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

[Reza]

1917 (2029) Sam Mendes 5/10
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019) Dean DeBlois 4/10
Missing Link (2019) Christ Butler 4/10
Klaus (2019) Sergio Pablos & Carlos Martinez Lopez 4/10

[Reza]

England Made Me (Peter Duffell, 1973) 8/10

Graham Greene's novel, set in Sweden, comes to the screen transposed to 1935 Nazi Germany and filmed in Yugoslavia. A ne’er-do-well Englishman (Michael York) gets involved, via his twin sister (Hildegard Neill), with her lover - a ruthless German businessman (an intense Peter Finch) who is masterminding a scam on the stock exchange. While he has no love for the Nazis he uses their dirty tactics to fuel his greed. The story is a well-observed evocation of time, place and mood with two outstanding performances - Michael Hordern as a seedy journalist and Joss Ackland as an executioner.

The Intruder (Guy Hamilton, 1953) 6/10

Almost a memory piece as flashbacks reveal the good life in the army during the war while the present has not been good for some. A retired Colonel (Jack Hawkins in fine form) returns to his posh house in Belgravia to find it being burgled by a young man (Michael Medwin) who holds a gun at him. With a shock he recognises the man who was part of his tank regiment during the war. When he runs off the Colonel visits other members of his unit in order to find him and provide help. The screenplay deals with post-Second World War angst, bravery in war, difficulties in peace as we get to meet via flashbacks different class-ridden "types" played by a superb group of character actors - the simple cockney (George Cole), the slimeball (Dennis Price), a floozie (Susan Shaw) and the upright soldier (Hugh Williams). The film has some striking location shots of 1950s Britain.

The First Wives Club (Hugh Wilson, 1996) 5/10

The three stars are way better than the material they are stuck in. A hit at the boxoffice the film is an ode to the perseverance of women who get dumped by their husbands after years of marriage. When a depressed socialite (Stockard Channing) commits suicide her three college friends reunite after 20 years. All three are going through relationship issues. Elise (Goldie Hawn), an aging botoxed actress, is being sued for alimony by her producer husband (Victor Garber) who has left her for a younger woman (Elizabeth Berkeley). Brenda (Bette Midler) and her son are left to fend for themselves by her husband (Dan Hedaya), a rich electronics merchant who is shacked up with a greedy bimbo (Sarah Jessica Parker). Annie (Diane Keaton), a wimpy doormat, deludes herself that she will reconcile with her husband (Stephen Collins) who is actually having an affair with her therapist (Marcia Gay Harden). Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned so all three decide to take revenge. Farcical comedy is totally predictable but manages a few bitchy laugh-out-loud zingers. All three stars are at the top of their comic game and get able support from a great group of character actors in bit parts - Eileen Heckart as Keaton's brittle mom, Rob Reiner as Hawn's plastic surgeon, Maggie Smith as a gossip columnist and Bronson Pinchot as a decorator. Fitfully amusing.

The Small Voice (Fergus McDonell, 1948) 7/10

American musical star Howard Keel made his film debut in this taut little British thriller. An embittered but successful playwright (James Donald) and his actress wife (Valerie Hobson), contemplating divorce, come upon a car wreck while driving to their isolated country home. They take two of the injured men home and are later joined by a third man (Howard Keel) and two children. It transpires that the three men are on the run from prison with the police in pursuit and the children are survivors of a car crash whom the men found. Tension mounts when one child falls sick and the vicious and unrepentent criminal refuses to allow a doctor to be called. The plucky actress tries to get help and ends up butting heads with the criminal hoping to prick his conscience - "the silent voice" - into doing the right thing by saving the child's life. Keel is superb as the sneering tough guy and lovely Hobson matches him every step of the way as she tries to reason with him while trying to hold her crumbling marriage together. This atmospheric, briskly paced suspense drama was the second of two successful films produced by Anthony Havelock-Allan starring his then wife Valerie Hobson.

Underwater (William Eubank, 2020) 6/10

Slick sci-fi horror-thriller regurgitates by-the-number tropes of the genre harking back to far better films. It does have it's moments though especially a fantastic opening, a great physical performance by Kristen Stewart and a fairly nerve wracking finale. The film's mid-section almost grinds the film to a hault via its repetitive scenes and murky underwater photography where it's difficult to see what is going on. The plot is very familiar. A group of research scientists fight for survival when their almost 7-mile deep ocean floor laboratory begins to cave in. Was it an earthquake or is there some giant disturbed creature striking back? As the film does not have a huge budget the cast is small - plucky mechanical engineer (Kristen Stewart) and grizzled captain (Vincent Cassel) lead a group of five survivors - diversity be damned as the lone black character is the first to meet his maker - through claustrophobic spaces as gory jump-scares permeate the screenplay. Familiar memories of "The Abyss" and the "Alien" franchise are starkly evoked complete with Stewart stripped down to her underwear â la Ripley. During the scenes where the group has to make a mad dash through murky sea water on the ocean floor the director adds tension by shooting Stewart in extreme close-up by putting the camera into her helmet and showing her face from the side with her eyes conveying a feeling of total entrapment. What was most refreshing to see is Stewart trying out every kind of part available out there - from big budget Hollywood films to small indie features to European cinema to now an action thriller. This is strictly a B-film with some good jump scares sandwiched between a few too many slow stretches.

