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

[Reza]

Yesterday (Danny Boyle, 2019) 5/10

The impact of the Beatles song catalogue gets an amusing twist in this trifle of a film by the usually intense Danny Boyle who here goes for a wacky feel courtesy of the cutesy screenplay by Richard Curtis. The film asks the question what if the world suddenly has no clue about the Beatles but only one person remembers them and their songs and who uses them as original material presented for the first time. A failed musician (Himesh Patel) struggles to make a niche for himself. He is totally ignored except by his childhood buddy (she secretly loves him) and "manager" (Lily Collins) who encourages him. When he is hit by a bus and simultaneously there is a worldwide electrical power cut he discovers that nobody remembers the Beatles and their songs (along with Coca Cola as people now only know about Pepsi). So he decides to sing the famous duo's songs passing them off as his own. As in all fairytales things move fast - he is discovered by Ed Sheeran, goes on tour with his band, is discovered by a shark-like L.A. based agent and whisked off to La La Land to become a star complete with a proposed image makeover. Silly premise somehow works thanks to a charming performance by Patel, a Brit of Indian descent who grew up on the telly on Eastenders, and especially the iconic songs which the actor sings karaoke style on the soundtrack himself. The film also makes funny digs at the music industry itself. The film tries too hard in asking the audience to celebrate and worship the music of the iconic band. Instead it comes off as a minor rom-com packaged with hit songs around it. I also kept getting the strong feeling that in reality most of these songs would not have the same resonance they had when they first came out. Far too much has changed in the world including music.

When Time Ran Out... (James Goldstone, 1980) 2/10

There is a perverse delight in seeing an all-star cast in danger and then die one-by-one as disaster strikes. This Irwin Allen "disaster film" was such an actual disaster at the boxoffice that it put the final nail in the coffin for this genre of cinema which had a highly profitable run during the 1970s. The screenplay, full of clichés, is a greatest hits version of many of the previous films in the cycle ("The Poseidon Adventure", "Earthquake", "The Towering Inferno", the "Airport" franchise, "The Swarm"). Many situations, some of the dialogue and cast are repeated here. A modern hotel resort is about to open on a beautiful island in Hawaii and the owner (William Holden who was drunk throughout the shoot) arrives with his current mistress (Jacqueline Bisset at her loveliest) to inaugurate it. She has rejected his marriage proposal and hopes to hook up again with her previous boyfriend (Paul Newman, who did the film strictly for the paycheck), an oil rig supervisor, who has just struck oil but is suspicious about the underground pressure equating it with the volcano on the island which puts him at odds with the disbelieving hotel manager (James Franciscus) who is married to the owner's god daughter (Veronica Hamel) but having an affair with a hotel employee (Barbara Carrera) who cancel's her wedding plans to her lover's half brother (Edward Albert). And so the relationship dots are connected covering most of the cast. In addition we have an elderly couple - retired circus tight rope walkers (Burgess Meredith who is truly heroic & Valentina Cortese who barely gets to emote in a bit part) - a cop (Ernest Borgnine who spends most of the film with a bandage covering his entire face) in pursuit of a crook (Red Buttons) and a brothel madam (Sheila Allen, the producer's fat wife dressed in a mumu) and her husband (Pat Morita before he mentored the "Karate Kid"). The film's tacky special effects and awful matte shots prove its undoing as the volcano erupts, the ground shakes, a tidal wave hits, there is a helicopter rescue followed by a crash and the impending stream of lava causes a group of the main cast to flee the hotel. The film's climax is set on a rickety bridge over a river of exploding lava which the remaining cast members try to cross. The film's costumes were inexplicably nominated for an Oscar. Was it for the mumu? Because apart from that piece of clothing everyone is seen wearing normal everyday clothes which are totally undistinguished. Trashy film with a memorable cast.

Kabir Singh (Sandeep Reddy Vanga, 2019) 1/10

This film celebrates toxic masculinity and has achieved the distinction of being the highest grossing Bollywood film of the year so far. Regressive cinema at it's worst. Kabir Singh (Shahid Kapoor), a brilliant surgeon, has serious anger management issues. He's always had issues ever since his medical college days. Viciously beating up other students at school, body shaming girls and showing consistent aggression. Then he suddenly comes across a demure first year student (Kiara Advani) and falls head over heels in love. He threatens everyone at school to keep away from her saying she's his "woman". The girl silently follows him around as his "property" and in total acceptance of his behaviour as do all the students around him who are petrified of him. The college ignores his antics because he is a brilliant student. When her father refuses to let him marry her he completely loses the plot, slaps and shames her, takes to drink and hard drugs and becomes a sex addict forcing sycophant friends to procure women for him. His best friend offers his own sister to him in consolation for losing the woman he loves. He forces an actress to strip at knife point who then inexplicably falls in love with him. The absurd screenplay - a remake of the hit Telugu film "Arjun Reddy", also by the same director - makes a hero out of this misogynist character and presents him as a model of manhood. There are no shadings provided to any of the other characters including the love interest as Advani plays her as a complete non entity. She willingly allows him to kiss her, has sex with him and likes to brush her teeth with his toothbrush while he says "I love to see you breathe". He moves her into the men's hostel and straight into his room while all the other guys give them space without batting an eyelid. The shocking success of the film with male audiences cheering on this flawed character during every violent moment speaks volumes for the kind of entertainment that the public enjoys - the director has defended the film's protagonist as a flawed human being who loves intensely like a violent version of "Devdas". Kapoor is all swagger no nuance without any introspection or redemption while playing this one-note character. The film's only grace is the brief appearance of Kamini Kaushal, a leading lady and star from the classic age of 1940s Indian cinema, as Kabir's feisty grandmother who has a wonderful scene with Kapoor trying to knock some sense into him. Had to sit through this long and endless film just to see lovely Kaushal back on screen.

De De Pyaar De (Akiv Ali, 2019) 4/10

This is Ajay Devgn's return to the romance genre after many years but unfortunately this regressive, misogynistic and corny film has a strong whiff of Bollywood circa 1995. The first half carries the romance - the opening scene is especially cringeworthy dripping with sexist jokes. A 50-year old rich swinger (Ajay Devgn) romances a 26-year old bombshell bartender (Rakul Preet Singh - a big star down South in Tollywood) and both decide to get married after the obligatory songs where she tosses her hair, flashes her teeth and wraps her legs around him during song and dance sequences set in England. But before tying the knot he needs to inform his son and daughter - yup he's married but separated and hasn't seen his family, back in India, in 15 years. And so the comic half of the film begins with a number of usually reliable character actors playing family and neighbors who all seem to have forgotten the art of acting and insist on playing to the gallery. Descending on them unannounced he is confronted by his shrill daughter who wants him to leave because her fiancé is about to arrive with his father and she has told them that he died a long time ago. Showing remarkable restraint is his wife (Tabu) who resolves the situation by pretending to be the sister of her husband. Matters don't go according to plan - they never do - both women clash and compete for their man, the son gets the hots for his girlfriend, the daughter continues to be a loud brat and older relatives also join in the fray. There was protest over the casting of good old Alok Nath who, after the film was in the can, got outed as a lecher during the #metoo fracas. Through all the misunderstandings at play Tabu suddenly rises to the occasion with an intense monologue about divorce, broken relationships, woman power and other juicy tidbits putting to rest the tense situation. As with most of Bollywood cinema from the 1990s this too has its share of good moments but you have to sift a lot of sand to get to the meat. Pity even the meat turns out to be pretty rotten here. Both Devgn and Tabu underplay throughout - after so many movies together there is still great chemistry between the two and in one brief scene they rib themselves silly during a few notes from the hit song, "Raah Mein Unse Mulaqat Ho Gayi" from their 1994 film "Vijaypath". Crass film with bits that shine.

The Search (Fred Zinnemann, 1948) 8/10

Moving account of displaced children across Europe at the end of WWII. The story's focus is on a Czech boy (Ivan Jandl), separated from his desperate mother (Jarmila Novotna) at Auschwitz, who is brought by the Red Cross along with hundreds of other similar children to Berlin. When the boy escapes from the camp he comes across an American G.I. (Montgomery Clift) who befriends him and gradually gains his trust. Once totally in shock and silent the boy begins to speak and the soldier teaches him words in english. Meanwhile the mother does not give up hope and keeps on searching and finally with the aid of a Red Cross worker (Aline MacMahon) she is reunited with her child. Zinnemann shoots the story almost like a documentary on bombed out streets and among destroyed buildings on actual German locations. It was the first Hollywood production to shoot in post-war Germany. Clift, in his screen debut, is good playing the bland soldier but his character does not have an arc. He is just there as a spring board for the boy to wile time before he is reunited with his mother. However, the actor made a major impact that year - his second release the same year was Howard Hawks' classic western "Red River" which was actually filmed first but was released after this one. The film's story and little Ivan Jandl (in his only screen appearance) won Oscars while Zinnemann, Clift and the screenplay were all nominated.

