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

[HarryGoldfarb]

Revolutionary Road (2008) 8/10
A film I don't want to see anytime soon but only cause it affected me in areas I didn't want to go trhough. A film I can recognize a lot of strenghts in it, starting with the cast, specially DiCaprio and Winslet. Loved the directing, camera and editing work. The Art Direction is one to remember and so were the costumes. Very underrated. Count me on the "I prefer Winslet here" group. DiCaprio was robbed of a nomination.

The Golden Compass (2007) 6/19
Too rushed. They lost a great opportunity to make a great fantasy film. It compelled me at some levels. The effects were great of course, the girl very effective and the story was an iteresting one, but had they developed the story a lot more then the film would have been less alienating. The context is never fully explained and the races/creatures are always appearing without any background info and that didn't help to make me connect to the story. A witch, the Polar Bears, the people with "Daemonians" or something like that seemed interesting but then again, I knew nothing about them. It should have won Art Direction over the Barber thing. I enjoyed it, kind of, in the end...

Doubt (2008) 7/10
Man, I so did wished to like this film more than I eventually did. The final is the main problem, so unexciting, uneven... Great cast, finally a performance by Hoffman that I really like after his appearance in Ripley. Streep was superb but she will surprise us (really surprise us) sometime in the future in order to get her third Oscar. Davis was really really good but I didn't saw her perfomance as THAT spectacular as to consider it the best supporting performance of the year. I liked Adams more.

[Big Magilla]

It's a shame Geraldine Page didn't win an Oscar for Summer and Smoke. We might have spared those throwaway nominations for You're a Big Boy Now and Pete 'n' Tillie. Taking it a step further had she won another (in support IMO) for Interiors we might have spared the one for The Pope of Greenwich Village though in truth she probably could have nominated for reading the phone book she was that popular in her day.

The Page nomination, though, was not as surprising as Lindsay Crouse's or even Glenn Close's. Better choices, in addition to Melanie Griffith in Body Double, would have been Jacqueline Bisset in Under the Volcano and Lesley Ann Warren in Choose Me.

[Reza]

It (1984) was a truly dreary year (and '85 was mostly the same).

Three of my favourite Brit films came out in 1985.

Plenty, Dance With a Stranger and Wetherby....with great performances by Meryl Streep, Miranda Richardson and Vanessa Redgrave respectively.



Edited By Big Magilla on 1241620032

[Mister Tee]

(Melanie Griffith in Body Double, but alot of people hated that movie's grisly violence)

Their loss. The 1984 Oscars really were a humorless spread, weren't they? (Amadeus being the sole moderate exception.)

It was a truly dreary year (and '85 was mostly the same). Even my "favorite" film, The Killing Fields, was hit-and-miss, and, as you say, rather solemn. Whenever I hear people complain about today's films, I say, you guys have no idea how bleak things looked by the mid-80s. New York Magazine had a cover article, Can the Movies be Saved?, and it didn't seem utter hyperbole.

Body Double was my least-favorite dePalma of the era (I was a fan almost on your level at the time, Eric, but the drill bit was over the top even for me). But I'd have nominated Giriffith in a heartbeat. It's sadly typical that she was passed over for Body Double and Something Wild, then finally nominated for the pleasant but altogether weaker tea of Working Girl.



Edited By Big Magilla on 1241620045

[Eric]

(Melanie Griffith in Body Double, but alot of people hated that movie's grisly violence)

Their loss. The 1984 Oscars really were a humorless spread, weren't they? (Amadeus being the sole moderate exception.)



Edited By Big Magilla on 1241620067

[flipp525]

The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984) - 6/10

Really can't understand Geraldine Page's nomination for Best Supporting Actor. She is good, for about the 3 minutes she is in the film...

Really, really weak year in the category -- with the clear exception of Ashcroft, who I presume won by near-acclamation.

Lahti was propelled in by a NY Critics' award, which she only won because Ashcoft was classified as lead in NY. Crouse -- mostly un-singled out by critics -- rode on the best picture strength of her film. Glenn Close was nominated because...well, apparently because she'd been nominated the two previous years and voters had become accustomed to writing down her name. (Does anyone have a BETTER explanation?) Page, who had a history of pointless surprise nominations (neither You're a Big Boy Now nor Pete 'n' Tillie had been sure thing nods) grabbed the uncompetitive final slot because there just wasn't much anybody else (Melanie Griffith in Body Double, but alot of people hated that movie's grisly violence), and I guess name recognition won in the end.

