Knife in the Water (Roman Polanski, 1962) 8/10
Cat and mouse game between a married couple and a young man they pick up on the road. They end up on a boat where the games take on a violent turn. Starkly filmed in black and white. Polanski's first film and it is an
assured debut.
The Looking Glass War (Frank Pierson, 1969) 3/10
Extremely boring adaptation of the John Le Carre novel with a badly acted performance in the lead by a dubbed Christopher Jones. An exceptional British supporting cast - Ralph Richardson, Anna Massey, Anthony Hopkins, Paul Rogers, Susan George, Ray McAnally, Vivian Pickles, Maxine Audley and Timothy West - made it bearable to sit through.
Revanche (Gotz Spielmann, 2008) 7/10
A simple story about ordinary people whose lives take on a serious turn. Coincidence upon coincidence leading to an ending not akin to a greek tragedy. Facinating film, well acted and a deserved Oscar nominee from Austria. Worth catching this.
Edited By Reza on 1289805740
Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
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Big Magilla
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Tea With Mussolini (1999) Franco Zeffirelli 8/10
I mainly wanted to revisit Tea With Mussolini after my recent trip to Italy because as I remembered it, it took place in Florence. What I didn't remember was that it also took place in San Gimignano and along the magnificent mountain road that that connects the two cities. There were also several scenes shot in Siena and Rome.
I also wanted to revisit it before we got to 1999 in our Best Supporting Actress surveys, as I have long considered Joan Plowright's performance the best of that year in that category.
The film is a semi-autobiographical account of young Franco Zeffirelli's life after the death of his mother at six years old and partly the invention of co-writer John Mortimer. The time frames are a bit off. Zeffirelli, who was born in 1923 would have been 12 in 1935 when the film begins but appears be be somewhat younger.
The first shot we see of Venice is of the Ponte Vecchio in the opening credits. The first scene takes place in the English Cemetary at the tomb of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Young Franco, called Luca in the film, is now being looked after by his father's secretary, played by Joan Plowright, a member of the Scorpioni, a group of eccentric English women who settled in Florence after World War I.
The leader of the group is the self-deluded widow of a former British ambassador who believes Mussolini to be a kind and misunderstood leader who wishes the English no harm even after she is imprisoned when war is declared in 1940. She's played by Maggie Smith.
Other colorful characters include Judi Dench as a nutty artist, Lily Tomlin as an American archeologist and Cher as a rich American showgirl. Cher becomes Luca's and eventually the Scorpioni's benefactor.
Zeffirelli, who apprenticed under Luchino Visconti, had his greatest success on film with the 1968 version of Romeo & Juliet. He was never able to duplicate that success on the big screen. Tea With Mussolini comes as close as anything, thanks mainly to the breathtaking location filming and the performances of Plowright and Smith.
Smith has the big scenes and won her fifth or sixth BAFTA award for her performance, but Plowright as the film's conscience delivers, in her quiet way, an even more memorable performance. Both women, along with Sissy Spacek in The Straight Story, Jessica Lange in Titus and Cameron Diaz in Being John Malkovich gave, in my estimation, better performances than any of the year's actual Oscar nominees, which I will discuss further in the thread on that subject.
I mainly wanted to revisit Tea With Mussolini after my recent trip to Italy because as I remembered it, it took place in Florence. What I didn't remember was that it also took place in San Gimignano and along the magnificent mountain road that that connects the two cities. There were also several scenes shot in Siena and Rome.
I also wanted to revisit it before we got to 1999 in our Best Supporting Actress surveys, as I have long considered Joan Plowright's performance the best of that year in that category.
The film is a semi-autobiographical account of young Franco Zeffirelli's life after the death of his mother at six years old and partly the invention of co-writer John Mortimer. The time frames are a bit off. Zeffirelli, who was born in 1923 would have been 12 in 1935 when the film begins but appears be be somewhat younger.
The first shot we see of Venice is of the Ponte Vecchio in the opening credits. The first scene takes place in the English Cemetary at the tomb of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Young Franco, called Luca in the film, is now being looked after by his father's secretary, played by Joan Plowright, a member of the Scorpioni, a group of eccentric English women who settled in Florence after World War I.