Flawless (Michael Radford, 2007) 6/10

Old fashioned heist story is set in 1960s London. With Michael Caine in the lead (the part was created for him) it evokes memories of his cat burglar in "Gambit" and other similar films like "Topkapi" and "How to Sreal a Million". An old janitor (Michael Caine) entices a prim and disgruntled executive (Demi Moore) to join him in stealing diamonds from their workplace where she is a senior member of the management team. Fast paced film relies on the chemistry between the two stars - Caine appears to be having a ball playing this old codger while it was sort of a comeback for Moore. She looks stunning in 1960s fashion as the two navigate through the suspense filled heist. Joss Ackland, speaking with an Afrikaner accent, is memorable as her intimidating boss.

Planet of the Apes (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1968) 9/10

First in a long series of films in the "Apes" franchise both on the big and small screen followed decades later by a remake after which came a reboot and its sequels. Fascinating sci-fi premise, based on a book by Pierre Boule, creates a planet that looks suspiciously like Cappadocia in Turkey on which arrive a trio of astronauts from earth. The survivor (Charlton Heston), to his horror, finds that the planet is ruled by apes while humans have been reduced to mute animal-like beings tormented, hunted and captured by the ruling simians. A semi-nude Heston goes through most of the film chained and degraded as he tries to convince the disbelieving apes of his human intellect. One of the film's many highlights is the first time Heston speaks in front of his captors - "Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!" - shocking the apes who have never heard humans speak. Along the way he befriends a mute woman (Linda Harrison) and encounters two allies in sympathetic chimpanzee scientists, the circumspect Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) and the bold and outspoken Zira (Kim Hunter), who believe in him and try to convince their superior orangutan Dr Zaius (Maurice Evans) of his intelligence. The story reflects on and points out problems in our society providing a philosophical point of view on the true nature and character of man as predator and destroyer. Crackling adventure film moves at a brisk pace leading up to a shocking twist ending. The outstanding makeup effects won a special Oscar along with nominations for costume design and Jerry Goldsmith's iconic music score. The film holds up through repeated viewings and is rightfully remembered today as a classic.

Beneath the Planet of the Apes (Ted Post, 1970) 6/10

This sub-standard sequel is almost like a remake during the first half and then explores the shocking revelation of the original. An astronaut, Brent (James Franciscus), crash lands on the planet in search of the missing Taylor (Charlton Heston) who disappeared mysteriously after escaping with the mute girl Nova (Linda Harrison). He comes across the girl who takes him to the ape village where they are imprisoned. The ape scientist, Zira (Kim Hunter), helps them to escape and they end up in a subterranean subway station which happens to be New York after a nuclear war destroyed the world. The silly finalé has them captured by radiation-crazed super humans who have the power to communicate telepathically and worship a nuclear doomsday device. They also find the imprisoned Taylor - Heston was roped in for a few scenes - just when the apes attack. The film lacks the novelty of the original but Hollywood churned out yet more sequels with continuously diminishing returns in terms of plots and thrills.

Escape From the Planet of the Apes (Don Taylor, 1971) 7/10

Just before earth is destroyed by a nuclear explosion the two ape scientists Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) and his pregnant wife Zira (Kim Hunter), manage to escape in a rocket and travel back in time to present-day earth. The screenplay now begins its journey of how roles in the future got reversed with apes ruling over humans. The American government and public fete the two intelligent talking apes and are befriended by two scientists (Bradford Dillman & Natalie Trundy). As they divulge information about their lives in the future an unscrupulous Presidential advisor (Eric Braeden) secretly plans to kill the two apes and their newly born baby in order to change history and mankind's bleak future. Excellent episode in the series evolves into an amusing satire of media and celebrity culminating in tragedy but with a twist as the superior ape baby has been left in the hands of a circus owner (Ricardo Montalban). This allows the series to go onto its increasingly dark future. The film's highlight is the touching relationship between the two apes played with great sweetness by McDowall and Hunter.

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (J. Lee Thompson, 1972) 7/10

The series takes on a violent turn as servitude apes in 1991 California decide to revolt at the behest of Caesar (Roddy McDowall) the son of the intellectual apes Cornelius and Zira. His saviour, the old circus owner (Ricardo Montalban), kills himself while under interrogation to reveal the whereabouts of the talking ape triggering a violent reaction. Caesar, in the employ of an evil and racist Governor (Don Murray in fine despicable form), trains all the apes in servitude to revolt against humans. Sympathetic to his cause is the Governor's black aide - a plot point that turns the film into an allegory in which man's cruelty to beasts becomes symbolic of man's inhumanity to man which remains relevant even today and especially in the United States with its deplorable historic racism towards the black race. Paul Dehn's screenplay was conceived as a take on the American Civil Rights movement of the time and the film, a big hit like every one in the series, was especially popular with black audiences. The final battle against humans ends with a plea for peace, compassion and understanding.

