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

Reza
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

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The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion, 2021) 9/10

Thomas Savage's Western novel set in Montana about two brothers is a modern reworking of the biblical story of Cain and Abel. Campion adapted the novel and shot this Western in New Zealand useing the island's stunning topography to create an intense yet slowburn experience as her camera wistfully takes in the vast landscape against which stands a giant mansion belonging to two bothers. The elder (Benedict Cumberbatch) is tall, slim, highly cultured, good looking, tough but extremely mean-spirited and a vicious sadist with a seething contempt for weakness. These traits are obvious signals towards an inwardly suppressed psyche which plays an important part later as the story plays out. The younger brother (Jesse Plemons) is stocky, a bit of a plodder, gentle and refined. When he unexpectedly marries a widow (Kirsten Dunst) and brings her to live on the ranch, his brother tries his best to undermine her. But he underestimates her unlikely protector - her teenage son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) - who he has relentlessly ridiculed and made fun of for being a "sissy". Adult drama that plays out with layers of emotions simmering below the surface and which emerge with a quiet but devastating force. Superbly directed film although I was very surprised that Campion took a rather Victorian attitude towards some of the scenes which was maybe intentional as she probably wanted the audience to slowly peel the layers and use the clues provided to discover the characters' motivations. The cast is superb. Cumberbatch gives an outstanding performance of simmering ferocity - like a poisonous viper always ready to strike - and is matched by both Plemons and Smit-McPhee who play characters who are very insular yet both still manage to stand tall and give vivid performances.

Deserves Oscar Nods for Film, Actor (Cumberbatch), Supp Actor (Plemons, Smit-McPhee), Campion, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Art Direction, Score, Editing.
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Deception (Marcel Langenegger, 2008) 4/10

Potboiler posing as a slick erotic thriller has nothing really new to offer. The film has a strong whiff of deja vu - a been-there-seen-that kinda plot. Timid accountant (Ewan McGregor) befriends a charming lawyer (Hugh Jackson) and before he knows it he is upto his ears in lurid anonymous sex, blackmail, a kidnapping and murder. Michelle Williams is the woman who has him platonically transfixed while on the side he plays whoopee with Natasha Henstridge, who is his first encounter as a member of an exclusive sex club, and Charlotte Rampling is the older woman who teaches him rules about the sex club before showing him age is no barrier to good sex. The ludicrous twists and turns in the plot come at a fast pace although none of them are surprising. Skip this film unless you want to know how sex clubs work.

La mort en ce jardin / Death in the Garden (Luis Buñuel, 1956) 8/10

A film from Buñuel's Mexican period set in the jungles of South America but the oppression and rebelious situations are meant to reflect Franco's Spain which the director had fled. During a political uprising in an unnamed South American backwater town a disparate group of characters manage to get on board a river boat and escape. The group consists of an adventurer (George Marchal) who has escaped from prison, an elderly diamond miner (Charles Vanel), his deaf-mute daughter (Michèle Girardon), a prostitute (Simone Signoret) and a priest (Michel Piccoli). When the army gets too close they abandon the boat and trek into the jungle. Exhausted, starving and stripped off their past identities they keep going around in circles until fate does them a favour but only for a short while. Soon its back to darkness as the earlier moments of emotional and physical violence return. Its almost as if God is punishing them for their trespasses and thoughts of lurid sexuality. Buñuel films this adventure tale in stunning colour with an all-star cast which was quite rare for the director.

Cristo si è fermato a Eboli / Christ Stopped at Eboli (Francesco Rosi, 1979) 10/10

Contemplative look at the life in exile of Carlo Levi (Gian Maria Volontè), a doctor, writer, painter, and a native of Turin. The screenplay is based on his memoir which he wrote after the War describing his own experiences. For his anti-fascist views he was banished during the mid-1930s by Benito Mussolini's fascist government to Grassano and Aliano, remote towns in southern Italy. The locals believe that their back-of-beyond towns are so remotely situated that even Christ never ventured beyond the town of Eboli. The film views in great detail at a way of life in small remote towns where time appears to have stood still and the inhabitants appear stuck in medeival mode. This extremely long film moves at a lesisurely pace but is never boring as the camera explores the town and its colorful people - a banished drunk priest also an anti-fascist, the smarmy but genial mayor (Paolo Bonacelli), the unmarried housekeeper (Irene Papas) who has lived through 17 pregnancies by almost as many men, the town cop and other assorted neighbours. While the landscape is stunning the peasants remain backward in their thinking, superstitious and insular. However, they are welcoming and almost immediately take to the gentle doctor who decides to help them because the local doctors refuse to administer to the peasants. He forms a close bond with the community encouraged by his sister (Lea Masari) who, during a visit, insists he engage with the peasants instead of merely observing them. We see this world through the expressive eyes of Volontè (quietly superb), the magnificent camerawork of Pasqualino De Santis and through the emotional heartbeat of director Rosi whose film laments how many remote rural areas continue to remain isolated from economic and social prosperity simply because the central government cannot be bothered to venture in that direction.

