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

[Kellens101]

Sadly, I'd only give Forrest Gump one award in my Oscar Shouldabeens: Best Adapted Screenplay. This is simply because, there were better choices in other categories. I would gladly give it Best Picture and Director if it weren't for Pulp Fiction, Three Colors: Red, Heavenly Creatures and Ed Wood. What a good year, though. Other than that, there was Quiz Show, Bullets over Broadway, The Lion King and so many other good films.

[Kellens101]

I've yet to see that, but it's supposedly amazing and one of the best documentaries of all time. So I should probably watch it soon because I must be missing out on a great movie.

[Greg]

Even though I think Pulp Fiction deserved to win Best Picture of 1994, I still love Forrest Gump and find it to be a joyful, wonderfully-crafted and heartwarming gem of a movie.

My favorite film from that year is the documentary Hoop Dreams.

[Kellens101]

Forrest Gump(1994) 9/10

I could just watch this movie over and over again. It's just a wonderful movie. Ever since I first saw about 5 years ago at age 10, I've adored it. The story of Forrest Gump is one full of laughs, happiness, and excitement as it chronicles his journey from the 1950s to the 1980s. There is also a lot of heartbreak and poignancy along the way that builds to a hugely touching, heart-wrenching finale. I find the movie just works well on so many levels. Robert Zemeckis' direction is great, as he moves the film along briskly through each scene and time frame, telling the life story of Forrest Gump, while he narrates each dazzling set piece. The entire cast is excellent, from Robin Wright's luminous and tough Jenny whom Forrest chases after and runs into throughout the whole movie, to Gary Sinise's tough and angry Lt. Dan who is saved by Forrest in Vietnam but who loses his legs and is bitter towards his situation, to Sally Field's warm and loving Mrs. Gump, to the solid star turn by Tom Hanks as the iconic titular character who carries the whole film on his shoulders with pathos, humor, heartbreak and an odd sense of knowledge. Even though I think Pulp Fiction deserved to win Best Picture of 1994, I still love Forrest Gump and find it to be a joyful, wonderfully-crafted and heartwarming gem of a movie.

[Reza]

Miss Julie (Liv Ullman, 2014) 3/10

Extremely static and very tedious version of August Strindberg's play about class, religion and desire. A Baron's lonely and frustrated daughter (Jessica Chastain) turns her sexual desire onto the valet (Colin Farrell) while his fiancé, the kitchen maid (Samantha Morton), looks on. Highly theatrical piece made moreso by director Ullmann's choice of removing all other characters in the play and keeping most of the focus on these three. The two leads are badly miscast with Farrell's thick Irish lilt against Chastain's American twang - the story here has been moved from Sweden to Ireland though the period has been retained.

[Reza]

NH 10 (Navdeep Singh, 2015) 6/10

While on a weekend trip a couple - Anushka Sharma & Neil Bhoopalam - take a detour off the highway and witness an honor killing as village goons kill a young couple. On the run they are chased by the gang through rough terrain at night. A road journey gone bad with star-producer, Sharma, giving a very physical performance as the frightened woman who is placed in a situation that forces her to collect her wits and strike back. The script is full of holes but the plot has enough suspense to keep you on the edge of the seat for most of it's running time. Deepti Naval is quietly despicable in a cameo.

[Reza]

Finding Vivian Maier (John Maloof & Charlie Siskel, 2014) 9/10

Fascinating documentary about a complex woman - Vivian Maier - who's life is created piece by piece through the discovery of negatives at a flea market after which it is discovered she was a nanny who took photographs of people on the streets. Like a detective the filmmaker finds out more and more about this difficult woman via interviews with men, women and children with whom she worked as a domestic over the years. Sad, haunting yet very uplifting story about a woman trying to achieve her dreams but who instead died in obscurity. The discovery not only brought her posthumous fame - her stunning photographs are admired at top galleries around the world today - but also raised the serious question of invading the space of this very private and eccentric artist. A brilliant film.

[ITALIANO]

Well we've known that for decades now.

I haven't seen this documentary - but while we may have known all that for decades, I'm not sure that Americans themselves KNOW. So maybe movies like this can still open someone's eyes.

[Reza]

Citizenfour (Laura Poitras, 2014) 4/10

A documentary (in the form of almost a thriller) that exposes the extent the American government goes to spy and intrude into people's lives (also crossing borders) via modern surveillance technology in the name of security. Although this exposé says the surveillance is not just about security. On the other hand it also shows the equal amount of paranoia people have for securing their privacy. The paranoid whistleblower is shown going to absurd lengths to keep his privacy and then goes on the run and into exile. So what lesson are we learning here? That the American government is unethical and are on a personal agenda that breaks all rules of civilised societies. Well we've known that for decades now. What's the next exposé? That 9/11 was an event created by the American government to suit their own personal gain. And are we to next find out that it's actually America who is the world's deadliest terrorist force? We already know that last little tid bit.