Battle For the Planet of the Apes (J. Lee Thompson, 1973) 5/10

Last sequel in the series is a rather lackluster film. After New York is decimated by a nuclear explosion a small group of apes and humans co-exist in peace in a nearby village headed by Caesar (Roddy McDowall). When he is told that the archives under the destroyed city hold tapes with recordings of his parents, Cornelius and Zira, he decides to go and look for them. Unfortunately its like heading into a hornet's nest as the radiation-infected human survivors give chase and arrive to destroy their peaceful village. Adding to Caesar's woes is their gorilla General who decides to revolt killing Caesar's son who overhears his plans. Slow film is capped by a battle scene with the attackers resembling a motley version of the freaks from the "Mad Max" films. Adding a touch of gravitas to the proceedings are veteran actors John Huston, as the narrator, and Lew Ayres as keeper of their munitions - both stars in heavy ape makeup. Contrived film appears to have been assembled in an attempt to make one last buck from the franchise and was followed by a 14-episode tv series with Roddy McDowall starring.

[Precious Doll]

True Story of the Kelly Gang (2020) Justin Kurzel 4/10
1917 (2029) Sam Mendes 5/10
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019) Dean DeBlois 4/10
Missing Link (2019) Christ Butler 4/10
Klaus (2019) Sergio Pablos & Carlos Martinez Lopez 4/10
The Victim (2019) Niall MacCormick 6/10
Asya's Happiness (1966) Andrey Konchalovsky 6/10

Repeat viewings

Where the Green Ants Dream (1984) Werner Herzog 9/10
A Summer's Tale (1996) Eric Rohmer 8/10
The Enigma of Kasper Hauser (1974) Werner Herzog 10/10
That Obscure Object of Desire (1977) Luis Bunuel 10/10
Death in Venice (1971) Luchino Visconti 10/10
Autumn Tale (1998) Eric Rohmer 9/10
The Player (1992) Robert Altman 9/10

[Precious Doll]

The Gentlemen (2020) Guy Ritchie 7/10
Biker Fox (2010) Jeremy Lamberton 5/10
Isabel (1968) Paul Almond 4/10
The Act of the Heart (1970) Paul Almond 2/10
Avengers: Endgame (2019) Anthony Russo & Joe Russo 1/10
The Narrow Corner (1933) Alfred E. Green 5/10
The Blue Villa (1995) Dimitri de Clercq & Alain Robbe-Grillet 6/10
The Confessions of Felix Krull (1957) Kurt Hoffmann 8/10
Sweet Hours (1982) Carlos Saura 6/10
Buster and Billie (1974) Daniel Petrie 7/10
Little Monsters (2019) Abe Forsythe 2/10
The Traitor (2019) Marco Bellocchio 7/10

Repeat viewings

A Time to Live and a Time to Die (1985) Hsiao-Hsien Hou 7/10
Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970) Werner Herzog 7/10
The Canyons (2013) Paul Schrader 7/10

[Reza]

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (Marielle Heller, 2019) 4/10

Cloying ode to compassion and kindness. A cynical journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys), with serious Daddy (Chris Cooper) issues, is assigned by his magazine editor (Christine Lahti) to write a piece on television personality Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks), the host of the television series Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. The screenplay, based on Tom Junod's Esquire article, has a predictable arc with every character painted with broad strokes. The journalist makes peace with his dad, becomes a better husband and a loving father to his baby son all after interacting with the twinkly but annoyingly sweet Mr. Rogers. Rhys is very good but Hanks comes off mannered and looking like a waxwork thanks to awful makeup.

Dream Girl (Raaj Shaandilyaa, 2019) 6/10

Ayushman Khurrana became a huge star playing the "everyman" in films which are almost always set in a small-town mileu surrounded by characters who have a strong whiff of reality. These films provide not only a strong part for Khurrana but Bollywood's outstanding catalogue of character actors fit in perfectly playing assorted types instantly recognizable from life. From roles that had him play a sperm donor, to an uneducated man forced into marriage with an overweight woman, to one with a severe case of erectile dysfunction, to one who is horrified to discover his parents are about to become parents yet again in middle age, to one who is forced to deal with his baldness, Khurrana has managed to juggle highly original roles which have also included dead serious dramas where he has played a cop in a social drama and a blind man in a suspense-filled wicked film noir. Here he tackles comedy playing a cross-gender male, a jobless young man who has the ability to mimick a girl's voice. He is lauded by the villagers because ever since childhood he would play the role of the goddess "Sita" on stage in mythological plays. Although fed up with this female act he ends up in a job at a radio station where he has to speak and provide advice to lovelorn listeners in the voice of a female. So "Pooja" is born, becomes a rage and men calling in start to fall in love with "her". Problems ensue when he himself falls in love with a young woman (Nushrat Bharucha ) whose brother is madly in love with "Pooja". Notwithstanding the silly premise and tasteless humour, the performances by the entire cast is spot on especially Khurrana who has a field day with the farcical situations. The screenplay, like most Bollywood films, devolves into melodrama during the second half and suffers from a lack of ingenuity. A huge boxoffice hit the film continues Khurrana on his rising career trajectory which is in sharp contrast to the other male superstars who rely on sappy romantic melodramas or action oriented films where they flex their muscular bodies. Khuraana gets wonderful support by Annu Kapoor as his hapless father in love with and wanting to marry "Pooja", Vijay Raaz as the poetry-spouting cop who woos "Pooja" on the phone and Neela Mulherkar as the whiskey guzzling grandmother.

