Three Ages (1923) - 6/10 - Buster Keaton stars as a man who is unlucky in love and is overshadowed by his rival, Wallace Beery. There are parallel stories in cave man times, in Rome, and in the modern day where each story plays out in a similar fashion. There are a few good gags, but mostly the film is pretty dull until the last 15 minutes or so when it picks up and is good.
Charlie Chaplin shorts
Sunnyside (1919) - 5/10 - Chaplin works long hours at a hotel and on the farm in a small rural town. He is mistreated constantly by his boss, the local preacher. There were a few good bits, but overall this film wasn't all that interesting.
A Day's Pleasure (1919) - 7.5/10 - Chaplin takes his family for an outing on a ferry and then for a car ride where they ran into a few traffic problems. The ferry is moving enough to make people seasick. This one was pretty good and had a number of laughs.
Idle Class (1921) - 8.5/10 - The Tramp arrives in town by train and goes golfing. The golf outing has plenty of funny moments. Chaplin also plays a wealthy, but absent minded husband whose wife is upset with him for his drinking. There are some Prince and the Pauper gags as well. I enjoyed this one a lot.
A Night Out (1915) - 4/10 - The Tramp is drunk and goes to a restaurant with his fellow drunk where the two proceed to cause problems for a well dressed man in a top hat as well as the head waiter. At the hotel later, the two run into the waiter again along with his wife. I didn't find the 'humor' here to be funny.
The Vagabond (1916) - 7.5/10 - The Tramp is a street musician who comes across a young woman who is being abused and forced to work by gypsies. It's a bit light on the comedy after the opening sequence at the bar, but it is still a good film.
Police (1916) - 7/10 - The Tramp is released from prison, but finds life on the outside difficult. He falls in with his old cell mate who plans to rob a house. I liked it
Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
The Red Dawn remake filmed a couple of short scenes at the high school I taught at. I think one of them was on the roof. I have no idea if they made it into the final film since I haven’t seen the movie.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Birds of Paradise (Sarah Adina Smith, 2021) 4/10
An elite ballet Academy in Paris, a mixture of enmity and friendship between two roommates - a middle class tomboy (Diana Silvers) from small town America and the upperclass Ambassador's daughter (Kristine Froseth), both competing to win the top prize which is entrance to the prestigious Opéra National de Paris. Both girls hold back secrets which are gradually revealed as the story progresses. At the center of their lives at school is the tough and extremely demanding head of the corps, barking orders in french and passing catty remarks - the one they call “Le diable"- (the devil), played with cold authority by Jacqueline Bisset. The story permeates a sinister atmosphere - there is outstanding cinematography - that seemingly comes off as a combination of "Black Swan" and "Suspiria". Gloomy, heavy and a bore, although the two young leads are both very good.
Being James Bond: The Daniel Craig Story (Baillie Walsh, 2021) 7/10
Actor Craig reminisces about his five stints, spread across 15 years, as James Bond with producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. Along the way we get to see his first screen test as 007, assorted press interviews, candid moments on sets of all five films along with his co-stars. The journey, with Craig, involved rebooting Bond for a modern audience but ensuring to stay faithful to Ian Fleming's source material. The journey ends for the actor with the upcoming release of "No Time to Die" which finally gets a delayed release due to the pandemic.
Who Am I? (Benny Chan, 1998) 3/10
Odd mixture of comedy, spy thrills and Hong Kong action in this Jackie Chan vehicle. The title refers to his character's amnesia - he wakes up, having fallen from the sky, in remote Africa and healed back to life by a tribe. And then all sorts of people are out to get him as the action shifts to Rotterdam as he tries to figure who he is and why he is being chased by shady hitmen and the CIA. After a pleasant if rather corny African interlude the plot turns to action of the Hong Kong variety as each fight sequence goes on and on with nary any blood or wound in sight. Through this cartoon-like plot Jackie sails through various stunts - sliding down a huge skyscraper is the highlight. Boring and silly.
Dune (David Lynch, 1984) 1/10
Hilariously convoluted film version of Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction cult novel. The author was inspired by the desert and how it gave birth to many religions via messiah-like prophets, including T. E. Lawrence who had a similar aura during his involvement in the Arab Revolt. The novel, set centuries in the future, revolves around the prophesy of a young messiah who will arrive to lead to freedom the people of Arrakis - a desolate desert planet which houses a spice that extends life, expands consciousnes and permits safe, instantaneous interstellar travel. Unfortunately Lynch makes the mistake of directing every actor as if the material is to be treated with the utmost reverence with the result the distinginguished cast all come across stiffly self conscious with every actor intoning their dialogue in a monotone. It's incredible how the entire cast seems to have forgotten the art of acting as they flail about either being hammy or just phoning in their lines. What is most shocking about the whole production is how shoddy the special effects are especially coming seven years after "Star Wars" a film that was then the measure against which all science fiction projects were supposed to be compared. This was the first collaboration between Lynch and his mascot Kyle MacLachlan who plays the young protagonist/messiah, son of a Duke (Jürgen Prochnow) and his concubine (Francesca Annis). The story is peppered with eccentric and colorful characters - the Emperor (José Ferrer), his daughter (Virginia Madsen), his concubine and a high priestess (Siân Phillips), a housekeeper (Linda Hunt), a soothsayer (Silvana Mangano - then still married to the film's producer Dino De Laurentiis), the despicable pock-marked villain (Kenneth McMillan taking ham to the next level), his evil nephew (Sting), a good Mentat / human-computer (Freddie Jones), the villainous one (Brad Dourif), a doctor who turns traitor (Dean Stockwell), a swordmaster (Richard Jordan), a troubador-warrior (Patrick Stewart), a planetologist (Max von Sydow) and the messiah's lover (Sean Young). Too many characters and not enough stuff for them to do during the running time. A later tv mini-series version of the story was also not a success. This version bombed big time but luckily did not have a negative effect on the careers of Lynch or his cast. Now after 37 years a new film version of the story, directed by Denis Villineuve, has come out proving that the story has staying power even if previous versions could not come up to the standard of the book. And if you want to see scary worms rampaging through sand dunes look no further than tbe "Tremors" franchise. The ones here are as boring as the story and actors surrounding them.
Red Dawn (John Milius, 1984) 6/10
WWIII by way of a Soviet-Cuban invasion on a small town in Colorado and guerilla resistance by a group of kids who take on the name of Wolverines after their high school football team. In many ways an iconic film and a cult classic - notorious for having the most acts of violence of any film upto that time - with its now iconic cast many of whom would become stars. Unlike the remake where apart from the lead none of the other kids made it big. Here the leader of the pack is played by Patrick Swayze, his brother by Charlie Sheen (in his film debut), and as the other kids who make themselves a damn nuisance for the Ruskies are C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson and Jennifer Grey. An eclectic cast of veteran actors - Harry Dean Stanton, Vladek Sheybal, Powers Booth, Ron O'Neal, Ben Johnson - round out the superb cast. The film has exciting action sequences, is unrepentantly patriotic but surprisingly avoids jingoistic propaganda. As one critic said about the film - "its just a childishly simplistic masturbatory fantasy for right-wing hebephrenics that’s mostly safe enough to play the White House". Sounds about right!!
Red Dawn (Dan Bradley, 2012) 2/10
Remake of the 1984 film which had the Soviet Union attacking small town America. For this version they first thought of an attack by Middle East terrorists which was then changed to the Chinese. Greed took over as the producers did not want to jeopardise the box office in China so they quickly switched and made the invaders North Koreans. It's actually a very interesting premise - the United States being attacked by an invading force on their own soil. Quite a change from what the Americans are usually used to. Kids retaliate, start an underground guerilla movement and make a nuisance of themselves by attacking the Koreans in short bursts causing chaos. Steel-jawed Chris Hemsworth leads the pack of kids (badly acted by the whole bunch of them) with a speech that rattles their patriotism out of its stupor and rallies them into a unified team. Most of the battle scenes are shot inside dark buildings so its difficult to see who is doing what and to whom. Just a lot of shouting and gunfire.
An elite ballet Academy in Paris, a mixture of enmity and friendship between two roommates - a middle class tomboy (Diana Silvers) from small town America and the upperclass Ambassador's daughter (Kristine Froseth), both competing to win the top prize which is entrance to the prestigious Opéra National de Paris. Both girls hold back secrets which are gradually revealed as the story progresses. At the center of their lives at school is the tough and extremely demanding head of the corps, barking orders in french and passing catty remarks - the one they call “Le diable"- (the devil), played with cold authority by Jacqueline Bisset. The story permeates a sinister atmosphere - there is outstanding cinematography - that seemingly comes off as a combination of "Black Swan" and "Suspiria". Gloomy, heavy and a bore, although the two young leads are both very good.
Being James Bond: The Daniel Craig Story (Baillie Walsh, 2021) 7/10
Actor Craig reminisces about his five stints, spread across 15 years, as James Bond with producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. Along the way we get to see his first screen test as 007, assorted press interviews, candid moments on sets of all five films along with his co-stars. The journey, with Craig, involved rebooting Bond for a modern audience but ensuring to stay faithful to Ian Fleming's source material. The journey ends for the actor with the upcoming release of "No Time to Die" which finally gets a delayed release due to the pandemic.
