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

[Reza]

Hereditary (Ari Aster, 2018) 2/10

Ludicrous horror film gets full marks for the audacity of it's images. Too bad all the images have a pungent whiff of deja vu. Didn't the studio have the sense to tell director and screenwriter Ari Aster that "less is more" and he should never have been allowed to present this piece of claptrap which is nothing but a "greatest hits" version of the horror genre. It's shocking that this film is being taken seriously by critics and being touted for awards. Have these critics been asleep for the last fifty years? Have they not seen "Rosemary's Baby", "The Exorcist", "The Wicker Man", "The Omen" or even second rate films like "Burnt Offerings" and "The Amityville Horror"? Clearly not. A matriarch dies and soon things start to go bump in the house causing mayhem for the family she leaves behind - her daughter and husband (Toni Collette and Gabriel Byrne) and their two kids (Alex Wolff and Milly Shapiro). Soon we get a decapitation with a view of the head buzzing with flies, acute body distortions, hysterical seancés, characters levitating and being burnt alive, overheated dream sequences and a lot of very loud screaming and wailing. The latter is courtesy of Toni Collette who gives a no-holds-barred physical performance consisting of hideous facial tics, body contortions, excessive shouting and hand waving. It has to be one of the worst performances ever by an actress. It is beyond camp and one wonders if she was insane to have participated in this messy film - one that is totally devoid of scares although it tries its utmost to create a feeling of dread via it's loud score, camera placement and sound design. Awful, awful film that should be avoided and every critic who has compared this film to "The Exorcist" should be shot.

[Precious Doll]

Probably my last posting for about 5 to 6 weeks as I'm on holidays (which is odd to even say because I no longer work anyway) and it's unlikely I'll see anything much whilst I'm away.

Actually, the new films below were all viewed on the flight(s). They (Singapore Airlines) had a great selection to choose from and the picture and sound quality were excellent with good sized screens. Wish what I selected had been better but all that viewing made the journey seem much shorter and besides it will probably be the only opportunity for me to ever see some of the films.

The Seagull (2018) Michael Meyer 4/10
Please Stand By (2018) Ben Lewin 3/10
Backstabbing for Beginners (2018) Per Fly 4/10
La Villa (2017) Robert Guédiguian 4/10
The Prayer (2018) Cedric Kahn 4/10
Anon (2018) Andrew Nicol 2/10

Repeating viewings

Random Harvest (1942) Mervyn LeRoy 10/10
The Journey of Natty Gann (1985) Jeremy Kagan 7/10

[Precious Doll]

Mirai (2018) Mamoru Hosoda 5/10
The Happytime Murders (2018) Brian Henson 5/10
Resurrection (1931) Edwin Carewe 4/10
Crazy Rich Asians (2018) Jon M. Chu 5/10
Beast (2018) Michael Pearce 7/10

Repeat viewings

Pride and Prejudice (1940) Robert Z. Leonard 10/10
Images (1972) Robert Altman 9/10
Fury (1936) Fritz Lang 7/10
The Jane Austin Book Club (2007) Robin Swicord 7/10
Touch of Sin (2013) Zhangke Jia 8/10

[ITALIANO]

Volver a empezar / Begin the Beguine / To Begin Again (José Luis Garci, 1982) 5/10

Warm bittersweet memory piece is a bore and still managed to win the Oscar for best foreign film (Spain's first). An old man (Antonio Ferrandis) returns to his old hometown Gijon after going into exile during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. He has lived all these years in the United States and has recently won the Nobel prize in Literature. The film is a series (of very slow) vignettes as he connects with an old flame and an old buddy. He is harboring a secret which he tells his friend but does not mention to the lady. Unfortunately the film's poignant scenes are intercut with silly comic scenes involving the hotel manager who is over excited once he realises the old man is a celebrity. The film is bathed in a romantic aura due to the soundtrack - both Johann Pachelbel's "Canon in D Major" and Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" are played ad nauseam throughout. Sentimental fluff.

Yes, this was one of the most embarassing Foreign Film wins ever (and, I mean, God knows there have been several especially in that category). Such a non-entity of a movie - delicate to the point of being unsubstantial. And it's not like that year there weren't far more deserving, if probably edgier, candidates, both nominated (France) and just submitted (Italy, Germany).

