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

Reza
Laureate Emeritus
Posts: 10031
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 11:14 am
Location: Islamabad, Pakistan

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

Post by Reza »

Liv & Ingmar: Painfully Connected (Dheeraj Akolkar, 2012) 9/10

Beautifully realised lyrical documentary about the intense relationship between a muse and her mentor. The film takes on the form of a memory piece as Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann reminisces about her time spent with the great Swedish director Ingmar Bergman whom she first met on the island of Fårö in Sweden during the film shoot of "Persona" in 1966. She was 25 and he was 46. They fell in love and it was the start of their five years together as a couple. The relationship began with a sense of awe and fear on her part leading to intense love. She left her husband after becoming pregnant with Bergman's child and began living with the director. As she continued acting in his films she started to realise that his insecurities led him to start totally controlling her which were followed by jealous rages and mental cruelty which she endured. She left him in 1970 but their bond was so strong that their relationship contined as a deep close friendship until the day he died. They made 10 films together. The documentary does not name any of their films but as she narrates the ups and downs of their relationship we get to see scenes of their films which hauntingly (and autobiographically) seem to depict what had transpired in their lives together. Also interspersed are home movies of Bergman, Ullmann and their daughter shot on the desolate island that was their home and to which Ullmann is shown returning to shoot this documentary. This is not a film for people who have no knowledge of their careers. It is about these two extraordinary artists who came together as a couple. Fans, ofcourse, will recognise the film clips and relate those scenes to what Ullmann is describing about their intense relationship which resulted in one of the most unique actress-director collaborations on film.

Altman (Ron Mann, 2014) 6/10

By the numbers documentary on the career of maverick film director Robert Altman. The film chronologically covers all his work starting in television and followed by the ups and downs of his movie career including many classics. The interesting aspect of the film is Altman himself who describes his work ethics and gives fascinating insights into the shooting of each of his films.
Reza
Laureate Emeritus
Posts: 10031
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 11:14 am
Location: Islamabad, Pakistan

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

Post by Reza »

Crazy Rich Asians (Jon M. Chu, 2018) 8/10

Charming old fashioned romantic comedy is a fairy tale set amongst the rich Chinese community of Singapore. Poor but intelligent Economics professor, a native New Yorker (Constance Wu), is invited by her boyfriend (Henry Golding), an Oxford graduate and also a professor, to accompany him to Singapore to attend a friend's wedding and also meet his family. She is shocked to learn that his family is filthy rich and one of the first families to migrate from China to Singapore. Her biggest stumbling block is not only his friends looking down at her but she is also immediately rejected by his intimidating mother (Michelle Yeoh) and grandmother (Lisa Lu) who suspect her of being a golddigger and not good enough for their family. The plot is entwined around a lavish family wedding (with a scenic tour of Singapore and a mouth watering montage depicting the street food scene in the city) introducing assorted aunts, cousins and friends with various issues of their own. The amusing (and catty) screenplay makes jabs at old and new money, at American culture and shows old Asian family values and how they can sometimes cause cracks in relationships. The film pays sharp attention to cutural nuances which are familiar to most Asian countries in sharp contrast to Western society. Well acted by a delightful all-Asian cast with Michelle Yeoh outstanding as the haughty and elegant matriarch who has a few secrets of her own. Lavish production is a feast for the eyes and despite characters that reek of stereotype this is incredibly crowd pleasing material and is a great sassy fun-time at the movies.
User avatar
Precious Doll
Emeritus
Posts: 4453
Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2003 2:20 am
Location: Sydney
Contact:

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

Post by Precious Doll »

Senso is high on my want to watch again list. I haven't seen it for over 30 years. Others I what to revisit are Ophelia, Spider's Strategy (rumoured to be coming out restored in 2019), Oedipus Rex and Il Grido. Would also like to see how We the Living holds up. It was restored in the early 1980's and seems to have disappeared to fingers crossed with that one.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
ITALIANO
Emeritus
Posts: 4076
Joined: Mon Jan 06, 2003 1:58 pm
Location: MILAN

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

Post by ITALIANO »

Precious Doll wrote: Showing my ignorance here. :oops: I always think of Valli in The Third Man and Suspiria and oddly don't recall her in anything else. A quick look through her filmography shows an impressive line-up of films but oddly aside from 1900 she doesn't standout in my memory in any of them.