Saand Ki Aankh / Bullseye (Tushar Hiranandani, 2019) 7/10

Crowd pleasing inspirational true story about female empowerment as two old women challenge patriarchy by picking up the ultimate symbol of masculinity - the gun. Two grandmothers - Chandro (Bhumi Pednekar) & Prakashi (Taapsee Pannu) - in a small village in Uttar Pradesh have spent their entire lives in suppression as wives to over bearing men who rule their household with an iron hand. While the veiled women work in fields and in the house cooking cleaning and producing children, their husbands spend their time sitting around smoking and reading. When by chance they discover sharp shooting skills they enter competitions in secret helped by a local doctor winning medals and money. Their efforts are to enable their grand daughters to follow suit and get government jobs under the sports quota and escape from an oppressed life. Both leading ladies give memorable performances despite being miscast with unconvincing old-age makeup. The screenplay often veers off into melodrama and the film goes on too long but the powerful underlying message at its center - shattering the brutality of patriarchy and the terror of women in villages - is heartfelt and important.

[Reza]

Reza wrote
But it WAS dude. I mean can't one even do some old fashioned oogling anymore? Or is that also politically incorrect now?

I was kidding! Can't I make or a joke without you getting triggered? Or are you too politically correct, lol

Me politically correct? Heavens forbid. Don't want Wes to ever think I'm transforming into an American

[Sabin]

Reza wrote
But it WAS dude. I mean can't one even do some old fashioned oogling anymore? Or is that also politically incorrect now?

I was kidding! Can't I make or a joke without you getting triggered? Or are you too politically correct, lol

[Reza]

Reza wrote
Hustlers (Lorene Scafaria, 2019) 6/10

The year's best screen moment has Jennifer Lopez writhing on the floor in an orgasmic frenzy fondling cash thrown at her by excited men in a bar.

But it WAS dude. I mean can't one even do some old fashioned oogling anymore? Or is that also politically incorrect now?

[Sabin]

Reza wrote
Hustlers (Lorene Scafaria, 2019) 6/10

The year's best screen moment has Jennifer Lopez writhing on the floor in an orgasmic frenzy fondling cash thrown at her by excited men in a bar.

[Reza]

Capricorn One (Peter Hyams, 1978) 5/10

One of numerous paranoid conspiracy theory films from the 1970s. The plot here is based on the director/writer Peter Hyam's suspicion and observation about the Apollo 11 moon landing about which he said, "That was one event of really enormous importance that had almost no witnesses. And the only verification we have . . . came from a TV camera". Taking this as his cue he constructed his screenplay around a fake NASA Mars mission with three pilots (James Brolin, Sam Waterston, O.J. Simpson) coerced into faking their drop onto Mars in a giant hangar after an empty rocket takes off watched by millions on tv. The hoax, perpetuated by the project leader (Hal Holbrook), comes about because the government realises that the mission is doomed from the start so to save face in front of the world (and to continue getting funds for the space project) NASA decides to create the landing followed by saying the astronauts all perished when the rocket exploded upon re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The shit hits the fan when the three astronauts escape and make a run for it. Stranded in the desert the government ruthlessly tracks them down. Meanwhile a suspicious reporter (Elliott Gould), helped by a colleague (Karen Black), attempts to get to the truth. The plot is full of potholes and the initial sense of dread suddenly gives way to humour in the scenes involving Gould and his disbelieving boss (David Doyle). The film ends on a spectacular note with a dizzying chase sequence in the air as two government helicopters give chase to a small plane flown by a foul mouthed pilot (Telly Savalas) who has as his passengers the reporter and one rescued astronaut. In a brief role Brenda Vaccaro is memorable as the chief astronaut's wife. The film takes a tongue-in-cheek approach but falters because it does not maintain enough of a tangible threat. A treat though to see so many stars in one film even if most appear very briefly.

Smuggler's Island (Edward Ludwig, 1951) 2/10

Silly B-movie set in Macao has a lot of scenes with tacky back projection. A diver (Jeff Chandler) is hired by a mysterious woman (Evelyn Keyes) to hunt for sunken treasure which turns out to be a boxload of stolen gold. Her oily husband (Phillip Friend) turns up wanting a share in the loot, there is a climactic chase sequence to Hong Kong across the bay followed by exploding fireworks on the boat. Lifeless film with the actors merely going through the motions.