Irresistible (Ann Turner, 2006) 2/10

They dragged out that old chestnut, "Gaslight", from the mothballs and gave it a modern makeover. Super Mom (Susan Sarandon), an award winning book illustrator and mother of two, suddenly finds odd incidents taking place - a dress goes missing from her cupboard, she starts forgetting things, imagines there is someone in the house, wakes up from scary nightmares involving a baby, gets attacked by wasps and assorted toys and photos go missing. She is stressed out over a work related deadline and is depressed over her mother's recent death. Her archtiect husband (Sam Neill) is understanding and patient with her but when his new female colleague (Emily Blunt) walks into their house wearing the missing dress she suspects the woman is having an affair with her husband. Sarandon is just as annoying as the Oscar winning Ingrid Bergman was in the original - a wife who thinks she may be losing her mind. So she ends up investigating and breaks into the other woman's house, gets caught and reprimanded by the court. The screenplay keeps going in absurd directions with characters motivations not making sense then suddenly completely diverts from the plot of "Gaslight" which proves to be a red herring. The lack of proper continuity makes it seem as if they were making up the story as they went along throwing in one twist after another. Good cast is wasted with Neill merely reacting to each crazy incident while Blunt switches from being caring to sexy to being creepy then morphing into complete psychosis. A waste of everyone's talent.

The Raven (Lew Landers, 1935) 8/10

The only time Boris Karloff ever played second-string to Bela Lugosi in their careers but still managed to get top billing much to the latter's frustration. This completely over-the-top horror film references the famous poem by Edgar Allan Poe with Lugosi perfectly cast as a megalomaniac surgeon in love with a woman he has restored to health but cannot have. So he imprisons her and a bunch of others in his dungeon tormenting them with torture while laughing maniacally between bursts of sinister organ-playing. Lugosi takes hamming to another level and appears to be having a ball playing this mad character. Karloff, in a small role, plays it straight as a gangster who is turned into a disfigured and subservient monster who wants revenge.

The Man Who Lived Again (Robert Stevenson, 1936) 6/10

A brilliant but unstable old scientist (Boris Karloff) invents a machine that can transport the human mind. Helping him is a young doctor (Anna Lee) who is in love with the son (John Loder) of the old man's benefactor who is providing him with funds for the experiment. When the patron withdraws the funds the scientist becomes vengeful leading to murder and a twisted plot whereby he hopes to pin the murder on the young man by altering his mind. Prepostrous mumbo jumbo plot has Karloff in "mad scientist" mode and incredibly manages to make this evil character appear sympathetic. Providing wonderful support is Donald Calthrop in a sharply written role as the invalid caretaker whose sharp tongue pokes wicked barbs at the old scientist and who lives to regret it. Low budget, little known film works wonders within its short running time. As with most of Karloff's horror films he remains the focal point playing yet another of his eccentric but memorable characters.

Isle of the Dead (Mark Robson, 1945) 7/10

During the Balkan war a group of people on a lonely Greek island band together while in quarantine for the plague. A general (Boris Karloff) tries to hold the group together but as one by one they start dying he notices that one woman (Ellen Drew) is not effected and he suspects she may be a vampire-like creature called vorvolakas. One of producer Val Lewton's series of horror films during the 1940s has great atmosphere and a feeling of dread which the screenplay milks using the claustrophobic setting, shadowy cinematography, music and sound. At the center is a superb performance by the great Boris Karloff who, minus his usual horrific make-up, uses his mellifluous voice to great effect.

The Ghoul (T. Hayes Hunter, 1933) 9/10

Britain's first sound horror film was an attempt by Gaumont studios (with Michael Balcon as producer) to replicate the great success of Hollywood's Universal studio horror films. The studio enticed Boris Karloff to return to Britain after 25 years abroad. The actor had toiled in Hollywood for years in bit parts but suddenly became a huge star after the enormous success of "Frankenstein" after which he enjoyed further acclaim in other horror films like "The Old Dark House", "The Mummy" and "The Mask of Fu Manchu". Here he plays a dying Professor of Egyptology who has purchased a precious jewel which he thinks will give him eternal life after it is buried with him as a sacrifice to the Egyptian gods. When the jewel is stolen by his faithful club-footed butler (Ernest Thesiger) things begin to move in the night as the old man rises as a ghoul during the full moon. Also wanting the jewel are an assortment of shady characters - the shifty Egyptian who had sold him the gem, his crooked lawyer (Cedric Hardwicke) and a fake pastor (Ralph Richardson in his film debut). Adding the requisite screams when the ghoul returns from the dead are his niece (lovely Dorothy Hyson), her friend (the hilarious Kathleen Harrison) with his nephew (Anthony Bushell) coming to the rescue during an exciting fiery finale. Adding greatly to the sinister atmosphere is production designer, Alfred Junge, whose dark and foreboding sets play a huge part as the characters move from room to room in the spooky old house. Helping create further dread is the cinematography of Günter Kramf, a leading exponent of expressionism. Both these German artists had worked with F. W. Murnau, Robert Weine and other leading directors of the Weimer period creating an intense mood. The film was thought lost until a print was found in a closed vault at a British studio in England during the 1980s and finally restored. A must-see.

The Public Eye / Follow Me (Sir Carol Reed, 1971) 6/10

Sir Peter Shaffer's hit play first appeared in the West End and on Broadway in 1962 and made stars of Maggie Smith and Kenneth Williams. It was about the turbulent changing attitudes to love in the 60s though a brilliant combination of comedy, pathos and drama. A stuffy banker (Michael Jayston), suspecting his daffy American wife (Mia Farrow) of infidelity, hires a private detective (Topol) to follow her. She has started disappearing, spending alone time watching sunsets and dolphins at the park and frequenting bars in the East End of London. Or so she says, although his jealousy makes him believe otherwise. The detective spends a number of days following her. At first she is suspicious of the man following her in the white raincoat but gradually she treats it like a game as they together discover London although they never ever speak to each other. She feels liberated and flattered at the attention, something she had found lacking lately in her marriage to her husband bringing to fore the divide in their social backgrounds. She confesses her happy feelings to her husband after a showdown and he automatically assumes she may be in love with the detective who, in turn, goes on to provide him the solution to his woes in order to win back his wife. Rather dated and silly material surprisingly works despite the film's oddball casting. Mia Farrow, just off her Indian-hippy sojourn and dressed in Indian embroidered kurtas and other garish '70s clothes, is her usual stiff whiny self but gets better as the film moves along. The role of the flamboyant detective was given to Israeli actor Topol who was the new star on the block courtesy of "Fiddler on the Roof" and he plays him loud and cute like "Zorba". Compared to these two offbeat characters the prissy role of the stuffed-shirt husband comes off very annoying and Michael Jayston plays him too one-note throwing the love triangle into a loop. Silly premise has the added disadvantage of being stuck in the 1970s time zone throwing off whatever comedic value the play had a decade before. And Mia Farrow is certainly not Maggie Smith. However, there is something loopy and endearing about the plot as we follow the two leads across London in their magical quest for love and liberation. This was the last film in the distinguished career of Carol Reed and he does not go out with a bang. More like a flutter which, however, does manage to bring on a few smiles.

The Prize (Mark Robson, 1963) 7/10

One of many Hitchcock imitations that were made in homage to the Master. This one is based on the book by Irving Wallace and a screenplay by Ernest Lehman who wrote the last Hitchcock spy thriller "North By North West". The film mixes comedy and drama, the requisite icy blonde, lovely Swedish locations and a fast paced plot. A grumpy, womanizing alcoholic author (Paul Newman), suffering from writer's block, arrives in Stockholm to accept the Nobel prize for literature. He is soon up to his neck in a kidnapping plot with attempts on his life while nobody believes him. The Nobel laureate for Physics (Edward G. Robinson) is kidnapped and an imposter placed in his place. The man's niece (Diane Baker), who comes on to the author, may or may not be involved. Also adding to the sex quotient is the sexy Biology laureate (Micheline Presle) who shamelessly flirts with him to make her husband jealous while a cool blonde (Elke Sommer) has been assigned by the government to keep him in line and away from booze. Newman is no Cary Grant but, playing once again a cynical and wayward character, is an absolute delight as he berates the press, dodges assassins and unsuccessfully tries to convince the police that he is in danger. It is all played out to the accompaniment of a superb score by Jerry Goldsmith and stunning views of Stockholm shot by the great William Daniels.

