Wonder Wheel (Woody Allen, 2017). 6/10
The film evokes the Coney Island of the early 1950s - James Stewart's "Winchester '73" is seen playing at the cinema - bathed in shimmering golden hues courtesy of Vittorio Storraro and Jo Stafford is heard singing her hit tune "You Belong to Me". Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine" had Cate Blanchett channel Tennessee William's Blanche DuBois from "A Streetcar Named Desire" while Kate Winslet here hints at William's Alexandra Del Lago from "Sweet Bird of Youth". A waitress (Kate Winslet) works at a clam-bar on the boardwalk. She is married to an abusive lout (Jim Belushi) who works the carousel and her son from a previous marriage is a pyromaniac. She is having an affair with a much younger lifeguard (Justin Timberlake) who takes her for long walks on the boardwalk and under which they have quick sexual trysts. Into their lives arrives the husband's daughter (Juno Temple) from a previous marriage who is on the run from her mobster husband. When the lifeguard falls in love with her stepdaughter the waitress has a breakdown. Allen is not only reverting to the nostalgia of his own "Radio Days" but seems to be paying homage to not only Tennessee Williams but also Eugene O'Neill in who's play "The Iceman Cometh" the characters all have pipe dreams just like here. Allen writes great parts for actresses but they have a tendency to whine and here Winslet is saddled with playing an annoying drip. And the endless shouting begins to get on one's nerves after a while. It's amazing that the director still continues to churn out a film every year but this one is clearly second tier.
Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
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Molly's Game (Aaron Sorkin, 2017). 5/10
Sorkin treats the story of Molly Bloom, who was indicted by the FBI for running a high stakes private poker game attended by celebrities, with incredible reverence as if she is some grand lady. Not unlike one of those women's vehicles at Warner Brothers starring Bette Davis or Joan Crawford. Sadly Jessica Chastain is no Davis or Crawford and neither does the character she is playing hold any interest for this overlong film. Sorkin uses a flashback structure to tell this long winded tale starting with her childhood as a ski champ under the tutelage of a demanding father (Kevin Costner), the end of that career due to an accident, her introduction to the game of poker, her drug addiction, the indictment and her defence by a lawyer (Idris Elba). Chastain is miscast - as she has been in most of her previous films - and appears to be merely going through the motions mouthing the rat-a-tat dialogue by Sorkin in character and as part of the narration.
Sorkin treats the story of Molly Bloom, who was indicted by the FBI for running a high stakes private poker game attended by celebrities, with incredible reverence as if she is some grand lady. Not unlike one of those women's vehicles at Warner Brothers starring Bette Davis or Joan Crawford. Sadly Jessica Chastain is no Davis or Crawford and neither does the character she is playing hold any interest for this overlong film. Sorkin uses a flashback structure to tell this long winded tale starting with her childhood as a ski champ under the tutelage of a demanding father (Kevin Costner), the end of that career due to an accident, her introduction to the game of poker, her drug addiction, the indictment and her defence by a lawyer (Idris Elba). Chastain is miscast - as she has been in most of her previous films - and appears to be merely going through the motions mouthing the rat-a-tat dialogue by Sorkin in character and as part of the narration.
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Newton (Amit Masurkar, 2017) 6/10
A bullishly honest young man, named Nutan (Rajkumar Rao) which he has changed to "Newton", finds himself in a conundrum when he finds himself conducting the election process in the middle of a forest teeming with Naxalite terrorists. The Indian democratic process gets a drubbing in this black comedy, a film submitted by India for an Oscar. Newton faces off the cynical army officer (Pankaj Tripathy) who has seen the system fail time and again but he remains steadfast in his efforts to see the locals vote even though the illiterate villagers have no idea who they are voting for nor do they know how to vote in the booth. Sharply drawn characters, superb performances and witty dialogue are a plus in this rather slow film.
A bullishly honest young man, named Nutan (Rajkumar Rao) which he has changed to "Newton", finds himself in a conundrum when he finds himself conducting the election process in the middle of a forest teeming with Naxalite terrorists. The Indian democratic process gets a drubbing in this black comedy, a film submitted by India for an Oscar. Newton faces off the cynical army officer (Pankaj Tripathy) who has seen the system fail time and again but he remains steadfast in his efforts to see the locals vote even though the illiterate villagers have no idea who they are voting for nor do they know how to vote in the booth. Sharply drawn characters, superb performances and witty dialogue are a plus in this rather slow film.