The Big Clock (John Farrow, 1948) 8/10

During a jealous rage a tyrannical magazine publisher (Charles Laughton) strikes his mistress (Rita Johnson) with a blunt object and kills her. He confides in his loyal assistant (George Macready) and they decide to pin the murder on the man who was seen out on the town with the dead woman. Unbeknownst to anyone the mystery man is the magazine's star reporter (Ray Milland) who has troubles of his own - a wife (Maureen O'Sullivan) who is angry at him for neglecting her, a boss who has fired him and the whole town searching for him as the murderer. Tautly directed noir has an outstanding performance by Laughton as the sophisticated but quietly malevolent murderer and stunning cinematography by Daniel L. Fapp and John Seitz that visually provides all the right noir touches. Based on the novel by Kenneth Fearing this highly atmospheric film also benefits from snappy dialogue and a delightful performance by the great Elsa Lanchester as an eccentric artist. Remade years later as the political thriller No Way Out (1987) with Kevin Costner and Gene Hackman.

No Way Out (Roger Donaldson, 1987 6/10

Overbaked neo-noir thriller made Kevin Costner into a huge star which may or may not have been due to the scene in the backseat of a limo where he has it off with an alluring Sean Young - during sex scenes Costner almost always had the expression of a naughty boy caught with his hand inside a cookie jar. A Naval officer (Kevin Costner) finds himself seconded to the office of the Secretary of Defence (Gene Hackman). His college buddy (Will Patton), who happens to be a close aide to the Secretary, arranges the transfer. At the inaugural ball he meets an enticing woman (Sean Young) and they begin an affair. She also happens to be the mistress of the Secretary and during an argument with him gets killed when she falls and breaks her back. A massive cover-up ensues as the loyal aide tries to shield the Secretary and pin the murder on a suspected Russian mole in the Pentagon. Hackman is in slumming mode throughout, Costner spends a lot of the film running around looking serious and being chased while the dazzling Sean Young hardly gets enough screen time before coming to a spectacular end. A late twist in the plot is just as ridiculous as the rest of the plot - based on the 1946 novel The Big Clock by Kenneth Fearing, previously filmed as The Big Clock (1948) with Ray Milland and Charles Laughton and Police Python 357 (1976) with Yves Mintand and Simone Signoret. All three films have very different backgrounds where the basic premise of the story is set.

Cartouche (Philippe de Broca, 1962) 10/10

Rip-roaring slapstick action-comedy was de Broca's first film with star Belmondo. The film, inspired by Holywood sex comedies and spy films, takes on a farcical madcap tone which would become the director's personal style. On the surface it is a funny historical farce set during the Régence period in France but is based on an actual highwayman who robbed the rich and gave to the poor - a combination of both "Robin Hood" and "Oliver Twist". Cartouche (Jean-Paul Belmondo), a pickpocket, escapes the clutches of his Fagin-like boss (Marcel Dalio), joins the army, mistakenly gets branded a hero, returns to Paris and not only becomes leader of the gang of thieves but also wins the heart of a street wench (Claudia Cardinale). The film's joie de vivre suddenly turns dark during the last act as Cartouche openly jilts his lover for an aristocratic lady (Odile Versois) which ultimately leads to a tragic sacrifice. The fast-moving screenplay deftly moves the action from one set piece to the next with de Broca displaying his lightness of touch until the sudden dramatic shift in tone. Violence, which was played for laughs, suddenly turns serious and very brutal. The film's success rests on the shoulders of the dashing Belmondo and on his superb chemistry with the vivacious and sexy Claudia Cardinale who matches him every step of the way. The film is great fun and a must-see.
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Ponzio Pilato / Pontius Pilate (Irving Rapper & Gian Paolo Callegari, 1962) 7/10

Tale of the Christ but from the perspective of Pontius Pilate (Jean Marais). Almost nothing is known about the man before Rome appointed him as Procurator of Judea and bits and pieces have been gathered from the gospels and historians about his life hence including his part in the crucifixation of Jesus Christ. This Italian sword and sandal version takes its cue from the Gospel of John which, like all the gospels, is anonymous and references a "desciple whom Jesus loved". Pilate continuously clashed with the citizens of Judea by way of the Jewish High Priest, Caiaphas (Basil Rathbone), who famously presided over the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus and according to the gospels organized a plot to kill the Messiah. The first clash between the Romans and the Jews is over the building of a water aquaduct with money taken from the Temple treasury. The second clash is over placing the Eagles of Rome (emblems of Caesar), as was customary, in a prominent place. Pilate choses to place them on top of Solomon's Temple causing a massive outcry by the jews. His wife (Jeanne Crain), already enamoured of the Messiah after hearing him speak, pleads with him to spare the people and take down the Roman emblems. The film's last third is taken up with the trial as Judas betrays Jesus who is then condemned by the people - Pilate gives them a choice of either saving Jesus or Barabbas the thief. The people choose Jesus to be crucified. In an unusual gimmick both Judas and Jesus are very badly played by the same actor - John Drew Barrymore - perhaps a subtle suggestion that Jesus and Judas represent both sides of the same coin. In between the main events the film includes erratic scenes of battle and moments of superflous interactions between secondary characters which seem jarring as if a longer version of the film was chopped up. Jean Marais, looking old and tired, is stiff as Pilate while Hollywood star Jeanne Crain is wasted in a small role as his wife. However, this rare film tackles the subject from an unusual angle with fairly good production values. Basil Rathbone is a standout speaking in his own voice in this dubbed version. The film's opening and closing scenes - set in Rome with Pilate on trial in front of Emperor Caligula over his disastrous handling of the events in Judea - are in Italian with subtitles. The film is well worth seeing from a historic perspective or if you are a fan of Biblical themed cinema.

