Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

[Reza]

Love in a Cold Climate (Tom Hooper, 2001) 7/10

Adaptation of two novels by Nancy Mitford - "The Pursuit of Love" & "Love in a Cold Climate" - gets remade for television but in a rather truncated fashion. The story comes across as a series of vignettes in the love lives of two cousins - Linda (Elisabeth Dermott Walsh), like Nancy Mitford herself, from the British country (Oxfordshire) aristocratic set who lives with her garrulous bigoted father (the great Alan Bates in hilarious form) and sensible mother (Celia Imrie) who marries for love into London aristocracy, gets bored, leaves her husband and daughter for a communist, goes to Spain to help during the Civil War and later has an affair in Paris with a frenchman. Her cousin Fanny (Rosamund Pike), abandoned as a child by her flighty mother (Frances Barber), also marries for love but to a poor writer. Their lives are surrounded by colouful eccentrics many played by great actors from the British stage - a snobbish aunt (Sheila Gish), a fop (Daniel Evans) and assorted Uncles (John Standing, John Wood, Rupert Frazer, Anthony Andrews). Lavishly produced on location and shot in exquisite stately homes this is no "Brideshead Revisited" although it follows a similar path. The film's short running time tries to cram in too much with the result the numerous characters only get a superficial look-in which is extremely jarring. It is superbly acted by the entire cast though. It still gets an "A" for effort.

[Reza]

Dr. No (Terence Young, 1962) 8/10

The first and the one set in Jamaica with the power mad villain (Joseph Wiseman), with hooks for hands, plotting to disrupt a space flight from Cape Canaveral. Visually stylish, if low budget, spy thriller with enough oomph courtesy of suave Sean Connery as James Bond along with non-stop realistic action sequences making this one of the best films in the series. Many memorable moments - the opening sequence with the "Three Blind Mice", the tarantula drinking sweat beads off Bond's naked body, the iconic beach scene, the chase across the swamps and the face-off with Dr No in his lair. No Bond film is complete without a bevy of beautiful women, starting with Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell), the evil Miss Taro (Zena Marshall), Sylvia Trench (Eunice Gayson) at the roulette table and last but certainly not least Venus rising from the Ocean, the iconic Honey Ryder (the stunning but dubbed Ursula Andress in a white bikini). One of the hallmarks of every Bond films was witty dialogue with Bond smartly tossing off one liners at moments one least expected making this (and all subsequent) romps highly enjoyable. No title song but the memorable Byron Lee sings two numbers - Jump Up" during a night club sequence and "Under the Mango Tree". The film is a memorable start to the series with many of the staple moments in place and which would occur again and again as the series went on. Only here they seem simple and fresh unlike some of the later entries when gimmicks often became trite and obnoxious. A fun first entry.

[Reza]

All My Sons (Irving Reis, 1948) 8/10

Arthur Miller's Pulitzer winning play gets a riveting screen adaptation by Irskine Caldwell. The plot explores unprincipled greed, taking family loyalty to an extreme and especially taking responsibility for one's actions. The story is also a criticism of the American Dream. A successful but self made factory owner (Edward G. Robinson) and proud family head lives with his foreign-born wife (Mady Christians) and younger son (Burt Lancaster) who idealises his father. The skeletons in the closet of this family threaten to break them apart. The older son was reported missing during the war but the mother refuses to believe he is dead. The dead man's fiancé returns to town but is now in love with the younger brother a union the distraught mother refuses to acknowledge. Some years before the young couple's fathers were business partners and after being accused of selling defective airplane parts to the Air Force which resulted in 30 planes crashing one partner goes to jail while the other is exonerated on a small technicality. Matters come to a head when the son suspects his own father may have been behind the fraud and made his partner a scapegoat to escape a prison sentence. Robinson, Lancaster and the quietly brilliant Mady Chrstians give superb performances with the Miller plot underlining various Grecian tragedies. The ending restores the moral order of the universe in line with greek tragedy. The shadowy cinematography takes this haunting melodrama into noir territory.

