The Way We Were (1973) - Sidney Pollack
6.5/10
Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
There is an interesting, and sometimes moving, documentary about Maria Schell's final years, made by her brother Maximilian, Meine Schwester Maria. The portrayal of the old former actress (and former star, because Schell was VERY popular at least in Europe during the 50s) only three years before her death is heartbreaking.Big Magilla wrote:Gervaise (1956) Rene Clement 8.5/10
I saw this several days ago and still can't get Maria Schell out of my head. They say as she slipped further and further into dementia in her last years she watched her old films over and over simulteanously on 11 different TVs. I wonder how often she watched this and whether she knew the difference between her real life and her reel one.
No Sunset Boulevard grandeur about it. Maria Schell is shown living in this small, simple wood house in a small, forgotten village in the Austrian Alps, surrounded only by snow, silence, and several tvs which show the movies she made when she was young and beautiful. The contrast between the images of the healthy blonde with the famous arresting smile and the old, poor and slightly demented woman (who looks like so many old peasants from the Alps) is maybe a bit too obvious, but undeniably effective.
The movie is about Maria, of course, but it's also about Maximilian, the exasperated brother, always there to help her (even by selling some of his most valuable paintings), maybe more out of duty than out of love. The complicated bond between brother and sister (two famous brother and sister, but that's not important in this case) is quite subtly depicted.
It's about getting old, and the different ways one can get old. In a very German way, it doesnt force you to cry about Maria Schell's sad destiny, it also shows how unbearable she could be at times. Still, a profound affection is clearly there.
The movie has another fascinating side (and this is why I keep calling it a "movie"). You can never be really sure about how much of it is a true documentary, and how much was planned and acted; in other words, how much Schell, demented or not, was at least in some moments intentionally playing herself, still an actress despite everything, in the last, most painful role of her career. This may make the movie more ambiguous, but it also makes you think about acting, and about truth as told by a camera.
And it ends with a beautiful image of Maria Schell's old face flashing once more that famous smile which made her a star.
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Big Magilla
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The Big Parade (1925) King Vidor 9/10
Deserving of its iconic status as the first anti-war film. It was the first to show people from different walks of life thrown together in the Army as well. Visually stunning and with a great score composed by Carl Davis, I believe for Thames Television, which incorporates the songs obviously sung by the soldiers - Over There; You're in the Army Now, etc.
Gervaise (1956) Rene Clement 8.5/10
I saw this several days ago and still can't get Maria Schell out of my head. They say as she slipped further and further into dementia in her last years she watched her old films over and over simulteanously on 11 different TVs. I wonder how often she watched this and whether she knew the difference between her real life and her reel one.
It's Love I'm After (1937) Archie Mayo 7/10
Silly, but fascinating screwball comedy with Leslie Howard as a ham of an actor balancing romances with both Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland, the latter as a favor to his friend Patric Knowles. Eric Blore is a delight as Howard's ex-vaudevillian butler.
Fifth Avenue Girl (1937) Gregory La Cava 7/10
La Cava, who made this between My Man Godfrey and Stage Door, again proves to be able to produce a comedy with a social message without hitting you over the head with it. Ginger Rogers gets top billing, but the real star is Walter Connolly as he millionaire who hires her to pose as a gold digger to teach his lazy family a thing or two. Tim Holt and James Ellison co-star.
Deserving of its iconic status as the first anti-war film. It was the first to show people from different walks of life thrown together in the Army as well. Visually stunning and with a great score composed by Carl Davis, I believe for Thames Television, which incorporates the songs obviously sung by the soldiers - Over There; You're in the Army Now, etc.
Gervaise (1956) Rene Clement 8.5/10
I saw this several days ago and still can't get Maria Schell out of my head. They say as she slipped further and further into dementia in her last years she watched her old films over and over simulteanously on 11 different TVs. I wonder how often she watched this and whether she knew the difference between her real life and her reel one.
It's Love I'm After (1937) Archie Mayo 7/10
Silly, but fascinating screwball comedy with Leslie Howard as a ham of an actor balancing romances with both Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland, the latter as a favor to his friend Patric Knowles. Eric Blore is a delight as Howard's ex-vaudevillian butler.
