La donna scimmia / The Ape Woman (Marco Ferrari, 1964) 9/10
A seedy entrepreneur (Ugo Tognazzi) discovers a woman (Annie Girardot) in a convent who is born with a genetic condition that has her face and body covered with straight black hair. He decides to pass her off as an ape-like freak from Africa and trains her to copy the sounds and movements of a primate - Pygmalion in reverse. The act is a success and he takes her to Paris where she becomes a strip artist on stage. Bizarre, daring and poignant satire makes sharp digs about racism and man's inhumanity towards man. Inspired by the tragic story of Julia Pastrana a 19th-century woman exploited as a freak show attraction by her manager. Ferrari's film, set in the present, examines exploitation, abuse, and discrimination in a really powerful way and he shot two endings - a tragic and a happy one. Both Tognazzi and Girardot give superb performances.
Figures in a Landscape (Joseph Losey, 1970) 6/10
Cryptic story, with elements of Kafka, has two escaped convicts (Robert Shaw & Malcolm McDowell) on the run as figures across an un-named landscape. They are relentlessly pursued and mentally tortured by two men in a black helicopter. Nothing is explained about the men, their background or the country they are running across. Shaw, who also wrote the sparse screenplay - based on the book by Barry England - gives an animalistic ferocious performance while McDowell, who usually plays full throttle to the gallery, is remarkably restrained throughout creating an interesting contrast between the two men. The story appears to be an extended metaphor about the basic human quest to be free from constraints and rules and not so subtly mocks government power, warfare and confined borders. Richard Rodney Bennett's eerie Bafta nominated score accompanies the action on the screen superbly shot by the great Henri Alekan. Steven Spielberg's first film "Duel", which came a year later, has many elements of this film.
Everything Everywhere All at Once (Dan Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, 2022) 2/10
Wtf is this film about? When a white film nerd crosses hands with an Asian film nerd (the two directors aka "Daniels") you get this bat-shit crazy film. It's like an amateur cook in the kitchen for the first time who has been tasked to create a meal and since he's an absolute loony bin he throws in just about every ingredient available into the pot - comedy, action-adventure, mystery, noir, martial arts, animation - hell, even the apes from Kubrick's movie get to make an appearance as we hear snippets of Richard Strauss’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra”. Chinese-American Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) runs a struggling laundromat business. Her husband (Ke Huy Quan - the perky Asian kid from "The Goonies - now grownup ofcourse) is about to serve her divorce papers, her cantankerous old father (James Hong) has arrived from China, an IRS auditor (Jamie Lee Curtis with a huge paunch and wearing a frumpy white wig) is going through her accounts, and she cannot reconcile to the fact that her estranged daughter (Stephanie Hsu) is a lesbian with a white partner. Her husband suddenly informs her that she is just one of many, many Evelyns spread out in many parallel universes and out to kill her is their daughter. Soon everyone is jumping between verses (Doctor Strange did that too this year) as they attack and get attacked. This convoluted nonsense disguises what, at its center, is a very simple story about an estranged family who look towards forgiveness and love. The two nerds wrote the film for Jackie Chan but offered it to Michelle Yeoh (who also produced) allowing her to go through this action-packed crap totally confused for the most part. That is the screenplay's fatal flaw keeping the main character confused and in denial for most of the film's running time so it becomes difficult for the equally confused audience to root for her. Loud, obnoxious film is just too nerdy to be fun although the action is livened up by the ladies' fingers which increase in size and get sucked and an assassin brandishes a large penis-dildo during a crucial moment. Not funny at all.
The Northman (Robert Eggers, 2022) 5/10
Over the top Viking version of the Hamlet story. This is far from the one written by Shakespeare, who took direct inspiration from the medieval Scandinavian legend of Amleth (played here as an adult by Alexander Skarsgård). When his father, the King (Ethan Hawke), is murdered by his bastard brother (Claes Bang) and who then kidnaps his mother (Nicole Kidman), the child Prince escapes death and is raised by a band of Vikings. Years later he discovers the whereabouts of his father's assassin who was usurped of his kingdom by a Danish king and hides as a lowly farmer in Iceland and now married to his mother. He manages to board a ship bound for Iceland and becomes a slave on the farm of his intended victim. However, he is in for a rude awakening when his beloved mother gives him a few home truths about his father and himself - Kidman gets to perform a fiery monologue spitting, raving and flashing her eyes with rage at her first born. Superbly shot on magnificent bleak locations in Ireland and Iceland by cameraman Jarin Blaschke. Anya Taylor-Joy plays the love interest and there are vivid cameos by Björk as a sorceress and Willem Dafoe as a wise court jester. Half baked film takes more than a few rote pointers from "Game of Thrones" in its depiction of a savage world gone by. Visually stunning but empty spectacle.
Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Rising Sun (Philip Kaufman, 1993) 7/10
Sean Connery returns to Japan after 26 years but this time not as James Bond but as a veteran cop. And he is not in Japan but embroiled in a kinky murder case that takes place during a party given by a multinational Japanese corporation in Los Angeles. The victim is a high class call girl (German super model Tatjana Patitz) and mistress to a crooked Japanese (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) who immediately becomes a suspect as he was known to be a violent man around her. The LAPD cop (Harvey Keitel) on the case wants the investigation to be handled discreetly as the Japanese Corporation does not want its image tarnished so a legendary, now retired cop (Sean Connery), is called in to dig around. He is an expert on Japan having spent time there and is teamed with a new partner (Wesley Snipes). The casting of these two lead actors immediately puts it into "misfit-buddy" territory as they delightfully clash but work in perfect sync as well. Apart from their predictable banter - Connery is wise while Snipes plays straight man to him - the screenplay also touches on racism and American-Japanese friction and business competition (today America's animosity, which changes every few decades, is geared full-on towards China which is perceived to be a source of threat and envy). The convoluted plot moves in so many directions towards the end that the murder almost seems like a red herring. Slick flashy film allows Connery to do his thing while Snipes, as the deadpan comic relief, provides not only good chemistry but also a few tricks which he pulls out of his sleeve. Based on the novel by Michael Crichton.
Narrow Margin (Peter Hyams, 1990) 7/10
Loose remake of the classic Richard Fleischer film from 1952 has Hyams once again borrowing from other far superior films to bring his version to a newer audience. A chase film set on a moving train has a cop (Gene Hackman) accompanying a reluctant witness (Anne Archer) to a murder by the goon of a Mob Boss (Harris Yulin). They are pursued by the goon (J.T. Walsh) and another killer (James Sikking) and a cat-and-mouse game ensues. As with all such films the potholes in the screenplay have to be ignored in order to enjoy the thrills. This is the period when Hackman was in every other film and it's nice to see Archer in full-on feisty mode where she even gets to run on top of the moving train while dodging bullets.
Connecting Rooms (Franklin Gollings, 1970) 6/10
Old fashioned, sad look at a group of people living in a shabby London boarding house owned by a gossipy old biddy (Kay Walsh). Middle-aged musician (Bette Davis), now down on her luck and playing her cello as a street busker, is involved with a much younger songwriter (Alex Kanner) who not only selfishly uses her for her money but is also bedding two younger girls on the side. The screenplay, based on a play, mainly revolves around her relationship with a retired school professor (Michael Redgrave) who is trying to escape from a scandal in his past. Both lonely souls form a friendship that gradually develops via the connecting door between their rooms. The two stars go through their familiar paces and come through with touching performances.
Sean Connery returns to Japan after 26 years but this time not as James Bond but as a veteran cop. And he is not in Japan but embroiled in a kinky murder case that takes place during a party given by a multinational Japanese corporation in Los Angeles. The victim is a high class call girl (German super model Tatjana Patitz) and mistress to a crooked Japanese (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) who immediately becomes a suspect as he was known to be a violent man around her. The LAPD cop (Harvey Keitel) on the case wants the investigation to be handled discreetly as the Japanese Corporation does not want its image tarnished so a legendary, now retired cop (Sean Connery), is called in to dig around. He is an expert on Japan having spent time there and is teamed with a new partner (Wesley Snipes). The casting of these two lead actors immediately puts it into "misfit-buddy" territory as they delightfully clash but work in perfect sync as well. Apart from their predictable banter - Connery is wise while Snipes plays straight man to him - the screenplay also touches on racism and American-Japanese friction and business competition (today America's animosity, which changes every few decades, is geared full-on towards China which is perceived to be a source of threat and envy). The convoluted plot moves in so many directions towards the end that the murder almost seems like a red herring. Slick flashy film allows Connery to do his thing while Snipes, as the deadpan comic relief, provides not only good chemistry but also a few tricks which he pulls out of his sleeve. Based on the novel by Michael Crichton.
