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

[Reza]

In Our Time (Vincent Sherman, 1944) 7/10

WWII story set in Warsaw just before and after Poland was invaded. The intensely romantic screenplay also touches on class distinction, strong held traditions by the aristocracy and their forced adjustment to the changes brought about by war. A companion (Ida Lupino) to a vulgar antique dealer (Mary Boland) catches the eye of a Count (Paul Henreid) and they fall in love. Their union is strongly opposed by his mother (Alla Nazimova), sister (Nancy Coleman) and uncle (Victor Francen). Their lives are forever changed once the country is invaded by the Germans. Erratic film has it's fingers in too many pots but at it's center is a strong effort to make America aware about the plight of Poland not unlike how the film "Mrs Miniver" spoke up for England. The film's inspirational lines about fighting for the future prove ironic considering Poland's fate later under communism. Well acted rousing propaganda film with the two leads in fine form.

[Reza]

The Lady and the Mob (Benjamin Stoloff, 1939) 6/10

Amusing if rather silly farcical comedy with Fay Bainter, as an old society dame, taking on racketeers to uphold American values. Bainter is great fun as the dizzy woman matching wits with crooks and her prospective daughter-in-law (Ida Lupino). She even gets to make a patriotic speech declaring that America will never tolerate a dictator - with the World at war the script writers decided to throw in a jibe at Hitler. Lighthearted harmless fluff allowing Bainter the chance to let loose after a string of dramatic performances.

[Reza]

Deep Valley (Jean Negulesco, 1947) 8/10

Superior melodrama, one of many wonderful B-pictures from Warner Brothers, has outstanding atmosphere. A stuttering, long-suffering girl (Ida Lupino) lives with her un-loving embittered parents (Henry Hull & Fay Bainter) in a shack in the wilderness. She keeps busy with her dog going for walks and staring at a group of prisoners constructing a highway next to the sea - the film has glimpses of the famous Pacific Coast Highway under construction. When a prisoner (Dane Clark) escapes she provides shelter by running away with him to a cabin in the forest. Love blossoms between the two and is a brief respite for them before the police close in. Lupino's luminous performance gives this intense and moody melodrama a lift and the romantic scenes with Clark are superbly acted by both. Despite the bleak and downbeat plot this is a superb little film that needs to be rediscovered. Lupino's last film at the studio is superbly shot by Ted McCord and scored by the great Max Steiner.

[Reza]

Faithless (Harry Beaumont, 1932) 5/10

Bankhead is miscast as an irresponsible heiress who loves a poor man (Robert Montgomery), loses all her money, marries him and resorts to prostitution to keep them living when he loses his job. Dreary MGM pre-code film is made bearable by the two stars who have great chemistry.

[Reza]

Thunder Below (Richard Wallace, 1932) 7/10

Steamy pre-code has sexy Tallulah Bankhead driving three men wild in the jungle - her macho, egotistical and uncouth husband (Charles Bickford), his friend and assistant (Paul Lukas) and a competitor (Ralph Forbes) in the oil business. Pure nonsense is an excuse for Bankhead to use her whiskey-soaked voice to charm and two-time her husband who is going blind. All six of the star's melodramas during this period (1931-32) seemed cut from the same cloth but her vivacious over-the-top personality, frank sexuality and tough demeanor make these films seem fresh and still very modern.

[Reza]

Happy Death Day (Christopher Landon, 2017) 1/10

A self centered student is brutally killed on a college campus by a masked person and gets to relive the murder over and over again until she can find who killed her. Extremely stupid slasher film with shades of "Groundhog Day" and a whiff of "Irreversible". Violent and bloody film has a very lame explanation at the denouement as to why she was murdered in the first place. Mindless trash.

[Precious Doll]

Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017) S. Craig Zahler 2/10
The Man With the Iron Heart (2017) Cedric Jimenez 1/10
The Room (2003) Tommy Wiseau 1/10
Swinging Safari (2018) Stephan Elliott 2/10
We Don't Need a Map (2018) Warwick Thornton 4/10

Repeat viewings

A Summer Place (1959) Delmer Daves 7/10
The Rain People (1969) Francis Ford Coppola 6/10
The Warriors (1979) Walter Hill 4/10
Rollerball (1975) Norman Jewison 4/10
The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005) Jacques Audiard 4/10
Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971) Roger Vadim 4/10
At Long Last Love (1975) Peter Bogdanovich 3/10

[mlrg]

Darkest Hour - 4/10
The Florida Project - 3/10
I, Tonya - 5/10

[Precious Doll]

Sweet Country (2018) Warwick Thornton 7/10
Logan (2017) James Mangold 3/10
The Suspect (2013) Shin-yeon Won 1/10
That Day, On the Beach (1983) Edward Yang 7/10
Phantom Thread (2017) Paul Thomas Anderson 8/10
A Single Rider (2017) Zoo Young Lee 3/10
Yourself and Yours (2016) Sang-soo Hong 6/10

Repeat viewings

Prince of the City (1981) Sidney Lumet 7/10
The Edge of Love (2008) John Maybury 6/10
Trapeze (1956) Carol Reed 5/10
Kid Galahad (1937) Michael Curtiz 6/10
The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) Laurence Olivier 6/10
Blue Collar (1978) Paul Schrader 8/10
A Violent Life (1962) Paolo Heusch & Brunetto Rondi 7/10

