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

[Reza]

Dishonored (Josef von Sternberg, 1931) 9/10

When MGM announced that "Mata Hari" was going to be Garbo's next film Paramount counter-acted by also casting Dietrich as a spy (here called X27) in this her third collaboraration (and second American film) under the "guidance' of her mentor von Sternberg. This creaky early sound film borders on camp but the director, helped in great part by the shimmering cinematography of Lee Garmes, manages to create a baroque melodrama which allows Dietrich to use her dizzying sensuality to make this seem like high art. The widow (Marlene Dietrich) of an army officer, now a Viennese prostitute, is hired by the head of the Austrian secret service (Gustav von Seyffertitz) to spy on the Russians. She exposes a traitor (Warner Oland) and plays cat-and-mouse with a Russian agent (a very debonair Victor McLaglen) with whom she falls in love. Slinking across the screen dressed in furs and provocative outfits (courtesy of Travis Banton) she creates an alluring femme fatale. The film has a justifiably famous ending. Condemned to death for helping her lover escape she calmly fixes her veil looking at her face reflected in an officer's sabre followed by adjusting her stocking and applying lipstick one last time before calmly facing the firing squad. The film was her third of seven films for von Sternberg and they would continue creating more magic on screen in projects that would continue to be audacious in their outrageousness.

Blonde Venus (Josef von Sternberg, 1932) 8/10

Dietrich had played a series of exotic women in exotic settings but here von Sternberg presented her in a new avatar as a devoted mother. She is a former cabaret performer turned hausfrau (a role the bi-sexual Dietrich actually relished offscreen while cooking and keeping house for all her lovers) complete with a cherubic kid (Dickie Moore) and a husband (Herbert Marshall) on the verge of dying from radium poisoning. Needing money for his cure she goes back to work on stage. The plot takes only a few minutes to put Dietrich back on familiar ground as her husband is packed off for a cure thanks to money received from a rich and eager playboy (the impossibly youthful Cary Grant) to whom she returns the favour by becoming his mistress. What would a Dietrich film be without an exotic wardrobe and jewels? And she gets to perform the spectacular "Hot Voodoo" number, dressed in a gorilla suit and surrounded by a group of African women (white women in black face) gyrating to drums. She peels off the ape mask and suit, dons a blonde afro wig and charms the pants off Cary Grant. The plot then goes the route of many films from that era with the husband discovering her new life while he was away, wanting his kid back while she goes on the run suffering through one maudlin hardship after another. But all is not lost because Grant comes back into her life allowing her to dress in drag - top hat and tails, a spectacular vision in all-white - as she once again delights in singing for her supper. The Dietrich magic carries the film helped yet again by the lavish Travis Banton outfits although her close-ups are lit this time by Bert Glennon who manages to make her look exotic even when her face is scrubbed clean as the hausfrau at the start. The magic of the star-director duo continues as von Sternberg puts her through the paces whether she is skinny dipping in the film's opening moments, acting noble and concerned with Herbert Marshall, saintly with the kid or having a fiendishly good time on stage and in the arms of the dashing Cary Grant.

The Song of Songs (Rouben Mamoulian, 1933) 8/10

Paramount tried to ween Dietrich away from von Sternberg and she made this film in between films for her mentor. Although directed by Mamoulian the film appears to have the stamp of von Sternberg all over it. She again has two men who humiliate her, is stranded in baroque surroundings alternating between poverty and extraordinary riches. A naive German peasant girl (Marlene Dietrich), armed with her late father's Bible, arrives in Berlin to live with her garrulous tipsy aunt (Alison Skipworth) and soon finds her life changing with a jolt. A sculptor (Brian Aherne) convinces her to pose nude for him and the aunt pimps her to a rich Baron (Lionel Atwill) who has commissioned the nude statue of her from the sculptor. She is jilted by the sculptor and gets married to the lecherous Baron who transforms her into a lady. The melodramatic plot is full of sexual innuendos starting with her nude statue with erect nipples, images of which Mamoulian incorporates into the plot in inventive ways signifying various moments in her life involving sex - from her innocent frolics with the sculptor to her wedding night with the Baron who twirls his moustache before entering the conjugal bedroom where she is heard weeping with fright. Hans Drier's oppulent sets have an overpowering effect adding to the woman's misery which will also include almost getting killed in a fire and in danger of getting shot by her jealous husband. Dietrich's mask-like face finally comes alive when she gets to sing at a nightclub and when in a fit of fury destroys the nude statue which signifies her innocence and virginity. Victor Milner's swooning camera movements create a giddying effect signifying the turmoil Dietrich goes through from beginning to end. It remains one of her best performances and the film's dazzling visuals are due to the expert direction of Mamoulian who keeps the tension flowing throughout.