The leader of the group is the self-deluded widow of a former British ambassador who believes Mussolini to be a kind and misunderstood leader who wishes the English no harm even after she is imprisoned when war is declared in 1940. She's played by Maggie Smith.
Other colorful characters include Judi Dench as a nutty artist, Lily Tomlin as an American archeologist and Cher as a rich American showgirl. Cher becomes Luca's and eventually the Scorpioni's benefactor.
Zeffirelli, who apprenticed under Luchino Visconti, had his greatest success on film with the 1968 version of Romeo & Juliet. He was never able to duplicate that success on the big screen. Tea With Mussolini comes as close as anything, thanks mainly to the breathtaking location filming and the performances of Plowright and Smith.
Smith has the big scenes and won her fifth or sixth BAFTA award for her performance, but Plowright as the film's conscience delivers, in her quiet way, an even more memorable performance. Both women, along with Sissy Spacek in The Straight Story, Jessica Lange in Titus and Cameron Diaz in Being John Malkovich gave, in my estimation, better performances than any of the year's actual Oscar nominees, which I will discuss further in the thread on that subject.
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Grotesque (2009) Koji Shiraishi 7/10
Agora (2009) Alejandro Amenabar 7/10
Oil for the Lamps of China (1935) Mervyn LeRoy 4/10
When You're Strange (2010) Tom DiCillo 7/10
Bremer Freiheit (1972) Rainer Werner Fassbinder 6/10
Cannibal Girls (1973) Ivan Reitman 2/10
Gainsbourg (2010) Joann Sfar 5/10
Wild Target (2010) Jonathan Lynn 3/10
The Stepmother (1972) Howard Avedis 3/10
Villa Amalia (2009) Benoit Jacquot 7/10
All Tomorrow's Parties (2003) Nelson Yu Lik-Wai 6/10
The Milk of Sorrow (2009) Claudia Llosa 6/10
Agora (2009) Alejandro Amenabar 7/10
Oil for the Lamps of China (1935) Mervyn LeRoy 4/10
When You're Strange (2010) Tom DiCillo 7/10
Bremer Freiheit (1972) Rainer Werner Fassbinder 6/10
Cannibal Girls (1973) Ivan Reitman 2/10
Gainsbourg (2010) Joann Sfar 5/10
Wild Target (2010) Jonathan Lynn 3/10
The Stepmother (1972) Howard Avedis 3/10
Villa Amalia (2009) Benoit Jacquot 7/10
All Tomorrow's Parties (2003) Nelson Yu Lik-Wai 6/10
The Milk of Sorrow (2009) Claudia Llosa 6/10
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
/The Crucible/ (Nicholas Hytner) - 5/10
Ah, but does this one get off on the wrong foot! It's not just the sight of the girls dancing in the woods, but the high school play-grade hysteria that fuels every burgeoning scene, which is only heightened by Hytner's usage of the wide angle lens. Whenever someone points or is "threatened" by witchcraft, Hytner pulls back and glides the camera about with a wide angle lens. The rest of the scenes are incredibly visually uninteresting. It's fairly obvious that Hytner is no stylist, and wrt the histrionic nature of Miller's play at times he is barely in control of his cast, allowing for a very stagey feel to it. It's a mess.
But it does get better as it goes along. As Judge Danforth does command "Look at me.", the film does. Paul Scofield's voice seems to ballast the film, taking attention away from those meddlesome girls and their phony witchcraft, and the film finds new concrete standing in understanding the subtle nature of his investigation, like when he declares the wife of a minister to be unworthy of investigation. And near the end, you can see him rationalizing the expedition of his hearings in accordance with the impatience of others. He gives a great performance, and after watching his marvelous, brief work in Quiz Show, I'm inclined to watch anything he does. Winona Ryder fails in her role. She and Day-Lewis are staged like strangers by each other. This is the fault of Hytner largely. Day-Lewis gets better as he goes along, and his final scene with Joan Allen is a heartbreaker.