Le ragazze di Piazza di Spagna / 3 Girls From Rome (Luciano Emmer, 1952) 8/10

Charming fluff follows the joys and heartbreaks of three working class girls who like taking their lunch break from work sitting in the sun on the Spanish Steps discussing their very active love lives. They work as seamstresses at one of the fashionable dress houses near the Piazza de Spagna in Rome. Marisa (Lucia Bosé) is the pretty one who lives with her brood of siblings in a crowded tenement and in love with a young truck driver (Renato Salvatori). Elena (Cosetta Greco) lives with her widowed mother and is in love with an opportunist who is two timing her with his rich manager's daughter. Lucia (Liliana Bonfatti) is loved by a short jockey but she prefers dating different tall men every night. Charming old fashioned film would be termed a "chick flick" today but is much more than that as it astutely captures striking nuances of the city itself making it very much a character in the story. The witty screenplay encompasses many attitudes considered politically incorrect today yet still seem fresh and very funny as they are familiar to so many cultures around the world. Along with the three stars there are superb bits by the great Eduardo De Filippo as a suitor to the widow and a very young Marcello Mastroianni (dubbed by Nino Manfredi) as a taxi driver who ends up with one of the girls. Great fun.

A ciascuno il suo / We Still Kill the Old Way (Elio Petrie, 1967) 8/10

Petrie's film celebrates the beauty of Sicily with the camera in constant motion taking sweeping shots of the countryside with the vast blue sea visible in the background. Almost every shot between the actors is filmed with the ocean glimpsed in the backdrop or objects d'art or potted plants obscuring the characters. All this beauty is in sharp contrast to the ugly goings on in the small town. A doctor and a pharmacist are gunned down in cold blood on the imposing cliffs where they were hunting birds. The pharmacist had been receiving annonymous letters with death threats. Long married to a very ugly woman he was having an affair with a local 15-year old peasant girl, so suspicion of the killings fall on her father and brothers. The townfolk are indifferent to the deaths - contempt for the philanderer, who they feel deserved old-fashioned justice for dallying with another woman, and pity for the doctor who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Petrie dissects the townfolk via a witty scene at the funeral as the camera captures important men and women of the town from afar as the gossipy voices of two men are heard describing each person. A Professor and former communist (Gian Maria Volonté) suspects that the hit was actually meant for the doctor as he may have uncovered corruption by the Church, the government or the mafia. While investigating his suspicions he comes into contact with the doctor's cousin (Gabrielle Ferzetti), a lawyer, and the beautiful widow (Irene Papas) to whom he feels attracted. Predictable story concludes with a shocking ending but mainly comes alive due to the extraordinary performances - Volonté captures the academic's naivety and awkward personality while Papas, dressed throughout in stark black widow's weeds, speaks volumes with her expressive eyes. This was the start of the amazing collaboration between Petrie and Volonté who went on to make a series of hard-hitting classic films of a political nature.

Dark Phoenix (Simon Kinberg, 2019) 4/10

The conclusion of the X-Men prequels has aliens (Jessica Chastain is the white-blonde leader) from outer space arriving on earth to seek the "power" that destroyed their planet. It now resides inside Jean Grey aka "Phoenix" (Sophie Turner) who inadvertently acquired it while saving a space shuttle along with the other X-Men. Confused with the enormous power inside her she leashes it on her fellow mutants killing Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) by mistake. The X-Men - Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and others - decide to go after her while their mentor, Xavier (James McAvoy), holds back a secret concerning the past of the "infected" mutant. This film is just an excuse to get the team back together, involve them in a skirmish so that CGI rules supreme in a battle on board a train. It is all such a rushed job proving that decent scripts are no longer a need in Hollywood just as long as yet another comic book adaptation reaches the screen to make money at the boxoffice.

Tolkien (Dome Karukoski, 2019) 6/10

Exquisitely produced film biography is shot on stunning locations across England - in and around Oxford, Lancashire, Manchester, Liverpool and Rochdale. The film covers the early life of English professor J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings as well as other notable academic works. Tolkien (Nicholas Hoult) recalls his impoversished childhood, schooling (his creation of a language with strange drawings of a magical world of mythical creatures) and study (at Exeter College, Oxford), friendships (the formation of a secret society with three chums) and girlfriend (Lily Collins), from the trenches of WWI. After surviving the war he gets married and starts writing "The Hobbit". Hoult is good in the lead role and the director uses a number of spectacular imagery to convey what would become part of the author's writings. As a treatise about love, friendship and a celebration of art, literature and music the story resonates strongly. As a straight forward biography the film takes no chances and the story plods along via lovely drawing rooms and horrific battlefields.

[Precious Doll]

Benjamin (2019) Simon Amstell 5/10
Ad Astra (2019) James Gray 4/10
Good Boys (2019) Gene Stupnitsky 4/10
Dafne (2019) Federico Bondi 4/10
Unchained (1955) Hall Bartlett 4/10
If Only (2019) Ginevra Elkann 6/10
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) Andre Ovredal 4/10
The Goldfinch (2019) John Crowley 2/10
In the Shadow of the Moon (2019) Jim Mickle 1/10

Repeat viewings

The Man with Two Brains (1983) Carl Reiner 7/10
The Witches (1990) Nicolas Roeg 10/10
Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (1978) Bertrand Blier 8/10
Moonfleet (1955) Fritz Lang 10/10

[Precious Doll]

Greener Grass (2019) Jocelyn DeBoer & Dawn Luebbe 6/10
Animals (2019) Sophie Hyde 4/10
It: Chapter Two (2019) Andy Muschietti 1/10
Ma (2019) Tate Taylor 7/10
Nevrland (2019) Gregor Schmindger 2/10
End of the Century (2019) Lucio Castro 4/10
Killing Patient Zero (2019) Laurie Lynd 7/10
You Don't Nomi (2019) Jeffrey McHale 6/10

Repeat viewings

Cavalcade (1933) Frank Lloyd 6/10
The Naked Kiss (1964) Samuel Fuller 8/10
Secrets and Lies (1996) Mike Leigh 10/10
Kiss Me Deadly (1955) Robert Aldrich 10/10
Walkabout (1971) Nicolas Roeg 10/10
Le Corbeau (1943) Henri-Georges Clouzot 8/10

[Reza]

Ad Astra (James Gray, 2019) 5/10

If a woman feels her hubby is a workaholic, ignores her and has serious unresolved "daddy issues", she needs to send him on a mission to the planet Neptune and he will return back much wiser and straight back into her arms. Or so this film's screenplay seemingly suggests. Gray's film channels Coppola's "Apocalypse, Now" by way of Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" while plagiarizing a number of moments from Alfonso Cuarón's "Gravity". A brilliant young astronaut (Brad Pitt) is given the highly classified task of trying to contact his father (Tommy Lee Jones), a pioneering astronaut, who 26-years before disappeared with his crew while on a space mission to Neptune. Having believed all his life that his father was a hero he suppresses his feelings of abandonment (by him) and takes on the mission. The film's best and most exciting moments are during the journey from Earth to Neptune with tense stopovers on the Moon (a chase sequence on the desolate surface) and Mars. Each time the story delves into the man's psychological issues the film loses track - his thoughts about his father (by way of his voiceovers) and his marital status (by way of brief flashbacks). Poor Liv Tyler has the dubious task of playing the wife who walks out on Pitt and the director shoots all her scenes where her face is completely out of focus. Both Donald Sutherland and Ruth Negga are wasted in small roles while Tommy Lee Jones, as the "Captain Kurtz" of this piece, is quietly wide-eyed and crazed. It is up to Pitt to carry this film and he effortlessly does so in an understated way but not without quietly flashing his star aura. Pitt's acting, in his middle age, has matured like fine wine. Too bad he is stuck in a project that smells of deja vu and a story with almost as many potholes as on the moon. The film has outstanding cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema which captures the eerie silence of outer space, the barren dune-like surface of the Moon and the magnificent rings around Neptune through which Pitt enters during one stunning sequence. Disappointing film is at least a return to form for Pitt's magnetic screen presence and, along with his recent Tarantino outing, proves that he is one of the best actors in Hollywood today.

Anna (Luc Besson, 2019) 6/10

Anna (Sasha Luss), a tall Russian willowy blonde, is a top Parisienne model which is a cover for her real job as a deadly assassin for the KGB. She is made to realise she cannot leave and is a slave to them. So when an opportunity arises - she is caught by the CIA during an assassination attempt - she makes a deal with an operative (Cillian Murphy) to carry out their bidding, in return for "retirement" in Hawaii, which is to kill the KGB head who years earlier rubbed out a number of CIA agents. Besson retreads his own "La Femme Nikita" along with familiar tropes from many similar films to come up with this stale but nevertheless exciting spy thriller. As with all of Besson's films there are slick action set pieces leaving a lot of dead and mangled humans. There are sharp supporting turns by Luke Evans as a KGB agent in love with Anna and Helen Mirren who has a high time playing the cynical but deadly KGB operative. She is made up to look almost like the witch in Hansel & Gretel minus the warts on her face. Mirren, an Oscar winner and a Dame no less, not only has a wicked sense of fun while choosing her roles but makes them hilariously memorable. The final confrontation takes place between the CIA and KGB.....or does it? Besson keeps things moving with twists upon twists making this into a greatest hits version of his own filmography.