[Reza]

Exodus: Gods and Kings (Ridley Scott, 2014) 6/10

Moses gets a retread once more when there really wasn't any need for it. The CGI effects carry the film via spectacular battle sequences, the splendor of the Egyptian buildings, a Jaws redux via giant alligators attacking a boat full of men and the Red Sea sequence which is the best part of this long and often boring epic. Christian Slater is good as Moses the Prince of Egypt but less so as he evolves into prophethood. Tom Edgarton creates a Ramses who is quietly sulking and spoilt. One misses Yul Brynner's virility and authority. And a pox on the filmmakers for making every female character a damp squib. Sigourney Weaver seems dressed up enough to go for the jugular but shockingly the script just has her standing in the background. Anne Baxter is sorely missed. Best to stick to the DeMille version which had stars, spectacle, action and heavy doses of camp. That's the classic version this one will never be.

Christian Slater? I'd have rather watched that version.

Haha I guess Slater was a Freudian slip.

[Precious Doll]

In the Courtyard (2014) Pierre Salvadori 6/10
The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet (2013) Jean-Pierre Jeunet 4/10
The Karski Report (2010) Claude Lanzman 4/10
Top Five (2014) Chris Rock 6/10
Inherent Vice (2014) Paul Thomas Anderson 7/10
At Berkeley (2013) Frederick Wiseman 7/10

Repeat viewings

God Told Me To (1976) Larry Cohen 6/10
Birdman (2014) Alejandro González Iñárritu 8/10
Island of Lost Souls (1932) Erle C. Kenton 7/10
A Home at the End of the World (2004) Michael Mayer 7/10
Night Will Fall (2014) Andre Singer 8/10
Robin and Marian (1976) Richard Lester 6/10

[Big Magilla]

Oliver!
1968, Carol Reed

I have never read Dickens' Oliver Twist, so I do not know how much liberty the film took with the source material. I did find that the lucky coincidences were too many and some way too lucky. Most prominent are an incident at court that leads Oliver to a new place to live that most likely would have been resolved earlier with the police and not have had so much of an impact; and, a completely-out-of-left-field discovery at Oliver's new home.

That was in the original novel, intended by Dickens to soften the harshness of the rest of the novel. The only film version I've seen that veers from it is Polanski's 2005 take which I didn't like because of it. It just isn't Dickens without it.

The purest version is Lean's 1948 take with Alec Guinness as Fagin. I also like the 1933 version with Dickie Moore, who turns 90 this year, as Oliver.

Information regarding Mark Lester's singing in Reed's film being dubbed was not made public until thirty years later when it was revealed that conductor Johnny Green's daughter Kathe did the dubbing.

[jack]

Exodus: Gods and Kings (Ridley Scott, 2014) 6/10

Moses gets a retread once more when there really wasn't any need for it. The CGI effects carry the film via spectacular battle sequences, the splendor of the Egyptian buildings, a Jaws redux via giant alligators attacking a boat full of men and the Red Sea sequence which is the best part of this long and often boring epic. Christian Slater is good as Moses the Prince of Egypt but less so as he evolves into prophethood. Tom Edgarton creates a Ramses who is quietly sulking and spoilt. One misses Yul Brynner's virility and authority. And a pox on the filmmakers for making every female character a damp squib. Sigourney Weaver seems dressed up enough to go for the jugular but shockingly the script just has her standing in the background. Anne Baxter is sorely missed. Best to stick to the DeMille version which had stars, spectacle, action and heavy doses of camp. That's the classic version this one will never be.

Christian Slater? I'd have rather watched that version.

[Reza]

The Chalk Garden (Ronald Neame, 1964) 6/10

The horrible music score (by Malcolm Arnold) annoyingly rises in crescendo at every peak moment of this talky stage adaptation. It distracts from the performances but luckily the stars are all very good. The leads play off one another - Hayley Mills as the obnoxious teenager deprived of love, Deborah Kerr as the governess with a mysterious past who tries to find the key to the young girl's behavior, Dame Edith Evans as the girl's grandmother who selfishly holds onto the child to spite her own daughter (Elizabeth Sellers). John Mills is the sole voice of reason and sanity in this mixed up houshold. It's really all rather tiresome but superbly photographed and performed. Nobody on screen has ever been able to match the clear and precise enunciation of each word like Dame Edith. Her all too rare screen appearances thankfully remain a reminder for all of us who never experienced her as a great star on stage.

[Reza]

American Madness (Frank Capra, 1932) 8/10

Preachy but fast paced little film about the threat of a Bank going down during the great depression. The plot incorporates melodrama in the form of infidelity and a robbery which Walter Huston is faced with as the bank's President. Robert Walker's dazzling cinematography and the glorious art deco sets are a big plus. The run-on-the-bank sequence superbly captures the frenzy of the depression era. A wonderful supporting cast - Pat O'Brien, Constance Cummings, Kay Johnson - compliment Huston's strong central performance. An early Capra gem.