Who Am I? (Benny Chan, 1998) 3/10
Odd mixture of comedy, spy thrills and Hong Kong action in this Jackie Chan vehicle. The title refers to his character's amnesia - he wakes up, having fallen from the sky, in remote Africa and healed back to life by a tribe. And then all sorts of people are out to get him as the action shifts to Rotterdam as he tries to figure who he is and why he is being chased by shady hitmen and the CIA. After a pleasant if rather corny African interlude the plot turns to action of the Hong Kong variety as each fight sequence goes on and on with nary any blood or wound in sight. Through this cartoon-like plot Jackie sails through various stunts - sliding down a huge skyscraper is the highlight. Boring and silly.
Dune (David Lynch, 1984) 1/10
Hilariously convoluted film version of Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction cult novel. The author was inspired by the desert and how it gave birth to many religions via messiah-like prophets, including T. E. Lawrence who had a similar aura during his involvement in the Arab Revolt. The novel, set centuries in the future, revolves around the prophesy of a young messiah who will arrive to lead to freedom the people of Arrakis - a desolate desert planet which houses a spice that extends life, expands consciousnes and permits safe, instantaneous interstellar travel. Unfortunately Lynch makes the mistake of directing every actor as if the material is to be treated with the utmost reverence with the result the distinginguished cast all come across stiffly self conscious with every actor intoning their dialogue in a monotone. It's incredible how the entire cast seems to have forgotten the art of acting as they flail about either being hammy or just phoning in their lines. What is most shocking about the whole production is how shoddy the special effects are especially coming seven years after "Star Wars" a film that was then the measure against which all science fiction projects were supposed to be compared. This was the first collaboration between Lynch and his mascot Kyle MacLachlan who plays the young protagonist/messiah, son of a Duke (Jürgen Prochnow) and his concubine (Francesca Annis). The story is peppered with eccentric and colorful characters - the Emperor (José Ferrer), his daughter (Virginia Madsen), his concubine and a high priestess (Siân Phillips), a housekeeper (Linda Hunt), a soothsayer (Silvana Mangano - then still married to the film's producer Dino De Laurentiis), the despicable pock-marked villain (Kenneth McMillan taking ham to the next level), his evil nephew (Sting), a good Mentat / human-computer (Freddie Jones), the villainous one (Brad Dourif), a doctor who turns traitor (Dean Stockwell), a swordmaster (Richard Jordan), a troubador-warrior (Patrick Stewart), a planetologist (Max von Sydow) and the messiah's lover (Sean Young). Too many characters and not enough stuff for them to do during the running time. A later tv mini-series version of the story was also not a success. This version bombed big time but luckily did not have a negative effect on the careers of Lynch or his cast. Now after 37 years a new film version of the story, directed by Denis Villineuve, has come out proving that the story has staying power even if previous versions could not come up to the standard of the book. And if you want to see scary worms rampaging through sand dunes look no further than tbe "Tremors" franchise. The ones here are as boring as the story and actors surrounding them.
Red Dawn (John Milius, 1984) 6/10
WWIII by way of a Soviet-Cuban invasion on a small town in Colorado and guerilla resistance by a group of kids who take on the name of Wolverines after their high school football team. In many ways an iconic film and a cult classic - notorious for having the most acts of violence of any film upto that time - with its now iconic cast many of whom would become stars. Unlike the remake where apart from the lead none of the other kids made it big. Here the leader of the pack is played by Patrick Swayze, his brother by Charlie Sheen (in his film debut), and as the other kids who make themselves a damn nuisance for the Ruskies are C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson and Jennifer Grey. An eclectic cast of veteran actors - Harry Dean Stanton, Vladek Sheybal, Powers Booth, Ron O'Neal, Ben Johnson - round out the superb cast. The film has exciting action sequences, is unrepentantly patriotic but surprisingly avoids jingoistic propaganda. As one critic said about the film - "its just a childishly simplistic masturbatory fantasy for right-wing hebephrenics that’s mostly safe enough to play the White House". Sounds about right!!
Red Dawn (Dan Bradley, 2012) 2/10
Remake of the 1984 film which had the Soviet Union attacking small town America. For this version they first thought of an attack by Middle East terrorists which was then changed to the Chinese. Greed took over as the producers did not want to jeopardise the box office in China so they quickly switched and made the invaders North Koreans. It's actually a very interesting premise - the United States being attacked by an invading force on their own soil. Quite a change from what the Americans are usually used to. Kids retaliate, start an underground guerilla movement and make a nuisance of themselves by attacking the Koreans in short bursts causing chaos. Steel-jawed Chris Hemsworth leads the pack of kids (badly acted by the whole bunch of them) with a speech that rattles their patriotism out of its stupor and rallies them into a unified team. Most of the battle scenes are shot inside dark buildings so its difficult to see who is doing what and to whom. Just a lot of shouting and gunfire.
Last edited by Reza on Wed Sep 29, 2021 1:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
There are a lot of good ones. I watched most of Lloyd's feature length films 5-7 years ago and enjoyed the ones I watched, except for his last picture (The Sin of Harold Diddlebock) which was so-so. My favorites for his feature length films are Why Worry?, Speedy, and Safety Last.Reza wrote:I really must check out films of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd.
Keaton's also got some good feature length films in addition to the shorts in case you haven't seen them - Sherlock, Jr., The General, The Navigator, etc. I still have a few others to watch.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
I really must check out films of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Time for some Harold Lloyd shorts:
Never Weaken (1921) - 8.5/10 - 29 minutes - Lloyd works in an office and is in love with the girl who works next door. He drums up business for her employer and is heartbroken when he thinks that she has jilted him for another. It was pretty funny and had a really nice construction site scene.
Luke's Movie Muddle (1916) - 5/10 - 7 minutes - This early Lloyd film isn't in his usual style and isn't really very good. He's an usher/ticket seller at a movie theater who hits on some of the women.
Haunted Spooks (1920) - 7.5/10 - 25 minutes - A young woman inherits a mansion, but has to live in it for a year with her husband. Since she has no husband, Lloyd is enlisted to marry her. This one is funny and has a number of good scenes.
From Hand to Mouth (1919) - 7.5/10 - 22 minutes - Lloyd is penniless and hungry and befriends a young girl in a similar state before helping an heiress get her fortune. Lots of good chases including a nice one with manholes.
High and Dizzy (1920) - 7/10 - 25 minutes - Lloyd is a young doctor and business is slow. He spends most of the short drunk, part of the time with his friend and fellow drunk. I liked the scene at the hotel desk and the sleepwalking bit as well.
Among Those Present (1921) - 7.5/10 - 34 minutes - Lloyd works at a hotel and is recruited to pose as a lord as part of a 'practical joke'. It's good up until he has to try riding a rambunctious horse and after that it becomes even funnier.
Ask Father (1919) - 7.5/10 - 13 minutes - Lloyd tries to get into to see the busiest man in town in order to ask him for permission to marry his daughter. He goes to great lengths. I thought it was pretty funny and I remembered that I had seen it before just a few minutes in.
Young Mr. Jazz (1919) - 6.5/10 - 10 minutes - There is a funny 'snorkeling' scene at the beach early in the film as Lloyd tries to avoid the father to set up a date with his girl. The action shifts to a crooked dance hall where the two try to avoid the father. It's a decent film, but not one of Lloyd's best.
Get Out and Get Under (1920) - 7/10 - 25 minutes - Lloyd is late getting to a play and gets into all sorts of trouble with his car.
Hey There (1918) - 6.5/10 - 10 minutes - Lloyd tries to deliver a letter that an actress dropped, but has trouble getting to her on set. There are some funny bits.
Take a Chance (1918) - 7/10 - 10 minutes - This is basically a series of related skits that flow one to the next. There was also one part that had similarities with Keaton's Convict 13. It was funny, though.
Billy Blazes, Esq. (1919) - 7/10 - 13 minutes - Lloyd is a gunfighter who sets out to rescue a lady being held by a bad guy and his gang in this western. Lloyd doesn't appear until just before the halfway mark which is unusual, but he is pretty good with some interesting gunplay.
An Eastern Westerner (1920) - 8/10 - 23 minutes - This one was a rewatch. Lloyd is sent by his father to his uncle's ranch in the West. He meets a girl that he tries to impress and has to deal with a gang chasing him. Lots of funny gags.
The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1914) - 5/10 - This adaptation of the seventh Oz book came out about a year after it was published and was produced by Baum's movie studio. I imagine it was fairly popular at the time since the books were new and the film industry was still somewhat primitive. However, the film doesn't seem all that great to me, though there were a few interesting bits. One big thing that came out of the movie was the meeting of Hal Roach and Harold Lloyd who each had small parts.
There are quite a few other Lloyd shorts that I plan to watch, but I might switch over to Chaplin for a while first.
Never Weaken (1921) - 8.5/10 - 29 minutes - Lloyd works in an office and is in love with the girl who works next door. He drums up business for her employer and is heartbroken when he thinks that she has jilted him for another. It was pretty funny and had a really nice construction site scene.
Luke's Movie Muddle (1916) - 5/10 - 7 minutes - This early Lloyd film isn't in his usual style and isn't really very good. He's an usher/ticket seller at a movie theater who hits on some of the women.