[Reza]

Ta kokkina fanaria / The Red Lanterns (Vasilis Georgiadis, 1963) 9/10

Stylized and set bound - the story is based on a play - runs counterpoint to Jules Dassin's classic film about prostitutes, "Never On Sunday", where joyous hooker (Melina Mercouri) works hard for her money but rests on Sunday. Here the profession is shown as it is - heartbreaking, sad and miserable. Set in a brothel called "The Red Lanterns" in the seedy port district of Piraeus in Athens the story revolves around the poignant lives of five prostitutes and explores their personal stories. The kindhearted Eleni (Tzeni Karezi) is in love with a man (Dimitris Papamichael) who is unaware of her profession, Anna (Alexandra Ladikou) is in love with a sailor (Manos Katrakis) and unknown to him she has had their child, the eldest masculine looking Mary (Mary Chronopoulou) has a young man (Phaedon Georgitsis) fall in love with her and Marina (Katerina Helmy) a village girl is in love with her pimp. The tough but jolly Madam Pari (Despo Diamantidou) runs the brothel with the help of the menacing pimp Michalis (George Foundas) who is in love with Eleni who hates him. He also pursues the teenage Myrsine (Eleni Anousaki) who spurns him too. For some life does not go as planned as they face tragic circumstances while some find happiness as the brothel is forcibly shutdown. Superbly acted film has a memorable score by Stavros Xarhakos and striking cinematography by Nikos Gardelis. The film was nominated for an Oscar in the foreign film category.

Wall of Noise (Richard Wilson, 1963) 2/10

The race track at Hollywood Park is the backdrop for the dull soap opera plot about marital infidelity where the horses have more life than the humans. A horse trainer (Ty Hardin) wishes to be his own man raising race horses but finds life tough working for nasty rich men. It does not help when the bored wife (Suzanne Pleshette) of his boss (a crass Ralph Meeker) comes onto him and they indulge in an affair that has less heat than the bucking horses around them. Hardin is stiff as a log although that's no help during the anemic grappling with Pleshette who comes on like a bored barracuda. There is no chemistry between the two leads with the supporting cast - Dorothy Provine & Simon Oakland - coming off more interesting. Lucien Ballard's widescreen camerawork is the only plus in this lousy film.

Late Night (Nisha Ganatra, 2019) 6/10

Fitfully amusing look into the world of late night talk shows provides a return to form for Emma Thompson . She plays the demonic and cynical star host who is on the way out. Her show has been going down in ratings for over a decade and she is fired and the network plans to bring in her replacement the following season. Shocked out of her complacency, though refusing to lower her bitch mode attitude, she decides to change things around. A female writer (Mindy Kaling - perky and extremely annoying) is hired to join her old gang of male writers and the plan is to spruce up the show. The newcomer, who previously worked in a chemical plant, has no experience of television but is sweet, fragile but endearing and gets on the star's nerves. Kaling wrote the screenplay and the part specifically for Thompson which is partly a buddy comedy but also a critique of talk shows and the function of women at the workplace with an emphasis on diversity and sexism. It is also a rom-com between two women as they both circle each other jostling to create change. Thompson is at her brittle best using her tart British personality and diction to razor sharp effect. She does not suffer fools and stamps out mediocrity. John Lithgow is her long suffering but supportive spouse. Predictable film is witty if not laugh-out-loud funny.

[Reza]

Reza,

I'm glad to see you are starting to get through all those DVD's of Oscar nominated foreign language films. They certainly are a very mixed bag.

Not on DVDs but mainly through links to the films online.

[Precious Doll]

Reza,

I'm glad to see you are starting to get through all those DVD's of Oscar nominated foreign language films. They certainly are a very mixed bag.

[Reza]

La ragazza con la pistola / The Girl With a Pistol (Mario Monicelli, 1968) 3/10

Unbelievable bad film is a terribly dated comedy by the usually great Mario Monicelli. A film very much of its time trapped in the time capsule of the swinging '60s with Sicily clashing with Carnaby Street. A sexy Sicilian woman (Monica Vitti) is kidnapped by a couple of goons, driven to a remote farm and confronted by a man who rejects her. A mistake was made as he wanted her plump cousin instead. She is livid, proclaims that her honour has been sullied, and he should marry her. She literally jumps him in bed, they have sex and she wakes up to find he has run off. Her family is scandalized and insists she must kill him to avenge the disgrace he brought on to her and the family. And so armed with a gun she goes off to Scotland to kill him. Hysterical farce has her meeting assorted British men, watching a game of rugby, almost getting married to a gay man but is disuaded at the last minute by a doctor friend (Stanley Baker) who takes her to a gay bar. Monica Vitti, after a series of intense roles in the films of Antonioni, does a complete u-turn in this farce playing comedy at full throttle for which she won many awards. The film has superb visuals with the camera capturing not only the scenic landscapes but also the beauty of the star who was then at the peak of her career. Inexplicably the film was nominated for an Oscar in the foreign film category.

The Midnight Story (Joseph Pevney, 1957) 7/10

After almost ten years of appearing in Universal Studio bit parts, in swashbucklers, silly comedies and crime dramas, Tony Curtis was on the cusp of becoming a "serious actor". Here he co-stars with recent Oscar nominee Marisa Pavan in a film that played at the bottom of a double bill. A rookie cop (Tony Curtis) leaves the police force to investigate the death by stabbing of his mentor, the local parish priest. Suspecting a fellow Italian (Gilbert Roland), who sells fish on the wharf, he ingratiates himself into his household where he falls in love with his niece (Marisa Pavan). The entire family is very fond of him and soon becomes confused about his suspicions until the police inform him that the suspect's alibi on the night of the murder isn't airtight. Curtis is stiff but good looking which was probably all that the studio required from him to sell tickets at the boxoffice. The film is an interesting mix of romance, social drama and murder mystery with shades of a wattered down noir courtesy of Russell Metty's superb widescreen camerawork mostly shot on location in San Francisco.

La monaca di Monza / The Nun of Monza (Eriprando Visconti, 1969) 6/10

Nunsploitation, a subgenre of exploitation film, had as its central conflict issues of religious or sexual suppression due to living in celibacy. These films were a sharp criticism against religion in general and the Catholic Church in particular with stories set in either Spain or Italy. The typical scenario was set in fortress-like convents with the Mother Superior lusting after other nuns with self-flagellation and masochistic rituals being the order of the day. Often a lecherous priest would be part of the story to add the requisite masculine touch which invariably involved either masturbation or rape. Visconti's film is a cut above the usually sleazy low budget versions that flooded the market during the 1970s. This sensational true story is about Sister Virginia Maria (Anne Heywood) the Mother Superior at the Convent at Monza in northern Italy during the 17th century. When a local Count (Antonio Sabáto) murders a man he takes refuge inside the Convent. When he is asked to leave by the Mother Superior he takes help from two nuns and rapes her after which they both continue a love affair resulting in pregnancy and the birth of a daughter. Both try to conceal their sin - he has sex with two other nuns who know what is going on in order to keep his love affair a secret - and even resort to murder those who threaten to reveal them to the Church. The lurid events include torture, devil worship, nudity, extreme violence and graphic sex while wearing the habit. Needless to say it does not end well when the Inquisition gets in on the act. Bizarre film has an excellent score by Ennio Morricone and a superb performance by Heywood as the romantic and raunchy nun.

Le rouge est mis / Speaking of Murder (Gilles Grangier, 1957) 9/10

Some of the best but little known film noirs came out of France often with the great Jean Gabin in the lead. Grangier's stylish crime drama is punctuated by a fine jazz score and crisp cinematography. A gang of thieves, led by a garage owner (Jean Gabin), keep up a respectable veneer during the day while robbing with great precision after getting tips. After a heist goes wrong a member of the gang (Lino Ventura) suspects that their leader's younger brother (Marcel Bozzuffi) is a police informant. The young man is an ex-convict just out of jail and the police had approached him to rat on his brother. The plot goes through very familiar tropes, film noir by numbers, which was strictly formula during the 1950s yet seems remarkably fresh today. There are several memorable moments - the briskly paced opening heist and the escape, Ventura using a machine gun to kill two cops (which is like something out of "The Godfather" which came years later), the introduction of Annie Girardot as the convict's sexy paramour and the ironic ending. Memorable little film and a must watch.