Fifth Avenue Girl (1937) Gregory La Cava 7/10
La Cava, who made this between My Man Godfrey and Stage Door, again proves to be able to produce a comedy with a social message without hitting you over the head with it. Ginger Rogers gets top billing, but the real star is Walter Connolly as he millionaire who hires her to pose as a gold digger to teach his lazy family a thing or two. Tim Holt and James Ellison co-star.
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OscarGuy
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Halloween, Hallween 2 and Saw V.
The first Rob Zombie films is very stylized, but interesting. His directorial voice is strong, though I am a little chagrined at the further lack of character development, or even introductions, of the minor characters. Even Laurie, who's a key figure in the original, gets very little attention, though enough to get us to modestly empathize with her. And I like how it's modestly restrained in its gore components, something I wasn't expecting from Zombie. Better than I expected, but still not that good.
On the contrary, Halloween 2 is utter crap. There's even less character development, fewer cool, recognizable characters and it's far more gorey, bloody and visceral than I really wanted. The white horse symbolism gets played out fairly quickly and all though Shari Moon Zombie was decent in the first, she's horrid in the sequel. The same goes for the rest of the cast. Zombie's style is altered from the original. It was a thoroughly pointless movie that had one really cool Rocky Horror homage that I really liked.
Saw V, much like 3 and 4 seems like it's stretching credibility to a breaking point. Other than a creative "must work together" trap peppered through the film, the rest is rather a bland attempt at teaching people "lessons" and really, I have no idea where it's going from here. It was played out after 3, but it's still going.
The first Rob Zombie films is very stylized, but interesting. His directorial voice is strong, though I am a little chagrined at the further lack of character development, or even introductions, of the minor characters. Even Laurie, who's a key figure in the original, gets very little attention, though enough to get us to modestly empathize with her. And I like how it's modestly restrained in its gore components, something I wasn't expecting from Zombie. Better than I expected, but still not that good.
On the contrary, Halloween 2 is utter crap. There's even less character development, fewer cool, recognizable characters and it's far more gorey, bloody and visceral than I really wanted. The white horse symbolism gets played out fairly quickly and all though Shari Moon Zombie was decent in the first, she's horrid in the sequel. The same goes for the rest of the cast. Zombie's style is altered from the original. It was a thoroughly pointless movie that had one really cool Rocky Horror homage that I really liked.
Saw V, much like 3 and 4 seems like it's stretching credibility to a breaking point. Other than a creative "must work together" trap peppered through the film, the rest is rather a bland attempt at teaching people "lessons" and really, I have no idea where it's going from here. It was played out after 3, but it's still going.
Wesley Lovell
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
The Far Country (1954; Anthony Mann) 9/10
Magnificent western, one of many Mann made with James Stewart, this one about a loner (Stewart) driving cattle up to the Klondike. Gorgeous color cinematography, great performance (especially Stewart and Ruth Roman) and a wonderful final shot.
Magnificent western, one of many Mann made with James Stewart, this one about a loner (Stewart) driving cattle up to the Klondike. Gorgeous color cinematography, great performance (especially Stewart and Ruth Roman) and a wonderful final shot.
"...it is the weak who are cruel, and...gentleness is only to be expected from the strong." - Leo Reston
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
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OscarGuy
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I enjoyed Inglourious much more than I expected. I still think Jackie Brown and the two Kill Bills are better and Pulp Fiction's classic, but Inglorious is another wonderful movie. And very cathartic.
Wesley Lovell
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
Marley & Me (David Frankel, 2008) 4.5/10
Foreign Correspondent (Alfred Hitchcock, 1940) 6/10
What's New, Pussycat? (Clive Donner, 1965) between 6.5 and 7/10
Freaks (Tod Browning, 1932) 9/10
s1m0ne (Andrew Niccol, 2002) 2.5/10
The Mystery of the Wax Museum (Michael Curtiz, 1933) between 5.5 and 6/10
Each for Himself and God Against All (Werner Herzog, 1974) between 4.5 and 5/10
Jagged Edge (Richard Marquand, 1985) between 4 and 4.5/10
--Good premise, mediocre screenplay, terrible direction
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (Peter Sollett, 2008) 4/10
Gwoemul/The Host (Bong Joon-Ho, 2006) around 6.5/10
--Not bad, but not worth the hype either.
