Diane Ladd was also in the tv series but played a different part. Not Flo.gunnar wrote: ↑Sat Apr 27, 2024 10:23 amI watched this about a decade ago and enjoyed it quite a bit. I hadn't known going in that the tv sitcom Alice was based on this movie, though. My family used to watch Alice back in the late 70s/early 80s. It wasn't a favorite, but I did like the show. I think the only actor who reprised their role was Vic Tayback as Mel.Reza wrote: ↑Sat Apr 27, 2024 12:25 am Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (Martin Scorsese, 1974) 8/10
In search of a better life a widow (Ellen Burstyn) and her precocious son (Alfred Lutter) hope to drive from Texas to California. Along the way she stops in Arizona where she works as a lounge singer, has a brief affair with a violent married man (Harvey Keitel), and then finds a job as a waitress at a diner. The perceptive screenplay charts her relationships with her son, two fellow waitresses - one sharp-tongued (Diane Ladd), the other shy (Valerie Curtin) - and a divorced local rancher (Kris Kristofferson) who falls in love with her. Charming film won Burstyn an Oscar - on the rebound from losing the year before for "The Exorcist" - and nominations for both Diane Ladd and the screenplay by Robert Getchell. Scorsese brings a touch of gritty realism to the plot which, in the framework of a road movie, scores feminist points as a tale about a woman's liberation who through life's hardships gradually finds her inner strength. Jodie Foster and Laura Dern appear in brief roles.
Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
A Tale of Winter (1992) - 8.5/10 - Felicie had a romance with Charles over the summer holidays, but messed up when giving him her new address upon their parting. Fast forward five years and Felicie is living with her mother, working in a hair salon, and is raising her four year old daughter. She dreams of one day finding Charles again, but makes do with relationships with two very different men that she does not love. This was very nicely done.
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) - 8/10 - Basil Rathbone stars as Sherlock Holmes with Nigel Bruce as Watson in this nice adaptation of the Arthur Conan Doyle story.
Scream of Fear (1961) - 8/10 - Penny Appleby is confined to a wheelchair due to an accident years earlier. She has been away in Switzerland for some time, but returns home to her father's estate after receiving a letter from him. She meets her stepmother for the first time and is told that her father is away, but she starts seeing his dead body in different places on the estate. This was nicely done and pretty entertaining.
Drishyam (2015) - 8/10 - Vijay runs a small cable company and the two things he loves are watching lots of movies and his family, which includes his wife and two young daughters. When his older daughter has a serious problem with a boy from a camp that she attended, he will take whatever steps are necessary to protect his family. The police in his town are known for their corruption and brutality and pose a threat to his family. I enjoyed this one quite a bit. I haven't seen the original version to compare the two (nor any of the other remakes).
Diva (1981) - 7.5/10 - Jules is a postman who rides a moped for work and loves opera. He is enamored with an American singer named Cynthia Hawkins who performs regularly in Paris and elsewhere in Europe. He makes a secret recording of one of her performances for his own use and this eventually leads to trouble with people who went to sell the recording. He also has problems when a woman fleeing from mob goons slips a cassette tape into his postal bag. This tape contains the name of the real boss of a large criminal ring. The film was pretty solid for the first hour, though it lost a bit of steam during the second hour. I still enjoyed it quite a bit.
The Body Snatcher (1945) - 7.5/10 - A doctor in Edinburgh in 1831 teaches anatomy and occasionally uses corpses delivered by an unpleasant cab driver (Boris Karloff). These corpses are usually obtained by robbing graves, but sometimes a more proactive approach is taken. A medical student who looks up to the doctor becomes aware of these liberties and struggles with it. Karloff is pretty good here. I also liked Russell Wade as the somewhat naive medical student.
The Phenix City Story (1955) - 7.5/10 - Phenix City, Alabama is a cesspool controlled by organized crime. The police department is bought and paid for and all sorts of vice are rampant. A prominent attorney is reluctant to run for State Attorney General on a platform of cleaning up the city, but eventually runs and is murdered shortly after gaining the nomination. The film dramatizes the story and while I think they took a number of liberties, it's a fairly entertaining film.
The Archies (2023) - 7.5/10 - I definitely seem to be in the minority here, but I enjoyed this take on the Archie Comics gang. The plot isn't anything special, but is serviceable. The costumes, sets, production design etc. are all pretty good and I liked the songs. There has been a big outcry about the nepo babies in the cast but I thought they were decent, though the actors who played Reggie and Jughead were a bit better. The scene where Betty and Veronica pressure Jughead was appropriate and funny. The film has its flaws, including a rather one note villain in Mayor Dawson plus a couple of other supporting characters, but overall, not bad.
Seemabaddha / Company Limited (1971) - 7.5/10 - Shyamalendu is an executive for a British fan company based in India. He wants to keep moving up the corporate ladder and expects a promotion soon. However, a problem with a major shipment arises that threatens his position. To solve the problem, he may need to resort to unethical means. Complicating matters are his wife's younger sister visiting for a few days. This was good, but I'd rate it around middle of the pack for the Ray films that I've seen.
Striking Distance (1993) - 7/10 - Bruce Willis stars as a detective named Tom Hardy who is ostracized by many fellow officers for turning his partner (and cousin) for excessive force. Meanwhile, a serial killer has been terrorizing the city. After his father is killed, Hardy starts drinking a lot, has his detective badge taken away, and is demoted to waterway duty. Now the serial killer may be back and this time is targeting people Hardy knows. Is it a great film? No. Was it an entertaining enough action thriller? Sure.
The Fog (1980) - 7/10 - A small town in California is about to celebrate it's 100th year when strange things begin to happen. The local pastor discovers his grandfather's journal from a century earlier which tells one of the town's buried secrets. A fog starts rolling in, bringing evil beings with it who kill unsuspecting residents. It's not bad, but some of the things seemed kind of random and I didn't feel much tension during the film.
Antaheen / The Endless Wait (2009) - 7/10 - Abhik is a police officer in his early 40s who lives a somewhat lonely life outside of work. Brinda is an investigative tv journalist in her early 20s. The two become close through anonymous online chatting, each serving as a sort of lifeline for each other. When circumstances lead to them meeting in real life (without knowing that they are online friends), their relationship is much rockier at first, though it becomes closer over time. The similarities to You've Got Mail are pretty obvious, but it's a decent film.
Cleopatra Jones (1973) - 7/10 - Cleopatra Jones (Tamara Dobson) is a federal agent who is out to bust Mommy's (Shelley Winters) drug ring. There's plenty of action, though generally fairly tame. Winters is pretty out there as the villain and Dobson is okay as the lead. The ending is good and it's a fun film.
The Gauntlet (1977) - 7/10 - Clint Eastwood stars as a Phoenix cop in a dead end position who is sent to Las Vegas to escort a prisoner/witness (Sandra Locke) back for a trial. After picking her up, it seems like everybody is out to kill them, including the police. They have quite the journey getting to their destination. Some aspects get kind of dumb after a while, including the tons of bullets which are used to try to kill them on more than one occasion, but it is still a fairly entertaining film and I enjoyed it.
Child's Play (1988) - 7/10 - A serial killer's soul is stuck in a doll's body, menacing the people around him, including a young boy named Andy and his mother. I hadn't watched this in 30-35 years and wasn't a big fan then. It's not a favorite, but is pretty good.
Child's Play 2 (1990) - 7/10 - Chucky's back and goes after Andy again. I'd put this on par with the first film with the first film maybe getting a slight edge.
Child's Play 3 (1991) - 6.5/10 - Eight years have passed and Andy has been sent to live at a military academy. Chucky revives and comes after Andy, gaining a new target along the way. It's maybe a step below the first two films, though with some fun sequences here and there, especially toward. the end. It's still decently entertaining.
Bride of Chucky (1998) - 7.5/10 - No Andy this time around, but Charles Lee Ray's girlfriend Tiffany resurrects Chucky before joining him in a doll body. There is plenty of humor and while not all of it quite lands, it is a slight step up from the earlier films.
Fair Game (1995) - 6.5/10 - Cindy Crawford is a lawyer who is targeted by an international criminal and his ex-KGB henchmen. William Baldwin is a police detective who ends up protecting her from the hit squad. The motivation for the villain seems kind of dumb. There undoubtedly would be easier and less conspicuous ways of handling things. The movie itself is kind of dumb, but has decent action sequences and I thought it was mostly fun. Sure, some of the humor might have been unintentional, but I still had a good time.
Mrigayaa (1977) - 6.5/10 - In the 1920s, tribal villagers are taken advantage of in a number of ways by the Indians in charge of their area. One talented hunter befriends the new British administrator through his prowess at catching big game. This doesn't keep his wife from being a target. Mithun Chakraborty is pretty good in his film debut, but the film as a whole is only okay, though it has some nice moments.
Terminal Velocity (1994) - 5/10 - Charlie Sheen stars as a skydiving instructor with a penchant for wild stunts. Nastassja Kinski costars as a woman who comes seeking a skydiving experience only to die during the lesson. Then things get complicated. This was a subpar thriller, though I did like the climax of the film.
Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003) - 4.5/10 - Murli runs a small gang of criminals, but once a year when his parents visit, they pretend to run a hospital with Murli as a doctor since that is what his parents wanted him to become. His secret comes out and he attends medical school only to find it run by the man who outed him to his parents. It's a pretty dumb movie and the acting isn't really very good, though I did like Chinki. I started liking it more during the second half even as bad as it was. There were a few nice bits here and there.
Laser Mission (1989) - 3.5/10 - Brandon Lee stars as a freelancer who is sent by the CIA to get a top laser scientist before he can fall into Russian hands. The acting and action scenes are pretty bad. The plot is also pretty dumb.
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) - 8/10 - Basil Rathbone stars as Sherlock Holmes with Nigel Bruce as Watson in this nice adaptation of the Arthur Conan Doyle story.
Scream of Fear (1961) - 8/10 - Penny Appleby is confined to a wheelchair due to an accident years earlier. She has been away in Switzerland for some time, but returns home to her father's estate after receiving a letter from him. She meets her stepmother for the first time and is told that her father is away, but she starts seeing his dead body in different places on the estate. This was nicely done and pretty entertaining.
Drishyam (2015) - 8/10 - Vijay runs a small cable company and the two things he loves are watching lots of movies and his family, which includes his wife and two young daughters. When his older daughter has a serious problem with a boy from a camp that she attended, he will take whatever steps are necessary to protect his family. The police in his town are known for their corruption and brutality and pose a threat to his family. I enjoyed this one quite a bit. I haven't seen the original version to compare the two (nor any of the other remakes).
Diva (1981) - 7.5/10 - Jules is a postman who rides a moped for work and loves opera. He is enamored with an American singer named Cynthia Hawkins who performs regularly in Paris and elsewhere in Europe. He makes a secret recording of one of her performances for his own use and this eventually leads to trouble with people who went to sell the recording. He also has problems when a woman fleeing from mob goons slips a cassette tape into his postal bag. This tape contains the name of the real boss of a large criminal ring. The film was pretty solid for the first hour, though it lost a bit of steam during the second hour. I still enjoyed it quite a bit.
The Body Snatcher (1945) - 7.5/10 - A doctor in Edinburgh in 1831 teaches anatomy and occasionally uses corpses delivered by an unpleasant cab driver (Boris Karloff). These corpses are usually obtained by robbing graves, but sometimes a more proactive approach is taken. A medical student who looks up to the doctor becomes aware of these liberties and struggles with it. Karloff is pretty good here. I also liked Russell Wade as the somewhat naive medical student.
The Phenix City Story (1955) - 7.5/10 - Phenix City, Alabama is a cesspool controlled by organized crime. The police department is bought and paid for and all sorts of vice are rampant. A prominent attorney is reluctant to run for State Attorney General on a platform of cleaning up the city, but eventually runs and is murdered shortly after gaining the nomination. The film dramatizes the story and while I think they took a number of liberties, it's a fairly entertaining film.
The Archies (2023) - 7.5/10 - I definitely seem to be in the minority here, but I enjoyed this take on the Archie Comics gang. The plot isn't anything special, but is serviceable. The costumes, sets, production design etc. are all pretty good and I liked the songs. There has been a big outcry about the nepo babies in the cast but I thought they were decent, though the actors who played Reggie and Jughead were a bit better. The scene where Betty and Veronica pressure Jughead was appropriate and funny. The film has its flaws, including a rather one note villain in Mayor Dawson plus a couple of other supporting characters, but overall, not bad.
Seemabaddha / Company Limited (1971) - 7.5/10 - Shyamalendu is an executive for a British fan company based in India. He wants to keep moving up the corporate ladder and expects a promotion soon. However, a problem with a major shipment arises that threatens his position. To solve the problem, he may need to resort to unethical means. Complicating matters are his wife's younger sister visiting for a few days. This was good, but I'd rate it around middle of the pack for the Ray films that I've seen.
Striking Distance (1993) - 7/10 - Bruce Willis stars as a detective named Tom Hardy who is ostracized by many fellow officers for turning his partner (and cousin) for excessive force. Meanwhile, a serial killer has been terrorizing the city. After his father is killed, Hardy starts drinking a lot, has his detective badge taken away, and is demoted to waterway duty. Now the serial killer may be back and this time is targeting people Hardy knows. Is it a great film? No. Was it an entertaining enough action thriller? Sure.
The Fog (1980) - 7/10 - A small town in California is about to celebrate it's 100th year when strange things begin to happen. The local pastor discovers his grandfather's journal from a century earlier which tells one of the town's buried secrets. A fog starts rolling in, bringing evil beings with it who kill unsuspecting residents. It's not bad, but some of the things seemed kind of random and I didn't feel much tension during the film.
Antaheen / The Endless Wait (2009) - 7/10 - Abhik is a police officer in his early 40s who lives a somewhat lonely life outside of work. Brinda is an investigative tv journalist in her early 20s. The two become close through anonymous online chatting, each serving as a sort of lifeline for each other. When circumstances lead to them meeting in real life (without knowing that they are online friends), their relationship is much rockier at first, though it becomes closer over time. The similarities to You've Got Mail are pretty obvious, but it's a decent film.