Vivre Pour Vivre / Live for Life (Claude Lelouche, 1967) 6/10

Romantic love triangle has a memorable score by Francis Lai coming on the heels of the huge boxoffice success of Lelouche's "A Man and a Woman" for which the director won an Oscar for his screenplay and for which Lai created its now iconic score. A famous tv newscaster perpetually cheats on his wife (Annie Girardot) while covering the war on Vietnam. When he falls in love with an American model (Candice Bergen) his secrets and lies eventually get exposed and he leaves his wife for the much younger woman. An assignment in Africa is followed by their breakup - both are bored by the relationship - and a prison stint in Vietnam. Returning back home he finds his wife has moved on with her life. Superficial film relies on flashy direction, the trio of beautiful stars, a travelogue of Paris, Nairobi & Amsterdam and Lai's romantic music underlining every move of the three characters. The film was nominated for an Oscar in the foreign film category. Blink and you will miss the star - Anouk Aimée - of the director's previous film during a scene set at a boxing match. The constant switch over to scenes from a documentary on the Nazis and on the fighting in Vietnam are tedious and detracts from the main plot.

[Reza]

L'immortelle / The Immortal One (Alain Robbe-Grillet, 1963) 10/10

Turkey, a land of mosques, castles, secret gardens and harems, is the backdrop for this sensual journey of obsession. Robbe-Gillet, who wrote the dense but hypnotic "Last Year at Marienbad" with Alain Resnais, creates this avant garde masterpiece in his film debut as a director. Using minimal dialogue, sharp editing and sound, he creates a film that suspends time giving it a dream-like quality. None of the characters have names - a man (Jacques Doniol-Valcroze) meets an enigmatic woman (Françoise Brion), they travel together, she disappears, he obsessively retracts their movements together, she mysteriously reappears but then he loses her once again. The film has a highly charged erotic sensibility quietly running beneath the surface. The actors are placed prop-like against stunning architecture (shades of Antonioni), in brightly lit interiors gazing out of shuttered windows or standing with their back to the camera gazing out at the Bosphorous. Who is this woman? There are decadent hints of a slave trading ring. Is the sun-glassed man she is seen with her pimp? There are no answers and the viewer is left to decipher the plot. Just sit back and let the teasing images soak in to your brain. There need not be an answer to everything in life. Sometimes it is best to let life flow and see where it takes you just as this spectacular film does.

Trans-Europ-Express (Alain Robbe-Grillet, 1966) 10/10

How to write a story (screenplay) while travelling on a train. Imagine different scenarios, add violence and use your own fetishistic fantasies - it helps when your own 50-year relationship with your wife consisted of sexual gratification of the sadomasochistic kind. A writer (the director himself), a producer and a script writer (Catherine Robbe-Grillet - the director's wife) board the Paris-Antwerp train and let their imaginations run amock while trying to create a screenplay. Using actor Jean-Louis Trintignant as their story's protagonist (he is first seen stealing a magazine with pictures of bondage) - a smuggler of cocaine in the scenario. Playful, stylish and adventurous film uses the fourth wall to great effect as Robbe-Grillet, one of the founders of the nouveau roman, creates another highly original cinematic masterpiece. There is a perfect blend of sound, editing and strikingly crisp black and white cinematography that holds together the plot which also includes a prostitute (Marie-France Pisier) consenting to rape and bondage. Sexual fantasies of erotic violence and bondage reach a fever pitch in the scene at a night club with a stripped woman in chains on a revolving table as the camera moves in slowly towards a closeup of her, making the audience just as much a voyeur as the director himself. The film is also a celebration of pop culture - the Bond films and Godard get a nod - while indulging in the director's fascination with repetitious views of moments and situations which hold different meanings. A must-see.

Orders to Kill (Anthony Asquith, 1958) 8/10

Quietly gripping WWII thriller which raises questions about carrying out orders when you suspect they might not be justified. An American flyer (Paul Massie) is sent to occupied France to assassinate a french Resistance member (Leslie French) who is suspected of being a traitor. Highly underrated film examines man's conflict in times of stress bringing to fore his conscience in deciding if his duty and courage are worth expending when in doubt. Newcomer Massie is surrounded by a wonderful cast of character actors in small roles - Eddie Albert as a fellow officer, James Robertson Justice as a trainer, Lillian Gish as his patrician mother and Lionel Jeffries as an interrogator. The entire film is shot in a British studio but Asquith manages to provide a strong french flavour to all the scenes set on french streets. Stealing the film is Irene Worth as the flyer's matter-of-fact and quietly ruthless french contact. Their scenes together are riveting as this great actress uses her superb diction and voice to great effect. Massie, Worth and the screenplay by Paul Dehn won Baftas and the film was nominated for best picture. A thought provoking film.

It Chapter Two (Andy Muschietti, 2019) 5/10

One takes the "F" word for granted and it's only when it is censored in a film that it becomes glaringly obvious. The word is used a hell of a lot in this second part of Stephen King's epic horror story about "It" the killer clown. The kids who escaped from the evil demon's clutches are now 27 years older, leading pretty fucked up lives and are asked back to their small town as the evil one returns. Endless and rambling film relies on shock scares which are not really scary and the blood, gore, creature transformations are all too familiar if one has been around for the last 30 years and waded through Hollywood's horror genre. The first half sets up the characters as each gets to confront their anguished childhood along with their encounter with the demon. The protracted ending consists of explosions, flashing lights, the spider-like creature scuttling through the sewers and the absurd mythological plotting which quickly gets tedious and repetitious. The opening scene depicting a gay bashing is not only extremely dated but needlessly unpleasant and does not ring true at all. And the film also loses major points for putting me off chinese food for life. Will always have nightmares now of chinese food crawling off my plate with gnashing teeth and gnarly legs.

Flight Angels (Lewis Seiler, 1940) 6/10

Snappy Warner Bros B-film set in the world of early commercial flights. The pilots and stewardesses make a play for each other while going about their business. The studio's stock company play the familiar parts - handsome Dennis Morgan as the pilot who has vision problems, is grounded and takes to flying in China before realising that he is endangering passengers. Virginia Bruce is the no-nonsense stewardess he loves and Wayne Morris and Jane Wyman play the battling second leads. Fast paced film with even faster dialogue - Wyman is especially adept here on her long way up to becoming a huge star. The screenplay is hilariously sexist and wouldn't pass the "censors" today but it's nevertheless an amusing relic from the past when boys were boys and all girls wanted was to grab a man and get him to the altar. Kind of like today.

Lancelot du Lac / Lancelot of the Lake (Robert Bresson, 1974) 9/10

Bresson strips bare the pomp and pageantry of the legend of Arthur, his queen Guinevere and her lover Lancelot. This is a far cry from the spectacle and romance of Robert Taylor's King Arthur in the old MGM version and its subsequent remakes, the bloated excesses of the musical "Camelot" or the brutal and kinky version of John Boorman's "Excalibur". What we have here are knights wearing heavy and noisy clunky armour as seen through the eyes of Bresson's minimalist eyes. Lancelot returns in defeat having failed to find the Holy Grail. These famous mythical characters are visited past their glory days. Everything is tightly placed or located and very bare, totally bereft of pomp - the small round table in a small room, a castle with narrow corridors with just enough room for the King and Queen while the Knights live in tents on the grounds. The famous love triangle forms the backdrop - Lancelot, having seen a religious vision in defeat, asks the Queen to release him from their illicit love affair which she cannot do. The lovers meet in a room filled with dung and hay which gives their "love scene" a touch of realism. They are betrayed to the King by the knight Mordred leading to the film's magnificent set piece of a joust which Bresson films with focus mainly on the legs of the horses and knights and flashes of the audience and a raised flag. It's a unique viewpoint and succeeds in simple terms by Bresson's "only the necessary" methodology. The opening scene of the film has knights beheading and impaling each other in battle with blood gushing from glaring wounds and is a wicked nod to Monty Python and their lunatic vision of knights at play. Bresson uses a cast of non-actors, who emote in a bland and matter-of-fact way, and still manages to create a visionary film which hits home despite his minimalist approach to the subject.

The Sellout (Gerald Mayer, 1952) 6/10

A courageous journalist (Walter Pidgeon) comes up against vicious small-town corruption - Thomas Gomez as a sleazy sheriff - and writes a series of scathing newspaper articles. When he suddenly sells out and disappears the State prosecutor (John Hodiak) and an honest cop (Karl Malden) try to get justice. Good B crime film with a slew of familiar faces - Audrey Totter, Everett Sloane, Paula Raymond, Cameron Mitchell, Frank Cady, Whit Bissell - in small but vivid roles.