I agree, it was a weird, mediocre choice, especially considering other good Spanish films that didn’t manage to win before Volver a empezar did. There’s a particularly embarrassing scene involving a telephone call with the King. I cringe every time I see that. Nevertheless I am somewhat fond of the movie, because it was shot 20 minutes away from my hometown, in this beautiful Cantabric coast in the North of Spain, and I think the movie captures really well the sense of Gijón and Asturias in the early 80s, its people and environment.

Yes, the location is very nice.

[CalWilliam]

Volver a empezar / Begin the Beguine / To Begin Again (José Luis Garci, 1982) 5/10

Warm bittersweet memory piece is a bore and still managed to win the Oscar for best foreign film (Spain's first). An old man (Antonio Ferrandis) returns to his old hometown Gijon after going into exile during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. He has lived all these years in the United States and has recently won the Nobel prize in Literature. The film is a series (of very slow) vignettes as he connects with an old flame and an old buddy. He is harboring a secret which he tells his friend but does not mention to the lady. Unfortunately the film's poignant scenes are intercut with silly comic scenes involving the hotel manager who is over excited once he realises the old man is a celebrity. The film is bathed in a romantic aura due to the soundtrack - both Johann Pachelbel's "Canon in D Major" and Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" are played ad nauseam throughout. Sentimental fluff.

Yes, this was one of the most embarassing Foreign Film wins ever (and, I mean, God knows there have been several especially in that category). Such a non-entity of a movie - delicate to the point of being unsubstantial. And it's not like that year there weren't far more deserving, if probably edgier, candidates, both nominated (France) and just submitted (Italy, Germany).

I agree, it was a weird, mediocre choice, especially considering other good Spanish films that didn’t manage to win before Volver a empezar did. There’s a particularly embarrassing scene involving a telephone call with the King. I cringe every time I see that. Nevertheless I am somewhat fond of the movie, because it was shot 20 minutes away from my hometown, in this beautiful Cantabric coast in the North of Spain, and I think the movie captures really well the sense of Gijón and Asturias in the early 80s, its people and environment.

[Precious Doll]

To Begin Again was a very much WFT win. The other nominees were weak too.

I was not a fan of Bertrand Tavernier's Coup de Torchon, probably the most highly regarded of the nominated films. Its barely mentioned by anyone today like much of Taverniers work. I did purchase a DVD a few years ago because it is a film I would like to reassess - something well respected in its day that left me cold.

Private Life from Russia was another film well regarded at the time which I found a rather sombre affair. The Flight of the Eagle is most definetly a lesser Jan Troell film and my reluctant choice was Alsino and the Condor, a rather crudely made film that had its heart in the right place and was certainly the most socially relevant film of the nominated films. These three films along with the winner are all virtually forgotten now.

This would have to rank as one of the weakest line-ups of nominees in this category.

Omissions abound which make the selections such head scratchers. Quiet a number of films, very well regarded at the time and the under the Academy's rules introduced in 2008 might very well have made a showing such as Fitzcarraldo (Herzog), Yol (co-winner of the Palm d'or at Cannes - a Turkish film but submitted by Switzerland), The Night of the Shooting Stars (the Taviani Brothers) and my favourite of the submitted films, another film that has gone into total obscurity Peter Gothar's Time Stands Still from Hungary. Though it is the sort of film that the Academy would never consider throwing a nomination to.

One the plus side the Academy ignored the ridiculous Angel from Greece.

[ITALIANO]

Volver a empezar / Begin the Beguine / To Begin Again (José Luis Garci, 1982) 5/10

Warm bittersweet memory piece is a bore and still managed to win the Oscar for best foreign film (Spain's first). An old man (Antonio Ferrandis) returns to his old hometown Gijon after going into exile during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. He has lived all these years in the United States and has recently won the Nobel prize in Literature. The film is a series (of very slow) vignettes as he connects with an old flame and an old buddy. He is harboring a secret which he tells his friend but does not mention to the lady. Unfortunately the film's poignant scenes are intercut with silly comic scenes involving the hotel manager who is over excited once he realises the old man is a celebrity. The film is bathed in a romantic aura due to the soundtrack - both Johann Pachelbel's "Canon in D Major" and Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" are played ad nauseam throughout. Sentimental fluff.

