Consequence (2018) Darko Stante 5/10
At Eternity's Gate (2018) Julian Schnabel 2/10
Life Itself (2018) Dan Fogelman 1/10
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) Barry Jenkins 8/10
Blindspotting (2018) Carlos Lopez Estrada 5/10
Serenity (2019) Steven Knight 1/10
The Tree of Blood (2018) Julio Medem 2/10
Stan and Ollie (2018) Jon S. Baird 5/10
Wild Nights with Emily (2019) Madeleine Olnek 5/10
Sauvage (2018) Camille Vidal-Naquet 5/10
High Flying Bird (2019) Steven Soderbergh 2/10
Repeat viewings
Carmen Jones (1954) Otto Preminger 7/10
Chimes at Midnight (1965) Orson Welles 8/10
Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
"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)
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Destroyer (Karyn Kasuma, 2018) 6/10
Nicole Kidman gives a harrowing performance in this neo-noir thriller looking like death on two legs. I couldn't make out if it was Hollywood makeup magic that created her washed up, angst ridden freckled face or was it the other way round with Kidman's actual face scrubbed clean of makeup. Crime ridden Los Angeles always seems so downbeat, cynical, seedy and corrupt in movies ("Chinatown", "To Live and Die in L.A.", "L.A. Confidential") with cops mirroring the city they live in. An LAPD detective (Nicole Kidman), drunk and disheveled, harbors a 16-year guilt over a sting operation that went wrong causing her to suffer a nervous breakdown from which she hasn't managed to recover. The discovery of a dead body starts a chain of events that takes her into the dark past from which it becomes clear that recovery for her is going to be next to impossible. The screenplay flits between the present, where she attempts to find a ghost from her past, which in flashbacks we gradually discover what brought her to her present almost catatonic state. This interesting premise is let down by a deathly pace as Kidman goes through the motions of her dismal life - interacting with her flighty and angry daughter, ex-husband, colleagues and suspects (a grotesque encounter with one suspect involves a hand-job to get the required information). There are two action set pieces, both involving tense shootouts during bank robberies, that are handled with a raw quality by the director who otherwise fails to keep up with Kidman's gritty and mesmerizing performance.
Mary Queen of Scots (Josie Rourke, 2018) 4/10
Visually dull, listless retread of the dramatic rivalry between two great monarchs, both cousins, Queen Mary (Soirse Ronan) of Scotland and Queen Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie) of England. Both actresses are miscast as neither has the aura to play these fiery queens. It's as if we are watching two school girls performing in their high school play. The grand sense of majesty brought to these parts in past films by the likes of Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Vanessa Redgrave, Glenda Jackson and Helen Mirren is sadly missing. The dense plot has the Catholic Mary return as widow of the Dauphin of France to rightfully claim the Scottish throne and get into a dire twist amongst raging Protestants in Scotland. Her rough marital associations with first her cousin Lord Darnley and then after his murder with the Earl of Bothwell are further cause of trouble as she is labeled a whore by the agitating religious populace. Elizabeth appears sporadically in the film and is goaded on by the men at her own court to marry and produce an heir which her cousin has managed thus becoming a serious threat to the English throne. The scene of a fictional meeting between the two monarchs is used for dramatic effect with an underused Robbie shining briefly during their encounter. Her face ravaged by small pox, covered by white chalk-like makeup and wearing a scruffy red wig Elizabeth admires Mary's youthful beauty and envies her son. The film also absurdly resorts to revisionist casting with a number of courtiers played by asian and black actors none of whom would have been allowed within a ten mile radius to either of the courts. In the end history favoured both monarchs. Elizabeth I ruled England for 45 years and while she had Mary executed it was the latter's son who ruled both England and Scotland after her own death as King James I.
Constantine (Francis Lawrence, 2005) 6/10
Dante's vision of hell - red and hot with emaciated demons with chewed up faces running around on all fours - gets a look-over in this supernatural film based on the graphic "Hellblazer" comic books. A woman commits suicide but her cop twin sister (Rachel Weisz) thinks she was murdered because she believes that being a devout Catholic she could not have killed herself. Constantine (Keeanu Reeves), chain smoking and dying of lung cancer, has the "gift" of being able to see demons and angels on earth and makes it his mission (with a side job of playing exorcist) to send the demons back to hell. The screenplay plays like a detective mystery as the man helps the cop solve the mystery of her sister's death. Reeves gives a magnetic (if stiff) star turn as the droll demon-hunter with a miscast Weisz who seems to be going through this drill just for a paycheck. Having great fun are Tilda Swinton sporting gigantic wings as a bitchy archangel (Gabriel) and Peter Stormare as a campy Satan in a white suit that was once upon a time trendy at Studio 54. The noir-like atmosphere and the cheesy effects make this a fun variation of "The Exorcist" of which it is a hybrid spawn.
Nicole Kidman gives a harrowing performance in this neo-noir thriller looking like death on two legs. I couldn't make out if it was Hollywood makeup magic that created her washed up, angst ridden freckled face or was it the other way round with Kidman's actual face scrubbed clean of makeup. Crime ridden Los Angeles always seems so downbeat, cynical, seedy and corrupt in movies ("Chinatown", "To Live and Die in L.A.", "L.A. Confidential") with cops mirroring the city they live in. An LAPD detective (Nicole Kidman), drunk and disheveled, harbors a 16-year guilt over a sting operation that went wrong causing her to suffer a nervous breakdown from which she hasn't managed to recover. The discovery of a dead body starts a chain of events that takes her into the dark past from which it becomes clear that recovery for her is going to be next to impossible. The screenplay flits between the present, where she attempts to find a ghost from her past, which in flashbacks we gradually discover what brought her to her present almost catatonic state. This interesting premise is let down by a deathly pace as Kidman goes through the motions of her dismal life - interacting with her flighty and angry daughter, ex-husband, colleagues and suspects (a grotesque encounter with one suspect involves a hand-job to get the required information). There are two action set pieces, both involving tense shootouts during bank robberies, that are handled with a raw quality by the director who otherwise fails to keep up with Kidman's gritty and mesmerizing performance.
Mary Queen of Scots (Josie Rourke, 2018) 4/10
Visually dull, listless retread of the dramatic rivalry between two great monarchs, both cousins, Queen Mary (Soirse Ronan) of Scotland and Queen Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie) of England. Both actresses are miscast as neither has the aura to play these fiery queens. It's as if we are watching two school girls performing in their high school play. The grand sense of majesty brought to these parts in past films by the likes of Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Vanessa Redgrave, Glenda Jackson and Helen Mirren is sadly missing. The dense plot has the Catholic Mary return as widow of the Dauphin of France to rightfully claim the Scottish throne and get into a dire twist amongst raging Protestants in Scotland. Her rough marital associations with first her cousin Lord Darnley and then after his murder with the Earl of Bothwell are further cause of trouble as she is labeled a whore by the agitating religious populace. Elizabeth appears sporadically in the film and is goaded on by the men at her own court to marry and produce an heir which her cousin has managed thus becoming a serious threat to the English throne. The scene of a fictional meeting between the two monarchs is used for dramatic effect with an underused Robbie shining briefly during their encounter. Her face ravaged by small pox, covered by white chalk-like makeup and wearing a scruffy red wig Elizabeth admires Mary's youthful beauty and envies her son. The film also absurdly resorts to revisionist casting with a number of courtiers played by asian and black actors none of whom would have been allowed within a ten mile radius to either of the courts. In the end history favoured both monarchs. Elizabeth I ruled England for 45 years and while she had Mary executed it was the latter's son who ruled both England and Scotland after her own death as King James I.