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Tumhari Sulu (Suresh Triveni, 2017) 7/10
Vidya Balan has cornered the market in Bollywood, once ruled by the likes of Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil, playing ordinary middle class characters with a lived-in appearance. These are characters the public can easily identify with. Sulu (Vidya Balan) is a bored frumpy homemaker but ambitious and with big dreams. She enjoys entering radio contests which she often wins. Her husband manages a dysfunctional tailor shop and her son sells dirty magazines to make a buck. Her life changes when she expresses an interest to be a Radio Jockey, a job she gets when the owner (Neha Dhupia) of the radio show unexpectedly offers it to the "sari wali bhabhi. The job entails talking to horny and lonely men in a sexy voice. The plot, which veers into melodrama, has the superb Vidya Balan who manages to keep it afloat with her natural humour and charm. And it's refreshing to see a Bollywood heroine with minimal makeup and allowing herself to look "fat" and photographed at angles that emphasize her "full" figure while dressed in unflattering clothes. The screenplay may meander but the star makes it all worthwhile.
Vidya Balan has cornered the market in Bollywood, once ruled by the likes of Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil, playing ordinary middle class characters with a lived-in appearance. These are characters the public can easily identify with. Sulu (Vidya Balan) is a bored frumpy homemaker but ambitious and with big dreams. She enjoys entering radio contests which she often wins. Her husband manages a dysfunctional tailor shop and her son sells dirty magazines to make a buck. Her life changes when she expresses an interest to be a Radio Jockey, a job she gets when the owner (Neha Dhupia) of the radio show unexpectedly offers it to the "sari wali bhabhi. The job entails talking to horny and lonely men in a sexy voice. The plot, which veers into melodrama, has the superb Vidya Balan who manages to keep it afloat with her natural humour and charm. And it's refreshing to see a Bollywood heroine with minimal makeup and allowing herself to look "fat" and photographed at angles that emphasize her "full" figure while dressed in unflattering clothes. The screenplay may meander but the star makes it all worthwhile.
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The Perfect Marriage (Lewis Allen, 1947) 3/10
Extremely corny film about a couple (David Niven & Loretta Young) who decide they are bored with each other on their tenth wedding anniversary. Friends and in-laws get vicious as they create further doubts in their minds. The two stars look bored to be in this extremely silly film.
Extremely corny film about a couple (David Niven & Loretta Young) who decide they are bored with each other on their tenth wedding anniversary. Friends and in-laws get vicious as they create further doubts in their minds. The two stars look bored to be in this extremely silly film.
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Geostorm (Dean Devlin, 2017) 5/10
Typically hokey plot which is an excuse to destroy prominent cities around the world via CGI effects as the hero (Gerald Butler who looks drunk throughout) comes to the rescue. The world is in peril after it is discovered that someone has tampered with assorted satellites which are helping to control the world's climatethe. Mr Hero, who helped create the satellites, is called in to save the day. The tampering suspects are the President of the United States (Andy Garcia) and his second in command (Ed Harris). Helping to sort out the mess are the inventor's brother (Jim Sturgess) and his girlfriend (Abbie Cornish) who has the inside track as she is part of the Secret Service. It's all nonsense but has a certain fascination due to the scenes of disaster where excessive heat and cold create havoc.
Typically hokey plot which is an excuse to destroy prominent cities around the world via CGI effects as the hero (Gerald Butler who looks drunk throughout) comes to the rescue. The world is in peril after it is discovered that someone has tampered with assorted satellites which are helping to control the world's climatethe. Mr Hero, who helped create the satellites, is called in to save the day. The tampering suspects are the President of the United States (Andy Garcia) and his second in command (Ed Harris). Helping to sort out the mess are the inventor's brother (Jim Sturgess) and his girlfriend (Abbie Cornish) who has the inside track as she is part of the Secret Service. It's all nonsense but has a certain fascination due to the scenes of disaster where excessive heat and cold create havoc.
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Miss Grant Takes Richmond (Lloyd Bacon, 1949) 3/10
Dull comedy with Miss Grant (Lucille Ball) hired by Mr Richmond (William Holden), a bookie posing as a realtor, as his dim witted secretary. While he pulls his scams she turns the table on his plans and gets him involved in providing housing for homeless people. Holden, just a year away from full fledged movie stardom, plays well opposite Ball but the material is too boring for them to create the right kind of sparks. Skip this comedy.
Dull comedy with Miss Grant (Lucille Ball) hired by Mr Richmond (William Holden), a bookie posing as a realtor, as his dim witted secretary. While he pulls his scams she turns the table on his plans and gets him involved in providing housing for homeless people. Holden, just a year away from full fledged movie stardom, plays well opposite Ball but the material is too boring for them to create the right kind of sparks. Skip this comedy.
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The Fuller Brush Girl (Lloyd Bacon, 1950) 7/10
This film came just before "I Love Lucy" and appears to be her audition tape for the show. Nobody was better at physical comedy than Lucille Ball and she takes the silly material and runs with it. A dumb telephone operator (Lucille Ball) gets fired from her job and with her equally dimwit boyfriend (Eddie Albert) gets involved with two murders for which they both get framed. Both stars are hilarious as they get into one scrape after another with both the police and the hoodlums after them. The highlight of the film is Lucy impersonating a burlesque dancer on stage. Extremely silly material that the two stars turn into something quite hysterically funny. The later tv show used a lot of the gags from this film with the star playing her part with superb comic timing. Well worth a watch for fans of her tv shows.
