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

[Big Magilla]

Funny, but the only award the film has won so far was in ITALY!!!

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1517451/aw ... tt_ql_op_1

Venice Film Festival 2018
Winner
Smithers Foundation Award
Collateral Award
Bradley Cooper

[ITALIANO]

A Star is Born (2018) Bradley Cooper 2/10

Yeah. Sad but true. Now just read - if you have the courage - what the Americans on this board think of this movie (in the Star is Born thread). The way they reacted to it (or they say they did - some of them clearly didn't really like it but have to pretend they did) is, I believe, extremely interesting, and a sign of the times.

I'm really amazed at the critical response to the film, particularly from Venice & Toronto but I am of the opinion that professional film criticism is in decline. I think one of the problems facing young critics is that it is impossible now to see all the films of importance from the past as we are talking about over 100 years of cinema. There is also a 'fan-boy' mentality than didn't seem to exist prior to the internet that is playing a part in the overrating of so many mediocre to downright terrible films. Also, some people who see films first tend to overpraise them and in an awful lot of cases I think that has to do with the fact that they are seeing them before anyone else.

I must admit that I went to this with a degree of optimism, primarily due to all the raves. But I found the find a complete mess, unenaging and as a result boring as hell. I looked at my watch an awful lot. On the plus side Lady Gaga was a pleasant enough presence and she can certainly sing (I'm not familiar with her musical career) and I was impressed with Bradley Cooper's accent which was very close to that of Sam Elliott's. Something overlooked so often in cinema is that siblings can actually sound similar and this film pulled that off. I really don't get the acclaim. I can understand that fans of Lady Gaga would probably love it by her presence alone but one could say the same for the 1976 version for fans of Babs & Kris K. Though, I'm the exception. I love Babs but boy most of the films she has made are beneath her talent and ASIB is one of them.

I did though get a kick seeing a credit for great William Wellman on a 2018 film. I certainly don't object to a remake as its a timeless story but this like the 1976 brought nothing new to the table. I don't see any future for Cooper as a director. That scene where he embarrasses Gaga at the Grammys was straight out of a John Waters' film @1970s. But than I think its impossible to top James Mason 'slap' in the Minnelli version. One really feels Garlands utter humiliation.

Ultimately this film is a mess.

It was Cukor, as of course you know.

I think if you are American you are surrounded by so much enthusiasm for this movie (but this can be applied to other movies in the recent past) that you MUST like it. You can express doubts on specific aspects - as some even on this board have tried to do - but in general you have to like it. The amount of praise is so uniform - and let's say it, Americans aren't exactly champions of individual thinking - that nobody, or almost nobody, can rebel to it.
The result is, of course, embarassing. But while the movie is, as you say, a mess, and a bland mess I'd add, as a cultural phenomenon, and a proof of how easily infuenceable people - even expeienced cinemagoers - have become, it IS fascinating.
I won't name names, but if someone who grew up with Katharine Hepburn suddenly finds Lady Gaga's acting "sublime" (not even good, sublime!) you know that there's something wrong, very wrong even, in our perception of today's movies.
Someone else here loved the movie because in some ways it mirrored his past addiction problems. I respect, obviously, such problems which can be terrible and painful. But if someone who's gone through all that can be satisfied by this movie's banal, supeficial treatment of something which is actually very serious, sorry, but I become suspicious. Because anyone who truly experienced any kind of addiction should instantly recognize how easily the movie deals with this theme.

[Uri]

But than I think its impossible to top James Mason 'slap' in the Minnelli version. One really feels Garlands utter humiliation

Oops. Understandable one, but still an oops.

Other than that, I co-sign your post.

[Precious Doll]

A Star is Born (2018) Bradley Cooper 2/10

Yeah. Sad but true. Now just read - if you have the courage - what the Americans on this board think of this movie (in the Star is Born thread). The way they reacted to it (or they say they did - some of them clearly didn't really like it but have to pretend they did) is, I believe, extremely interesting, and a sign of the times.

