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

[Precious Doll]

Burn Burn Burn (2016) Chanya Button 3/10
Shepherds and Butchers (2016) Oliver Schmitz 4/10
Closet Monster (2016) Stephen Dunn 6/10
Lion (2016) Garth Davis 5/10
Kalinka (2016) Vincent Garenq 3/10
The Ardennes (2015) Robin Pront 3/10
Ethel & Ernest (2016) Robert Mainwood 6/10
Chocolat (2016) Roschdy Zem 4/10

Repeat viewings

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) Albert Lewin 9/10
Thief (1981) Michael Mann 6/10 (Director's cut)
Tootsie (1982) Sydney Pollack 7/10
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951) Albert Lewin 8/10
The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976) Charles B. Pierce 6/10
Fear City (1984) Abel Ferrara 7/10 (Director's cut)
Animal Farm (1954) Joy Batchelor & John Halas 10/10

[Reza]

Remorques / Stormy Waters (Jean Grémillon, 1941) 7/10

The star of the film is the raging ocean. Grémillon's film had a troubled production which started production in 1939, finished and released in 1941 when the Vichy government was in power and both stars - Gabin and Morgan - had left for Hollywood to escape the Nazis. All the shots with the boats on the sea were filmed at the end and the film was hastily completed. A tugboat captain (Jean Gabin), married to a clingy and unwell wife (Madeleine Renaud), has an affair with a magnetic, unhappily married woman (Michéle Morgan) of another boat's captain whom he rescues during a terrible storm. The film has exciting scenes on the wild seas of a ship's rescue but it really comes alive during the romantic interludes with the two jaded lovers both vulnerable and passionate in their mutual guilt. Not withstanding the potholes in the screenplay (adapted by Jacques Prévert) - and the mystery of Morgan's hair that keeps switching from brunette to blonde - this is a seminal film in a long list of french classics by great directors working at their peak during the 1930s and 1940s.

[Reza]

Naked Alibi (Jerry Hopper, 1954) 8/10

Cat-and-mouse game between a cop (Sterling Hayden) and a baker (Gene Barry) who is suspected of having killed three detectives. Tautly directed film ends up in a small seedy Mexican town south of the border. Gloria Grahame is the woman who gets caught between the two men. Low budget noir (photographed by Russell Metty) packs a punch with it's atmosphere and strong performances by the three leads - a tough but sensitive Hayden, a psychotic turn by Barry and the incredibly sexy Grahame who sings, pouts gets slapped around and gives the film just the right touch of oomph.

[Reza]

Night Must Fall (Karel Reisz, 1964) 9/10

Emlyn Williams old play gets a modern remake with an emphasis on the division of the class structure in Britain. A working class lad, who has "mommy issues", is a psychotic murderer - he carries his latest victim's head in a hat box - and gets employed as a handyman at the country cottage of an invalid old woman (Mona Washbourne) who lives with her posh young daughter (Susan Hampshire). The part time maid (Sheila Hancock) is the lad's girlfriend but soon he charms the other two ladies - the older one develops a possessive crush on him while the daughter is sexually excited by the virile young man. As expected the denouement involves a grand guignol moment which happens off camera although Reisz keeps the suspense going with sharp editing, a loud ominous score, odd camera angles (photographed superbly by Freddie Francis) and especially through Finney's magnificent performance. The actor takes the part and runs with it - part ham, part pathetic, part evil, part gleeful - and combines it all to create a sexually mesmerising character who manipulates all three women to his own advantage. He is matched in the acting stakes by Washbourne as the silly old lady who finds herself sexually awakening to the young man's attentions although she can be very abrupt in keeping him in place by making clear their class differences. This is a must-see and a forgotten film that needs to be rediscovered.

