Finding You (Brian Baugh, 2021) 5/10
Strictly like a Hallmark romance which one, in an effort to be a Vanessa Redgrave completist, sat through. Corny romance - High School violinist (Rose Reid) goes to Ireland for a semester and ends up falling in love with a gregarious movie star (Jedidiah Goodacre) who helps her to leave her inhibitions behind. Since its shot on location the film relies on stunning Irish vistas and the couple is surrounded by colorful folk - the host family who run a B&B, a homeless drunk musician (Patrick Bergin), the actor's pushy father (Tom Everett Scott) and a crotchety old lady (Vanessa Redgrave). Lots of jaunty Irish music on the soundtrack. And Redgrave once again does her bed-ridden old hag routine but is still charming doing it.
Free Guy (Shawn Levy, 2021) 6/10
A bank teller (Ryan Reynolds), with a dull disposition, suddenly decides he wants more from his boring repetitious life in Free City. He is unaware that he is actually a non-player character in a video game and is in shock when the woman (Jodie Comer) he falls in love with tells him the truth. She and her partner (Jo Keery) are out to prove that the idea for the game was in fact stolen by the game's developer (Taika Waititi). Like all video games it's very noisy. There is an underlying anti-violence message along with a shout-out to people who are too scared to move away from their lives lived in dull conformity. The film is a plea to the hesitant and boring folks to move their ass and change their lives.
Bloodshot (David S. F. Wilson, 2020) 4/10
Comic book nonsense with Vin Diesel being used as a killing machine by a nefarious organization run by Guy Pearce. Vin kicks ass. And that's all that is needed in that part of the world.
GoldenEye (Martin Campbell, 1995) 7/10
Two peppy Bond girls - a plucky computer programmer (Izabella Scorupco) and the deadly Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen) who likes to torture her victims by asphyxiating them between her thighs as the principal henchwoman to a rogue MI6 officer (Sean Bean) who steals a secret space based weapons program called GoldenEye. Coming to the rescue is the new Bond (Pierce Brosnan) who arrives in the franchise with a new M (Judi Dench) and a new Moneypenny (Samantha Bond). A strong group of actors - Gottfried John, Robbie Coltrane, Joe Don Baker, Tchéky Karyo, Alan Cumming, Michael Kitchen - round out the cast. Action packed film with the tank chase sequence a highlight. Brosnan proves to be an excellent witty Bond.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Peter Hunt, 1969) 7/10
A new Bond (George Lazenby) takes over from Sean Connery. And this time he's in love with the daughter (Diana Rigg) of a rich crook (Gabrielle Ferzetti). It doesn't look good though as she probably needs a shrink more than she needs Bond. Although the two look good clinching together in a montage sequence as Louis Armstrong croons "We Have All the Time in the World" which is also a dead giveaway that permanent romance is not in the cards for 007. Hunt, who graduated from being the editor on Connery's first two Bond films to being editor plus second unit director on the next three, makes his directorial debut with this installment. The action scenes are kind of sparse though an avalanche and the raid on the mountaintop retreat of Blofeld (Telly Savalas) are well shot. The ski chase sequences are slightly marred by back projection. The production design is tacky which is not really the film's fault because the european hotel locations were gaudy - caught between the old Baroque style and 1960s chic which is in full evidence at the villain's lair high up on the Alps at the revolving restaurant at Piz Gloria in Switzerland. Dapper Lazenby fits very comfortably into the part and its a pity he decided to quit after only one film.
Candleshoe (Norman Tokar, 1977) 5/10
Jodie Foster's last film for Disney and Helen Hayes' last big screen role. A street urchin, an orphan (Jodie Foster), is passed off as the grandaughter of an old British lady (Helen Hayes) by a sly conman (Leo McKern). Years before Hayes appeared with Ingrid Bergman in "Anastasia" with shades of a similar ruse. He hopes to find treasure hidden by a pirate in the old lady's stately countryside manor. David Niven plays four parts as the old lady's butler, gardener, the tippling chauffeur and an old colonel which is a bit of a spoof on Niven's Oscar-winning role in "Separate Tables". Harmless fun with Foster, then Hollywood's most famous child star, a remarkably mature actress - she had just come off "Taxi Driver" the previous year - and after a hiatus of three years from the screen she would emerge in grownup parts. Based on the book "Christmas at Candleshoe" by Michael Innes, the story is a mixture of "Kidnapped", "Anastasia" and "Kind Hearts and Coronets".
Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
The Maltese Falcon (1941) - 7/10 - I didn't really like this movie when I watched it the first time. I decided to give it another chance and i did like it more this time, though I still didn't love it.
Avanti popolo (1986) - 7.5/10 - After the Six Day War ends, two Egyptian soldiers try to make their way across the desert to reach the Suez Canal and get home. They have a number of adventures along the way, including a British reporter, Israeli soldiers, and so on. There is a lot of humor throughout much of the film, but it can also get serious at times. I thought it was pretty good.
What We Do in the Shadows (2014) - 6/10 - I'm not really a fan of mockumentaries or else I'd probably rank this higher. I'd talk about the contents of the film, but for some reason I can't remember anything about what I saw during that hour and a half...
The Young and the Damned (1950) - 8.5/10 - A group of boys in Mexico spend a lot of time on the street getting into mischief. Things escalate when an older boy, Jaibo, escapes from reform school and returns. He gets them to steal and is involved in a couple of deaths. He is also a bad influence on Pedro, a boy who wants to be good, but doesn't know how. This was a really good movie.
Breathless (1960) - 7/10 - A car thief kills a police officer and then spends most of the rest of the film evading the police, chatting up a woman, and trying to convince her to go to Italy with him. It wasn't bad, but I expected to like it more.
Belle de Jour (1967) - 8.5/10 - A young woman loves her husband, but is unhappy due to the bdsm fantasies that she keeps having. When she hears of a high class and secret brothel, she visits and starts working there in the afternoon. It goes well for a while until one client becomes way too possessive. I thought it was very good.
Mary and Max (2009) - 8/10 - Mary is a lonely 8 year old Australian girl in the 1970s who decides to write to a random American in New York City. She chooses Max, a 44 year old obese man with no friends and Asperger's. The two exchange letters (and chocolate) for years and become friends. The story has its ups and downs and is told very well in animated form.
Avanti popolo (1986) - 7.5/10 - After the Six Day War ends, two Egyptian soldiers try to make their way across the desert to reach the Suez Canal and get home. They have a number of adventures along the way, including a British reporter, Israeli soldiers, and so on. There is a lot of humor throughout much of the film, but it can also get serious at times. I thought it was pretty good.
What We Do in the Shadows (2014) - 6/10 - I'm not really a fan of mockumentaries or else I'd probably rank this higher. I'd talk about the contents of the film, but for some reason I can't remember anything about what I saw during that hour and a half...
The Young and the Damned (1950) - 8.5/10 - A group of boys in Mexico spend a lot of time on the street getting into mischief. Things escalate when an older boy, Jaibo, escapes from reform school and returns. He gets them to steal and is involved in a couple of deaths. He is also a bad influence on Pedro, a boy who wants to be good, but doesn't know how. This was a really good movie.
Breathless (1960) - 7/10 - A car thief kills a police officer and then spends most of the rest of the film evading the police, chatting up a woman, and trying to convince her to go to Italy with him. It wasn't bad, but I expected to like it more.
Belle de Jour (1967) - 8.5/10 - A young woman loves her husband, but is unhappy due to the bdsm fantasies that she keeps having. When she hears of a high class and secret brothel, she visits and starts working there in the afternoon. It goes well for a while until one client becomes way too possessive. I thought it was very good.
Mary and Max (2009) - 8/10 - Mary is a lonely 8 year old Australian girl in the 1970s who decides to write to a random American in New York City. She chooses Max, a 44 year old obese man with no friends and Asperger's. The two exchange letters (and chocolate) for years and become friends. The story has its ups and downs and is told very well in animated form.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Seven Sweethearts (Frank Borzage, 1942) 4/10
B-musical from MGM. A reporter (Van Heflin) is sent to a small town in Michigan to cover a tulip festival. He stays at a quaint hotel owned by an eccentric old man (S.Z. Sakall) who has seven daughters all with male names. He falls for the youngest (Kathryn Grayson) but cannot marry her until the eldest (Marsha Hunt) gets married first. Since she wants to go to New York to become an actress it becomes a dilemma for her five younger sisters all of whom are ready to be married to their boyfriends. Silly, slow film has Grayson warbling a string of very ordinary songs as the marriage plot plays out. Pity the studio did not make this in colour as the costumes and the festival could have benefitted from it.