Narrow Margin (Peter Hyams, 1990) 7/10
Loose remake of the classic Richard Fleischer film from 1952 has Hyams once again borrowing from other far superior films to bring his version to a newer audience. A chase film set on a moving train has a cop (Gene Hackman) accompanying a reluctant witness (Anne Archer) to a murder by the goon of a Mob Boss (Harris Yulin). They are pursued by the goon (J.T. Walsh) and another killer (James Sikking) and a cat-and-mouse game ensues. As with all such films the potholes in the screenplay have to be ignored in order to enjoy the thrills. This is the period when Hackman was in every other film and it's nice to see Archer in full-on feisty mode where she even gets to run on top of the moving train while dodging bullets.
Connecting Rooms (Franklin Gollings, 1970) 6/10
Old fashioned, sad look at a group of people living in a shabby London boarding house owned by a gossipy old biddy (Kay Walsh). Middle-aged musician (Bette Davis), now down on her luck and playing her cello as a street busker, is involved with a much younger songwriter (Alex Kanner) who not only selfishly uses her for her money but is also bedding two younger girls on the side. The screenplay, based on a play, mainly revolves around her relationship with a retired school professor (Michael Redgrave) who is trying to escape from a scandal in his past. Both lonely souls form a friendship that gradually develops via the connecting door between their rooms. The two stars go through their familiar paces and come through with touching performances.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Man of the West (1958) - 8/10 - Link Jones (Gary Cooper) is on his way east to hire a schoolteacher for his small community. He and two others get stranded when their train is attacked by outlaws. Link leads the others to the house where he was raised which happens to be nearby. However, his outlaw uncle and his gang are still living there. Cooper was way too old for the role, but I thought he did a decent job.
Winchester '73 (1950) - 8/10 - Lin McAdam (James Stewart) arrives in Dodge City in search of Dutch Henry Brown. The two take part in a shooting competition for a rare Winchester rifle. After the competition, Dutch leaves town in a hurry with McAdam in pursuit. The story mostly follows the trail of the rifle as it changes hands a number of times. Stewart is good in his role, but the supporting cast shines as well, including Dan Duryea as a slightly crazed outlaw named Waco Jones and Shelley Winters as a woman caught up in the middle of things.
Drunken Master (1978) - 8/10 - Jackie Chan is the son of a kung fu master with his own school. He has skill, but enjoys getting into trouble. The father sends his son to train with a drunken old man with his own unique style of fighting. There is plenty of comedy and entertaining fights.
The Legend of the Drunken Master (1994) - 7.5/10 - Wong Fei-Hung accidentally gets caught up in a plot to smuggle Chinese artifacts out of the country. It's a good film and there are plenty of good fights, but it isn't as much fun as the original Drunken Master film.
Winchester '73 (1950) - 8/10 - Lin McAdam (James Stewart) arrives in Dodge City in search of Dutch Henry Brown. The two take part in a shooting competition for a rare Winchester rifle. After the competition, Dutch leaves town in a hurry with McAdam in pursuit. The story mostly follows the trail of the rifle as it changes hands a number of times. Stewart is good in his role, but the supporting cast shines as well, including Dan Duryea as a slightly crazed outlaw named Waco Jones and Shelley Winters as a woman caught up in the middle of things.
Drunken Master (1978) - 8/10 - Jackie Chan is the son of a kung fu master with his own school. He has skill, but enjoys getting into trouble. The father sends his son to train with a drunken old man with his own unique style of fighting. There is plenty of comedy and entertaining fights.
The Legend of the Drunken Master (1994) - 7.5/10 - Wong Fei-Hung accidentally gets caught up in a plot to smuggle Chinese artifacts out of the country. It's a good film and there are plenty of good fights, but it isn't as much fun as the original Drunken Master film.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Sam Raimi, 2022) 7/10
Hell hath no fury as a.....single and childless woman....who wants to traverse between universes in search of where she can be reunited with her two kids. Former Avenger gone rogue - The Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) - fits this bill and like a maniac goes after a hispanic kid (Xochitl Gomez) who has the power to move between different universes. This is the same kid with a pair of lesbian moms due to which half the Arab world banned this movie - including Pakistan for 3 days but then the censors here miraculously capitulated and, hallelujah, allowed the film to be released with nary a cut - that "pesky" bit of dialogue remains in the film unscathed and I'm happy to see that maybe some men here are not scared of lesbians as I had accused them of. Anyway coming to the rescue of the kid is Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) with help from Wong (Benedict Wong), and his former lover Dr Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) - who here gets married to a black man which "feels" terribly absurd, not because a white woman cannot or should not marry a black man but it comes off very contrived and forced just to appease black America. Wish the country would "wake up" already and stay "awake". The screenplay also brings on (as surprise cameos) other familiar superheroes but based in a different universe other than "earth". And since Sam Raimi is at the helm we get an homage to "The Evil Dead" with a rampaging cadaver and for good measure we also get to see "Nightwalkers" - presumably an homage to "Game of Thrones"? The pithy plot gets totally overwhelmed by a constant barrage of special effects - no quiet moment to be found here as there is a steady stream of CGI. Bruce Campbell - a Raimi regular - has an amusing cameo as a pizza vendor who closes the film with an amusing line and we also get to see a post-credits appearance of a sexy A-list Hollywood star who is introduced as Clea - a sorceress from the Dark Dimension who arrives to enlist the help of our titular hero. Sift through all the psychedelic and disorienting weirdness and you will enjoy the convoluted plot. Cumberbatch, as always, makes a droll superhero.
Year of the Gun (John Frankenheimer, 1991) 4/10
Insipid little thriller is far from Frankenheimer's best. The story is set in Rome during the late 1970s at the height of the terror created by the Red Brigade. An American journalist (a bland Andrew McCarthy) inadvertently falls foul of the Brigade when the fiction novel he has written about a terrorist group falls into their hands and they assume that he knows all about their plans to kidnap and kill Aldo Moro the Prime Minister of Italy. While his plot is pure fiction it coincides with the plans of the Brigade. He manages to escape an assassination attempt and goes on the run with a gutsy American photographer (a pre-stardom Sharon Stone) who in fact got him in this mess in the first place. All he wanted was to write a bestseller so he could get married to the estranged wife (Valeria Golino) of an industrialist. Nothing really works in this lackluster film - the director's trademark chase sequence here consists of an uninspired attempt at out running two killers on a bike, the leads appear to be sleepwalking although both leading ladies get to perform highly animated sex scenes with McCarthy which momentarily brings the film to life. Even the back alley Rome locations used in the film are shabby. Apparently it was a troubled shoot with financing running out and the director trying to shoot on the cheap in order to complete the film. Which could also be why he chose to cast the film with McCarthy and Stone who probably came in cheap. Skip this.
The Firm (Sydney Pollack, 1993) 7/10
King of the legal thriller - John Grisham - was in full-on vogue during the 1990s as his bestsellers were lapped up back-to-back by Hollywood. And after seven all-star adaptations Hollywood suddenly and mysteriously decided to call it quits on the author's works. This one was the first to reach the screen packaged with Tom Cruise leading a heavy duty cast of stars. A young hotshot lawyer (Tom Cruise), just out of Harvard law school, is offered a job by various prominent New York law firms. Since he has risen out of his poverty stricken background he decides to choose the job offer from a small firm in Memphis because they offer him a high salary with numerous perks on the side. While he is enthusiastic and full of trust, his wife (Jeanne Triplehorn) is more cautious but also gives in to the offer. And then the shit hits the fan when the FBI informs him that his firm works for the Mob and he is trapped by his bosses into doing their bidding. His house is bugged and the firm is blackmailing him for a sexual indiscretion conveniently arranged for him as a trap into which he falls. Since its "eager-beaver" Cruise, the firm is in for a surprise because he decides to fight back. Cruise is surrounded by a bunch of very colorful characters - the deceptively sweet head of the firm (Hal Holbrook), the sinister security chief (Wilford Brimley), a shrewd senior partner & kindly mentor (Gene Hackman), his convict brother (David Strathairn), a sleazy detective (Gary Busey), the man's loyal secretary-lover (Holly Hunter, in "Dolly Parton" mode, and nominated for an Academy Award), an FBI agent (Ed Harris), and a Chicago Mob Boss (Paul Sorvino). Pollack directs briskly although the screenplay turns incredibly convoluted during the last half hour with lots of busy action that makes no real sense but is smoothly put over allowing the audience to think they have understood it all. Slick but pedantic thriller with a pleasing star turn by Cruise.
Pane, amore e... / Scandal in Sorrento (Dino Risi, 1955) 6/10
Retired police Marshall (Vittorio De Sica), a brash and loud mouthed braggart, returns to his hometown and finds his voluptuous tenant, a fishmonger (Sophia Loren), refusing to vacate his house. In the meantime he temporarily moves into the house of a saintly repressed widow (Lea Padovani). With this set up its only a matter of time before the womanizing old lecher makes a play for both ladies who have a few tricks up their own sleeves. Silly third film of a trilogy with De Sica's character - he romped in the previous two films with Gina Lollobrigida - but he is perfectly matched here with Loren - flashing eyes, loud mouthed and talking nineteen to the dozen - who gives the old goat a run for his money. Interesting to see Sorrento during the 1950s which is lovingly photographed in colour by Giuseppe Rotunno. De Sica is always fun to watch doing his usual shtick.