Good Dick (Marianna Palka) - 1/10
Depressingly unambitious quirkfest rom-com. Starring and written, produced, and directed by Marianna Palka as a wallflower obsessed with porn but refuses to be touched, and she is courted by a kindly but homeless video store clerk. Wherever your mind travels re: this concept, that's essentially where it's going. Derivative and nothing to offer.
/The People vs. Larry Flynt/ (Milos Forman) - 8/10
An ecstatic mixed bag. Yes, it does whitewash Flynt, but it makes his single-mindedness so boring in the final act. It's like a sports movie, but he's (literally) benched for the big game. The script is otherwise hilarious, and Forman gets great performances even though he might not have been the right choice. I recall his work on Man on the Moon to be more fanciful (could be wrong though). All three central performances are pretty much perfect. Love is present throughout most of the film, but he role certainly feels supporting. Someone dropped the ball by not pushing her more solidly for Support. It's hard to make the claim for her as a leading actress when she spends the second half of the film doped up and falling down, and calling from the sidelines. She is exceptional though, as is Harrelson. You really sense how he is creating his own moral universe following his assassination attempt, like a kid in his own sandbox. And Edward Norton gives a great performance that always borders on spit-take.
It's quite good in the first half, and, when it gear-shifts into lunacy following his assassination attempt, it gains a new sense of prankishness, but it never seems to quite culminate into something. Althea dies, he becomes a good boy in the court, and then he wins, but he is alone (SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO, UM, HAVE NEVER HEARD OF LARRY FLYNT). I like The People vs. Larry Flynt as a shrewd 180 on the 80's Moral Majority, how the first half of the film is winking at this so-called "Morning in America", as if to say "You have no idea". It's very entertaining but a bit myopic, and too earthbound.
Edited By Sabin on 1289591838
Ah, but does this one get off on the wrong foot! It's not just the sight of the girls dancing in the woods, but the high school play-grade hysteria that fuels every burgeoning scene, which is only heightened by Hytner's usage of the wide angle lens. Whenever someone points or is "threatened" by witchcraft, Hytner pulls back and glides the camera about with a wide angle lens. The rest of the scenes are incredibly visually uninteresting. It's fairly obvious that Hytner is no stylist, and wrt the histrionic nature of Miller's play at times he is barely in control of his cast, allowing for a very stagey feel to it. It's a mess.
But it does get better as it goes along. As Judge Danforth does command "Look at me.", the film does. Paul Scofield's voice seems to ballast the film, taking attention away from those meddlesome girls and their phony witchcraft, and the film finds new concrete standing in understanding the subtle nature of his investigation, like when he declares the wife of a minister to be unworthy of investigation. And near the end, you can see him rationalizing the expedition of his hearings in accordance with the impatience of others. He gives a great performance, and after watching his marvelous, brief work in Quiz Show, I'm inclined to watch anything he does. Winona Ryder fails in her role. She and Day-Lewis are staged like strangers by each other. This is the fault of Hytner largely. Day-Lewis gets better as he goes along, and his final scene with Joan Allen is a heartbreaker.
Good Dick (Marianna Palka) - 1/10
Depressingly unambitious quirkfest rom-com. Starring and written, produced, and directed by Marianna Palka as a wallflower obsessed with porn but refuses to be touched, and she is courted by a kindly but homeless video store clerk. Wherever your mind travels re: this concept, that's essentially where it's going. Derivative and nothing to offer.
/The People vs. Larry Flynt/ (Milos Forman) - 8/10
An ecstatic mixed bag. Yes, it does whitewash Flynt, but it makes his single-mindedness so boring in the final act. It's like a sports movie, but he's (literally) benched for the big game. The script is otherwise hilarious, and Forman gets great performances even though he might not have been the right choice. I recall his work on Man on the Moon to be more fanciful (could be wrong though). All three central performances are pretty much perfect. Love is present throughout most of the film, but he role certainly feels supporting. Someone dropped the ball by not pushing her more solidly for Support. It's hard to make the claim for her as a leading actress when she spends the second half of the film doped up and falling down, and calling from the sidelines. She is exceptional though, as is Harrelson. You really sense how he is creating his own moral universe following his assassination attempt, like a kid in his own sandbox. And Edward Norton gives a great performance that always borders on spit-take.