South Riding (Victor Saville, 1938) 8/10
Winifred Holtby's sprawling book - a panoramic portrait about Yorkshire, its people and politics - came out after the author's death. Saville's perceptive film adaptation captures the delicate nuances of the County's rural community struggling with the effects of the depression. The story takes the personal and private stories of a few characters and shows how it impacts their public lives. At the center is the local tormented squire (Ralph Richardson) who is in dire need of funds. He has a mentally unstable wife (Ann Todd) in an expensive sanatorium, a spoilt and disturbed daughter (Glynis Johns) at home and is in love with an idealistic headmistress (Edna Best). He is also part of the local council along with others - a crooked councillor (Edmund Gwenn) involved in fake land deals, a socialist (John Clements) who wants the poor to live better lives and a matron (Marie Lohr) who is the first female alderman of the district. Superbly acted film cries out for a television serial format - there were two subsequently - but manages to contain its many stories in an intimate way.
Footlight Serenade (Gregory Ratoff, 1942) 7/10
Conceited boxing champ (Victor Mature) turns in his gloves and decides to become a musical stage star. When he catches sight of a chorus girl (Betty Grable) he bumps her part upto being the understudy to his girlfriend (Cobina Wright) who is the star of the show. When the jealous star walks out the chorus girl becomes the lead but has to contend with the jealousy of her own husband (John Payne) who plays the foil guy to the boxer in the show. Fast paced musical comedy not only has the three charming leads but adding witty sparks on the sidelines are a trio of funny character actors - Phil Silvers, James Gleason and Jane Wyman, who was still a few years away from becoming a full fledged star herself. Snappy dance routines and lovely Grable singing a number of tunes makes this a lot of fun.
Law and Order (Nathan Juran, 1953) 6/10
Tired sheriff (Ronald Reagan) gives up his badge and wants to settle down with his girlfriend (Dorothy Malone) but trouble in the form of an old adversary (Preston Foster) rears its head. The plot goes through all the familiar genre tropes - younger brash brothers of both antagonists - the sheriff has two (Alex Nicol & Russell Johnson) and the cattle rustler also has two (Jack Kelly & Dennis Weaver) - who carry the plot further through hot-headed gunplay which forces the sherrif to pick up his badge once again in order to clean up the town. Reagan is very good as the cool-headed lawman who moves slowly but surely but Malone is totally wasted as his arm candy. Remake of a 1932 film with Walter Huston.
Seven Days to Noon (Roy & John Boulting, 1950) 6/10
A disgruntled scientist (Barry Jones) takes off with an atomic bomb and threatens to blow it up in Central London if the government does not stop production of the detonators. What is at first thought of as a joke turns serious and a cop (André Morell) tries desperately to search for the man. Tense film has two wonderful sequences as he interacts with an inquisitive and suspicious landlady (Joan Hickson) and a gregarious second-rate stage actesss (Olive Sloane) who gives him shelter for the night. The film won an Oscar for its story.
The Battle at Apache Pass (George Sherman, 1952) 4/10
Cochise (Jeff Chandler) tries to maintain peace with the white man and avoid Indian wars. However, Geronimo (Jay Silverheels), at the instigation of treacherous white men, instigates war which involves Cochise as well. Ordinary Western goes through the motions with all the clichés of the genre in full bloom. John Lund is the sympathetic Comnanding Officer and friend to Cochise and his squaw (Susan Cabot). The film is a prequel to Broken Arrow (1950) where Chandler first played Cochise and was nominated for an Oscar - a jewish actor playing a Native Indian. Politically incorrect now but not so back then.
Five Golden Hours (Mario Zampi, 1961) 4/10
Silly black comedy was American tv comedian Ernie Kovacs' only starring role in what would be Italian director Zampi's last film. A petty crook (Ernie Kovacs), a professional mourner and pallbearer by profession, consoles lonely widows and ingratiates himself into their lives. Comfortable after years of living off rich widows he falls in love with one (Cyd Charisse) who just so happens to con him out of a huge amount of money. A plan to murder three old ladies who he swindled from goes awry and he ends up in a posh sanitarium pretending to be insane with suave con George Sanders as his roommate. Light farce does not do justice to Kovacs' nutty talents which were put to use so well on television.
Infinite (Antoine Fuqua, 2021) 1/10
Convoluted mish-mash of a film channels "The Matrix" and scores of other CGI-infested films - "Inception" and the Jason Bourne franchise come to mind - which I saw in a haze of post-Pfizer delirium. The plot involves reincarnation with some in the world who are Believers while others are Nihilists - the former think remembering their past lives is a gift bestowed on them while the latter believe that human values are baseless and life is meaningless. At opposing ends of this are respectively Mark Wahlberg and Chiwetel Ejiofor, once comrades in arms, but now in deadly combat - the former has a sword and the latter a kick-ass gun - over a fabergé egg which holds the key to ending the world. Non-stop action set pieces carry forward the plot which after a while become a haze of noise as the body count rises. Wahlberg atop a motorbike which he drives off a cliff and onto the wing of a passing military aircraft is a highlight. This is followed by both antagonists plummeting out of the crashing plane giving chase to that pesky egg in a freefall. Absolute nonsense has been listed by the New York Times as one of the worst films of the year. And they are absolutely on the mark with that assessment.
B-musical from MGM. A reporter (Van Heflin) is sent to a small town in Michigan to cover a tulip festival. He stays at a quaint hotel owned by an eccentric old man (S.Z. Sakall) who has seven daughters all with male names. He falls for the youngest (Kathryn Grayson) but cannot marry her until the eldest (Marsha Hunt) gets married first. Since she wants to go to New York to become an actress it becomes a dilemma for her five younger sisters all of whom are ready to be married to their boyfriends. Silly, slow film has Grayson warbling a string of very ordinary songs as the marriage plot plays out. Pity the studio did not make this in colour as the costumes and the festival could have benefitted from it.
South Riding (Victor Saville, 1938) 8/10
Winifred Holtby's sprawling book - a panoramic portrait about Yorkshire, its people and politics - came out after the author's death. Saville's perceptive film adaptation captures the delicate nuances of the County's rural community struggling with the effects of the depression. The story takes the personal and private stories of a few characters and shows how it impacts their public lives. At the center is the local tormented squire (Ralph Richardson) who is in dire need of funds. He has a mentally unstable wife (Ann Todd) in an expensive sanatorium, a spoilt and disturbed daughter (Glynis Johns) at home and is in love with an idealistic headmistress (Edna Best). He is also part of the local council along with others - a crooked councillor (Edmund Gwenn) involved in fake land deals, a socialist (John Clements) who wants the poor to live better lives and a matron (Marie Lohr) who is the first female alderman of the district. Superbly acted film cries out for a television serial format - there were two subsequently - but manages to contain its many stories in an intimate way.
Footlight Serenade (Gregory Ratoff, 1942) 7/10
Conceited boxing champ (Victor Mature) turns in his gloves and decides to become a musical stage star. When he catches sight of a chorus girl (Betty Grable) he bumps her part upto being the understudy to his girlfriend (Cobina Wright) who is the star of the show. When the jealous star walks out the chorus girl becomes the lead but has to contend with the jealousy of her own husband (John Payne) who plays the foil guy to the boxer in the show. Fast paced musical comedy not only has the three charming leads but adding witty sparks on the sidelines are a trio of funny character actors - Phil Silvers, James Gleason and Jane Wyman, who was still a few years away from becoming a full fledged star herself. Snappy dance routines and lovely Grable singing a number of tunes makes this a lot of fun.