The Forgotten (Joseph Ruben, 2004) 6/10

The film flits through various genres - thriller, psychological horror - and just when you are getting ready to understand the mystery the screenplay moves into science fiction territory. A woman (Julianne Moore) keeps claiming she had a son who died in a plane crash. Nobody believes her including a psychiatrist (Gary Sinise) and her husband (Anthony Edwards). Her alcoholic neighbor (Dominic West) also remembers his daughter who boarded the same flight. When shady National Security agents start chasing them they realise they are part of some strange experiment where the grownups involved were supposed to lose memories of their kids. What starts off as a neat little thriller - with huge potholes in the script - suddenly goes off into a prepostrous tangent. Moore and West are good but the rest of the cast is wasted, including Alfre Woodard as a cop and Linus Roache as a strange man who keeps popping up in an ominous way.

L'Homme de Rio / That Man From Rio (Philippe de Broca, 1964) 8/10

Extremely silly chase film defies all logic and is a series of precisely choreographed action set pieces which the star - Jean-Paul Belmondo - death defyingly manoeuvres himself through. A spoof of the James Bond films was heavily inspired by the Belgian cartoonist, Hergé and the Tintin adventures he authored. Belmondo was a big fan of detective novels and Tintin comics so he was the perfect choice to play the film's daredevil hero who follows his kidnapped girlfriend (a charming and very daffy Françoise Dorléac) from Paris to Rio. She has been forcefully abducted by her father's curator friend (Jean Servais) in search of an Amazon statuette. Relentlessly in pursuit the comic plot hinges on putting Belmondo through the wringer - hanging from skyscrapers, precariously dangling on skimpy planks of wood between buildings, flying and tumbling out of an airplane almost into the mouth of an alligator, getting knocked about in a bar-room fight, clinging to a speeding boat and swinging on a vine like Tarzan. Belmondo takes all this thrilling nonsense completely in stride as he attempts to outdo both Douglas Fairbanks and Harold Lloyd in screen heroics. This extremely fast paced film is directed with sharply timed precision by de Broca helped by the witty Oscar nominated screenplay that is made up of hilarious coincidences which conveniently allow Belmondo to go from one mad moment to another all over Rio de Janeiro including a fascinating detour through the then under construction Capital city of Brasilia. This film was a huge influence on Steven Spielberg's "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

Megalodon Rising (Brian Nowak, 2021) 1/10

I could almost hear the Megalodon shark in this very crappy film saying, "Stupid is as stupid does". But then its actions along with its appearance is also pretty stupid. An America vs China tussle gets waylaid when these giant sharks make a beeline for the San Diego coast after munching on a couple of war ships out on the ocean. With nary a twitch by anyone on the beach the monsters totally destroy a fleet of ships. Most of the shark's mayhem happens offscreen as the camera closes in on assorted Naval officers shouting and waving machine guns. Tom Sizemore is the only recognizable actor amongst a bunch of amateurs attempting to act and even he seems to have lost the knack of acting. To think stupid people actually spent money to make this turd of a film. What is even more stupid is that I actually sat through this piece of garbage.
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Man of Iron (1981) - 7.5/10 - Man of Marble told the story of Mateusz Birkut and the strikes in Gdansk in 1970. This film continues the story with his son, Maciej Tomczyk (played by the same actor). It is now 1980 and the Solidarity movement is happening. A reporter named Winkel is assigned do a story on Tomczyk and get information that will compromise Tomczyk. He is getting pressure from a number of sides, but sets out to find out more about Tomczyk. We find out this information as Winkel does. I thought that this was a pretty good film overall. It was made shortly after Solidarity was formed so it was pretty relevant when it was released.

Katyn (2007) - 7/10 - In 1939, the Polish army on the eastern front surrendered to the Soviets. The enlisted were released and sent home while the officers were rounded up and sent to prison camps. Many of these officers were later executed by the Soviets, though their propaganda machine blamed it on the Germans when it was uncovered. The film spends time with the prisoners, but much more time is spent with those left behind - wives, sisters, children, etc. The production values, cinematography, and soundtrack are all top notch, though it is a bit difficult at times to become attached to the people in the film as they switch back and forth between different threads of the story. Still, I think it is a good film overall and worth seeing.
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Itinéraire d'un enfant gâté / Itinerary of a Spoiled Child (Claude Lelouch, 1988) 6/10

Lelouch coaxed Belmondo back to the movies after he took a break to return to the stage. A surprise boxoffice hit in France the film is almost an African travelogue with scenes of elephants, lions and cheetahs in the wild. An abandoned child is raised in a circus around lions, falls off a trapeze and grows up to become a successful businessman (Jean-Paul Belmondo). He gets married, has children and then fed up with the daily drudge of life decides to abandon his business and family and disappears into thin air after taking a solo voyage in his boat. While everyone thinks he is dead he surfaces in Africa but is recognised by a former employee (Richard Anconina) who is working at the hotel where he is staying incognito. They bond and he uses the young man to keep a check on his children and business back home. A story about loneliness and the importance of family in one's life. Anconina was nominated for a César award but lost the award to Belmondo who won his first and only César. The charming score by Francis Lai was also nominated.