It's quite good in the first half, and, when it gear-shifts into lunacy following his assassination attempt, it gains a new sense of prankishness, but it never seems to quite culminate into something. Althea dies, he becomes a good boy in the court, and then he wins, but he is alone (SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO, UM, HAVE NEVER HEARD OF LARRY FLYNT). I like The People vs. Larry Flynt as a shrewd 180 on the 80's Moral Majority, how the first half of the film is winking at this so-called "Morning in America", as if to say "You have no idea". It's very entertaining but a bit myopic, and too earthbound.
Edited By Sabin on 1289591838
"How's the despair?"
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Big Magilla
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Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich, 2010) 7/10
Great fun although I preferred the first film more. It should easily get a nomination in the Animated category although it would be absurd if it cracks the top 10 as well
Fitzcarraldo (Werner Herzog, 1982) 5/10
Amazing feat what they did with the ship and beautifully filmed scenes on the river. Kinski was born to play this role. However, the film does drag.
The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel-Donnersmarck, 2006) 9/10
Outstanding and extremely gripping drama about life in pre-Wall Berlin. Well acted by Ulrich Muhe, Sebastian Koch and Martina Gedeck. Deserved the Oscar.
Frozen River (Courtney Hunt, 2008) 6/10
The film perfectly captures the small town milieu of America and its inhabitants. The main character's irresponsible actions make no sense at all but Melissa Leo (an actress I'd never heard of before) is superb. I was amused to see Pakistan get a mention in the film even if it was in a derogatory way.
Edited By Reza on 1289384727
Great fun although I preferred the first film more. It should easily get a nomination in the Animated category although it would be absurd if it cracks the top 10 as well
Fitzcarraldo (Werner Herzog, 1982) 5/10
Amazing feat what they did with the ship and beautifully filmed scenes on the river. Kinski was born to play this role. However, the film does drag.
The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel-Donnersmarck, 2006) 9/10
Outstanding and extremely gripping drama about life in pre-Wall Berlin. Well acted by Ulrich Muhe, Sebastian Koch and Martina Gedeck. Deserved the Oscar.
Frozen River (Courtney Hunt, 2008) 6/10
The film perfectly captures the small town milieu of America and its inhabitants. The main character's irresponsible actions make no sense at all but Melissa Leo (an actress I'd never heard of before) is superb. I was amused to see Pakistan get a mention in the film even if it was in a derogatory way.
Edited By Reza on 1289384727
Arrowsmith (John Ford 1931)
This is not one of John Ford’s most personal works in terms of theme, but he created beautiful visual compositions throughout and Ray June’s cinematography is often stunning; the portrayal of a small South Dakota town is also quintessentially Fordian. But Ronald Colman is badly miscast, and Helen Hayes’s mannered chirpiness is pretty dreadful. Above all, Sidney Howard’s adaptation of a sprawling Sinclair Lewis novel attempts to encompass too much of the source so that too much of the film becomes superficial. This is a movie which works much better in parts than as a whole – individual scenes are wonderful but the film as a whole lacks cohesion.
6/10
This is not one of John Ford’s most personal works in terms of theme, but he created beautiful visual compositions throughout and Ray June’s cinematography is often stunning; the portrayal of a small South Dakota town is also quintessentially Fordian. But Ronald Colman is badly miscast, and Helen Hayes’s mannered chirpiness is pretty dreadful. Above all, Sidney Howard’s adaptation of a sprawling Sinclair Lewis novel attempts to encompass too much of the source so that too much of the film becomes superficial. This is a movie which works much better in parts than as a whole – individual scenes are wonderful but the film as a whole lacks cohesion.
6/10
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
The Horseman on the Roof (Jean Paul Rappeneau, 1995) 8/10
An old fashioned epic in the grand tradition about unrequited love between a couple on the run in southern France during the early Nineteenth century. The leads, Olivier Martinez and Juliette Binoche, are perfectly cast as the dashing and handsome soldier and the lovely married woman whom he accompanies on a perilous journey across a land ravaged by a severe cholera epidemic. Beautifully photographed.