Maverick (Richard Donner, 1994) 1.5/10
--I avoided this film for a long time because I presumed it to be terrible. I finally decided to give it a chance, and it was even worse than I had imagined.
Foreign Correspondent (Alfred Hitchcock, 1940) 6/10
What's New, Pussycat? (Clive Donner, 1965) between 6.5 and 7/10
Freaks (Tod Browning, 1932) 9/10
s1m0ne (Andrew Niccol, 2002) 2.5/10
The Mystery of the Wax Museum (Michael Curtiz, 1933) between 5.5 and 6/10
Each for Himself and God Against All (Werner Herzog, 1974) between 4.5 and 5/10
Jagged Edge (Richard Marquand, 1985) between 4 and 4.5/10
--Good premise, mediocre screenplay, terrible direction
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (Peter Sollett, 2008) 4/10
Gwoemul/The Host (Bong Joon-Ho, 2006) around 6.5/10
--Not bad, but not worth the hype either.
Maverick (Richard Donner, 1994) 1.5/10
--I avoided this film for a long time because I presumed it to be terrible. I finally decided to give it a chance, and it was even worse than I had imagined.
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Precious Doll
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Together Again (1944) Charles Vidor 4/10
The Housemaid (1960) Ki-Young Kim 8/10
Sparkle (2007) Neil Hunter & Tom Hunsinger 5/10
Disengagement (2007) Amos Gitai 4/10
Animalada (2001) Sergio Bizzio 6/10
The Housemaid (1960) Ki-Young Kim 8/10
Sparkle (2007) Neil Hunter & Tom Hunsinger 5/10
Disengagement (2007) Amos Gitai 4/10
Animalada (2001) Sergio Bizzio 6/10
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
Thirteen Days (Donaldson) - 7.5/10
History lesson-filmmaking has become a page ripped out of the current playbook. Movies like Thirteen Days quenched the audience's desire for entertainment by way of tense narrative structure and iconic movie star plug-ins. Thirteen Days is an incredibly efficient piece of storytelling with one of the worst performances of modern era stuck in the middle. Kevin Costner is such an exceptional comedic film presence and such a milquetoast and vainglorious dramatic one (with some exceptions), but he's never done anything as batshit funny as his BAHSTAAAAAAHN accent in this film. Beyond the fact that his Kenny O'Donnell just feels like an exagerration of impact (very Costner), the affectations are still-born and yet made to dance and detract from everything else. He sucks. As a producer, he raises the dead. Films about American politics either relish in nihilism and hopelessness (Traffic) or simplify painfully (The Contender, to pick two from that year). Thirteen Days is both an old-fashioned time capsule without fuss or muss and yet serves as something insanely hopeful. Deliberation wrongly perceived as weakness. Like Apollo 13, it's workerman that works. Its stylized visual affectations stick out like a sore thumb, but really this is something that we need more of. Not to be overrated, but in rare stock.
History lesson-filmmaking has become a page ripped out of the current playbook. Movies like Thirteen Days quenched the audience's desire for entertainment by way of tense narrative structure and iconic movie star plug-ins. Thirteen Days is an incredibly efficient piece of storytelling with one of the worst performances of modern era stuck in the middle. Kevin Costner is such an exceptional comedic film presence and such a milquetoast and vainglorious dramatic one (with some exceptions), but he's never done anything as batshit funny as his BAHSTAAAAAAHN accent in this film. Beyond the fact that his Kenny O'Donnell just feels like an exagerration of impact (very Costner), the affectations are still-born and yet made to dance and detract from everything else. He sucks. As a producer, he raises the dead. Films about American politics either relish in nihilism and hopelessness (Traffic) or simplify painfully (The Contender, to pick two from that year). Thirteen Days is both an old-fashioned time capsule without fuss or muss and yet serves as something insanely hopeful. Deliberation wrongly perceived as weakness. Like Apollo 13, it's workerman that works. Its stylized visual affectations stick out like a sore thumb, but really this is something that we need more of. Not to be overrated, but in rare stock.
"How's the despair?"
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Precious Doll
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dreaMaker wrote:Precious, have you ever given an 8, 9 or 10 to a movie here?
A few times. Still Walking, Mother, The Queen and I, Wild Boys of the Road.
Edited By Precious Doll on 1252657941
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)