I really should have said that I prefer Winkler over Valli and I suppose the difference for me is that I do remember all of Winkler's performances.
Oh then please do yourself a favor and check some of the movies (and performances) of this sublime actress, one of the best of Italian cinema. The films she made in English - except of course The Third Man - aren't especially memorable, though she is good in those too, and for example she was quite well-used by Hitchcock in The Paradine Case, and was impressive even in her worst American movie, a bizarre mess called The Miracle of the Bells.
But in the movies she made in Italy, France and even in Spanish-speaking countries (she was fluent in several languages) she is indeed magnetic, and in case you haven't seen it already, watch her at least in Visconti's Senso, in which she is at her best.
There's a bad movie she made in Spain (the English title is bad, too: The Night Heaven Fell) in which she supported (!) Brigitte Bardot, who was the big new star of that time, directed by Vadim, where Valli played Bardot's ageing jealous aunt. It's a thankless role, needless to say: a sexually repressed villainess always unfavouably compared with the young, beautiful, free-spirited Bardot. Still, in every scene the two actresses share, Bardot literally disappears - and this obviously wasn't intentional, as the director was not only Bardot's creator and mentor but also her boyfriend back then. Valli's face, eyes, close-ups are so powerful that you really focus your attention on her, and wish the movie would do that, too.
User avatar
Precious Doll
Emeritus
Posts: 4453
Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2003 2:20 am
Location: Sydney
Contact:

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

Post by Precious Doll »

ITALIANO wrote:
Precious Doll wrote:Angela Winkler is a far superior actress than Alida Valli
Angela Winkler a better actress than Alida Valli? :D Ok, Winkler is certainly a talented actress, but Valli had both talent and charisma - and beauty, too... a rare combination.

As for Suspiria, I actually think that the original isn't crap at all, but one of the best horror movies of the 70s, not a work of art maybe but a daring (for its tima) visual experience. The problem is maybe (it hasn't come out in Italy yet) that Guadagnino has taken it too seriously - trying to turn it into Art, into something meaningful rather than just scary (which Argento's movie still is, in some scenes).
Showing my ignorance here. :oops: I always think of Valli in The Third Man and Suspiria and oddly don't recall her in anything else. A quick look through her filmography shows an impressive line-up of films but oddly aside from 1900 she doesn't standout in my memory in any of them.

I really should have said that I prefer Winkler over Valli and I suppose the difference for me is that I do remember all of Winkler's performances.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
ITALIANO
Emeritus
Posts: 4076
Joined: Mon Jan 06, 2003 1:58 pm
Location: MILAN

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

Post by ITALIANO »

Precious Doll wrote:Angela Winkler is a far superior actress than Alida Valli
Angela Winkler a better actress than Alida Valli? :D Ok, Winkler is certainly a talented actress, but Valli had both talent and charisma - and beauty, too... a rare combination.

As for Suspiria, I actually think that the original isn't crap at all, but one of the best horror movies of the 70s, not a work of art maybe but a daring (for its tima) visual experience. The problem is maybe (it hasn't come out in Italy yet) that Guadagnino has taken it too seriously - trying to turn it into Art, into something meaningful rather than just scary (which Argento's movie still is, in some scenes).
Reza
Laureate Emeritus
Posts: 10031
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 11:14 am
Location: Islamabad, Pakistan

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

Post by Reza »

Precious Doll wrote:
Reza wrote:
Precious Doll wrote: Suspiria (2018) Luca Guadegnino 3/10
Haha so even the remake is crap.
Yeah, though its a very loose remake at best. David Kajhanich who wrote it keeps the story in 1977, maintains some of the characters and scenario's but adds in a lot more stuff. We end up with a bloated two and a half a film with a climax that pays homage not only to the original film but to De Palma's Carrie (prom scene massacre through a red lens) & Ken Russell's The Devils via a number of characters withering about in some sort of ecstasy similar to those crazed nude nuns from the Russell film.

One of Tilda Swinton's roles is the best thing about the film but her other role is nothing more than a gimmick and unnecessary padding. Jessica Harper is wasted in just a couple of scenes and veteran European actresses Ingrid Caven, Sylvie Testud, Renee Soutendijk & Angela Winkler have little to do though at least Winkler has a decent amount of screen time. It's funny, Angela Winkler is a far superior actress than Alida Valli from the original film but Valli's Miss Tanner is so much more sinister and overbearing whilst Winkler's Miss Tanner comes across as rather weak.