Hell hath no fury as a.....single and childless woman....who wants to traverse between universes in search of where she can be reunited with her two kids. Former Avenger gone rogue - The Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) - fits this bill and like a maniac goes after a hispanic kid (Xochitl Gomez) who has the power to move between different universes. This is the same kid with a pair of lesbian moms due to which half the Arab world banned this movie - including Pakistan for 3 days but then the censors here miraculously capitulated and, hallelujah, allowed the film to be released with nary a cut - that "pesky" bit of dialogue remains in the film unscathed and I'm happy to see that maybe some men here are not scared of lesbians as I had accused them of. Anyway coming to the rescue of the kid is Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) with help from Wong (Benedict Wong), and his former lover Dr Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) - who here gets married to a black man which "feels" terribly absurd, not because a white woman cannot or should not marry a black man but it comes off very contrived and forced just to appease black America. Wish the country would "wake up" already and stay "awake". The screenplay also brings on (as surprise cameos) other familiar superheroes but based in a different universe other than "earth". And since Sam Raimi is at the helm we get an homage to "The Evil Dead" with a rampaging cadaver and for good measure we also get to see "Nightwalkers" - presumably an homage to "Game of Thrones"? The pithy plot gets totally overwhelmed by a constant barrage of special effects - no quiet moment to be found here as there is a steady stream of CGI. Bruce Campbell - a Raimi regular - has an amusing cameo as a pizza vendor who closes the film with an amusing line and we also get to see a post-credits appearance of a sexy A-list Hollywood star who is introduced as Clea - a sorceress from the Dark Dimension who arrives to enlist the help of our titular hero. Sift through all the psychedelic and disorienting weirdness and you will enjoy the convoluted plot. Cumberbatch, as always, makes a droll superhero.
Year of the Gun (John Frankenheimer, 1991) 4/10
Insipid little thriller is far from Frankenheimer's best. The story is set in Rome during the late 1970s at the height of the terror created by the Red Brigade. An American journalist (a bland Andrew McCarthy) inadvertently falls foul of the Brigade when the fiction novel he has written about a terrorist group falls into their hands and they assume that he knows all about their plans to kidnap and kill Aldo Moro the Prime Minister of Italy. While his plot is pure fiction it coincides with the plans of the Brigade. He manages to escape an assassination attempt and goes on the run with a gutsy American photographer (a pre-stardom Sharon Stone) who in fact got him in this mess in the first place. All he wanted was to write a bestseller so he could get married to the estranged wife (Valeria Golino) of an industrialist. Nothing really works in this lackluster film - the director's trademark chase sequence here consists of an uninspired attempt at out running two killers on a bike, the leads appear to be sleepwalking although both leading ladies get to perform highly animated sex scenes with McCarthy which momentarily brings the film to life. Even the back alley Rome locations used in the film are shabby. Apparently it was a troubled shoot with financing running out and the director trying to shoot on the cheap in order to complete the film. Which could also be why he chose to cast the film with McCarthy and Stone who probably came in cheap. Skip this.
The Firm (Sydney Pollack, 1993) 7/10
King of the legal thriller - John Grisham - was in full-on vogue during the 1990s as his bestsellers were lapped up back-to-back by Hollywood. And after seven all-star adaptations Hollywood suddenly and mysteriously decided to call it quits on the author's works. This one was the first to reach the screen packaged with Tom Cruise leading a heavy duty cast of stars. A young hotshot lawyer (Tom Cruise), just out of Harvard law school, is offered a job by various prominent New York law firms. Since he has risen out of his poverty stricken background he decides to choose the job offer from a small firm in Memphis because they offer him a high salary with numerous perks on the side. While he is enthusiastic and full of trust, his wife (Jeanne Triplehorn) is more cautious but also gives in to the offer. And then the shit hits the fan when the FBI informs him that his firm works for the Mob and he is trapped by his bosses into doing their bidding. His house is bugged and the firm is blackmailing him for a sexual indiscretion conveniently arranged for him as a trap into which he falls. Since its "eager-beaver" Cruise, the firm is in for a surprise because he decides to fight back. Cruise is surrounded by a bunch of very colorful characters - the deceptively sweet head of the firm (Hal Holbrook), the sinister security chief (Wilford Brimley), a shrewd senior partner & kindly mentor (Gene Hackman), his convict brother (David Strathairn), a sleazy detective (Gary Busey), the man's loyal secretary-lover (Holly Hunter, in "Dolly Parton" mode, and nominated for an Academy Award), an FBI agent (Ed Harris), and a Chicago Mob Boss (Paul Sorvino). Pollack directs briskly although the screenplay turns incredibly convoluted during the last half hour with lots of busy action that makes no real sense but is smoothly put over allowing the audience to think they have understood it all. Slick but pedantic thriller with a pleasing star turn by Cruise.
Pane, amore e... / Scandal in Sorrento (Dino Risi, 1955) 6/10
Retired police Marshall (Vittorio De Sica), a brash and loud mouthed braggart, returns to his hometown and finds his voluptuous tenant, a fishmonger (Sophia Loren), refusing to vacate his house. In the meantime he temporarily moves into the house of a saintly repressed widow (Lea Padovani). With this set up its only a matter of time before the womanizing old lecher makes a play for both ladies who have a few tricks up their own sleeves. Silly third film of a trilogy with De Sica's character - he romped in the previous two films with Gina Lollobrigida - but he is perfectly matched here with Loren - flashing eyes, loud mouthed and talking nineteen to the dozen - who gives the old goat a run for his money. Interesting to see Sorrento during the 1950s which is lovingly photographed in colour by Giuseppe Rotunno. De Sica is always fun to watch doing his usual shtick.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
3:10 to Yuma (1957) - 8.5/10 - Glenn Ford stars as an outlaw who gets captured while lingering for too long after robbing a stagecoach and killing the driver. He's going to be sent by train to Yuma and a poor rancher (Van Heflin) agrees to escort him for $200, which he needs to keep his ranch running. The outlaw's gang aims to free him and the escort duty won't be easy. Ford and Heflin give very nice performances and I liked the film a lot. It's been too long since I saw the remake to compare them, but I'd rate them about the same.
Johnny Guitar (1954) - 8/10 - Vienna (Joan Crawford) owns a saloon outside of town and is waiting for the railroad to come through so that she can cash in. Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden) arrives at the saloon after witnessing a stagecoach robbery on the way there. A mob shows up at the saloon looking for the people who they suspect committed the robbery and the woman leading the mob (Mercedes McCambridge) tries to convince the rest to bring Vienna in as well. I thought that Crawford was excellent in the film and Hayden was also very good. I didn't like McCambridge much, though, in her role as the main adversary.
Johnny Guitar (1954) - 8/10 - Vienna (Joan Crawford) owns a saloon outside of town and is waiting for the railroad to come through so that she can cash in. Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden) arrives at the saloon after witnessing a stagecoach robbery on the way there. A mob shows up at the saloon looking for the people who they suspect committed the robbery and the woman leading the mob (Mercedes McCambridge) tries to convince the rest to bring Vienna in as well. I thought that Crawford was excellent in the film and Hayden was also very good. I didn't like McCambridge much, though, in her role as the main adversary.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
I Was Born, But... (1932) - 8/10 - A family moves into a new home due to their father's job The two young boys in the family have trouble with a gang of boys in the neighborhood and avoid school for a while as a result. The boys also have to learn the realities of what adults must sometimes do in order to keep a good job. This is a very nice film.
Ip Man (2008) - 8/10 - Donnie Yen stars as Wing Chun master Ip Man in this biopic. The film starts in China in 1935 where Ip Man is well known in his home city, but is modest and reserved. His family is forced into poverty when the Japanese invade and he survives by working at a coal mine. The Japanese general in charge is a martial artist and recruits local martial artists to fight with his troops, earning a bag of rice if they win. Ip Man is not interested in that, but fights for other reasons. This film was very entertaining and had good fight sequences. It was certainly more interesting than the later film, The Grandmaster, which was also about Ip Man.
The Mississippi Gambler (1953) - 8/10 - Tyrone Power stars as a riverboat gambler named Mark Fallon who insists on an honest game and won't stand for cheating at cards. He falls for the sister (Piper Laurie) of a man he beats at cards, but she doesn't want anything to do with him, despite her father approving of him. The story is nicely told and Power is very good in the lead role. Paul Cavanagh is also good in a supporting role as the wealthy father of the woman Fallon is interested in.
Singing Guns (1950) - 7.5/10 - Vaughn Monroe is a stagecoach robber who feels wronged by the mining company and has accumulated a large fortune in stolen gold. After saving the life of the sheriff, the town makes him deputy while he recovers, not realizing who he really is. The only person who knows is the local doctor (Walter Brennan) who is trying to get him to turn to the side of good. I thought it was a pretty solid film.