[Reza]

Impasse des deux anges / Dilemma of Two Angels (Maurice Tourneur, 1948) 8/10

Maurice Tourneur's last film was not a success but is superbly atmospheric and is one of the early french film noirs. As with most of his great films this one has immense style highlighted by an emphasis of his signature traits in set design and lighting (photographed by the great Claude Renoir). A famous music hall actress (Simone Signoret) decides to give up the theater when she is proposed by a rich man (Marcel Herrand). He gives her a diamond necklace once owned by Louis XIV. A gang of thieves hire a mysterious man (Paul Meurisse) to steal the valuable necklace and while in the woman's house she recognises him to be her former lover who disappeared many years ago. They go for a walk to catch up on their lives while being actively pursued by two hit men from the gang. A series of encounters - with a young girl who helps them escape and a young man who pulls a gun on them - are the only bits of "action" in what is basically a memory piece as the two former lovers catch up on missed opportunities and come to a realisation that time has marched on and their lives can never be entwined anymore. The two stars are superb - witty Signoret and clenched up Meurisse, who's silent eyes betray his love for her. This was their first of three pairings on screen and they would go on to co-star in Clouzot's memorable "Les Diaboliques". The film's memorable ironic ending gives it the final noir touch.

[Reza]

Passengers (Morten Tyldum, 2016) 2/10

Crappy, sleep enducing sci-fi recycles plot-points and atmosphere from various old films - 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Event Horizon (1997), Gravity (2013) and even The Shining (1980) - in an attempt to create something "new". Stranded on a sinking ship are two characters who come together through a mean twist of fate. An enormous spaceship is enroute to a distant planet to be colonised by the 6,000 passengers on board who are in suspended hibernation - the journey is to take a 100 years. A computer malfunction awakens a hunk (bland Chris Pratt) who after a year in solitary isolation decides to wake up a babe (Jennifer Lawrence) to keep him company - she later accuses him of "murdering" her. They have the massive spaceship - like a vast empty shopping mall - all to themselves. The only other person to chat to is a robot (Michael Sheen) who tends the bar - these sequences are straight out of the old Kubrick horror film but minus the menace. The film finally jump starts with the awakening of another passenger (Laurence Fishburne) who is a mere plot point to give direction on how to save the space ship which is about to self destruct. Assorted heroics ensue with one breathtaking zero gravity set piece of Lawrence swimming underwater when all hell breaks loose. The story is presented like a rom-com and despite the various perils depicted the screenplay lacks a real sense of danger. The two stars do have chemistry with Lawrence outshining her male co-star - did I mention Pratt is bland? The film's minimalist production design is the real star. The film, unfortunately, is a misfire best to be avoided.

[Reza]

Aloha (Cameron Crowe, 2015) 2/10

A military contractor (Bradley Cooper) returns to Hawaii, reconnects with a married old flame (Rachel McAdams), falls in love with the Air Force officer (Emma Stone) assigned to watch over him and meets up with his billionaire wacky boss (Bill Murray channeling Lex Luthor) who plans to launch his own satellite. Neither of the two central plots jive together - as a rom-com it's stale and when the satellite is discovered to have nuclear warheads the plot veers off into absurd territory - a Bond spoof gone wrong - which makes no sense. This is Cameron Crowe at rock bottom with characters acting "cute" - John Krasinski, as McAdams husband, is particularly ingratiating in his attempts to project his feelings via silent mind messages. The screenplay adds an illegitimate child to this boring potpourri along with an hysterical General (a sputtering Alec Baldwin). McAdams comes off best giving the most natural performance. Cooper looks confused throughout while Stone is stiff in her attempts to act puppy-dog cute. A crashing bore set amongst the lovely greenery of Hawaii.