The other aspect of the film that doesn't work is all the references to the terrorism in Germany at the time and in particular to the Baader Meinhof. It's all rather twee as Germany itself during the 1970's and early 1980's made numerous films about these very issues, some of the ironically starring Angela Winkler, and nothing in this film captures or matches the mood of those films during the period. The constant shot of the Berlin Wall added nothing either and likewise contemporary German films from that era used the wall to better effect.

Luca Guadegnino is capable of making some beautiful original films (I Am Love, Call Me By Your Name) he is not doing himself any favours with half baked stuff like this. Of interest is that a couple of year ago David Gordon Green was going to direct this with Isabelle Huppert.
Lucky for Huppert the Gordon Green version didn't go through. She saved herself the embarrassment of seeing such unnecessary clutter amongst her filmography.
User avatar
Precious Doll
Emeritus
Posts: 4453
Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2003 2:20 am
Location: Sydney
Contact:

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

Post by Precious Doll »

Reza wrote:
Precious Doll wrote: Suspiria (2018) Luca Guadegnino 3/10
Haha so even the remake is crap.
Yeah, though its a very loose remake at best. David Kajhanich who wrote it keeps the story in 1977, maintains some of the characters and scenario's but adds in a lot more stuff. We end up with a bloated two and a half a film with a climax that pays homage not only to the original film but to De Palma's Carrie (prom scene massacre through a red lens) & Ken Russell's The Devils via a number of characters withering about in some sort of ecstasy similar to those crazed nude nuns from the Russell film.

One of Tilda Swinton's roles is the best thing about the film but her other role is nothing more than a gimmick and unnecessary padding. Jessica Harper is wasted in just a couple of scenes and veteran European actresses Ingrid Caven, Sylvie Testud, Renee Soutendijk & Angela Winkler have little to do though at least Winkler has a decent amount of screen time. It's funny, Angela Winkler is a far superior actress than Alida Valli from the original film but Valli's Miss Tanner is so much more sinister and overbearing whilst Winkler's Miss Tanner comes across as rather weak.

The other aspect of the film that doesn't work is all the references to the terrorism in Germany at the time and in particular to the Baader Meinhof. It's all rather twee as Germany itself during the 1970's and early 1980's made numerous films about these very issues, some of the ironically starring Angela Winkler, and nothing in this film captures or matches the mood of those films during the period. The constant shot of the Berlin Wall added nothing either and likewise contemporary German films from that era used the wall to better effect.

Luca Guadegnino is capable of making some beautiful original films (I Am Love, Call Me By Your Name) he is not doing himself any favours with half baked stuff like this. Of interest is that a couple of year ago David Gordon Green was going to direct this with Isabelle Huppert.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
User avatar
Precious Doll
Emeritus
Posts: 4453
Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2003 2:20 am
Location: Sydney
Contact:

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

Post by Precious Doll »

Reza wrote:
Precious Doll wrote:The Old Man and the Gun (2018) David Lowery 8/10
Do you think Redford has any chance of getting nominated?
Outside chance, but you never know. He certainly deserves a nomination, its his best performance ever, but given it hasn't taken off box office wise isn't going to help and that he has two Oscars already I doubt the Academy will feel the need to even consider him for a third. The film, though slight, was an utter delight and one of the many pleasures I got from the film was that it was shot on 16mm. Though its screening digitally it looked like film, all that wonderful grain on the big screen. Such a nostalgic piece of a bygone era I'd be surprised if anyone over 50 isn't seduced by it.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
Reza
Laureate Emeritus
Posts: 10031
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 11:14 am
Location: Islamabad, Pakistan

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

Post by Reza »

Precious Doll wrote:The Old Man and the Gun (2018) David Lowery 8/10
Do you think Redford has any chance of getting nominated?
Reza
Laureate Emeritus
Posts: 10031
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 11:14 am
Location: Islamabad, Pakistan

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

Post by Reza »

Precious Doll wrote: Suspiria (2018) Luca Guadegnino 3/10
Haha so even the remake is crap.
User avatar
Precious Doll
Emeritus
Posts: 4453
Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2003 2:20 am
Location: Sydney
Contact:

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

Post by Precious Doll »