Mr. Soft Touch (Gordon Douglas & Henry Levin, 1949) 8/10

Underrated Christmas classic starts off in frantic noir mode but devolves into a charming Runyonesque fable with a soft heart. A returning war hero (Glenn Ford) and former nightclub owner is swindled by the mob. He manages to rob them and holes up with the money in a settlement house in San Francisco run by a prim social worker (Evelyn Keyes). He ends up igniting a simmering fire in the lady but not before he imparts a few life lessons to the orphans, provides a Christmas tree and a new piano and helps decorate their gymnasium. Fast paced film has a lot of heart with an added dose of romance, comedy and menace in the mix. Ford, one of the most underrated great stars from Hollywood's golden era, is superb and gets to show his versatility as his character shifts mood according to the nuances in the screenplay. The superb supporting cast - Beulah Bondi, Clara Blandick, John Ireland (as a sinister newspaper crusader), Percy Kilbride, Ted de Corsia - bring their familiar personas to the film enhancing this heartwarming story.

Hustlers (Lorene Scafaria, 2019) 6/10

The year's best screen moment has Jennifer Lopez writhing on the floor in an orgasmic frenzy fondling cash thrown at her by excited men in a bar. The scene appears to be an homage to Ann-Margret's sexy moment covered in baked beans and tomato sauce in Ken Russell's "Tommy". The film, based on a New York magazine article, has a group of former strippers and pole dancers banding together to drug and rob their Wall Street clients. A shout out to female empowerment as sexist men get shafted. Walking through this Scorsese-like exposé is Lopez in all her movie goddess glory. The camera loves her and she knows it. More than a performance its the effect she has on screen dressed in 6-inch stilletos under a fur coat or pole dancing wearing a thong as she bounces her ass towards leering spectators. She easily steals the show from all her co-stars all of whom are very good too. The main plot is bookended by an interview between a journalist (Julia Stiles) and a former stripper (Constance Wu) about her relationship with her former friend and mentor (Jennifer Lopez) who led the con and made them rich. They may be con artists but they treat it just like any job going about their lives - some as single mothers raising kids - and making a living. The story gets repetitive but Lopez makes it worth sitting through.

Cousin cousine (Jean-Charles Tacchella, 1975) 6/10

Charming wisp of a film has the same dreamy quality as the classic "A Man and a Woman" by Claude Lelouche and also seems to have inspired Mike Newell's "Four Weddings and a Funeral" which came almost 20 years later. There are weddings and a funeral in this film too with love taking center stage. At a family wedding a man (Guy Marchand) and a woman (Marie-France Pisier) sneak off from the celebrations for a quickie in the flower beds. Meanwhile back at the wedding their spouses (Victor Lanoux & Marie-Christine Barrault) meet, dance, become friends and fall in love. The affair is conducted amidst the lives of their extended family members - uncles, cousins, siblings, children - whose chaotic lives we see during assorted celebrations and a funeral. Both Lanoux and Barrault are luminous as the lovers stuck with mismatched spouses but determined to make hay come rain or shine. A surprise boxoffice hit the film was nominated for 3 Oscars - best foreign film, screenplay and Barrault for best actress. The Hollywood remake ("Cousins") with Isabella Rossellini and Ted Danson was even better.

Profondo rosso / Deep Red (Dario Argento, 1975) 9/10

Argento's stylish thriller is far from the usual gialo schlock. Visually stunning film takes its cue from Antonioni's "Blow-Up" and the director's masterstroke here is in using the protagonist of that film to play the lead here. A British pianist (David Hemmings), working in Rome (although the film is mostly shot on the streets of Turin), witnesses the gruesome murder of a psychic and soon finds himself trying to stay one step ahead of the murderer as various people end up being killed. Helping him along the way is a wisecracking journalist (Daria Nicolodi). With Argento at the helm the victims die in terribly painful and inventive ways - burnt by scalding water, heads being bashed against corners of tables or fireplaces, necks slashed, heads chopped off. It is all played out in an operatic fashion with each murder punctuated by loud piercing music. Argento also uses sound in inventive ways to create dread as the camera moves sinuously through interiors of large buildings tracking characters who are either searching for someone or are being followed through shadows. Argento even throws in an homage to Edward Hopper in a scene where Hemmings walks past a bar exactly like the one in the artist's famous painting "Nighthawks". Riveting film has a hallucinatory quality with many unforgetable stark setpieces and surreal images. One of the all-time great horror films and a must-see.

The Lighthouse (Robert Eggers, 2019) 5/10

The film scores high points for its tableau of striking images shot in exquisite black and white by Jarin Blaschke. Scenes of crashing angry waves on a desolate windswept rocky island, wild seagulls flapping in the sky around a tall gothic lighthouse inside which a dull hysterical drama plays out between two men as they slowly descend into madness. This two-hander plays like an absurdist play. Two lighthouse keepers, a grumpy old geezer (Willem Dafoe) and a rookie (Robert Pattinson), get severe isolation blues when they find themselves trapped on an island due to a severe storm causing them to get drunk, hallucinate and finally attack each other. Both actors have a field day playing their parts at fever pitch as every cliché of the genre hurls across the screen with unbridled glee. Arty pretentious film quickly loses steam as the relentless shouting between both characters begins to grate on the nerves.