The Scarlet Empress (Josef von Sternberg, 1934) 9/10

There are many urban legends about the flamboyant Empress Catherine II of Russia. She was a nymphomaniac and had 22 male lovers, liked to collect erotic furniture and died copulating with a horse. Actually she died of a stroke. How can you resist not making a movie about such a character and of course Hollywood jumped at it even though the censors had their claws ready. That didn't deter von Sternberg from creating this film for Dietrich with his usual over-the-top stylish flourishes. Using Hans Dreier's gigantic sets of palaces, ornamental staircases, gargoyles jutting out of walls and twisty gothic furniture he manages to create a film that not only looks bizarre but does so in a sexually depraved way. He intentionally shoots scenes in tight close-ups or medium shots with actors surrounded by overpowering paraphernalia making them look either frightened or menacing in an exaggerated manner. Dietrich starts off in innocent mode as she first merely reacts to her surroundings and the people she comes into contact with - the young princess from Prussia is carted off to become the bride of Grand Duke Peter of Russia. A series of rude shocks await the hopelessly naive and romantic woman - enroute she is seduced by the Count (John Lodge) ordered to escort her to the Russian court, her name is changed upon her arrival by the haughty Empress Elizabeth (a no-nonsense Louise Dresser hilariously speaking in a flat Midwestern accent) who bids her to produce a male heir and is horrified to discover that her intended husband (Sam Jaffe) is an imbecile with a goofy grin, a mistress in tow and a strange fascination for toy soldiers. They get married but hate each other. Soon Catherine is inspecting the soldiers mouthing dialogue dripping with sexual innuendo and ensuring what she doesn't get from her husband she gets from the men in uniform all around her. Pregnant by one of her guards she thrills the Empress by producing a male heir. The campy goings on keep getting campier - with the death of the old Empress her husband, who is now Czar, orders that his wife be put to death. Having slept through the soldier ranks the army is on her side and gets the Czar assassinated. Dressed in male attire she leads her soldiers and gallops on horseback into the Imperial Palace up the massive staircase straight upto the gigantic throne which she claims. The screenplay is an odd mixture of Marx brothers lunacy and menacing drama built on violence and fear. Through it all the camera gazes lovingly at Dietrich's extraordinary face which commands every scene which von Sternberg carefully designed ensuring his star shone bright in this glorious cinematic kitsch that ultimately becomes a fetishistic ode to his glamourous star.

Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song (David Riva, 2002) 7/10

The life of an iconic star is lovingly narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis and directed by the star's grandson. All the career highlights - the movies, the concerts, her triumphant role during WWII - are discussed and analyzed by people who knew, lived and worked with her. Interviews with her daughter Maria Riva, musician Burt Bacharach, singer Rosemary Clooney, actress Hildegard Knef, Nazi hunter Beate Klarsfeld and director Volker Schlöndorff all of whom pay tribute to a fascinating woman.

The Devil is a Woman (Josef von Sternberg, 1935) 5/10

This was Dietrich's last collaboration on screen with von Sternberg which she agreed to do after initially having a fall-out with him after the disastrous boxoffice results of their previous outing. She plays a Spanish femme fatale in Seville allowing the director to drape her in exotic costumes and head dresses as she flirts, pouts, seduces and extorts money from an elderly government official (Lionel Atwill) who she turns into a quivering mess. She is the proverbial "cock teaser" for want of a better phrase. He warns a young revolutionary (Cesar Romero) who is smitten with her but in vain as the young man also discovers the woman's deadly charms. Dietrich flounces all over the place - there is one great musical sequence in a cantiña - batting her eyelashes and over-acting seductively. Out of all her films she said this was her most favourite because she looked the most beautiful in it. Unfortunately she looks like a drag queen gone to town with too much makeup all over her face giving her a clown-like visage. Both Atwill and Romero act circles around her while she provides a superficial performance made up of facial posturings although this is the first time she plays a character in total control of her emotions with complete sexual power over her male "victims" just like a deadly tarantula. This is a rather weak entry amongst their seven films even though von Sternberg tries to liven up the proceedings by creating a festive mood amongst the extras with masks and a lot of confetti being thrown during the boistrous party sequences. However, the story is too trite and there is little bite to it.