The Missing (Ron Howard, 2003) 9/10

Ron Howard's once reviled Revisionist Western is a tough and sweeping ode to the old West. It is also an homage to John Ford's "The Searchers", taking the classic film's central plot thread and memorably adding layers to all the clichés of the genre. A frontier medicine woman (Cate Blanchett) is forced to form an alliance with her estranged father (Tommy Lee Jones) when her teenage daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) is kidnapped by a renegade Apache witch-man and his gang of cutthroats. The film takes on the semblance of a thriller as the old man tracks the kidnappers through rough territory as the woman and her plucky younger daughter (Jenna Boyd) follow. The journey, fraught with difficulties, also allows the father and daughter to find some semblance of peace. None of the characters are clearly defined but as this extremely violent film progresses the screenplay gradually reveals bits and pieces about their past lives. The film also takes on a mystical hue as the battle of good (the healing powers of the Christian woman) versus evil (the witch-man's magical powers) shows the darker side of Native American beliefs. Both Jones and Blanchett are outstanding and there are vivid cameos by Aaron Eckhart as Blanchett's lover and Val Kilmer as a soldier who refuses to provide help. A great Western and a must-see
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Bizalom (Confidence) (1980) - 8/10 - Kata has to go into hiding near the end of WWII in Hungary due to her husband's resistance activities. She is given false papers and placed with a man named Janos who is also in hiding. The two pose as husband and wife and eventually fall in love, even though each is married to another. The movie is filled with suspicion and fear of getting caught as the two navigate through the closing days of the war. It is a pretty good film.

Son of Saul (2015) - 7/10 - Saul is a member of a sonderkommando at Auschwitz late in WWII. The sonderkommandos are prisoners who collect the belongings of those killed by the Nazis. They also burn the bodies and clean the facility before the next group comes in. Saul has been doing this for a while and is desensitized like many others until he comes across a boy who briefly survives the gas chamber and he sees the boy as his son. As such, he becomes obsessed with giving the boy a proper Jewish burial. The film is shot so that the background is often out of focus so we don't get a clear view of the horrors that are going on there. It is a decent movie, but one that left me slightly unsatisfied.
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Reza wrote:Cinderella (Kay Cannon) 1/10

The less said the better.
A ghastly mess. I'm in complete agreement with the guy who wrote this on IMDb. even though I fortunately fell asleep and missed most of it:

Makes Cats look like a 10

Worst movie ever. I just wish my money spent at Amazon didn't fund garbage like this .
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Cinderella (Kay Cannon) 1/10

The less said the better.

The Battle of the River Plate (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, 1956) 5/10

Highly popular (at the boxoffice), tediously slow and surprisingly routine WWII battle of wits between three British Naval ships trying to bring down a mighty German battleship. The British Naval ships are led by stiff upper lip officers John Gregson, Bernard Lee, Ian Hunter and Anthony Quayle as they take on the German ship "Graf Spee". Powell-Pressburger's sympathetic treatment of the "enemy" depicts the officers from both sides highly congenial and respectful in their actions towards each other. The gallant heroism of both the British Navy and the German Captain Langsdorff (Peter Finch), who scuttles his own ship rather than face defeat, is the subject dealt without any of the usual propaganda. During the 1950s British studios continued to churn out films about WWII to satiate the public's appetites with stories of British victories at a time when the country was still suffering from the economic hardships brought on by the financial cost of the war. The film omits the tragic final act of the Graf Spee story. In a hotel room in Buenos Aires a few days after scuttling his own ship and, unable to cope with defeat, Captain Langsdorff committed suicide. His body was found dressed in full uniform and wrapped in the battle-flag of his sunken vessel. The stunning colour cinematography by Christopher Challis is a major plus.

Deported (Robert Siodmak, 1950) 7/10

Atmospheric B-movie is very loosely based on events in the life of Lucky Luciano. An Italian-American gangster (Jeff Chandler) is deported to Italy after spending five years in jail for a robbery in New York. The tough, cynical man finds that the local people in his village look up to him, the street urchins love him and the local Countess (Märta Torén), a widow, is enamoured of him and likes his company. A local cop (Claude Dauphin) is suspicious and lies await for the crook to get the stolen loot across from America. Siodmak, back in Europe after many years in Hollywood, creates an interesting little film which also turns out to be an Italian travelogue with scenes shot by the great William Daniels in Naples, Siena and Tuscany. There is great chemistry between Chandler and Märta Torén while lovely Marina Berti adds to the local colour.

