The Weekly Movie Watch Volume 88

This week I watched Scarface, Over the Top.

I watch movies every week and then write down my thoughts. Read my previous reviews!
My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it.

Scarface -Before Pacino there was Muni.

Scarface (1932)

Watch Scarface
Written by: Armitage Trail (novel), Ben Hecht (screen story), Seton I. Miller & John Lee Mahin & W.R. Burnett (continuity), Seton I. Miller & John Lee Mahin & W.R. Burnett (dialogue), Howard Hawks (uncredited), Fred Pasley (adaptation uncredited)
Directed by:  Howard Hawks, Richard Rosson
Starring:  Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, Karen Morley
Rated: --


Plot:
Tony Camonte climbs the ladder of the criminal underworld.

Verdict:
New York accented, bootlegging gangsters. It's hard not to watch this and see how much it informed the superior 1983 Scarface (read my review). This movie is too much of a pulp novel with the stereotypical gangsters.
It depends.

Review:
This is a case where the remake is superior, but this film is very good considering it's from '32. If you've seen the '83 remake, then you'll realize it copies this movie beat for beat., expanding certain portions.
Tony Camonte works for Johnny Lovo, strong arming speakeasies to buy from Lovo. When Camonte starts taking over more places and from other gangs, Lovo gets upset that he's working outside of orders. Tony is also interested in Johnny's girl.
Politicians try to stop Camonte by making gun laws tougher, but it doesn't help.
The characterization isn't as strong. I can't help but feel I'm watching a movie version of pulp novel gangsters.
Camonte is ambitious and almost reckless. His one weakness is his sister, and he's highly overprotective.

Over the Top - He's a sub-par truck driver, but a world class arm wrestler.

Over the Top (1987)
Watch Over the Top
Written by: Gary Conway and David Engelbach (story), Stirling Silliphant and Sylvester Stallone (screenplay)
Directed by: Menahem Golan
Starring:  Sylvester Stallone, Robert Loggia, Susan Blakely
Rated: PG

Plot:
Trucker Lincoln Hawk (Sylvester Stallone) must win an arm wrestling tournament to reunite with his estranged son.

Verdict:
I can't call this a good movie, but everyone should watch it once. It's pure '80s with montages and ridiculous dialog as it tries to weave a heartfelt story of a father and son reuniting with a plot about truck driving and arm wrestling. It's not a bad movie, but it has enough ridiculousness that you need the Over the Top experience in your life.
It depends. Watch it.

Review:
This movie endeavors to make truck driving the epitome of cool. I wondered if Stallone did all of his own big rig driving, but I don't think he did. There is a cutaway from a long shot of the truck parking to Stallone jumping out. The big rig is just too much for Stallone.
What is up with suspenders in this movie? Did suspender sponsor it? Stallone's character Lincoln Hawk wears them when visiting his son's fancy school, and even while washing his truck. I don't know why.
Of course people talk about him and it's not because he's a truck driver, but it's because he drove a truck as a daily driver to the school. Or maybe it's because his truck doesn't even have a sleeper cab. It's either that or his denim shirt and suspender combination.
He's never been a part of his son's life, but not that his wife (Are they still married? How does this work? Who knows!) is sick, he's making up for lost time. It seems his marriage was a rebellion, his wife defying her parents, but that's just a guess.
Further illustrating that Stallone didn't actually drive the truck, in one scene from a stop he shifts into second gear. Maybe the gearbox is different on big rigs or this movie is just that special.
Lincoln Hawk's son is an expert of pointless facts and not only still wearing his military uniform but providing lot's of "Yes sir!"
While Lincoln Hawk's truck doesn't have a sleeper cab, it does have a weight machine mounted inside the cab so that he can practice his arm wrestling while driving. Lincoln Hawk really is that cool. His kids goes on a rant about reading books, but look, you can't read while driving. You can flex the arm wrestling appendage all the way down the highway.
The kid's grandfather sends guys to kidnap him. Obviously that's the logical conclusion. Lincoln Hawk saves the kid, but I was disappointed there wasn't a forearm victory bash.
Maybe you're thinking Lincoln Hawk is content to just drive a truck, but he's not. His ultimate plan is to buy a company. That's it. That's the grand plan. He has no specific direction whatsoever. It's exactly like this movie.
This movie is a checklist. This happens and then this, add kidnapper,s have the wife die, throw it all in so that the only course of action Lincoln Hawk can take is that he must sell his beloved truck to enter the biggest arm wrestling tournament the world has ever seen. The grand prize? A truck with a sleeper cab. Are all arm wrestlers truck drivers? This movie seems to think so.
What does Lincoln Hawk do? He bets all of his money on himself.
Have I mentioned the soundtrack to this movie? It feels out of place, but I love it all the same.
Completing a full circle, the kid uses the skills of driving a big rig that dear old dad taught him to steal a Toyota from his grandfather so he can see the big match.
Lincoln Hawk makes it to the finals but loses. Since this is double elimination, he's not out of the running yet. He sees his son, talks to the kids grandfather and is then truly motivated to win.

I got the impression that Lincoln Hawk's hat was a lucky hat before we got this gem of amazing '80s dialog in the mock interviews the movie does at the tournament. This is an all time classic comedy scene.

"What I do is, I take my hat and I turn it around. And it's like a switch that goes on. 

When the switch goes on I feel like another person." 

Not to spoil the movie, but he finally got that sleeper cab truck. That company he wants to buy, maybe it can be a trucking company. How have you not made a mad dash to see this movie yet? The hat is a switch!