Law and Order (Nathan Juran, 1953) 6/10
Tired sheriff (Ronald Reagan) gives up his badge and wants to settle down with his girlfriend (Dorothy Malone) but trouble in the form of an old adversary (Preston Foster) rears its head. The plot goes through all the familiar genre tropes - younger brash brothers of both antagonists - the sheriff has two (Alex Nicol & Russell Johnson) and the cattle rustler also has two (Jack Kelly & Dennis Weaver) - who carry the plot further through hot-headed gunplay which forces the sherrif to pick up his badge once again in order to clean up the town. Reagan is very good as the cool-headed lawman who moves slowly but surely but Malone is totally wasted as his arm candy. Remake of a 1932 film with Walter Huston.
Seven Days to Noon (Roy & John Boulting, 1950) 6/10
A disgruntled scientist (Barry Jones) takes off with an atomic bomb and threatens to blow it up in Central London if the government does not stop production of the detonators. What is at first thought of as a joke turns serious and a cop (André Morell) tries desperately to search for the man. Tense film has two wonderful sequences as he interacts with an inquisitive and suspicious landlady (Joan Hickson) and a gregarious second-rate stage actesss (Olive Sloane) who gives him shelter for the night. The film won an Oscar for its story.
The Battle at Apache Pass (George Sherman, 1952) 4/10
Cochise (Jeff Chandler) tries to maintain peace with the white man and avoid Indian wars. However, Geronimo (Jay Silverheels), at the instigation of treacherous white men, instigates war which involves Cochise as well. Ordinary Western goes through the motions with all the clichés of the genre in full bloom. John Lund is the sympathetic Comnanding Officer and friend to Cochise and his squaw (Susan Cabot). The film is a prequel to Broken Arrow (1950) where Chandler first played Cochise and was nominated for an Oscar - a jewish actor playing a Native Indian. Politically incorrect now but not so back then.
Five Golden Hours (Mario Zampi, 1961) 4/10
Silly black comedy was American tv comedian Ernie Kovacs' only starring role in what would be Italian director Zampi's last film. A petty crook (Ernie Kovacs), a professional mourner and pallbearer by profession, consoles lonely widows and ingratiates himself into their lives. Comfortable after years of living off rich widows he falls in love with one (Cyd Charisse) who just so happens to con him out of a huge amount of money. A plan to murder three old ladies who he swindled from goes awry and he ends up in a posh sanitarium pretending to be insane with suave con George Sanders as his roommate. Light farce does not do justice to Kovacs' nutty talents which were put to use so well on television.
Infinite (Antoine Fuqua, 2021) 1/10
Convoluted mish-mash of a film channels "The Matrix" and scores of other CGI-infested films - "Inception" and the Jason Bourne franchise come to mind - which I saw in a haze of post-Pfizer delirium. The plot involves reincarnation with some in the world who are Believers while others are Nihilists - the former think remembering their past lives is a gift bestowed on them while the latter believe that human values are baseless and life is meaningless. At opposing ends of this are respectively Mark Wahlberg and Chiwetel Ejiofor, once comrades in arms, but now in deadly combat - the former has a sword and the latter a kick-ass gun - over a fabergé egg which holds the key to ending the world. Non-stop action set pieces carry forward the plot which after a while become a haze of noise as the body count rises. Wahlberg atop a motorbike which he drives off a cliff and onto the wing of a passing military aircraft is a highlight. This is followed by both antagonists plummeting out of the crashing plane giving chase to that pesky egg in a freefall. Absolute nonsense has been listed by the New York Times as one of the worst films of the year. And they are absolutely on the mark with that assessment.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
One Hundred Children Waiting for a Train (1988) - 7.5/10 - This Chilean documentary looks at a film class taught on weekends to groups of children. They learn the elements of what make motion pictures work and construct their own zoetropes, film strips, and other things. They also get to watch movies. I thought it was pretty interesting.
Man with a Movie Camera (1929) - 8/10 - A man with a movie camera wanders around several cities in the Soviet Union in this experimental film. It is very fast paced with lots of cuts and documents lots of things happening in these cities. It uses a lot of techniques that were either new or uncommon at the time, but have since become fairly standard.
Amores Perros (2000) - 7/10 - Three stories intersect with a car crash. Octavio is in love with his brother's wife and also gets involved in a dog fighting ring. Daniel leaves his wife for a supermodel girlfriend, Valeria. El Chivo is a hitman who looks like a vagrant. It's a good movie, though the stuff with the dogs was pretty hard to watch.
Zemlya (1930) - 5/10 - Life in a farming community is changed with the arrival of a new tractor. There's a murder and collectivization is at hand. There are some decent scenes, but the acting wasn't that great and a lot of the movie is fairly dull.
Hellzapoppin' (1941) - 7/10 - A musical comedy about two stage comedians who want to turn their Broadway hit into a movie. They're told that they have to add a romance into the picture. There are a ton of gags, breaking of the fourth wall, and other zaniness throughout the picture. I thought it was a lot of fun, though it started to get a bit old toward the end. The dance sequence just past the midpoint of the film was very good.
Raven's End (1963) - 7/10 - An aspiring writer named Anders lives with his parents in a poor neighborhood in 1930s Sweden . His father is an alcoholic and his mother works hard doing laundry to make ends meet. Their situation is somewhat bleak and Anders hopes to break out of it. It's a decent film.
To the Forest of the Firefly Lights (2011) - 8.5/10 - Hotaru befriended a forest spirit on a mountain near her uncle's home during the summer she was six years old. She spent quite a bit of time with him that summer and every summer after that up through the present time when she is entering high school. Gin looks like a young man, but doesn't age like humans do. If he is touched by a human, he will disappear. The movie is relatively short, but is very well done.
Man with a Movie Camera (1929) - 8/10 - A man with a movie camera wanders around several cities in the Soviet Union in this experimental film. It is very fast paced with lots of cuts and documents lots of things happening in these cities. It uses a lot of techniques that were either new or uncommon at the time, but have since become fairly standard.
Amores Perros (2000) - 7/10 - Three stories intersect with a car crash. Octavio is in love with his brother's wife and also gets involved in a dog fighting ring. Daniel leaves his wife for a supermodel girlfriend, Valeria. El Chivo is a hitman who looks like a vagrant. It's a good movie, though the stuff with the dogs was pretty hard to watch.
Zemlya (1930) - 5/10 - Life in a farming community is changed with the arrival of a new tractor. There's a murder and collectivization is at hand. There are some decent scenes, but the acting wasn't that great and a lot of the movie is fairly dull.
Hellzapoppin' (1941) - 7/10 - A musical comedy about two stage comedians who want to turn their Broadway hit into a movie. They're told that they have to add a romance into the picture. There are a ton of gags, breaking of the fourth wall, and other zaniness throughout the picture. I thought it was a lot of fun, though it started to get a bit old toward the end. The dance sequence just past the midpoint of the film was very good.
Raven's End (1963) - 7/10 - An aspiring writer named Anders lives with his parents in a poor neighborhood in 1930s Sweden . His father is an alcoholic and his mother works hard doing laundry to make ends meet. Their situation is somewhat bleak and Anders hopes to break out of it. It's a decent film.
To the Forest of the Firefly Lights (2011) - 8.5/10 - Hotaru befriended a forest spirit on a mountain near her uncle's home during the summer she was six years old. She spent quite a bit of time with him that summer and every summer after that up through the present time when she is entering high school. Gin looks like a young man, but doesn't age like humans do. If he is touched by a human, he will disappear. The movie is relatively short, but is very well done.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
The Diamond Arm (1968) - 7.5/10 - Semyon Gorbunkov is sent off by his wife and kids on a cruise to Turkey. He befriends a fellow passenger who is part of a smuggling operation for jewels. Through a mishap, Semyon ends up with a cast on his arms that contains the jewels his friend was supposed to pick up. Semyon realizes what is going on and reports it to the State when he returns home and they recruit him to try and catch the smugglers. There is a lot of slapstick here and there are probably things that only a Russian audience can fully appreciate, but I thought it was a fun and fast moving comedy and I enjoyed it.
Margarita y el lobo (1969) - 6/10 - The film starts with the divorce of Margarita and Lorenzo and then proceeds from there with flashbacks to their relationship. At first, Margarita fell in love with Lorenzo, but then she came to realize that he was trying to mold her into the perfect housewife without any of her own personality left. There are plenty of songs throughout as Margarita sings about the relationship. It's interesting, but doesn't feel totally complete.