[Reza]

Barton Fink (Joel Coen, 1991) 6/10
Il deserto rosso / Red Desert (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964) 8/10
By Sidney Lumet (Nancy Buirsky, 2015) 7/10
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (Michael Hazanavicius, 2006) 3/10
OSS 117: Lost in Rio (Michael Hazanavicius, 2009) 4/10

[Reza]

Caravan to Vaccarès (Geoffrey Reeve, 1974) 4/10

Dull cat-and-mouse yarn, based on a novel by Alistair Maclean, is set in Provence. An American drifter (David Birney), wandering around Europe, meets up with a British photographer (Charlotte Rampling) and both are persuaded by a French nobleman (Michel Lonsdale) to smuggle a scientist holding a secret formula to New York. The duo are chased all over the place by a sinister gypsy (Marcel Bozzuffi) and his gang of thugs on horseback in a bid to kill the scientist. Low budget film has a dull leading man and the only thing going for this boring film is a nude scene performed by a magnetic Charlotte Rampling who looks stunning throughout although has nothing much to do. Also there are no caravans in sight anywhere in this film.

The Kid Stays in the Picture (Nanette Burstein & Brett Morgen, 2002) 7/10

Vanity thy name is Robert Evans as this documentary charts his rise from failed actor to head of Paramount studios where he supervised the productions of "Rosemary's Baby", "Love Story", "The Godfather 1 & 2" and "Chinatown" among many other hit films. Evans' skewed narration is a hilarious mixture of love and loathing for himself as he describes winning Ali MacGraw as his wife (star of "Love Story") treating her like a prized possession only to lose her when she runs off with Steve McQueen a couple years later. His fall from grace is equally spectacular involving cocaine binges, flop movies and the mysterious murder of one of his film's financiers to which he was linked via gossip resulting in a stay at a mental hospital. A sharply drawn portrait of what the real Hollywood is all about - a mixture of success, broads, booze, drugs and failure.

[Reza]

BlacKkKlansman (Spike Lee, 2018) 8/10

Poor Spike Lee has spent his entire career trying to bring awareness (as if the world was ever blind) about rampant racism in the United States. This timely and topical film coincides with the virulent resurgence of white supremacy during President Trump's Administration. The wicked screenplay, dripping with black humour and unbridled anger, takes a sharp dig at the white vs black phenomena in the country. This bizarre, but true story, revolves around a black Colorado Springs cop (John David Washington) who, posing as a white guy, infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan via telephone by pretending to hate blacks and jews. Once invited to visit them he asks fellow cop (Adam Driver), a jew, to take his place using a wire to spy on their activities. Savage satire which doesn't wince from using vicious derogatory words to hit home its point along with a history lesson using cinema as a metaphor - Lee intercuts scenes of the Klan watching with sheer joy D.W. Griffith's silent film, "The Birth of a Nation", with its racist scenes of violence towards blacks alternating with scenes where an aged black activist (Harry Belafonte) explains to a horrified group of young black activists how that film was a catalyst for the Klan to incite violence a year after the film came out in 1915, describing in horrific detail the vicious way people were killed. Although the film has a tendency to preach the story is brought into sharp focus thanks to the superb chemistry and witty interaction between Washington (Denzel's son) and Driver. An important film and a return to form on the big screen for director Lee who proves once again that racism against blacks continues unabated as witnessed during a clip from last year's violence in Charlottesville, Virginia when a car mowed down a group of counter-protesters at a white-supremist rally with Trump openly defending the perpetrators on national television.

Befikre / Carefree (Aditya Chopra, 2016) 5/10

Silly trite screenplay full of clichés is somewhat saved by the sparkling chemistry between the two leads. Delhi boy and standup comic (Ranveer Singh) arrives in Paris and instantly falls in love with French-Indian girl (Vaani Kapoor). The film begins with their breakup and we see in flashback how they met, moved in together, had constant wild passionate sex and then parted. The plot has them then hooked to others but its obvious where the ending will lead to. Ranveer Singh plays an over-the-top brash character (quite like his real self) who has sex on the brain and quickly starts to grate as the film goes on and on and his silly antics just won't stop. In contrast Vaani Kapoor gives an assured performance as the hip Parisienne who tries to help the hick Indian find some level of maturity. Slickly shot film on lovely locations has both stars in superb form on the dance floor but the silly screenplay (with an over emphasis on people constantly smooching and at the drop of a hat stripping and jumping between the sheets) lets it down. This is a major misfire from the usually reliable Aditya Chopra.

[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]

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.

[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.

[ITALIANO]

Showing my ignorance here. 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.

[Precious Doll]

Angela Winkler is a far superior actress than Alida Valli

Angela Winkler a better actress than Alida Valli? 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. 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.

[ITALIANO]

Angela Winkler is a far superior actress than Alida Valli

Angela Winkler a better actress than Alida Valli? 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]

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.

[Precious Doll]

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.

[Precious Doll]

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.

[Reza]

The Old Man and the Gun (2018) David Lowery 8/10

Do you think Redford has any chance of getting nominated?

[Reza]

Suspiria (2018) Luca Guadegnino 3/10

Haha so even the remake is crap.