Cleopatra Jones (1973) - 7/10 - Cleopatra Jones (Tamara Dobson) is a federal agent who is out to bust Mommy's (Shelley Winters) drug ring. There's plenty of action, though generally fairly tame. Winters is pretty out there as the villain and Dobson is okay as the lead. The ending is good and it's a fun film.
The Gauntlet (1977) - 7/10 - Clint Eastwood stars as a Phoenix cop in a dead end position who is sent to Las Vegas to escort a prisoner/witness (Sandra Locke) back for a trial. After picking her up, it seems like everybody is out to kill them, including the police. They have quite the journey getting to their destination. Some aspects get kind of dumb after a while, including the tons of bullets which are used to try to kill them on more than one occasion, but it is still a fairly entertaining film and I enjoyed it.
Child's Play (1988) - 7/10 - A serial killer's soul is stuck in a doll's body, menacing the people around him, including a young boy named Andy and his mother. I hadn't watched this in 30-35 years and wasn't a big fan then. It's not a favorite, but is pretty good.
Child's Play 2 (1990) - 7/10 - Chucky's back and goes after Andy again. I'd put this on par with the first film with the first film maybe getting a slight edge.
Child's Play 3 (1991) - 6.5/10 - Eight years have passed and Andy has been sent to live at a military academy. Chucky revives and comes after Andy, gaining a new target along the way. It's maybe a step below the first two films, though with some fun sequences here and there, especially toward. the end. It's still decently entertaining.
Bride of Chucky (1998) - 7.5/10 - No Andy this time around, but Charles Lee Ray's girlfriend Tiffany resurrects Chucky before joining him in a doll body. There is plenty of humor and while not all of it quite lands, it is a slight step up from the earlier films.
Fair Game (1995) - 6.5/10 - Cindy Crawford is a lawyer who is targeted by an international criminal and his ex-KGB henchmen. William Baldwin is a police detective who ends up protecting her from the hit squad. The motivation for the villain seems kind of dumb. There undoubtedly would be easier and less conspicuous ways of handling things. The movie itself is kind of dumb, but has decent action sequences and I thought it was mostly fun. Sure, some of the humor might have been unintentional, but I still had a good time.
Mrigayaa (1977) - 6.5/10 - In the 1920s, tribal villagers are taken advantage of in a number of ways by the Indians in charge of their area. One talented hunter befriends the new British administrator through his prowess at catching big game. This doesn't keep his wife from being a target. Mithun Chakraborty is pretty good in his film debut, but the film as a whole is only okay, though it has some nice moments.
Terminal Velocity (1994) - 5/10 - Charlie Sheen stars as a skydiving instructor with a penchant for wild stunts. Nastassja Kinski costars as a woman who comes seeking a skydiving experience only to die during the lesson. Then things get complicated. This was a subpar thriller, though I did like the climax of the film.
Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003) - 4.5/10 - Murli runs a small gang of criminals, but once a year when his parents visit, they pretend to run a hospital with Murli as a doctor since that is what his parents wanted him to become. His secret comes out and he attends medical school only to find it run by the man who outed him to his parents. It's a pretty dumb movie and the acting isn't really very good, though I did like Chinki. I started liking it more during the second half even as bad as it was. There were a few nice bits here and there.
Laser Mission (1989) - 3.5/10 - Brandon Lee stars as a freelancer who is sent by the CIA to get a top laser scientist before he can fall into Russian hands. The acting and action scenes are pretty bad. The plot is also pretty dumb.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
I watched this about a decade ago and enjoyed it quite a bit. I hadn't known going in that the tv sitcom Alice was based on this movie, though. My family used to watch Alice back in the late 70s/early 80s. It wasn't a favorite, but I did like the show. I think the only actor who reprised their role was Vic Tayback as Mel.Reza wrote: ↑Sat Apr 27, 2024 12:25 am Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (Martin Scorsese, 1974) 8/10
In search of a better life a widow (Ellen Burstyn) and her precocious son (Alfred Lutter) hope to drive from Texas to California. Along the way she stops in Arizona where she works as a lounge singer, has a brief affair with a violent married man (Harvey Keitel), and then finds a job as a waitress at a diner. The perceptive screenplay charts her relationships with her son, two fellow waitresses - one sharp-tongued (Diane Ladd), the other shy (Valerie Curtin) - and a divorced local rancher (Kris Kristofferson) who falls in love with her. Charming film won Burstyn an Oscar - on the rebound from losing the year before for "The Exorcist" - and nominations for both Diane Ladd and the screenplay by Robert Getchell. Scorsese brings a touch of gritty realism to the plot which, in the framework of a road movie, scores feminist points as a tale about a woman's liberation who through life's hardships gradually finds her inner strength. Jodie Foster and Laura Dern appear in brief roles.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Gunfighters (George Waggner, 1947) 4/10
A gunslinger (Randolph Scott) lays down his guns in order to settle down. When he is framed for the murder of his friend he goes after a rich rancher, his foreman (Bruce Cabot), a corrupt deputy (Grant Withers), and a hired hand (Forrest Tucker). He is aided by a grizzled old rancher (Charley Grapewin) and gets involved with twin sisters (Barbara Britton & Dorothy Hart). Based on a Zane Grey novel this is a rehash of so many films in the genre that came before it. Stale to say the least.
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (Martin Scorsese, 1974) 8/10
In search of a better life a widow (Ellen Burstyn) and her precocious son (Alfred Lutter) hope to drive from Texas to California. Along the way she stops in Arizona where she works as a lounge singer, has a brief affair with a violent married man (Harvey Keitel), and then finds a job as a waitress at a diner. The perceptive screenplay charts her relationships with her son, two fellow waitresses - one sharp-tongued (Diane Ladd), the other shy (Valerie Curtin) - and a divorced local rancher (Kris Kristofferson) who falls in love with her. Charming film won Burstyn an Oscar - on the rebound from losing the year before for "The Exorcist" - and nominations for both Diane Ladd and the screenplay by Robert Getchell. Scorsese brings a touch of gritty realism to the plot which, in the framework of a road movie, scores feminist points as a tale about a woman's liberation who through life's hardships gradually finds her inner strength. Jodie Foster and Laura Dern appear in brief roles.
Outer Range - Season One (2022) 8/10
A grizzled Wyoming rancher (Josh Brolin) is in serious need of therapy. His wife (Lili Taylor) has taken to religion. Their daughter-in-law has been missing for nine months and their son is in a deep depression. Second son is a rodeo champ and grand daughter is a perky, happy presence in the house. Then weird things start happening - a giant hole is discovered on their land, a murder takes place, the body is dumped into the hole, the local indigenous lesbian sheriff is in charge of the investigation, a rival rancher (Will Patton) wants part of their land, a mysterious hippie-like woman (Imogen Poots) arrives and camps on the property, a strange mineral is discovered on the land, and the dead body mysteriously turns up on a hillside. The camper and the rancher both see things, he gets pushed into the hole but he comes out alive to discover there is some sort of government involvement and his wife whispers to him that he has been dead for the last two years. Quirky Western drama series is a cross between "Yellowstone" "The X Files" and "Twin Peaks". Excellent score and use of songs.
The Shootist (Don Siegel, 1976) 9/10
Its 1901 and Queen Victoria has just died with a great deal of dignity after a very long life. In the old West, which is beginning to change, an old, notorious gunslinger (John Wayne) also finds himself at the tail end of life courtesy of cancer. The local doctor (James Stewart) tells him in no uncertain terms that his end will be very painful. He hopes to go out too with dignity. He finds lodgings at a boardinghouse - the owner (Lauren Bacall) is a widow who is weary of him at first but soon warms towards him. Her young son (Ron Howard) hero worships him while the townfolk are in an uproar about his presence. Elegant, beautifully shot film is an elegiac tribute to Wayne who is extremely moving and has superb chemistry with Bacall who speaks volumes with her eyes. Siegel carefully paces the film and caps it with a superbly staged shootout involving Wayne, two gunslingers (Richard Boone & Hugh O'Brian) and Howard who gets the last "word". There are wonderful little vignettes peppered throughout the film with a bunch of superb character actors - John Carradine, Harry Morgan, Sheree North, Rick Lenz and Scatman Crothers. This was Wayne's last film and, like his character, would die of cancer within three years thus making this project extremely poignant.
The Cowboys (Mark Rydell, 1972) 5/10
This is the one where Bruce Dern did to John Wayne what nobody had ever done to him in any Western before. And Dern had to pay havoc after continuously getting death threats for many years afterwards. Aging rancher (John Wayne) heads a cattle drive and through circumstances is forced to take on a bunch of school kids as his drovers. Roscoe Lee Brown is the urbane cook on the trail with them and Bruce Dern is the head of a gang of rustlers out to steal the herd. Colleen Dewhurst cameos as a bawdy madam to a bunch of hookers. The episodic and rather slow plot got a bum rap - kids being hardened into revenge seeking killers which here seems highly improbable and far from reality but its the movies and we do want some semblance of revenge at the end. And Dern finally getting his comeuppance is the film's highlight.
Big Jake (George Sherman, 1971) 4/10
One of numerous latter-day Westerns John Wayne churned out during the 1960s & 1970s. A gang of cutthroats, led by Richard Boone, kidnap a child for a ransom of $1 million. His rich grandmother (Maureen O'Hara) organizes a team of rangers in motor vehicles - including her two sons (Patrick Wayne, Christopher Mitchum) - to retrieve the child. Her wayward estranged husband (John Wayne) also arrives and decides to pursue the old fashioned way with a bunch of mules and his pet dog. There are way too many comic moments with pratfalls and bar room brawls along the way. Most of the film has been shot inside the studio on obvious fake sets and the numerous skirmishes between Wayne and his estranged sons - mostly played for comedy - quickly become tedious. The film was criticized for its violence which is surprising considering its more like the cartoon variety. This was O'Hara's last teaming with Wayne and its not one of their good ones - she seems out of place here - after which she retired only to return one more time twenty years later.
A gunslinger (Randolph Scott) lays down his guns in order to settle down. When he is framed for the murder of his friend he goes after a rich rancher, his foreman (Bruce Cabot), a corrupt deputy (Grant Withers), and a hired hand (Forrest Tucker). He is aided by a grizzled old rancher (Charley Grapewin) and gets involved with twin sisters (Barbara Britton & Dorothy Hart). Based on a Zane Grey novel this is a rehash of so many films in the genre that came before it. Stale to say the least.
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (Martin Scorsese, 1974) 8/10
In search of a better life a widow (Ellen Burstyn) and her precocious son (Alfred Lutter) hope to drive from Texas to California. Along the way she stops in Arizona where she works as a lounge singer, has a brief affair with a violent married man (Harvey Keitel), and then finds a job as a waitress at a diner. The perceptive screenplay charts her relationships with her son, two fellow waitresses - one sharp-tongued (Diane Ladd), the other shy (Valerie Curtin) - and a divorced local rancher (Kris Kristofferson) who falls in love with her. Charming film won Burstyn an Oscar - on the rebound from losing the year before for "The Exorcist" - and nominations for both Diane Ladd and the screenplay by Robert Getchell. Scorsese brings a touch of gritty realism to the plot which, in the framework of a road movie, scores feminist points as a tale about a woman's liberation who through life's hardships gradually finds her inner strength. Jodie Foster and Laura Dern appear in brief roles.
Outer Range - Season One (2022) 8/10
A grizzled Wyoming rancher (Josh Brolin) is in serious need of therapy. His wife (Lili Taylor) has taken to religion. Their daughter-in-law has been missing for nine months and their son is in a deep depression. Second son is a rodeo champ and grand daughter is a perky, happy presence in the house. Then weird things start happening - a giant hole is discovered on their land, a murder takes place, the body is dumped into the hole, the local indigenous lesbian sheriff is in charge of the investigation, a rival rancher (Will Patton) wants part of their land, a mysterious hippie-like woman (Imogen Poots) arrives and camps on the property, a strange mineral is discovered on the land, and the dead body mysteriously turns up on a hillside. The camper and the rancher both see things, he gets pushed into the hole but he comes out alive to discover there is some sort of government involvement and his wife whispers to him that he has been dead for the last two years. Quirky Western drama series is a cross between "Yellowstone" "The X Files" and "Twin Peaks". Excellent score and use of songs.
The Shootist (Don Siegel, 1976) 9/10
Its 1901 and Queen Victoria has just died with a great deal of dignity after a very long life. In the old West, which is beginning to change, an old, notorious gunslinger (John Wayne) also finds himself at the tail end of life courtesy of cancer. The local doctor (James Stewart) tells him in no uncertain terms that his end will be very painful. He hopes to go out too with dignity. He finds lodgings at a boardinghouse - the owner (Lauren Bacall) is a widow who is weary of him at first but soon warms towards him. Her young son (Ron Howard) hero worships him while the townfolk are in an uproar about his presence. Elegant, beautifully shot film is an elegiac tribute to Wayne who is extremely moving and has superb chemistry with Bacall who speaks volumes with her eyes. Siegel carefully paces the film and caps it with a superbly staged shootout involving Wayne, two gunslingers (Richard Boone & Hugh O'Brian) and Howard who gets the last "word". There are wonderful little vignettes peppered throughout the film with a bunch of superb character actors - John Carradine, Harry Morgan, Sheree North, Rick Lenz and Scatman Crothers. This was Wayne's last film and, like his character, would die of cancer within three years thus making this project extremely poignant.
The Cowboys (Mark Rydell, 1972) 5/10
This is the one where Bruce Dern did to John Wayne what nobody had ever done to him in any Western before. And Dern had to pay havoc after continuously getting death threats for many years afterwards. Aging rancher (John Wayne) heads a cattle drive and through circumstances is forced to take on a bunch of school kids as his drovers. Roscoe Lee Brown is the urbane cook on the trail with them and Bruce Dern is the head of a gang of rustlers out to steal the herd. Colleen Dewhurst cameos as a bawdy madam to a bunch of hookers. The episodic and rather slow plot got a bum rap - kids being hardened into revenge seeking killers which here seems highly improbable and far from reality but its the movies and we do want some semblance of revenge at the end. And Dern finally getting his comeuppance is the film's highlight.