Ip Man (2008) - 8/10 - Donnie Yen stars as Wing Chun master Ip Man in this biopic. The film starts in China in 1935 where Ip Man is well known in his home city, but is modest and reserved. His family is forced into poverty when the Japanese invade and he survives by working at a coal mine. The Japanese general in charge is a martial artist and recruits local martial artists to fight with his troops, earning a bag of rice if they win. Ip Man is not interested in that, but fights for other reasons. This film was very entertaining and had good fight sequences. It was certainly more interesting than the later film, The Grandmaster, which was also about Ip Man.
The Mississippi Gambler (1953) - 8/10 - Tyrone Power stars as a riverboat gambler named Mark Fallon who insists on an honest game and won't stand for cheating at cards. He falls for the sister (Piper Laurie) of a man he beats at cards, but she doesn't want anything to do with him, despite her father approving of him. The story is nicely told and Power is very good in the lead role. Paul Cavanagh is also good in a supporting role as the wealthy father of the woman Fallon is interested in.
Singing Guns (1950) - 7.5/10 - Vaughn Monroe is a stagecoach robber who feels wronged by the mining company and has accumulated a large fortune in stolen gold. After saving the life of the sheriff, the town makes him deputy while he recovers, not realizing who he really is. The only person who knows is the local doctor (Walter Brennan) who is trying to get him to turn to the side of good. I thought it was a pretty solid film.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
La Bataille du rail / The Battle of the Rails (René Clément, 1946) 10/10
Clément's film - about the efforts of the Resistance to disrupt the German war machine in France by disrupting their railroads - was partly financed by the Resistance themselves in order to disapprove International perception at the time that the French had easily capitualated and collaborated with the Nazis. Shot like a documentary with a cast of non-professionals the film is an exercise in suspense as it depicts the brave railway workers trying to sabotage and stay one step ahead of the Nazi menace. Clément won a richly deserved award for his direction at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival. The cinematography is by the distinguished Henri Alekan who had escaped a POW camp and had been part of the Resistance.
La Traversée de Paris / The Trip Across Paris (Claude Autant-Lara, 1956) 9/10
"Buddy-Comedy" set during the dark days of the Nazi occupation of Paris. An unemployed taxi-driver (Bourvil) makes ends meet by working as a
blackmarketeer delivering pork in suitcases in the stealth of night during curfew hours. When his partner is arrested he offers the position to a stranger (Jean Gabin) he meets at a café. The man soon asserts himself and terrorizes the grocer (Louis de Funes) into giving him more money for the delivery of the pig which has been cut up and placed into four suitcases. The two men embark on their journey across Paris as they try to evade curious onlookers, hungry dogs, various cops and the Germans. The two bicker constantly, a startling discovery is made about one of them as they eventually end up captured by the Nazis. Will they make it out of the mess or not? The cynical portrayal of the Occupation, contrary to de Gaulle's very different viewpoint, made the film controversial. The screenplay, very loosely based on the short story "La Traversée de Paris" by Marcel Aymé, uses the cover of a comedy to depict the harsh realities of life for the average frenchman during the Occupation. Autant-Lara depicts, through dark humour, a life where men and women scrounged for a living, became collaborators to survive and were hardly the innocent victims of occupation folklore. Expressionistic lighting by Jacques Nateau creates the deathly and dangerous atmosphere. This was the first and only time the two stars appeared on screen together and both give outstanding performances. Bourvil received the Best Actor prize at the Venice Film Festival while Gabin was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor. Classic french film is a must-see.
Lost Command (Mark Robson, 1966) 6/10
France and its chequered colonial follies in both Indo-China and Algeria where we get to see the exploits of a Basque battalion commander (Anthony Quinn). At the disastrous 1954 Battle of Dien Bien Phu he manages to stay alive despite all odds and is captured with his friends - a military historian (Alain Delon), an Indochina-born Captain (Maurice Ronet), a surgeon (Gordon Heath) and an Algerian-born paratrooper (a miscast George Segal). After the armistice they return to France via Algeria which is in the midst of retaliating against French rule. Shorn of his command for refusing to obey orders from his superiors he seeks help (and a bit of romance on the side) from a Major's widow (Michèle Morgan) to get command of a new regiment in the Algerian war. He recruits all his old comrades which brings him into direct conflict with his Algerian friend who is now fighting against the French to liberate his country. The historian falls in love with the Algerian's sister (Claudia Cardinale) and realizes his nation's misconduct towards Algeria. Based on the best-selling 1960 novel "The Centurions" by Jean Lartéguy, the film has a strong pro-peace message with dashes of romance thrown in for colour. Quinn is typically boistrous and lusty with fine performances by Delon and Cardinale. Old fashioned action-packed film has a rousing score by Franz Waxman and wide screen cinematography by Robert Surtees
The Hunted (William Friedkin, 2003) 7/10
Friedkin, known for his car chase films - "The French Connection", "To Live and Die in LA" - comes up here with another form of chase. Running on foot through forest terrain. An ex-special forces vet (Benicio Del Toro), suffering from accute battle stress - he saw far too many senseless killings in Kosovo - goes on the run while mentally unbalanced and brutally kills four deer hunters slicing them into pieces. The FBI (Connie Nielsen) gets the Army trainer (Tommy Lee Jones), who made the maniac into a killer, to go after him. The relentless chase through streets, on a high bridge, through forests and up and down waterfalls is bone crunching madness as the two men go at each other hammer and tongs (actually self made knives from stones) as they fight to the death in hand-to-hand combat. The plot is really thin having seen it play out in countless films before and since - it is like watching Rambo in "First Blood" but minus America's post-Vietnam guilt-trip. It is fascinating to see Jones' stamina at his age - still in chase mode years after "The Fugitive" - and keeping up with the younger and much more fit Del Toro. The action scenes are superbly shot - all quiet stealth - with the two protagonists acting suspiciously like a father-son duo engaged in some mysterious tussle.
Ronin (John Frankenheimer, 1998) 8/10
Frankenheimer's almost plotless film throws the viewer right in the midst of pulsating action without any formal introduction. Five "Ronins" - Samurai warriors without masters who have become hired killers - are a former American Intelligence agent (Robert De Niro), a french gunman (Jean Reno), an English firearms specialist (Sean Bean), a German computer specialist (Stellan Skarsgård) and the designated driver (Skipp Sudduth). They are hired to retrieve a briefcase (a MacGuffin which basically triggers what little plot the film has) by an IRA operative (Natascha McElhone) on behalf of a rogue operative (Jonathan Pryce). The briefcase is also desperately wanted by the Russians and the Irish which makes the whole enterprise rather tense. The statistic on the film says that over 80 automobiles were destroyed during filming so it is packed with set pieces involving chase sequences on the roads of Paris and Nice. De Niro leads the superb cast with tightly pursed lips and has great chemistry with the laconic Reno. Frankenheimer's hard-edged direction propels the film through various twists and turns mostly behind the steering wheel of a careening vehicle. Exciting film.
The Day the Earth Caught Fire (Val Guest, 1961) 7/10
The film came about out of paranoia resulting from the Cold War but it actually holds a lot of truth as it shows accute climate change the result of a nuclear explosion. Both Russia and the United States accidently test the H-bomb simultaneously - one detonating it in the North Pole and the other in the South Pole - causing the earth to tilt from its axis and go hurtling towards the sun. Low budget disaster film uses a London newspaper office as its center point with journalists trying to figure out why there are floods in the Sahara desert, earthquakes, excessive rain, eclipses and rising temperatures in different parts of the world. Leo McKern is a gruff no-nonsense senior reporter, Edward Judd is the divorced alcoholic star reporter and Janet Munro his new squeeze. Interesting matte-based special effects. The perceptive screenplay won the Bafta award.
The Very Edge (Cyril Frankel, 1963) 5/10
A happily married couple find their marriage in jeopardy when the wife (Anne Heywood) is stalked and assaulted by a psychotic man (Jeremy Brett). The shock causes her to lose the baby she is expecting and the resulting paranoia makes her turn away from her husband (Richard Todd) who is tempted by his secretary (Nicole Maurey). When the crazy man is caught the couple's life returns to normalcy until he suddenly escapes and goes again looking for the woman he is obsessed by. Creepy psychodrama goes overboard in trying to be sensational but Brett nails the part and he seems to have more of a connection with Heywood than she has with Todd. This tilts the film's sympathy somewhat towards the psycho which is sort of fatal for what the story was trying to achieve. Fine supporting cast.
Ah Wilderness! (Clarence Brown, 1935) 5/10
Brown tackled Eugene O'Neill's nostalgic memory play after a string of racy films with Garbo and Crawford. Stiff Americana is about small-town life during the turn-of-the-century and allows MGM to cast a great group of character actors as the family members of the high school graduate (Eric Linden). There is his father (Lionel Barrymore), the fussing mother (Spring Byington), a younger brother (Mickey Rooney), an annoying sister (Bonita Granville), and the spinster aunt (Aline Macmahon) in love with the tippling Uncle (Wallace Beery hamming it up). Cecilia Parker is the young love interest who refuses to kiss him but enjoys his quotes of Oscar Wilde causing her father (Charley Grapewin) to put a stop to their budding relationship. So he gets drunk at the hands of a woman of bad repute. Meanwhile the younger kids play with firecrackers during the 4th of July holiday. The film's best moments are the scenes between Barrymore and Beery as they try to out ham each other. Rooney later starred in a musical version in color at MGM playing the role of the older brother.