Escape From East Berlin (Robert Siodmak, 1962) 7/10

The on location filming in Berlin - the West side doubling for the East side - gives this story an urgent authenticity. The drab run-down buildings, control towers, barbed wire everywhere and the high thick wall evoke a sense of claustrophobia and constant danger. The screenplay, based on true events, focuses on a family living in a dilapidated house very close to the Wall. It is soon after the Berlin Wall went up. The catalyst for the family's escape is a young man who attempts to drive through the wall, fails and is shot by guards. His sister (Christine Kaufman) goes looking for him and questions his friend (Don Murray) of his whereabouts. Through a twist of fate she gets stuck with him and his family in their house where the subject of escaping from their closeted life results in a plan to dig through the walls of their basement and under the Wall to freedom. Will they make it or are they doomed to fail? This gritty, dimly lit suspense tale is directed with a sure hand by Siodmak evoking memories of the many brilliant film noirs he made in Hollywood during the 1940s.

Betrayed (Cost-Gavras, 1988) 4/10

Costa-Gavras, who specialized in exposing clandestine right-wing groups in movies like “Z” and “Missing”, comes up with a cropper with this one. While it puts a light on American neo-Nazi and white supremist groups the screenplay either pussy-foots with the subject or the studio chickened out and made heavy cuts. He inserts a gut-wrenching cringy sequence involving a black man being hunted like an animal by white supremists but then fails to link the scene later to a cathartic moment thus rendering that sequence totally
gratuitous and unnecessary. An itinerant farm laborer (Debra Winger) works at harvesting fields in Iowa. She meets a lonely widower (Tom Berenger), takes a shine to him and his two kids and moves in with them on their farm. Both hide their true identities from each other - she is an undercover FBI agent on the lookout for white supremists in the Midwest while he and his buddies all turn out to be the racist bunch she is staking out. In love with the suspect she finds she can no longer do her job but is forced by her boss (John Heard) - and former lover - to maintain her position and continue to spy. It is only a matter of time before she is betrayed and her lover finds out. The film totally lacks tension and the last section of the plot takes on an absurd abrupt turn which really makes no sense. Winger is very good throughout as the tough woman who finds her loyalties in a confused state. Berenger comes off like a spoilt child trying to act mean and racist. Just like the romance between them it's hard to buy his mood swings and actions. The script also points a finger at corruption within the American government but the whole movie seems half baked and none of the points being made truly register which is a pity.

Middle of the Night (Delbert Mann, 1959) 8/10

Paddy Chayefsky adapts his own play - a Tony nominated hit on Broadway with Edward G. Robinson and Gena Rowlands - about a shaky May-December romance. A successful businessman (Fredric March) gets infatuated with a receptionist (Kim Novak) at his office who is as old as his daughter. He is a lonely widower and she is a recent divorcée scarred by her failed marriage. Their seesaw relationship is a mixture of euphoric sex, sudden doubts, petty jealousies and quiet happy moments. His age is a big issue for her as she vacilates between wanting to marry him and wondering if she is heading for disaster. They manage to ignore the protests and snide remarks of their families - her mother (Glenda Farrell) and best friend (Lee Grant) and his spinster sister (Edith Meiser) and daughter (Joan Copeland) - but their own confused minds cause them to take a pause in the relationship. It is to Chayefsky's credit that both characters, as written, come off with a great deal of sympathy. He is not a creepy middle-aged sexual predator and she is not a golddigger. Both are decent human beings who through loneliness find a connection. March gives a moving performance and Novak matches him every step of the way.
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The Revolt of Job (1983) - 7/10 - An older Jewish shepherd and his wife live in a Hungarian village as the Nazi threat comes ever closer. All of their children are dead so they decide to adopt a young Christian orphan so that they will have someone to leave their wealth and some of their knowledge. The boy they choose is headstrong and somewhat hard to control, though he comes around some as he becomes acclimated to his new situation. The movie was good, though kind of meandering at times.

The Elementary School (1991) - 8/10 - Eda is a young boy who lives in a town just outside of Prague in the fall of 1945. He hangs out a lot with his best friend, Tonda. Their elementary school class consists of only boys and they are very wild, causing their female teacher to just walk out one day. The replacement is a veteran and strict disciplinarian who uses corporal punishment with a switch, but still wins over the class and causes great improvement in their behavior in school. He has a weakness for younger women, though, and this could get him in trouble. The film takes place over the course of the school year and is pretty charming and entertaining.

Kolya (1996) - 6.5/10 - Louka is a talented musician in his mid-50s who plays at funerals and is a confirmed bachelor. He has money troubles thanks in part to supporting his mother and her house. He agrees to a fake marriage with a Russian woman so that she can stay in Czechoslovakia. A short time later, she defects to the West, leaving behind her five year old son who ends up in the care of Louka, much to his chagrin. The movie was enjoyable enough, but felt fairly superficial and the ending seemed kind of sudden.