[Reza]

Taare Zameen Par / Like Stars on Earth (Aamir Khan, 2007) 9/10

Inspirational story depicting the emotionally heartbreaking plight of a young child (Darsheel Safary) for whom school and everything it represents - reading, writing, homework, exams - a total nightmare. He daily faces the wrath of his father, the anguish of his concerned mother (Tisca Chopra) and exasperated school teachers who label him "slow", lazy, an "idiot" and intentionally defiant. When he is sent to a strict boarding school he gradually comes out of his shell after an art teacher (Aamir Khan) discovers he suffers from dyslexia. The sensitive but harrowing screenplay - the child faces so much cruelty and trauma (very Dickensian) that it becomes almost too much to bear for the audience. The film uses imaginatively shot songs (and animation) but a far cry from the usual Bollywood fare and a neorealist approach to the story. The success of this film rests on the performance of the young boy who had never faced a camera before - Darsheel Safary who is stupendous in the lead role. He is on screen throughout and scarily captures the essence of a child lost in his own dreams and who continuously feels that the world is against him. Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan makes his debut as a director and plays the important supporting role of the sensitive teacher who recognises the problem with the child. A remarkable achievement (if a bit too long), the film should be required viewing at schools everywhere especially in our part of the world where children suffer through lack of knowledge about learning disabilities and how they should be handled. Watch this film with a box of tissues handy by your side. The film deservedly won Filmfare awards for Best Film, Actor (Darsheel Safary), Best Director (Aamir Khan) and for it''s Screenplay.

[Reza]

She Played With Fire (Sidney Gilliat, 1957) 6/10

An insurance investigator (Jack Hawkins), his former girlfriend (Arlene Dahl), her husband (Dennis Price)......and arson, art theft, forgery, blackmail and murder. Not quite " Double Indemnity" but a nicely played little mystery thriller with a top notch supporting cast - Ian Hunter, Bernard Miles, Christopher Lee, Greta Gynt (funny as a sexy middle-aged nymphomaniac), Malcolm Keen and his son Geoffrey Keen (who later played the Minister of Defence in six James Bond films). A pity the film is not in colour to appreciate the ravishing redhead Arlene Dahl in all her splendor although it is always a pleasure to hear the distinctive voice of Jack Hawkins.

[Precious Doll]

Collateral Beauty (2016) David Frankel 2/10
Frantz (2016) Francois Ozon 8/10
Zero Days (2016) Alex Gibney 6/10
Berlin Syndrome (2017) Cate Shortland 7/10
Assassin's Creed (2016) Justin Kurzel 1/10
War on Everyone (2016) John Michael McDonagh 6/10
The Bar (2017) Alex de la Iglesia 7/10
Hands of Stone (2016) Jonathan Jakubowicz 8/10
Tackwendo (2016) Marco Berger & Martin Farina 4/10
The Love Witch (2016) Anna Biller 6/10
Colossal (2017) Nacho Vigalondo 4/10

[Precious Doll]

Life (2017) Daniel Espinosa 4/10
Black Journal (1977) Mauro Bolognini 6/10

Repeat viewing

Things to Come (2016) Mia Hansen-Love 8/10

[Reza]

Princess of the Nile (Harmon Jones, 1954) 2/10

Trashy hokum which Hollywood milks through a pair of gyrating hips mixing an Egyptian and Arabian formula. A 13th century Egyptian princess (Debra Paget) uses the help of a Bedouin prince (Jeffrey Hunter of piercing blue eyes fame) to escape the clutches of an evil Vizir (Michael Rennie). All the natives speak with jarring American accents while the lovely Paget uses her belly and hips to dance at the drop of a hat enticing everyone who crosses her path - it's the type of film where the heroine swims underwater, steps out into her high heeled shoes with hair perfectly blow dried and not a strand out of place. The stunning colour cinematography is totally wasted on this film where they forgot to focus on the script. Skip this one.

[Reza]

Hungry Hill (Brian Desmond Hurst, 1947) 5/10

Daphne du Maurier potboiler covers decades of a feud between two Irish families (Cecil Parker heads the Brits occupying Irish land) with both clashing in between bouts of lust. This is almost like a poorer cousin of "Gone With the Wind" but with less spectacle although at the center of it's 50 year timespan is an Irish vixen (Margaret Lockwood) enticing two brothers (Michael Denison & Dennis Price) as the plot covers a fire, flood and disease while moments of levity involve Irish jigs and waltzing. Lockwood ages and suffers through bouts of drugs and alcohol. What is missing is the Gainsborough sexual tension and evil machinations which those melodramas were famous for. This is still quite a busy film with enough action and romance to keep you awake.