Haunted Spooks (1920) - 7.5/10 - 25 minutes - A young woman inherits a mansion, but has to live in it for a year with her husband. Since she has no husband, Lloyd is enlisted to marry her. This one is funny and has a number of good scenes.
From Hand to Mouth (1919) - 7.5/10 - 22 minutes - Lloyd is penniless and hungry and befriends a young girl in a similar state before helping an heiress get her fortune. Lots of good chases including a nice one with manholes.
High and Dizzy (1920) - 7/10 - 25 minutes - Lloyd is a young doctor and business is slow. He spends most of the short drunk, part of the time with his friend and fellow drunk. I liked the scene at the hotel desk and the sleepwalking bit as well.
Among Those Present (1921) - 7.5/10 - 34 minutes - Lloyd works at a hotel and is recruited to pose as a lord as part of a 'practical joke'. It's good up until he has to try riding a rambunctious horse and after that it becomes even funnier.
Ask Father (1919) - 7.5/10 - 13 minutes - Lloyd tries to get into to see the busiest man in town in order to ask him for permission to marry his daughter. He goes to great lengths. I thought it was pretty funny and I remembered that I had seen it before just a few minutes in.
Young Mr. Jazz (1919) - 6.5/10 - 10 minutes - There is a funny 'snorkeling' scene at the beach early in the film as Lloyd tries to avoid the father to set up a date with his girl. The action shifts to a crooked dance hall where the two try to avoid the father. It's a decent film, but not one of Lloyd's best.
Get Out and Get Under (1920) - 7/10 - 25 minutes - Lloyd is late getting to a play and gets into all sorts of trouble with his car.
Hey There (1918) - 6.5/10 - 10 minutes - Lloyd tries to deliver a letter that an actress dropped, but has trouble getting to her on set. There are some funny bits.
Take a Chance (1918) - 7/10 - 10 minutes - This is basically a series of related skits that flow one to the next. There was also one part that had similarities with Keaton's Convict 13. It was funny, though.
Billy Blazes, Esq. (1919) - 7/10 - 13 minutes - Lloyd is a gunfighter who sets out to rescue a lady being held by a bad guy and his gang in this western. Lloyd doesn't appear until just before the halfway mark which is unusual, but he is pretty good with some interesting gunplay.
An Eastern Westerner (1920) - 8/10 - 23 minutes - This one was a rewatch. Lloyd is sent by his father to his uncle's ranch in the West. He meets a girl that he tries to impress and has to deal with a gang chasing him. Lots of funny gags.
The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1914) - 5/10 - This adaptation of the seventh Oz book came out about a year after it was published and was produced by Baum's movie studio. I imagine it was fairly popular at the time since the books were new and the film industry was still somewhat primitive. However, the film doesn't seem all that great to me, though there were a few interesting bits. One big thing that came out of the movie was the meeting of Hal Roach and Harold Lloyd who each had small parts.
There are quite a few other Lloyd shorts that I plan to watch, but I might switch over to Chaplin for a while first.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
I decided to watch a lot of Buster Keaton shorts. In retrospect, I probably should have spaced them out over several days.
The Rough House (1917) - 4/10 - This is really a Fatty Arbuckle short which has Keaton in it. I didn't think most of it was really all that funny, though a few bits in the dinner scene were amusing, such as serving the soup.
Convict 13 (1918) - 7.5/10 - This one was a lot more fun. Keaton is golfing and has a few mishaps and then has a variety of adventures in a prison.
One Week (1920) - 9/10 - After I started watching this, I realized that I had seen it before, but it was worth a rewatch. Keaton is a newlywed who tries to assemble a house from a kit. It's very funny and creative.
The Scarecrow (1920) - 8.5/10 - I thought this was about on par with One Week. The house and its design was very creative and I liked this various gags with the dog, scarecrow, etc.
Neighbors (1920) - 7.5/10 - Keaton and the girl next door are in love, but the families have a bit of a feud. I thought it was a bit simpler in scope, but was still pretty funny.
The Haunted House (1921) - 7/10 - A bank teller runs into a 'haunted' house... I didn't think that this was as funny as the last few I watched, but some of the gags in the haunted house weren't bad.
Hard Luck (1921) - 6.5/10 - Keaton tries unsuccessfully to commit suicide a number of times and then goes off fishing, hunting, etc. with a number of mostly uninspired gags.
The 'High Sign' (1921) - 7/10 - Keaton looks for a job in a shooting gallery and ends up in a gang. This was good and had a few good gags in it.
The Goat (1921) - 8.5/10 - Keaton gets mistaken for a notorious bad guy and spends most of his time on the run. It was pretty funny.
The Playhouse (1921) - 8/10 - Keaton works in a playhouse, though he has bigger dreams than just working there. This one was pretty good.
The Boat (1921) - 5.5/10 - Keaton takes his family out for a trip in his new homemade boat. This one didn't really work for me. A lot of it just seemed dumb.
The Paleface (1922) - 7/10 - Oil barons cheat a Native American tribe and they look to take out their anger on Keaton who wanders in chasing butterflies. It wasn't bad.
Cops (1922) - 7/10 - This one had to set a record for how many police chase a guy in a movie.
My Wife's Relations (1922) - 7/10 - Keaton is an artist who ends up accidentally married.
The Blacksmith (1922) - 7.5/10 - Keaton as a somewhat inept blacksmith working on horses and cars.
The Frozen North (1922) - 5.5/10 - I liked the gag with the holdup, but otherwise this one wasn't that great.
The Electric House (1922) - 7.5/10 - Keaton graduates from college and gets hired to install electricity in a house. He does a pretty good job.
Day Dreams (1922) - 7/10 - Keaton goes out to seek his fortune so that he can marry the woman he likes. He goes through a variety of professions.
The Balloonatic (1923) - 7/10 - Keaton spends time at an amusement park until an errant balloon ride has him end up in the wilderness whee he has further adventures.
The Love Nest (1923) - 7/10 - A jilted lover sets sail in a small boat and ends up on a whaling ship.
I'd rank them this way for how much I enjoyed them:
1. One Week (1920) - 9/10
2. The Scarecrow (1920) - 8.5/10
3. The Goat (1921) - 8.5/10
4. The Playhouse (1921) - 8/10
5. Neighbors (1920) - 7.5/10
6. The Electric House (1922) - 7.5/10
7. Convict 13 (1918) - 7.5/10
8. The Blacksmith (1922) - 7.5/10
9. The Haunted House (1921) - 7/10
10. The Balloonatic (1923) - 7/10
11. The 'High Sign' (1921) - 7/10
12. The Paleface (1922) - 7/10
13. Cops (1922) - 7/10
14. Day Dreams (1922) - 7/10
15. The Love Nest (1923) - 7/10
16. My Wife's Relations (1922) - 7/10
17. Hard Luck (1921) - 6.5/10
18. The Boat (1921) - 5.5/10
19. The Frozen North (1922) - 5.5/10
20. The Rough House (1917) - 4/10
The Rough House (1917) - 4/10 - This is really a Fatty Arbuckle short which has Keaton in it. I didn't think most of it was really all that funny, though a few bits in the dinner scene were amusing, such as serving the soup.
Convict 13 (1918) - 7.5/10 - This one was a lot more fun. Keaton is golfing and has a few mishaps and then has a variety of adventures in a prison.
One Week (1920) - 9/10 - After I started watching this, I realized that I had seen it before, but it was worth a rewatch. Keaton is a newlywed who tries to assemble a house from a kit. It's very funny and creative.
The Scarecrow (1920) - 8.5/10 - I thought this was about on par with One Week. The house and its design was very creative and I liked this various gags with the dog, scarecrow, etc.
Neighbors (1920) - 7.5/10 - Keaton and the girl next door are in love, but the families have a bit of a feud. I thought it was a bit simpler in scope, but was still pretty funny.
The Haunted House (1921) - 7/10 - A bank teller runs into a 'haunted' house... I didn't think that this was as funny as the last few I watched, but some of the gags in the haunted house weren't bad.
Hard Luck (1921) - 6.5/10 - Keaton tries unsuccessfully to commit suicide a number of times and then goes off fishing, hunting, etc. with a number of mostly uninspired gags.
The 'High Sign' (1921) - 7/10 - Keaton looks for a job in a shooting gallery and ends up in a gang. This was good and had a few good gags in it.
The Goat (1921) - 8.5/10 - Keaton gets mistaken for a notorious bad guy and spends most of his time on the run. It was pretty funny.
The Playhouse (1921) - 8/10 - Keaton works in a playhouse, though he has bigger dreams than just working there. This one was pretty good.
The Boat (1921) - 5.5/10 - Keaton takes his family out for a trip in his new homemade boat. This one didn't really work for me. A lot of it just seemed dumb.
The Paleface (1922) - 7/10 - Oil barons cheat a Native American tribe and they look to take out their anger on Keaton who wanders in chasing butterflies. It wasn't bad.
Cops (1922) - 7/10 - This one had to set a record for how many police chase a guy in a movie.
My Wife's Relations (1922) - 7/10 - Keaton is an artist who ends up accidentally married.
The Blacksmith (1922) - 7.5/10 - Keaton as a somewhat inept blacksmith working on horses and cars.
The Frozen North (1922) - 5.5/10 - I liked the gag with the holdup, but otherwise this one wasn't that great.