The Red Sea Diving Resort (Gideon Raff, 2019) 6/10
A reckless Mossad agent (Chris Evans) and his team (Alessandro Nivola, Haley Bennett, Michiel Huisman, Alex Hassell) help to evacuate thousands of jewish Ethiopian refugees from war torn Sudan to Jerusalem with the help of the Israeli Navy and Air Force. They do it by striking a deal with the Sudanese government to buy and refurbish a sea resort and use the premises to secretly house refugees before smuggling them out via the sea. The local rabid police captain suspects them but they manage to hoodwink him and help 400 refugees fly out from an abandoned airfield in a plane arranged by a CIA officer (Greg Kinnear). Rousing film, although with a screenplay full of potholes and dollops of melodrama, showcases a true story where many people targeted for death were saved. Sir Ben Kingsley plays a high ranking Mossad agent who is behind the mission. The screenplay distorts a lot of what actually happened as it amalgamates a lot of incidents for dramatic effect.
Clément's film - about the efforts of the Resistance to disrupt the German war machine in France by disrupting their railroads - was partly financed by the Resistance themselves in order to disapprove International perception at the time that the French had easily capitualated and collaborated with the Nazis. Shot like a documentary with a cast of non-professionals the film is an exercise in suspense as it depicts the brave railway workers trying to sabotage and stay one step ahead of the Nazi menace. Clément won a richly deserved award for his direction at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival. The cinematography is by the distinguished Henri Alekan who had escaped a POW camp and had been part of the Resistance.
La Traversée de Paris / The Trip Across Paris (Claude Autant-Lara, 1956) 9/10
"Buddy-Comedy" set during the dark days of the Nazi occupation of Paris. An unemployed taxi-driver (Bourvil) makes ends meet by working as a
blackmarketeer delivering pork in suitcases in the stealth of night during curfew hours. When his partner is arrested he offers the position to a stranger (Jean Gabin) he meets at a café. The man soon asserts himself and terrorizes the grocer (Louis de Funes) into giving him more money for the delivery of the pig which has been cut up and placed into four suitcases. The two men embark on their journey across Paris as they try to evade curious onlookers, hungry dogs, various cops and the Germans. The two bicker constantly, a startling discovery is made about one of them as they eventually end up captured by the Nazis. Will they make it out of the mess or not? The cynical portrayal of the Occupation, contrary to de Gaulle's very different viewpoint, made the film controversial. The screenplay, very loosely based on the short story "La Traversée de Paris" by Marcel Aymé, uses the cover of a comedy to depict the harsh realities of life for the average frenchman during the Occupation. Autant-Lara depicts, through dark humour, a life where men and women scrounged for a living, became collaborators to survive and were hardly the innocent victims of occupation folklore. Expressionistic lighting by Jacques Nateau creates the deathly and dangerous atmosphere. This was the first and only time the two stars appeared on screen together and both give outstanding performances. Bourvil received the Best Actor prize at the Venice Film Festival while Gabin was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor. Classic french film is a must-see.
Lost Command (Mark Robson, 1966) 6/10
France and its chequered colonial follies in both Indo-China and Algeria where we get to see the exploits of a Basque battalion commander (Anthony Quinn). At the disastrous 1954 Battle of Dien Bien Phu he manages to stay alive despite all odds and is captured with his friends - a military historian (Alain Delon), an Indochina-born Captain (Maurice Ronet), a surgeon (Gordon Heath) and an Algerian-born paratrooper (a miscast George Segal). After the armistice they return to France via Algeria which is in the midst of retaliating against French rule. Shorn of his command for refusing to obey orders from his superiors he seeks help (and a bit of romance on the side) from a Major's widow (Michèle Morgan) to get command of a new regiment in the Algerian war. He recruits all his old comrades which brings him into direct conflict with his Algerian friend who is now fighting against the French to liberate his country. The historian falls in love with the Algerian's sister (Claudia Cardinale) and realizes his nation's misconduct towards Algeria. Based on the best-selling 1960 novel "The Centurions" by Jean Lartéguy, the film has a strong pro-peace message with dashes of romance thrown in for colour. Quinn is typically boistrous and lusty with fine performances by Delon and Cardinale. Old fashioned action-packed film has a rousing score by Franz Waxman and wide screen cinematography by Robert Surtees
The Hunted (William Friedkin, 2003) 7/10
Friedkin, known for his car chase films - "The French Connection", "To Live and Die in LA" - comes up here with another form of chase. Running on foot through forest terrain. An ex-special forces vet (Benicio Del Toro), suffering from accute battle stress - he saw far too many senseless killings in Kosovo - goes on the run while mentally unbalanced and brutally kills four deer hunters slicing them into pieces. The FBI (Connie Nielsen) gets the Army trainer (Tommy Lee Jones), who made the maniac into a killer, to go after him. The relentless chase through streets, on a high bridge, through forests and up and down waterfalls is bone crunching madness as the two men go at each other hammer and tongs (actually self made knives from stones) as they fight to the death in hand-to-hand combat. The plot is really thin having seen it play out in countless films before and since - it is like watching Rambo in "First Blood" but minus America's post-Vietnam guilt-trip. It is fascinating to see Jones' stamina at his age - still in chase mode years after "The Fugitive" - and keeping up with the younger and much more fit Del Toro. The action scenes are superbly shot - all quiet stealth - with the two protagonists acting suspiciously like a father-son duo engaged in some mysterious tussle.
Ronin (John Frankenheimer, 1998) 8/10
Frankenheimer's almost plotless film throws the viewer right in the midst of pulsating action without any formal introduction. Five "Ronins" - Samurai warriors without masters who have become hired killers - are a former American Intelligence agent (Robert De Niro), a french gunman (Jean Reno), an English firearms specialist (Sean Bean), a German computer specialist (Stellan Skarsgård) and the designated driver (Skipp Sudduth). They are hired to retrieve a briefcase (a MacGuffin which basically triggers what little plot the film has) by an IRA operative (Natascha McElhone) on behalf of a rogue operative (Jonathan Pryce). The briefcase is also desperately wanted by the Russians and the Irish which makes the whole enterprise rather tense. The statistic on the film says that over 80 automobiles were destroyed during filming so it is packed with set pieces involving chase sequences on the roads of Paris and Nice. De Niro leads the superb cast with tightly pursed lips and has great chemistry with the laconic Reno. Frankenheimer's hard-edged direction propels the film through various twists and turns mostly behind the steering wheel of a careening vehicle. Exciting film.
The Day the Earth Caught Fire (Val Guest, 1961) 7/10
The film came about out of paranoia resulting from the Cold War but it actually holds a lot of truth as it shows accute climate change the result of a nuclear explosion. Both Russia and the United States accidently test the H-bomb simultaneously - one detonating it in the North Pole and the other in the South Pole - causing the earth to tilt from its axis and go hurtling towards the sun. Low budget disaster film uses a London newspaper office as its center point with journalists trying to figure out why there are floods in the Sahara desert, earthquakes, excessive rain, eclipses and rising temperatures in different parts of the world. Leo McKern is a gruff no-nonsense senior reporter, Edward Judd is the divorced alcoholic star reporter and Janet Munro his new squeeze. Interesting matte-based special effects. The perceptive screenplay won the Bafta award.
The Very Edge (Cyril Frankel, 1963) 5/10
A happily married couple find their marriage in jeopardy when the wife (Anne Heywood) is stalked and assaulted by a psychotic man (Jeremy Brett). The shock causes her to lose the baby she is expecting and the resulting paranoia makes her turn away from her husband (Richard Todd) who is tempted by his secretary (Nicole Maurey). When the crazy man is caught the couple's life returns to normalcy until he suddenly escapes and goes again looking for the woman he is obsessed by. Creepy psychodrama goes overboard in trying to be sensational but Brett nails the part and he seems to have more of a connection with Heywood than she has with Todd. This tilts the film's sympathy somewhat towards the psycho which is sort of fatal for what the story was trying to achieve. Fine supporting cast.
Ah Wilderness! (Clarence Brown, 1935) 5/10
Brown tackled Eugene O'Neill's nostalgic memory play after a string of racy films with Garbo and Crawford. Stiff Americana is about small-town life during the turn-of-the-century and allows MGM to cast a great group of character actors as the family members of the high school graduate (Eric Linden). There is his father (Lionel Barrymore), the fussing mother (Spring Byington), a younger brother (Mickey Rooney), an annoying sister (Bonita Granville), and the spinster aunt (Aline Macmahon) in love with the tippling Uncle (Wallace Beery hamming it up). Cecilia Parker is the young love interest who refuses to kiss him but enjoys his quotes of Oscar Wilde causing her father (Charley Grapewin) to put a stop to their budding relationship. So he gets drunk at the hands of a woman of bad repute. Meanwhile the younger kids play with firecrackers during the 4th of July holiday. The film's best moments are the scenes between Barrymore and Beery as they try to out ham each other. Rooney later starred in a musical version in color at MGM playing the role of the older brother.