Yes, this was one of the most embarassing Foreign Film wins ever (and, I mean, God knows there have been several especially in that category). Such a non-entity of a movie - delicate to the point of being unsubstantial. And it's not like that year there weren't far more deserving, if probably edgier, candidates, both nominated (France) and just submitted (Italy, Germany).

[Precious Doll]

C'est la Vie (2017) Olivier Nakache & Eric Toledano 5/10
Submergence (2017) Wim Wenders 1/10
Mission Impossible - Fallout (2018) Christopher McQuarrie 5/10
The Yellow Birds (2018) Alexandre Moors 4/10
The Hero (2017) Brett Haley 4/10
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (2017) Alexandra Dean 6/10
The Spy Gone North (2018) Jong-bin Moon 6/10
Book Club (2018) Bill Holderman 4/10

Repeat viewings

Waterloo Bridge (1940) Mervyn LeRoy 10/10
The Pawnbroker (1964) Sidney Lumet 6/10
Flesh + Blood (1985) Paul Verhoeven 7/10
Morocco (1930) Josef von Sternberg 10/10
Blonde Venus (1932) Josef von Sternberg 9/10

[Precious Doll]

Women He's Undressed (Gillian Armstrong, 2015) 7/10

Orry-Kelly moves from a small town in Australia to New York in the late 1920s. A talented painter he finds work on Broadway designing sets and costumes while rooming with a cockney - Arthur Leach, an aspiring actor who broke into movies as Cary Grant. The two became lovers with Kelly creating Grant's dapper look. In Hollywood Kelly joined Warner Brothers and eventually became the head of the studio's costume department creating wardrobes on film for Bette Davis, Kay Francis, Barbara Stanwyck, Ingrid Bergman ("Casablanca") among almost 300 others. Armstrong's documentary is fascinating when it sticks to it's subject (with Jane Fonda, Angela Lansbury, Ann Roth, Leonard Maltin and others providing sharp commentary on the man and his designs) but keeps taking quirky turns with the introduction of an Australian actor impersonating Kelly who keeps getting maudlin over his personal life - Cary Grant left him for Randolph Scott followed by five marriages all of which ended in divorce. There is a wistful quality of remourse over the affair with Grant (who later told him not to mention their relationship in his memoirs) along with a feeling of satisfaction over the fact that Grant was a pallbearer at his funeral. After the War Kelly was fired from the studio due to alcohol addiction after which he freelanced at Paramount, RKO and MGM winning three Oscars during the 1950s for "An American in Paris" (1951), "Les Girls" (1957) and "Some Like It Hot" (1959). His amazing designs for Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis (dressed in drag) in the latter film - both actors especially requested Kelly to create their female costumes - and the two iconic nude dresses he created for Marilyn Monroe which exposed her breasts on camera all created a sensation. The documentary is a fitting tribute to the life of a difficult man whose genius will remain forever etched in classic films.

You are certainly correct that the film is best when it sticks to its primary subject - costumes & Hollywood but the Cary Grant gossip is disingenuous to say the least. I hated that this 'documentary' peddled the rumours about Grant as fact - easy I suppose once someone is dead. Also, Armstrong claimed in interviews promoting the film at the time of its Australian release that she had never heard of Orry-Kelly. I'm sorry, but at 60 something at the time of the making of the film I find that really hard to believe. Then again I don't know how film literate Armstrong is, only that her films rarely rise above the mediocre and she has directed some of the worst films ever made.

Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle (2017) Gustavo Salmeron 5/10
The Image Book (2018) Jean-Luc Godard 6/10
Euthanzier (2017) Teemu Nikki 4/10
Rafiki (2018) Wanuri Kahiu 4/10
Sorry Angel (2018) Christophe Honroe 4/10
Girl (2018) Lukas Dhont 7/10
BlacKkKlansman (2018) Spike Lee 8/10
Lean on Pete (2018) Andrew Haigh 6/10
Buddies (1985) Arthur J. Bressan Jr. 7/10
Suffering of Ninko (2016) Norihiro Niwatsukino 4/10

[Reza]

A Successful Calamity (John G. Adolfi, 1932) 6/10

Corny if affecting story about the importance of family-life. A rich financier (George Arliss) returns from Europe after a year to find his much younger wife (Mary Astor), son and daughter entwined in a busy social life with no time for him. To teach them a lesson he pretends that his business has been ruined and they are paupers. To his surprise his family and staff rally round to help him. Dramatic fluff is carried by Arliss with a twinkle in his eye and witty repartee. Astor is a lovely presence playing a none to bright society dame who shows unexpected depth. Randolph Scott appears in one of his early roles. Old fashioned film with a message.