The Electric House (1922) - 7.5/10 - Keaton graduates from college and gets hired to install electricity in a house. He does a pretty good job.
Day Dreams (1922) - 7/10 - Keaton goes out to seek his fortune so that he can marry the woman he likes. He goes through a variety of professions.
The Balloonatic (1923) - 7/10 - Keaton spends time at an amusement park until an errant balloon ride has him end up in the wilderness whee he has further adventures.
The Love Nest (1923) - 7/10 - A jilted lover sets sail in a small boat and ends up on a whaling ship.
I'd rank them this way for how much I enjoyed them:
1. One Week (1920) - 9/10
2. The Scarecrow (1920) - 8.5/10
3. The Goat (1921) - 8.5/10
4. The Playhouse (1921) - 8/10
5. Neighbors (1920) - 7.5/10
6. The Electric House (1922) - 7.5/10
7. Convict 13 (1918) - 7.5/10
8. The Blacksmith (1922) - 7.5/10
9. The Haunted House (1921) - 7/10
10. The Balloonatic (1923) - 7/10
11. The 'High Sign' (1921) - 7/10
12. The Paleface (1922) - 7/10
13. Cops (1922) - 7/10
14. Day Dreams (1922) - 7/10
15. The Love Nest (1923) - 7/10
16. My Wife's Relations (1922) - 7/10
17. Hard Luck (1921) - 6.5/10
18. The Boat (1921) - 5.5/10
19. The Frozen North (1922) - 5.5/10
20. The Rough House (1917) - 4/10
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Fantômas: In the Shadow of the Guillotine (1913) - 7/10
Fantômas: Juve Against Fantômas (1913) - 7.5/10
Fantômas: The Dead Man Who Killed (1913) - 7.5/10
Fantômas: Fantômas Against Fantômas (1914) - 7.5/10
Fantômas: The False Magistrate (1914) - 7/10
The Fantômas series features a master criminal who is a thief, murderer, and master of disguise. He is pursued by Inspector Juve and Juve's friend Fandor, a newspaper reporter. Fantômas is quick witted and manages to escape sooner or later when captured. The series is fun with the middle three being the ones that I enjoyed the most.
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) - 8.5/10 - I enjoyed this one quite a bit more than when I watched it many years ago. I was probably more receptive to it this time around, but it certainly helped that the version I watched this time wasn't the muddied and dark print that I saw the last time.
The Unknown (1927) - 7.5/10 - Alonzo (Lon Chaney) is a circus performer without arms who performs tricks with guns and knives. He's in love with the circus owner's daughter Nanon (Joan Crawford) who has an aversion to men touching her with their hands and thus finds Alonzo comfortable. However, Alonzo is not quite what he seems. This one was pretty good and Chaney was excellent.
A Dog's Life (1918) - 7/10 - Charlie Chaplin's Tramp is sleeping in a vacant lot. He is hungry and tries to get a job without success. He rescues a dog from a group of other dogs and this eventually leads to his good fortune. I thought it was fun.
Regen (1929) - 8/10 - Rain falls in Amsterdam for 14 minutes. I watched the version with the Larry Marotta guitar soundtrack and it was pretty cool.
Fantômas: Juve Against Fantômas (1913) - 7.5/10
Fantômas: The Dead Man Who Killed (1913) - 7.5/10
Fantômas: Fantômas Against Fantômas (1914) - 7.5/10
Fantômas: The False Magistrate (1914) - 7/10
The Fantômas series features a master criminal who is a thief, murderer, and master of disguise. He is pursued by Inspector Juve and Juve's friend Fandor, a newspaper reporter. Fantômas is quick witted and manages to escape sooner or later when captured. The series is fun with the middle three being the ones that I enjoyed the most.
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) - 8.5/10 - I enjoyed this one quite a bit more than when I watched it many years ago. I was probably more receptive to it this time around, but it certainly helped that the version I watched this time wasn't the muddied and dark print that I saw the last time.
The Unknown (1927) - 7.5/10 - Alonzo (Lon Chaney) is a circus performer without arms who performs tricks with guns and knives. He's in love with the circus owner's daughter Nanon (Joan Crawford) who has an aversion to men touching her with their hands and thus finds Alonzo comfortable. However, Alonzo is not quite what he seems. This one was pretty good and Chaney was excellent.
A Dog's Life (1918) - 7/10 - Charlie Chaplin's Tramp is sleeping in a vacant lot. He is hungry and tries to get a job without success. He rescues a dog from a group of other dogs and this eventually leads to his good fortune. I thought it was fun.
Regen (1929) - 8/10 - Rain falls in Amsterdam for 14 minutes. I watched the version with the Larry Marotta guitar soundtrack and it was pretty cool.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
The Dictator (Victor Saville, 1935) 5/10
Historical drama chronicling the tumultuous arranged marriage between King Christian VII of Denmark (Emlyn Williams) and his English consort Caroline Matilda (Madeleine Carroll) in 18th century Copenhagen. Both detest each other and the King is forced to consumate the marriage which results in an heir after which the King spends time with prostitutes. His personal physician, Johann Friedrich Struensee (Clive Brook), tries to bring the monarch closer to his wife which instead results in the Queen's tragic affair with the royal physician leading to death and banishment. Lavishly filmed romance came about in an attempt to duplicate the success of Garbo as "Queen Christina" and Dietrich as Catherine II in "The Scarlet Empress". Unfortunately there is no chemistry between the icy Carroll and the stiff Brook. Only Emlyn Williams comes out unscathed with his portrayal of the mentally unstable and often petulant child-like monarch. Years later the doomed romance was the subject of the Oscar nominated Danish film, "A Royal Affair".
The Laughing Lady (Victor Schertzinger, 1929) 6/10
Like most early talkies this is based on a stage play (Ethel Barrymore was on Broadway and first choice for the movie version, Jeanne Eagles, died of a drug overdose), with a cast of stage veterans who managed to make a smooth transition from silent films to talkies. It is also static, stiffly acted by most and not very cinematic in the way it has been shot. A socialite (Ruth Chatterton - in her second film and first talkie) is put in an uncompromising position by a lifeguard who earlier had saved her from drowning. The scandal results in her getting thrown out of a hotel, being ostracized by her social circle, a husband who files for divorce and a lawyer (Clive Brook) who makes mincemeat of her in court and provides custody of her daughter to her husband. She calmly retaliates by putting the lawyer in an uncompromising situation after he shows her attention. Later when he decides to help her regain custody of her child she feels remorse. Chatterton is understated throughout and desists all attempts to act towards the gallery as most of her co-stars. Clive Brook was such a popular debonair star but always so stuffy and stiff on screen yet managed to romance many of the top female stars in Hollywood during the 1930s.
Robin Hood (Ridley Scott, 2010) 7/10
I thought both leads were too old for their parts. That was my impression when I first viewed this film. This time round I was taken in and intrigued by the historical aspect of the period in which the two lead characters played their parts. Set during the medieval period of British history - King Henry II is dead and dowager Queen Eleanor of Acquitaine (Eileen Atkins) presides through the rules of her two surviving sons, King Richard the Lion Heart (Danny Huston) who dies in battle, and petulant King John (Oscar Isaac) who inherits the throne and has on his side a french Countess (Léa Seydoux) as his Queen. The long standing Earl Marshall (William Hurt) is dismissed and the post given to a cunning Knight (Mark Godfrey) who, on the sly, is helping King Phillip of France to invade England. Meanwhile Robin Longstride (Russell Crowe), having been on the Crusades with King Richard, returns to England in the guise of a dead Knight - Robert Loxley - and gets involved with his blind father (Max von Sydow) and widow, the Maid Marian (Cate Blanchett), in a fight against the Sheriff of Nottingham (Matthew Macfadyen). All the Merry Men are present - Friar Tuck, Little John, Will Scarlet and Allan A'Dayle - and they rob the rich to give to the poor. Rousing film moves at a fast pace with Crowe's accent shifting from Australian to Scottish to Irish, a lethal combination that refuses to allow any semblance of a British accent to surface. Scott's revisionist take on the legend was savaged by many critics probably used to the fantasy of the Errol Flynn and Kevin Costner versions. This seems more savage, dour and dirty which is how it was in reality. Blanchett is a feisty Maid Marian.
Historical drama chronicling the tumultuous arranged marriage between King Christian VII of Denmark (Emlyn Williams) and his English consort Caroline Matilda (Madeleine Carroll) in 18th century Copenhagen. Both detest each other and the King is forced to consumate the marriage which results in an heir after which the King spends time with prostitutes. His personal physician, Johann Friedrich Struensee (Clive Brook), tries to bring the monarch closer to his wife which instead results in the Queen's tragic affair with the royal physician leading to death and banishment. Lavishly filmed romance came about in an attempt to duplicate the success of Garbo as "Queen Christina" and Dietrich as Catherine II in "The Scarlet Empress". Unfortunately there is no chemistry between the icy Carroll and the stiff Brook. Only Emlyn Williams comes out unscathed with his portrayal of the mentally unstable and often petulant child-like monarch. Years later the doomed romance was the subject of the Oscar nominated Danish film, "A Royal Affair".