This film came just before "I Love Lucy" and appears to be her audition tape for the show. Nobody was better at physical comedy than Lucille Ball and she takes the silly material and runs with it. A dumb telephone operator (Lucille Ball) gets fired from her job and with her equally dimwit boyfriend (Eddie Albert) gets involved with two murders for which they both get framed. Both stars are hilarious as they get into one scrape after another with both the police and the hoodlums after them. The highlight of the film is Lucy impersonating a burlesque dancer on stage. Extremely silly material that the two stars turn into something quite hysterically funny. The later tv show used a lot of the gags from this film with the star playing her part with superb comic timing. Well worth a watch for fans of her tv shows.
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The Gay Falcon (Irving Reis, 1941). 5/10
"The Falcon" is basically "The Saint" under a different name because Leslie Charteris (author of The Saint) was giving the studio problems so they got the star George Sanders to continue playing the character but under a different name. Low budget B-film series has the droll Sanders as a detective solving the mystery of a series of jewel robberies. Debonair and witty, he breezes through this rather pedestrian first entry in the Falcon series. Wendy Barrie plays his fellow sleuth while Gladys Cooper appears as one of the matrons whose jewels are stolen. Average mystery-thriller.
"The Falcon" is basically "The Saint" under a different name because Leslie Charteris (author of The Saint) was giving the studio problems so they got the star George Sanders to continue playing the character but under a different name. Low budget B-film series has the droll Sanders as a detective solving the mystery of a series of jewel robberies. Debonair and witty, he breezes through this rather pedestrian first entry in the Falcon series. Wendy Barrie plays his fellow sleuth while Gladys Cooper appears as one of the matrons whose jewels are stolen. Average mystery-thriller.
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The Price of Fear (Abner Biberman, 1956) 6/10
Twisty little B-noir with murder and blackmail part of the complicated plot. A man (Lex Barker) is framed for two crimes - a hit-and-run, committed by a woman (Merle Oberon), and the murder of his business partner by a crook. His alibi, a taxi driver, disappears but the man's wife is not averse to some blackmail of her own. It all comes together on a train ride where justice is served in violent fashion. Oberon, in slumming mode at the end of her screen career, makes for a lady-like femme fatale while Barker is bland as the man who is in big trouble. There are far too many convenient coincidences in the screenplay but the nasty characters and a fast moving pace holds interest.
Twisty little B-noir with murder and blackmail part of the complicated plot. A man (Lex Barker) is framed for two crimes - a hit-and-run, committed by a woman (Merle Oberon), and the murder of his business partner by a crook. His alibi, a taxi driver, disappears but the man's wife is not averse to some blackmail of her own. It all comes together on a train ride where justice is served in violent fashion. Oberon, in slumming mode at the end of her screen career, makes for a lady-like femme fatale while Barker is bland as the man who is in big trouble. There are far too many convenient coincidences in the screenplay but the nasty characters and a fast moving pace holds interest.
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Beloved Enemy (H.C. Potter, 1936). 7/10
The Irish "troubles" of 1921-22 is covered in this fictionalised version of Michael Collins' attempts to find a way for peace between Ireland and England. Extremely atmospheric film - a prestigious Samuel Goldwyn production - which has at the centre a doomed romance between the Irish rebel (Brian Aherne) and the daughter (Merle Oberon) of a British diplomat (Henry Stephenson). Superbly shot by Gregg Toland on wonderfully authentic sets created on the backlot. A wonderful supporting cast - Donald Crisp, Jerome Cowan, Karen Morley, David Niven - play assorted British and Irish characters. It took Hollywood 60 years to finally come up with a true screen biography of Michael Collins when Liam Neeson played the part in 1996.
The Irish "troubles" of 1921-22 is covered in this fictionalised version of Michael Collins' attempts to find a way for peace between Ireland and England. Extremely atmospheric film - a prestigious Samuel Goldwyn production - which has at the centre a doomed romance between the Irish rebel (Brian Aherne) and the daughter (Merle Oberon) of a British diplomat (Henry Stephenson). Superbly shot by Gregg Toland on wonderfully authentic sets created on the backlot. A wonderful supporting cast - Donald Crisp, Jerome Cowan, Karen Morley, David Niven - play assorted British and Irish characters. It took Hollywood 60 years to finally come up with a true screen biography of Michael Collins when Liam Neeson played the part in 1996.