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) - 8/10 - Oscar Isaac stars as a man trying to make it as a folk singer in New York City in the early 1960s without much luck. He isn't really a very likable guy, but he does have some talent singing, though nothing to show for it. He hops from one acquaintance's couch to another and for a while has to keep track of a friend's cat that he accidentally let out. I enjoyed it.
A Star is Born (1976) - 4/10 - This was kind of painful to sit through at times. The story was dull and I didn't find Streisand very convincing in anything other than actual singing (and I''m not a fan of that either). Easily the worst of the A Star is Born films.
The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1974) - 7/10 - This documentary looks at Walter Steiner, one of the best in the world at ski flying in the 1970s. It highlights the dangers involved in jumping long distances, especially if the wind or course increase the risk.
The Cameraman (1928) - 8/10 - Buster Keaton stars as a man who takes tintype photos of people on the street. He buys a newsreel camera to impress a girl who works at MGM and does his best to capture good footage and the affections of the girl, though of course a number of things go wrong. It was a pretty entertaining film.
Kagemusha (1980) - 8.5/10 - A petty thief is captured who bears an uncanny resemblance to Lord Shingen of the Takeda Clan. He is enlisted to serve as a second double for the lord. When Shingen dies in 1573, Kagemusha is convinced to pretend to be Shingen in front of the whole clan with only the generals and a few others in on the secret. The movie is long at three hours, but never seems to lag, and is an excellent film from Akira Kurosawa.
Margarita y el lobo (1969) - 6/10 - The film starts with the divorce of Margarita and Lorenzo and then proceeds from there with flashbacks to their relationship. At first, Margarita fell in love with Lorenzo, but then she came to realize that he was trying to mold her into the perfect housewife without any of her own personality left. There are plenty of songs throughout as Margarita sings about the relationship. It's interesting, but doesn't feel totally complete.
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) - 8/10 - Oscar Isaac stars as a man trying to make it as a folk singer in New York City in the early 1960s without much luck. He isn't really a very likable guy, but he does have some talent singing, though nothing to show for it. He hops from one acquaintance's couch to another and for a while has to keep track of a friend's cat that he accidentally let out. I enjoyed it.
A Star is Born (1976) - 4/10 - This was kind of painful to sit through at times. The story was dull and I didn't find Streisand very convincing in anything other than actual singing (and I''m not a fan of that either). Easily the worst of the A Star is Born films.
The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1974) - 7/10 - This documentary looks at Walter Steiner, one of the best in the world at ski flying in the 1970s. It highlights the dangers involved in jumping long distances, especially if the wind or course increase the risk.
The Cameraman (1928) - 8/10 - Buster Keaton stars as a man who takes tintype photos of people on the street. He buys a newsreel camera to impress a girl who works at MGM and does his best to capture good footage and the affections of the girl, though of course a number of things go wrong. It was a pretty entertaining film.
Kagemusha (1980) - 8.5/10 - A petty thief is captured who bears an uncanny resemblance to Lord Shingen of the Takeda Clan. He is enlisted to serve as a second double for the lord. When Shingen dies in 1573, Kagemusha is convinced to pretend to be Shingen in front of the whole clan with only the generals and a few others in on the secret. The movie is long at three hours, but never seems to lag, and is an excellent film from Akira Kurosawa.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
My Childhood (1972) - 8/10 - In 1945, Jamies is growing up in a coal mining town in Scotland. He lives with his older half brother and his aging grandmother. His life is marked by poverty and loneliness. This is the first of a trilogy of autobiographical films by Bill Douglas and is shot in black and white. It is pretty effective and well done.
Run Uje Run (2020) - 7.5/10 - This autobiographical film from Sweden stars Uje Brandelius, a happily married father of three who is a radio talk show host and member of a pop band called Doktor Kosmos. His world is upended when he is diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and he is afraid to tell anybody about it. Uje and his family and friends all portray themselves in the film and I thought it was pretty good.
L'Avventura (1960) - 8/10 - A group of wealthy Italians have an outing on a boat in the Mediterranean. They stop at a rocky deserted island to sunbathe and relax, but one member of their party, disappears. After a long and fruitless search, Anna's lover, Sandro, and best fried Claudia (Monica Vitti) fall for each other. The people in this group seem kind of bored and like they are looking for things to keep themselves occupied. It was a good film.
The Wages of Fear (1953) - 9/10 - The movie starts in a small and remote South American town. It's a lot easier to get there than it is to leave. They are far from anywhere to speak of and a ticket out costs a lot, especially without much in the way of jobs available. A big fire at an oil field gives an opportunity to four men to drive truckloads of nitroglycerin 300 miles through the jungle and hills to the site to help put out the fire. It's a dangerous and tense journey with a number of obstacles to overcome. It's also an excellent film.
Alphaville (1965) - 4.5/10 - A secret agent arrives in the future city of Alphaville to look for a missing agent and to find the creator of Alpha 60, the intelligent computer that runs Alphaville. The lead actor wasn't bad, but the movie is pretty dull and uninteresting.
The Secret Formula (1965) - 7.5/10 - This Mexican experimental film has a good soundtrack and some interesting imagery.
The General (1926) - 9/10 - This was a rewatch and I liked it even more the second time around. Definitely a classic.
Chircales (1972) - 8/10 - This documentary follows a family of brickmakers in Bogotá, Colombia. These brickmakers are stuck in a cycle of serfdom where they have to work long hours in dangerous conditions for very low wages and still end up in debt to the landlord. The landlord can also kick them out at any time, leaving them with almost nothing. It was a sad situation, but a good film.
Run Uje Run (2020) - 7.5/10 - This autobiographical film from Sweden stars Uje Brandelius, a happily married father of three who is a radio talk show host and member of a pop band called Doktor Kosmos. His world is upended when he is diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and he is afraid to tell anybody about it. Uje and his family and friends all portray themselves in the film and I thought it was pretty good.
L'Avventura (1960) - 8/10 - A group of wealthy Italians have an outing on a boat in the Mediterranean. They stop at a rocky deserted island to sunbathe and relax, but one member of their party, disappears. After a long and fruitless search, Anna's lover, Sandro, and best fried Claudia (Monica Vitti) fall for each other. The people in this group seem kind of bored and like they are looking for things to keep themselves occupied. It was a good film.
The Wages of Fear (1953) - 9/10 - The movie starts in a small and remote South American town. It's a lot easier to get there than it is to leave. They are far from anywhere to speak of and a ticket out costs a lot, especially without much in the way of jobs available. A big fire at an oil field gives an opportunity to four men to drive truckloads of nitroglycerin 300 miles through the jungle and hills to the site to help put out the fire. It's a dangerous and tense journey with a number of obstacles to overcome. It's also an excellent film.
Alphaville (1965) - 4.5/10 - A secret agent arrives in the future city of Alphaville to look for a missing agent and to find the creator of Alpha 60, the intelligent computer that runs Alphaville. The lead actor wasn't bad, but the movie is pretty dull and uninteresting.
The Secret Formula (1965) - 7.5/10 - This Mexican experimental film has a good soundtrack and some interesting imagery.
The General (1926) - 9/10 - This was a rewatch and I liked it even more the second time around. Definitely a classic.
Chircales (1972) - 8/10 - This documentary follows a family of brickmakers in Bogotá, Colombia. These brickmakers are stuck in a cycle of serfdom where they have to work long hours in dangerous conditions for very low wages and still end up in debt to the landlord. The landlord can also kick them out at any time, leaving them with almost nothing. It was a sad situation, but a good film.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) - 7.5/10 - Disney did a nice job with this animated musical adaptation of the Hunchback story.
If....(1968) - 7.5/10 - Malcolm McDowell stars in this story about a British boys boarding school where the students return for the new term. Three of the older boys decide to rebel in their own fashion due to the callousness of those in charge. Their actions get increasingly violent at times and the ending is something to behold.
Another Girl, Another Planet (1992) - 5/10 - A guy in an East Village apartment has a lot of women who visit him. It was shot on a toy Pixelvision camera. It can be a little bit interesting at times, but not that much.