Zdenek Sverák wrote (and played a lead role) in both Kolya and The Elementary School with his son Jan directing. Kolya won the Oscar, but is very much inferior to The Elementary School which was only nominated.
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Respect (Liesl Tommy, 2021) 7/10

A long and dramatic life gets the fast-forward treatment here as it rushes through sad and exhilarating moments in the life of American singer Aretha Franklin (Jennifer Hudson). All the screen biography tropes are present and well hammered in by the screenplay. A singing sensation at any early age at the church of her Minister father (Forest Whitaker), the trauma of losing her mother (Audra MacDonald), a victim of sexual abuse, two early pregnancies, a record contract that produces nine albums but no hits, hooking up against her family's wishes with a man who becomes her manager and husband, tasting big success with her first single and finally becoming a huge star which comes with a further price - domestic violence and alcoholism. Was there ever any star in Hollywood or in the world of music that didn't have ugly stepping stones to walk over? This by-the-numbers film (with superb period detail) is compensated by Franklin's memorable songs performed in great voice by Jennifer Hudson herself. All the familiar songs get showcased - "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)", "Respect" which became her signature song, "Ain't No Way", "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" which was another signature song, "Chain of Fools", "I Say a Little Prayer", "Amazing Grace" and many more. Both Whitaker and Mary J. Blige (as a bitchy Dinah Washington) are very good but its Hudson who transcends the material and soars with a memorable performance - mostly underplayed - showing quiet dignity and respect to the late singer's memory. This performance proves that Hudson's Oscar win for "Dreamgirls" was no fluke and she is more than likely to be a strong contender for awards next year too.

The Dam Busters (Michael Anderson, 1956) 8/10

British historical film that details the work of English scientist, engineer and inventor, Barnes Wallis (Michael Redgrave), who conceived the idea of bouncing bombs to be used in destroying three German dams during WWII. Operation Chastise was carried out by a Royal Air Force Squadron led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson (Richard Todd). Epic film covers first the painstaking process of perfecting the bomb followed by the Squadron doing practice runs flying at a low altitude. Redgrave, as the rather eccentric inventor, and Todd as the dashing leader of the Squadron are both very good. The sequence depicting the attack is memorable with the film's special effects team earning an Academy Award nomination. Much later there was controversy when the film was censored during a tv showing - Guy Gibson's beloved black labrador named "Nigger" was the cause of the censorship when the tv channel censored the dog's name causing continuity issues. Another version on tv dubbed the name "Nigger" into "Trigger". The final attack on the Death Star at the climax of "Star Wars" is a deliberate and acknowledged homage to the exciting climatic sequence in this film.
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

Post by gunnar »

Beyond Imagining: Margaret Anderson and the Little Review (1991) - 7.5/10 - The Little Review was an influential literary magazine published from 1914-1929. It was founded by an eccentric woman named Margaret Anderson and was later taken over by Anderson's lover, Jane Heap. Anderson and Heap had to go to court to face obscenity charges for serializing James Joyce's Ulysses as he wrote it. Anderson split from Heap and moved to France during the 1920s. The film does a nice job covering Anderson's time on The Little Review and then skims through the rest of her life. It is told mostly through narration (with an actor portraying Anderson's voice) and an interview with a Professor of English. It was interesting.

City Out of Wilderness (1974) - 7.5/10 - This film is a brief history of Washington, D.C., from its planning and construction in the 1790s on a site that was filled with swamps and forest to the (then) present day. The film highlights aspects of the growing city and major events that took place there as it skips through the decades. We see the city becoming more modern as buildings are remodeled, streets are paved, and the wilderness and farm areas gradually disappear. The last part of the film explores Washington, D.C. as it looked in the 1970s. I thought it was a nice film and it was interesting to see some of the changes over the years.

The Silent Village (1943) - 6.5/10 - The massacre of Lidice by the Nazis is re-enacted as if it took place in Wales instead. It was fairly effective, but could have been much better.

Baelin's Route (2021) - 9/10 - Baelin is an NPC fisherman in a video game who can only a couple of lines. He gets recruited by an adventurer to help on a quest and discovers that he has abilities beyond just fishing. Rowan Bettjeman does a nice job as Baelin and Phoenix Cross is really good as the princess who needs help. She is also pretty good at interpreting the way Baelin says his line. The film is funny and a good short adventure as well.

Harvest (1967) - 5/10 - The film features sparse narration and plenty of images of farmers at harvest time from Texas north to Canada. The images are okay and the background music is pretty good, but the narration and the film itself are rather dull.

For God and Country (1943) - 4/10 - Ronald Reagan stars in this somewhat uninspired WWII film about U.S. Army chaplains as they get training and then deploy with the troops. It wasn't very interesting or convincing.

The Naked Eye (1956) - 9/10 - This documentary starts with a history of photography up through the 1950s and is followed by profiles of several prominent photographers of the day, including Alfred Eisenstaedt of Life magazine, a photojournalist known as Weegee who photographed the gamut from murder scenes to opera, and Edward Weston. We get to see each man briefly in the film and get insight into their lives as photographers through the narration and through many of their photos. The film is expertly narrated by Raymond Massey, has a very nice soundtrack, and seems to be lovingly made by director Louis Stoumen, himself a photographer in addition to directing and producing films. Stoumen won two Academy Awards, but this one lost to Jacques Cousteau's The Silent World. It's a shame that this film isn't as widely viewed as that one.
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

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Death on the Job (1991) - 8/10 - This documentary exposes some of the problems that led to the deaths of workers in commercial fishing, coal mining, and at petroleum refineries. The common theme was a disregard for safety protocols by the people in charge. OSHA was mentioned as having been created over 20 years earlier to cut down on these types of incidents, but it was rather toothless and ineffectual. Companies would make a show of bringing things up to safety standards on the rare occasions that OSHA would show up and then stop worrying about it. Workers were pushed to be more productive and make greater profits with little concern for their well being. I thought this was a very good documentary, though how much it helped change things is difficult to say.