An old fashioned epic in the grand tradition about unrequited love between a couple on the run in southern France during the early Nineteenth century. The leads, Olivier Martinez and Juliette Binoche, are perfectly cast as the dashing and handsome soldier and the lovely married woman whom he accompanies on a perilous journey across a land ravaged by a severe cholera epidemic. Beautifully photographed.
/Topsy-Turvy/ (Mike Leigh) - 8.5/10
Watched this one for the first time in at least a decade. It doesn't quite hold up as I had hoped. Oddly, the film's first hour is the strongest as the collaboration between Gilbert and Sullivan nears decay, and the suddenly and most unexpectedly inspiration hits and one project is aborted for another: The Mikado. Topsy-Turvy hits stride as a tangential study of social graces and imposed restraints. The actual production of The Mikado and a few tacked-on dramatic devices leading up to it (Gilbert accosted by a homeless woman, the question of whether or not to keep a song) seemed rather forced. I enjoyed the film most when it felt like a series of off-hand conversations.
At the center of the film is a magnificently underplayed joke. W.S. Gilbert's aphasia manifests itself unconsciously in these topsy-turvy librettos, a vision of a more perfect world even he can't consciously embrace. Jim Broadbent's Eureka moment is justifiably praised, but even stronger is his unctuous dictation of The Mikado to Sullivan and his wife, with such note-perfect humorlessness. He's fantastic.
Watched this one for the first time in at least a decade. It doesn't quite hold up as I had hoped. Oddly, the film's first hour is the strongest as the collaboration between Gilbert and Sullivan nears decay, and the suddenly and most unexpectedly inspiration hits and one project is aborted for another: The Mikado. Topsy-Turvy hits stride as a tangential study of social graces and imposed restraints. The actual production of The Mikado and a few tacked-on dramatic devices leading up to it (Gilbert accosted by a homeless woman, the question of whether or not to keep a song) seemed rather forced. I enjoyed the film most when it felt like a series of off-hand conversations.
At the center of the film is a magnificently underplayed joke. W.S. Gilbert's aphasia manifests itself unconsciously in these topsy-turvy librettos, a vision of a more perfect world even he can't consciously embrace. Jim Broadbent's Eureka moment is justifiably praised, but even stronger is his unctuous dictation of The Mikado to Sullivan and his wife, with such note-perfect humorlessness. He's fantastic.
"How's the despair?"
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Big Magilla
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Storm Center (1956) Daniel Taradash 6/10
The only film directed by Taradash, who won an Oscar for his screenplay for From Here to Eternity, is a well-meaning but rather obvious film about a small town librarian who is fired for refusing to remove a book that espouses Communism. There is a compelling subplot about a conflicted bookish boy whose sports loving father turns him against the librarian who was his only friend, but that, too, is handled much too obviously. Still there are some good things in it.
Bette Davis, 49 at the time, was at least ten years too young to be playing a World War I widow and the character is too passive for most of the film to be believable in the hands of the feisty Davis.
11 year-old Kevin Couglin, who was well known at the time thanks to his four year stint in TV's Mama, plays the
boy with great insight for two-thirds of the film, but seems to be in over his head in some of the later scenes, particularly in the one in which he throws a public tantrum against Davis.
Brian Keith's red-baiting politician could be a model for many of today's Tea Partiers. Paul Kelly as Davis' contemporary (he was 57 at the time) does well as her namby-pamby friend who finally sees the light. Kelly died within weeks of the film's release.
Joe Mantell is over the top as the boy's father, but Sally Brophy is properly restrained as the boy's mother. Kim Hunter is under-utilized as Keith's girlfriend and Davis' successor as the town librarian, but Kathryn Grant (Crosby) has a nice bit as the mayor's wife, one of the few people in the town who speaks up for Davis.
A failure at the time of its release, it's nevertheless worth a look.