The Laughing Lady (Victor Schertzinger, 1929) 6/10
Like most early talkies this is based on a stage play (Ethel Barrymore was on Broadway and first choice for the movie version, Jeanne Eagles, died of a drug overdose), with a cast of stage veterans who managed to make a smooth transition from silent films to talkies. It is also static, stiffly acted by most and not very cinematic in the way it has been shot. A socialite (Ruth Chatterton - in her second film and first talkie) is put in an uncompromising position by a lifeguard who earlier had saved her from drowning. The scandal results in her getting thrown out of a hotel, being ostracized by her social circle, a husband who files for divorce and a lawyer (Clive Brook) who makes mincemeat of her in court and provides custody of her daughter to her husband. She calmly retaliates by putting the lawyer in an uncompromising situation after he shows her attention. Later when he decides to help her regain custody of her child she feels remorse. Chatterton is understated throughout and desists all attempts to act towards the gallery as most of her co-stars. Clive Brook was such a popular debonair star but always so stuffy and stiff on screen yet managed to romance many of the top female stars in Hollywood during the 1930s.
Robin Hood (Ridley Scott, 2010) 7/10
I thought both leads were too old for their parts. That was my impression when I first viewed this film. This time round I was taken in and intrigued by the historical aspect of the period in which the two lead characters played their parts. Set during the medieval period of British history - King Henry II is dead and dowager Queen Eleanor of Acquitaine (Eileen Atkins) presides through the rules of her two surviving sons, King Richard the Lion Heart (Danny Huston) who dies in battle, and petulant King John (Oscar Isaac) who inherits the throne and has on his side a french Countess (Léa Seydoux) as his Queen. The long standing Earl Marshall (William Hurt) is dismissed and the post given to a cunning Knight (Mark Godfrey) who, on the sly, is helping King Phillip of France to invade England. Meanwhile Robin Longstride (Russell Crowe), having been on the Crusades with King Richard, returns to England in the guise of a dead Knight - Robert Loxley - and gets involved with his blind father (Max von Sydow) and widow, the Maid Marian (Cate Blanchett), in a fight against the Sheriff of Nottingham (Matthew Macfadyen). All the Merry Men are present - Friar Tuck, Little John, Will Scarlet and Allan A'Dayle - and they rob the rich to give to the poor. Rousing film moves at a fast pace with Crowe's accent shifting from Australian to Scottish to Irish, a lethal combination that refuses to allow any semblance of a British accent to surface. Scott's revisionist take on the legend was savaged by many critics probably used to the fantasy of the Errol Flynn and Kevin Costner versions. This seems more savage, dour and dirty which is how it was in reality. Blanchett is a feisty Maid Marian.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Force 10 From Navarone (Guy Hamilton, 1978) 6/10
Fun(ny) Fact - the film was originally considered to be filmed in Pakistan until someone realised that Pakistanis did not resemble Yugoslavians or Germans and the expense to make them appear as such on film would be financially prohibitive. This film is a sequel to "The Guns of Navarone" and also based on a book by Alistair MacLean. The former film's two main characters - played by Gregory Peck & David Niven - are here now played by Robert Shaw and Edward Fox. A group of commandos, under the leadership of a testy American officer (Harrison Ford), are sent into Yugoslavia to destroy a bridge during WWII so it doesn't fall into the hands of the Germans. Accompanying them are two veteran soldiers (Shaw & Fox) who have been secretly assigned to assassinate a traitor and double agent (Franco Nero) who is posing as the leader of a group of partisans. Belated sequel does not really follow the novel its supposedly based on and has a stiff performance by Ford who came on board right after finishing "Star Wars". In fact a number of the supporting cast appear here after coming off more iconic films - Barbara Bach and Richard Kiel from "The Spy Who Loved Me" and Carl Weathers from "Rocky". Corny dialogue - "this place is crawling with Krauts they're coming out of the woodwork" - and mostly shoddy effects are the order of the day. Bach, the lone female in the cast, gets to do a nude scene stepping out of a tub (censored when I saw this film way back in a Pakistani cinema) and Weathers, by virtue of his skin colour, gets a few derogatory (but amusing when the film first came out) jokes thrown at him which the actor fields by vociferously demanding equality. The film ends with a spectacular bang amongst a melee of double-crosses and triple-crosses.
The Volunteer (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, 1944) 6/10
A short propaganda film made by the famous duo to stir up recruitment in the Armed Forces during the War. After a stage performance as "Othello" the actor Ralph Richardson is asked for an autograph by his clumsy dresser. The man joins the Fleet Air and becomes a war hero after he rescues a pilot from a burning plane. When the hero is invited to Buckingham Palace to meet the King it is now Richardson's turn to ask his dresser for an autograph. Making cameo appearances as themselves - for the War effort - are Laurence Olivier, Anna Neagle, Herbert Wilcox, Anthony Asquith and Powell himself.
The Morning Show (Mimi Leder & others, 2019) - Season 1 8/10
I rarely - if at all - watch tv serials. Find them too time consuming sifting through the various seasons. The last one I remember binge-watching was "Mad Men" and I watched both "Downton Abbey" and "Game of Thrones" in real time as the seasons unfolded over the years. This one I came across in early 2020 when Jennifer Aniston won a SAG award for it the same time as Brad Pitt won his and much ado was made over the fact that the former couple were at the ceremony at the same time where he made fun of his former marriage to Angelina Jolie as the camera caught Aniston clapping. Well I never bothered to watch the series then filing it away in my mind to maybe check it out someday.......which turned out to be yesterday when I binged through Season 1. Serio-comic look at the cutthroat world of the American Morning tv news shows especially in the light of the #metoo movement which is one of the major plot points. While I watched it mainly for perky Aniston - was a fan of hers from "Friends". I was surprised to discover that perky # 2 - Reese Witherspoon - co-stars on the show.......and a great supporting cast play assorted tv show related types. Steve Carell is the anchor who gets fired for flirting and snogging staff at the network after a "victim" blows.......the whistle.....after literally blowing him. And there are wonderful night shots of the Manhattan skyline as lights twinkle like little itty bitty tiny stars. Am now on the prowl for Season 2 which has just started.
Without Remorse (Stefano Sollina, 2021) 5/10
Generic thriller based on the 1993 Tom Clancy novel changes the location of the story from Vietnam to Syria - the former being too old hat while the latter (muslim bashing) still playing to the American gallery although the actual villains of the piece happen to be the Ruskies. The main character and action hero - a Navy SEAL - goes from being white in the book to black in this movie adaptation, which is actually a pretty good thing because whatever little positivity the film has is through Michael B. Jordan's excellent performance. And he gets able support by the stunningly beautiful Jodie Turner-Smith as his superior officer on the mission. The film has a couple of exciting action set pieces - a plane crash landing in the ocean and a shoot out. Jamie Bell plays a CIA operative who may or may not be up to any good while the hero wants revenge on the Russian hit squad who killed his wife and unborn baby. Apparently there is going to be a sequel which is good for Jordan who is an interesting actor and deserves better films.
Fun(ny) Fact - the film was originally considered to be filmed in Pakistan until someone realised that Pakistanis did not resemble Yugoslavians or Germans and the expense to make them appear as such on film would be financially prohibitive. This film is a sequel to "The Guns of Navarone" and also based on a book by Alistair MacLean. The former film's two main characters - played by Gregory Peck & David Niven - are here now played by Robert Shaw and Edward Fox. A group of commandos, under the leadership of a testy American officer (Harrison Ford), are sent into Yugoslavia to destroy a bridge during WWII so it doesn't fall into the hands of the Germans. Accompanying them are two veteran soldiers (Shaw & Fox) who have been secretly assigned to assassinate a traitor and double agent (Franco Nero) who is posing as the leader of a group of partisans. Belated sequel does not really follow the novel its supposedly based on and has a stiff performance by Ford who came on board right after finishing "Star Wars". In fact a number of the supporting cast appear here after coming off more iconic films - Barbara Bach and Richard Kiel from "The Spy Who Loved Me" and Carl Weathers from "Rocky". Corny dialogue - "this place is crawling with Krauts they're coming out of the woodwork" - and mostly shoddy effects are the order of the day. Bach, the lone female in the cast, gets to do a nude scene stepping out of a tub (censored when I saw this film way back in a Pakistani cinema) and Weathers, by virtue of his skin colour, gets a few derogatory (but amusing when the film first came out) jokes thrown at him which the actor fields by vociferously demanding equality. The film ends with a spectacular bang amongst a melee of double-crosses and triple-crosses.
The Volunteer (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, 1944) 6/10
A short propaganda film made by the famous duo to stir up recruitment in the Armed Forces during the War. After a stage performance as "Othello" the actor Ralph Richardson is asked for an autograph by his clumsy dresser. The man joins the Fleet Air and becomes a war hero after he rescues a pilot from a burning plane. When the hero is invited to Buckingham Palace to meet the King it is now Richardson's turn to ask his dresser for an autograph. Making cameo appearances as themselves - for the War effort - are Laurence Olivier, Anna Neagle, Herbert Wilcox, Anthony Asquith and Powell himself.