[Precious Doll]

The Farewell (2019) Lulu Wang 2/10
Asher (2018) Michael Caton-Jones 2/10
The Captain (2018) Robert Schwentke 5/10
Game Over, Man (2018) Kyle Newacheck 5/10
Downton Abbey (2019) Michael Engler 9/10
Tone-Deaf (2019) Richard Bates Jr. 5/10
Alice (2019) Josephine Mackerras 5/10
The Beach Bum (2019) Harmony Korine 4/10
First Love (2019) Takashi Miike 6/10

Repeat viewings

Central Station (1998) Walter Salles 10/10
A Kid For Two Farthings (1955) Carol Reed 7/10
Bronco Billy (1980) Clint Eastwood 6/10
Ray & Liz (2019) Richard Billingham 8/10
Showgirls (1995) Paul Verhoeven 6/10

[Reza]

O Convento / The Convent (Manoel de Oliveira, 1995) 5/10

This slight film relies more on atmosphere than in it's subject which tends to get lost in far too much juxtaposition of Mephistopheles and a plethora of Christian symbolism. The effect is confusing although not without interest - the exotic Portugese locations and the stunning Ms Deneuve more than compensate. An American scholar (John Malkovich) visits a secluded convent library to research his obsession of proving that William Shakespeare was actually a Sephardic jew from the Iberian peninsula. Accompanying him on his quest is his lovely, neglected and irritated French wife (Catherine Deneuve). While she spends time roaming the grounds of the old convent her husband, in his quest to find the truth, listens to selections of Göethe's "Faust" by the librarian. The plot is confusing - is the wife making a pact with the caretaker (who may be the Devil) to keep her husband all to herself? The two stars obviously relished the chance to work with (the then) 87-year old director who would go on to make films till the age of 105 before dying at age 106. Between the silences on screen and the shrill score straight out of a horror film there is not much to recommend except notching up yet another film in which Deneuve stars.

Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (Alexis Bloom & Fisher Stevens, 2016) 7/10

The troubled yet loving relationship between a star and her daughter was lived in the bright glare of the Hollywood spotlight. Screen actress Debbie Reynolds, star of "Singin' in the Rain" and countless musicals, dramas and comedies lived a busy life but also raised a daughter (Carrie Fisher) and a son (Todd Fisher) her children by heart throb crooner Eddie Fisher. Their lives were forever changed after he left them for Elizabeth Taylor. Fisher, who later became a huge star after "Star Wars", went thorough drug addiction and was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. This documentary covers their bittersweet, sad and funny relationship with the camera following them in the present as home movies and print and screen media covers their past lives. The film culminates with Reynolds receiving the SAG lifetime achievement award which she is determined to accept in person despite old age ailments. The crux of the film is the quirky relationship of mother and daughter who by the end were both not in the best of health but lived in houses side-by-side as the daughter keeps close watch on her star mother. It's a poignant film showcasing the highs and lows of showbiz. The postscript took place a few months after the film's series of festival showings. Carrie Fisher died suddenly of sleep apnea followed a day later by the grief stricken Reynolds who had a stroke and passed away. A life full of ups and downs but lived with determination, hope and courage.

The Dead Don't Die (Jim Jarmusch, 2019) 6/10

This film is an obvious wink to George Romero and to Tarantino. The comedy is as deadpan as the look on the face of leading man Bill Murray. The set up of the story revolves around the effects of polar fraction which has moved the earth on its axis which results in day and night getting switched. It also results in the dead waking up and soon there is a zombie epidemic. Jarmusch uses familiar tropes of the genre and creates his own very funny take on it - the zombies are just as "dead" as the living. Using small town America - Centerville, "a real nice place" - as the fictional backdrop he peppers the characters with a bunch of eccentric tics. The police sheriff (Bill Murray), his partner (Adam Driver), another cop (Chloë Sevigny), a racist redneck farmer (Steve Buscemi wearing a hat that says "Keep America White Again), the hardware store worker (Danny Glover), a grizzled hermit (Tom Waits), a deliveryman (RZA) and the coroner (a sword wielding Tilda Swinton who pays homage to Uma Thurman in "Kill Bill" and is hilarious). Outsiders in town is a hipster (Selena Gomez) and her friends. When blood and gore hits the fan the only person who screams, as if in a horror film, is Sevigny. Everyone takes the mayhem in their stride including the wry and craggy Murray who does his usual straight schtick. Laid back to the extreme the film still has many memorable moments along with outstanding cinematography by Frederick Elmes. There are sharp cameos by Iggy Pop (as a zombie), Carol Kane and Rosie Perez making this quite an eclectic all-star cast for a Jarmusch film.

27 Dresses (Anne Fletcher, 2008) 7/10

Cute comedy which is an offshoot of the Bridget Jones films. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride is Jane (Katherine Heigl) as she has 27 dresses in her closet to prove her sorry life. When her younger sister falls in love with the man (Edward Burns) she is secretly in love with - her boss - she has to force herself to arrange the marriage and feel happy for her sister. Waiting in the wings is the creepy journalist (James Marsden) who not only makes fun of her but is secretly in love with her. Who does she get in the end is the trope we need to wade through to find out. Delightful rom-com is predictable as hell but wonderful Heigl makes it easy to sit through. Enjoyed the film because of her or maybe because I was drunk while watching the film. Gotta figure that out!

Always at the Carlyle (Matthew Miele, 2018) 5/10

A celebration of Hotel Carlyle in New York with celebrities putting their two cents in. It's really not that great a place ....... or is it?

Reserved For Ladies (Alexander Korda, 1932) 6/10

Class distinctions come in the way of a couple. A head waiter (Leslie Howard) at a posh London hotel falls in love with an aristocratic girl (Elizabeth Allan) and follows her to Austria. She mistakes him for royalty after seeing him dine with a King. Realising their class differences will come in the way he leaves and later they meet up again in London where she dines at the hotel and he waits on her. Dated but stylish film is a remake of a silent film. Howard and Allan are both charming as the lovers and Benita Hume is funny as a countess also in love with the waiter. Korda brings a touch of class to this little film with its smart sets and costume design.

Vulcano (William Dieterle, 1950) 9/10

Italian director Roberto Rossellini cast his mistress Anna Magnani in the film "Stromboli" to be shot on the volcanic Aeolian island off the coast of Sicily. However, he dumped her and replaced her with Ingrid Bergman who had become his new mistress, making her pregnant which caused a huge scandal. Magnani did not take it lying down as she (along with the production company) shot this superb melodrama on the neighbouring island of Salina filmed by William Dieterle, the German emigrée Hollywood director, who brought his own vision and style to the neo-realism backdrop. A prostitute (Anna Magnani) is taken by the cops from Naples and exiled back to her native village on the island of Vulcano. She is treated like a pariah by the women in the village although she is looked at with desire by the loutish men. Only her younger sister (Geraldine Brooks) welcomes her with love. When the young girl is smitten with a seedy man (Rosanno Brazzi) who is a deep sea diver and slave trader her sister sleeps with him to prove he is unworthy of her. That does not change the girl's feelings so the older woman takes the law into her own hands leading to the highly melodramatic and prepostrous finale. Dieterle's camera is also a fascinating travelogue as we see the villagers harvesting the volcanic ash on the bleak desolate island with the superb score by Enzo Masetti playing in the background. However, front and center is the magnificent Magnani who gives a no holds barred performance whether facing upto the village women who won't let her into the church, amused by the lusty men, confronting the man who is going to ruin her sister's life and her ultimate sacrifice as she walks up towards the volcano which is dramatically about to erupt. Magnani was truly a volcano herself and always a memorable presence in all her films.

La mano dello straniero / The Stranger's Hand (Mario Soldati, 1954) 7/10

Extremely rare British-Italian co-production based on a story by Graham Greene with a child as the story's main protagonist not unlike Carol Reed's "The Fallen Idol" also a story by Greene. A young boy (Richard O'Sullivan, a child actor who became famous much later on tv in the British sitcom "Man About the House") arrives in Venice to meet his father (Trevor Howard), a British diplomat / spy, after three years but discovers he is nowhere to be found. Kidnapped by Eastern Bloc agents he is kept drugged and hidden by a shady doctor (Eduardo Cannelli). On his own the boy wanders the streets of Venice looking for his father as the police and the British Consulate are no help. Aiding him in his quest are a secretary (Alida Valli) at the hotel and her American boyfriend (Richard Basehart). Atmospheric film is shot completely on location in Venice and is almost a travelogue as the actors wander all over the lovely city. This film is not as good as the Carol Reed classic but the wonderful cast, the appealing child and the views of the exotic city make it quite memorable in its own way. There is also a good score by Nino Rota.

[Precious Doll]

Downton Abbey - Seasons 5 & 6 (2014-2015) Various 10/10
Amazing Grace (2018) Alan Elliott & Sydney Pollack 6/10
Dragged Across Concrete (2019) S. Craig Zahler 2/10
Lek and the Dogs (2018) Andrew Kotting 4/10
Charlie Says (2019) Mary Harron 1/10
Jane (2017) Brett Morgen 6/10
The Haunting of Sharon Tate (2019) Daniel Farrands 1/10
In Fabric (2019) Peter Strickland 8/10
Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000) Joon-ho Bong 6/10
Oh...Rosalinda!! (1955) Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger 4/10

Repeat viewings

The Missionary (1982) Richard Loncraine 6/10
Klute (1971) Alan J. Pakula 8/10

[Reza]

Så som i himmelen / As it Is in Heaven (Kay Pollak, 2004) 4/10

After a breakdown a world famous conductor (Michael Nyqvist) returns to the small town in Sweden where he was born. His interactions with the townfolk form the basis of this slight and slow story as he falls in love with a young woman while taking part in the local choir. Excellent music cannot compensate for the hysterically loud characters and the emotional manipulation of the screenplay which quickly becomes overbearing. The film was a smash hit in Sweden and was nominated for an Oscar.