Constantine (Francis Lawrence, 2005) 6/10
Dante's vision of hell - red and hot with emaciated demons with chewed up faces running around on all fours - gets a look-over in this supernatural film based on the graphic "Hellblazer" comic books. A woman commits suicide but her cop twin sister (Rachel Weisz) thinks she was murdered because she believes that being a devout Catholic she could not have killed herself. Constantine (Keeanu Reeves), chain smoking and dying of lung cancer, has the "gift" of being able to see demons and angels on earth and makes it his mission (with a side job of playing exorcist) to send the demons back to hell. The screenplay plays like a detective mystery as the man helps the cop solve the mystery of her sister's death. Reeves gives a magnetic (if stiff) star turn as the droll demon-hunter with a miscast Weisz who seems to be going through this drill just for a paycheck. Having great fun are Tilda Swinton sporting gigantic wings as a bitchy archangel (Gabriel) and Peter Stormare as a campy Satan in a white suit that was once upon a time trendy at Studio 54. The noir-like atmosphere and the cheesy effects make this a fun variation of "The Exorcist" of which it is a hybrid spawn.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
The Front Runner (Jason Reitman, 2018) 4/10
I've often wondered why the media in our country only concentrates on the corruption of politicians and avoid the subject of their sexual proclivities. Apparently the private sex lives of politicians was off limits in the United States too until suddenly in 1988 the front runner status of Gary Hart as President was derailed by the media due to a sexual scandal involving Donna Rice (Sue Paxton), the blonde seen going into the D.C. townhouse with him. Tabloid journalism went from strength to strength with Hart later recalling, "I watched journalists become animals, literally." This rather lifeless film also raises an interesting "what if" question. What if Hart had become President.....would the Gulf War and later the invasion of Iraq been avoided? Hugh Jackman exudes charm with underlying sinister undertones but most of the other gifted cast members get shortshrifted in underwritten parts - Vera Farmiga as Lee Hart, J.K. Simmons as Bill Dixon, the campaign manager and Alfred Molina as Ben Bradlee. Reitman tries to jazz things up a bit â la Robert Altman moving his camera snake-like and capturing various characters and their snatches of overlapping dialogue. Once the scandal is exposed the screenplay seems to move away from Hart and shows more concern with what the American public want. In the end we never see what made Hart so popular with the voting public or what made him be unfaithful to his wife. It's hard to feel sympathy for a character who comes off cold and distant.
The Stand at Apache River (Lee Sholem, 1953) 5/10
A group of disparate people - a sheriff (Stephen McNally), a Colonel (Hugh Marlowe), a stagecoach passenger (Julie Adams) and others - find themselves besieged at a small inn by marauding Apaches. Typical B-Western goes through the motions as one by one the white characters fall prey to the Apaches who themselves drop like flies as they get shot. Pretty Julie Adams is a standout (and unbelievably but exquisitely dressed to her teeth by Bill Thomas) in this briskly paced Universal western but the stale plot has a stench of deja vu written all over it even if it presents a more balanced view of Indians.
The Day Will Dawn (Harold French, 1942) 6/10
Flag waving WWII British propaganda film with stiff upper lip characters. An indolent journalist (Hugh Williams) is sent on a mission to Norway to pin point a Nazi submarine base to the British who plan to bomb it. Along the way he romances a young local girl (Deborah Kerr), gets help from her father (Finlay Currie) to reach the base, almost falls prey to an obese Nazi (Francis L. Sullivan), is caught and imprisoned and about to be killed by a firing squad when in the nick of time the British Navy arrives. Exciting and suspenseful wartime thriller was made at the height of the War with scenes of London being relentlessly bombed. Ralph Richardson has a small role as the droll friend of the journalist. Terence Rattigan wrote the screenplay.
The Owl and the Pussycat (Herbert Ross, 1970) 7/10
Opposites attract and hilarity ensues when a foul-mouthed hooker (Barbra Streisand) and a bookish intellectual (George Segal) meet up unexpectedly in the middle of the night. Based on a rather flimsy play (adapted by Buck Henry) that was in it's original premise (at least on stage) about an inter-racial couple played by Alan Alda and the Tony nominated Diana Sands. Streisand wanted Sidney Poitier to star opposite her but the studio balked and didn't think the American public would accept an inter-racial relationship in a major comedy release. The film was also Streisand's first film without songs having just come off three major Broadway musical film adaptations. The pairing with Segal is pure magic and the non-stop rat-a-tat dialogue is laugh out loud funny thanks to the superb comic timing of both stars. The play is opened up and along with scenes set in assorted apartments and in a bath tub the two stars are also filmed (mostly at night) walking on the streets of New York. The camera is obviously in love with Streisand and she looks "gorgeous" - the famous outfit with the flared bell bottoms and handprints on each breast certainly help. Her nude scene was cut before the film came out. This film also introduced Segal to the comedy genre in which he would go on to make many hit films while Streisand would soon repeat this performance of the annoying talkative female who verbally and physically accosts the unsuspecting male into total submission in the far superior "What's Up Doc?".
Man in the Dark (Lew Landers, 1953). 5/10
B-noir with a silly premise - bank robber (Edmond O'Brien) is caught by the cops, forced to undergo brain surgery to finish his criminal tendencies but finds himself suffering from amnesia with no recollection of his old life. When he is kidnapped by his old gang it becomes a race before time trying to retrieve his memory before he is killed. Film was originally shot in 3-D so a number of scenes have objects flying towards the audience. The film is somewhat redeemed by it's noir cast - Horace MacMahon, Ted De Corsia and the great Audrey Totter as a moll with a heart of gold - and a short running time.
Yellow Sky (William A. Wellman, 1948) 9/10
A lot of the success of this classic western is due to the exquisitely stark cinematography by Joseph MacDonald shot on Death Valley locations. Also making a mark is the strong cast, a bleak but taut screenplay by Lamar Trotti with shades of Shakespeare's "The Tempest", the sound design capturing the whispered movements of wind blowing through a derelect town and a lovely score by Alfred Newman. A group of bank robbers take refuge in a ghost town where they come across a grizzled old gold prospector and his feisty tomboy granddaughter (Anne Baxter). There is simmering conflict between two members of the gang - the "good" (Gregory Peck) and the "bad" (Richard Widmark) - which comes to a head eventually over the woman and the gold with the "good" going after the woman and the "bad" only having his eyes on the gold. Peck and Baxter start off antagonistic - she packs a mean wallop which he discovers to his surprise and shock - which gradually gives way to the expected clinch which comes in an offbeat way via a hat. The entire cast is superb - it's one of Peck's great performances and Baxter matches him every step of the way with her flashing eyes and tough stance compensating for her diminutive height - and Wellman creates many magnificent images - the trek through the salt desert with the tired and thirsty horses stumbling and buckling to their knees, the eerie silence in the ghost town and the final shootout.
I've often wondered why the media in our country only concentrates on the corruption of politicians and avoid the subject of their sexual proclivities. Apparently the private sex lives of politicians was off limits in the United States too until suddenly in 1988 the front runner status of Gary Hart as President was derailed by the media due to a sexual scandal involving Donna Rice (Sue Paxton), the blonde seen going into the D.C. townhouse with him. Tabloid journalism went from strength to strength with Hart later recalling, "I watched journalists become animals, literally." This rather lifeless film also raises an interesting "what if" question. What if Hart had become President.....would the Gulf War and later the invasion of Iraq been avoided? Hugh Jackman exudes charm with underlying sinister undertones but most of the other gifted cast members get shortshrifted in underwritten parts - Vera Farmiga as Lee Hart, J.K. Simmons as Bill Dixon, the campaign manager and Alfred Molina as Ben Bradlee. Reitman tries to jazz things up a bit â la Robert Altman moving his camera snake-like and capturing various characters and their snatches of overlapping dialogue. Once the scandal is exposed the screenplay seems to move away from Hart and shows more concern with what the American public want. In the end we never see what made Hart so popular with the voting public or what made him be unfaithful to his wife. It's hard to feel sympathy for a character who comes off cold and distant.