Big Jake (George Sherman, 1971) 4/10
One of numerous latter-day Westerns John Wayne churned out during the 1960s & 1970s. A gang of cutthroats, led by Richard Boone, kidnap a child for a ransom of $1 million. His rich grandmother (Maureen O'Hara) organizes a team of rangers in motor vehicles - including her two sons (Patrick Wayne, Christopher Mitchum) - to retrieve the child. Her wayward estranged husband (John Wayne) also arrives and decides to pursue the old fashioned way with a bunch of mules and his pet dog. There are way too many comic moments with pratfalls and bar room brawls along the way. Most of the film has been shot inside the studio on obvious fake sets and the numerous skirmishes between Wayne and his estranged sons - mostly played for comedy - quickly become tedious. The film was criticized for its violence which is surprising considering its more like the cartoon variety. This was O'Hara's last teaming with Wayne and its not one of their good ones - she seems out of place here - after which she retired only to return one more time twenty years later.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Le fil / The String (Mehdi Ben Attia, 2009) 4/10
Utopia - a picture perfect setting of a white pavilion styled house in Tunisia which appears to be right out of a tropical paradise with palm trees at the front and the rushing waves of the Mediterranean sea at the back - gets slightly shattered when the prodigal son (Antonin Stahly) returns home from France into the overbearing arms of his mother (Claudia Cardinale). He suffers from bouts of anxiety - thinks his body is bound by string - a rather obvious metaphor for his sexuality which he has kept under wraps from his parents (deceased dad, in flashbacks, was also a pain). When mother, hoping to see her beloved son married to his female friend, finds him in bed in flagrante delicto with the hired Arab handyman / gardener (Salim Kechiouche) she almost blows a fuse. The screenplay is in a rush to come up with a pat ending with all cards in their proper place with nary an angry person in sight. The central love story is a bore but Claudia Cardinale is a hoot as the flamboyant mother.
Bombardier (Richard Wallace, 1943) 6/10
One of numerous WWII propaganda films that displayed in detail a particular section of the United States Armed Forces. Here the screenplay tackles a school that trains officers in precision bombing. The plot incorporates a love triangle - two USAAF pilots (Pat O'Brien & Randolph Scott) in charge of training chasing a secretary (Anne Shirley) who is a general's daughter. New recruits face assorted problems - fear-induced air sickness (Eddie Albert), commitment issues (Robert Ryan), and dismay at the lack of women on the base (Richard Martin). As with most such films from that era it remains a timepiece and a type of film the studios were churning out to both entertain and inform the public during a time of great stress. What must have been rousing then seems corny now although it does have its moments. Nominated for an Oscar for its Special Effects.
Vera Cruz (Robert Aldrich, 1954) 7/10
The setup - a stagecoach journey to Vera Cruz carrying a french countess (Denise Darcel) and a boxload of gold coins as payment for European troops to help support the throne of Emperor Maximillian of Mexico (George Macready). Accompanying the coach are sodiers led by a Marquis (Cesar Romero), and a group of rogues - Civil War soldier/mercenary (Gary Cooper) and a vicious hired gun (Burt Lancaster with flashing teeth) and his evil henchmen (Ernest Borgnine, Jack Elam, Charles Bronson). The plot - to steal the gold with double cross the name of the game, as everyone wants the loot for themselves including Mexican rebels who want to oust the Emperor. Highly influential film - it inspired both Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah - and was a sort of precursor to the Spaghetti western. Violent film never lets up once the guns start blazing. The two leads also get to romance in between adding up the body count - Lancaster with Darcel, and Cooper with a pickpocket peasant (Sarita Montiel) with whom he did not get along because he said she smelled of body odor. The outstanding widescreen color cinematography is by Ernest Laszlo.
JFK (Oliver Stone, 1991) 8/10
Stone's conspiracy theories - based on the books "On the Trail of the Assassins" by Jim Garrison and Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy by Jim Marrs - about President Kennedy's 1963 assassination in Dallas come fast and furious in this fairly riveting film. The screenplay debunks the alleged whitewashed Warren Commission - the government report on the assassination - that the killer was Lee Harvey Oswald (Gary Oldman) and the report also concluded that Jack Ruby (Brian Doyle-Murray) acted alone when he killed Oswald two days later. As with many controversial political disasters in the world this too remains a mystery with its pat conclusion to the case. The only person to challenge the Warren Commission was New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) who believed there was a coverup and Oswald did not act alone. Stone's sprawling film jumps backwards and forward in time switching from colour in the present to black and white during flashbacks - the film deservedly won Oscars for the sharp editing and Robert Richardson's cinematography. A huge cast of famous stars appear in small roles playing suspects - David Ferrie (Joe Pesci), Clay Shaw (Tommy Lee Jones - Oscar nominated as the quietly flamboyant gay New Orleans businessman), FBI employee and cop Guy Banister (Ed Asner), informants & conspiracy theorists - Jack Martin (Jack Lemmon), Dean Andrews Jr. (John Candy), jailed cocky gay hustler Willie O'Keefe (Kevin Bacon), a high-level figure in D.C., Mr X (Donald Sutherland), Bill Newman (Vincent D'Onofrio), the Babushka Lady (Lolita Davidovich) and members of Garrison's office - Michael Rooker, Laurie Metcalf, Wayne Knight. Garrison also implicates members of the CIA, the Mafia, the military-industrial complex, Secret Service, FBI, and then-Vice President Lyndon Johnson as either co-conspirators or as having motives to cover up the truth of the assassination. A motley mix if ever there was one which also causes him grief on the homefront when his wife (Sissy Spacek) tells him to back off. It doesn't end here but American history also sees the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy both in 1968. The constant blood thirsty need for war as a business is given the reason behind the conspiracy - LBJ wanted the Vietnam War to continue when the Kennedy brothers wanted to end it. Clean-cut Costner is terribly bland as he drones on and on explaining what went on behind the conspiracy.
She's All That (Robert Iscove, 1999) 5/10
I thought High School teenage shenanigans on the big screen were over along with the 1980s. However, here we have yet another one harking back to that era. High School Jock (Freddie Prinze Jr) is dumped by his cool chick (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) for a reality tv star (Matthew Lillard). So his buddy (Paul Walker) bets him he can't turn any random girl into the Prom Queen within the next six weeks. The bet is on and the female dork (Rachael Leigh Cook) chosen is an unpopular art student. Love follows along with the usual complications. Completely predictable plot is made palatable due to the charming leads and a group of familiar supporting actors. The rest is strictly routine. Both leads - seemingly very promising here - ended by doing mostly dredge afterwards which is a pity. Anna Paquin and Kieran Culkin as siblings of the two leads are very amusing in brief roles.
Un drôle de dimanche (Marc Allégret, 1958) 4/10
Tired comedy has Bourvil still pining for his wife (Danielle Darrieux) who ran off five years ago. He spots her in a bus and stalks her only to find she is in a relationship with a friend of his. So he concocts a plan to win her back with the help of his landlady (Arletty) who is extremely pissed off because her daughter is dating a trumpeteer (Jean-Paul Belmondo). Frantic farce is completely devoid of laughs wasting the wonderful cast.
La Nuit du carrefour / Night at the Crossroads (Jean Renoir, 1932) 4/10
One of Renoir's little-known films is based on the novel by Georges Simenon and the first screen version of an Inspector Maigret murder mystery. A crossroad consists of three houses and a petrol station. A stolen car from one of the houses is found parked in the garage of the neighboring house with a dead body at the wheel. Maigret (Pierre Renoir) arrives to investigate â la Hercule Poirot. Strange but atmospheric film has many odd scenes which make no sense - the camera keeps showing water flowing down a roadside gutter and an equally recurring bizarre shot is of a tap dripping into a glass full of water in a kitchen sink.
L'Étoile du Nord (Pierre Granier-Deferre, 1982) 8/10
Sumptuously produced adaptation of the novel by Georges Simenon. Penniless frenchman (Philippe Noiret), living in Alexandria, befriends a shady Egyptian businessman and his golddigger mistress (Fanny Cottençon, who won a César). On the Étoile du Nord train to Brussels he murders the man, steals all his money, and moves into the boarding house belonging to her mother (Simone Signoret). The frosty old lady is weary of her tenant at first but soon warms to him and his endless tall tales about his life in Egypt. This was Signoret's last film and she was nominated for a César award. Her screen chemistry with Noiret makes this often languid film a memorable experience.
Red Right Hand (Ian Nelms & Eshom Nelms, 2024) 4/10
Andie MacDowell, very far away from weddings and funerals, plays a southern-cooked, over-the-top gangsta lady called "Big Cat" with a special interest in chopping off her victim's thumb. That's basically the only fun factor in this derivative thriller where her former lover (Orlando Bloom) is roped back into her fold to do dirty deeds involving drugs and murder.
This is strictly a hillbilly B movie - White Lightning (1973), Road House (1989), come to mind - with guns and action sequences thrown into the mix. The only exciting bit watching such movies is the exciting bloodlust of waiting to see which violent method is used to get the villain at the end. And it was soothing to see MacDowell finally get a taste of her own medicine.
Operation Napoleon (Óskar Þór Axelsson, 2023) 6/10
The story has a strong whiff of the action-mystery novels by Alistair MacLean, Clive Cussler, Robert Ludlum - with a plot centering around Nazis from the past, evil CIA agents, hidden treasure and innocent individuals who are thrust into deadly situations. Based on Icelandic writer Arnaldur Indriðason's best selling book the plot revolves around the discovery of a Nazi airplane buried under ice on Vatnajökull - the largest and most voluminous ice cap in Iceland. The discovery puts in jeopardy the life of an ambitious lawyer (Vivian Ólafsdóttir) when her brother stumbles upon the plane with his friends and manages to send photos to her just before his friends are all killed by CIA agents headed by Iain Glen. The chase is on as she is pursued by an assassin with the icy but breathtaking Icelandic scenery a major highlight of the film. And then there is another nasty lady who is an expert at using a pencil to torture her victims. It's all several notches above a Nancy Drew mystery but a fairly good time pass on a rainy spring afternoon.
Utopia - a picture perfect setting of a white pavilion styled house in Tunisia which appears to be right out of a tropical paradise with palm trees at the front and the rushing waves of the Mediterranean sea at the back - gets slightly shattered when the prodigal son (Antonin Stahly) returns home from France into the overbearing arms of his mother (Claudia Cardinale). He suffers from bouts of anxiety - thinks his body is bound by string - a rather obvious metaphor for his sexuality which he has kept under wraps from his parents (deceased dad, in flashbacks, was also a pain). When mother, hoping to see her beloved son married to his female friend, finds him in bed in flagrante delicto with the hired Arab handyman / gardener (Salim Kechiouche) she almost blows a fuse. The screenplay is in a rush to come up with a pat ending with all cards in their proper place with nary an angry person in sight. The central love story is a bore but Claudia Cardinale is a hoot as the flamboyant mother.
Bombardier (Richard Wallace, 1943) 6/10
One of numerous WWII propaganda films that displayed in detail a particular section of the United States Armed Forces. Here the screenplay tackles a school that trains officers in precision bombing. The plot incorporates a love triangle - two USAAF pilots (Pat O'Brien & Randolph Scott) in charge of training chasing a secretary (Anne Shirley) who is a general's daughter. New recruits face assorted problems - fear-induced air sickness (Eddie Albert), commitment issues (Robert Ryan), and dismay at the lack of women on the base (Richard Martin). As with most such films from that era it remains a timepiece and a type of film the studios were churning out to both entertain and inform the public during a time of great stress. What must have been rousing then seems corny now although it does have its moments. Nominated for an Oscar for its Special Effects.
Vera Cruz (Robert Aldrich, 1954) 7/10
The setup - a stagecoach journey to Vera Cruz carrying a french countess (Denise Darcel) and a boxload of gold coins as payment for European troops to help support the throne of Emperor Maximillian of Mexico (George Macready). Accompanying the coach are sodiers led by a Marquis (Cesar Romero), and a group of rogues - Civil War soldier/mercenary (Gary Cooper) and a vicious hired gun (Burt Lancaster with flashing teeth) and his evil henchmen (Ernest Borgnine, Jack Elam, Charles Bronson). The plot - to steal the gold with double cross the name of the game, as everyone wants the loot for themselves including Mexican rebels who want to oust the Emperor. Highly influential film - it inspired both Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah - and was a sort of precursor to the Spaghetti western. Violent film never lets up once the guns start blazing. The two leads also get to romance in between adding up the body count - Lancaster with Darcel, and Cooper with a pickpocket peasant (Sarita Montiel) with whom he did not get along because he said she smelled of body odor. The outstanding widescreen color cinematography is by Ernest Laszlo.
JFK (Oliver Stone, 1991) 8/10
Stone's conspiracy theories - based on the books "On the Trail of the Assassins" by Jim Garrison and Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy by Jim Marrs - about President Kennedy's 1963 assassination in Dallas come fast and furious in this fairly riveting film. The screenplay debunks the alleged whitewashed Warren Commission - the government report on the assassination - that the killer was Lee Harvey Oswald (Gary Oldman) and the report also concluded that Jack Ruby (Brian Doyle-Murray) acted alone when he killed Oswald two days later. As with many controversial political disasters in the world this too remains a mystery with its pat conclusion to the case. The only person to challenge the Warren Commission was New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) who believed there was a coverup and Oswald did not act alone. Stone's sprawling film jumps backwards and forward in time switching from colour in the present to black and white during flashbacks - the film deservedly won Oscars for the sharp editing and Robert Richardson's cinematography. A huge cast of famous stars appear in small roles playing suspects - David Ferrie (Joe Pesci), Clay Shaw (Tommy Lee Jones - Oscar nominated as the quietly flamboyant gay New Orleans businessman), FBI employee and cop Guy Banister (Ed Asner), informants & conspiracy theorists - Jack Martin (Jack Lemmon), Dean Andrews Jr. (John Candy), jailed cocky gay hustler Willie O'Keefe (Kevin Bacon), a high-level figure in D.C., Mr X (Donald Sutherland), Bill Newman (Vincent D'Onofrio), the Babushka Lady (Lolita Davidovich) and members of Garrison's office - Michael Rooker, Laurie Metcalf, Wayne Knight. Garrison also implicates members of the CIA, the Mafia, the military-industrial complex, Secret Service, FBI, and then-Vice President Lyndon Johnson as either co-conspirators or as having motives to cover up the truth of the assassination. A motley mix if ever there was one which also causes him grief on the homefront when his wife (Sissy Spacek) tells him to back off. It doesn't end here but American history also sees the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy both in 1968. The constant blood thirsty need for war as a business is given the reason behind the conspiracy - LBJ wanted the Vietnam War to continue when the Kennedy brothers wanted to end it. Clean-cut Costner is terribly bland as he drones on and on explaining what went on behind the conspiracy.