[Reza]

Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) 7/10

You can't really go wrong with a film set in lovely Tuscany with Diane Lane front and centre. A pure Hollywood fantasy - romantic, charming, sad, funny and also very corny - based on a book where the author actually ended up buying a rundown villa in Tuscany with her fiancé. In the movie version she is a writer (Diane Lane), depressed after her divorce, who gets a chance to go on a trip to Italy where she ends up buying an old villa, renovating it, meeting a bunch of lovable eccentric people - there are the clumsy Polish men who help in the renovation, the large family next door, assorted hunks with one of whom (Raoul Bova) she has a bittersweet fling, a cute teenage couple madly in love, the lesbian friend (Sandra Oh) from back home who arrives to give birth to her baby and the flamboyant mystery lady (Lindsay Duncan) wearing dramatic hats and billowy dresses who pops in at various moments to give sage advice and who claims to have met Fellini years before - there is a scene where she cavorts in a fountain wearing a tight black dress â la Anita Ekberg. They all help to bring back meaning into the life of the lonely and sad writer. The film is riddled with clichés - this film is to Diane Lane what "Pretty Woman" was to Julia Roberts - only less successful. Lane is wonderful of course and the camera is obviously in love with her and as she wanders through Italy we the audience get to travel with her from Rome to Florence to Positano to Salerno to Cortona to Siena. This chick flick travelogue makes one hell of a fantasy vacation.

[Reza]

The Games (Michael Winner, 1970) 7/10

Four marathon runners from different parts of the world - a British milkman (Michael Crawford), a veteren Czech (Charles Aznavour), an American jock (Ryan O'Neal) and an Australian Aboriginie (Athol Compton) - prepare to run for the Rome Olympics in 1960. Little seen early film by Michael Winner with a fascinating supporting cast playing flamboyant characters - Stanley Baker as a gay coach, Jeremy Kemp as a racist coach, Sam Elliott, Kent Smith, Mona Washbourne and a bevy of beauties - Elaine Taylor, Leigh Taylor-Young, Stephanie Beacham - playing assorted girlfriends. Winner not only exposes the political nature of the Olympics but films the actual marathon from the inside allowing the audience to be in the thick of the event. The screenplay is amusing in it's political incorrectness and full of racially insensitive remarks but also provides an interesting slice-of-life look at these men from vastly different backgrounds. A little gem that needs to be re-discovered.

[Reza]

Nothing But the Best (Clive Donner, 1964) 7/10

An ambitious young man (Alan Bates) not only finds a way (murder) to move up the corporate ladder but also finds a way via a dapper drunk (a brilliant Denholm Elliott) to move up in class by eyeing his boss's (Harry Andrews) position and daughter (the delicious Millicent Martin who also sings the title song). Very funny and perverse black comedy about class structure with a witty script by Frederick Raphael, gorgeous color cinematography by Nicolas Roeg and breezy direction by Donner. Bates was on a roll during the swinging 60s playing in an assortment of memorable films.

[Reza]

Fences (Denzel Washington, 2016) 6/10

August Wilson's play, which won the top Tony awards in 1987 on Broadway, finally reaches the big screen. Denzel Washinton directs this screen version after he himself appeared on stage (along with Viola Davis) in a recent Broadway revival which won Tonys for both stars. Troy (Denzel Washington) is a garbage collector in Pittsburgh who nurses faded dreams of a baseball career which never took off due to a color barrier. He has also spent a jail sentence in his youth for accidently killing a man. He has been married for 18 years to Rose (Viola Davis) and lives with their son Cory (Jovan Adepo) in a modest little home in the suburbs. His older musician son Lyons (Russell Hornsby) from his first marriage, his best friend from work Bono (Stephen Henderson) and his brain damaged brother Gabriel (Mykelti Williamson) round out the people in his life. Bitter and stubborn he alienates his younger son by not allowing him to take a football scholarship for fear of racial discrimination, ridicules his older son for not having a steady job and informs his wife that he has been having an affair with another woman who is pregnant with their child. The film is a series of confrontations between Troy and the other characters which Washington tries to open up unsuccessfully from it's stage environs. It remains a showcase for the two stars and basically preserves their acclaimed stage performances on film. Washington has the role down pat and carries the film on his shoulders playing a proud black man with a massive chip on his shoulder the result of which he proceeds to destroy his family via his resentments. Davis matches him every step of the way as his loving wife who is shattered to find that she has been deceived by the man she loved and with whom she had stood by through years of hard times. She is proud yet heartbreaking in the scene where she retaliates at her husband in anguish. It is a long film, stagy but has two very moving performances at the center.