Mamma Roma (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1962) 8/10

The first thing you notice about Anna Magnani is her sharp aquiline nose, her lived in face with heavy bags under her kohl rimmed eyes and her uproarious laugh. Nobody could laugh with as much joy on screen - her mouth open in full she is the affirmation of life. She is a true force of nature which comes off glaringly on screen. When this film was shown at the Venice film festival her open-mouthed laugh was deemed obscene by the police and five minutes were excised from this film. A middle-aged prostitute (Anna Magnani) is released from her "servitude" when her pimp gets married so she goes in search of her teenage son who has grown up illiterate in the countryside. She brings him to Rome smothering the resentful boy with love hoping to give him a better life. Away from the quiet countryside he feels like a fish out of water and he soon gets mixed up in petty crime and is attracted to a girl of easy virtue - scenes of the boy running around the city with other street boys mirror Pasolini's own sexual taste which eventually proved to be his doom. With ferocious intensity she comes to her son's rescue. Adding to her problems is the return of her pimp who wants to continue where they left off. Pasolini's film about this semi-incestuous relationship has the director's typical erotic undertones mixed with Catholic guilt. Magnani is an aquired taste - you either love her or hate her. I think she is quite magnificent. Watching her emote is like experiencing grand opera. She is larger than life just like the city in which she has lived on and off its streets. The film is shot in a derelict part of Rome with shabby apartment buildings and ruins resembling closed in high walls like a prison which becomes a metaphor for the lives of both mother and son.

Article 15 (Anubhav Sinha, 2019) 7/10

Seventy percent of the population in India today is mired in a vicious cycle of caste segregation. The lowest caste, the Dalits, have faced the worse prejudices and atrocities. “Article 15” of the Indian constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. However, this has not stopped the centuries old custom of caste apartheid in India as corrupt but powerful government officials, landlords and businessmen belonging to the high caste Hindu communities often work in unison to deny basic rights to the Dalits. Anubhav Sinha's hardhitting film uses the alleged gruesome gang rape and murder of two young girls in Uttar Pradesh in 2014 as a backdrop. The story is reworked as a police procedural centered on a newly appointed police officer (Ayushmaan Khuranna) in a small backwoods town. Two young girls are found hanging from a tree. A third girl is missing. The cops try to cover up the hangings by calling it an honour killing and want to close the case but the officer, brought up in the West with his modern and liberal outlook, relentlessly pursues the truth. The film is a biting indictment of what's happening in India and is a plea for tolerance and equality. Stunningly shot by Ewan Mulligan the film is filled with many haunting images of which the most serene yet horrific is the one of a small crowd gathered at dawn next to a large tree from which hang the two minor girls as dew drips off their bodies. Bollywood star Khurrana is superb as the cop who cannot believe the cruel and vicious "traditions" people in his country still blindly follow with no regard for their fellow human beings. It is a worthy addition to the young actor's list of highly original and often diverse films all of which have scored big with critics and at the boxoffice.

[Reza]

Mortelle Randonnée (Claude Miller, 1981) 8/10

Miller dips into Claude Chabrol territory with this neo-noir murder thriller. An eccentric private detective (Michel Serrault) is obsessively in search of his daughter taken away from him by his wife years before. He also has a strange habit of talking aloud to himself. His boss (Geneviève Page) assigns him a case of looking for a young girl (Isabelle Adjani) who has seduced the young heir to a shoe fortune. He finds her but is fascinated when he sees her dispose the young man's body in a lake. Instead of turning her in to the police he follows her all over Europe as she, under a different disguise, seduces and murders assorted rich men and women and steals their money and jewellery. With each murder the detective becomes more and more obsessed and a stage comes when he even starts covering her tracks so she doesn't get caught. Serrault is superb as he plays a game of cat and mouse with the deadly serial killer who kills without remourse. The character of Adjani has a dreamy far-off quality, almost a cipher, as this femme fatale goes about her life in clinical fashion although she provides each of her personas a distinct and vivid personality. Is she the detective's long-lost daughter? And why is he protecting her? The film is a riveting and intriguing study in obsession that leads up to a haunting finalé. There is also a sharp cameo by an unrecognizable Stéphane Audran as an old matron also following Adjani. Both Serrault and Audran were nominated for Césars.

Parey Hut Love (Asim Raza, 2019) 7/10

Charming desi adaptation of "Four Weddings and a Funeral" takes on the opulence found in the films of Karan Johar and Sanjay Leela Bhansali although the funny screenplay manages to keep things grounded with a strong sense of Pakistani sensibility. And what great timing with Kashmir in the news. Why in the world do we want "their" Kashmir when we have a spectacular part of it in our neck of the woods just waiting to be discovered and made so vividly clear in the film? Yes, yes Indian atrocities, muslims suffering and politicians and the establishment from both sides using innocent suffering people for their own selfish means.....but that's for another discussion. Sheheryar (Sheheryar Munawar Siddiqui), a commitment-phobic aspiring actor, and Saniya (the exquisite Maya Ali), an ex-pat from Turkey and the daughter of a once famous scriptwriter (Nadeem), meet cute at one of those unbelievably over-the-top desi shaadis (found only in our part of the world....although Singapore is guilty of it too as witnessed in "Crazy Rich Asians") and fall in love. But circumstances (a lost phone) keep them apart although they keep bumping into each other during four weddings and a funeral. The set-up allows us to enter the world of exhuberant song and dance as colourful characters - friends and hilariously eccentric family members - gyrate to the music dressed in splendor (the costumes, both ethnic and western, by Umar Sayeed are truly outstanding). Many stars appear in cameos or in small but vivid parts - Frieha Altaf, Marina Khan, Lollywood superstar Meera (who makes a grand entrance and leads the "Ik Pal" dance sequence), Fawad Khan (as a snarky film producer), Sonya Jahan dancing during the Parsee wedding number "Haye Dil Bechara" and Mahira Khan who plays a bitchy diva-actress and gets to do a "Devdas" type mujrah â la Madhuri Dixit in the elaborate "Morey Saiyan". The film also scores points for its outstanding production design, cinematography, a marvelous song score by Azaan Sami Khan, a delightful sequence set during a Nawruz celebration ("Haft-Sheen" - "this glass used to hold sharaab but now we have sharbat") in the Parsee milieu (a minority sect lamentably neglected in our films but here shown with great love and humour), the stunning scenery of "our" Kashmir in and around Muzaffarabad during a song montage sequence and last but certainly not least for making me cry at least five times during the emotional moments. Both leads not only look stunning on screen as lovers but the actors have wonderful chemistry together. They are surrounded by a strong group of character actors with superb comic timing - special kudos to the delightful Hina Dilpazeer who plays the hero's hilariously garrulous mother who steals every scene. An entertaining addition to the revival of cinema in Pakistan.

Next of Kin (Justin Chadwick & Jamie Childs, 2018) 5/10

When a British-Pakistani doctor is shot in the head by a Muslim Jihadi group in Lahore it transpires that his son, who under the influence of shady clerics, may have triggered the murder. Coming to his rescue with the help of MI5 is his family back in London - his aunt (Archie Panjab), her husband (Jack Davenport) and the boy's grandmother (Shabana Azmi) - who have to race against time not only to save his life but also foil two terrorist attacks in London. Well acted 6-part mini-series has suspense but there are far too many unlikely plot twists and coincidences although it is interesting to see the number of dangerous blunders the anti-terrorist security forces make under the leadership of their head (Claire Skinner). The fake Pakistani locations are quite an eyesore.

Operation Crossbow (Michael Anderson, 1965) 5/10

Anderson's action packed WWII film is part documentary and part spy thriller with a strong whiff of James Bond. The Allies send covert agents (George Peppard, Tom Courtenay, Jeremy Kemp, Anthony Quayle) into Germany to destroy a factory where Hitler's death bombs are being created to be launched on London and New York. The film is over stuffed with stars in small but telling parts - the officious pipe smoking British superior officers (Trevor Howard, John Mills, Richard Johnson, Richard Todd, Maurice Denham) who plan the operation at the behest of Churchill (Patrick Wymark), the Nazi High Command (Paul Henreid, Helmut Dantine, Anton Diffring), real-life test pilot Hannah Reitsch (Barbara Rütting) who actually flew on the rocket and a couple of women who aid the agents (Lilli Palmer who gives the film's best performance and Sophia Loren who gets top billing courtesy of her husband Carlo Ponti the film's producer). Many familiar character actors (Sylvia Syms, John Fraser, Richard Wattis, Alan Cuthbertson, Gordon Jackson, John LeMesurier, Robert Brown, John Alderton) appear in bit parts as assorted British officers. The ending, set in an underground factory, appears to be the same fake volcano set used later in the Bond film "You Only Live Twice". The film ends with shoddy fiery explosions. The screenplay's only saving grace is the unexpected and shocking deaths of two characters (both played by big stars) very early on in the film.