Edited By Big Magilla on 1289058187
The only film directed by Taradash, who won an Oscar for his screenplay for From Here to Eternity, is a well-meaning but rather obvious film about a small town librarian who is fired for refusing to remove a book that espouses Communism. There is a compelling subplot about a conflicted bookish boy whose sports loving father turns him against the librarian who was his only friend, but that, too, is handled much too obviously. Still there are some good things in it.
Bette Davis, 49 at the time, was at least ten years too young to be playing a World War I widow and the character is too passive for most of the film to be believable in the hands of the feisty Davis.
11 year-old Kevin Couglin, who was well known at the time thanks to his four year stint in TV's Mama, plays the
boy with great insight for two-thirds of the film, but seems to be in over his head in some of the later scenes, particularly in the one in which he throws a public tantrum against Davis.
Brian Keith's red-baiting politician could be a model for many of today's Tea Partiers. Paul Kelly as Davis' contemporary (he was 57 at the time) does well as her namby-pamby friend who finally sees the light. Kelly died within weeks of the film's release.
Joe Mantell is over the top as the boy's father, but Sally Brophy is properly restrained as the boy's mother. Kim Hunter is under-utilized as Keith's girlfriend and Davis' successor as the town librarian, but Kathryn Grant (Crosby) has a nice bit as the mayor's wife, one of the few people in the town who speaks up for Davis.
A failure at the time of its release, it's nevertheless worth a look.
Edited By Big Magilla on 1289058187
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Videocracy (2009) Erik Gandini 6/10
Another documentary from Italy on Berlusconi, this time looking at his television empire and the sad state of affairs of Italian television, which looks like it's been reduced to a tits and arse fest. I have nothing to compare Italian television with as I don't watch very much television and that is only ever our Government owned ABC which despite the politics of any given government in power runs a left wing slant. Anyway this was very depressing stuff and we are told at the end of the film that 80% of Italians get there news from TV and Italy is ranked 77 in world in regards to freedom of the press. Scary stuff.
The Social Network (2010) David Fincher 7/10
Whilst I can't understand the great reviews this film has received it's a very accessible look on a subject I have no interest in: Facebook. Beautifully made and for the most part well acted with Andrew Garfield taking the acting honors. That he plays the most sympathetic character helps too.
Triage (2009) Danis Tanovic 4/10
This is the latest film from Danis Tanovic who won an Oscar for No Man's Land in 2001. Like that film it is a serious look at world events, this time in relation to Kurds during the late 1980's. Colin Farrell stars as a photographer in the front line witnessing the horrors of war. This sort of thing has been done to death and like most of those of those films not to well. Farrell's character becomes tiresome and he's trying too hard, plugging away at the corny material. With the exception of Juliet Stevenson who has one scene, the best in the film, the actors are stuck with earnest, well meaning material with little real character to develop. Christopher Lee is ridiculous in the film.
Heartless (2010) Philip Ridley 6/10
British director Philip Ridley has only directed 3 feature films over the last 20 films. His a true original and whilst none of his films are rousing successes he has a style and outlook that is completely original. His first feature is his best - The Reflecting Skin, whilst The Passion of Darkly Noon and his latest Heartless don't mesh as well they are definitely worth seeking out. With a fully formed screenplay I think Ridley could deliver something quiet incredible. Also this is the first film that has given Jim Sturgess (21, The Other Boleyn Girl, Across the Universe, Crossing Over) a part he can really sink his teeth into and he shines.
The Loved Ones (2010) Sean Byrne 3/10
Basically another silly torture porn flick, this one from Australia. It has some effective set pieces that are well handled but the story jolts from one tired old cliche to the next.
Repeat viewings
Annie Hall (1977) 10/10
I'm pretty sure that I have only ever seen Annie Hall, the weekend after it won the Oscars for best film, actress, director & screenplay. At the time it completely bowled my over and it's so funny seeing it over 30 years later and remembering most of the scenes which does say something about the impact it had on me. A couple of years ago my partner and I watched all the Woody Allen films that he had never seen. We started with Interiors and then everything from Stardust Memories to Shadows and Fog. A few months ago we finally got around to Love and Death. Annie Hall was the only Woody Allen that I had only seen once so I was eager to see it again. If anyone had asked me to name my favorite Woody Allen film a week ago I would have answered Zelig. But after watching this great film that hasn't dated one bit and is sheer delight from start to finish I now declare that Annie Hall is my favorite Woody Allen film. What a film, this is as good as it gets!