Casino Royale (Martin Campbell, 2006) 6/10

Overrated Bond film was Daniel Craig's introduction as James Bond. He brings to the part great charm and the character's nasty streak, a trait which was straight from the novels of Ian Fleming and long missing in the films since the era of Sean Connery. This reboot turns Bond into a human being again and it is refreshing to see the plot totally dispense with high-tech gimmicks - the opening chase on foot is breathtaking and inventive. Unfortunately the plot is too convoluted and does not flow, the villain - Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) - too dour and Bond's chemistry with Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) is almost non existent. Gone is Bond's sexist attitude which plays to the modern sensibility of political correctness but dispensing with the Bond girl's curves is a sacrilege from which the film fails to recover. All the women in the film are beautiful but totally sexless. Luckily "M" keeps popping up to liven up the proceedings helped in great part by the tart-tongued playing of Dame Judi Dench. The screenplay retains the memorable torture scene from the novel where a naked Bond gets his testicles whacked by Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre but it was a major disappointment that they dispensed with the iconic Bond theme which really set the tone for the series.

[Precious Doll]

The Truth (2019) Hirokazu Koreeda 5/10
Jojo Rabbit (2019) Taika Waititi 3/10
Cats (2019) Tom Hooper 4/10
Dumped (2018) Eloise Lang 4/10
Unplanned (2019) Chuck Konzelman & Cary Solomon 1/10
Little Women (2019) Greta Gerwig 6/10
Long Days Journey Into Night (2018) Gan Bi 6/10
Too Late to Die Young (2019) Dominga Sotomayor Castillo 5/10
Wrestle (2019) Suzannah Herbert & Lauren Belfter 6/10
The Demons (2015) Philippe Lesage 6/10

Repeat viewings

A Sunday in the Country (1984) Bertrand Tavernier 7/10
A Tale of Winter (1992) Eric Rohmer 7/10

[Reza]

Good Boys (Gene Stupnitsky, 2019) 3/10

Coming-of-age tale starts off sweet and amusing but quickly devolves into a scatalogically risqué tale of three adorable 6th graders who get involved in a chase involving drugs, sex and rock n roll. I'm obviously out of touch with how young children interact today but I found it a tad disturbing to hear the language coming out of the mouths of these youngsters. The F-word rattles off their tongues with such rapidity that it appears to have broken the record set by Al Pacino in "Scarface". The screenplay doesn't seem to know when to stop or which way to go settling in for cringeworthy crude jokes that repeat ad nauseum most of which fall flat.

6 Underground (Michael Bay, 2019) 2/10

Incoherent plot with confusing editing is just an excuse to smash up expensive cars, shoot bullets and kill as many humans possible using inventive ways to do it. Netflix used up a huge budget to come up with a film that is absolute rubbish. Five individuals, with just numbers for names, are brought together by a billionaire known as "One" (Ryan Reynolds) to act as mercenaries and bring positive change to the world by getting rid of bad elements. Too bad they don't seem to realize the havoc they create while doing good. The cheesy plot has them going after a cruel Middle Eastern dictator to remove him and replace him with his good brother who has been imprisoned in the penthouse suite of a tall building in Hong Kong. Globe trotting chase film moves from Florence to Hong Kong and finally concludes in Abu Dhabi whuch stands in for the fictional Middle Eastern country. Along the way we get spectacular stunts, car chases and gruesome violence often played for laughs. The film plays like a loud and obnoxious two-hour cartoon with extremely boring non-stop banter between the characters as they proceed to annihilate everything and anyone in their way. Tiresome humourless crap which should be avoided like the plague.

The Two Popes (Fernando Meirelles, 2019) 6/10

Glossy talkfest with two seasoned actors playing real-life Popes matching wits with each other. The screenplay imagines private meetings between conservative Pope Benedict XVI (Sir Anthony Hopkins) and the Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce) which starts off with the latter wishing to retire and thus summoned to the Vatican by the Pope. They clash over their views - celibacy, homosexuality, sexual abuse and paedophilia all subjects which are touched on briefly but never followed through - as the Pope tries to disuade the Cardinal from resigning. Later when the Pope himself wants to resign due to old age the Cardinal tries to convince him to stay on. The film is amusing and fairly riveting during the scenes between the two stars but loses steam each time there is a flashback to the early life of the Cardinal in Argentina tracing his journey into the priesthood and his guilt at not speaking against the ruling junta's excesses. His religious calling and career would eventually end up as successor to the Pope. The screenplay conveniently omits the Pope's own youthful dalliance as a Hitler youth. The film ends with the Cardinal being voted in as Pope Francis the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first pope from outside Europe since the Syrian Gregory III, who reigned in the 8th century. Both actors are very good with Pryce quietly understated and Hopkins playing his part with piercing hauteur and a touch of ham. The film has outstanding production design and memorably vivid costumes.