She's All That (Robert Iscove, 1999) 5/10
I thought High School teenage shenanigans on the big screen were over along with the 1980s. However, here we have yet another one harking back to that era. High School Jock (Freddie Prinze Jr) is dumped by his cool chick (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) for a reality tv star (Matthew Lillard). So his buddy (Paul Walker) bets him he can't turn any random girl into the Prom Queen within the next six weeks. The bet is on and the female dork (Rachael Leigh Cook) chosen is an unpopular art student. Love follows along with the usual complications. Completely predictable plot is made palatable due to the charming leads and a group of familiar supporting actors. The rest is strictly routine. Both leads - seemingly very promising here - ended by doing mostly dredge afterwards which is a pity. Anna Paquin and Kieran Culkin as siblings of the two leads are very amusing in brief roles.
Un drôle de dimanche (Marc Allégret, 1958) 4/10
Tired comedy has Bourvil still pining for his wife (Danielle Darrieux) who ran off five years ago. He spots her in a bus and stalks her only to find she is in a relationship with a friend of his. So he concocts a plan to win her back with the help of his landlady (Arletty) who is extremely pissed off because her daughter is dating a trumpeteer (Jean-Paul Belmondo). Frantic farce is completely devoid of laughs wasting the wonderful cast.
La Nuit du carrefour / Night at the Crossroads (Jean Renoir, 1932) 4/10
One of Renoir's little-known films is based on the novel by Georges Simenon and the first screen version of an Inspector Maigret murder mystery. A crossroad consists of three houses and a petrol station. A stolen car from one of the houses is found parked in the garage of the neighboring house with a dead body at the wheel. Maigret (Pierre Renoir) arrives to investigate â la Hercule Poirot. Strange but atmospheric film has many odd scenes which make no sense - the camera keeps showing water flowing down a roadside gutter and an equally recurring bizarre shot is of a tap dripping into a glass full of water in a kitchen sink.
L'Étoile du Nord (Pierre Granier-Deferre, 1982) 8/10
Sumptuously produced adaptation of the novel by Georges Simenon. Penniless frenchman (Philippe Noiret), living in Alexandria, befriends a shady Egyptian businessman and his golddigger mistress (Fanny Cottençon, who won a César). On the Étoile du Nord train to Brussels he murders the man, steals all his money, and moves into the boarding house belonging to her mother (Simone Signoret). The frosty old lady is weary of her tenant at first but soon warms to him and his endless tall tales about his life in Egypt. This was Signoret's last film and she was nominated for a César award. Her screen chemistry with Noiret makes this often languid film a memorable experience.
Red Right Hand (Ian Nelms & Eshom Nelms, 2024) 4/10
Andie MacDowell, very far away from weddings and funerals, plays a southern-cooked, over-the-top gangsta lady called "Big Cat" with a special interest in chopping off her victim's thumb. That's basically the only fun factor in this derivative thriller where her former lover (Orlando Bloom) is roped back into her fold to do dirty deeds involving drugs and murder.
This is strictly a hillbilly B movie - White Lightning (1973), Road House (1989), come to mind - with guns and action sequences thrown into the mix. The only exciting bit watching such movies is the exciting bloodlust of waiting to see which violent method is used to get the villain at the end. And it was soothing to see MacDowell finally get a taste of her own medicine.
Operation Napoleon (Óskar Þór Axelsson, 2023) 6/10
The story has a strong whiff of the action-mystery novels by Alistair MacLean, Clive Cussler, Robert Ludlum - with a plot centering around Nazis from the past, evil CIA agents, hidden treasure and innocent individuals who are thrust into deadly situations. Based on Icelandic writer Arnaldur Indriðason's best selling book the plot revolves around the discovery of a Nazi airplane buried under ice on Vatnajökull - the largest and most voluminous ice cap in Iceland. The discovery puts in jeopardy the life of an ambitious lawyer (Vivian Ólafsdóttir) when her brother stumbles upon the plane with his friends and manages to send photos to her just before his friends are all killed by CIA agents headed by Iain Glen. The chase is on as she is pursued by an assassin with the icy but breathtaking Icelandic scenery a major highlight of the film. And then there is another nasty lady who is an expert at using a pencil to torture her victims. It's all several notches above a Nancy Drew mystery but a fairly good time pass on a rainy spring afternoon.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Breakdown (1997) - 8.5/10 - A married couple is driving from Boston to San Diego in their brand new Jeep when they have an encounter with a man in a truck along a stretch of desert highway. When their Jeep later breaks down, the wife gets a ride with a trucker to go for help. When she disappears, the husband is left to try and find her and get her back. The first half is more suspense and the second half is more action. It blends together into a very enjoyable film.
Shyamchi Aai / Shyam’s Mother (1953) - 8/10 - The film tells the story of a boy growing up in a loving family that was once well to do, but is now falling deeper and deeper into poverty and debt. Through these hardships, the mother still manages to instill positive lessons in her son. There are plenty of humorous scenes and also a few sad ones. The music is very good and I liked the performances of the mother and son.
Ghare-Baire / The Home and the World (1984) - 8/10 - The film takes place in the first part of the 20th Century. Bimala is an educated woman who has learned English, keeps up on current events, and much more. Her husband (from an arranged marriage) had a Western education and wanted his wife to be free of tradition. There is a movement to boycott foreign goods and her husband doesn't support it because it will hurt the poor, but Bimala gets involved with a slick talking rebel leader and becomes a supporter. The film is heavy on talking, often of an intellectual nature, and moves rather slow. Still, it is interesting and the film looks very nice.
Village Rockstars (2017) - 8/10 - Dhunu is a 10 year old girl sho spends much of her free time hanging out with her brother and a group of boys, though this is looked down upon by some of the village women. She dreams of owning a guitar and playing in a band. Much of the film is slice of life fare and some might be turned off by the pace, but I enjoyed it.
Red Dawn / Rojo amanecer (1989) - 8/10 - This film about the 1968 Tlatelolco Massacre in Mexico City focuses on one family and mostly takes place in their apartment or just outside. The family has two university age students who attend a large rally nearby. The army has placed snipers in building overlooking the rally, incites violence, and kills or injures many of the protesters and others. It's well done.
Mondo Meyer Upakhyan / A Tale of a Naughty Girl (2002) - 7.5/10 - It's 1969 and the moon landing is only a few days away. Lati is a 14 year old girl whose mother is a prostitute in a village brothel. The mother has plans for Lati to become the mistress of the local cinema owner, but Lati wants to go to school and continue her education.
Chemmeen (1965) - 7.5/10 - The daughter of a poor (but greedy) fisherman is in love with the son of a fish trader, but tradition forbids their being together. The setting and music here are very nice.
Confess, Fletch (2022) - 7.5/10 - Fletch is investigating stolen art for his Italian girlfriend when he is framed for the murder of a woman whose body is found in the townhouse he rents. Jon Hamm is pretty good as Fletch and the film is pretty funny. The supporting cast is also good. While the film certainly wasn't going to win any awards, it was entertaining and fun.
Femme Fatale (2002) - 7.5/10 - Rebecca Romijn stars as a diamond thief with a new identity whose picture is taken by a paparazzi (Antonio Banderas). This photo might bring her old partners back into her life as they seek the money she cheated them out of. The film starts out pretty well and is pretty nice overall with the occasional lull. It makes good use of music at times.
Anuradha (1960) - 7/10 - Ten years earlier, Anuradha was a popular singer with records and everything. She gave it all up when she fell in love with a talented village doctor. They now have a precocious young daughter who often accompanies her father on rounds. He is kept very busy with his work, neglects his wife, and is oblivious to her needs. She has little to occupy her time and is withering away in the village. It's a decent film, but the relationship between the two didn't quite work for me as believable.
Days and Nights in the Forest (1970) - 7/10 - Four friends from Calcutta go off to spend the weekend in the forest. They act boorishly, flirt with women, and break a few rules along the way. It wasn't bad, but I didn't get into it as much as many of Ray's other films.
Mr. Klein (1976) - 7/10 - Robert Klein is an art dealer in 1942 Paris who takes advantage of Jewish citizens seeking to flee the country by purchasing artwork from them at extremely low prices. One day, he is surprised to find a Jewish newspaper with his name on it delivered to his door. He learns that there is a Jewish man named Robert Klein who is forwarding his mail to his address. He seeks to track down this other Robert Klein in an effort to protect himself. The film is fairly well crafted, but I thought it lacked the spark to make it a very good film. I wasn't overly impressed with Alain Delon as the lead, though he wasn't bad.
Sagar Sangamey / The Holy Island (1959) - 7/10 - A widow and a little girl are among the travelers making a pilgrimage when they run into hardships which push them closer together. It was decent.
Paan Singh Tomar (2012) - 7/10 - This biopic is about a man who was in the army in 1950s when it was discovered that he had a talent for running. He became a national champion in the steeplechase and had a long career. Trouble arose when he retired from the army and returned to his home village. Circumstances dictated that he become a rebel and outlaw. The film was pretty good and had some nice moments over the first 35 minutes or so. It wasn't bad after that, but became less interesting. Irrfan Khan gives a nice performance, but the different elements of the story could have been stitched together better.
The People Under the Stairs (1991) - 6.5/10 - A boy nicknamed Fool and two others hatch a plan to rob a nearby house where an odd, secretive couple lives. There is supposed to be a coin collection with valuable gold coins plus other items of value, but the three get much more than they bargained for. The first 2/3 of the film was pretty so-so, but I liked the last 20-25 minutes a lot more.
Shwaas / A Breath (2004) - 6.5/10 - A grandfather takes his 8 year old grandson to the doctor because the grandson is having vision problems. It turns out that the boy has a rare type of cancer and needs an operation right away. The grandfather is a bit befuddled by the hospital system, but wants what is best for his grandson. This is kind of like a made for tv film, though it's not bad and I did like it.
Charachar / Shelter of the Wings (1994) - 6.5/10 - Lakha is an odd bird (so to speak). His job is to catch birds and sell them to a broker. He works with a partner and while birds are plentiful and they catch a lot of birds, he makes almost no money because he usually sets his share of the birds free after catching them. He loves birds and spends a lot of time holding and admiring them. His wife would rather eat and have decent clothes, though.
My Brother’s Wedding (1983) - 6/10 - Pierce works at his parent's dry cleaner. His brother (a lawyer) is getting married soon, but Pierce doesn't like his brother's fiancée. Pierce has also been asked to help his close friend, Soldier, an ex-con with difficult prospects. Most of the film is just day to day slice of life activity. There are some nice bits here and there, though the acting generally isn't really all that great.
Thai Saheba (1997) - 6/10 - A husband and wife appear to be happily married back around the time that India gains independence. The husband is fairly wealthy with lots of land, but is not that concerned with holding on to the land. They have no children so they adopt the son of one of their relatives. Soon after, it turns out that the husband's mistress has a daughter. Years pass, and the two children fall in love and want to marry, but since they are viewed as brother and sister despite there being no blood relation, custom forbids the union. The story sounds much more interesting than the film turns out to be. The performances seem rather restrained much of the time. It wasn't bad, but the potential was there for more.
Samskara / Funeral Rites (1970) - 5.5/10 - A Brahmin village has a dilemma when one of their citizens dies. Unfortunately, he was a renegade and flouted Brahmin traditions openly, though he had not been kicked out. His body should be quickly cremated, but none of the elders want to get polluted by handling the situation. The film starts out okay, but then really kind of meanders and I found it to be very boring and uninteresting.
Marupakkam / The Other Side (1990) - 5/10 - A man returns home after his father suffers a stroke. The father had been very rude to the son's wife upon first meeting which eventually led to a separation. The father's past goes through his mind with respect to his own mother's disapproval of his first wife. I found myself having no sympathy for the father and didn't really like this too much, though the music wasn't bad.
Shyamchi Aai / Shyam’s Mother (1953) - 8/10 - The film tells the story of a boy growing up in a loving family that was once well to do, but is now falling deeper and deeper into poverty and debt. Through these hardships, the mother still manages to instill positive lessons in her son. There are plenty of humorous scenes and also a few sad ones. The music is very good and I liked the performances of the mother and son.
Ghare-Baire / The Home and the World (1984) - 8/10 - The film takes place in the first part of the 20th Century. Bimala is an educated woman who has learned English, keeps up on current events, and much more. Her husband (from an arranged marriage) had a Western education and wanted his wife to be free of tradition. There is a movement to boycott foreign goods and her husband doesn't support it because it will hurt the poor, but Bimala gets involved with a slick talking rebel leader and becomes a supporter. The film is heavy on talking, often of an intellectual nature, and moves rather slow. Still, it is interesting and the film looks very nice.
Village Rockstars (2017) - 8/10 - Dhunu is a 10 year old girl sho spends much of her free time hanging out with her brother and a group of boys, though this is looked down upon by some of the village women. She dreams of owning a guitar and playing in a band. Much of the film is slice of life fare and some might be turned off by the pace, but I enjoyed it.
Red Dawn / Rojo amanecer (1989) - 8/10 - This film about the 1968 Tlatelolco Massacre in Mexico City focuses on one family and mostly takes place in their apartment or just outside. The family has two university age students who attend a large rally nearby. The army has placed snipers in building overlooking the rally, incites violence, and kills or injures many of the protesters and others. It's well done.
Mondo Meyer Upakhyan / A Tale of a Naughty Girl (2002) - 7.5/10 - It's 1969 and the moon landing is only a few days away. Lati is a 14 year old girl whose mother is a prostitute in a village brothel. The mother has plans for Lati to become the mistress of the local cinema owner, but Lati wants to go to school and continue her education.
Chemmeen (1965) - 7.5/10 - The daughter of a poor (but greedy) fisherman is in love with the son of a fish trader, but tradition forbids their being together. The setting and music here are very nice.