[Precious Doll]

Mary and the Witch's Flower (2017) Hiromasa Yonebayashi 5/10
Ferdinand (2017) Carlos Saldanha 4/10
I, Tonya (2017) Craig Gillespie 1/10
Kong: Skull Island (2017) Jordan Vogt-Roberts 2/10
Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017) James Gunn 2/10
Big Little Lies (2017) Jean-Marc Vallee 7/10
The Boss Baby (2017) Tom McGrath 3/10

Repeat viewings

Rich and Famous (1981) George Cukor 4/10
Funny Face (1957) Stanley Donen 7/10
Anastasia (1956) Anatole Litvak 8/10
Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street (1973) Samuel Fuller 4/10
You're a Big Boy Now (1966) Francis Ford Coppola 6/10
The Outsider (1979) Tony Luraschi 6/10
Fatal Attraction (1987) Adrien Lyne 7/10

[Precious Doll]

Darkest Hour (2017) Joe Wright 2/10
The Greatest Showman (2017) Michael Gracey 1/10
War for the Plant of the Apes (2017) Matt Reeves 2/10
The Shape of Water (2017) Guillermo del Toro 9/10

Repeat viewings

Portrait of a Lady (1996) Jane Campion 9/10
The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949) Preston Sturges 5/10
Spoor (2017) Agnieszka Holland & Kasia Adamik 8/10
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) W. D. Richter 6/10
Edvard Munch (1974) Peter Watkins 9/10

[Precious Doll]

The Legend of the Demon Cat (2017) Kaige Chen 1/10
The Void (2017) Jeremy Gillespie & Steven Kostanski 1/10
The Villainess (2017) Byung-gil Jung 4/10
Unlocked (2017) Michael Apted 2/10
The Post (2017) Steven Spielberg 4/10
Coco (2017) Lee Unkrich & Adrian Molina 7/10
On the Road (2017) Michael Winterbottom 4/10
The Long Night of Francisco Sanctis (2016) Francisco Marquez & Andrea Testa 4/10

Repeat viewings

La Cienaga (2001) Lucretia Matel 7/10
Flash Gordon (1980) Mike Hodges 4/10
Quest For Fire (1981) Jean-Jacaues Annaud 6/10
Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965) Joseph Cates 6/10
Jules and Jim (1962) Francois Truffaut 7/10
84 Charing Cross Road (1987) David Jones 6/10

[Reza]

The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro, 2017) 6/10

Guillermo del Toro's film, inspired by his love for the 1950s schlock film "Creature From the Black Lagoon", fits right into the hysterical mood prevailing in Hollywood USA. The screenplay not only takes "diversity" to kinky heights but touches strongly on sexual harrassment, racism, female empowerment and America's favourite obsession - paranoid anti-communism. Where del Toro succeeds in spades is through the brilliant period recreation of early 1960s Cold War era Baltimore via the film's production design, cinematography which bathes the film in hues of green and the romantic music score by Alexander Desplat. The simplistic plot is pure fantasy - an amphibious creature is being kept at a secret laboratory run by a sadistic scientist (Michael Shannon) who wants to dissect the creature. The Russians want to save it for their own reasons - some nonsense about wanting the creature for space travel or something. Before either of them can make a move the creature is kidnapped by a lonely mute janitor (Sally Hawkins) who develops feelings for the strapping creature. Helping in her mission is a fellow janitor (Octavia Spencer) and her neighbour (Richard Jenkins). The romantic aspect of the plot - the mute woman has sex with the creature - is not only absurd but seems to be making obvious points on race and diversity. Well acted film about two lonely individuals who find solace in each other is basically an excuse for del Toro to create superb visuals which stand out long after this rather silly film is over.

[Precious Doll]

Loving Vincent (2017) Dorota Kobiela & Hugh Welchman 5/10
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) Martin McDonagh 4/10
The Wound (2017) John Trengove 7/10
The Lovers (2017) Azazel Jacobs 6/10
All the Money in the World (2017) Ridley Scott 6/10

Repeat viewings

Full Metal Jacket (1987) Stanley Kubrick 6/10
Slap Shot (1977) George Roy Hill 5/10
Easy Living (1937) Mitchell Leisen 6/10
A New Leaf (1971) Elaine May 6/10
Gimmie Shelter (1970) Albert Maysles, David Maysles & Charlotte Zwerin 8/10
Nighthawks (1978) Ron Peck 8/10
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) John Sturgess 6/10

[Reza]

The Florida Project (Sean Baker, 2017) 9/10

Sean Baker's remarkable cinéma vérité-like film appears to be partially improvised especially most of the scenes with the young kids. Set in a seedy motel in Florida, the plot follows a 6-year old girl living with her rebellious mother who makes ends meet by scraping together a living by various petty schemes - hawking perfumes to tourists, stealing and prostitution. Her daughter, along with two other children, spend the whole day unsupervised exploring the neighborhood and getting into mischief. Helping the woman and her child get out of scrapes with the law is the gruff but decent manager (Willem Dafoe) of the motel. Sad but empathetic look at a section of society in America that does not figure prominently in mainstream films. This story is superbly acted, directed, photographed and edited and is one of the year's best films.