[Reza]

The Pied Piper (Irving Pichel, 1942) 6/10

Nevil Shute's wartime bestseller gets the Hollywood treatment - one of countless propaganda films the studios churned out during the war. This one uses the formula of a cumudgeon saddled with a bunch of kids in Nazi occupied France which alternates between cute comedy and suspense. A vacationing Englishman (Monty Woolley) finds to his indignation that the Nazis have invaded France and much to his horror he is requested to take a bunch of children (cute Roddy McDowell and Peggy Ann Garner amongst them) and evacuate them to England. With true patriotic fervour he agrees and is soon dodging bombs and helping the little ones escape. He is helped by a local frenchwoman (Anne Baxter) and abetted by the Nazi commander (who else but Otto Preminger) with whom he bargains for their lives. The film is by turns corny and suspenseful and with Woolley in the lead one knows exactly how the plot will roll - he was inexpicably nominated for an Oscar for his blustery performance as was the film itself. As most war films then shot on the backlot there is never any real sense of danger but has enough heartwarming scenes to make it memorable in a minor way. Both the child actors steal every scene they are in which is a feat in itself considering they are playing opposite Woolley who was known for hogging the limelight. Amusing fluff.

[Reza]

Pressure Point (Hubert Cornfield & Stanley Kramer, 1962) 4/10

Dull, overheated, psychological melodrama - a typical Stanley Kramer "message" film - with a doctor (Sidney Poitier) treating a patient (an excellent Bobby Darin) who is a racist and a Nazi sympathizer. It's basically a two hander and extremely talky as the doctor and patient play cat and mouse with the "problem" (psychological scarring at the hands of a viciously abusive father during childhood....ho hum) finally desciphered after a lot of hand wringing and sweat induced anguish. The plot is one long flashback as an aged Poitier relates the story to another doctor (Peter Falk) who is ready to give up on his black patient who happens to also be racist. Second teaming of Poitier and Kramer is quite a chore to sit through although pop singer Bobby Darin is surprisingly very good and had the makings of a very good actor before his life and career were cut short. The Saul Bass-like title sequence is memorable along with Ernest Haller's moody cinematography and Ernest Gold's score.

[Reza]

A United Kingdom (Amma Asante, 2016) 7/10

Fascinating, moving, if rather simplistic, historical account about the kingdom of Botswana - formerly known as Bechuanaland. Under British colonial rule the kingdom came under fire when the debonair crown prince (David Oyelowo), in London to complete his studies, falls in love with the daughter (Rosamund Pike) of a local shopkeeper. The racial union not only causes an international incident with South African apartheid causing ripples in London but makes the ruler persona non grata in his own country when his uncle, the regent, and his people refuse to accept a white queen. Superbly acted by the two leads the "fairy tale", of course, ends happily after a lot of anguish puts the couple through the wringer eventually leading to the country's prosperity. Forbidden romance and political intrigue never looked so clean cut - the cast never even sweat despite the heat and dust. Oyeolo has great star presence and is steadily rising up the Hollywood ladder and should be a natural successor to Denzel Washington, albeit a Brit version.

[Reza]

Street of Chance (Jack Hively, 1942) 6/10

Early "B" noir which has a lot of the elements that defined all the great noirs that came later during the decade. An amnesiac (Burgess Meredith) gets hit on his head, discovers he has lost a year of his life, has a wife who is thrilled to see him return, gets chased by hoodlums, discovers he is wanted for murder and a woman (Claire Trevor) claims to be his girlfriend. The first Cornel Woolrich novel to be adapted has a light touch and maintains the mystery to the end. Interesting to see Claire Trevor play somewhat "nice" here as she would later go on to play extremely nasty femme fatales in some of the classics in the genre.

[Reza]

Circle of Danger (Jacques Tourneur, 1951) 5/10

Shades of Hitchcock's "39 Steps" but only with a similarity of the leading man moving from location to location - London to Wales to Scotland - chasing after information. In this case a Navy man (Ray Milland) wishes to discover the mystery of his brother's death during the war and trying to contact members of his squad. The once highly regarded Tourneur flounders as he did through most of his '50s fare although his films were not without interest due to major stars (most of whom had seen better days) and exotic locations. Milland gets to romance Patricia Roc in this tepid mystery.

[Reza]

The Richest Girl in the World (William A. Seiter, 1942) 3/10

A rare but terribly ordinary film that was inexplicably nominated for an Oscar for it's screenplay. A rich girl (Miriam Hopkins) scared she will attract men for her wealth asks her secretary (Fay Wray) to pose as her when a debonair bachelor (Joel McCrea) comes calling. Though in love with him oddly enough she literally forces the poor man onto her secretary. When he actually falls in love with the imposter silly complications ensue which obviously end up resolved at the end. Hopkins - always very good - plays a rather annoying character with Fay Wray the sympathetic one. One roots for the latter instead of the leading lady who is dressed throughout in manly attire. Watch this for the record otherwise give it a miss.