The Stand at Apache River (Lee Sholem, 1953) 5/10
A group of disparate people - a sheriff (Stephen McNally), a Colonel (Hugh Marlowe), a stagecoach passenger (Julie Adams) and others - find themselves besieged at a small inn by marauding Apaches. Typical B-Western goes through the motions as one by one the white characters fall prey to the Apaches who themselves drop like flies as they get shot. Pretty Julie Adams is a standout (and unbelievably but exquisitely dressed to her teeth by Bill Thomas) in this briskly paced Universal western but the stale plot has a stench of deja vu written all over it even if it presents a more balanced view of Indians.
The Day Will Dawn (Harold French, 1942) 6/10
Flag waving WWII British propaganda film with stiff upper lip characters. An indolent journalist (Hugh Williams) is sent on a mission to Norway to pin point a Nazi submarine base to the British who plan to bomb it. Along the way he romances a young local girl (Deborah Kerr), gets help from her father (Finlay Currie) to reach the base, almost falls prey to an obese Nazi (Francis L. Sullivan), is caught and imprisoned and about to be killed by a firing squad when in the nick of time the British Navy arrives. Exciting and suspenseful wartime thriller was made at the height of the War with scenes of London being relentlessly bombed. Ralph Richardson has a small role as the droll friend of the journalist. Terence Rattigan wrote the screenplay.
The Owl and the Pussycat (Herbert Ross, 1970) 7/10
Opposites attract and hilarity ensues when a foul-mouthed hooker (Barbra Streisand) and a bookish intellectual (George Segal) meet up unexpectedly in the middle of the night. Based on a rather flimsy play (adapted by Buck Henry) that was in it's original premise (at least on stage) about an inter-racial couple played by Alan Alda and the Tony nominated Diana Sands. Streisand wanted Sidney Poitier to star opposite her but the studio balked and didn't think the American public would accept an inter-racial relationship in a major comedy release. The film was also Streisand's first film without songs having just come off three major Broadway musical film adaptations. The pairing with Segal is pure magic and the non-stop rat-a-tat dialogue is laugh out loud funny thanks to the superb comic timing of both stars. The play is opened up and along with scenes set in assorted apartments and in a bath tub the two stars are also filmed (mostly at night) walking on the streets of New York. The camera is obviously in love with Streisand and she looks "gorgeous" - the famous outfit with the flared bell bottoms and handprints on each breast certainly help. Her nude scene was cut before the film came out. This film also introduced Segal to the comedy genre in which he would go on to make many hit films while Streisand would soon repeat this performance of the annoying talkative female who verbally and physically accosts the unsuspecting male into total submission in the far superior "What's Up Doc?".
Man in the Dark (Lew Landers, 1953). 5/10
B-noir with a silly premise - bank robber (Edmond O'Brien) is caught by the cops, forced to undergo brain surgery to finish his criminal tendencies but finds himself suffering from amnesia with no recollection of his old life. When he is kidnapped by his old gang it becomes a race before time trying to retrieve his memory before he is killed. Film was originally shot in 3-D so a number of scenes have objects flying towards the audience. The film is somewhat redeemed by it's noir cast - Horace MacMahon, Ted De Corsia and the great Audrey Totter as a moll with a heart of gold - and a short running time.
Yellow Sky (William A. Wellman, 1948) 9/10
A lot of the success of this classic western is due to the exquisitely stark cinematography by Joseph MacDonald shot on Death Valley locations. Also making a mark is the strong cast, a bleak but taut screenplay by Lamar Trotti with shades of Shakespeare's "The Tempest", the sound design capturing the whispered movements of wind blowing through a derelect town and a lovely score by Alfred Newman. A group of bank robbers take refuge in a ghost town where they come across a grizzled old gold prospector and his feisty tomboy granddaughter (Anne Baxter). There is simmering conflict between two members of the gang - the "good" (Gregory Peck) and the "bad" (Richard Widmark) - which comes to a head eventually over the woman and the gold with the "good" going after the woman and the "bad" only having his eyes on the gold. Peck and Baxter start off antagonistic - she packs a mean wallop which he discovers to his surprise and shock - which gradually gives way to the expected clinch which comes in an offbeat way via a hat. The entire cast is superb - it's one of Peck's great performances and Baxter matches him every step of the way with her flashing eyes and tough stance compensating for her diminutive height - and Wellman creates many magnificent images - the trek through the salt desert with the tired and thirsty horses stumbling and buckling to their knees, the eerie silence in the ghost town and the final shootout.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Danger: Diabolik (Mario Bava, 1969) 9/10
Mario Bava's cult film is based on a popular European comic strip. Exploiting every cliché Bava's film, not unlike a number of the Bond films, puts across a campy violent thriller with incredibly over-the-top sets, action set pieces, trendy E-type Jaguars, lots of sex (including phallic imagery using stalactites and a hose gushing molten gold) and matte sequences galore. Diabolik (John Phillip Law), a super criminal, lives in his cave-like underground lair with his mistress (Marisa Mell). A master of complicated robberies involving gold bullion and emeralds he is relentlessly pursued by a cop (Michel Piccoli). Another criminal (Adolfo Celi) makes a deal with the cops to turn in Diabolik in exchange for a pardon. Fast paced film has a tongue in cheek quality, hilariously shoddy effects, a memorable score by Ennio Morricone, Bava's spectacular camera work with 360 degree turns and zooms. The film's hip and sexy costumes are a highlight - Marisa Mell's entire wardrobe is the height of sixties fashion while Law gets to wear tight black and white latex body suits as his disguise during the robberies with his mask designed by Carlo Rimbaldi (who later created E.T. and the mechanical head effects for the creatures in Alien). The icing on the cake is a delightful cameo appearance by Terry Thomas as a buffoonish government official. The film works at every level including the great chemistry between Law and Mell.
Alita: Battle Angel (Robert Rodriguez, 2019) 7/10
Slick futuristic film is an elaborate live-action version of a popular Japanese anime. It is also a film made up completely by joining together ideas and images from a number of previous films - "A.I.", "Rollerball", "Elysium", "Transformers", "Blade Runner", "Ghost in the Shell", "Ben-Hur", "The Hunger Games" - and since James Cameron is the producer we get two distinct iconic images lifted straight from "Titanic". Old wine it may be but the fast paced plot manages to keep things moving with a number of spectacular action set pieces. A doctor / scientist (Christoph Waltz) discovers the body of a 300 year old teen cyborg (Rosa Salazar) in a trash dump, brings her to life and names her "Alita" after his own dead daughter. The amnesiac young girl (with an organic human brain) has super strength and a mysterious past which brings her into conflict and danger with assorted villains - cyborg bounty hunters, a Jack the Ripper-like killer on the loose, the doctor's chic ex-wife (Jennifer Connelly), her sinister mogul lover (Maheshala Ali) and an evil force (Edward Norton) housed in a floating metropolis high above the city. There is also a vapid romance with a teenage boy which stops the action dead in its tracks. All the fight sequences are well choreographed by Rodriguez as the teen machine goes into overdrive crunching cyborg skulls and slicing them apart with a sword including a brawl set in a bar straight out of a Western. The last third of the plot is a let down but the cliffhanger ending is obviously geared towards a sequel. I look forward to that just to see what Cameron hopes to do with this endearing teenage badass.
House of Cards (John Guillermin, 1968) 6/10
It's always a hoot to watch Orson Welles make cameo appearances in films because he manages to steal the show from the lead actors just by speaking in that distinct sonorous voice and showing his enormous girth. Here he plays an evil but very elegant megalomaniac involved in a neo-fascist plot to take over the french government. Nonsense that has a number of positives starting with great location work in Paris and Rome - the ending is shot inside the Colosseum and allows you access to areas that today you can go to only with a ticket. The plot involves the kidnapping of a young boy and an American boxer (George Peppard) attempting to foil it while romancing the child's mother (Inger Stevens). Action filled plot involves a number of chase sequences and deaths as bland but heroic Peppard and a stiff Stevens manage to make goo-goo eyes at each other.