Confess, Fletch (2022) - 7.5/10 - Fletch is investigating stolen art for his Italian girlfriend when he is framed for the murder of a woman whose body is found in the townhouse he rents. Jon Hamm is pretty good as Fletch and the film is pretty funny. The supporting cast is also good. While the film certainly wasn't going to win any awards, it was entertaining and fun.
Femme Fatale (2002) - 7.5/10 - Rebecca Romijn stars as a diamond thief with a new identity whose picture is taken by a paparazzi (Antonio Banderas). This photo might bring her old partners back into her life as they seek the money she cheated them out of. The film starts out pretty well and is pretty nice overall with the occasional lull. It makes good use of music at times.
Anuradha (1960) - 7/10 - Ten years earlier, Anuradha was a popular singer with records and everything. She gave it all up when she fell in love with a talented village doctor. They now have a precocious young daughter who often accompanies her father on rounds. He is kept very busy with his work, neglects his wife, and is oblivious to her needs. She has little to occupy her time and is withering away in the village. It's a decent film, but the relationship between the two didn't quite work for me as believable.
Days and Nights in the Forest (1970) - 7/10 - Four friends from Calcutta go off to spend the weekend in the forest. They act boorishly, flirt with women, and break a few rules along the way. It wasn't bad, but I didn't get into it as much as many of Ray's other films.
Mr. Klein (1976) - 7/10 - Robert Klein is an art dealer in 1942 Paris who takes advantage of Jewish citizens seeking to flee the country by purchasing artwork from them at extremely low prices. One day, he is surprised to find a Jewish newspaper with his name on it delivered to his door. He learns that there is a Jewish man named Robert Klein who is forwarding his mail to his address. He seeks to track down this other Robert Klein in an effort to protect himself. The film is fairly well crafted, but I thought it lacked the spark to make it a very good film. I wasn't overly impressed with Alain Delon as the lead, though he wasn't bad.
Sagar Sangamey / The Holy Island (1959) - 7/10 - A widow and a little girl are among the travelers making a pilgrimage when they run into hardships which push them closer together. It was decent.
Paan Singh Tomar (2012) - 7/10 - This biopic is about a man who was in the army in 1950s when it was discovered that he had a talent for running. He became a national champion in the steeplechase and had a long career. Trouble arose when he retired from the army and returned to his home village. Circumstances dictated that he become a rebel and outlaw. The film was pretty good and had some nice moments over the first 35 minutes or so. It wasn't bad after that, but became less interesting. Irrfan Khan gives a nice performance, but the different elements of the story could have been stitched together better.
The People Under the Stairs (1991) - 6.5/10 - A boy nicknamed Fool and two others hatch a plan to rob a nearby house where an odd, secretive couple lives. There is supposed to be a coin collection with valuable gold coins plus other items of value, but the three get much more than they bargained for. The first 2/3 of the film was pretty so-so, but I liked the last 20-25 minutes a lot more.
Shwaas / A Breath (2004) - 6.5/10 - A grandfather takes his 8 year old grandson to the doctor because the grandson is having vision problems. It turns out that the boy has a rare type of cancer and needs an operation right away. The grandfather is a bit befuddled by the hospital system, but wants what is best for his grandson. This is kind of like a made for tv film, though it's not bad and I did like it.
Charachar / Shelter of the Wings (1994) - 6.5/10 - Lakha is an odd bird (so to speak). His job is to catch birds and sell them to a broker. He works with a partner and while birds are plentiful and they catch a lot of birds, he makes almost no money because he usually sets his share of the birds free after catching them. He loves birds and spends a lot of time holding and admiring them. His wife would rather eat and have decent clothes, though.
My Brother’s Wedding (1983) - 6/10 - Pierce works at his parent's dry cleaner. His brother (a lawyer) is getting married soon, but Pierce doesn't like his brother's fiancée. Pierce has also been asked to help his close friend, Soldier, an ex-con with difficult prospects. Most of the film is just day to day slice of life activity. There are some nice bits here and there, though the acting generally isn't really all that great.
Thai Saheba (1997) - 6/10 - A husband and wife appear to be happily married back around the time that India gains independence. The husband is fairly wealthy with lots of land, but is not that concerned with holding on to the land. They have no children so they adopt the son of one of their relatives. Soon after, it turns out that the husband's mistress has a daughter. Years pass, and the two children fall in love and want to marry, but since they are viewed as brother and sister despite there being no blood relation, custom forbids the union. The story sounds much more interesting than the film turns out to be. The performances seem rather restrained much of the time. It wasn't bad, but the potential was there for more.
Samskara / Funeral Rites (1970) - 5.5/10 - A Brahmin village has a dilemma when one of their citizens dies. Unfortunately, he was a renegade and flouted Brahmin traditions openly, though he had not been kicked out. His body should be quickly cremated, but none of the elders want to get polluted by handling the situation. The film starts out okay, but then really kind of meanders and I found it to be very boring and uninteresting.
Marupakkam / The Other Side (1990) - 5/10 - A man returns home after his father suffers a stroke. The father had been very rude to the son's wife upon first meeting which eventually led to a separation. The father's past goes through his mind with respect to his own mother's disapproval of his first wife. I found myself having no sympathy for the father and didn't really like this too much, though the music wasn't bad.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
All classics of Indian cinema - much before the silly word "Bollywood" was coined.gunnar wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2024 11:10 pmBandini (1963) - 8/10 - Kalyani is a quiet resident of a women's prison in 1930s India. She volunteers to take care of a TB patient, a dangerous thing to do at the time. She gains the eye and the ear of one of the prison doctors and the story of how she came to be a prisoner is revealed in flashback. I think the first part of the film is the strongest, but the whole picture is pretty good.
Scorching Winds / Garm Hava (1974) - 8/10 - Salim Mirza is a Muslim with a good family and life in India. When Pakistan is created during partition, Salim's brother and a number of other relatives emigrate to Pakistan. Life becomes difficult for those who chose to stay behind in their home town. The film does a very nice job of showing some of the difficulties faced by the minority Muslim population after the partition.
Paper Flowers / Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) - 8/10 - A once successful film director looks back on his life. Suresh Sinha (Guru Dutt) is a popular director with a number of hits who is about ready to film Devdas for his next feature. He comes across a young woman named Shanti (Waheeda Rehman) who is not an actress, but he thinks will be perfect for a lead role in the film. The film follows his relationship with Shanti and also his relationship with his daughter (Kumari Naaz). The film is apparently based in part on Dutt's own experiences in the film industry. He starred in and directed the film and his life mirrored this to an extent. I thought Dutt, Rehman, and Naaz all did a nice job and I appreciated the music in the film, too.
Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam (1962) - 8/10 - An old, ruined mansion is in the process of being torn down when lunch break is called. The overseer (Guru Dutt) uses this time to reflect back to many years earlier when he first arrived at the mansion as a young, naive man. The estate is elegant, but the master of the house goes out drinking every night and spending time with dancing women while his unhappy wife (Meena Kumari) remains at home, lonely in the absence of her husband. The newly arrived worker befriends the daughter (Waheeda Rehman) of a man who works at the master's factory and the worker also befriends the mistress of the house, being seeming to be somewhat in awe of her. The film has nice performances from the three main leads as the tragedy plays out.
Guide (1965) - 8/10 - Raju was a tour guide who fell in love with the young wife of an older archeologist. The woman was a dancer and the daughter of a prostitute so many people in Raju's village were against her, including his mother and uncle. When the film starts, Raju has just been released from a short stay in prison and instead of returning home, decides to go in a different direction. He is mistaken for a holy man and the people of a rural village start looking to him for wisdom. His earlier life is told in flashback. I thought the film wandered a bit during the second half, but overall it is pretty solid and I enjoyed it.
Junglee (1961) - 7/10 - Shammi Kapoor portrays a wealthy, but humorless jackass named Shekhar who lives by the principles espoused by his mother who is conscious of wealth and status. Shekhar's sister Mala is in love with a poor man, but her mother forbids their relationship and has Shekhar take her to Kashmir to get away from the man. While in Kashmir, Shekhar falls in love with the daughter of a doctor and his demeanor changes as a result, though it is not immediate. I didn't really like Kapoor's acting throughout much of the film, but I did really like Saira Banu as Rajkumari, the love interest. Overall, I did like the movie, but thought it could have been better.
Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) - 7/10 - A chauffeur takes the fall for his crime boss employer only to see the boss betray his promises of support for the chauffeur's family. This eventually leads to the husband, wife, and three young sons all being separated from each other for 20+ years with each boy being raised in a different home with different religions. One of the sons becomes a police officer, another runs a bar, and the third is a singer. The story is kind of ridiculous and over the top with plenty of bad fighting scenes mixed in. And yet, some of the songs were good and the film itself became kind of fun after a while, sometimes due to the ridiculousness of it. I ended up finding it entertaining and can understand why some people love the film and some hate it.
Who Pays the Piper / Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983) - 5/10 - Two photographers open up a new studio, but don't do well at first. They get an assignment from a newspaper specializing in scandals which leads to more work for them. They uncover graft, but it leads. to quite an adventure and some Weekend at Bernie's action. Unfortunately, a lot of this is kind of dumb and not very funny, especially during the first half of the film.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Kummatty / The Bogeyman (1979) - 8.5/10 - A group of village children go about their daily lives - going to school, hanging out, etc. - when a strange old man comes to to their village. He sings folk lore songs, dances, and may have some magic ability. The children. take a liking to him and start calling him Kummatty. I liked the first half of the film more, but the second half wasn't bad. It has really nice cinematography and reminds me a bit of Weerasethakul's films. The music is good and the kids in the film did a nice job.
Where Eagles Dare (1968) - 8/10 - An American general has been captured after his plane went down and the Nazis are holding him in a fortified castle high up in the mountains. The castle is inaccessible, except by cable car from the lower elevations. An allied team is assembled to rescue the general before he can spill the knowledge that he holds about upcoming actions. There is plenty of action, deception, and so on. Richard Burton leads the team and Clint Eastwood is the lone American member of the team.
Ajantrik / Pathetic Fallacy (1958) - 8/10 - Bimal drives an old 1920 jalopy as a taxi. It's beaten up, but is pretty reliable. Others laugh at him for driving it, but he loves the car, has named it, and thinks of it as a person. The film shows Bimal interacting with the locals as well as various customers. His love for the car is evident and I found myself enjoying the film quite a bit.
Bandini (1963) - 8/10 - Kalyani is a quiet resident of a women's prison in 1930s India. She volunteers to take care of a TB patient, a dangerous thing to do at the time. She gains the eye and the ear of one of the prison doctors and the story of how she came to be a prisoner is revealed in flashback. I think the first part of the film is the strongest, but the whole picture is pretty good.
Scorching Winds / Garm Hava (1974) - 8/10 - Salim Mirza is a Muslim with a good family and life in India. When Pakistan is created during partition, Salim's brother and a number of other relatives emigrate to Pakistan. Life becomes difficult for those who chose to stay behind in their home town. The film does a very nice job of showing some of the difficulties faced by the minority Muslim population after the partition.
Thief (1981) - 8/10 - James Caan stars as a diamond thief and ex-con named Frank who wants to settle down and start a family. A major crime boss who is under police surveillance approaches Frank about working for him. Frank is resistant to the idea, but one last big score could set him up for life. There's plenty of action, a lot of nice night shots, and a good soundtrack.
Paper Flowers / Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) - 8/10 - A once successful film director looks back on his life. Suresh Sinha (Guru Dutt) is a popular director with a number of hits who is about ready to film Devdas for his next feature. He comes across a young woman named Shanti (Waheeda Rehman) who is not an actress, but he thinks will be perfect for a lead role in the film. The film follows his relationship with Shanti and also his relationship with his daughter (Kumari Naaz). The film is apparently based in part on Dutt's own experiences in the film industry. He starred in and directed the film and his life mirrored this to an extent. I thought Dutt, Rehman, and Naaz all did a nice job and I appreciated the music in the film, too.
Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam (1962) - 8/10 - An old, ruined mansion is in the process of being torn down when lunch break is called. The overseer (Guru Dutt) uses this time to reflect back to many years earlier when he first arrived at the mansion as a young, naive man. The estate is elegant, but the master of the house goes out drinking every night and spending time with dancing women while his unhappy wife (Meena Kumari) remains at home, lonely in the absence of her husband. The newly arrived worker befriends the daughter (Waheeda Rehman) of a man who works at the master's factory and the worker also befriends the mistress of the house, being seeming to be somewhat in awe of her. The film has nice performances from the three main leads as the tragedy plays out.
Guide (1965) - 8/10 - Raju was a tour guide who fell in love with the young wife of an older archeologist. The woman was a dancer and the daughter of a prostitute so many people in Raju's village were against her, including his mother and uncle. When the film starts, Raju has just been released from a short stay in prison and instead of returning home, decides to go in a different direction. He is mistaken for a holy man and the people of a rural village start looking to him for wisdom. His earlier life is told in flashback. I thought the film wandered a bit during the second half, but overall it is pretty solid and I enjoyed it.
The Power (1968) - 7.5/10 - George Hamilton stars as a biologist named Jim Tanner who heads a committee researching human endurance in conjunction with the space program. One of the committee members has designed a test that shows another member has mental powers in advance of normal humanity. When that man is murdered, suspicion falls on Tanner and he starts trying to get to the bottom of things to clear his name. This was a nice thriller.
The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (1960) - 7.5/10 - Dr. Mabuse has been dead for quite some time, but is he back? The film starts with a reporter getting murdered and soon segues to a hotel which is set up with two way mirrors and closed circuit tv cameras so that whoever is behind the scenes can spy on any guest they choose. It's a decent film and there is a lot to like, but it doesn't match up to The Testament of Dr. Mabuse. I did like it more than the original silent film.
Junglee (1961) - 7/10 - Shammi Kapoor portrays a wealthy, but humorless jackass named Shekhar who lives by the principles espoused by his mother who is conscious of wealth and status. Shekhar's sister Mala is in love with a poor man, but her mother forbids their relationship and has Shekhar take her to Kashmir to get away from the man. While in Kashmir, Shekhar falls in love with the daughter of a doctor and his demeanor changes as a result, though it is not immediate. I didn't really like Kapoor's acting throughout much of the film, but I did really like Saira Banu as Rajkumari, the love interest. Overall, I did like the movie, but thought it could have been better.
Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) - 7/10 - A chauffeur takes the fall for his crime boss employer only to see the boss betray his promises of support for the chauffeur's family. This eventually leads to the husband, wife, and three young sons all being separated from each other for 20+ years with each boy being raised in a different home with different religions. One of the sons becomes a police officer, another runs a bar, and the third is a singer. The story is kind of ridiculous and over the top with plenty of bad fighting scenes mixed in. And yet, some of the songs were good and the film itself became kind of fun after a while, sometimes due to the ridiculousness of it. I ended up finding it entertaining and can understand why some people love the film and some hate it.
Vigilante (1982) - 7/10 - A factory worker named Eddie has his life turned upside down when his wife and son are assaulted by a gang. His friend Nick tries to get Eddie to join the group of vigilantes that takes matters in to their own hands, but Eddie wants to let things play out in the courts. He changes his mind when corruption and bribery become evident. This is a decent revenge film, somewhat along the Death Wish lines.
Cutter's Way (1981) - 7/10 - Bone (Jeff Bridges) is driving when his car breaks down in an alley. He sees a man stop and dump something before driving on and almost running Bone over. Bone finds out later that the body of a murdered girl was dumped and the police suspect that he may have killed her. Bone thinks he recognizes the killer during a parade and Bone's friend Cutter (John Heard) decides to try and get the man to confess. Cutter is a veteran with his own way of doing things. It was decent, but felt like it had the potential to be a lot better.
The Ghost Writer (2010) - 6.5/10 - A former British Prime Minister (Pierce Brosnan) is writing his memoirs, but needs a new ghost writer since his previous one died. A new ghost writer (Ewan McGregor) and gets to work. It's tedious at first, but there seem to be some secrets buried within the text and the new writer might also be in danger. Unfortunately, I didn't really find the story all that engrossing. It wasn't bad, but it felt kind of flat.
One False Move (1991) - 6.5/10 - Three criminals kill a group of people in LA and steal a bunch of money and drugs. They head toward Houston to sell the drugs and Arkansas where one of the three has relatives. Detectives in LA get wind of the Arkansas connection and travel there to work with the local sheriff. The opening section in LA and a good part of the road trip with the criminals wasn't really all that good or interesting. The parts that took place in Arkansas with the sheriff were decent, though.
Nightmare (1964) - 6/10 - Janet is a 17 year old girl whose mother went insane and murdered her father when Janet was 11. Janet has nightmares about it and the nightmares seem to get worse when she sees a mysterious woman in white wandering the halls. It was okay, but the whole thing was fairly bland without a lot of real tension.
The Strange Vengeance of Rosalie (1972) - 6/10 - A traveling salesman picks up a strange teenage hitchhiker (Bonnie Bedelia) and soon finds his travels derailed since she has plans of her own. His actions seem kind of dumb and I don't think the story is all that convincing. There are obvious similarities to Misery which came much later. As a side note, Kathy Bates is only a few months younger than Bedelia.
Agraharathil Kazhutai / Donkey in a Brahmin Village (1977) - 5.5/10 - A group of people attack and kill a donkey for no apparent reason. A college professor decides to take care of that donkey's offspring, but it causes problems for him wherever he goes. I guess people are superstitious about donkeys or just don't like them or whatever. There were a few somewhat interesting bits here and there, but mostly it kind of falls flat.
Who Pays the Piper / Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983) - 5/10 - Two photographers open up a new studio, but don't do well at first. They get an assignment from a newspaper specializing in scandals which leads to more work for them. They uncover graft, but it leads. to quite an adventure and some Weekend at Bernie's action. Unfortunately, a lot of this is kind of dumb and not very funny, especially during the first half of the film.
Where Eagles Dare (1968) - 8/10 - An American general has been captured after his plane went down and the Nazis are holding him in a fortified castle high up in the mountains. The castle is inaccessible, except by cable car from the lower elevations. An allied team is assembled to rescue the general before he can spill the knowledge that he holds about upcoming actions. There is plenty of action, deception, and so on. Richard Burton leads the team and Clint Eastwood is the lone American member of the team.
Ajantrik / Pathetic Fallacy (1958) - 8/10 - Bimal drives an old 1920 jalopy as a taxi. It's beaten up, but is pretty reliable. Others laugh at him for driving it, but he loves the car, has named it, and thinks of it as a person. The film shows Bimal interacting with the locals as well as various customers. His love for the car is evident and I found myself enjoying the film quite a bit.
Bandini (1963) - 8/10 - Kalyani is a quiet resident of a women's prison in 1930s India. She volunteers to take care of a TB patient, a dangerous thing to do at the time. She gains the eye and the ear of one of the prison doctors and the story of how she came to be a prisoner is revealed in flashback. I think the first part of the film is the strongest, but the whole picture is pretty good.
Scorching Winds / Garm Hava (1974) - 8/10 - Salim Mirza is a Muslim with a good family and life in India. When Pakistan is created during partition, Salim's brother and a number of other relatives emigrate to Pakistan. Life becomes difficult for those who chose to stay behind in their home town. The film does a very nice job of showing some of the difficulties faced by the minority Muslim population after the partition.
Thief (1981) - 8/10 - James Caan stars as a diamond thief and ex-con named Frank who wants to settle down and start a family. A major crime boss who is under police surveillance approaches Frank about working for him. Frank is resistant to the idea, but one last big score could set him up for life. There's plenty of action, a lot of nice night shots, and a good soundtrack.
Paper Flowers / Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) - 8/10 - A once successful film director looks back on his life. Suresh Sinha (Guru Dutt) is a popular director with a number of hits who is about ready to film Devdas for his next feature. He comes across a young woman named Shanti (Waheeda Rehman) who is not an actress, but he thinks will be perfect for a lead role in the film. The film follows his relationship with Shanti and also his relationship with his daughter (Kumari Naaz). The film is apparently based in part on Dutt's own experiences in the film industry. He starred in and directed the film and his life mirrored this to an extent. I thought Dutt, Rehman, and Naaz all did a nice job and I appreciated the music in the film, too.
Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam (1962) - 8/10 - An old, ruined mansion is in the process of being torn down when lunch break is called. The overseer (Guru Dutt) uses this time to reflect back to many years earlier when he first arrived at the mansion as a young, naive man. The estate is elegant, but the master of the house goes out drinking every night and spending time with dancing women while his unhappy wife (Meena Kumari) remains at home, lonely in the absence of her husband. The newly arrived worker befriends the daughter (Waheeda Rehman) of a man who works at the master's factory and the worker also befriends the mistress of the house, being seeming to be somewhat in awe of her. The film has nice performances from the three main leads as the tragedy plays out.
Guide (1965) - 8/10 - Raju was a tour guide who fell in love with the young wife of an older archeologist. The woman was a dancer and the daughter of a prostitute so many people in Raju's village were against her, including his mother and uncle. When the film starts, Raju has just been released from a short stay in prison and instead of returning home, decides to go in a different direction. He is mistaken for a holy man and the people of a rural village start looking to him for wisdom. His earlier life is told in flashback. I thought the film wandered a bit during the second half, but overall it is pretty solid and I enjoyed it.
The Power (1968) - 7.5/10 - George Hamilton stars as a biologist named Jim Tanner who heads a committee researching human endurance in conjunction with the space program. One of the committee members has designed a test that shows another member has mental powers in advance of normal humanity. When that man is murdered, suspicion falls on Tanner and he starts trying to get to the bottom of things to clear his name. This was a nice thriller.
The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (1960) - 7.5/10 - Dr. Mabuse has been dead for quite some time, but is he back? The film starts with a reporter getting murdered and soon segues to a hotel which is set up with two way mirrors and closed circuit tv cameras so that whoever is behind the scenes can spy on any guest they choose. It's a decent film and there is a lot to like, but it doesn't match up to The Testament of Dr. Mabuse. I did like it more than the original silent film.
Junglee (1961) - 7/10 - Shammi Kapoor portrays a wealthy, but humorless jackass named Shekhar who lives by the principles espoused by his mother who is conscious of wealth and status. Shekhar's sister Mala is in love with a poor man, but her mother forbids their relationship and has Shekhar take her to Kashmir to get away from the man. While in Kashmir, Shekhar falls in love with the daughter of a doctor and his demeanor changes as a result, though it is not immediate. I didn't really like Kapoor's acting throughout much of the film, but I did really like Saira Banu as Rajkumari, the love interest. Overall, I did like the movie, but thought it could have been better.
Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) - 7/10 - A chauffeur takes the fall for his crime boss employer only to see the boss betray his promises of support for the chauffeur's family. This eventually leads to the husband, wife, and three young sons all being separated from each other for 20+ years with each boy being raised in a different home with different religions. One of the sons becomes a police officer, another runs a bar, and the third is a singer. The story is kind of ridiculous and over the top with plenty of bad fighting scenes mixed in. And yet, some of the songs were good and the film itself became kind of fun after a while, sometimes due to the ridiculousness of it. I ended up finding it entertaining and can understand why some people love the film and some hate it.
Vigilante (1982) - 7/10 - A factory worker named Eddie has his life turned upside down when his wife and son are assaulted by a gang. His friend Nick tries to get Eddie to join the group of vigilantes that takes matters in to their own hands, but Eddie wants to let things play out in the courts. He changes his mind when corruption and bribery become evident. This is a decent revenge film, somewhat along the Death Wish lines.
Cutter's Way (1981) - 7/10 - Bone (Jeff Bridges) is driving when his car breaks down in an alley. He sees a man stop and dump something before driving on and almost running Bone over. Bone finds out later that the body of a murdered girl was dumped and the police suspect that he may have killed her. Bone thinks he recognizes the killer during a parade and Bone's friend Cutter (John Heard) decides to try and get the man to confess. Cutter is a veteran with his own way of doing things. It was decent, but felt like it had the potential to be a lot better.
The Ghost Writer (2010) - 6.5/10 - A former British Prime Minister (Pierce Brosnan) is writing his memoirs, but needs a new ghost writer since his previous one died. A new ghost writer (Ewan McGregor) and gets to work. It's tedious at first, but there seem to be some secrets buried within the text and the new writer might also be in danger. Unfortunately, I didn't really find the story all that engrossing. It wasn't bad, but it felt kind of flat.
One False Move (1991) - 6.5/10 - Three criminals kill a group of people in LA and steal a bunch of money and drugs. They head toward Houston to sell the drugs and Arkansas where one of the three has relatives. Detectives in LA get wind of the Arkansas connection and travel there to work with the local sheriff. The opening section in LA and a good part of the road trip with the criminals wasn't really all that good or interesting. The parts that took place in Arkansas with the sheriff were decent, though.
Nightmare (1964) - 6/10 - Janet is a 17 year old girl whose mother went insane and murdered her father when Janet was 11. Janet has nightmares about it and the nightmares seem to get worse when she sees a mysterious woman in white wandering the halls. It was okay, but the whole thing was fairly bland without a lot of real tension.
The Strange Vengeance of Rosalie (1972) - 6/10 - A traveling salesman picks up a strange teenage hitchhiker (Bonnie Bedelia) and soon finds his travels derailed since she has plans of her own. His actions seem kind of dumb and I don't think the story is all that convincing. There are obvious similarities to Misery which came much later. As a side note, Kathy Bates is only a few months younger than Bedelia.
Agraharathil Kazhutai / Donkey in a Brahmin Village (1977) - 5.5/10 - A group of people attack and kill a donkey for no apparent reason. A college professor decides to take care of that donkey's offspring, but it causes problems for him wherever he goes. I guess people are superstitious about donkeys or just don't like them or whatever. There were a few somewhat interesting bits here and there, but mostly it kind of falls flat.
Who Pays the Piper / Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983) - 5/10 - Two photographers open up a new studio, but don't do well at first. They get an assignment from a newspaper specializing in scandals which leads to more work for them. They uncover graft, but it leads. to quite an adventure and some Weekend at Bernie's action. Unfortunately, a lot of this is kind of dumb and not very funny, especially during the first half of the film.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
The First Omen (Arkasha Stevenson, 2024) 7/10
It's amazing how one can often find a dichotomy within the same place - the beauty and tranquility of a church and the menace and evil within it as well.....the latter of which one mainly gets to see only at the movies. This creepy prequel to Richard Donner's classic horror film - The Omen (1976) - involves a recently arrived American novitiate (Nell Tiger Free) at an Italian orphanage in Rome which is run by a bunch of nuns and headed by a friendly Cardinal (Bill Nighy) and an ominous Abbess (Sonia Braga who is unrecognizable). She discovers that a disturbed orphan is being reared to mate with the Devil in order to give birth to the Anti-Christ. Highly atmospheric film, with gothic overtones, leads up to a twist ending which then goes on to show a baby supposedly "born" in Rome to the American Ambassador (Gregory Peck) and his wife (Lee Remick) who name their "son" Damien, thus bringing the story up to date with the Donner film.
Ambush at Cimarron Pass (Jodie Copelan, 1958) 1/10
Two groups of survivors of Indian attacks - a squad of cavalry and a Texas cattle drive - join forces to move towards a fort. When the Apache take off with their horses the two groups of men begin to bicker as food and water runs out and exhaustion begins to set in. Lifeless B-Western has an early big screen appearance by Clint Eastwood as a trigger-happy former Confederate soldier itching to kill the Cavalry leader (Scott Brady). He called it ‘the worst Western ever made’. And it most probably is.
