; John Carradine appears as a southern “gentleman” and gambler who has started pursuing Lucy Mallory (Louise Platt); Platt’s Lucy is a refined woman and wife of a military officer on her way to find him; Thomas Mitchell is the drunk doctor run out of town alongside Dallas (Trevor) for not paying any of his bills; George Bancroft is the law man who has “captured” Ringo and has sworn to bring him in and return him to jail; Andy Devine is the semi-brave, semi-coward who is driving the stagecoach; Donald Meek plays a traveling booze salesman; and Berton Churchill takes the part of a corrupt, blowhard banker who always has a loud opinion about their situation but never has a solution that doesn’t involve running away.

It’s not hard to imagine how these characters interact with one another and it’s part of what makes the film so compelling. While many of them adhere to set character archetypes, they mix those stereotypes together to create a cohesive ensemble that seldom feels one-dimensional. Trevor, Mitchell and Wayne are the clear standouts from this group although only Churchill and Carradine are the only average ones in the bunch.

One of the dangers of storytelling is telling the audience not only what’s going on, but what to think about it. Ford manages to avoid those pitfalls by frequently showing instead of telling. This is a visual medium. If we wanted to be told what’s going on, we would read a book where our own imaginations have to fill in the blank. And even when hints have to be given (such as Dallas’ call for lots of hot water). You have to respect a lot of what Ford does with the film. It feels more like an origin of the genre and not a continuance of it.

So many films in ever genre just copy styles and situations hoping audiences won’t notice the lack of originality or the absence of character development. And while a lot of people are taken in by the fakes, the genuine treasures are the films like Stagecoach that do terrific work setting and delivering upon expectations.

THE BAND WAGON

What has made Vincente Minnelli one of the most successful directors of big screen musicals? It certainly isn’t his ability to tell a strong story or develop strong characters. His success relies entirely on his ability to direct dancers and dress a set. In The Band Wagon, Minnelli’s talents are most on display when he’s backed away from the plot or the characters and stuck entirely within the frame of the choreography.

Fred Astaire stars as Tony Hunter, a washed up song and dance film personality hoping to revive his flagging career on the New York stage. When he arrives in the city, he’s greeted by his pals playwrights Lester and Lily Marton (Oscar Levant and Nanette Fabray). They have a great idea for a singing and dancing production. Their choice for director is Broadway legend Jeffrey Cordova (Jack Buchanan), a eccentric, excitable, energetic writer, director, producer and actor who knows just what the show needs. And through his exuberance, he shifts the production from his happy-go-lucky roots into a challenging musical based on the dark and desperate work Faust. As you might expect, the show’s a bust and it’s up to Tony and the cast to revive the original intent of the production and take their show on the road until they can perfect it and bring it back to be the toast of Broadway.

Convoluting matters, Tony’s leading lady is famed ballerina Gabrielle Gerard (Cyd Charisse) whose manager and paramour Paul Byrd (James Mitchell) choreographs the original production but leaves when his services are no longer needed and when he feels that Gaby may be falling for Tony. It’s a love story that seems like only a tangential association with the show for when we’re in the musical numbers, the entire production stops and the plot is put on hold. Although some of the production numbers manage to further the plot (at least in terms of the three re-worked musical numbers we are shown while on the road), they are mostly just there for show and while some of them are absolutely gorgeous to watch: “New Sun in the Sky”, “Louisiana Hayride” and most exceptionally “The Girl Hunt”, a small number are laborious and threaten to keep the film from moving forward (“A Shine on Your Shoes”) at an early stage.

Astaire and Charisse are perfectly partnered in the dancing department, but Astaire, as expected, shows her up in the acting department. Sadly, Astaire is the only actor in the show to give his character any actual soul and down-to-earth quality. The others are so overly expressive and exaggerated that it’s nearly impossible to really like any of them. And this is Minnelli’s biggest flaw. It’s evident in his films An American in Paris and Gigi. These are films that rely on extravagance to tell parts of the story, but which fall apart when left to the details. It’s as if the musical performance is more important than any other aspect of the film, which is much to my frustration. And rather surprising considering the overall quality of Meet Me in St. Louis and the compelling story that accompanies The Bad and the Beautiful. Matter of fact, I might go so far as to say that when he gets into the intimate without the showmanship, he has tremendous talent.