No Mercy, No Future (1981) Helma Sanders-Brahms 10/10
I first saw this film in 1982 and was spellbound and shocked by the experience. I was surprised to see a number of Sanders-Brahms films released on DVD in resorted prints and promptly snapped out all the films. Whilst I had forgotten chunks of the film it was certainly as bleak, demanding and uncompromising as a remember. There was a certain additional sadness watching the film this time though. Lead actress Elisabeth Stepanek had passed away in 1995 at the relative young age of 42 and her performance in the film of a schizophrenic is a compelling decline into desperation and hopelessness made me ponder about the young actress. How she died, what was her mental state, what affect did playing this role have on her?
Crash (1996) David Cronenberg 10/10
Another great film revisited and I recalled most of the film quiet vividly. In between these two viewings I got around to reading J. G. Ballard's novel. Whilst the film changes things like setting (England to North American) with a contemporary setting (the book was set in the 1960s) I don't think the film suffers when comparing novel and film. To have adapted the novel faithfully and literally would have been a huge and costly undertaking. Cronenberg has paired it done but the major themes (sex and machines) remains firmly intact. It remains my favorite David Cronenberg film with Elias Koteas stealing the show from an impressive ensemble.
Another documentary from Italy on Berlusconi, this time looking at his television empire and the sad state of affairs of Italian television, which looks like it's been reduced to a tits and arse fest. I have nothing to compare Italian television with as I don't watch very much television and that is only ever our Government owned ABC which despite the politics of any given government in power runs a left wing slant. Anyway this was very depressing stuff and we are told at the end of the film that 80% of Italians get there news from TV and Italy is ranked 77 in world in regards to freedom of the press. Scary stuff.
The Social Network (2010) David Fincher 7/10
Whilst I can't understand the great reviews this film has received it's a very accessible look on a subject I have no interest in: Facebook. Beautifully made and for the most part well acted with Andrew Garfield taking the acting honors. That he plays the most sympathetic character helps too.
Triage (2009) Danis Tanovic 4/10
This is the latest film from Danis Tanovic who won an Oscar for No Man's Land in 2001. Like that film it is a serious look at world events, this time in relation to Kurds during the late 1980's. Colin Farrell stars as a photographer in the front line witnessing the horrors of war. This sort of thing has been done to death and like most of those of those films not to well. Farrell's character becomes tiresome and he's trying too hard, plugging away at the corny material. With the exception of Juliet Stevenson who has one scene, the best in the film, the actors are stuck with earnest, well meaning material with little real character to develop. Christopher Lee is ridiculous in the film.
Heartless (2010) Philip Ridley 6/10
British director Philip Ridley has only directed 3 feature films over the last 20 films. His a true original and whilst none of his films are rousing successes he has a style and outlook that is completely original. His first feature is his best - The Reflecting Skin, whilst The Passion of Darkly Noon and his latest Heartless don't mesh as well they are definitely worth seeking out. With a fully formed screenplay I think Ridley could deliver something quiet incredible. Also this is the first film that has given Jim Sturgess (21, The Other Boleyn Girl, Across the Universe, Crossing Over) a part he can really sink his teeth into and he shines.
The Loved Ones (2010) Sean Byrne 3/10
Basically another silly torture porn flick, this one from Australia. It has some effective set pieces that are well handled but the story jolts from one tired old cliche to the next.
Repeat viewings
Annie Hall (1977) 10/10
I'm pretty sure that I have only ever seen Annie Hall, the weekend after it won the Oscars for best film, actress, director & screenplay. At the time it completely bowled my over and it's so funny seeing it over 30 years later and remembering most of the scenes which does say something about the impact it had on me. A couple of years ago my partner and I watched all the Woody Allen films that he had never seen. We started with Interiors and then everything from Stardust Memories to Shadows and Fog. A few months ago we finally got around to Love and Death. Annie Hall was the only Woody Allen that I had only seen once so I was eager to see it again. If anyone had asked me to name my favorite Woody Allen film a week ago I would have answered Zelig. But after watching this great film that hasn't dated one bit and is sheer delight from start to finish I now declare that Annie Hall is my favorite Woody Allen film. What a film, this is as good as it gets!