Red Joan (2018) Trevor Nunn 5/10
Suspiria (2018) Luca Guadegnino 3/10
Ophelia (2018) Claire McCarthy 1/10
The Old Man and the Gun (2018) David Lowery 8/10
Ramen Shop (2018) Eric Khoo 5/10
Pope Francis: A Man of His Word (2018) Wim Wenders 2/10
Killing (2018) Shin'ya Tsukamoto 4/10
Old Ironsides (1926) James Cruze 4/10
American Horror Story - Season One (2011) Various 9/10

Repeated viewings

Welcome to the Dollhouse (1996) Todd Solondz 9/10
The Nun (1966) Jacques Rivette 10/10
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
User avatar
Precious Doll
Emeritus
Posts: 4453
Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2003 2:20 am
Location: Sydney
Contact:

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

Post by Precious Doll »

The Interpreter (2018) Martin Sulik 4/10
Wildlife (2018) Paul Dano 4/10
Halloween (2018) David Gordon Green 4/10
Love, Gilda (2018) Lisa Dapolito 6/10
Vita & Virginia (2018) Chanya Button 4/10
Fahrenheit 11/9 (2018) Michael Moore 5/10
Sometimes Always Never (2018) Carl Hunter 5/10
Boy Erased (2018) Joel Edgerton 6/10
The Cakemaker (2017) Ofir Raul Graizer 7/10
Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts (2017) Mould Surya 5/10
Peterloo (2018) Mike Leigh 9/10
The Gardener (2012) Mohsen Makhmalbaf 5/10

Repeat viewings

Suspiria (1977) Dario Argento 7/10
A Simple Story (1978) Claude Sautet 7/10
Big Wednesday (1978) John Milius 7/10
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
User avatar
Precious Doll
Emeritus
Posts: 4453
Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2003 2:20 am
Location: Sydney
Contact:

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

Post by Precious Doll »

Reza wrote:Tab Hunter Confidential (Jeffrey Schwarz, 2015) 6/10

The film details his family background, his career lows and a later resurgence after appearing in two films by John Waters which found unexpected success.
Tab Hunter only ever made one film with John Waters, Polyester (1981). Lust in the Dust (1985) was directed by Paul Bartel and John Waters had nothing to do with its development or production, though it is often mistaken for a John Waters film.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
Reza
Laureate Emeritus
Posts: 10031
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 11:14 am
Location: Islamabad, Pakistan

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

Post by Reza »

The House of Mirth (Terence Davies, 2000) 6/10

Cold clinical adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel which was a bitter indictment against the morally corrupt upper class in turn of the century New York. Lily Bart (Gillian Anderson) is a well-bred but impoversished woman on the wrong side of marriageable age who lives with her wealthy aunt (Eleanor Bron). On the prowl for a rich husband she rejects a poor lawyer (Eric Stoltz) whom she flirts with and loves, gets into a business deal with a financier (Dan Aykroyd) who assaults her when she rejects his sexual advances, is pursued by a rich jewish man (Anthony LaPaglia) whom she also rejects and ends up ostracised by society after the lawyer's former lover (Laura Linney) viciously exposes her various indiscretions. Her life journey goes from bad to worse first working as a secretary and then as a milliner and eventually getting fired from both jobs. Having taken to drugs to ease her mental anguish she turns in desperation to the lawyer who loved her the most but is too late to find happiness. The film has a disappointingly static rhythm to it like old BBC tv plays and despite its small budget Davies manages to lift the production via superbly designed sets and costumes. Anderson is on screen throughout but seems over burdened with the part and her performance consists of being partly coy but mostly verging on suppressed hysteria acted in a stiff manner. This is an unusual film for Davies to have undertaken and it comes up short against Martin Scorsese's magnificent adaptation of Wharton's "The Age of Innocence" filmed a few years earlier.

Mother Didn't Tell Me (Claude Binyon, 1950) 7/10

The trials and tribulations of being married to a doctor. One of Dorothy McGuire's rare and little seen films is charming with a number of amusing moments. A woman (Dorothy McGuire) finds herself cornered into a life of neglect after she chases after and gets married to a doctor (William Lundigan). Not only does she have constant competition from his patients but she has to contend with a mother-in-law (Jessie Royce Landis) who wants her son to leave his wife so he can marry his conniving associate. Old fashioned comedy is superbly performed by an expert cast including Leif Ericson, hilarious as a sleazy psychiatrist, and June Havoc as a friend who is equally neglected by her doctor husband (Gary Merill). This piece of rather dated fluff is perfectly held together by the radiant McGuire.
Post Reply

Return to “Other Film Discussions”