Harry in Your Pocket (Bruce Geller, 1973) 5/10
An interesting cast in a film about pickpockets who are a dying breed of professionals with their own codes. The leader (James Coburn), who is in partnership with an old pro (Walter Pidfeon), takes on a young couple (Michael Sarrazin & Trish Van Devere) when he falls for the charms of the young woman. The couple are purely in the racket for a quick buck and the young man has no qualms about sharing his girlfriend. With the cops hot on their trail they try to stay one step ahead of them as they go about stealing. For a film about pickpockets there is very little shown about the actual thefts instead concentrating on the silly love triangle. The film's surprise package is Walter Pidgeon playing a coke snorting gentleman pickpocket who delights in being "pygmalion" to the young thief.
They Might Be Giants (Anthony Harvey, 1971) 8/10
Quirky screwball comedy is an underrated and forgotten comic gem with a charming performance by George C. Scott as a retired judge who thinks he is Sherlock Holmes. His brother who owes gambling debts tries to have him committed and gets a psychiatrist (Joanne Woodward), coincidently called Dr. Watson, to prove he is mad. The doctor finds herself whisked off onto a madcap adventure in New York as she follows Holmes on one of his delusional cases. The screenplay (based on a play by James Goldman) takes the two characters onto New York streets allowing various familiar actors from the NY stage to appear in sharp cameos - Jack Gilford, Lester Rawlins, Rue McClanahan, Theresa Merritt, James Tolkan, Eugene Roche, Kitty Winn, Paul Benedict & F. Murray Abraham. Woodward, as the flaky doctor, has great chemistry with Scott and their romance is sweet, tender and funny. Scott was nominated for a Bafta award.
Mario Bava's cult film is based on a popular European comic strip. Exploiting every cliché Bava's film, not unlike a number of the Bond films, puts across a campy violent thriller with incredibly over-the-top sets, action set pieces, trendy E-type Jaguars, lots of sex (including phallic imagery using stalactites and a hose gushing molten gold) and matte sequences galore. Diabolik (John Phillip Law), a super criminal, lives in his cave-like underground lair with his mistress (Marisa Mell). A master of complicated robberies involving gold bullion and emeralds he is relentlessly pursued by a cop (Michel Piccoli). Another criminal (Adolfo Celi) makes a deal with the cops to turn in Diabolik in exchange for a pardon. Fast paced film has a tongue in cheek quality, hilariously shoddy effects, a memorable score by Ennio Morricone, Bava's spectacular camera work with 360 degree turns and zooms. The film's hip and sexy costumes are a highlight - Marisa Mell's entire wardrobe is the height of sixties fashion while Law gets to wear tight black and white latex body suits as his disguise during the robberies with his mask designed by Carlo Rimbaldi (who later created E.T. and the mechanical head effects for the creatures in Alien). The icing on the cake is a delightful cameo appearance by Terry Thomas as a buffoonish government official. The film works at every level including the great chemistry between Law and Mell.
Alita: Battle Angel (Robert Rodriguez, 2019) 7/10
Slick futuristic film is an elaborate live-action version of a popular Japanese anime. It is also a film made up completely by joining together ideas and images from a number of previous films - "A.I.", "Rollerball", "Elysium", "Transformers", "Blade Runner", "Ghost in the Shell", "Ben-Hur", "The Hunger Games" - and since James Cameron is the producer we get two distinct iconic images lifted straight from "Titanic". Old wine it may be but the fast paced plot manages to keep things moving with a number of spectacular action set pieces. A doctor / scientist (Christoph Waltz) discovers the body of a 300 year old teen cyborg (Rosa Salazar) in a trash dump, brings her to life and names her "Alita" after his own dead daughter. The amnesiac young girl (with an organic human brain) has super strength and a mysterious past which brings her into conflict and danger with assorted villains - cyborg bounty hunters, a Jack the Ripper-like killer on the loose, the doctor's chic ex-wife (Jennifer Connelly), her sinister mogul lover (Maheshala Ali) and an evil force (Edward Norton) housed in a floating metropolis high above the city. There is also a vapid romance with a teenage boy which stops the action dead in its tracks. All the fight sequences are well choreographed by Rodriguez as the teen machine goes into overdrive crunching cyborg skulls and slicing them apart with a sword including a brawl set in a bar straight out of a Western. The last third of the plot is a let down but the cliffhanger ending is obviously geared towards a sequel. I look forward to that just to see what Cameron hopes to do with this endearing teenage badass.
House of Cards (John Guillermin, 1968) 6/10
It's always a hoot to watch Orson Welles make cameo appearances in films because he manages to steal the show from the lead actors just by speaking in that distinct sonorous voice and showing his enormous girth. Here he plays an evil but very elegant megalomaniac involved in a neo-fascist plot to take over the french government. Nonsense that has a number of positives starting with great location work in Paris and Rome - the ending is shot inside the Colosseum and allows you access to areas that today you can go to only with a ticket. The plot involves the kidnapping of a young boy and an American boxer (George Peppard) attempting to foil it while romancing the child's mother (Inger Stevens). Action filled plot involves a number of chase sequences and deaths as bland but heroic Peppard and a stiff Stevens manage to make goo-goo eyes at each other.
Harry in Your Pocket (Bruce Geller, 1973) 5/10
An interesting cast in a film about pickpockets who are a dying breed of professionals with their own codes. The leader (James Coburn), who is in partnership with an old pro (Walter Pidfeon), takes on a young couple (Michael Sarrazin & Trish Van Devere) when he falls for the charms of the young woman. The couple are purely in the racket for a quick buck and the young man has no qualms about sharing his girlfriend. With the cops hot on their trail they try to stay one step ahead of them as they go about stealing. For a film about pickpockets there is very little shown about the actual thefts instead concentrating on the silly love triangle. The film's surprise package is Walter Pidgeon playing a coke snorting gentleman pickpocket who delights in being "pygmalion" to the young thief.
They Might Be Giants (Anthony Harvey, 1971) 8/10
Quirky screwball comedy is an underrated and forgotten comic gem with a charming performance by George C. Scott as a retired judge who thinks he is Sherlock Holmes. His brother who owes gambling debts tries to have him committed and gets a psychiatrist (Joanne Woodward), coincidently called Dr. Watson, to prove he is mad. The doctor finds herself whisked off onto a madcap adventure in New York as she follows Holmes on one of his delusional cases. The screenplay (based on a play by James Goldman) takes the two characters onto New York streets allowing various familiar actors from the NY stage to appear in sharp cameos - Jack Gilford, Lester Rawlins, Rue McClanahan, Theresa Merritt, James Tolkan, Eugene Roche, Kitty Winn, Paul Benedict & F. Murray Abraham. Woodward, as the flaky doctor, has great chemistry with Scott and their romance is sweet, tender and funny. Scott was nominated for a Bafta award.