[Reza]

A Hard Day's Night (Richard Lester, 1964) 10/10

The phenomenon that was the Beatles - John, Paul, George & Ringo - is here captured inventively by Richard Lester as the Oscar nominated screenplay captures 36 hours in their life making this the perfect record of Beatlemania. Seemingly improvised with Lester's use of French New Wave jump cuts stunningly photographed by Gilbert Taylor in stark black and white. The four musicians are mobbed by hysterical fans as they board a train to London with Paul's randy grandfather (Wilfred Brambell). Cavorting all over London to the tune of their numerous classic tunes the foursome are in town to make a live studio appearance where their compulsive improvisitions cause major consternation for the tv director (Victor Spinetti). Smart, irreverant and electrifying, the film is one of the great rock and roll films with the Fab Four ushering in the swinging sixties with their uber cool personas. The closing scene where they sing "She Loves You" to screaming fans is a time capsule moment of the frenzy they caused whenever they appeared and it's perfectly captured here by Lester in all it's joyous life affirming moment.

[Reza]

Hacksaw Ridge (Mel Gibson, 2016) 8/10

Gibson's directorial return to the screen after 10 years effortlessly creates one of the best war films which he shot on Australian soil with a mostly Aussie cast and crew. The true story of WWII conscientious objector, US army medic Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield), who demonstrated extreme bravery under enemy fire without killing anyone and won the Medal of Honor. The film begins in conventional manner - Doss growing up in rural Virginia with an abusive and alcoholic father (Hugo Weaving), loving mother (Rachel Griffiths) with his strong Christian beliefs. A corny but charming romance with a young nurse (Teresa Palmer) followed by a stint with bootcamp training (Vince Vaughn is the witty sergeant), his court-martial for refusing to lift arms and reinstatement into the army leads the plot into the brutal Battle of Okinawa sequence set in the Pacific. It is here that Gibson excels in scene after scene of excessive mayhem that is war. This sequence - superbly choreographed almost like a horror film - rivals the opening Allied landing in Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" with moments of sheer horror as men die horrifically with limbs torn apart as Doss and his unit wade through mutilated corpses. Garfield, playing the "ornery" Doss with a perpetual grin on his face, gives a superb performance. He is endearing, kind and extremely likeable. An everyman we can easily identify with and root for. The character's final redemption is also Gibson's in this epic film which should finally lay to rest the actor-director's past "indiscretions" and give him a new lease of life in Hollywood.

[Reza]

Le Diable au Corps / The Devil in the Flesh (Claude Autant-Lara, 1947) 9/10

Swooningly romantic story based on a scandalous novel by Raymond Radiguet - very modern in theme - which caused eyebrows to be raised and censors to quiver back then. The film also made huge romantic stars of both leads. During WWI a 25 year old voluntary nurse (Micheline Presle), first engaged and then married to a soldier away at the front, has a passionate affair with a 17 year old student (Gérard Philipe) causing an uproar in their community. The stars were both the same age but Philipe's scrawny appearance makes him look younger than Presle. The lovers revel in the world they have created for themselves and innocently flaunt their passion without a care in the world. Deep down both know the relationship will not last but they continue to meet - he all but moves into her apartment with Autant-Lara's camera following their every touch and kiss and discreetly moving towards the fireplace as the lovers consumate their passion. The tragic ending - it wouldn't have been effective if the ending hadn't been tragic - leaves the young man sad but mature. One of the great romantic films.

[Reza]

Collide (Eran Creevy, 2016) 2/10

A young man (Nicholas Hoult) gets involved with a gang of drug smugglers in order to get money for a kidney transplant for his girlfriend (Felicity Jones). Absurd plot has car chases and crashes on the German autobahn, two leads who have zero chemistry and two former Oscar winning knights - Sir Ben Kingsley & Sir Anthony Hopkins as rival mobsters - in competition to see who can out ham the other. Absolute trash.