The Band Wagon isn’t a bad film, the production numbers more than make up for the film’s grandest shortcomings.

GLEE, episode “Never Been Kissed”

We are now at two for six for the season. In the second episode so far that has lived up to the expectation set during the first season of the hit show. “Never Been Kissed” looks at compassion and courage as we follow three stories that speak to the audience in ways the majority of the rest of the season has not.

The first revolves around the constant bullying Kurt is put throw. Pushed daily into lockers, he stands up to the man who keeps pushing him around but caves in the threat of violence. When the class learns of their competitors for sectionals, Kurt travels to the all-boys school to scope out the competition and finds a fellow gay student who encourages him not to run away from the threat of violence like he did and stand up to the guy who has made it his life’s goal to make Kurt’s life miserable.

The second follows Puck as he emerges from Juvenile Detention on the promise of doing community service. He decides to take Artie on as a project teaching him how to flirt with and win over Brittany, but discovers that lashing out at authority and shirking his responsibilities may land him back in Juvy and under duress from truly hardened youths.

The final story and probably the more important one at play here is one where the men of the glee club have decides that the best way to keep themselves from getting too excited while making out with their girlfriends is to picture Coach Beiste (Dot Jones) in lurid clothing or compromising positions. When their fantasy-killers become known, Beiste decides to quit instead of be hassled by and looked on as a joke by her students. But Mr. Schuster doesn’t want her to resign over the immaturity of his glee clubbers and intervenes to try and rectify the situation.

Each of the stories is handled with kindness, sympathy and honesty. They revolve around admitting your frailties and standing up to those who would try to keep you down. While this is the common theme of the show, this episode in particular stands above the others as an example of where the dramatic weight of the material can benefit the show in ways that lighthearted comedy sometimes cannot. And, for once, the musical numbers seem to be almost unnecessary as, instead of driving the story, they simply support or embellish it.

THE WALKING DEAD

AMC’s new zombie series has many fans of the genre talking. And with their successful Mad Men series one of my favorites in terms of quality, I thought I would give The Walking Dead a chance when I was able to watch the first episode online for free despite my ambivalence towards zombie shows in general. And as I have come to expect from AMC, the show really does have its head on its shoulder. It’s a high quality production that doesn’t pull punches. This isn’t your common horror series, but a complex narrative that promises strong character development and an understanding of what will work in terms of storytelling to keep the show compelling from one episode to the next. The first episode does a decent job explaining how the disease is spread and presenting the survival rules for these particular zombies, but does occasionally fail to explain information we would probably like, though I’m hopeful the rest of the series will deliver. However, I won’t be able to find out until it’s out on DVD as AMC’s not a channel I have access to and they don’t post the other episodes online.

HARPER’S ISLAND

There were three episodes left in the miniseries that I picked up this past week. The only thing that made watching this a second time interesting was that I knew where the show was going and I could pay attention to minor details. And while there were a couple of very nice visual cuts between discussions of the killer and the actual killer without the director tipping his hand, the show really amounted to little more than a young adult-oriented blood bath.

Sure, it was a mildly entertaining blood bath and I enjoyed watching it, but I definitely cannot recommend it to anyone outside of the built-in audience: horror fans.

PSYCH, Seasons #1 & #2

There’s not a lot more I can say about this show. The episodes haven’t lost much of their silliness and the inventiveness of the various mysteries is one of the more compelling elements. In the final few episodes of the first season and the first half of the second season have shown that we know as much about these characters as we are likely to without getting the minor details we’re delivered in each episode. However, there are signs the show doesn’t have a lot of places to go narratively. Other than creating interesting little vignettes and further developing the ties between each character, the show doesn’t have very much space to maneuver. Though, considering the show is already at five seasons, obviously there is plenty more to come and I’ll be as entertained as ever finding out where the show leads.