Gregory's Girl (1980) - 7.5/10 - A girl named Dorothy tries out for the boys soccer team at a school in Scotland and is better than many of the boys. Gregory becomes somewhat infatuated with her, but Dorothy and the other girls in Gregory's life are more in control of the situation than he is, including his younger sister Madeleine. This is an enjoyable coming of age drama/comedy.
Total Balalaika Show (1994) - 9/10 - This was a fun concert film featuring the Leningrad Cowboys. I love the hair, too.
Diamonds of the Night (1964) - 8/10 - Two Jewish boys escape from a train transporting them between concentration camps. They travel through the woods, but are eventually hunted by older, armed locals. The difference between these men and the two boys is stark. It is a fairly tense and good film.
If....(1968) - 7.5/10 - Malcolm McDowell stars in this story about a British boys boarding school where the students return for the new term. Three of the older boys decide to rebel in their own fashion due to the callousness of those in charge. Their actions get increasingly violent at times and the ending is something to behold.
Another Girl, Another Planet (1992) - 5/10 - A guy in an East Village apartment has a lot of women who visit him. It was shot on a toy Pixelvision camera. It can be a little bit interesting at times, but not that much.
Gregory's Girl (1980) - 7.5/10 - A girl named Dorothy tries out for the boys soccer team at a school in Scotland and is better than many of the boys. Gregory becomes somewhat infatuated with her, but Dorothy and the other girls in Gregory's life are more in control of the situation than he is, including his younger sister Madeleine. This is an enjoyable coming of age drama/comedy.
Total Balalaika Show (1994) - 9/10 - This was a fun concert film featuring the Leningrad Cowboys. I love the hair, too.
Diamonds of the Night (1964) - 8/10 - Two Jewish boys escape from a train transporting them between concentration camps. They travel through the woods, but are eventually hunted by older, armed locals. The difference between these men and the two boys is stark. It is a fairly tense and good film.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
The Black Belly of the Tarantula / La tarantola dal ventre nero (Paolo Cavara, 1971) 7/10
This giallo depicts a unique way for the killer to strike his victims. He inserts a poisoned needle into the neck of women and while they are conscious but paralyzed he uses a knife to cut open their stomach. When a big star is killed off at the start of a movie the screenplay ensures she is given ample moments to shine during her short time on screen. And shine she most certainly does here. Barbara Bouchet, playing a two-timing wife, gets to play a scene right after the film's credits where she is accused by her angry husband of infidelity after which she is brutally murdered in the following scene. Her shining moment comes during the opening credits as she is shown nude getting a massage at a beauty parlour with the camera moving into extreme closeup almost caressing every part of her oily naked body. Nudity of the gratuitous kind is part and parcel of a giallo and there is more as the killer goes on a rampage paralyzing and mutilating women. A tired and jaded cop (Giancarlo Giannini), living with his sympathetic girlfriend (Stefania Sandrelli), is in pursuit of the killer. The owner (Claudine Auger) of the beauty parlour knows who the killer is but before she can divulge the information to the cop both she and her assisstant (Barbara Bach) find themselves pursued by the murderer. As with most Italian slasher films there is a lot of style over actual substance. Acting by most of the supporting cast is mediocre, the dubbing is atrocious, the score compliments the action on the screen and the lead actors are often very famous movie stars who surprisingly participate with great relish. And this one has a killer title. Also interesting to see two Bond girls in this - Auger from "Thunderball" and Bach who would be one in the distant future in "The Spy Who Loved Me".
Non si sevizia un paperino / Don't Torture a Duckling (Lucio Fulci, 1972) 8/10
A southern Italian town attracts a journalist (Tomas Milian) from Rome when three young boys are found brutally murdered by an apparent serial killer. Fulci's signature graphic violence sets the scene as he films various physical attacks and murders with detailed relish as he shows human skin being torn, faces getting smashed on rocks, necks getting slashed and heads getting deep gashes. Blood oozes and each death rattle is shot in extreme close-up. Welcome to the exciting world of the Italian giallo. There are plenty of murder suspects in the small provincial town - the old hermit (Georges Wilson) who likes to practice magic, his half-crazed witch-like daughter (Florinda Bolkan) who likes to threaten children and practices voodoo by sticking pins into dolls, the rich city girl (Barbara Bouchet) who is despised by the villagers and likes to dabble in drugs and has a kinky habit of seducing little boys while naked, the village idiot who is caught burying a dead child, the priest (Marc Porel) who spends a lot of time with the village kids and his mother (Irene Papas) whose deaf and dumb daughter may have witnessed one of the murders. The film paints a horrendous picture of small-town Italy full of perversion, ignorance, madness and murderous intent. Fulci maintains suspense and a creepy atmosphere throughout with each mystery evolving into a new riddle. The cast is uniformly excellent but the english dubbing leaves much to be desired.
This giallo depicts a unique way for the killer to strike his victims. He inserts a poisoned needle into the neck of women and while they are conscious but paralyzed he uses a knife to cut open their stomach. When a big star is killed off at the start of a movie the screenplay ensures she is given ample moments to shine during her short time on screen. And shine she most certainly does here. Barbara Bouchet, playing a two-timing wife, gets to play a scene right after the film's credits where she is accused by her angry husband of infidelity after which she is brutally murdered in the following scene. Her shining moment comes during the opening credits as she is shown nude getting a massage at a beauty parlour with the camera moving into extreme closeup almost caressing every part of her oily naked body. Nudity of the gratuitous kind is part and parcel of a giallo and there is more as the killer goes on a rampage paralyzing and mutilating women. A tired and jaded cop (Giancarlo Giannini), living with his sympathetic girlfriend (Stefania Sandrelli), is in pursuit of the killer. The owner (Claudine Auger) of the beauty parlour knows who the killer is but before she can divulge the information to the cop both she and her assisstant (Barbara Bach) find themselves pursued by the murderer. As with most Italian slasher films there is a lot of style over actual substance. Acting by most of the supporting cast is mediocre, the dubbing is atrocious, the score compliments the action on the screen and the lead actors are often very famous movie stars who surprisingly participate with great relish. And this one has a killer title. Also interesting to see two Bond girls in this - Auger from "Thunderball" and Bach who would be one in the distant future in "The Spy Who Loved Me".
Non si sevizia un paperino / Don't Torture a Duckling (Lucio Fulci, 1972) 8/10
A southern Italian town attracts a journalist (Tomas Milian) from Rome when three young boys are found brutally murdered by an apparent serial killer. Fulci's signature graphic violence sets the scene as he films various physical attacks and murders with detailed relish as he shows human skin being torn, faces getting smashed on rocks, necks getting slashed and heads getting deep gashes. Blood oozes and each death rattle is shot in extreme close-up. Welcome to the exciting world of the Italian giallo. There are plenty of murder suspects in the small provincial town - the old hermit (Georges Wilson) who likes to practice magic, his half-crazed witch-like daughter (Florinda Bolkan) who likes to threaten children and practices voodoo by sticking pins into dolls, the rich city girl (Barbara Bouchet) who is despised by the villagers and likes to dabble in drugs and has a kinky habit of seducing little boys while naked, the village idiot who is caught burying a dead child, the priest (Marc Porel) who spends a lot of time with the village kids and his mother (Irene Papas) whose deaf and dumb daughter may have witnessed one of the murders. The film paints a horrendous picture of small-town Italy full of perversion, ignorance, madness and murderous intent. Fulci maintains suspense and a creepy atmosphere throughout with each mystery evolving into a new riddle. The cast is uniformly excellent but the english dubbing leaves much to be desired.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Eraserhead (1977) - 5.5/10 - A man deals with his mutant baby, his girlfriend and her odd parents, and a neighbor woman all in his bleak landscape. I suppose that this is David Lynch's ode to fatherhood. It definitely has a lot of style and substance and rates very high for that. My problem is that I really just didn't like the film. Lynch can be hit or miss for me. For example, I liked Blue Velvet quite a bit, but disliked Mulholland Drive and Wild at Heart.