The Morning Show (Mimi Leder & others, 2019) - Season 1 8/10
I rarely - if at all - watch tv serials. Find them too time consuming sifting through the various seasons. The last one I remember binge-watching was "Mad Men" and I watched both "Downton Abbey" and "Game of Thrones" in real time as the seasons unfolded over the years. This one I came across in early 2020 when Jennifer Aniston won a SAG award for it the same time as Brad Pitt won his and much ado was made over the fact that the former couple were at the ceremony at the same time where he made fun of his former marriage to Angelina Jolie as the camera caught Aniston clapping. Well I never bothered to watch the series then filing it away in my mind to maybe check it out someday.......which turned out to be yesterday when I binged through Season 1. Serio-comic look at the cutthroat world of the American Morning tv news shows especially in the light of the #metoo movement which is one of the major plot points. While I watched it mainly for perky Aniston - was a fan of hers from "Friends". I was surprised to discover that perky # 2 - Reese Witherspoon - co-stars on the show.......and a great supporting cast play assorted tv show related types. Steve Carell is the anchor who gets fired for flirting and snogging staff at the network after a "victim" blows.......the whistle.....after literally blowing him. And there are wonderful night shots of the Manhattan skyline as lights twinkle like little itty bitty tiny stars. Am now on the prowl for Season 2 which has just started.
Without Remorse (Stefano Sollina, 2021) 5/10
Generic thriller based on the 1993 Tom Clancy novel changes the location of the story from Vietnam to Syria - the former being too old hat while the latter (muslim bashing) still playing to the American gallery although the actual villains of the piece happen to be the Ruskies. The main character and action hero - a Navy SEAL - goes from being white in the book to black in this movie adaptation, which is actually a pretty good thing because whatever little positivity the film has is through Michael B. Jordan's excellent performance. And he gets able support by the stunningly beautiful Jodie Turner-Smith as his superior officer on the mission. The film has a couple of exciting action set pieces - a plane crash landing in the ocean and a shoot out. Jamie Bell plays a CIA operative who may or may not be up to any good while the hero wants revenge on the Russian hit squad who killed his wife and unborn baby. Apparently there is going to be a sequel which is good for Jordan who is an interesting actor and deserves better films.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Feature length films are pretty scarce prior to 1911 so I decided to try and watch an hour or so worth of shorter films if I couldn't find a feature length. By the time I got back to 1901, I didn't have many to choose from longer than 3 minutes. I could probably continue this back to 1896, but there would be a lot of 1 and 2 minute films so I don't think that I'll bother.
Some of these early films were pretty good or at least had interesting parts in them. There were some that were a bit dull, but most were interesting enough as artifacts of their time. I thought the Little Match Seller short, for example, was just as good as the animated shorts that received Oscar nominations. It was also interesting to see a number of these films which had been hand colored.
* some of the films that I enjoyed a bit more than the others
1910
Twelfth Night (1910) - 11 minutes
Frankenstein (1910) - 14 minutes
Afgrunden (1910) - 38 minutes
1909
A Corner in Wheat (1909) - 14 minutes
*Those Awful Hats (1909) - 3 minutes
The Mended Lute (1909) - 8 minutes
*The Country Doctor (1909) - 14 minutes
*The Devilish Tenant (1909) - 7 minutes
*The Lonely Villa (1909) - 12 minutes
*Princess Nicotine (1909) - 5 minutes
1908
*Fantasmagorie (1908) - 2 minutes
The Electric Hotel (1908) - 9 minutes
L'assassinat du duc de Guise (1908) - 15 minutes
Rescued from an Eagle's Nest (1908) - 8 minutes
Prussian Culture (1908) - 8 minutes
Modern Sculptors (1908) - 6 minutes
Legend of a Ghost (1908) - 14 minutes
*Diabolical Pickpocket (1908) - 4 minutes
1907
Tunneling the English Channel (1907) - 15 minutes
*That Fatal Sneeze (1907) - 6 minutes
The 'Teddy' Bears (1907) - 14 minutes
Sightseeing Through Whisky (1907) - 6 minutes
The Talisman or Sheep's Foot (1907) - 13 minutes
The Red Spectre (1907) - 9 minutes
1906
*A Trip Down Market Street Before the Fire (1906) - 12 minutes
San Francisco Earthquake & Fire: April 18, 1906 (1906) - 14 minutes
The 400 Tricks of the Devil (1906) - 17 minutes
The Witch (1906)- 12 minutes
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906) - 7 minutes
1905
The Palace of Arabian Knights (1905) - 21 minutes
New York Subway (1905) - 6 minutes
The Living Playing Cards (1905) - 3 minutes
How Jones Lost His Roll (1905) - 8 minutes
The Night Before Christmas (1905) - 9 minutes
The Seven Ages (1905) - 5 minutes
In the Swimming Pool, Palm Beach, Florida (1905) - 3 minutes
La statue (1905) - 5 minutes
*Rescued by Rover (1905) - 6 minutes
1904
*The Impossible Voyage (1904) - 20 minutes
Krunisanje Kralja Petra I Karadjordjevica (1904) - 54 minutes
1903
Life of an American Fireman (1903) - 6 minutes
*The Great Train Robbery (1903) - 11 minutes
The Sick Kitten (1903) - 1 minute
Le mélomane (1903) - 2 minutes
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1903) - 17 minutes
Le royaume des fées (1903) - 16 minutes
A Romance of the Rail (1903) - 4 minutes
Le revenant (1903) - 3 minutes
Le puits fantastique (1903) - 4 minutes
1902
The Flying Train (1902) - 2 minutes
*Le voyage dans la lune (1902) - 15 minutes
*The Little Match Seller (1902) - 3 minutes
Jack and the Beanstalk (1902) - 10 minutes
La fée printemps (1902) - 3 minutes
Gulliver's Travels (1902) - 4 minutes
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1902) - 9 minutes
The Coronation of Edward VII (1902) - 3 minutes
Midwife to the Upper Classes (1902) - 4 minutes
Alcohol and Its Victims (1902) - 5 minutes
Bird's-Eye View of San Francisco, Cal., from a Balloon (1902) - 3 minutes
Electric Tram Rides from Forster Square, Bradford (1902) - 3 minutes
1901
L'homme à la tête en caoutchouc (1901) - 3 minutes
Bluebeard (1901) - 10 minutes
History of a Crime (1901) - 5 minutes
Fire! (1901) - 5 minutes
Scrooge; or Marley's Ghost (1901) - 3 minutes
Execution of Czolgosz with Panorama of Auburn Prison (1901) - 3 minutes
Hat of Many Surprises (1901) - 3 minutes
The House of Mystery (1901) - 3 minutes
A Holiday Pageant at Home (1901) - 4 minutes
Panoramic View of the Morecambe Sea Front (1901) - 3 minutes
Undressing Extraordinary (1901) - 3 minutes
Parkgate Iron and Steel Co., Rotherham (1901) - 3 minutes
Jamaica Street, Glasgow (1901) - 3 minutes
Sampson-Schley Controversy (1901) - 3 minutes
Cunard Vessel at Liverpool (1901) - 3 minutes
Manchester Band of Hope Procession (1901) - 3 minutes
Preston Egg Rolling (1901) - 3 minutes
Some of these early films were pretty good or at least had interesting parts in them. There were some that were a bit dull, but most were interesting enough as artifacts of their time. I thought the Little Match Seller short, for example, was just as good as the animated shorts that received Oscar nominations. It was also interesting to see a number of these films which had been hand colored.