[Reza]

Women He's Undressed (Gillian Armstrong, 2015) 7/10

Orry-Kelly moves from a small town in Australia to New York in the late 1920s. A talented painter he finds work on Broadway designing sets and costumes while rooming with a cockney - Arthur Leach, an aspiring actor who broke into movies as Cary Grant. The two became lovers with Kelly creating Grant's dapper look. In Hollywood Kelly joined Warner Brothers and eventually became the head of the studio's costume department creating wardrobes on film for Bette Davis, Kay Francis, Barbara Stanwyck, Ingrid Bergman ("Casablanca") among almost 300 others. Armstrong's documentary is fascinating when it sticks to it's subject (with Jane Fonda, Angela Lansbury, Ann Roth, Leonard Maltin and others providing sharp commentary on the man and his designs) but keeps taking quirky turns with the introduction of an Australian actor impersonating Kelly who keeps getting maudlin over his personal life - Cary Grant left him for Randolph Scott followed by five marriages all of which ended in divorce. There is a wistful quality of remourse over the affair with Grant (who later told him not to mention their relationship in his memoirs) along with a feeling of satisfaction over the fact that Grant was a pallbearer at his funeral. After the War Kelly was fired from the studio due to alcohol addiction after which he freelanced at Paramount, RKO and MGM winning three Oscars during the 1950s for "An American in Paris" (1951), "Les Girls" (1957) and "Some Like It Hot" (1959). His amazing designs for Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis (dressed in drag) in the latter film - both actors especially requested Kelly to create their female costumes - and the two iconic nude dresses he created for Marilyn Monroe which exposed her breasts on camera all created a sensation. The documentary is a fitting tribute to the life of a difficult man whose genius will remain forever etched in classic films.

[Reza]

The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (Ryan Murphy, Nelson Cragg, Gwyneth Horder-Payton, Daniel Minahan, Matt Bomer, 2017) 8/10

In 1997 Fashion designer Gianni Versace (Èdgar Ramirez) is shot in cold blood on the doorstep of his Miami mansion by spree killer Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss). The screenplay covers the lives of both men during the period 1989-97 - how they met briefly (which the Versace family claim is a lie) leading upto the assassination. Versace's business and love life gets a look-in with his incredible success in the world of fashion alongside his longtime partner Antonio D'Amico (Rickie Martin) who is not only his lover but also his pimp, his active sex life involving orgies and his loving yet tense relationship with his sister Donatella (Penélope Cruz). But the real story here is about the crimes of Andrew Cunanan, a con artist and serial killer who was able to evade capture for so long - the police are led on a merry dance. He is a charming, manipulative psychopath who uses sex to get what he wants, brutally killing various men along the way. His much older lover Lee Miglin (Mike Farrell), a rich real estate developer married for 38 years to a woman (Judith Light) who is in the perfume business, is gagged, bound and stabbed viciously. He also violently kills his former lover David Madson (Cody Fern) and a former acquaintance Jeff Trail (Finn Wittrock). The film superbly captures the time and place - sunny Miami and it's milieu - placing these characters in a world of pulsating nightclubs, the threat of AIDS, Versace's opulent lifestyle and his fabulous mansion (built in the Mediterranean Revival style) and chic pool with the designer's Medusa logo placed all over the house. The entire cast is superb with Criss, Ramirez, Wittrock, Cruz and Light winning much deserved Emmy nominations. The film is interesting from the historic perspective and as a mystery thriller.