I'll always support a Geraldine Page nomination because, like F. Murray Abraham, I really do consider her one of the all-time greats. But, yeah, her nomination for You're a Big Boy Now (and to a lesser extent, The Pope of Greenwich Village) is sort of a head-scratcher. She was the one point of humor in the otherwise maudlin Pete N' Tillie.

I would've supported a surprise supporting nod for her cameo as Big Sister in The Day of the Locust.

Glenn Close is absolutely ethereal in The Natural, infusing a role that could've easily been written off as boring and trite with luminosity.



Edited By Big Magilla on 1241620088

[Mister Tee]

The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984) - 6/10

Really can't understand Geraldine Page's nomination for Best Supporting Actor. She is good, for about the 3 minutes she is in the film...

Really, really weak year in the category -- with the clear exception of Ashcroft, who I presume won by near-acclamation.

Lahti was propelled in by a NY Critics' award, which she only won because Ashcoft was classified as lead in NY. Crouse -- mostly un-singled out by critics -- rode on the best picture strength of her film. Glenn Close was nominated because...well, apparently because she'd been nominated the two previous years and voters had become accustomed to writing down her name. (Does anyone have a BETTER explanation?) Page, who had a history of pointless surprise nominations (neither You're a Big Boy Now nor Pete 'n' Tillie had been sure thing nods) grabbed the uncompetitive final slot because there just wasn't much anybody else (Melanie Griffith in Body Double, but alot of people hated that movie's grisly violence), and I guess name recognition won in the end.

[Reza]

Burn After Reading (Joel & Ethan Coen, 2008) 5/10

[Reza]

Primal Fear (Gregory Hoblit/1996) 7/10

Gret cast - Richard Gere as a sleazy criminal defense attorney, Laura Linney as a brittle prosecutor, John Mahoney as her nasty boss, Terry O'Quinn as an even nastier assistant D.A., Frances McDormand as a clinical psychologist and best of all Edward Norton in his Oscar nominated breakthrough role as the altar boy accused of murdering the Archbishop of Chicago.

The part played by Edward Norton was foolproof as far as an actor's showpiece is concerned. In my opinion he should have won the Oscar.

The film was remade in Bollywood as Deewangee / Obsession (2002) to great success as well. The plot was changed as was the character of the alter boy to an obsessed lover who commits a murder and who is declared insane by the courts. Only he is pretending all along. Ajay Devgan who played the part won a well deserved Filmfare award for the part.

Here is Variety's review:

Deewangee
(India)
By DEREK ELLEY

Powered By A Neha Arts production. Produced by Nitin Manmohan. Executive producer, Nikhil Panchamiya. Directed by Anees Bazmee. Screenplay, Bazmee, Neeraj Pathak, Humayum Mirza; story, Bazmee.

With: Ajay Devgan, Akshaye Khanna, Urmila Matondkar, Vijayendra Ghatge, Farida Jalal, Tiku Talsania, Seema Biswas, Tanaaz Currim, Mohan Kapur, Nirmal Pandey, Suresh Oberoi.
(Hindi dialogue. )

An upright lawyer finds his principles tested in "Deewangee," a superior example of the suspense dramas that Bollywood has started gravitating toward in the past year. Smoothly packaged pic benefits from strong perfs by its two male leads and helming by writer-director Anees Bazmee that's cool and restrained. Though the action sections don't generate much heat, most other elements are in place here, making this a good entrant for Bollywood film weeks in the West. Partly thanks to a smart campaign, box office was respectable last fall during an otherwise dull period.

Successful young Mumbai lawyer Raj Goyal (Akshaye Khanna) has never lost a case, but his mom (Farida Jalal) worries because he's not married. That looks likely to change when Raj meets chart-topping singer Sargam (Urmila Matondkar) at a fancy party and the legal eagle is smitten.

When Sargam's manager, music magnate Ashwin Mehta (Vijayendra Ghatge), is hacked to death at his villa, Sargam asks Raj to defend the accused, Taran Bhardwaj (Ajay Devgan), who was arrested running from the scene with bloody hands but swears he saw another man leaving the house. Taran is a childhood friend of Sargam's, and also her career guru, so Raj agrees.

Flashbacks limn Taran's background, revealing his undeclared love for Sargam and how his own compositions were ripped off by Ashwin's no-talent brother, Abhijit (Nirmal Pandey). However, when a psychologist reports that Taran is clinically schizophrenic -- with a murderous alter ego, "Ranjit" -- Raj manages to get him acquitted and put in a loony-bin.