Spaces: The Architecture of Paul Rudolph (1983) - 7/10 - Paul Rudolph was a talented architect who designed buildings at Yale, Emory University, the Tuskegee Institute, and elsewhere. His designs were usually complex and tied in to his personal vision, though they occasionally clashed with the needs or view of his clients. This film takes us a bit behind the scenes with Rudolph's thoughts as he designs and builds a chapel at Emory. They also visit a few of his earlier works.

Children Without (1965) - 7/10 - This film is shot in and around an inner city Detroit school and focuses on some of the needs of the poor children that attend the school and how the school can help them. I think that the needs of the children are (and were) real, but the ability of the school to correct or compensate for these issues is highly exaggerated, even for the time period this took place in. The one father in the film is portrayed as having no interest in his kids, spending his time sleeping or drinking or watching tv while neglecting his kids. That seemed overly exaggerated as well.

Last Breeze of Summer (1991) - 8/10 - A woman reminisces back to when she was 14 and became the first black student at an otherwise all white school in the South. It isn't easy, but she is determined to see it through. This was a pretty good short that doesn't delve too deeply into the topic, but captures the essence of that time nonetheless.

The Yanks are Coming (1963) - 8/10 - Richard Basehart narrated this WWI documentary. It uses archival footage as Basehart follows the course of the war from a U.S. perspective. At first, the U.S. tries to stay out of the 'European War', but is eventually drawn in as American lives are lost to German u-boats. The film gives a decent surface review of the war, though it would have to be a lot longer to have real depth.

High Schools (1983) - 9/10 - This is an excellent documentary about the state of high schools in the U.S. in 1983. I related to it quite a bit on two levels - first as a student since I started high school myself in 1984 and second as a teacher who spent 27 years in high schools. Many things were covered here, both from student and teacher perspectives. The film suggests that teacher education programs at the time were not very relevant to the actual needs of prospective teachers and this was my experience as well when I was in college. The need for teaching reading and writing across the curriculum is something that I saw being pushed 25 years later. This was filmed in seven high schools over a school year and sees many interactions and discusses a wide range of topics, many of which are still very relevant today. One thing that I think is unfortunate, though, is the great decline in programs such as automotive, shop classes, and culinary arts. These have taken a back seat in the push to have every student attend college and increase standardized tests scores under the myth that schools were failing and this does a disservice to a number of students who would benefit from those classes.

Eight Minutes to Midnight: A Portrait of Dr. Helen Caldicott (1981) - 7/10 - Helen Caldicott is an Australian pediatrician who gave up her medical practice and also her teaching job at Harvard to pursue her anti-nuclear beliefs. She has written a number of books, started organizations, and traveled around the world to speak against uranium mining, nuclear power plants, nuclear weapons, etc. She speaks to the danger of cancer, birth defects, and other other issues related to nuclear power and weapons. It wasn't bad, though it seemed a bit repetitive as it went on. Hopefully her advocacy helped lead to an increase in safety standards.

Six-Sided Triangle (1963) - 5/10 - A love triangle of two men and a woman is repeated (by the same actors) in six different cultures, usually with similar results. I didn't find most of it all that interesting.

Don't Mess with Bill (1980) - 6/10 - This short film features Bill Underwood, the man who created an unarmed martial art called Defendo that he traveled across several countries teaching to law enforcement officers. He was already 84 when they made this film and he was still at it. He had a few decent stories, but it was difficult to get a real understanding of his technique just from this brief documentary.

Keats and His Nightingale: A Blind Date (1985) - 7/10 - This film analyzes Keats and his famous poem "Ode to a Nightingale" by interviewing teachers, students, and others to read and attempt to interpret the poem. They also give a bit of context into Keats and his life along with what he was going through at the time he wrote the poem (the death of his younger brother). I'm not a fan of poetry, but the film is well made and somewhat interesting even to those of us who do not aspire to creative verse such as this.
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

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Snake Eyes (Robert Schwentke, 2021) 7/10

American superhero film with a predominantly Asian cast is like a Hong Kong martial arts actioner. Snake Eyes (Henry Golding), heroic masked agent of the G.I. Joe organization, gets a spin-off film all to himself with the screenplay here providing him his origin. When his dad is assassinated a young boy grows up looking for vengeance and becomes a tough martial arts fighter. He attracts the attention of a rich Yakuza boss who offers to find his father's killer provided he works for him. When he is asked to shoot a traitor he refuses and instead saves the man's life. This involves him in the family power struggle of the Arashikage clan in Japan where he takes a test to become part of the clan, betrays them for his own selfish reasons, returns to atone for his mistake and finally faces his father's killer. He also discovers the true identity of his own father which sets the film up very conveniently for a sequel. The choppily edited slam-bang action sequences - and there are countless which all become a blur of sound and movement - are familiar tropes of the genre. Golding, a very charismatic looking actor, is almost robotic in his demeanor showing zero emotion tbroughout. It's almost as if he is unsure if he can carry off this leading part. And his American accent comes and goes - if only they had just stuck with the actor's natural British accent. The film's production design and location work in Japan is outstanding as we get to view the fascinating homes and gardens so unique to that country. Maybe Golding will fare better in the sequel as he gets more comfortable with the part. Here he sadly lacks the sexy energy he brought to his role in "Crazy Rich Asians". Luckily that film too gets a sequel. Two in fact. Back to back.