[Reza]

The Meg (Jon Turtelraub, 2018) 7/10

Ridiculous, cheesy and over-the-top summer popcorn film is yet another "Jaws" ripoff. This time round the screenplay digs up a long extinct predator - the 75 foot Megalodon, a species of shark - which lived 26 million years ago and was a ferocious killing machine capable of chewing up whales - bone and all. Surprise surprise, it appears it was never extinct after all and it's out to get a group of scientists who have penetrated the depths of the ocean and beyond and disturbed the giant shark's habitat. And to the rescue comes Jason Statham in all his sleek and bald kickass glory. The formulaic plot goes through the familiar beat with a disparate group of humans (the screenplay throws in every ethnic group so as not to annoy the boringly vocal movie-going American public) that one by one become bait for the angry "Meg". The film is a series of set pieces where we get to see the tussle between man vs beast - a tense undersea rescue, an attack out on the vast ocean involving a boat, several vulnerable moments with solitary cast members alone in the water with the shark bearing down on them at full throttle, the beast vs machinery (boats, submarines, helicopters) and the oft repeated sequence set on a crowded beach of summer revellers as the shark glides under their legs. Oh yes, we also have a cute dog and a precocious kid in peril. Cockney Statham and his adversary (courtesy of pretty lousy CGI) give this guilty pleasure project enough of a kick to keep you hanging onto your seat as they both go through their expected motions which results in a fun ride at the movies.

[Reza]

The Man Who Wouldn't Talk (Herbert Wilcox, 1958) 5/10

Old fashioned courtroom drama - a scientist (Anthony Quayle) is accused of murdering an agent (Zsa Zsa Gabor) who is posing as his wife while both are on a visit to London to help a spy agency locate a defector. Silly plot is basically an excuse for Wilcox's wife, Anna Neagle, to play a brilliant lawyer who defends the accused. Quayle, known for his superb voice and diction, adopts a silly American accent playing his role in a subdued manner. Gabor brings her usual glamour to the proceedings while Neagle provides old fashioned star appeal. Pity the screenplay is so shoddy.

[Reza]

The Secret Scripture (Jim Sheridan, 2017) 5/10

Sheridan's ambitious adaptation of Sebastian Barry's novel (which was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize) comes up short. The sprawling story gets condensed into what is basically picture postcard views of County Kilkenny in Ireland. The plot is a melange of melodrama involving the Irish "troubles", WWII and the inhuman treatment of a woman at the hands of a patriarchal society. The story alternates between WWII and the end of the 20th century. During the present Rose (Vanessa Redgrave), an old woman, refuses to leave a sanitarium which has been her prison for 40 years incarcerated for having killed her newborn baby. A psychiatrist (Eric Bana) tries to evaluate her case and she slowly reveals her life story insisting that she never killed her baby. During the war orphan Rose (Rooney Mara), while living with her aunt, attracts the attention of assorted men in the village - a Catholic priest (Theo James), a Protestant (Jack Reynor) who leaves to join the RAF and an anti-British Catholic (Aiden Turner) - causing consternation amongst the villagers. Banished by her aunt to a deserted farmhouse outside the village she saves the life of the RAF pilot who has bailed from his plane. They fall in love and secretly get married. He is caught and killed and she, labeled a nymphomaniac by the priest, is put away in a mental hospital and subjected to electric shock therapy. The story gets more and more melodramatic involving scenes of an escape, swimming out to sea, hiding in a cove and giving birth when she may or may not have stoned the baby to death. The mystery is resolved during the present and involves an amazing coincidence which in a rather far fetched manner brings closure to Rose's life. The film comes to life during the tranquil moments with solitary images of Mara on cliff tops, on the beach, walking through empty country roads and through fields of golden-hued heather. The actress is very good during all these scenes but flails about helplessly during the more dramatic, over-the-top sequences. The film has outstanding production design with sequences that are stunningly shot by cinematographer Mikhail Krichman evoking images from epics like "Ryan's Daughter", "Out of Africa" and "The English Patient". Redgrave is heartbreaking as she captures the confusion and frailty of a woman subjected to repeated horrors who is left with only a fragment of memory. The film loses points for it's rushed denouement and overall rambling structure with events plodding along, unlikely coincidences taking place including a twist ending you can spot a mile away. The film is a missed opportunity and may have worked better as a miniseries for television.