The Red Sea Diving Resort (Gideon Raff, 2019) 6/10
A reckless Mossad agent (Chris Evans) and his team (Alessandro Nivola, Haley Bennett, Michiel Huisman, Alex Hassell) help to evacuate thousands of jewish Ethiopian refugees from war torn Sudan to Jerusalem with the help of the Israeli Navy and Air Force. They do it by striking a deal with the Sudanese government to buy and refurbish a sea resort and use the premises to secretly house refugees before smuggling them out via the sea. The local rabid police captain suspects them but they manage to hoodwink him and help 400 refugees fly out from an abandoned airfield in a plane arranged by a CIA officer (Greg Kinnear). Rousing film, although with a screenplay full of potholes and dollops of melodrama, showcases a true story where many people targeted for death were saved. Sir Ben Kingsley plays a high ranking Mossad agent who is behind the mission. The screenplay distorts a lot of what actually happened as it amalgamates a lot of incidents for dramatic effect.
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Heaven's Gate (1980) - 7/10 - This is based loosely on the Johnson County War in Wyoming toward the end of the 19th Century. Wealthy cattlemen try to intimidate and murder small ranchers, including a number of immigrants, who are challenging them on the use of the land. I was enjoying the film quite a bit for the first hour or so, but then started to lose interest. The film has really nice cinematography and I never completely lost interest, but it felt bloated and overlong. Overall, I thought it was a decent film with the potential to have been much better. Of course, the production problems, cost overruns, and other issues doomed its release early on.
Shenandoah (1965) - 7.5/10 - James Stewart stars as a farmer in Virginia during the Civil War who has a big spread that he works with his six sons, his daughter, and his daughter-in-law. Confederate and Union forces are in the vicinity near his farm, but he wants no part of the war and just wants his farm and his family to be left alone. His youngest son is mistaken for a Confederate soldier and taken prisoner so he goes off in search of him. I thought this was a pretty good western, even if it doesn't take place out west.
Lawman (1971) - 8/10 - Burt Lancaster stars as a lawman from a town called Bannock who travels to the town of Sabbath with a list of names of cowboys who shot up Bannock and unknowingly killed a man earlier in the year. One of the men on the list challenged him before he got to town and is now dead. He meets with the town marshal and sets a deadline for the next day for the men to turn themselves in. He says that none of the men will be killed and they will get a fair trial in Bannock, but some of the men have other ideas. I thought this one was really good.
Shenandoah (1965) - 7.5/10 - James Stewart stars as a farmer in Virginia during the Civil War who has a big spread that he works with his six sons, his daughter, and his daughter-in-law. Confederate and Union forces are in the vicinity near his farm, but he wants no part of the war and just wants his farm and his family to be left alone. His youngest son is mistaken for a Confederate soldier and taken prisoner so he goes off in search of him. I thought this was a pretty good western, even if it doesn't take place out west.
Lawman (1971) - 8/10 - Burt Lancaster stars as a lawman from a town called Bannock who travels to the town of Sabbath with a list of names of cowboys who shot up Bannock and unknowingly killed a man earlier in the year. One of the men on the list challenged him before he got to town and is now dead. He meets with the town marshal and sets a deadline for the next day for the men to turn themselves in. He says that none of the men will be killed and they will get a fair trial in Bannock, but some of the men have other ideas. I thought this one was really good.
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The Woman in the Fifth / La femme du Vème (Pawel Pawlikowski, 2011) 6/10
A divorced writer (Ethan Hawke), with a history of mental illness, moves to Paris to be near his daughter. He is robbed the first day and ends up staying at a seedy hotel in a room next to a man who refuses to flush the toilet. He gets a job working as a night usher while he writes his second book. He gets involved with two women - a mysteriously dark erotic woman (Kristin Scott Thomas) who allows him to meet and have sex with her but only on specific days and at a specific time, and the hotel barmaid (Joanna Kulig) who aspires to be a writer. Typically offbeat film that Hawke likes to inhabit and one that has a supernatural element built into its plot along with a kidnapping and murder. Wispy little story that appears to be the figment of the main character's mental state of mind.
Un carnet de bal (Julien Duvivier, 1937) 10/10
Duvivier's episodic film is one of the great pre-war classics of french cinema with a cast boasting the very best at the time. A widow (Marie Bell), having spent a married life without love, looks wistfully back twenty years when she had attended a magnificent ball where many young men were entranced by her charms while they danced around the ballroom. Impulsively she decides to visit the men who danced with her in order to see if she still has a chance at love with any of them. However, life has not been kind to many. One killed himself over her and she finds his delusional mother (Françoise Rosay) imagining he is still alive. A promising lawyer and poet (Louis Jouvet) became a mob boss and she arrives just in time to see him get arrested but not before he recites romantic poetry at her in memory of their time at the ball. A composer (Harry Bauer) is now a priest teaching young choir boys to sing. Another (Pierre Richard-Willm), still a bachelor, lives in seclusion on a mountain top. The mayor (Raimu) of a small town is about to get married to his maid and a former medical student (Pierre Blanchar) is now a drug addicted doctor performing illegal abortions on the waterfront docks. The fun loving card trickster (Fernandel) is now a hairdresser very content with his life. A group of motley suitors who have not amounted much in life is what she finds and when invited to the same ballroom she discovers it is peopled by very ordinary people and the once magical moments she remembers are nowhere to be found. With time we cloud our memories imagining them to be something which in reality is not. The film has echoes of the films of Max Ophüls and along with being an elegant romantic drama with stylistic flourishes - the dreamy effect of back projection during the flashback sequences - it is also a melancholy meditation on memory, loss and disappointment. The director later remade this film in Hollywood in 1941 as "Lydia" with Merle Oberon.
Maya (Raymond Bernard, 1949) 8/10
Set in a claustrophobic seaport resembling Marseille or Algiers, this film reeks of noir elements while borrowing heavily from Duvivier's "Pépé le Moko". Maya, which means illusion, is the feeling given off by the town's most enigmatic prostitute, Bella (Viviane Romance), who acts like a mysterious femme fatale. She is whoever her client wants her to be and for an instance magically transforms herself making men forget their problems. Trapped in a milieu she can barely rise above from, she is finally redeemed by love although that too proves to be illusory. Adapted from a 1924 play by Simon Gantillon, Bernard’s Maya heavily resembles the poetic realism of 1930s French cinema. One of the many films which created the sultry Romance persona on screen.
A divorced writer (Ethan Hawke), with a history of mental illness, moves to Paris to be near his daughter. He is robbed the first day and ends up staying at a seedy hotel in a room next to a man who refuses to flush the toilet. He gets a job working as a night usher while he writes his second book. He gets involved with two women - a mysteriously dark erotic woman (Kristin Scott Thomas) who allows him to meet and have sex with her but only on specific days and at a specific time, and the hotel barmaid (Joanna Kulig) who aspires to be a writer. Typically offbeat film that Hawke likes to inhabit and one that has a supernatural element built into its plot along with a kidnapping and murder. Wispy little story that appears to be the figment of the main character's mental state of mind.
Un carnet de bal (Julien Duvivier, 1937) 10/10
Duvivier's episodic film is one of the great pre-war classics of french cinema with a cast boasting the very best at the time. A widow (Marie Bell), having spent a married life without love, looks wistfully back twenty years when she had attended a magnificent ball where many young men were entranced by her charms while they danced around the ballroom. Impulsively she decides to visit the men who danced with her in order to see if she still has a chance at love with any of them. However, life has not been kind to many. One killed himself over her and she finds his delusional mother (Françoise Rosay) imagining he is still alive. A promising lawyer and poet (Louis Jouvet) became a mob boss and she arrives just in time to see him get arrested but not before he recites romantic poetry at her in memory of their time at the ball. A composer (Harry Bauer) is now a priest teaching young choir boys to sing. Another (Pierre Richard-Willm), still a bachelor, lives in seclusion on a mountain top. The mayor (Raimu) of a small town is about to get married to his maid and a former medical student (Pierre Blanchar) is now a drug addicted doctor performing illegal abortions on the waterfront docks. The fun loving card trickster (Fernandel) is now a hairdresser very content with his life. A group of motley suitors who have not amounted much in life is what she finds and when invited to the same ballroom she discovers it is peopled by very ordinary people and the once magical moments she remembers are nowhere to be found. With time we cloud our memories imagining them to be something which in reality is not. The film has echoes of the films of Max Ophüls and along with being an elegant romantic drama with stylistic flourishes - the dreamy effect of back projection during the flashback sequences - it is also a melancholy meditation on memory, loss and disappointment. The director later remade this film in Hollywood in 1941 as "Lydia" with Merle Oberon.