Murder Mystery (Kyle Newacheck, 2019) 6/10

Charming old fashioned comedy-mystery reunites Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston after their previous teaming in the execreble rom-com "Just Go With It". A couple - he's a NY cop pretending to be a detective (Adam Sandler) and she's a hairdresser (Jennifer Aniston) - go on a belated honeymoon to Europe. When they are invited by a suave rich man (Luke Evans) to stay on his uncle's boat they find themselves neck deep in murder when their old host (Terence Stamp) turns up stabbed to death. Lovely European locations, a murder-mystery in the vein of Agatha Christie and amusing situations keep the plot moving swiftly. As the body count rises the daffy couple become the chief murder suspects forcing them to turn sleuths to solve the mystery. Breezy fun.

Violette Nozière (Claude Chabrol, 1978) 8/10

A sullen 18-year old (Isabelle Huppert), living in a cramped apartment with her working-class parents (Jean Carmet & Stéphane Audran), is a school girl during the day and with red painted lips and slinky black outfits is a whore for hire at night. When her parents discover she has syphilis she convinces them it is hereditary and makes them drink medicine as a cure. Instead she poisons them both. Her father dies but her mother survives and she is imprisoned and put on trial for murder. She admits to the deed and claims she killed her father because he was forcing her to have sex with him since she was 13. Chabrol's favourite theme of bourgeois repression takes center stage as he examines the psychology of murder in this true story set during the 1930s. Disorienting flashbacks emphasise the dual nature and possible mental instability of Violette. Scenes from her past also hint at the incest which could be true but at the same time appear as if the girl is twisting facts to justify the murder. Huppert's brashly assured performance holds the film together and she is matched every step of the way by Audran as her strict, loving but overly indulgent mother who realises too late that she raised a vicious viper. Huppert won a prize at the Cannes film festival and Audran won a well deserved Cesar award.

Swan Song (Kenneth Branagh, 1992) 6/10

An aging actor (Sir John Gielgud) contemplates the ups and downs of his long career on an empty stage. Branagh's short film, based on a play by Anton Chekov, was nominated for an Oscar. It is a fitting tribute to the legendary actor whose performance as the old actor could almost be about his own career as Gielgud recites passages from Shakespeare.

Uncut Gems (Benny & Josh Safdie, 2019) 8/10

New York jeweller (Adam Sandler) faces complete degradation in this extremely downbeat film by the Safdie brothers who bring their signature frenzied approach to the material. Overlapping rapidfire dialogue (shades of an Altman film) and an obtrusive score compliment the harried jeweller who is a gambling addict, a hustler facing a health scare, a wife who hates him and wants a divorce, a pretty mistress who keeps getting in the way of other serious shit in his life. Ruthless creditors are after him so he desperately tries to sell an Ethiopian uncut opal stone to pay them back. Meanwhile he lends the stone to a basketball player in exchange for his championship ring as collateral which he then pawns in order to place a large bet on the game. Things quickly spiral out of control as he is beaten, stripped naked, thrown into a fountain and hung upside down outside a window from a high rise building. Just when he hits rock bottom there is a positive windfall ending with a nasty twist as the camera zooms into an extreme closeup of his face. Sandler goes on this intense rollercoaster ride and comes up with a remarkable performance the likes of which we have never seen. After two decades of mostly execreble comedies he finally comes up with a winning film for which he has the Safdie brothers to thank for. Tense character study which the directors present as an exhilarating thriller.

[Precious Doll]

We Believed (2018) Mario Martone 5/10
Birgit Haas Must Be Killed (1981) Laurent Heynemann 4/0
Only Cloud Knows (2019) Xiaogang Feng 4/10

Repeat viewings

Belle de Jour (1967) Luis Bunuel 10/10
Smooth Talk (1985) Joyce Chopra 7/10
The Boys Next Door (1985) Penelope Spheeris 9/10
Moulin Rouge (1952) John Huston 9/10
My Left Foot (1989) Jim Sheridan 7/10
Until the End of the World - Director's Cut (1991) Wim Wenders 6/10
Easy Rider (1969) Dennis Hopper 6/10

[Reza]

Portrait de la jeune fille en feu / Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Céline Sciamma, 2019) 10/10