Kitty Foyle (Sam Wood, 1940) 6/10

Soap opera set within the confines of class differences as Kitty Foyle (Ginger Rogers) flits between two men but gives her heart to the wrong one. Warned by her dad that she will not find contentment with a rich man she falls hard for a Boston blue-blood (Dennis Morgan) who comes in and out of her life leading to marriage and a divorce after his family - an imperious Gladys Cooper plays his mother which should give an idea about the union - makes it clear she is not suitable material. Finding herself pregnant and single she chooses to have the child which dies although censors of the time did not allow her to have an abortion which she did in the bestseller (by Christopher Morley) on which the film is based. Waiting in the wings is the sensitive and patient doctor (James Craig) from her own background who has loved her all along. This rather dated film won Ginger Rogers an Oscar. It was a popular if rather surprising win considering the strong competition that year from Bette Davis (The Letter), Joan Fontaine (Rebecca) and Katharine Hepburn (The Philadelphia Story), performances which are much more highly regarded today. Rogers was lauded for her immense popularity graduating from playing acerbic second leads to being the romantic dance partner of Fred Astaire in a string of hit musicals followed by leads in hit comedies. This dramatic departure surprised Hollywood and clinched her the award.

Una breve vacanza / A Brief Vacation (Vittorio De Sica, 1973) 9/10

De Sica returns to his roots at the end of his long career exploring the plight of the working class. The screenplay by De Sica's longtime collaborator, Cesare Zavattini (a proponent of the Neorealist movement in Italian cinema), was inspired by the French poet Guillaume Apollinaire's adage - "Sickness is the vacation of the poor". A factory worker (Florinda Bolkan) is sick and tired of her hard life working long hours to support her three children, a crass injured husband (Renato Salvatori) and thankless in-laws. When she develops tuberculosis she is sent via the government's National Health scheme to a sanatorium in the Italian Alps to heal and recuperate. This "vacation" opens up her eyes to a world outside her drab existence as she interacts with fellow patients from a different class than her own. She also finds brief happiness in a romance with a younger man. Elegiac, bittersweet film examines Italian class and sex attitudes but is never depressing despite the subject and benefits from an outstanding performance by Florinda Bolkan and a strong supporting turn by Adriana Asti as a flamboyant, foul mouthed singer who is nearing the end of her terminal illness. A must-see.

Shadow of the Law (Louis J. Gasnier, 1930) 6/10

One of many early talkies that were a transition for William Powell from bit parts as hoods to full fledged leading man. An amorous young man (William Powell) comes to the rescue of a woman (Natalie Moorhead) who is being attacked by her jealous lover and in the skirmish the man falls to his death. When the woman disappears he has no alibi and gets life imprisonment. Years later he escapes from jail and makes a fresh start but is confronted by his alibi who appears and blackmails him about his past. Powell is his usual dapper self and Moorhead is superbly slimy as the femme fatale. The screenplay has many twists and for an early talkie is surprisingly not static but moves along at a swift pace

Once a Lady (Guthrie McClintic, 1931) 4/10

A flamboyant Russian emigrée (Ruth Chatterton), the toast of Paris, impulsively marries a stuffy Englishman and lives to regret it. When his political career is threatened by her offbeat ways his family turns him against her so she finds solace with another man (Ivor Novello). She is forced to leave the house and her daughter taken away. Years later in Paris, while running a high class brothel, she is approached by her daughter (Jill Esmond) for help. Static melodrama was British matinée idol Novello's attempt at stardom in Hollywood which failed miserably. Chatterton is hilariously hammy speaking with a ridiculous Russian accent but looks lovely suffering throughout this turgid plot dressed in outlandish gowns.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Michael Dougherty, 2019) 5/10

A potpourri of ancient monster Titans - Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan and the three-headed dragon-like Ghidorah - awaken to wreak havoc on earth in this direct sequel to "Godzilla" which came out in 2014. A scientist (Vera Farmiga), who lost her son in the havoc created by Godzilla in the previous film, has invented a device that emitts frequencies that can attract or alter Titan behaviour. And since most of the "white world" (ok let's face it, only the United States) has been caught up in a frenzy of "political correctness" for the last many years the scientist here believes that these monsters should be allowed to live as they will allow the eco-system to work in balance and recreate life that has died. For over 80 years the world (via Hollywood) made sure every rampaging monster was killed and now in 2019 we are told that we gotta keep some of them alive. This noisy film is replete with shoddy effects as various combinations of monsters do battle with the three-headed one emerging as the nasty villain. Trying their best to avoid getting stomped on are the scientist's ex-husband (Kyle Chandler), her daughter (Millie Bobby Brown), assorted scientists of diverse nationalities (Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, Ziyi Zhang, Bradley Whitford) and the eco-terrorist human villain of this saga (Charles Dance). All the survivors converge in Boston and the final battle is between Godzilla and Ghidorah as the city is decimated and one big human sacrifice takes place. The end credits reveal that the surviving Titans are making a beeline for Skull Island thus paving the way for yet another sequel which will add King Kong into the mix as well. Too many monsters does indeed spoil the broth as after the 90 minute mark all the battles between the monsters and the shootouts from planes and helicopters just blur into a frenzy of light and noisy explosions. Hope the sequel keeps it simple with not too many cooks jumping into the frey.

Asher (Michael Caton-Jones, 2018) 7/10

Asher (Ron Perlman), a former Mossad agent turned hitman, is getting old and worn out but goes through the motions every day. He likes to cook gourmet meals, enjoys fine wine, and kills people for his paycheck received from the steely but twinkly-eyed jewish mob boss (Richard Dreyfuss). When he meets a woman (Famke Janssen) during a hit gone wrong he tries to re-evaluate his life. Leisurely paced film is a quiet delight with a wonderful central performance by Perlman. The film is filled with sad people - Jacqueline Bisset plays Janssen's feisty cockney mother who is suffering from dementia. The main plot runs through familiar territory but has a few twists to keep the audience occupied.

Angel Has Fallen (Ric Roman Waugh, 2019) 4/10

The President of the United States has a nasty habit of getting into scrapes in this trilogy of films but if he didn't than Secret Service Agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) wouldn't have much to do. This sequel tries to give Butler a different arc - he is battle weary, suffering from blinding headaches after a concussion and popping pain killers. Just as he is trying to decide to take a desk job - the wife wants him to - there is an assassination attempt on the President (Morgan Freeman) and Banning finds himself on the run with the Agency, the FBI and an Organization, which has framed him, all in pursuit. The formulaic plot goes through the usual tropes with the pursuer trying to prove his innocence as he is chased and shot at. The film comes alive during the sequences between Banning and his estranged grizzled old father (Nick Nolte), a Vietnam vet, who has a few surprises in store as he comes to his son's help in the nick of time. In fact the old man turns up out of the blue another time as well which makes no sense in terms of continuity - the screenplay has huge potholes. Many of the earlier scenes are shot at night which makes it hard to see what is happening on the screen. The annoying shaky camera also does not help. The film's best set piece is the assassination attempt on a secluded lake as deadly drones are directed at the President's boat which kill off all the security forces. The film is just as dumb as the other two in the franchise but those films scored extra points for being campy and over-the-top. The film's second half, which leads upto the action packed finale, is totally run of the mill and has nothing new to offer except the usual shoot out and a final confrontation with the main villain. The film is just as listless as the deadpan Butler who grimaces his way through the entire film with a scowl on his face. Freeman has a thankless part mostly spent in a coma on a hospital bed. Hopefully this series will now come to a close.

[Precious Doll]

The Wedding Guest (2019) Michael Winterbottom 2/10
Weathering with You (2019) Maketo Shinkai 4/10
Hotel by the River (2019) Sang-soo Hong 4/10
The Little Stranger (2018) Lenny Abrahamson 3/10
Mindhunter Season 2 (2019) Various 9/10
Downton Abbey Seasons 1 to 4 (2010 - 2013) Various 10/10

Repeat viewings

The War of the Roses (1989) Danny DeVito 7/10
The Tree of Life (2011) Terrence Malick 2/10
Bride of Frankenstein (1935) James Whale 6/10
Vice Squad (1982) Gary Sherman 4/10
Heavenly Creatures (1994) Peter Jackson 10/10
La Ronde (1950) Max Ophuls 7/10
Cruising (1980) William Friedkin 7/10
Gone to Earth (1950) Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger 7/10
The Wild Heart (1952) Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger & Rouben Mamoulian 5/10