Leave of Absence (Tom McLoughlin, 1994) 6/10
Soap opera about a "situation" that seems quite far fetched if one really thinks about it. Actually no need to even think. It IS far fetched. A successful architect (Brian Dennehy) tells his loving wife (Blythe Danner) that he needs a "leave of absence" from their very happy marriage to go look after his dying mistress (Jacqueline Bisset)......and wants to return to their marriage after she dies. Well for starters the burly-Dennehy / sexy-Bisset matchup may seem unrealistic but it actually works because it looks real as in something familiar from real life - the two stars have an easy-going screen chemistry. Their relationship comes off much more natural than the one with his wife of many years - Danner is stuck in a mostly under written part that calls for her to whine a lot. Also very good are Polly Bergen (who also came up with the story), as Danner's mother, and Jessica Walter as her best friend who is cheating on her husband.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (Adam Wingard, 2024) 5/10
Less is always more, but here the filmmakers seem to have literally fallen in love with the word "more". We not only get King Kong & Godzilla but then this very busy screenplay also throws in an ape tribe leader who battles Kong, an ancient ice-powered Titan who also jumps into the fray and before you can heave a sigh of relief that this very long film is finally coming to an end yet another monster makes an appearance - Mothra, a giant silk moth. The final 30 minutes are a cacophony of utter noise as the monsters all join in and create havoc. It all begins with a strange
unidentified signal that emanates from Hollow Earth where a lonely Kong resides. Godzilla, living on earth's surface and using the Colosseum in Rome as its nest, helps humanity against pesky giant monsters - there is a battle with a giant crab-like creature almost destroying half of Rome. The signals also attract Godzilla who rampages across France, destroys a nuclear plant to absorb its radiation, and ventures onto the Arctic Circle. Meanwhile a scientist (Rebecca Hall), her deaf adopted daughter (Kaylee Hottle), a vet (Dan Stevens) and a conspiracy podcaster (Brian Tyree Henry) reach Hollow Earth where they follow Kong into an unchartered section where they discover a tribe of apes, the Titan, and a surviving Iwi tribe, who communicate telepathically with each other. Then Godzilla also arrives after destroying the pyramids in Cairo and most of Rio. It all results in violence and mayhem of epic proportions with all the beasts at each other's throats. Kong comes off best with his soulful eyes and almost human-like traits. The rest of the beasts are like a fistful of Marvel superheroes flailing about and giving off the stench of too many cooks in the kitchen who sadly spoil the broth. There is just too much repetitious noisy action that ends up dulling one's senses.
It's amazing how one can often find a dichotomy within the same place - the beauty and tranquility of a church and the menace and evil within it as well.....the latter of which one mainly gets to see only at the movies. This creepy prequel to Richard Donner's classic horror film - The Omen (1976) - involves a recently arrived American novitiate (Nell Tiger Free) at an Italian orphanage in Rome which is run by a bunch of nuns and headed by a friendly Cardinal (Bill Nighy) and an ominous Abbess (Sonia Braga who is unrecognizable). She discovers that a disturbed orphan is being reared to mate with the Devil in order to give birth to the Anti-Christ. Highly atmospheric film, with gothic overtones, leads up to a twist ending which then goes on to show a baby supposedly "born" in Rome to the American Ambassador (Gregory Peck) and his wife (Lee Remick) who name their "son" Damien, thus bringing the story up to date with the Donner film.
Ambush at Cimarron Pass (Jodie Copelan, 1958) 1/10
Two groups of survivors of Indian attacks - a squad of cavalry and a Texas cattle drive - join forces to move towards a fort. When the Apache take off with their horses the two groups of men begin to bicker as food and water runs out and exhaustion begins to set in. Lifeless B-Western has an early big screen appearance by Clint Eastwood as a trigger-happy former Confederate soldier itching to kill the Cavalry leader (Scott Brady). He called it ‘the worst Western ever made’. And it most probably is.
Leave of Absence (Tom McLoughlin, 1994) 6/10
Soap opera about a "situation" that seems quite far fetched if one really thinks about it. Actually no need to even think. It IS far fetched. A successful architect (Brian Dennehy) tells his loving wife (Blythe Danner) that he needs a "leave of absence" from their very happy marriage to go look after his dying mistress (Jacqueline Bisset)......and wants to return to their marriage after she dies. Well for starters the burly-Dennehy / sexy-Bisset matchup may seem unrealistic but it actually works because it looks real as in something familiar from real life - the two stars have an easy-going screen chemistry. Their relationship comes off much more natural than the one with his wife of many years - Danner is stuck in a mostly under written part that calls for her to whine a lot. Also very good are Polly Bergen (who also came up with the story), as Danner's mother, and Jessica Walter as her best friend who is cheating on her husband.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (Adam Wingard, 2024) 5/10
Less is always more, but here the filmmakers seem to have literally fallen in love with the word "more". We not only get King Kong & Godzilla but then this very busy screenplay also throws in an ape tribe leader who battles Kong, an ancient ice-powered Titan who also jumps into the fray and before you can heave a sigh of relief that this very long film is finally coming to an end yet another monster makes an appearance - Mothra, a giant silk moth. The final 30 minutes are a cacophony of utter noise as the monsters all join in and create havoc. It all begins with a strange
unidentified signal that emanates from Hollow Earth where a lonely Kong resides. Godzilla, living on earth's surface and using the Colosseum in Rome as its nest, helps humanity against pesky giant monsters - there is a battle with a giant crab-like creature almost destroying half of Rome. The signals also attract Godzilla who rampages across France, destroys a nuclear plant to absorb its radiation, and ventures onto the Arctic Circle. Meanwhile a scientist (Rebecca Hall), her deaf adopted daughter (Kaylee Hottle), a vet (Dan Stevens) and a conspiracy podcaster (Brian Tyree Henry) reach Hollow Earth where they follow Kong into an unchartered section where they discover a tribe of apes, the Titan, and a surviving Iwi tribe, who communicate telepathically with each other. Then Godzilla also arrives after destroying the pyramids in Cairo and most of Rio. It all results in violence and mayhem of epic proportions with all the beasts at each other's throats. Kong comes off best with his soulful eyes and almost human-like traits. The rest of the beasts are like a fistful of Marvel superheroes flailing about and giving off the stench of too many cooks in the kitchen who sadly spoil the broth. There is just too much repetitious noisy action that ends up dulling one's senses.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Do You Love Me (Gregory Ratoff, 1946) 4/10
Mousy music school dean (Maureen O'Hara) is insulted for her looks and dress sense by band leader (Harry James who blows his famous trumpet) so she decides to remove her glasses - with help from close friend and composer colleague (Reginald Gardiner) - and transforms herself into a swan with the latest fashions. Soon she finds herself pursued by the man who insulted her as well as his best friend and crooner (Dick Haymes who sings five songs). Silly but colorful Fox musical. O'Hara is lovely, Gardiner is witty, and Betty Grable (then Mrs Harry James) makes a cameo appearance as a fan of James.
Mysterious Island (Cy Endfield, 1961) 7/10
Godzilla and King Kong are the offshoots of the original imagination of writer Jules Verne who wrote the classic 1874 novel "L'Île mystérieuse" about strange giant creatures on an island. Union soldiers (Michael Craig, Michael Callan, Dan Jackson) and a journalist (Gary Merrill) escape from prison in a giant balloon during the American Civil War. After days of being airborne they crash onto an island where they encounter not only two lovely shipwrecked ladies (Joan Greenwood, Beth Rogan) but find themselves battling with a giant crab, a huge chicken and huge bees. They also realize that someone appears to be looking out for them who turns out to be Captain Nemo (Herbert Lom) - a character from Jules Verne's 1870 novel "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas". Old fashioned adventure film is fairly thrilling, has a rousing score by Bernard Herrmann and stop motion animation effects by Ray Harryhausen. Lovely Joan Greenwood and her gurgling voice were always a huge asset to any film.
Futures vedettes / School for Love (Marc Allégret, 1955) 4/10
Affairs of the fluttering heart at the music and dance conservatory in Vienna. A tough music teacher (Jean Marais) finds himself involved with a nubile sexpot (Brigitte Bardot), a melancholic student (Isabelle Pia) and his estranged wife. Bardot, before stardom, is lively during the ballet sequences which she performs quite well. The silly screenplay was adapted by Roger Vadim from the novel by Vicki Baum.
The Bricklayer (Renny Harlin, 2024) 5/10
Cartoonish hijinks and violence in a screenplay with one pothole after another yet this action packed nonsense is still great fun. A rogue CIA agent (Clifton Collins Jr.), thought dead, is killing important European journalists thus wrongfully implicating the Agency. The FBI Director (Tim Blake Nelson) and one of his top agents (Nina Dobrev) recruit a very reluctant retired agent (Aaron Eckhart) to bring in the rogue who was once upon a time his close friend. Non-stop mayhem with bullets flying, car chases galore, fist fights and double crosses. The agent assigned to him has to be one of the most inept ever although deep down we know she will come through at a crucial moment in the plot. The entire film is shot on location in the Greek city of Thessaloniki which adds much needed sunny colour to the proceedings. Eckhart makes a competent action hero although brings nothing new to the genre.
The Rosary Murders (Fred Walton, 1987) 6/10
When members of a Catholic clergy in Detroit start falling victim to a serial killer with victims dying in gruesome fashion, a priest (Donald Sutherland) tries to investigate. When the killer confesses to him in the confession booth at the church it causes intense conflict in his mind as he is bound by the seal of confession to keep it secret. Despite his guilt at the continuing murders he does not reveal to the cop (Josef Sommer) the identity of the killer who has been unhinged since his daughter committed suicide. Slow moving, bleak mystery has a charismatic performance by the silver haired Sutherland and an equally good one by Charles Durning as his superior at the church who is also connected to the mystery. Hitchcock did this theme better in the classic I Confess (1953) with Montgomery Clift as the tormented priest who cannot reveal the murderer who has confessed to him.
The Gunfight at Dodge City (Joseph M. Newman, 1959) 4/10
Bat Masterson (Joel McCrea) arrives in Dodge City, invests in a saloon, becomes the City Marshall after his brother is murdered and has to fend off the murderous intentions of the town sheriff and his deputies. Standard western with McCrea merely going through the motions. Julie Adams and Nancy Gates are the two love interests and John McIntire is memorable as the local doctor.
A Thunder of Drums (Joseph Newman, 1961) 2/10
Deathly slow Western starts well during an Indian attack on a homestead which is viewed through the horrified face of a child and shadows on the ceiling. It's all downhill from there on until another skirmish between the Indians and the Cavalry. In between there is a prickly relationship between a Captain (Richard Boone) and a Lieutenant (George Hamilton), plus the latter's involvement in a love triangle. Far too much time is spent showing an inside look at a Cavalry post and its functions. An excellent supporting cast - Arthur O'Connell, Charles Bronson, Richard Chamberlain - is wasted. The screenwriter, James Warner Bellah, adapted it from one of his own short stories - a far cry from many of his other stories of which - "Fort Apache", She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", "Rio Grande" - were brought memorably to the big screen by John Ford.
I bambini ci guardano / The Children Are Watching Us (Vittorio De Sica, 1943) 10/10
A child is abandoned when his mother runs off with her lover and his father cannot keep him because he is busy with his career. Later she returns to her child and husband and they go on vacation in an attempt to make their marriage work. However, she soon runs off again with her lover which results in a devastating turn of events followed by a bitter decision taken by the child while at boarding school which reflects his loss of innocence. Sad but realistic look at a modern marriage as seen through the eyes of an innocent child. The perceptive screenplay touches on infidelity, selfish parents unwilling to take responsibility for their children and focusing instead on a materialistic life and career. Classic neorealist drama marked the first collaboration of De Sica with Cesare Zavattini who was one of the many screenwriters.
Parigi è sempre Parigi / Paris is always Paris (Luciano Emmer, 1951) 5/10
Italian tourists arrive in Paris for a soccer match but get distracted by the sights and romance. A wealthy hotelier (Aldo Fabrizi) hopes to score with female company, his wife gets a beauty makeover, while their daughter (Lucia Bosè) continuously bickers with her fiancé (Marcello Mastroianni). A young romeo (Franco Interlenghi) falls in love with a girl who works at a newspaper kiosk and both end up at a club where Yves Montand is performing. Rather silly film has an interesting cast and views of lovely Paris including a look-in at a gay club with drag queens and an avante garde club where the cabaret singer is Eartha Kitt.
Shaurya (Samar Khan, 2008) 5/10
Inspired by the Hindi play "Court Martial" by Swadesh Deepak, the story has more than a passing resemblance to two other plays - "Conduct Unbecoming" by Barry England and "A Few Good Men" by Aaron Sorkin. During a skirmish in Indian occupied Kashmir a Muslim Army officer (Deepak Dobriyal) shoots dead his fellow superior Hindu officer (Pankaj Tripathy) and surrenders himself. His court martial is presided over by two Army lawyers and best friends - the dedicated and sensible (Javed Jaffrey) is to be the prosecuting lawyer and the immature and care-free (Rahul Bose) is assigned to be the defence lawyer. As the case progresses it becomes apparent that there is a cover up and a senior Commanding officer (Kay Kay Menon) may know more about the case than he has divulged. Menon channels Jack Nicholson when he is called to the stand and the plot quickly devolves into what remains at the heart of India's deep-down crankiness - the Hindu-Muslim "issue" - which is a result of the country being ruled once upon a time for almost 600 years by Muslims. They never seem to have gotten over the fact which has in recent times escalated into Hindu nationalism of the rabid kind. Menon is clearly the standout in what is a very slow and predictable film.
Fighter (Siddharth Anand, 2024) 5/10
A dream casting coup - Bollywood screen heart-throb Hrithik Roshan and sultry beauty Deepika Padukone on the screen together for the first time. With Deepika's sexy appearance - often wearing next to nothing - in last year's hit "Pathaan" the expectations were sky high for this film - sizzling clinches in bed and on and off the dance floor. However, Deepika here plays a fully-clothed Air Force squadron leader while Roshan, as her partner in the Forces, instead gets to do the female equivalent of cheesecake by stripping and showing his rippling chest - ok it's his breasts that get the water lashings in the shower. Romance takes mostly a constipatory backseat but the film deflects it by a few imaginary song and dance sequences where the two stars get to "romance", don sexy attire - she in the obligatory swimsuit - and move on the dance floor. During the main plot we get the usual lashings of potshots at Pakistan by way of references to the 2019 Pulwama attack, Balakot airstrike and India-Pakistan border skirmishes. Yup, its Bollywood-Indian patriotic fever galore played up several decibels to the Modi gallery by regurgitating jingoism at an ad nauseum level. The film's action sequences reminds of the recent Tom Cruise "Maverick" film with superbly shot fighter jet aerial sequences. The screenplay often takes on a campy aspect in the dialogues between the opposing fighter pilots - during an intense airborne chase sequence - as they sarcastically parry as if sitting on a sofa in a drawing room - its the old cliché equivalent of boys comparing their dick sizes. And when will Bollywood finally "get" a Pakistani muslim right - intoning the word "janaab" at the drop of a hat is such a dull cliché and a totally incorrect depiction. The film's ending is so over-the-top - with hilariously inane dialogue - that it takes on the mantle of a cartoon. Hrithik has great swag, Deepika has expressive eyes and Anil Kapoor is fiery and brooding as their Group Captain.