I'm really amazed at the critical response to the film, particularly from Venice & Toronto but I am of the opinion that professional film criticism is in decline. I think one of the problems facing young critics is that it is impossible now to see all the films of importance from the past as we are talking about over 100 years of cinema. There is also a 'fan-boy' mentality than didn't seem to exist prior to the internet that is playing a part in the overrating of so many mediocre to downright terrible films. Also, some people who see films first tend to overpraise them and in an awful lot of cases I think that has to do with the fact that they are seeing them before anyone else.

I must admit that I went to this with a degree of optimism, primarily due to all the raves. But I found the find a complete mess, unenaging and as a result boring as hell. I looked at my watch an awful lot. On the plus side Lady Gaga was a pleasant enough presence and she can certainly sing (I'm not familiar with her musical career) and I was impressed with Bradley Cooper's accent which was very close to that of Sam Elliott's. Something overlooked so often in cinema is that siblings can actually sound similar and this film pulled that off. I really don't get the acclaim. I can understand that fans of Lady Gaga would probably love it by her presence alone but one could say the same for the 1976 version for fans of Babs & Kris K. Though, I'm the exception. I love Babs but boy most of the films she has made are beneath her talent and ASIB is one of them.

I did though get a kick seeing a credit for great William Wellman on a 2018 film. I certainly don't object to a remake as its a timeless story but this like the 1976 brought nothing new to the table. I don't see any future for Cooper as a director. That scene where he embarrasses Gaga at the Grammys was straight out of a John Waters' film @1970s. But than I think its impossible to top James Mason 'slap' in the Minnelli version. One really feels Garlands utter humiliation.

Ultimately this film is a mess.

[ITALIANO]

A Star is Born (2018) Bradley Cooper 2/10

Yeah. Sad but true. Now just read - if you have the courage - what the Americans on this board think of this movie (in the Star is Born thread). The way they reacted to it (or they say they did - some of them clearly didn't really like it but have to pretend they did) is, I believe, extremely interesting, and a sign of the times.

[Precious Doll]

Private Life (2018) Tamara Jenkins 7/10
22 July (2018) Paul Greengrass 7/10
Operation Finale (2018) Chris Weitz 5/10
Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami (2017) Sophie Fiennes 3/10
The Catcher Was a Spy (2018) Ben Lewin 2/10
A Quiet Place (2018) John Krasinski 5/10
Place Publique (2018) Agnes Jaoui 2/10
Polyxeni (2017) Dora Masklavanou 2/10
The Last Note (2017) Pantelis Voulgaris 4/10
The Great Buddha (2017) Hsin-yao Huang 7/10
Apostay (2018) Daniel Kokotajlo 6/10
Champions (2018) Javier Fesser 4/10
A Star is Born (2018) Bradley Cooper 2/10

[Reza]

First Man (Damien Chazelle, 2018) 8/10

The American Space Program and the race with Russia to be the first to reach space is told from the perspective of the man who ended up being the first man to walk on the moon. Chazelle's film is an
exhilarating ride as it traces the period 1962-69 covering the various failed NASA launches, disastrous tests and the tragedy of Apollo 1 in 1967 which harrowingly blew up after a fire started and killed all three astronauts on board. The main thrust of the story revolves around the quietly introspective astronaut Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) who has a fierce determination to conquer space and reach the moon but it comes at a terrible cost to his neglected family. The movie hints at growing tensions in the marriage, caused by the stresses of the job and Neil’s withholding of emotions. The usually thankless role of the wife left waiting on earth while the husband is away on a dangerous mission is here played with a simmering intensity by Claire Foy who gets a number of moments to shine as the proud but increasingly hapless woman who can't seem to penetrate through to her workaholic husband and realises with bitter sadness that she and their children will always hold second place in the man's heart. This is the first film to show the mission purely from the astronauts' perspective with Chazelle putting the audience right inside the spacecraft beside the astronauts. We get to view and feel the flight along with the characters as the incredible sound design, the soaring music score and seamless visual effects take over. The jaw dropping moon-landing sequence, the absolute silence (there is no sound in space) when Armstrong first comes out and steps onto the moon, his initial step as his shoe leaves its print on the surface, the view of earth in the far distance and the camera panning across the desolate crater filled moon surface are all spectacular set pieces which bring on a sense of awe and wonderment. Armstrong's famous words while he stepped onto the moon - "That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" - truly encompasses the enormous achievement.