* some of the films that I enjoyed a bit more than the others
1910
Twelfth Night (1910) - 11 minutes
Frankenstein (1910) - 14 minutes
Afgrunden (1910) - 38 minutes
1909
A Corner in Wheat (1909) - 14 minutes
*Those Awful Hats (1909) - 3 minutes
The Mended Lute (1909) - 8 minutes
*The Country Doctor (1909) - 14 minutes
*The Devilish Tenant (1909) - 7 minutes
*The Lonely Villa (1909) - 12 minutes
*Princess Nicotine (1909) - 5 minutes
1908
*Fantasmagorie (1908) - 2 minutes
The Electric Hotel (1908) - 9 minutes
L'assassinat du duc de Guise (1908) - 15 minutes
Rescued from an Eagle's Nest (1908) - 8 minutes
Prussian Culture (1908) - 8 minutes
Modern Sculptors (1908) - 6 minutes
Legend of a Ghost (1908) - 14 minutes
*Diabolical Pickpocket (1908) - 4 minutes
1907
Tunneling the English Channel (1907) - 15 minutes
*That Fatal Sneeze (1907) - 6 minutes
The 'Teddy' Bears (1907) - 14 minutes
Sightseeing Through Whisky (1907) - 6 minutes
The Talisman or Sheep's Foot (1907) - 13 minutes
The Red Spectre (1907) - 9 minutes
1906
*A Trip Down Market Street Before the Fire (1906) - 12 minutes
San Francisco Earthquake & Fire: April 18, 1906 (1906) - 14 minutes
The 400 Tricks of the Devil (1906) - 17 minutes
The Witch (1906)- 12 minutes
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906) - 7 minutes
1905
The Palace of Arabian Knights (1905) - 21 minutes
New York Subway (1905) - 6 minutes
The Living Playing Cards (1905) - 3 minutes
How Jones Lost His Roll (1905) - 8 minutes
The Night Before Christmas (1905) - 9 minutes
The Seven Ages (1905) - 5 minutes
In the Swimming Pool, Palm Beach, Florida (1905) - 3 minutes
La statue (1905) - 5 minutes
*Rescued by Rover (1905) - 6 minutes
1904
*The Impossible Voyage (1904) - 20 minutes
Krunisanje Kralja Petra I Karadjordjevica (1904) - 54 minutes
1903
Life of an American Fireman (1903) - 6 minutes
*The Great Train Robbery (1903) - 11 minutes
The Sick Kitten (1903) - 1 minute
Le mélomane (1903) - 2 minutes
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1903) - 17 minutes
Le royaume des fées (1903) - 16 minutes
A Romance of the Rail (1903) - 4 minutes
Le revenant (1903) - 3 minutes
Le puits fantastique (1903) - 4 minutes
1902
The Flying Train (1902) - 2 minutes
*Le voyage dans la lune (1902) - 15 minutes
*The Little Match Seller (1902) - 3 minutes
Jack and the Beanstalk (1902) - 10 minutes
La fée printemps (1902) - 3 minutes
Gulliver's Travels (1902) - 4 minutes
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1902) - 9 minutes
The Coronation of Edward VII (1902) - 3 minutes
Midwife to the Upper Classes (1902) - 4 minutes
Alcohol and Its Victims (1902) - 5 minutes
Bird's-Eye View of San Francisco, Cal., from a Balloon (1902) - 3 minutes
Electric Tram Rides from Forster Square, Bradford (1902) - 3 minutes
1901
L'homme à la tête en caoutchouc (1901) - 3 minutes
Bluebeard (1901) - 10 minutes
History of a Crime (1901) - 5 minutes
Fire! (1901) - 5 minutes
Scrooge; or Marley's Ghost (1901) - 3 minutes
Execution of Czolgosz with Panorama of Auburn Prison (1901) - 3 minutes
Hat of Many Surprises (1901) - 3 minutes
The House of Mystery (1901) - 3 minutes
A Holiday Pageant at Home (1901) - 4 minutes
Panoramic View of the Morecambe Sea Front (1901) - 3 minutes
Undressing Extraordinary (1901) - 3 minutes
Parkgate Iron and Steel Co., Rotherham (1901) - 3 minutes
Jamaica Street, Glasgow (1901) - 3 minutes
Sampson-Schley Controversy (1901) - 3 minutes
Cunard Vessel at Liverpool (1901) - 3 minutes
Manchester Band of Hope Procession (1901) - 3 minutes
Preston Egg Rolling (1901) - 3 minutes
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914) - 5/10 - Charlie Chaplin stars as a city slicker who woos a "young" woman named Tillie (45 year old Marie Dressler) in order to con her out of her money. They meet his girlfriend in town and that complicates things. Tillie has a wealthy uncle which helps her get out of jail when she ends up drunk and disorderly. The Keystone Kops play a supporting role here as well. Much of the humor relies on physical comedy that was likely popular at the time - hitting, slapping, kicking, pratfalls, etc. For me, that got old fairly quickly and I didn't find that all that funny. The movie had its moments and the last 8-10 minutes were pretty funny. The places they used for location shooting were also pretty cool to see. I don't think the movie holds up very well, but it is an interesting artifact of its time.
Twilight of a Woman's Soul (1913) - 7/10 - A woman is lured into a position where she is raped and her experience doesn't sit well with her confesses it to her husband after getting married later in the film. This early Russian film is pretty good and has a nice performance from the leading actress. It likely would have made a good talkie as well if expanded to decompress the story quite a bit.
The Mystery of the Rocks of Kador (1912) - 7/10 - Count Fernand De Keramic is the guardian of a young woman who inherits a large amount of money. He also has debts and schemes to get her fortune for himself through marriage or other means. I think this movie holds up pretty well and I found it interesting.
L'Inferno (1911) - 6/10 - Dante is lost in the woods and gets help from the poet Virgil. Virgil guides him through hell to get to his destination. Some of the effects were decent, especially for the time. The movie itself is fairly dull as we see many examples of punishments doled out in Hell. It gets a bit repetitive, though there are parts that are a bit more interesting from time to time.
Shoulder Arms (1918) - 8/10 - Charlie Chaplin's Tramp joins the army and gets sent over to France. It's a bit slow here and there, but overall is pretty funny.
My Grandmother (1929) - 8/10 - This Soviet silent comedy is very odd, but entertaining. It is a satire on office life and red tape among other things.
Metropolis (1927) - 10/10 - This is definitely a masterpiece of design with great special effects. The story may be a bit silly and over the top at times, but it is still lots of fun.
Twilight of a Woman's Soul (1913) - 7/10 - A woman is lured into a position where she is raped and her experience doesn't sit well with her confesses it to her husband after getting married later in the film. This early Russian film is pretty good and has a nice performance from the leading actress. It likely would have made a good talkie as well if expanded to decompress the story quite a bit.
The Mystery of the Rocks of Kador (1912) - 7/10 - Count Fernand De Keramic is the guardian of a young woman who inherits a large amount of money. He also has debts and schemes to get her fortune for himself through marriage or other means. I think this movie holds up pretty well and I found it interesting.
L'Inferno (1911) - 6/10 - Dante is lost in the woods and gets help from the poet Virgil. Virgil guides him through hell to get to his destination. Some of the effects were decent, especially for the time. The movie itself is fairly dull as we see many examples of punishments doled out in Hell. It gets a bit repetitive, though there are parts that are a bit more interesting from time to time.
Shoulder Arms (1918) - 8/10 - Charlie Chaplin's Tramp joins the army and gets sent over to France. It's a bit slow here and there, but overall is pretty funny.
My Grandmother (1929) - 8/10 - This Soviet silent comedy is very odd, but entertaining. It is a satire on office life and red tape among other things.
Metropolis (1927) - 10/10 - This is definitely a masterpiece of design with great special effects. The story may be a bit silly and over the top at times, but it is still lots of fun.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Pánico en el Transiberiano / Panic on the Trans-Siberian / Horror Express (Eugenio Martin, 1972) 7/10
A renowned British anthropogist (Christopher Lee) boards the Trans-Siberian Express train from China to Russia. He is transporting in a crate a secret discovery - the frozen remains of a primitive humanoid creature that he discovered in a cave in Manchuria. He is hoping to prove that it is the missing link in human evolution. Also on the train is his friendly rival and colleague (Peter Cushing), a Polish Count and his wife, a monk (Alberto De Mendoza) who is the couple's spiritual advisor and a police Inspector. All hell breaks loose when the humanoid escapes the crate and starts murdering passengers and draining their brains of all memories and knowledge. Low budget horror film has shoddy effects but is briskly directed managing to maintain suspense and a sense of creepy atmosphere. Its screenplay takes obvious plot points from Howard Hawks' "The Thing".
Paranoia / A Quiet Place to Kill (Umberto Lenzie, 1970) 6/10
Crime does not pay especially if amour fou is the cause of murder. A professional race car driver (Carroll Baker) is told by her doctors to rest easy after a bad crash. The new wife (Anna Proclemer) of her ex-husband (Jean Sorel) invites her to come stay with them at their estate by the sea. Both women form a bond and since both women despise the husband they plan to kill him but the murder does not go according to plan. Convoluted thriller has every character holding back secrets and willing to commit murder. Good location work on the island of Mallorca.
Così dolce... così perversa / So Sweet... So Perverse (Umberto Lenzi, 1969) 6/10
Carroll Baker's second gialo with director Lenzi has freely borrowed elements from Henri-Georges Clouzot's film Les Diaboliques (1955). It also has all the other elements of the genre - wealthy, beautiful people behaving badly, chic women with and without clothes as the camera sometimes discreetly covers up naked torsos by going behind walls or furniture, flashy camera angles, a loud and very intrusive music score often with a song thrown in as well and the screen suddenly dissolving into a mix of psychedelic colours which usually signifies an orgasm. A wealthy industrialist (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is rejected by his wife (Erika Blanc) so he decides to take a string of mistresses finally settling with a newly moved in neighbour (Carroll Baker) upstairs who is repeatedly abused by her own lover (Horst Frank). He refuses to believe when he is warned that her abusive lover wants to murder him. And then he is murdered and the plot goes into a frenzy of twists and turns. Baker, in an interesting change of pace, does not play a victim although she goes through a moment or two of depression and hysteria. And although there are a couple of nipples flashed it's not Baker who strips and neither is there any blood which is rare for a gialo.
A renowned British anthropogist (Christopher Lee) boards the Trans-Siberian Express train from China to Russia. He is transporting in a crate a secret discovery - the frozen remains of a primitive humanoid creature that he discovered in a cave in Manchuria. He is hoping to prove that it is the missing link in human evolution. Also on the train is his friendly rival and colleague (Peter Cushing), a Polish Count and his wife, a monk (Alberto De Mendoza) who is the couple's spiritual advisor and a police Inspector. All hell breaks loose when the humanoid escapes the crate and starts murdering passengers and draining their brains of all memories and knowledge. Low budget horror film has shoddy effects but is briskly directed managing to maintain suspense and a sense of creepy atmosphere. Its screenplay takes obvious plot points from Howard Hawks' "The Thing".