Mousy music school dean (Maureen O'Hara) is insulted for her looks and dress sense by band leader (Harry James who blows his famous trumpet) so she decides to remove her glasses - with help from close friend and composer colleague (Reginald Gardiner) - and transforms herself into a swan with the latest fashions. Soon she finds herself pursued by the man who insulted her as well as his best friend and crooner (Dick Haymes who sings five songs). Silly but colorful Fox musical. O'Hara is lovely, Gardiner is witty, and Betty Grable (then Mrs Harry James) makes a cameo appearance as a fan of James.
Mysterious Island (Cy Endfield, 1961) 7/10
Godzilla and King Kong are the offshoots of the original imagination of writer Jules Verne who wrote the classic 1874 novel "L'Île mystérieuse" about strange giant creatures on an island. Union soldiers (Michael Craig, Michael Callan, Dan Jackson) and a journalist (Gary Merrill) escape from prison in a giant balloon during the American Civil War. After days of being airborne they crash onto an island where they encounter not only two lovely shipwrecked ladies (Joan Greenwood, Beth Rogan) but find themselves battling with a giant crab, a huge chicken and huge bees. They also realize that someone appears to be looking out for them who turns out to be Captain Nemo (Herbert Lom) - a character from Jules Verne's 1870 novel "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas". Old fashioned adventure film is fairly thrilling, has a rousing score by Bernard Herrmann and stop motion animation effects by Ray Harryhausen. Lovely Joan Greenwood and her gurgling voice were always a huge asset to any film.
Futures vedettes / School for Love (Marc Allégret, 1955) 4/10
Affairs of the fluttering heart at the music and dance conservatory in Vienna. A tough music teacher (Jean Marais) finds himself involved with a nubile sexpot (Brigitte Bardot), a melancholic student (Isabelle Pia) and his estranged wife. Bardot, before stardom, is lively during the ballet sequences which she performs quite well. The silly screenplay was adapted by Roger Vadim from the novel by Vicki Baum.
The Bricklayer (Renny Harlin, 2024) 5/10
Cartoonish hijinks and violence in a screenplay with one pothole after another yet this action packed nonsense is still great fun. A rogue CIA agent (Clifton Collins Jr.), thought dead, is killing important European journalists thus wrongfully implicating the Agency. The FBI Director (Tim Blake Nelson) and one of his top agents (Nina Dobrev) recruit a very reluctant retired agent (Aaron Eckhart) to bring in the rogue who was once upon a time his close friend. Non-stop mayhem with bullets flying, car chases galore, fist fights and double crosses. The agent assigned to him has to be one of the most inept ever although deep down we know she will come through at a crucial moment in the plot. The entire film is shot on location in the Greek city of Thessaloniki which adds much needed sunny colour to the proceedings. Eckhart makes a competent action hero although brings nothing new to the genre.
The Rosary Murders (Fred Walton, 1987) 6/10
When members of a Catholic clergy in Detroit start falling victim to a serial killer with victims dying in gruesome fashion, a priest (Donald Sutherland) tries to investigate. When the killer confesses to him in the confession booth at the church it causes intense conflict in his mind as he is bound by the seal of confession to keep it secret. Despite his guilt at the continuing murders he does not reveal to the cop (Josef Sommer) the identity of the killer who has been unhinged since his daughter committed suicide. Slow moving, bleak mystery has a charismatic performance by the silver haired Sutherland and an equally good one by Charles Durning as his superior at the church who is also connected to the mystery. Hitchcock did this theme better in the classic I Confess (1953) with Montgomery Clift as the tormented priest who cannot reveal the murderer who has confessed to him.
The Gunfight at Dodge City (Joseph M. Newman, 1959) 4/10
Bat Masterson (Joel McCrea) arrives in Dodge City, invests in a saloon, becomes the City Marshall after his brother is murdered and has to fend off the murderous intentions of the town sheriff and his deputies. Standard western with McCrea merely going through the motions. Julie Adams and Nancy Gates are the two love interests and John McIntire is memorable as the local doctor.
A Thunder of Drums (Joseph Newman, 1961) 2/10
Deathly slow Western starts well during an Indian attack on a homestead which is viewed through the horrified face of a child and shadows on the ceiling. It's all downhill from there on until another skirmish between the Indians and the Cavalry. In between there is a prickly relationship between a Captain (Richard Boone) and a Lieutenant (George Hamilton), plus the latter's involvement in a love triangle. Far too much time is spent showing an inside look at a Cavalry post and its functions. An excellent supporting cast - Arthur O'Connell, Charles Bronson, Richard Chamberlain - is wasted. The screenwriter, James Warner Bellah, adapted it from one of his own short stories - a far cry from many of his other stories of which - "Fort Apache", She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", "Rio Grande" - were brought memorably to the big screen by John Ford.
I bambini ci guardano / The Children Are Watching Us (Vittorio De Sica, 1943) 10/10
A child is abandoned when his mother runs off with her lover and his father cannot keep him because he is busy with his career. Later she returns to her child and husband and they go on vacation in an attempt to make their marriage work. However, she soon runs off again with her lover which results in a devastating turn of events followed by a bitter decision taken by the child while at boarding school which reflects his loss of innocence. Sad but realistic look at a modern marriage as seen through the eyes of an innocent child. The perceptive screenplay touches on infidelity, selfish parents unwilling to take responsibility for their children and focusing instead on a materialistic life and career. Classic neorealist drama marked the first collaboration of De Sica with Cesare Zavattini who was one of the many screenwriters.
Parigi è sempre Parigi / Paris is always Paris (Luciano Emmer, 1951) 5/10
Italian tourists arrive in Paris for a soccer match but get distracted by the sights and romance. A wealthy hotelier (Aldo Fabrizi) hopes to score with female company, his wife gets a beauty makeover, while their daughter (Lucia Bosè) continuously bickers with her fiancé (Marcello Mastroianni). A young romeo (Franco Interlenghi) falls in love with a girl who works at a newspaper kiosk and both end up at a club where Yves Montand is performing. Rather silly film has an interesting cast and views of lovely Paris including a look-in at a gay club with drag queens and an avante garde club where the cabaret singer is Eartha Kitt.
Shaurya (Samar Khan, 2008) 5/10
Inspired by the Hindi play "Court Martial" by Swadesh Deepak, the story has more than a passing resemblance to two other plays - "Conduct Unbecoming" by Barry England and "A Few Good Men" by Aaron Sorkin. During a skirmish in Indian occupied Kashmir a Muslim Army officer (Deepak Dobriyal) shoots dead his fellow superior Hindu officer (Pankaj Tripathy) and surrenders himself. His court martial is presided over by two Army lawyers and best friends - the dedicated and sensible (Javed Jaffrey) is to be the prosecuting lawyer and the immature and care-free (Rahul Bose) is assigned to be the defence lawyer. As the case progresses it becomes apparent that there is a cover up and a senior Commanding officer (Kay Kay Menon) may know more about the case than he has divulged. Menon channels Jack Nicholson when he is called to the stand and the plot quickly devolves into what remains at the heart of India's deep-down crankiness - the Hindu-Muslim "issue" - which is a result of the country being ruled once upon a time for almost 600 years by Muslims. They never seem to have gotten over the fact which has in recent times escalated into Hindu nationalism of the rabid kind. Menon is clearly the standout in what is a very slow and predictable film.
Fighter (Siddharth Anand, 2024) 5/10
A dream casting coup - Bollywood screen heart-throb Hrithik Roshan and sultry beauty Deepika Padukone on the screen together for the first time. With Deepika's sexy appearance - often wearing next to nothing - in last year's hit "Pathaan" the expectations were sky high for this film - sizzling clinches in bed and on and off the dance floor. However, Deepika here plays a fully-clothed Air Force squadron leader while Roshan, as her partner in the Forces, instead gets to do the female equivalent of cheesecake by stripping and showing his rippling chest - ok it's his breasts that get the water lashings in the shower. Romance takes mostly a constipatory backseat but the film deflects it by a few imaginary song and dance sequences where the two stars get to "romance", don sexy attire - she in the obligatory swimsuit - and move on the dance floor. During the main plot we get the usual lashings of potshots at Pakistan by way of references to the 2019 Pulwama attack, Balakot airstrike and India-Pakistan border skirmishes. Yup, its Bollywood-Indian patriotic fever galore played up several decibels to the Modi gallery by regurgitating jingoism at an ad nauseum level. The film's action sequences reminds of the recent Tom Cruise "Maverick" film with superbly shot fighter jet aerial sequences. The screenplay often takes on a campy aspect in the dialogues between the opposing fighter pilots - during an intense airborne chase sequence - as they sarcastically parry as if sitting on a sofa in a drawing room - its the old cliché equivalent of boys comparing their dick sizes. And when will Bollywood finally "get" a Pakistani muslim right - intoning the word "janaab" at the drop of a hat is such a dull cliché and a totally incorrect depiction. The film's ending is so over-the-top - with hilariously inane dialogue - that it takes on the mantle of a cartoon. Hrithik has great swag, Deepika has expressive eyes and Anil Kapoor is fiery and brooding as their Group Captain.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
You have totally underestimated this film. It's one of the most romantic - and over-the-top - films ever. Over-the-top in terms of its visuals, the characters, the emotions and the dialogues (you need to understand Hindi in order to *get* it). Plus it has two stunningly beautiful actresses at their peak - Aishwarya Rai (as Paro) and Madhuri Dixit (as the prostitute Chandramukhi).gunnar wrote: ↑Sat Apr 06, 2024 12:01 amDevdas (2002) - 5/10 - This one was a real chore to get through. Devdas (Shah Rukh Khan) has been living in the UK for many years when he finally comes home, apparently as a lawyer. He reunites with his childhood friend, Paro, and the two expect to marry, but Devdas's mother (egged on by her scheming daughter-in-law) insult Paro's family and refuse to allow the wedding. This leads Paro away as Devdas rejects her and starts a downward spiral for Devdas. The film has pretty good visuals, but the background music was pretty annoying much of the time as were many of the various characters, with the exception of Paro and Chunnilal.
Its like watching something Pedro Almódovar would come up with.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
This is the seventh film that I've seen starring Aamir Khan and I've liked them all to one extent or another with my favorites being Lagaan and Dangal. The others that I've seen are Dil Chahta Hai, PK, Like Stars on Earth, and 3 Idiots. There's a challenge on another message board to watch films from the Indian subcontinent this month. I plan to watch quite a few films from Indian during April, though I don't think any of the others have Aamir Khan in them (or Shah Rukh Khan either for that matter).
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
The film was a massive hit, cemented the stardom of Aamir Khan (who would much later appear in Lagaan), and won many Filmfare awards - India's equivalent to the Oscarsgunnar wrote: ↑Sat Apr 06, 2024 11:03 amI can see that now that you point it out. I love Breaking Away and while this doesn't measure up to it, it was okay.Reza wrote: ↑Sat Apr 06, 2024 10:50 amThis was the Bollywood remake of Peter Yates' Breaking Away (1979)gunnar wrote: ↑Sat Apr 06, 2024 12:01 amJo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992) - 6.5/10 - Aamir Khan portrays a slacker who goes to the 'poor' school in the area and hangs out with his friends. Their rivals are a nearby 'rich' school which has a few jerks of their own, including the big man on campus and his followers. This isn't a great film, but it's not really worse than a lot of similar American films from the era, though it comes with a couple of song/dance numbers and is more than 2.5 hours. The song/dance numbers weren't really all that intrusive and at least were few in number.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Classic historical-romance about the love affair between Mughal Prince Salim (later the 4th Mughal Emperor Jehangir) and Anarkali (a slave girl). The story is a famous myth. It is set during the reign of the 3rd Mughal Emperor Akbar. Some say Anarkali was actually Akbar's concubine but stolen by his son.gunnar wrote: ↑Sat Apr 06, 2024 12:01 amMughal-E-Azam (1960) - 8/10 - A Mughal prince falls for a court dancer/maid. She tries to resist because of the difference in their stations, but loves him as well. Unfortunately, this relationship displeases the emperor and he takes steps to keep it from happening. I thought the first half of the film was pretty well paced and maintained my interest throughout. I even enjoyed the musical numbers. It got bogged down during the second half and was less interesting. It would have benefitted from a number of cuts in the runtime during that section. The costumes and sets were excellent all the way through the film, though. I've read a couple of novels which take place around 35 years later and feature the prince's son and grandchildren so this was interesting to me for that reason, too.
This black & white film is famous for having two songs shot in colour at a huge cost.
Trivia: The two actors playing the lovers - Dilip Kumar & Madhubala - were off screen lovers too but had broken off their relationship acrimoniously some years before. The film is very famous for their sensuous love scenes - the one where he strokes her face with a feather is a classic erotic moment - yet both actors were not on speaking terms when they shot their scenes. Despite this the film lives on due to the romantic moments.
Last edited by Reza on Sat Apr 06, 2024 11:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
I can see that now that you point it out. I love Breaking Away and while this doesn't measure up to it, it was okay.Reza wrote: ↑Sat Apr 06, 2024 10:50 amThis was the Bollywood remake of Peter Yates' Breaking Away (1979)gunnar wrote: ↑Sat Apr 06, 2024 12:01 amJo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992) - 6.5/10 - Aamir Khan portrays a slacker who goes to the 'poor' school in the area and hangs out with his friends. Their rivals are a nearby 'rich' school which has a few jerks of their own, including the big man on campus and his followers. This isn't a great film, but it's not really worse than a lot of similar American films from the era, though it comes with a couple of song/dance numbers and is more than 2.5 hours. The song/dance numbers weren't really all that intrusive and at least were few in number.