Cat People (1942) - 7/10 - Oliver is an engineer who meets a fashion designer named Irena at the zoo. The two start dating and fall in love, but Irena is afraid of a curse from her Serbian homeland that she will turn into a cat and kill her lover. I thought that this was fairly well acted all around and it was an entertaining film.
Point Blank (1967) - 8/10 - Lee Marvin stars as a man who was betrayed by his partner during a job and left for dead. He survived and sets out to get the money that he is owed. It is a nice action film and Marvin does a nice job along with the supporting cast which includes Angie Dickinson.
The Spirit of the Beehive (1973) - 8.5/10 - In a small village in 1940 Spain, a young girl gets a bit obsessed after seeing the 1931 movie Frankenstein. Her parents are a bit distant and her older sister can't resist playing into the girl's fears/beliefs a bit. I thought the movie was beautifully shot and had pretty nice performances from the two girls.
Killer's Kiss (1955) - 6/10 - A boxer relates the events that happened to him over the previous few days, including a boxing match, meeting a girl, and crossing her underworld friend. There is a nice chase and fight scene at the end of the film, but much of it is pretty uninteresting.
Nothing But Time (1926) - 7/10 - A day in the life of Paris with minimal commentary. I thought it was well put together and interesting to see a bit of the city life from nearly a century ago.
Cat People (1942) - 7/10 - Oliver is an engineer who meets a fashion designer named Irena at the zoo. The two start dating and fall in love, but Irena is afraid of a curse from her Serbian homeland that she will turn into a cat and kill her lover. I thought that this was fairly well acted all around and it was an entertaining film.
Point Blank (1967) - 8/10 - Lee Marvin stars as a man who was betrayed by his partner during a job and left for dead. He survived and sets out to get the money that he is owed. It is a nice action film and Marvin does a nice job along with the supporting cast which includes Angie Dickinson.
The Spirit of the Beehive (1973) - 8.5/10 - In a small village in 1940 Spain, a young girl gets a bit obsessed after seeing the 1931 movie Frankenstein. Her parents are a bit distant and her older sister can't resist playing into the girl's fears/beliefs a bit. I thought the movie was beautifully shot and had pretty nice performances from the two girls.
Killer's Kiss (1955) - 6/10 - A boxer relates the events that happened to him over the previous few days, including a boxing match, meeting a girl, and crossing her underworld friend. There is a nice chase and fight scene at the end of the film, but much of it is pretty uninteresting.
Nothing But Time (1926) - 7/10 - A day in the life of Paris with minimal commentary. I thought it was well put together and interesting to see a bit of the city life from nearly a century ago.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Tenebre (Dario Argento, 1982) 9/10
As with all good gialos there is an abundance of gratuitous female nudity, a flashing razor or an axe, slashed throats or other body parts and fountains of gushing blood. An American writer (Anthony Franciosa), in Rome to promote his latest bestseller, is stalked by a serial killer who is copying the murders in his book. The film is a series of long set pieces with nubile women (and sometimes not so nubile men) being stalked by an unseen killer, then attacked and wounded briefly before managing to get away running hysterically only to be overpowered finally and slashed to death. Some women are fully clothed while others are in a state of undress in the most improbable way. These scenes are all accompanied by a pulsating synth-heavy score inspired by rock and disco music by the Italian band Goblin.
The detective (Giuliano Gemma) and his cronies are in close pursuit but have no clue whatsoever as between bouts of bad acting the events unfold with repeated twists maintaining suspense right till the end when the killer is revealed and comes to an ironic end. Argento's forte is in creating and maintaining a sense of dread as the killer stalks the victim not unlike how Spielberg staged the scenes with the shark in "Jaws". He uses extremely long takes in open settings often in crowded areas where a number of pedestrians, shoppers, kids intermingle before the killer strikes an often unsuspecting victim. Set in Rome the film surprisingly dispenses with a touristic view with all the action taking place in residential areas or in modern outdoor locations. Argento wanted to show the city's modern touch away from its familiar museum-like outlook. The film memorably uses its production design - intentionally white interiors to contrast starkly with the red blood once the splattering begins - and bright lighting (courtesy of the brilliant cinematographer Luciano Tovoli) which helps to emphasise the graphic murders. This is one of Argento's masterpieces and a must see.
L'avventuriero / The Rover (Terence Young, 1967) 5/10
Odd little Italian film made in English with an international cast seemed to be about pirates on the high seas but instead turned out to be an intimate little drama about a number of very damaged people. A counter revolutionary and former pirate (Anthony Quinn) returns to french soil after years at sea and falls in love with a mentally damaged young woman (Rosanna Schiaffino) harboring a terrible secret from her childhood who in turn loves a french naval officer (Richard Johnson). Rita Hayworth is the young woman's elderly aunt who is secretly in love with the pirate. It's a treat to see Rita reunite with Quinn after 26 years when they both appeared in "Blood and Sand" in which they danced a mean tango. Bleak story is based on a book by Joseph Conrad.
The Lady Vanishes (Anthony Page, 1979) 5/10
Cybill Shepherd, dressed in a white lamé gown, sets the tone for this remake of Alfred Hitchcock's classic 1938 film. It is based on that screenplay by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder and in turn on the 1936 novel The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White. Unfortunately it was someone's decision to direct the leading lady as if she was Carole Lombard in a 1930s screwball comedy which Shepherd perfectly and annoyingly emulates. She is loud, shrill, obnoxious and a pain in the ass from start to finish playing a much-married American madcap heiress traveling on a train in pre-WWII Nazi Germany. An elderly British nanny (Angela Lansbury) seems to have disappeared off the train and everybody seems to deny having seen her. With the help of a wise-cracking American photographer (Elliott Gould) she hopes to get to the bottom of the mystery. The nationality of the leads here have been changed from British to American so the subtle comic and romantic elements that Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood brought to the original film are completely lost in this boistrous exercise in excess. The delightful cricket-mad characters - Charters and Caldicott - desperate to get back to England in time for a match are thankfully retained here and like Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne in the original we get the equally droll Arthur Lowe and Ian Carmichael. The rest of the supporting cast are all well upto mark - Herbert Lom as a sinister doctor, Jean Anderson as a baroness and Vladek Sheybel as a trainmaster. Sadly the two leads let down what could have been a marvelous return to the original source and are repeatedly upstaged by the two cricket loving fans.
The Thirty Nine Steps (Don Sharp, 1978) 7/10
Not a remake of the classic Hitchcock film but an adaptation of John Buchan's novel from which the Hitchcock version diverted. The ending here too diverts from the book with an action set piece involving Big Ben and its 39 steps. A retired British intelligence officer (John Mills) suspects German sleeper spies upto no good in Britain just before WWI and jots down details of what they are planning to do in a diary. When his life is threatened he confides in a visiting South African engineer (Robert Powell) just before he is murdered which gets pinned on the innocent man. A fugitive he manages to escape custody and is chased all over Scotland by the cops and the spies. A superb supporting cast - Eric Porter as a cop, Michele Dotrice as a love interest, David Warner as a deadly spy, Ronald Pickup as a relentless assassin - plus fantastic location work on the Highlands make this a fun chase film.
Married Life (Ira Sachs, 2007) 7/10
Musical chairs amongst the married set circa the 1940s. A middle-aged businessman (Chris Cooper), in love with a much younger war widow (Rachel McAdams), tries to poison his wife (Patricia Clarkson) only to find that he would be lost without her. Meanwhile his best friend (Pierce Brosnan) seduces the mistress and discovers that his wife is also having an affair on the side. Exquisite stylized production feels like a noir made by Douglas Sirk with languid pacing which actually helps the story about characters all caught in a tight embrace involving jealousy, betrayal and an intent to murder. Who knows what goes through the mind of the person who sleeps next to you. That's the intriguing question the film asks.
As with all good gialos there is an abundance of gratuitous female nudity, a flashing razor or an axe, slashed throats or other body parts and fountains of gushing blood. An American writer (Anthony Franciosa), in Rome to promote his latest bestseller, is stalked by a serial killer who is copying the murders in his book. The film is a series of long set pieces with nubile women (and sometimes not so nubile men) being stalked by an unseen killer, then attacked and wounded briefly before managing to get away running hysterically only to be overpowered finally and slashed to death. Some women are fully clothed while others are in a state of undress in the most improbable way. These scenes are all accompanied by a pulsating synth-heavy score inspired by rock and disco music by the Italian band Goblin.