Last edited by Reza on Tue Feb 19, 2019 12:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Precious Doll
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Pig (2018) Mani Haghighi 4/10
A Paris Education (2018) Jean-Paul Civeyrac 4/10
Mid90s (2018) Jonah Hill 4/10
Making Montgomery Clift (2019) Robert Anderson Clift & Hillary Demmon 4/10
Mapplethorpe (2019) Ondi Timoner 3/10
Castle Rock: Season 1 (2018) Various 6/10
....But Film is My Mistress (2010) Stig Björkman 5/10
Repeat viewings
Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977) Robert Aldrich 7/10
The Night of the Iguana (1964) John Huston 7/10
Kiss of Death (1947) Henry Hathaway 6/10
A Paris Education (2018) Jean-Paul Civeyrac 4/10
Mid90s (2018) Jonah Hill 4/10
Making Montgomery Clift (2019) Robert Anderson Clift & Hillary Demmon 4/10
Mapplethorpe (2019) Ondi Timoner 3/10
Castle Rock: Season 1 (2018) Various 6/10
....But Film is My Mistress (2010) Stig Björkman 5/10
Repeat viewings
Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977) Robert Aldrich 7/10
The Night of the Iguana (1964) John Huston 7/10
Kiss of Death (1947) Henry Hathaway 6/10
"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)
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Precious Doll
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
The Hate U Give (2018) George Tillman Jr. 4/10
Pardon Us (1931) James Parrott 6/10
The Front Runner (2018) Jason Reitman 4/10
Faro dukument (1970) Ingmar Bergman 4/10
Faro-dokument 1979 (1979) Ingmar Bergman 4/10
Columbus (2017) Kogonada 7/10
Viva (2016) Paddy Breatnach 4/10
Ben is Back (2018) Peter Hedges 4/10
Snapshots (2018) Melanie Mayron 4/10
1985 (2018) Yen Tan 5/10
What Every Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969) Lee H. Katzin & Bernard Girand 7/10
The Cleaners (2018) Hans Block & Maritz Riesewieck 5/10
Repeat viewing
Air Force (1943) Howard Hawks 7/10
Pardon Us (1931) James Parrott 6/10
The Front Runner (2018) Jason Reitman 4/10
Faro dukument (1970) Ingmar Bergman 4/10
Faro-dokument 1979 (1979) Ingmar Bergman 4/10
Columbus (2017) Kogonada 7/10
Viva (2016) Paddy Breatnach 4/10
Ben is Back (2018) Peter Hedges 4/10
Snapshots (2018) Melanie Mayron 4/10
1985 (2018) Yen Tan 5/10
What Every Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969) Lee H. Katzin & Bernard Girand 7/10
The Cleaners (2018) Hans Block & Maritz Riesewieck 5/10
Repeat viewing
Air Force (1943) Howard Hawks 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)
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Sequestro di Persona (Gianfranco Mingozzi, 1968) 5/10
Teenage Rebel (Edmund Goulding, 1956) 4/10
Signs & Wonders (Jonathan Nossiter, 2000) 3/10
Untamed Frontier (Hugo Fregonese, 1952) 6/10
The Man Who Came to Dinner (William Keighley, 1942) 6/10
The Aspern Papers (Julien Landais, 2018) 5/10
A Private War (Matthew Heineman, 2018) 8/10
Bodyguard (John Stickland & Thomas Vincent, 2018) 7/10
Teenage Rebel (Edmund Goulding, 1956) 4/10
Signs & Wonders (Jonathan Nossiter, 2000) 3/10
Untamed Frontier (Hugo Fregonese, 1952) 6/10
The Man Who Came to Dinner (William Keighley, 1942) 6/10
The Aspern Papers (Julien Landais, 2018) 5/10
A Private War (Matthew Heineman, 2018) 8/10
Bodyguard (John Stickland & Thomas Vincent, 2018) 7/10
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Ballad of a Soldier (Grigoriy Chukhray, 1959) 9/10
Lyrical, highly emotional film with a strong anti-war message. A teenage Russian soldier manages to single handedly destroy two Nazi tanks and is recommended for a medal by his commanding officer. The boy instead requests leave to go see his mother so he can fix the leaking roof of their house. The boy's journey back home becomes a series of vignettes as he is waylaid by people along the way who need his help. Along the way there is also a brief romance and he discovers there is equal chaos away from the battlefield as he watches ordinary people struggling to survive during the war. Chukhray uses wide shots to capture the vastness of the locations - the opening scene on the battlefield as the young soldier is chased across a barren field by a tank - and at the opposite spectrum captures small intimate moments via extreme closeup shots of the soldier with his girlfriend and mother. Despite knowing the outcome about the young soldier the devastating last sequence is played out with quiet grace between the innocent man and his optimistic mother. Hauntingly sad story is also strangely very uplifting. A must-see.
Lyrical, highly emotional film with a strong anti-war message. A teenage Russian soldier manages to single handedly destroy two Nazi tanks and is recommended for a medal by his commanding officer. The boy instead requests leave to go see his mother so he can fix the leaking roof of their house. The boy's journey back home becomes a series of vignettes as he is waylaid by people along the way who need his help. Along the way there is also a brief romance and he discovers there is equal chaos away from the battlefield as he watches ordinary people struggling to survive during the war. Chukhray uses wide shots to capture the vastness of the locations - the opening scene on the battlefield as the young soldier is chased across a barren field by a tank - and at the opposite spectrum captures small intimate moments via extreme closeup shots of the soldier with his girlfriend and mother. Despite knowing the outcome about the young soldier the devastating last sequence is played out with quiet grace between the innocent man and his optimistic mother. Hauntingly sad story is also strangely very uplifting. A must-see.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
On ne meurt que deux fois / He Died with His Eyes Open (Jacques Deray, 1985) 9/10
This is not quite Roman Polanski's "Chinatown" but it ranks right up there with some of the best detective murder mysteries on film. The plot, based on the novel by Robin Cook, has a number of similarities to Polanski's classic film. A bludgeoned corpse turns up and a jaded but witty cop (Michel Serrault) investigates the case. The murdered man's widow and stepson are hardly perturbed about his death. It appears the man was having an affair and tapes found at his apartment implicate a thug (Xavier Duluc) who had beaten him up at a bar. The cop matches wits with the dead man's enigmatic mistress who proceeds to seduce him. A slinky Charlotte Rampling gives a sexually charged performance as the mysterious femme fatale who jumps in and out of bed with any man who catches her fancy. All the scenes between Serrault and Rampling are superbly played and both actors are at the top of their game. The convoluted plot, with hints of incest, plays out in bedrooms, in the shower and in bars with Rampling absolutely ravishing with and (mostly) without her clothes. Serrault, Rampling and Duluc were all nominated for César awards. A must-see.
Agatha and the Truth of Murder (Terry Loane, 2018) 7/10
During the 1920s Agatha Christie, suffering great emotional distress over her failed marriage, disappeared for 11 days. When she was finally found she claimed no memory of how she came to be staying at a hotel in Harrowgate. This film purposes to solve that mystery by having Christie (Ruth Bradley) approached by an old woman to help solve the mysterious murder of her companion on a train some years before. The set up is straight out of one of Christie's own books with herself playing the role of a detective on the lines of Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot. She gathers together various members of the murdered woman's family at a secluded mansion and proceeds to find who did it. There is a second murder at the mansion, a number of suspicious suspects amongst the guests, a local police officer on the lines of Inspector Battle and the familiar denouement with Christie trapping the murderer to confess. A welcome addition to the Christie oeuvre, this is an elegantly made film with wonderful period flavour and it does solve the mystery of Christie's disappearance even if its done as a work of fiction. I suspect Christie would have enjoyed the idea of her as a detective solving a murder.
Stree (Amar Kaushik, 2018) 8/10
The fantastic screenplay mixes intense horror sequences along with laugh-out-loud comic moments imbedded within a strong lesson for men about the evils of objectifying women. A small town is cursed with the urban legend of an evil spirit, known as "stree", who arrives every year during the local four day holy festival and preys on men at night making them disappear leaving only their clothes behind. When a young man is whisked away his close buddies, led by the town's romantic tailor (Rajkumar Rao) and the local expert on ghosts (Pankaj Tripathy), attempt to discover what the spirit truly wants. Helping them is a mysterious woman (Shraddha Kapoor) with whom the tailor has fallen head over heels in love. Superbly acted and directed film deftly manages to balance both the horror and comic elements of the screenplay often alternating both genres within the same scene. Most importantly it hits home its strong message of showing respect to women and not treating them as sex objects.
Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (Luv Ranjan, 2018) 8/10
Charming and amusing Rom-Com that celebrates bromance. Titu (Sunny Singh Nijjar) is naive and always falls for girls who take advantage of him. His best friend Sonu (Kartik Aaryan) always comes to his rescue trying to knock sense into him. When Titu falls for gold-digger Sweety (Nushrat Bharucha) it becomes a battle of wits as Sonu tries to break up his best friend's upcoming marriage. The screenplay, like the classic "Hum Aapke Hain Kaun", revolves around the preparation of a wedding in a house full of various family members all of whom are hilariously opinionated. Parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents provide most of the humour with Alok Nath and Virendra Saxena hilarious as two foul mouthed, whiskey swivelling oldies passing wisdom on sex and relationships. A star is born with Kartik Aaryan as the smooth fast-talking Sonu. Not withstanding the misogynist aspect of the screenplay this is a very funny and entertaining film.
Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi & Kangana Ranaut, 2019) 6/10
Epic historical film on the life of Rani Lakshmibai and her resistance to the British East India Company during the Indian Mutiny of 1857. Kangana Ranaut gives a no holds barred performance as the fiery "Rani of Jhansi" who takes on the British Commander and his troops after her husband, the ruler of Jhansi, is poisoned. Expected to go into seclusion as all widows do by tradition, she instead raises an army and goes into battle. The patriotic screenplay goes into overdrive mixing fact and myths about the warrior Queen as she ferociously rouses the people of Jhansi and in particular women to stand up to the invaders who are planning to usurp their land and wealth. CGI designed battle sequences, full of blood and gore, are the order of the day. Ranaut carries the film with her strong and multifaceted performance but the entire focus is on her alone with most of the other characters getting sidelined. There is also too much of the Bollywood touch - slow motion shots with the heroine's hair flying and her saree trailing behind her and billowing in the wind in perfect synchronicity to the film's music. All the British characters are presented as caricatures speaking hindi with a broad ridiculous accent. Overlong film manages to hold interest thanks to the wonderful Ranaut.
This is not quite Roman Polanski's "Chinatown" but it ranks right up there with some of the best detective murder mysteries on film. The plot, based on the novel by Robin Cook, has a number of similarities to Polanski's classic film. A bludgeoned corpse turns up and a jaded but witty cop (Michel Serrault) investigates the case. The murdered man's widow and stepson are hardly perturbed about his death. It appears the man was having an affair and tapes found at his apartment implicate a thug (Xavier Duluc) who had beaten him up at a bar. The cop matches wits with the dead man's enigmatic mistress who proceeds to seduce him. A slinky Charlotte Rampling gives a sexually charged performance as the mysterious femme fatale who jumps in and out of bed with any man who catches her fancy. All the scenes between Serrault and Rampling are superbly played and both actors are at the top of their game. The convoluted plot, with hints of incest, plays out in bedrooms, in the shower and in bars with Rampling absolutely ravishing with and (mostly) without her clothes. Serrault, Rampling and Duluc were all nominated for César awards. A must-see.
Agatha and the Truth of Murder (Terry Loane, 2018) 7/10
During the 1920s Agatha Christie, suffering great emotional distress over her failed marriage, disappeared for 11 days. When she was finally found she claimed no memory of how she came to be staying at a hotel in Harrowgate. This film purposes to solve that mystery by having Christie (Ruth Bradley) approached by an old woman to help solve the mysterious murder of her companion on a train some years before. The set up is straight out of one of Christie's own books with herself playing the role of a detective on the lines of Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot. She gathers together various members of the murdered woman's family at a secluded mansion and proceeds to find who did it. There is a second murder at the mansion, a number of suspicious suspects amongst the guests, a local police officer on the lines of Inspector Battle and the familiar denouement with Christie trapping the murderer to confess. A welcome addition to the Christie oeuvre, this is an elegantly made film with wonderful period flavour and it does solve the mystery of Christie's disappearance even if its done as a work of fiction. I suspect Christie would have enjoyed the idea of her as a detective solving a murder.
Stree (Amar Kaushik, 2018) 8/10
The fantastic screenplay mixes intense horror sequences along with laugh-out-loud comic moments imbedded within a strong lesson for men about the evils of objectifying women. A small town is cursed with the urban legend of an evil spirit, known as "stree", who arrives every year during the local four day holy festival and preys on men at night making them disappear leaving only their clothes behind. When a young man is whisked away his close buddies, led by the town's romantic tailor (Rajkumar Rao) and the local expert on ghosts (Pankaj Tripathy), attempt to discover what the spirit truly wants. Helping them is a mysterious woman (Shraddha Kapoor) with whom the tailor has fallen head over heels in love. Superbly acted and directed film deftly manages to balance both the horror and comic elements of the screenplay often alternating both genres within the same scene. Most importantly it hits home its strong message of showing respect to women and not treating them as sex objects.
Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (Luv Ranjan, 2018) 8/10
Charming and amusing Rom-Com that celebrates bromance. Titu (Sunny Singh Nijjar) is naive and always falls for girls who take advantage of him. His best friend Sonu (Kartik Aaryan) always comes to his rescue trying to knock sense into him. When Titu falls for gold-digger Sweety (Nushrat Bharucha) it becomes a battle of wits as Sonu tries to break up his best friend's upcoming marriage. The screenplay, like the classic "Hum Aapke Hain Kaun", revolves around the preparation of a wedding in a house full of various family members all of whom are hilariously opinionated. Parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents provide most of the humour with Alok Nath and Virendra Saxena hilarious as two foul mouthed, whiskey swivelling oldies passing wisdom on sex and relationships. A star is born with Kartik Aaryan as the smooth fast-talking Sonu. Not withstanding the misogynist aspect of the screenplay this is a very funny and entertaining film.
Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi & Kangana Ranaut, 2019) 6/10
Epic historical film on the life of Rani Lakshmibai and her resistance to the British East India Company during the Indian Mutiny of 1857. Kangana Ranaut gives a no holds barred performance as the fiery "Rani of Jhansi" who takes on the British Commander and his troops after her husband, the ruler of Jhansi, is poisoned. Expected to go into seclusion as all widows do by tradition, she instead raises an army and goes into battle. The patriotic screenplay goes into overdrive mixing fact and myths about the warrior Queen as she ferociously rouses the people of Jhansi and in particular women to stand up to the invaders who are planning to usurp their land and wealth. CGI designed battle sequences, full of blood and gore, are the order of the day. Ranaut carries the film with her strong and multifaceted performance but the entire focus is on her alone with most of the other characters getting sidelined. There is also too much of the Bollywood touch - slow motion shots with the heroine's hair flying and her saree trailing behind her and billowing in the wind in perfect synchronicity to the film's music. All the British characters are presented as caricatures speaking hindi with a broad ridiculous accent. Overlong film manages to hold interest thanks to the wonderful Ranaut.
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Precious Doll
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes (2019) Joe Berlinger 7/10
The Wonderful Crook (1975) Claude Goretta 5/10
The Game of Love (1954) Claude Autant-Lara 6/10
The Mule (2018) Clint Eastwood 6/10
Mary Queen of Scots (2018) Josie Rourke 1/10
Portrait of a Fighter as a Young Man (2010) Constantin Popescu 4/10
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (2018) Gus Van Sant 4/10
Maniac (2018) Cary Joji Fukunaga 2/10
Mr. X (2014) Tessa Louise-Salome 4/10
Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) Dan Gilroy 3/10
Jane Fonda in Five Acts (2018) Susan Lacy 7/10
Repeat viewing
Block-Heads (1938) John G. Blystone 7/10
The Wonderful Crook (1975) Claude Goretta 5/10
The Game of Love (1954) Claude Autant-Lara 6/10
The Mule (2018) Clint Eastwood 6/10
Mary Queen of Scots (2018) Josie Rourke 1/10
Portrait of a Fighter as a Young Man (2010) Constantin Popescu 4/10
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (2018) Gus Van Sant 4/10
Maniac (2018) Cary Joji Fukunaga 2/10
Mr. X (2014) Tessa Louise-Salome 4/10
Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) Dan Gilroy 3/10
Jane Fonda in Five Acts (2018) Susan Lacy 7/10
Repeat viewing
Block-Heads (1938) John G. Blystone 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)
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Marielle Heller, 2018) 6/10
Raucous comedian Melissa McCarthy takes a dramatic turn with this project and has been rewarded with an Oscar nomination for her performance. Her face stripped clean of all makeup, wearing an outsize and drab wardrobe the actress attempts a serious avatar for the first time. I liked the character she plays and the film's bizarre premise more than the actual performance which seems to silently scream her "serious" actor persona. Lee Israel (Melissa McCarthy), a former somewhat famous author is down and out with no job, has rent to pay and knocks back booze. Her caustic personality does not endear her to anyone. She comes upon the idea of forging celebrity signatures on letters and selling them. Initially she succeeds and the fake letters (supposedly from Nöel Coward, Dorothy Parker, Marlene Dietrich, Edna Ferber and many others) sell but soon she is outed as a forger with the FBI hot on her trail. The film's plus point is her friendship with a gay alcoholic derelict (a droll Richard E. Grant) as the two losers discover companionship in a world of loneliness and creative insecurity. Based on Israel's memoirs the film has a sad undercurrent depicting the life of a woman who stopped believing in herself as anger and frustration takes her on a short whirlwind of crime. McCarthy tries hard to overcome her typecast screen persona but her flat and monotone performance becomes to grate after a bit. Grant, also nominated for an Oscar, has more fun playing a stereotypical character with shades of his famous performance from way back in "Withnail and I" but its all pretty dour and downbeat to make you care.