[Reza]

Hud (Martin Ritt, 1963) 10/10

Elegiac modern Western, set in dusty Texas, is part family conflict and part mourning for the old ways of the frontier days. The brilliant screenplay (based on a novel by Larry McMurtry) incorporates in an almost greek tragedy fashion a simmering tension ridden relationship between a stern moralising old cow rancher (Melvyn Douglas) and his ne'er-do-well son (Paul Newman) who prefers to spend all his time boozing and whoring. Quietly observing the two and unintentionally coming into the crossfire are the ranch housekeeper (Patricia Neal) and a young hero-worshipping nephew (Brandon de Wilde). The four characters play their dance of death amidst surroundings of decay captured by James Wong Howe's excellent camerawork. This superbly acted film won richly deserved Oscars for Neal, Douglas and Howe. Newman, creating an iconic anti-hero character, was nominated for his memorable turn as was Ritt and the emotion-filled screenplay. Young de Wilde is equally superb but was sadly overlooked for a nomination. A classic film not to be missed.

[Reza]

Rogues' Regiment (Robert Florey, 1948) 6/10

The screenplay is a potpourri of different elements consisting of a post WW-II man hunt for a Nazi war criminal set during the Indo-China war with a mix of nationalities joining the French Foreign Legion for a lot of noirish cloak and dagger action. The story is presented like a documentary. American agent (Dick Powell looking bored) joins the Legion to ferret out an escaped Nazi whose face nobody has ever seen. Helping him is a french agent (Mårta Torén who was built up to be the next Ingrid Bergman but looked like Alida Valli) posing as a chanteuse at a nightclub - she sings but Powell does not. The film is stolen by Stephen McNally and Vincent Price as oily ne'er-do-wells who are very comfortable with blackmail, gunrunning and murder. This simplification of actual history is nevertheless enjoyable in a "boy's own" way and the film is the first instance where Hollywood tackled Vietnam although under the context of a different war.

[Reza]

The Wife (Björn Runge, 2018) 6/10

The long and happy married life between a successful writer (Jonathan Pryce) and his wife (Glenn Close) is gradually revealed to have long-gestating cracks. Simmering just below the surface of a well kept facade is a marriage of inequality, rampant infidelity, secrecy and deception all of which come to a head when the husband wins the Nobel prize for literature. Glenn Close gives a superbly controlled performance, using her expressive face, as the efficient and caring spouse who shows flashes of irritation with her husband who appears to be totally dependant on her. Flashbacks to their youth make clear the extent of her quiet suffering, enduring his infidelities through the years, while she puts up a brave front raising their two children. A reporter (Christian Slater who is appropriately slimy), threatning to write a tell-all biography of the author, is the catalyst which allows this ignored and put-upon wife to finally see her selfworth as an individual, one who has wasted her life in the shadows of a selfish and blowhard husband. Pryce is also good as the doddery old letch who appears to have a strong hold on his seemingly submissive wife. The screenplay introduces other characters - most prominently their son (Max Irons), a budding writer who desperately wants his father's appreciation - but fails to develop them instead concentrating on the tortured dynamics of the author and his wife. The third act twist in the plot can be seen coming way before the reveal allowing Close to finally confront her wayward husband as she unleashes with devastating ferocity years of suppressed anger. Could this finally be the film that wins Close the long elusive Oscar she has lost six times in the past? She has certainly been more flamboyant in a number of her previous film performances while in contrast she relies here entirely on a quiet stillness which adds just the right amount of gravitas to finally move her into the winner's circle.