The detective (Giuliano Gemma) and his cronies are in close pursuit but have no clue whatsoever as between bouts of bad acting the events unfold with repeated twists maintaining suspense right till the end when the killer is revealed and comes to an ironic end. Argento's forte is in creating and maintaining a sense of dread as the killer stalks the victim not unlike how Spielberg staged the scenes with the shark in "Jaws". He uses extremely long takes in open settings often in crowded areas where a number of pedestrians, shoppers, kids intermingle before the killer strikes an often unsuspecting victim. Set in Rome the film surprisingly dispenses with a touristic view with all the action taking place in residential areas or in modern outdoor locations. Argento wanted to show the city's modern touch away from its familiar museum-like outlook. The film memorably uses its production design - intentionally white interiors to contrast starkly with the red blood once the splattering begins - and bright lighting (courtesy of the brilliant cinematographer Luciano Tovoli) which helps to emphasise the graphic murders. This is one of Argento's masterpieces and a must see.
L'avventuriero / The Rover (Terence Young, 1967) 5/10
Odd little Italian film made in English with an international cast seemed to be about pirates on the high seas but instead turned out to be an intimate little drama about a number of very damaged people. A counter revolutionary and former pirate (Anthony Quinn) returns to french soil after years at sea and falls in love with a mentally damaged young woman (Rosanna Schiaffino) harboring a terrible secret from her childhood who in turn loves a french naval officer (Richard Johnson). Rita Hayworth is the young woman's elderly aunt who is secretly in love with the pirate. It's a treat to see Rita reunite with Quinn after 26 years when they both appeared in "Blood and Sand" in which they danced a mean tango. Bleak story is based on a book by Joseph Conrad.
The Lady Vanishes (Anthony Page, 1979) 5/10
Cybill Shepherd, dressed in a white lamé gown, sets the tone for this remake of Alfred Hitchcock's classic 1938 film. It is based on that screenplay by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder and in turn on the 1936 novel The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White. Unfortunately it was someone's decision to direct the leading lady as if she was Carole Lombard in a 1930s screwball comedy which Shepherd perfectly and annoyingly emulates. She is loud, shrill, obnoxious and a pain in the ass from start to finish playing a much-married American madcap heiress traveling on a train in pre-WWII Nazi Germany. An elderly British nanny (Angela Lansbury) seems to have disappeared off the train and everybody seems to deny having seen her. With the help of a wise-cracking American photographer (Elliott Gould) she hopes to get to the bottom of the mystery. The nationality of the leads here have been changed from British to American so the subtle comic and romantic elements that Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood brought to the original film are completely lost in this boistrous exercise in excess. The delightful cricket-mad characters - Charters and Caldicott - desperate to get back to England in time for a match are thankfully retained here and like Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne in the original we get the equally droll Arthur Lowe and Ian Carmichael. The rest of the supporting cast are all well upto mark - Herbert Lom as a sinister doctor, Jean Anderson as a baroness and Vladek Sheybel as a trainmaster. Sadly the two leads let down what could have been a marvelous return to the original source and are repeatedly upstaged by the two cricket loving fans.
The Thirty Nine Steps (Don Sharp, 1978) 7/10
Not a remake of the classic Hitchcock film but an adaptation of John Buchan's novel from which the Hitchcock version diverted. The ending here too diverts from the book with an action set piece involving Big Ben and its 39 steps. A retired British intelligence officer (John Mills) suspects German sleeper spies upto no good in Britain just before WWI and jots down details of what they are planning to do in a diary. When his life is threatened he confides in a visiting South African engineer (Robert Powell) just before he is murdered which gets pinned on the innocent man. A fugitive he manages to escape custody and is chased all over Scotland by the cops and the spies. A superb supporting cast - Eric Porter as a cop, Michele Dotrice as a love interest, David Warner as a deadly spy, Ronald Pickup as a relentless assassin - plus fantastic location work on the Highlands make this a fun chase film.
Married Life (Ira Sachs, 2007) 7/10
Musical chairs amongst the married set circa the 1940s. A middle-aged businessman (Chris Cooper), in love with a much younger war widow (Rachel McAdams), tries to poison his wife (Patricia Clarkson) only to find that he would be lost without her. Meanwhile his best friend (Pierce Brosnan) seduces the mistress and discovers that his wife is also having an affair on the side. Exquisite stylized production feels like a noir made by Douglas Sirk with languid pacing which actually helps the story about characters all caught in a tight embrace involving jealousy, betrayal and an intent to murder. Who knows what goes through the mind of the person who sleeps next to you. That's the intriguing question the film asks.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Frances Ha (2012) - 7.5/10 - Greta Gerwig stars as a dancer who is struggling to make a living and advance in her career. She lives with her best friend in Brooklyn, but has to find a new place to live when her roommate decides to move to a more expensive area. The film follows her struggles and relationships with others over a period of time in a fairly low key, but pleasant film.
Birthplace (1992) - 8.5/10 - Henryk Greenberg is an American who was born in Poland who escaped the Holocaust as a young boy, though many of his relatives were not as fortunate. He returns to where he was born to try and find out what he can about the murders of his father and younger brother. It's a very well made and sometimes powerful film.
The Story of Kindness or How to Behave (1987) - 7/10 - This VIetnamese documentary looks at human suffering and the meaning of kindness. It was interesting.
The Quiet Earth (1985) - 8/10 - A New Zealand scientist wakes up one morning and finds that he is apparently the last person on Earth. He tries to find other people without success and eventually starts to lose his sanity until a change occurs in his situation. I thought it was a pretty good science fiction story.
Contratiempo (2016) - 8/10 - A young businessman wakes up in a hotel room with his lover dead and the room locked from the inside as the police arrive to investigate. He is awaiting trial when one of his lawyers shows up to go over the details of the case, including anything that he may have left out of previous testimony. There are a number of twists and turns in an enjoyable locked room mystery.
Over the Garden Wall (2014) - 9/10 - Two brothers get lost in the woods and have a series of adventures as they try to get home. This is a mini-series, but clocks in at just under 2 hours so is also essentially a movie as well. It was very good.
The Three-Sided Mirror (1927) - 6/10 - A wealthy young man falls for three women from different backgrounds (consecutively, not at the same time). There was some interesting imagery in the second half of the film, but overall I thought it was just okay.
Birthplace (1992) - 8.5/10 - Henryk Greenberg is an American who was born in Poland who escaped the Holocaust as a young boy, though many of his relatives were not as fortunate. He returns to where he was born to try and find out what he can about the murders of his father and younger brother. It's a very well made and sometimes powerful film.
The Story of Kindness or How to Behave (1987) - 7/10 - This VIetnamese documentary looks at human suffering and the meaning of kindness. It was interesting.
The Quiet Earth (1985) - 8/10 - A New Zealand scientist wakes up one morning and finds that he is apparently the last person on Earth. He tries to find other people without success and eventually starts to lose his sanity until a change occurs in his situation. I thought it was a pretty good science fiction story.
Contratiempo (2016) - 8/10 - A young businessman wakes up in a hotel room with his lover dead and the room locked from the inside as the police arrive to investigate. He is awaiting trial when one of his lawyers shows up to go over the details of the case, including anything that he may have left out of previous testimony. There are a number of twists and turns in an enjoyable locked room mystery.
Over the Garden Wall (2014) - 9/10 - Two brothers get lost in the woods and have a series of adventures as they try to get home. This is a mini-series, but clocks in at just under 2 hours so is also essentially a movie as well. It was very good.
The Three-Sided Mirror (1927) - 6/10 - A wealthy young man falls for three women from different backgrounds (consecutively, not at the same time). There was some interesting imagery in the second half of the film, but overall I thought it was just okay.
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
They're both great films.gunnar wrote: Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) - 8/10 - An older couple loses their home and the two are separated as they each move in with a different one of their adult children. The children find them to be a burden and make plans to get them out of their home. It's a good film and the situation is a sad one. The children and their spouses definitely seem ungrateful and somewhat uncaring, but I think the couple deserves blame as well with springing the situation on the kids at the last minute when they had ample warning. Unlike Leo McCarey (and probably many others), I prefer The Awful Truth.