Paranoia / A Quiet Place to Kill (Umberto Lenzie, 1970) 6/10
Crime does not pay especially if amour fou is the cause of murder. A professional race car driver (Carroll Baker) is told by her doctors to rest easy after a bad crash. The new wife (Anna Proclemer) of her ex-husband (Jean Sorel) invites her to come stay with them at their estate by the sea. Both women form a bond and since both women despise the husband they plan to kill him but the murder does not go according to plan. Convoluted thriller has every character holding back secrets and willing to commit murder. Good location work on the island of Mallorca.
Così dolce... così perversa / So Sweet... So Perverse (Umberto Lenzi, 1969) 6/10
Carroll Baker's second gialo with director Lenzi has freely borrowed elements from Henri-Georges Clouzot's film Les Diaboliques (1955). It also has all the other elements of the genre - wealthy, beautiful people behaving badly, chic women with and without clothes as the camera sometimes discreetly covers up naked torsos by going behind walls or furniture, flashy camera angles, a loud and very intrusive music score often with a song thrown in as well and the screen suddenly dissolving into a mix of psychedelic colours which usually signifies an orgasm. A wealthy industrialist (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is rejected by his wife (Erika Blanc) so he decides to take a string of mistresses finally settling with a newly moved in neighbour (Carroll Baker) upstairs who is repeatedly abused by her own lover (Horst Frank). He refuses to believe when he is warned that her abusive lover wants to murder him. And then he is murdered and the plot goes into a frenzy of twists and turns. Baker, in an interesting change of pace, does not play a victim although she goes through a moment or two of depression and hysteria. And although there are a couple of nipples flashed it's not Baker who strips and neither is there any blood which is rare for a gialo.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Reunion in Vienna (1933) - 5/10 - A banished Archduke (John Barrymore) returns to Vienna for a reunion party and tries to restart his relationship with his former lover (Diana Wynyard) while evading the police. The former lover is now married to a noted psychiatrist (Frank Morgan). I didn't really enjoy this movie very much. It isn't totally without merit, but the Archduke is abusive and overbearing and it is hard to figure out why everyone still kowtows to him, even if he is a noble. Diana Wynyard is the best of the three leads.
Jesus Camp (2006) - 7/10 - This film looks into the ministry of Becky Fischer and a children's summer camp for Evangelical Christianity. Many of these kids are homeschooled and we get a look into how they are taught/indoctrinated (depending on your point of view). I find it kind of scary and sad. It's a decent film, but not something that I'd ever want anything to do with.
The Mark of Zorro (1920) - 8/10 - Douglas Fairbanks stars as Don Diego in this adaptation which came out only about a year after The Curse of Capistrano was published. Fairbanks does a very nice job and the supporting cast is pretty good as well. I can see why the movie was popular and led to many other Zorro productions (and stories) over the years.
The Doll (1919) - 7/10 - Ernst Lubitsch directed this film about a young man who is scared of women, but whose rich uncle wants him to get married. He purchases a lifelike doll from a master craftsman named Hilarius so that he can get married and live in peace. However, due to a mishap, the craftsman's daughter, Ossi, pretends to be the doll. The movie has a fair amount of charm and is entertaining.
Tarzan of the Apes (1918) - 7/10 - This film adapts the first half of the novel and is a pretty decent origin story for Tarzan. Gordon Griffith stars as Tarzan as a boy while Elmo Lincoln stars as Tarzan as an adult. Lincoln was a bit stiff in his role, but Griffith was better.
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917) - 7/10 - Mary Pickford plays Rebecca, a young teen who is sent to live with her strict aunts in the city to ease the burden on her mother who has six other children. Rebecca is free spirited and energetic and able to get into harmless mischief now and then. The first 40-45 minutes are the best part with plenty of humor. The circus section was the best part. They crammed a lot into the last 20-25 minutes, but it isn't bad. Overall a decent picture.
Hell's Hinges (1916) - 6/10 - A young parson and his sister travel to Hell's Hinges in the West to start a church. However, most of the residents of the town want nothing to do with law or religion so the saloon owner gets a gunfighter to take care of the problem. However, the gunfighter becomes enamored with the parson's sister and protects them instead. There were some interesting scenes and it isn't a bad film, but there were some parts that also felt a bit implausible to me.
The Regeneration (1915) - 8/10 - A boy is orphaned at age 10 and then grows up surrounded by violence in a poor neighborhood. When he grows up, he is recruited by gangsters and rises to the top role. Meeting a young woman trying to improve things for those in the settlement causes him to change, but it isn't easy to leave his past behind. I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Rockliffe Fellows played Owen as an adult and did a good job. I'd never heard of him before, but his looks reminded me of Brando in On the Waterfront. Anna Q. Nilsson played the young woman and was good. She was very well known at the time and would later be one of the bridge players in Sunset Boulevard.
I've now seen at least one movie from every year 1915-2021 this year. I plan to work back to 1911 soon.
Jesus Camp (2006) - 7/10 - This film looks into the ministry of Becky Fischer and a children's summer camp for Evangelical Christianity. Many of these kids are homeschooled and we get a look into how they are taught/indoctrinated (depending on your point of view). I find it kind of scary and sad. It's a decent film, but not something that I'd ever want anything to do with.
The Mark of Zorro (1920) - 8/10 - Douglas Fairbanks stars as Don Diego in this adaptation which came out only about a year after The Curse of Capistrano was published. Fairbanks does a very nice job and the supporting cast is pretty good as well. I can see why the movie was popular and led to many other Zorro productions (and stories) over the years.
The Doll (1919) - 7/10 - Ernst Lubitsch directed this film about a young man who is scared of women, but whose rich uncle wants him to get married. He purchases a lifelike doll from a master craftsman named Hilarius so that he can get married and live in peace. However, due to a mishap, the craftsman's daughter, Ossi, pretends to be the doll. The movie has a fair amount of charm and is entertaining.
Tarzan of the Apes (1918) - 7/10 - This film adapts the first half of the novel and is a pretty decent origin story for Tarzan. Gordon Griffith stars as Tarzan as a boy while Elmo Lincoln stars as Tarzan as an adult. Lincoln was a bit stiff in his role, but Griffith was better.
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917) - 7/10 - Mary Pickford plays Rebecca, a young teen who is sent to live with her strict aunts in the city to ease the burden on her mother who has six other children. Rebecca is free spirited and energetic and able to get into harmless mischief now and then. The first 40-45 minutes are the best part with plenty of humor. The circus section was the best part. They crammed a lot into the last 20-25 minutes, but it isn't bad. Overall a decent picture.
Hell's Hinges (1916) - 6/10 - A young parson and his sister travel to Hell's Hinges in the West to start a church. However, most of the residents of the town want nothing to do with law or religion so the saloon owner gets a gunfighter to take care of the problem. However, the gunfighter becomes enamored with the parson's sister and protects them instead. There were some interesting scenes and it isn't a bad film, but there were some parts that also felt a bit implausible to me.
The Regeneration (1915) - 8/10 - A boy is orphaned at age 10 and then grows up surrounded by violence in a poor neighborhood. When he grows up, he is recruited by gangsters and rises to the top role. Meeting a young woman trying to improve things for those in the settlement causes him to change, but it isn't easy to leave his past behind. I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Rockliffe Fellows played Owen as an adult and did a good job. I'd never heard of him before, but his looks reminded me of Brando in On the Waterfront. Anna Q. Nilsson played the young woman and was good. She was very well known at the time and would later be one of the bridge players in Sunset Boulevard.
I've now seen at least one movie from every year 1915-2021 this year. I plan to work back to 1911 soon.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
The Last Laugh (1924) - 8/10 - An elderly doorman at a high class hotel is very proud of his job and his uniform. When he is reassigned as the washroom attendant due to his age, he does not take it well and seems to age almost immediately. He also tries to keep it a secret from his family and the gossiping old women who live in his apartment building. The story is told without intertitles and is very well done.
Seven Chances (1925) - 8/10 - Buster Keaton stars as a junior executive at a company that is having financial problems. He learns that he will inherit a large fortune if he is married by 7pm on his birthday which is that day. He awkwardly goes around asking various women to marry him without success until news of his possible inheritance gets around and then he can't get away from the hordes of women. The movie is a bit slow in the beginning, but picks up halfway through and is pretty much nonstop from there.
Tell it to the Marines (1926) - 8/10 - William Haines stars as 'Skeet' Burns, a young smart aleck and slacker who decides to join the marines for some reason. He becomes enamored with a navy nurse (Eleanor Broadman) and also regularly runs afoul of his sergeant (Lon Chaney). The action eventually moves to sea and later to China. Overall it is a pretty nice film.
Seven Chances (1925) - 8/10 - Buster Keaton stars as a junior executive at a company that is having financial problems. He learns that he will inherit a large fortune if he is married by 7pm on his birthday which is that day. He awkwardly goes around asking various women to marry him without success until news of his possible inheritance gets around and then he can't get away from the hordes of women. The movie is a bit slow in the beginning, but picks up halfway through and is pretty much nonstop from there.
Tell it to the Marines (1926) - 8/10 - William Haines stars as 'Skeet' Burns, a young smart aleck and slacker who decides to join the marines for some reason. He becomes enamored with a navy nurse (Eleanor Broadman) and also regularly runs afoul of his sergeant (Lon Chaney). The action eventually moves to sea and later to China. Overall it is a pretty nice film.