Maya (Raymond Bernard, 1949) 8/10
Set in a claustrophobic seaport resembling Marseille or Algiers, this film reeks of noir elements while borrowing heavily from Duvivier's "Pépé le Moko". Maya, which means illusion, is the feeling given off by the town's most enigmatic prostitute, Bella (Viviane Romance), who acts like a mysterious femme fatale. She is whoever her client wants her to be and for an instance magically transforms herself making men forget their problems. Trapped in a milieu she can barely rise above from, she is finally redeemed by love although that too proves to be illusory. Adapted from a 1924 play by Simon Gantillon, Bernard’s Maya heavily resembles the poetic realism of 1930s French cinema. One of the many films which created the sultry Romance persona on screen.
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Wolf Children (2012) - 8.5/10 - A young woman in college meets a mysterious young man and the two fall in love. He turns out to be a wolf in human form and they have two children who are half human and half wolf. When he dies, she is left to raise the two children on her own. I enjoyed the manga adaptation when it came out here back in 2014 and the anime is also very good.
The Red Lanterns (1963) - 7.5/10 - We get to see some of the lives of the women working at a brothel in Greece called the Red Lanterns. They entertain many customers during the week, but get Sundays off. Some of them have a man they are close to and would like to get out of the business, but it is hard. The brothel is likely to be shut down soon due to a new law.
Sholay (1975) - 8/10 - A former police officer recruits two criminals to capture a bandit who has been terrorizing his village. He wants them to capture the bandit alive and the two men will earn a large reward if they succeed, though the bandit also has a large gang that will need to be dealt with. I thought the film was pretty entertaining with some good action scenes and humor as well. The songs mostly didn't seem out of place either.
The Class (2008) - 8/10 - The film mostly follows one class with a French teacher at a middle school in Paris with lots of foreign born students. It can be a tough group and we get to sit in on teacher meetings as well as the class itself. The teacher walks the edge a bit between trying to get their cooperation in working and being confrontational or insulting at times. I found it to be pretty realistic. I had a number of classes over the years that resembled this particular class in a variety of ways.
The Red Lanterns (1963) - 7.5/10 - We get to see some of the lives of the women working at a brothel in Greece called the Red Lanterns. They entertain many customers during the week, but get Sundays off. Some of them have a man they are close to and would like to get out of the business, but it is hard. The brothel is likely to be shut down soon due to a new law.
Sholay (1975) - 8/10 - A former police officer recruits two criminals to capture a bandit who has been terrorizing his village. He wants them to capture the bandit alive and the two men will earn a large reward if they succeed, though the bandit also has a large gang that will need to be dealt with. I thought the film was pretty entertaining with some good action scenes and humor as well. The songs mostly didn't seem out of place either.
The Class (2008) - 8/10 - The film mostly follows one class with a French teacher at a middle school in Paris with lots of foreign born students. It can be a tough group and we get to sit in on teacher meetings as well as the class itself. The teacher walks the edge a bit between trying to get their cooperation in working and being confrontational or insulting at times. I found it to be pretty realistic. I had a number of classes over the years that resembled this particular class in a variety of ways.
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All the Old Knives (Janus Metz Pedersen, 2022) 7/10
CIA agent (Chris Pine) meets up with his ex-colleague and former lover (Thandie Newton) after eight years when an old case they were both involved in - a terrorist hijacking that ended in tragedy - is re-opened by the Agency. The two meet at a posh restaurant in Carmel where he gently interrogates her as a suspect who may have provided inside information to the terrorists on board the airplane which resulted in mass murder and suicide. Flashbacks to their Vienna office explore what went on that fateful day when negotiations were underway with the hijackers. Both he and his lover tried desperately to get information from their contacts on the street which included a former ally now turned Islamic fundamentalist. The terrible betrayal is the result of an intense love affair and a sacrifice which finally explains the mystery of the tragedy that took place. Cerebral spy thriller seems to be from the pages of John le Carré although it is based on the book by Olen Steinhauer.
Slow Horses (James Hawes, 2022) 9/10
Riveting 6-part British series about MI5 agents who have screwed up big time and hence have been exiled from the mainstream for various offences. They form a band of useless file pushers at Slough House under the leadership of Jack Lamb (Gary Oldman) - a once formidable agent now reduced to a slovenly heap, chugging back alcohol, ragging his equally motley team and prone to loud farts of the very smelly variety. When a British-Pakistani student is kidnapped by a left-wing group threatening to behead him, it brings the Slough House team directly into conflict with MI5 and their enigmatic Director-General (Kristin Scott Thomas) who suspiciously seems to know more about the kidnapping than what she would like to reveal. Superbly paced thriller has an interesting cast of actors portraying Oldman's team of rejects who rally up to the cause and show their true worth. The scenes between Oldman and Scott Thomas crackle as each tries to pull the wool over the other's eyes.
Ma saison préférée / My Favorite Season (André Téchiné, 1993) 7/10
Téchiné uses his camera to quietly observe a family's dynamics which are in full conflict. An elderly widow (Marthe Villalonga) is forced to move in with her daughter (Catherine Deneuve) after an illness. She hates living with her and makes it quite clear as well. The daughter's family - husband (Jean-Pierre Bouvier), daughter (Chiara Mastroianni), adopted son (Anthony Prada) and his Moroccan girlfriend (Carmen Chaplin) - gather for dinner on Christmas eve. Also joining them is the hostess's estranged brother (Daniel Auteuil) who ends up in an altercation with the host causing the old lady to walk out with her son and go back to her home. Long suppressed emotions, pent-up since childhood, surface and cause much consternation all around. In its quiet way the screenplay touches upon various life issues - grown up children having to look after aged parents, the elderly realizing that their time on earth is almost over and wanting to settle their financial matters, children discovering and experimenting with sex and the complex bond between siblings. Villalonga is a delightful crotchety standout and was nominated for a César award - as were the film, Téchine, the screenplay, Deneuve, Auteuil and Mastroianni (daughter of Marcello & Deneuve) in her film debut. Slow but meaningful drama about life.
L'Africain (Philip de Broca, 1983) 5/10
Noiret & Deneuve are no Bogart & Hepburn although the film tries to revive memories of the 1951 classic John Huston film. A frenchman (Philippe Noiret), working as a grocer in Africa and running a boat called the African Queen II, also helps the local administration in trying to prevent elephant poaching. A Parisienne travel agent (Catherine Deneuve), hoping to open a resort, arrives and immediately clashes with the grocer who turns out to be the husband who abandoned her years before. In between their clashes they get up to many adventures evading the murderous poachers and trying to stop them. Colorful if rather tedious film relies on the offbeat chemistry of Noiret and Deneuve. Lots of shots of the flaura and fauna.
CIA agent (Chris Pine) meets up with his ex-colleague and former lover (Thandie Newton) after eight years when an old case they were both involved in - a terrorist hijacking that ended in tragedy - is re-opened by the Agency. The two meet at a posh restaurant in Carmel where he gently interrogates her as a suspect who may have provided inside information to the terrorists on board the airplane which resulted in mass murder and suicide. Flashbacks to their Vienna office explore what went on that fateful day when negotiations were underway with the hijackers. Both he and his lover tried desperately to get information from their contacts on the street which included a former ally now turned Islamic fundamentalist. The terrible betrayal is the result of an intense love affair and a sacrifice which finally explains the mystery of the tragedy that took place. Cerebral spy thriller seems to be from the pages of John le Carré although it is based on the book by Olen Steinhauer.
Slow Horses (James Hawes, 2022) 9/10
Riveting 6-part British series about MI5 agents who have screwed up big time and hence have been exiled from the mainstream for various offences. They form a band of useless file pushers at Slough House under the leadership of Jack Lamb (Gary Oldman) - a once formidable agent now reduced to a slovenly heap, chugging back alcohol, ragging his equally motley team and prone to loud farts of the very smelly variety. When a British-Pakistani student is kidnapped by a left-wing group threatening to behead him, it brings the Slough House team directly into conflict with MI5 and their enigmatic Director-General (Kristin Scott Thomas) who suspiciously seems to know more about the kidnapping than what she would like to reveal. Superbly paced thriller has an interesting cast of actors portraying Oldman's team of rejects who rally up to the cause and show their true worth. The scenes between Oldman and Scott Thomas crackle as each tries to pull the wool over the other's eyes.
Ma saison préférée / My Favorite Season (André Téchiné, 1993) 7/10
Téchiné uses his camera to quietly observe a family's dynamics which are in full conflict. An elderly widow (Marthe Villalonga) is forced to move in with her daughter (Catherine Deneuve) after an illness. She hates living with her and makes it quite clear as well. The daughter's family - husband (Jean-Pierre Bouvier), daughter (Chiara Mastroianni), adopted son (Anthony Prada) and his Moroccan girlfriend (Carmen Chaplin) - gather for dinner on Christmas eve. Also joining them is the hostess's estranged brother (Daniel Auteuil) who ends up in an altercation with the host causing the old lady to walk out with her son and go back to her home. Long suppressed emotions, pent-up since childhood, surface and cause much consternation all around. In its quiet way the screenplay touches upon various life issues - grown up children having to look after aged parents, the elderly realizing that their time on earth is almost over and wanting to settle their financial matters, children discovering and experimenting with sex and the complex bond between siblings. Villalonga is a delightful crotchety standout and was nominated for a César award - as were the film, Téchine, the screenplay, Deneuve, Auteuil and Mastroianni (daughter of Marcello & Deneuve) in her film debut. Slow but meaningful drama about life.