Raucous comedian Melissa McCarthy takes a dramatic turn with this project and has been rewarded with an Oscar nomination for her performance. Her face stripped clean of all makeup, wearing an outsize and drab wardrobe the actress attempts a serious avatar for the first time. I liked the character she plays and the film's bizarre premise more than the actual performance which seems to silently scream her "serious" actor persona. Lee Israel (Melissa McCarthy), a former somewhat famous author is down and out with no job, has rent to pay and knocks back booze. Her caustic personality does not endear her to anyone. She comes upon the idea of forging celebrity signatures on letters and selling them. Initially she succeeds and the fake letters (supposedly from Nöel Coward, Dorothy Parker, Marlene Dietrich, Edna Ferber and many others) sell but soon she is outed as a forger with the FBI hot on her trail. The film's plus point is her friendship with a gay alcoholic derelict (a droll Richard E. Grant) as the two losers discover companionship in a world of loneliness and creative insecurity. Based on Israel's memoirs the film has a sad undercurrent depicting the life of a woman who stopped believing in herself as anger and frustration takes her on a short whirlwind of crime. McCarthy tries hard to overcome her typecast screen persona but her flat and monotone performance becomes to grate after a bit. Grant, also nominated for an Oscar, has more fun playing a stereotypical character with shades of his famous performance from way back in "Withnail and I" but its all pretty dour and downbeat to make you care.
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Precious Doll
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
The film was a massive box office failure - its worldwide gross didn't even reach its production costs. Apparently, there will be no further films for this wanna be franchise in the foreseeable future.Reza wrote: The Girl in the Spider's Web (Fede Alvarez, 2018) 7/10
A good start to a series that hopefully Foy will continue to make.
"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)
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins, 2018) 7/10
Barry Jenkins' follow-up to the Oscar winning "Moonlight" is a quiet little love story cloaking the devastating repercussions of racial injustice in 1970s Harlem. Based on the acclaimed novel by James Baldwin the story is also a celebration of close family ties and how love and a positive outlook can sometimes overcome mental anguish. Jenkins' shoots the film in a deliberately languid manner with his camera lovingly lingering on the young pair of lovers (Stephen James & KiKi Layne) who soon face two major roadblocks in their relationship. He is incarcerated in prison on a false charge of sexual assault while she discovers she is pregnant. After the initial shock they both look forward towards a positive outcome - agreeing to keep the unborn baby and trying to prove his innocence. Helped by her family, in particular her strong willed understanding mother (Regina King), the young couple keep their hopes up high. The sensitive screenplay provides an intimate look at everyday black life working in comedy, melodrama, despair, anger and hope into a seamless whole. The lovely score by Nicholas Britell, the screenplay and Regina King have been nominated for Oscars.
The Girl in the Spider's Web (Fede Alvarez, 2018) 7/10
Stieg Larsson's iconic character of Lisbeth Salander, from his trilogy of books, gets a reboot by way of the fourth book in the series which was continued by David Lagercrantz. After successful screen incarnations of the character by Noomi Rapace (in all three Swedish screen adaptations) and Oscar nominated Rooney Mara (in the Hollywood remake of the first book) we get here a fierce Claire Foy as the goth-like computer hacker and saviour of abused women. If you are looking for a thriller that comes up with plausible answers to ever plot point then you need to tune out but if you have a mind set which allows you to believe that comic book heroes can fly and climb up walls then sit back and enjoy this film. The premise is enjoyable for its various action set pieces which revolve around a generic done-to-death plot involving a nefarious group trying to steal a nuke app. Moving along at a break-neck pace Salander dodges bullets, assassination attempts and massive explosions while trying to save a key witness. The spectacular winter location-work in Stockholm is a big plus as Foy struts across the screen as the female equivalent of James Bond - a total badass - facing upto a ghost from her past while showing a distinct, if macho, maternal side to her character. A good start to a series that hopefully Foy will continue to make.
Christopher Robin (Marc Forster, 2018) 7/10
Winnie-the-Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Piglet, Kanga and Roo come to the help of adult Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor) and teach him a valuable lesson about the importance of family. Stuck in a middle level job and neglecting his wife (Hayley Atwell) and daughter, he gradually realises that a lack of joy in him has turned him into an unfeeling machine. The magical return of his childhood stuffed toys makes him realise the value of being oneself without fear or worry. A.A. Milne's famous literary characters get a charming uplift in this dazzling little film with seamless visual effects, handsome production design and a sense of childish wonderment.
Barry Jenkins' follow-up to the Oscar winning "Moonlight" is a quiet little love story cloaking the devastating repercussions of racial injustice in 1970s Harlem. Based on the acclaimed novel by James Baldwin the story is also a celebration of close family ties and how love and a positive outlook can sometimes overcome mental anguish. Jenkins' shoots the film in a deliberately languid manner with his camera lovingly lingering on the young pair of lovers (Stephen James & KiKi Layne) who soon face two major roadblocks in their relationship. He is incarcerated in prison on a false charge of sexual assault while she discovers she is pregnant. After the initial shock they both look forward towards a positive outcome - agreeing to keep the unborn baby and trying to prove his innocence. Helped by her family, in particular her strong willed understanding mother (Regina King), the young couple keep their hopes up high. The sensitive screenplay provides an intimate look at everyday black life working in comedy, melodrama, despair, anger and hope into a seamless whole. The lovely score by Nicholas Britell, the screenplay and Regina King have been nominated for Oscars.
The Girl in the Spider's Web (Fede Alvarez, 2018) 7/10
Stieg Larsson's iconic character of Lisbeth Salander, from his trilogy of books, gets a reboot by way of the fourth book in the series which was continued by David Lagercrantz. After successful screen incarnations of the character by Noomi Rapace (in all three Swedish screen adaptations) and Oscar nominated Rooney Mara (in the Hollywood remake of the first book) we get here a fierce Claire Foy as the goth-like computer hacker and saviour of abused women. If you are looking for a thriller that comes up with plausible answers to ever plot point then you need to tune out but if you have a mind set which allows you to believe that comic book heroes can fly and climb up walls then sit back and enjoy this film. The premise is enjoyable for its various action set pieces which revolve around a generic done-to-death plot involving a nefarious group trying to steal a nuke app. Moving along at a break-neck pace Salander dodges bullets, assassination attempts and massive explosions while trying to save a key witness. The spectacular winter location-work in Stockholm is a big plus as Foy struts across the screen as the female equivalent of James Bond - a total badass - facing upto a ghost from her past while showing a distinct, if macho, maternal side to her character. A good start to a series that hopefully Foy will continue to make.
Christopher Robin (Marc Forster, 2018) 7/10
Winnie-the-Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Piglet, Kanga and Roo come to the help of adult Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor) and teach him a valuable lesson about the importance of family. Stuck in a middle level job and neglecting his wife (Hayley Atwell) and daughter, he gradually realises that a lack of joy in him has turned him into an unfeeling machine. The magical return of his childhood stuffed toys makes him realise the value of being oneself without fear or worry. A.A. Milne's famous literary characters get a charming uplift in this dazzling little film with seamless visual effects, handsome production design and a sense of childish wonderment.