After Taran reveals striking news to Raj just prior to the intermission, pic's second half finds the lawyer driven to unprofessional tactics in a cat-and-mouse, "Cape Fear"-like game between the two. Latter is unhappy, to put it mildly, that Raj and Sargam are an item.

No Bollywood thesp can do a psycho like Devgan -- witness his earlier turn last year as the bleary-eyed mafioso in "Company" -- and he unashamedly steals the show here, equally good as the mild-mannered, stuttering Taran as the confidant, obsessed "Ranjit."

Khanna develops as his part is enriched, giving Devgan a run for his money: Actor is far better here than in his previous suspenser last year, "Humraaz." As the femme in the middle, Matondkar is fine in the musical numbers but lacks real charisma as a straight actress.

Unlike many Bollywood productions, the movie shows no flabbiness during the second half, with a full measure of twists and reversals, and no comic ballast. Bazmee's well-composed direction tends to favor the dramatic rather than action sequences, but Amar Mohile's background score is a plus throughout, atmospheric without being excessive. The six musical numbers are effectively scattered throughout the picture, with the final one cleverly segueing to the climax. Pic's title literally means "Obsession."

Camera (color, widescreen), Pushan Kriplani; editors, Ahfaq-Sarvar ; background music, Amar Mohile; song music, Ismail Darbar; lyrics, Salim Bijnori, Nusrat Badr; art director, R. Verman; sound (Dolby Digital/DTS Digital), Anup Dev; choreographer, Vaibhavi Merchant; action directors, Bhiku Verma, Pappu Verma; visual effects, Prime Focus. Reviewed on videodisc, London, April 12, 2003. Running time: 168 MIN. (I: 86 MIN.; II: 82 MIN.)



Edited By Big Magilla on 1241620103

[Big Magilla]

The Suspect (Peter Yates/1987) 7/10

All this talk about the film compelled me to re-watch it. It's compelling but easy to guess the identity of the real killer. How he is unmasked, though, remains a gem. Cher, Dennis Quaid, Liam Neeson and John Mahoney are all memorable.

Primal Fear (Gregory Hoblit/1996) 7/10

Great cast - Richard Gere as a sleazy criminal defense attorney, Laura Linney as a brittle prosecutor, John Mahoney as her nasty boss, Terry O'Quinn as an even nastier assistant D.A., Frances McDormand as a clinical psychologist and best of all Edward Norton in his Oscar nominated breakthrough role as the altar boy accused of murdering the Archbishop of Chicago.

The Shawshank redemption (Fank Darabont/1994) 8/10

Darabont's only significant film though how it maintains its spot atop of the IMDd list os 250 best films of all time baffles me. Tim Robbins and Mogan Freeman are superb and the entire cast is excellent, butis this really the It's a Wonderful Life of our time as Darabont and Robbins, to a lesser extent, insist in three accompanying documentaries? Love that ending which Darabont was persuaded by the studio to add after he ended the film without that audRience loving payoff.



Edited By Big Magilla on 1236873026

[mlrg]

The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984) - 6/10

Really can't understand Geraldine Page's nomination for Best Supporting Actor. She is good, for about the 3 minutes she is in the film...

[Reza]

Any alternate opinions on 'Suspect'? I'm interested.

I remember liking this a lot as well...one of three films Cher appeared in 1987.....the other two being The Witches of Eastwick and Moonstruck.

The surprise ending was great.

Wow, Cher really did have a banner year that year, didn't she? Three great performances.

She was all over the place that year...which probably helped her win the Oscar....plus the fact that she hadn't been nominated two years before for her dramatic performance in Mask (1985).....although she was a popular winner at Cannes that year.



Edited By Big Magilla on 1241620113

[flipp525]

Any alternate opinions on 'Suspect'? I'm interested.

I remember liking this a lot as well...one of three films Cher appeared in 1987.....the other two being The Witches of Eastwick and Moonstruck.

The surprise ending was great.

Wow, Cher really did have a banner year that year, didn't she? Three great performances.

Yes, I think the surprise ending of Suspect is one of the all-time great ones. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.



Edited By Big Magilla on 1241620127

[Zahveed]

I think that says something when Precious Doll gives Watchmen a 7/10.

[Precious Doll]

Ulzhan (2007) Volker Schlondorff 3/10

Love Me No More (2008) Jean Becker 4/10

A Simple Heart (2008) Marion Laine 5/10

Watchmen (2009) Zack Snyder 7/10