Pushover (Richard Quine, 1954) 8/10

A bank robbery. The robber's sexy moll (Kim Novak - in her first starring role). An undercover cop (Fred MacMurray) on the stakeout with his partner (Philip Carey) spying on the moll and her clean cut neighbor (Dorothy Malone). Then the cop falls for the moll and her plan - kill her boyfriend and abscond with the loot. MacMurray was in the classic "Double Indemnity" which had a similar sort of plot. Most of the film is shot in a claustrophobic manner in rooms and hallways with voyeuristic moments as in Hitchcock's "Rear Window". Every trope of an excellent noir gets regurgitated putting this film right up there with many of the best. MacMurray is fine but Novak is extremely memorable as the cold yet vulnerable femme fatale.

Sea of Sand (Guy Green, 1958) 7/10

Unlike the American studios, which made a number of WWII propaganda films while the war was still raging, the British studios continued with many such themed films during the 1950s. Every big British star, at one point or the other, showed up in uniform on screen. With the war won but its Empire gradually crashing down these films were a positive morale booster. Each film regurgitated all the obvious tropes of the genre while exploring heroics in different parts of the world where British troops once fought. A commando unit is sent into the desert (the film was shot on location in in Libya) to destroy a German fuel dump. When the group discover a huge contingent of tanks parked at the dump their return journey becomes a hazardous death trap as they rush to warn HQ. The motley group of officers (John Gregson, Michael Craig) and soldiers (Richard Attenborough, Percy Herbert, Barry Foster, Ray McAnnaly) have to dodge German patrols, land mines and aircrafts while battling injuries, the excessive heat, boredom and lack of water. Exciting, suspenseful film is one of the better films in the genre with superb photography capturing the remote loneliness of the vast desert. The film and Michael Craig received Bafta nominations.
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

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Kenji Comes Home (1949) - 7.5/10 - Kenji was a Japanese soldier during WWII and he finally returns to his hometown in 1947 to find that things have changed a lot. His family home is in ruins, most of the people that he knew are dead or no longer live there, and jobs are scarce. He adopts a street orphan boy that he meets and befriends the sister of one of his late friends. He eventually finds work, but has to decide to follow the communist principles that are promoted there or the Christian teachings that his girlfriend Aki believes in. This is an anti-Communist, pro-Christianity short film, but it is still a decent enough film nonetheless and the actors do a nice job, though the story is told through narration rather than dialogue.

Eyewitness (1999) - 8.5/10 - Many artists were murdered in the concentration camps during WWII. A number of these artists created drawings and paintings in secret that documented conditions in the camps. A few were also recruited to create art for the Nazi officers and this helped them stay alive. Two survivors were interviewed about their time in the camps and pictures of their surviving art is shown along with artwork created by the numerous artists who didn't survive. Overall, it is a very interesting and somewhat haunting film.
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

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Stillwater (Tom McCarthy, 2021) 8/10

This sensitive screenplay covers a number of themes - the clash and acceptance of different cultures, racial tensions and socioeconomic disparities that exist in both France and the United States, parent child bonding, life's many screw-ups and the ability to find redemption. At the center of the plot is a murder-mystery - inspired by a true case - which is played out very slowly while each character finds ways to connect with each other. An oil worker (Matt Damon) from Oklahoma travels to Marseille to be close to his daughter (Abigale Breslin in an underwritten part) who is serving a jail sentence for murdering her unfaithful lover. She claims she is innocent and is sure that a mutual friend committed the crime. Both father and daughter have a very strained relationship from their difficult past which he now hopes to rectify. He befriends a french woman (Camille Cottin) and grows close to her young daughter. Their role in the story not only helps to soften his hard-edged, almost shy, exterior but also helps him to navigate his way through the bureaucracy of the french legal system he encounters. Damon gives a quietly searing performance as the closed-off rigid roughneck who gradually opens up to himself and the world around. The film's third act goes, almost jarringly, back to the investigation of the crime which although gets resolved but leaves a bitter taste - I can well imagine why the lady whose life inspired this film came down hard on the filmmakers. "Life is brutal" is echoed by both father and daughter at different times during the film. Yes it can be brutal although it is sometimes also possible to find peace and a change of perspective through it all.

Sweet Girl (Brian Andrew Mendoza, 2021) 2/10

A woman dies of cancer after a life saving drug is suddenly taken off the market. Her devastated, burly, shaggy-haired husband (Jason Momoa) goes ballistic and goes after the CEO of the medical company dragging his young daughter (Isabela Merced) along. Bone crunching violence ensues as killers sent after them by a senator (Amy Brenneman) are doffed off one by one. And then, by way of a twist ending, you realize the screenplay has lied to the audience all along. Even Hitchcock played such a cheap trick many moons ago. So no big deal. However, here the plot takes on a prepostrous route after the big reveal that is just too unbelievable for any of this story to make sense. Avoid this terrible film like the plague. Instead send a donation to Jason Momoa so he can get a haircut and get rid of all that unruly hair off his face.
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