Languorous but passionate story set in the late 18th century involving "forbidden love" between two women. Vividly feminist, the screenplay explores the female psyche in an environment bereft of men who are shown very briefly at the start and then at the tail end of the film. The story begins as a mystery which gradually evolves into an erotic affair with an ending that is by turns bitersweet and highly emotional. An Italian noblewoman (Valeria Golino) commissions a portrait of her convent-returned daughter (Adèle Haenel) to be sent to the man she is betrothed to in Milan. The man was to previously marry the girl's sister who committed suicide. Since the subject refuses to sit for the portrait the painting is planned under a shroud of subterfuge. The hired painter (Noémie Merlant) is to be a companion to the girl, accompany her on walks across the Brittany countryside and through memory paint her later at night in the privacy of her room. Not willing to betray her trust the painter confesses about the secret portrait which is callously rejected by the subject who surprisingly agrees to sit for a proper one. When the mother leaves for a visit to Italy the two bond together, help the maid get an abortion and visit other women at a gathering where they sing and dance. Their closeness leads to love and a passionate affair which is cut short by the mother's return which inevitably causes them to part. The director Céline Sciamma, who was in an actual relationship with Adèle Haenel, brings a delicate yet erotic touch to the relationship. The film lacks a music score using instead natural sounds which bring an urgency to the developing relationship. The spectacular cinematography by Claire Mathon captures breathtaking views of the Brittany countryside as the two characters walk across rolling hills and fields which end just short of an imposing drop into the ocean where angry waves lash against jagged cliffs. Superbly acted by the two leads this ravishing film is one of the year's best and a must-see.

Elizabeth is Missing (Aisling Walsh, 2019) 9/10

Glenda Jackson returns to the screen after 27 years playing an irascible old lady fighting the onslaught of dementia. The story, based on the book by Emma Healey, revolves around a double mystery. An old lady goes missing and her best friend (Glenda Jackson), living with Alzheimer's disease, attempts to search for her keeping notes to jog her fading memory. Her family thinks she is making things up with her memory playing tricks. Her past keeps cropping up as well with the mystery of the disappearance of her elder sister 70 years before. Sad traumatic look at an illness acted to perfection by Jackson who superbly captures the bewilderment and frustration caused by the disease. The film also has the extremely rare distinction of having a female actor, aged 83, playing the lead role. Jackson deserves a Bafta and an Emmy.

Mrs Lowry & Son (Adrian Noble, 2019) 5/10

This two hander chamber piece is like eavesdropping into the claustrophobic life of painter L. S. Lowry (Timothy Spall) who lived with and cared for his aged bedridden mother (Vanessa Redgrave). The irritable and nervous old woman, brought up to expect high standards by her stern father, is controlling and intolerant of failure. She takes out her frustrations on her son constantly putting him down and his attempts at painting. Lowry used the industrial town of Pendlebury in Lancashire, with its textile mills and factory chimneys, as inspiration for his paintings. His distinctive style included human figures which were referred to as "matchstick men". This unusual work initially found no favour by critics whose scathing reviews are read out loud to him by his acerbic mother who, harbouring her own failed artistic ambitions, repeatedly lashes out at her son's chosen vocation. Redgrave plays all her scenes sitting or lying in bed using her illness as a ploy to dominate her meek son. Both actors are very good but this low key, rather dreary, drama does no justice to both nor do the screenplay (based on a play) or direction provide much needed fireworks to uplift the film.

La montagna del dio cannibale / Mountain of the Cannibal God (Sergio Martino, 1978) 7/10

The film's "highlights" - gratuitously violent acts against animals (many actually staged like a monkey's head getting crushed in the mouth of a python as it's sad eyes blink in despair), the steamy vibrant locations of New Guinea (shot in Sri Lanka), exotic views of flora and fauna, scary cannibals including one rather despicable midget, scenes involving castration and masturbation, the magnificent nude breasts of Ursula Andress smeared with red jelly-like liquid and a frenzied sex scene involving a boar. Italian exploitation film follows the familiar plot of a jungle expedition in search of a missing man - a woman (Ursula Andress) and her brother arrive in New Guinea in search of her missing anthropologist husband. Managing to find a guide (Stacy Keach) they trek to an island with a mountain which the locals believe is cursed. One by one the searchers die as they get eaten up either by animals or by the cannibals while it transpires that the remaining all have hidden agendas about the expedition with no love lost for the missing man. They also come across another explorer (Claudio Cassinelli) who proves helpful when the shit hits the fan with the rampaging cannibals. Handsomely produced schlock has stunning cinematography by Giancarlo Ferrando and is a cut above similar trashy films helped by the two relatively famous lead actors who thankfully avoid campy histrionics. Like all jungle adventure films there are remarkable shots of alligators, tarantulas, monitor lizards, anacondas and various poisonous snakes. The death scenes involving assorted vicious traps, beheadings and animals look fake but the gruesome factor is feverishly maintained throughout. A film like this would rightfully never be attempted today due to its butchery against animals for entertainment purposes and imperialist attitudes towards indigenous populations. But as an old fashioned jungle adventure it is great fun as it maintains a steadily increasing tension throughout.

[Reza]

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (J.J. Abrams, 2019) 5/10

And lest there is an outcry by the American gay community we get to glimpse a lesbian couple locked in an embrace and kiss. All very correct and cosy but rather obvious.

/quote]

Seems audiences in Singapore won't get the opportunity to be outraged:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/d ... -singapore

It was such a blink and you miss it moment - my partner didn't see it. Must admit the most disturbing thing I found in the film was a man embracing a slug like creature. Now that is the stuff of nightmares!

It was a blink and miss moment. The censors here missed it