The Awful Truth. which is my all-time favorite comedy, was a Depression era hit because it took audiences out of themselves. Make Way for Tomorrow, which is even better, was a colossal flop because the same audiences did not want to be reminded of their everyday real lives.
Although made two years after Social Security became law, Make Way for Tomorrow deals with the way things were for ordinary Americans before social security and before it kicked in for those who were eligible. There are no heroes or villains in the film. The 70-something father, played by 61-year-old Victor Moore, who almost always played ne'er-do-wells, plays one here. He evokes sympathy for his plight but not for his actions. His 70-year-old wife, played by 47-year-old Beulah Bondi in state-of-the-art old age makeup, is blameless. She can be at once annoying and heartbreaking, as in the celebrated scene in which she puts on a brave front that all but stops daughter-in-law Fay Bainter's bridge party cold, but she always evokes sympathy.
Bainter, who was just four years Bondi's junior, plays her put-upon middle-aged daughter-in-law with her customary sad puppy dog eyes, evoking empathy for a character that could just as easily have been played as a villain by a less gifted actress. Bondi and Bainter both had long stage careers, but Bondi was always a character actress. She made her film debut reprising her villainous role in 1931's Street Scene. Bainter, on the other hand, was a major star. Her last Broadway role was as the social climbing wife in the original production of Dodsworth opposite Walter Huston. Make Way for Tomorrow was only her fourth film. Here their roles are reversed to the benefit of both actresses who would go to long screen careers.
The film gives Bondi and Moore a glorious night out on the town reunion before they are separated once again, possibly forever. The ending of the original novel was even more bleak. It ends with Bondi's character standing over her husband's gravesite, one that she would likely soon share.
So, yes, they gave McCarey his first Oscar for the wrong film. That did again when they gave him a second one for Going My Way instead of The Bells of St. Mary's.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
My Darling Clementine (1946) - 8/10 - Henry Fonda stars as Wyatt Earp in this John Ford western based on the shootout at the O.K. Corral. It's got nice performances and good cinematography and is a very good western.
A Matter of Life and Death (1946) - 9/10 - David Niven stars as a British airman named Peter who has to bail out of his airplane without a parachute. The last person he talks to is an American woman named June (Kim Hunter) manning the radio. They fall for each other in their brief time over the airwaves. Due to a mixup in the afterlife, Peter survives and wakes up on a beach the next morning. He quickly locates June, but later discovers that the afterlife wants to rectify their mistake and he must defend his right to stay. Niven and Hunter are each excellent as is the supporting cast. It's a very nice film.
L'Age d'or (1930) - 7/10 - An odd surrealist film that was strange, but somewhat compelling.
Fantastic Planet (1973) - 8/10 - On a distant planet, giant blue humanoids keep small Oms (humans) as pets. A few of the blue aliens think that Oms may be more advanced than just mere pets, but the majority treat tame Oms as pets and wild Oms as pests to be exterminated. Things start to change when one tame Om escapes with a learning device. This was a pretty nice animated film.
Posle smerti (1915) - 7/10 - Andrei lives with his aunt and doesn't get out much. His friend takes him to see a well known actress performa and he finds her interesting. He becomes obsessed with her a few months later after she dies. It started out a bit sow, but was decent overall.
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) - 7/10 - In 1900, a group of schoolgirls visit Hanging Rock for a picnic. Some of them decide to climb the rock and are not seen again. Search parties are sent out as the stories of witnesses come out. I thought it wasn't bad, but I may not have been in the proper frame of mind to appreciate it more.
L'Atalante (1934) - 8/10 - Jean is a barge captain on the Seine and when he marries Juliette, a girl from a small town, he brings her on board to live. Juliette adapts to barge life, but really wants to see Paris, but Jean gets jealous whenever she shows any attention to other men, including members of his crew. This was a pretty nice feature.
Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) - 8/10 - An older couple loses their home and the two are separated as they each move in with a different one of their adult children. The children find them to be a burden and make plans to get them out of their home. It's a good film and the situation is a sad one. The children and their spouses definitely seem ungrateful and somewhat uncaring, but I think the couple deserves blame as well with springing the situation on the kids at the last minute when they had ample warning. Unlike Leo McCarey (and probably many others), I prefer The Awful Truth.
Quixote (1965) - 8/10 - This film was shot by Bruce Baillie during a cross country trip and is presented without narration. It provides a slice of life view of the U.S. at this time and is also interesting in the way the scenes cut from one to the next and perhaps some subtle (or not so subtle) commentary along the way. I enjoyed it.
A Matter of Life and Death (1946) - 9/10 - David Niven stars as a British airman named Peter who has to bail out of his airplane without a parachute. The last person he talks to is an American woman named June (Kim Hunter) manning the radio. They fall for each other in their brief time over the airwaves. Due to a mixup in the afterlife, Peter survives and wakes up on a beach the next morning. He quickly locates June, but later discovers that the afterlife wants to rectify their mistake and he must defend his right to stay. Niven and Hunter are each excellent as is the supporting cast. It's a very nice film.
L'Age d'or (1930) - 7/10 - An odd surrealist film that was strange, but somewhat compelling.
Fantastic Planet (1973) - 8/10 - On a distant planet, giant blue humanoids keep small Oms (humans) as pets. A few of the blue aliens think that Oms may be more advanced than just mere pets, but the majority treat tame Oms as pets and wild Oms as pests to be exterminated. Things start to change when one tame Om escapes with a learning device. This was a pretty nice animated film.
Posle smerti (1915) - 7/10 - Andrei lives with his aunt and doesn't get out much. His friend takes him to see a well known actress performa and he finds her interesting. He becomes obsessed with her a few months later after she dies. It started out a bit sow, but was decent overall.
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) - 7/10 - In 1900, a group of schoolgirls visit Hanging Rock for a picnic. Some of them decide to climb the rock and are not seen again. Search parties are sent out as the stories of witnesses come out. I thought it wasn't bad, but I may not have been in the proper frame of mind to appreciate it more.
L'Atalante (1934) - 8/10 - Jean is a barge captain on the Seine and when he marries Juliette, a girl from a small town, he brings her on board to live. Juliette adapts to barge life, but really wants to see Paris, but Jean gets jealous whenever she shows any attention to other men, including members of his crew. This was a pretty nice feature.
Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) - 8/10 - An older couple loses their home and the two are separated as they each move in with a different one of their adult children. The children find them to be a burden and make plans to get them out of their home. It's a good film and the situation is a sad one. The children and their spouses definitely seem ungrateful and somewhat uncaring, but I think the couple deserves blame as well with springing the situation on the kids at the last minute when they had ample warning. Unlike Leo McCarey (and probably many others), I prefer The Awful Truth.
Quixote (1965) - 8/10 - This film was shot by Bruce Baillie during a cross country trip and is presented without narration. It provides a slice of life view of the U.S. at this time and is also interesting in the way the scenes cut from one to the next and perhaps some subtle (or not so subtle) commentary along the way. I enjoyed it.
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Big Magilla
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Had the film been in contention for the 1942 Oscars, I would still have given it to James Cagney for Yankee Doodle Dandy, but for 1943 he should have won, though I can understand why Paul Lukas' patriot won over Bogart's cynic in the day.
I would still have voted for Charles Coburn in The More the Merrier, Rains would be my pick for Notorious three years laer.
I would still have voted for Charles Coburn in The More the Merrier, Rains would be my pick for Notorious three years laer.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
And by the 10th time and beyond you still find the film amazing and continue to wonder why both Bogart and Claude Rains did not win Oscars.Big Magilla wrote:When I first saw this, probably in the 1960s, I couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. The clichés were old when the film was made, but it grows on you. By the third or fourth go-around you can say Bogie's lines before he does. By the sixth or seventh, you can say everyone's else's as well.gunnar wrote:Casablanca (1942) - 8/10 - I decided to rewatch this film since I was a bit underwhelmed when I watched it a long time ago. I enjoyed the film a lot more this time around.