L'Africain (Philip de Broca, 1983) 5/10
Noiret & Deneuve are no Bogart & Hepburn although the film tries to revive memories of the 1951 classic John Huston film. A frenchman (Philippe Noiret), working as a grocer in Africa and running a boat called the African Queen II, also helps the local administration in trying to prevent elephant poaching. A Parisienne travel agent (Catherine Deneuve), hoping to open a resort, arrives and immediately clashes with the grocer who turns out to be the husband who abandoned her years before. In between their clashes they get up to many adventures evading the murderous poachers and trying to stop them. Colorful if rather tedious film relies on the offbeat chemistry of Noiret and Deneuve. Lots of shots of the flaura and fauna.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
The Brothers Karamazov (1969) - 8/10 - I liked this Russian adaptation of the famous novel a bit more than the earlier U.S. version a decade earlier with Yul Brynner, William Shatner, etc. The characters are more exaggerated from what I remember of the other film, but it is probably more in keeping with the novel.
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001) - 8.5/10 - The cruel British commander was overdone and the romance angle involving his sister was unnecessary, but I thought the movie was a lot of fun. Even most of the requisite songs/dances were pretty good and the cricket game was entertaining.
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001) - 8.5/10 - The cruel British commander was overdone and the romance angle involving his sister was unnecessary, but I thought the movie was a lot of fun. Even most of the requisite songs/dances were pretty good and the cricket game was entertaining.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Scream (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett, 2022) 7/10
The killer in ghost mask is back and the murders are ever more so gruesome. Also back are Neve Campbell, Skeet Ulrich, David Keith and sadly Courtenay Cox whose mouth, courtesy of cosmetic surgey, is almost as wide as the killer's masked mouth. The film takes place 25-years after "Ghostface" first appeared and is a direct sequel to Scream 4 (2011). The premise of the film remains the same as the camera plays tricks with the audience as to when a victim will be slashed to bits as he or she goes about doing their business. A new bunch of kids fall victim to the glistening knife when the original killer's daughter, her step-sister and their friends are confronted by the masked and robed killer. The film puts Hitchcock's "Psycho" to shame with it's stab quotient taken to deliriously extreme moments. In a weird sort of way the film is great fun. Dedicated to Wes Craven.
Dog (Channing Tatum & Reid Carolin, 2022) 5/10
Two Army Rangers - a soldier (Channing Tatum), suffering from PTSD, and a Belgian Shepherd with aggressive behavior - take a road trip and after a disastrous start both bond with each other. The soldier is asked to transport the dog to Arizona to attend the funeral of her master who was his army buddy after which the dog is to be euthanased. In return he hopes to get a transfer to an overseas military tour in Pakistan. The film is fun to watch when Tatum interacts with the dog but less interesting when Tatum tries to pick up chicks in bars, fakes being blind to get a free hotel room or makes contact with other human beings. Ok film but not quite one that gives you a fuzzy-doggy feeling.
The Contractor (Tarek Saleh, 2022) 6/10
When a decorated serviceman (Chris Pine) is involuntarily discharged his former service mate (Ben Foster) introduces him to his current boss (Kiefer Sutherland) who offers him a job with a fat paycheck. The Company deals in clandestine operations and his first assignment is to go rub out a scientist who is making a destructive bio-germ. After the hit is made his team is wiped out by the local police and he finds that his own Company is out to kill him. So he goes on the run trying to evade constant attempts on his life while trying to make it back home to his family. Action packed thriller has nothing new to offer, is competently made with an appropriately tense performance by Pine who goes through some gruelling action sequences.
Silent Night (Camille Grifin, 2021) 5/10
The film deceptively starts almost like a remake of "The Big Chill" - a married couple (Matthew Goode & Keira Knightley) invite their close college chums to come spend the Christmas weekend at their huge house in the countryside. There are the usual jealousies, past recriminations, plus precocious kids making a nuisance of themselves. Midway through the film's mood changes when it is revealed that a poisonous gas in the earth's atmosphere is moving towards them and they will all soon be dead. To avoid a painful death the plan is to take a poisonous pill that will cause a painless death. Dreary and unfunny black comedy does not survive it's sudden change in tone and the cast flail about trying to either act funny, sad or angry. And then there is a twist ending.
The killer in ghost mask is back and the murders are ever more so gruesome. Also back are Neve Campbell, Skeet Ulrich, David Keith and sadly Courtenay Cox whose mouth, courtesy of cosmetic surgey, is almost as wide as the killer's masked mouth. The film takes place 25-years after "Ghostface" first appeared and is a direct sequel to Scream 4 (2011). The premise of the film remains the same as the camera plays tricks with the audience as to when a victim will be slashed to bits as he or she goes about doing their business. A new bunch of kids fall victim to the glistening knife when the original killer's daughter, her step-sister and their friends are confronted by the masked and robed killer. The film puts Hitchcock's "Psycho" to shame with it's stab quotient taken to deliriously extreme moments. In a weird sort of way the film is great fun. Dedicated to Wes Craven.
Dog (Channing Tatum & Reid Carolin, 2022) 5/10
Two Army Rangers - a soldier (Channing Tatum), suffering from PTSD, and a Belgian Shepherd with aggressive behavior - take a road trip and after a disastrous start both bond with each other. The soldier is asked to transport the dog to Arizona to attend the funeral of her master who was his army buddy after which the dog is to be euthanased. In return he hopes to get a transfer to an overseas military tour in Pakistan. The film is fun to watch when Tatum interacts with the dog but less interesting when Tatum tries to pick up chicks in bars, fakes being blind to get a free hotel room or makes contact with other human beings. Ok film but not quite one that gives you a fuzzy-doggy feeling.
The Contractor (Tarek Saleh, 2022) 6/10
When a decorated serviceman (Chris Pine) is involuntarily discharged his former service mate (Ben Foster) introduces him to his current boss (Kiefer Sutherland) who offers him a job with a fat paycheck. The Company deals in clandestine operations and his first assignment is to go rub out a scientist who is making a destructive bio-germ. After the hit is made his team is wiped out by the local police and he finds that his own Company is out to kill him. So he goes on the run trying to evade constant attempts on his life while trying to make it back home to his family. Action packed thriller has nothing new to offer, is competently made with an appropriately tense performance by Pine who goes through some gruelling action sequences.
Silent Night (Camille Grifin, 2021) 5/10
The film deceptively starts almost like a remake of "The Big Chill" - a married couple (Matthew Goode & Keira Knightley) invite their close college chums to come spend the Christmas weekend at their huge house in the countryside. There are the usual jealousies, past recriminations, plus precocious kids making a nuisance of themselves. Midway through the film's mood changes when it is revealed that a poisonous gas in the earth's atmosphere is moving towards them and they will all soon be dead. To avoid a painful death the plan is to take a poisonous pill that will cause a painless death. Dreary and unfunny black comedy does not survive it's sudden change in tone and the cast flail about trying to either act funny, sad or angry. And then there is a twist ending.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Shah Rukh Khan won India's equivalent of the Oscars - the Filmfare Award - for both the films you mention. In fact the film you did not like him in has been playing in a single theater in Mumbai since 1995.gunnar wrote:Swades (2004) - 7.5/10 - Mohan is a non-resident Indian who works for NASA and has lived in the U.S. for 12 years. His parents died long ago, but he decides to take a break and return to India to find the woman who helped raise him and acted as a second mother to him when he was young and bring her back with him. He eventually finds her in a rural village with a woman who was a childhood friend and is now the local schoolteacher. He finds himself falling in love with her and with India, though he has some issues with their traditions. The movie can be kind of preachy at times and throws in a bunch of somewhat random music videos (it is a Bollywood film after all), but I enjoyed it and think it is a good film. Shah Rukh Khan and Gayatri Joshi each did a nice job in their lead roles. I certainly liked Khan a lot more here than in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Swades (2004) - 7.5/10 - Mohan is a non-resident Indian who works for NASA and has lived in the U.S. for 12 years. His parents died long ago, but he decides to take a break and return to India to find the woman who helped raise him and acted as a second mother to him when he was young and bring her back with him. He eventually finds her in a rural village with a woman who was a childhood friend and is now the local schoolteacher. He finds himself falling in love with her and with India, though he has some issues with their traditions. The movie can be kind of preachy at times and throws in a bunch of somewhat random music videos (it is a Bollywood film after all), but I enjoyed it and think it is a good film. Shah Rukh Khan and Gayatri Joshi each did a nice job in their lead roles. I certainly liked Khan a lot more here than in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.