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Precious Doll
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Glass (2019) M. Night Shyamalan 2/10
From Caligari to Hitler: German Cinema in the Age of the Masses (2015) Rüdiger Suchsland 6/10
The Forgiven (2018) Roland Joffe 2/10
Thirst (1949) Ingmar Bergman 4/10
Duck Butter (2018) Miguel Arteta 1/10
Kings (2018) Deniz Gamze Erguven 1/10
Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) Phil Johnson & Rich Moore 4/10
Memoir of War (2018) Emmanuel Finkel 8/10
Avengers: Infinity War (2018) Anthony Russo & Joe Russo 1/10
Green Book (2018) Peter Farrelly 4/10
RBG (2018) Julie Cohen & Betsy West 4/10
Christopher Robin (2018) Marc Forster 2/10
Madeline's Madeline (2018) Josephine Decker 4/10
El Amour Brujo (1967) Francisco Rovira Beleta 4/10
Let the Corpses Tan (2017) Helene Cattet & Bruno Forzani 4/10
A Cage of Nightingales (1945) Jean Dreville 5/10
Repeat viewings
Gosford Park (2001) Robert Altman 9/10
The Offical Story (1985) Luis Puenzo 8/10
Zabriskie Point (1970) Michelangelo Antonioni 10/10
From Caligari to Hitler: German Cinema in the Age of the Masses (2015) Rüdiger Suchsland 6/10
The Forgiven (2018) Roland Joffe 2/10
Thirst (1949) Ingmar Bergman 4/10
Duck Butter (2018) Miguel Arteta 1/10
Kings (2018) Deniz Gamze Erguven 1/10
Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) Phil Johnson & Rich Moore 4/10
Memoir of War (2018) Emmanuel Finkel 8/10
Avengers: Infinity War (2018) Anthony Russo & Joe Russo 1/10
Green Book (2018) Peter Farrelly 4/10
RBG (2018) Julie Cohen & Betsy West 4/10
Christopher Robin (2018) Marc Forster 2/10
Madeline's Madeline (2018) Josephine Decker 4/10
El Amour Brujo (1967) Francisco Rovira Beleta 4/10
Let the Corpses Tan (2017) Helene Cattet & Bruno Forzani 4/10
A Cage of Nightingales (1945) Jean Dreville 5/10
Repeat viewings
Gosford Park (2001) Robert Altman 9/10
The Offical Story (1985) Luis Puenzo 8/10
Zabriskie Point (1970) Michelangelo Antonioni 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)
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Cold War (Pawel Pawlikowski, 2018) 10/10
Passionate, tempestuous and haunting love story between two star-crossed and totally incompatable lovers - a music director (Tomasz Kot) and a teenage singer-dancer (Joanna Kulig). Pawlikowski frames their story between the years 1949-1964 moving from rural war-ravaged Poland to East Berlin and Paris and back inside the Iron Curtain. The story's time shifts are punctuated by spectacular musical interludes ranging from Polish folk music and Soviet-era hymns to classical pieces, a smattering of Gershwin to french-inflected jazz and ending with Bill Haley and the Comets' "Rock Around the Clock". At its heart is the central sexually charged relationship that goes through various trials - a defection, continuous separations, other relationships, jealousy, hatred, spite - as each reunion involves unbridled passion. Stunningly shot by Lukasz Zal in black and white, the film is a perfect followup to Pawlikowski's "Ida".
Teorema (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1968) 8/10
Angel or demon, Christ or God? Who is the young man who mysteriously arrives at the house of a rich Milanese factory owner (Massimo Girotti) and proceeds to fuck his daughter, son, wife (Silvana Mangano) and also him? He also has his way with their maid (Laura Betti) thus changing their lives forever. This is a film very much of its time when brave European directors like Pasolini, Godard, Truffaut, Fellini, Antonioni, Chabrol all brought sex into the forefront in cinema. Highly symbolic film is a scathing indictment of the bourgeoisie shown here as sexually repressed who are aroused through sex with the stranger and discover spiritual nirvana. When the stranger suddenly leaves they all fall apart as without him they cannot sustain the level of spirituality which sex with him brought into their lives. The daughter goes into a catatonic state, the son who is a painter is disgusted with his efforts and urinates on his painting, the mother turns into a slut picking up strangers for sex and the father gives away his factory to his workers, strips and runs madly screaming through a barren landscape which resembles the land of Christ. Only the peasant maid, who has strong religious beliefs, finds fulfillment and not only starts performing miracles but also levitates. Pasolini was condemned by the Catholic Church for indecency but later acquitted. Viewed today the film is sexually very tame with all the erotica mostly taking place off-screen. For the role of the angelic-faced stranger Pasolini chose one of the iconic faces of the swinging sixties, Terence Stamp, whose entire performance as the catalyst is almost wordless. Pasolini, a Marxist and a homosexual, uses Stamp as a sex object focusing his camera on his spread legs and crotch and shows various male actors positioned naked on beds like in a painting or showing naked legs and feet. The whole premise is weird with scenes of Mangano running through fields in high heels, fondling a man's trousers and stripping. The tone of the film is seductive, almost poetic, helped along by a wonderful score by Ennio Morricone. Intriguing and thought provoking cinema.
Passionate, tempestuous and haunting love story between two star-crossed and totally incompatable lovers - a music director (Tomasz Kot) and a teenage singer-dancer (Joanna Kulig). Pawlikowski frames their story between the years 1949-1964 moving from rural war-ravaged Poland to East Berlin and Paris and back inside the Iron Curtain. The story's time shifts are punctuated by spectacular musical interludes ranging from Polish folk music and Soviet-era hymns to classical pieces, a smattering of Gershwin to french-inflected jazz and ending with Bill Haley and the Comets' "Rock Around the Clock". At its heart is the central sexually charged relationship that goes through various trials - a defection, continuous separations, other relationships, jealousy, hatred, spite - as each reunion involves unbridled passion. Stunningly shot by Lukasz Zal in black and white, the film is a perfect followup to Pawlikowski's "Ida".
Teorema (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1968) 8/10
Angel or demon, Christ or God? Who is the young man who mysteriously arrives at the house of a rich Milanese factory owner (Massimo Girotti) and proceeds to fuck his daughter, son, wife (Silvana Mangano) and also him? He also has his way with their maid (Laura Betti) thus changing their lives forever. This is a film very much of its time when brave European directors like Pasolini, Godard, Truffaut, Fellini, Antonioni, Chabrol all brought sex into the forefront in cinema. Highly symbolic film is a scathing indictment of the bourgeoisie shown here as sexually repressed who are aroused through sex with the stranger and discover spiritual nirvana. When the stranger suddenly leaves they all fall apart as without him they cannot sustain the level of spirituality which sex with him brought into their lives. The daughter goes into a catatonic state, the son who is a painter is disgusted with his efforts and urinates on his painting, the mother turns into a slut picking up strangers for sex and the father gives away his factory to his workers, strips and runs madly screaming through a barren landscape which resembles the land of Christ. Only the peasant maid, who has strong religious beliefs, finds fulfillment and not only starts performing miracles but also levitates. Pasolini was condemned by the Catholic Church for indecency but later acquitted. Viewed today the film is sexually very tame with all the erotica mostly taking place off-screen. For the role of the angelic-faced stranger Pasolini chose one of the iconic faces of the swinging sixties, Terence Stamp, whose entire performance as the catalyst is almost wordless. Pasolini, a Marxist and a homosexual, uses Stamp as a sex object focusing his camera on his spread legs and crotch and shows various male actors positioned naked on beds like in a painting or showing naked legs and feet. The whole premise is weird with scenes of Mangano running through fields in high heels, fondling a man's trousers and stripping. The tone of the film is seductive, almost poetic, helped along by a wonderful score by Ennio Morricone. Intriguing and thought provoking cinema.