[Reza]

Happy Together (Wong Kar-Wai, 1997) 10/10

From a director who is known for his swooningly romantic films comes this devastating story about the breakup of a relationship shot in an energetic and intense style. The film is visually eye popping, shot by the brilliant Christopher Doyle in stark black and white with the screen suddenly exploding for short periods into colour. The story is simple but full of anguish capturing the breakup of two lovers (played with bracing sexuality by Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung) who spend the whole time in intense turmoil. Both actors had not been told by the director that they would have to perform highly sexual scenes with each other as there was no proper script. Scenes were written as they shot the film. Two friends leave Hong Kong and arrive in far off Argentina and promptly breakup. Stranded and penniless in an alien country they reconcile sporadically but bitter fighting and indescretion on part of one causes turmoil leading to the disentegration of their relationship. Sad, angry and disturbing film accurately shows humans while in the depths of passion who deep down know all too well they are stuck in a relationship that is not only destructive but also deeply wounding for their soul. It is to Wong Kar-Wai's credit that he makes this gay couple seem totally universal. It could be a couple of any gender focusing on the raw emotions couples face when trapped in bad relationships. Extremely vivid and hypnotic film is an assault on the senses but also deeply moving in its depiction of a flawed couple in the throes of ecstacy as it perfectly captures their strong sense of loneliness and despair. A must-see.

[Reza]

La Ley del Deseo / Law of Desire (Pedro Almodovar, 1987) 6/10

Flamboyant but rather erratic film has the director's usual grotesque yet very human characters entwined in a mesh of sex and longing. The penchant to shock is evident in the film's opening as a young man is directed (in a film) to strip and masturbate as two men dub in sounds of ecstacy. The rest of the film doesn't quite match that opening although there are enough sex scenes and outrageous characters to keep you engaged. A gay film director (Eusebio Poncela) has a life full of angst - his lover has left him and desperate to be loved he writes himself letters with words he would like his lover to say to him. His transsexual sister (Carmen Maura) hates men, is an aspiring actress with oedipal issues who is babysitting their niece who has an incestuous desire for her gay Uncle. Into their lives comes a stalker (Antonio Banderas) who ingratiates himself sexually with the director, gets jealous of the man's obsession with his former lover whom he tracks down and murders. Grief stricken, the director loses his memory and when he regains his senses is horrified to find that his sister is now involved with the stalker which leads to a hostage situation followed by more sex. Almodovar's love for melodramatic soap operas is evident throughout this overbaked plot but has the perfect cast to compliment his vision. Carmen Maura is a delight as the complicated man/woman who has her own secret for changing her sex while Antonio Banderas gives a sexually no holds barred performance as the stalker with a nasty temperament who will do anything to get his man. Almodovar would attain mainstream success soon after this film later going on to make films equally outrageous but with a great deal of maturity at their core.

[Reza]

The Fast Lady (Ken Annakin, 1963) 4/10

A naive Scotsman (Stanley Baxter) buys a sportscar to impress a girl (Julie Christie), daughter of a haughty aristocrat (James Robertson Justice) who hates him. Leslie Phillips is amusing as a womanizing cad who sells him the car and is competition for the girl's affections. Extremely silly farce with flat jokes but a good cast of British character actors and the luscious Julie Christie before she became a star.

[Big Magilla]

Finally caught up with Hereditary.

It's better than some I've seen, but critics who compare it to Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist don't know what they're talking about.

Why some critics still have Toni Collette on their short lists for Best Actress, I have no idea. She works hard, but that's what she collected a paycheck for. It's not an award-worthy performance.

[ITALIANO]

(doesn't help when the drag queens look more appealing than the leading lady)