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Affectionately Yours (Lloyd Bacon, 1941). 3/10
Silly screwball with Merle Oberon divorcing her reporter husband (Dennis Morgan) to live a life of stability with stuffy Ralph Bellamy. The plot revolves around Morgan's crazy antics to win his wife back while sexy colleague Rita Hayworth anxiously hopes that he fails. Morgan gives an energetic performance but Oberon is too lady-like to get into the proper spirit of a screwball. Hayworth is great snappy fun and on the verge of stardom. Interesting to see in support Hattie McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen together again after "Gone With the Wind" sadly again playing maids.
Silly screwball with Merle Oberon divorcing her reporter husband (Dennis Morgan) to live a life of stability with stuffy Ralph Bellamy. The plot revolves around Morgan's crazy antics to win his wife back while sexy colleague Rita Hayworth anxiously hopes that he fails. Morgan gives an energetic performance but Oberon is too lady-like to get into the proper spirit of a screwball. Hayworth is great snappy fun and on the verge of stardom. Interesting to see in support Hattie McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen together again after "Gone With the Wind" sadly again playing maids.
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You Gotta Stay Happy (H.C. Potter, 1948) 6/10
Amusing screwball has a daffy rich girl (Joan Fontaine) running away from her newly married husband and hiding out in the hotel room of a pilot (James Stewart). The farcical plot involves the girl getting drugged and on a plane journey to California accompanied by the pilot's sidekick (a funny Eddie Albert), a cigar smoking chimpanzee, an embezzler and a young couple who can't stop smooching. After predictable misunderstandings the couple get together at the end. Stewart is a natural in such material but Fontaine is equally game (she was pregnant during the shoot and wears mostly men's clothing to hide it) and shows great comic timing in a film she was not particularly happy to be a part of but did as a change of pace after three heavily dramatic films. Great fun.
Amusing screwball has a daffy rich girl (Joan Fontaine) running away from her newly married husband and hiding out in the hotel room of a pilot (James Stewart). The farcical plot involves the girl getting drugged and on a plane journey to California accompanied by the pilot's sidekick (a funny Eddie Albert), a cigar smoking chimpanzee, an embezzler and a young couple who can't stop smooching. After predictable misunderstandings the couple get together at the end. Stewart is a natural in such material but Fontaine is equally game (she was pregnant during the shoot and wears mostly men's clothing to hide it) and shows great comic timing in a film she was not particularly happy to be a part of but did as a change of pace after three heavily dramatic films. Great fun.
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The Sunshine Boys (John Erman, 1996) 4/10
Neil Simon adapts his play into this television version by updating the plot to the present times. The two acrimonius vaudeville comedians - played on Broadway by Sam Levene and Jack Albertson and in the big screen version by George Burns and Walter Matthau - are now comedians who were a hit during the 1960s and played here by Woody Allen and Peter Falk. The latter's niece (Sarah Jessica Parker), also his agent, decides to reunite the duo in a film and with great difficulty gets them to agree. Predictably they both get into an argument, disrupt the filming and get fired. The material was pretty hokey to begin with allowing one character to ham his way through while the other plays the straight man. Falk has the annoying part (with his face made up to look very old) and as the story progresses he gets totally insufferable. Allen holds in his usual neurotic tics and is very good but as former comedic partners the two actors have no chemistry and appear to be in two separate films. Whoopi Goldberg has an unbilled cameo as Falk's nurse trading barbs. This rather old fashioned piece of theater now needs to be put to rest.
Neil Simon adapts his play into this television version by updating the plot to the present times. The two acrimonius vaudeville comedians - played on Broadway by Sam Levene and Jack Albertson and in the big screen version by George Burns and Walter Matthau - are now comedians who were a hit during the 1960s and played here by Woody Allen and Peter Falk. The latter's niece (Sarah Jessica Parker), also his agent, decides to reunite the duo in a film and with great difficulty gets them to agree. Predictably they both get into an argument, disrupt the filming and get fired. The material was pretty hokey to begin with allowing one character to ham his way through while the other plays the straight man. Falk has the annoying part (with his face made up to look very old) and as the story progresses he gets totally insufferable. Allen holds in his usual neurotic tics and is very good but as former comedic partners the two actors have no chemistry and appear to be in two separate films. Whoopi Goldberg has an unbilled cameo as Falk's nurse trading barbs. This rather old fashioned piece of theater now needs to be put to rest.
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One Minute to Zero (Tay Garnett, 1952) 5/10
Routine and overlong action film set during the start of the Korean war. In between bouts of artillery fire and air strikes a Major (Robert Mitchum) romances a war widow (Ann Blyth) who works for the United Nations. There are many documentary-like exciting battle scenes but it begins to drag after a while.
Routine and overlong action film set during the start of the Korean war. In between bouts of artillery fire and air strikes a Major (Robert Mitchum) romances a war widow (Ann Blyth) who works for the United Nations. There are many documentary-like exciting battle scenes but it begins to drag after a while.