No Mercy, No Future (1981) Helma Sanders-Brahms 10/10
I first saw this film in 1982 and was spellbound and shocked by the experience. I was surprised to see a number of Sanders-Brahms films released on DVD in resorted prints and promptly snapped out all the films. Whilst I had forgotten chunks of the film it was certainly as bleak, demanding and uncompromising as a remember. There was a certain additional sadness watching the film this time though. Lead actress Elisabeth Stepanek had passed away in 1995 at the relative young age of 42 and her performance in the film of a schizophrenic is a compelling decline into desperation and hopelessness made me ponder about the young actress. How she died, what was her mental state, what affect did playing this role have on her?
Crash (1996) David Cronenberg 10/10
Another great film revisited and I recalled most of the film quiet vividly. In between these two viewings I got around to reading J. G. Ballard's novel. Whilst the film changes things like setting (England to North American) with a contemporary setting (the book was set in the 1960s) I don't think the film suffers when comparing novel and film. To have adapted the novel faithfully and literally would have been a huge and costly undertaking. Cronenberg has paired it done but the major themes (sex and machines) remains firmly intact. It remains my favorite David Cronenberg film with Elias Koteas stealing the show from an impressive ensemble.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Big Magilla
- Site Admin
- Posts: 19378
- Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 3:22 pm
- Location: Jersey Shore
Three musicals new to Blu-ray.
Fox, which started out as one of the first studios to get their films out on DVD in great numbers, has in recent years deteriorated to the point where they rarely release anything new and instead repackage the same films over and over.
Sometimes, however, they spend a few bucks in restoring those same films and make a repurchase worthwhile. Such is the case with these three films.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) Jim Sharman 7/10
Dismissed by just about every critic as tacky and tasteless and not successful until it started playing midnight shows which were legendary, home video releases have until now been unexceptional, but in picture and sound perfect high definition the film looks and sounds marvelous. The perfect upbeat Halloween movie.
Moulin Rouge! (2001) Baz Luhrmann 7/10
OK, so I hated this when it first came out, but you know what? Its feverish, overheated spectacle, which once seemed like a bad dream now seems like a lovely tribute to both the era it takes place in and the anachronistic music it showcases, a wonderful tribute to Twentieth Century music that came after it.
At the time I thought Nicole Kidman should have gotten an Oscar nomination for The Others instead, but no more. In fact, I think Jim Broadbent should have gotten a nomination, if not necessarily the win, for this instead of the mordant Iris and Ewan McGregor should have been nominated for Best Actor in place of Sean Penn.
The Sound of Music (1965) Robert Wise 9/10
Conventional wisdom says that this film was such a huge hit at the time of its release because everything else around was dark and dreary and generally disappointing. Maybe, but that doesn't explain the film's enduring pull on succeeding generations throughout the world.
Rodgers and Hammerstein had tackled bold many bold subjects in their long careers, from mixed marriage in Show Boat (Hammerstein) to unapologetic raging sexuality in Pal Joey (Rodgers) to racial prejudice in South Pacific and spousal abuse in The King and I, the latter two together. By the end of the 1950s, shortly before Hammerstein's death from cancer, they had nothing left to prove. The result was their most relaxed effort. While the stage version of The Sound of Music was good, it was the film version that made it their enduring masterwork.
Often sentimental, but never cloying, the tale of the postulant nun who becomes a nanny and then a wife and mother was only the first part of Maria Von Trapp's intriguing life story, but it was enough for us to get a look at one of the Twentieth Century's most amazing personalities.
Never mind that the real Maria looked more like Peggy Wood than Julie Andrews, Julie and she were kindred spirits and Julie beguiles from beginning to end. Sure the film drags in its last hour - it was an almost three hour long movie after all- but from that spectacular opening number to that silhouette kiss in the garden courtesy of master cinematographer Ted McCord (Treasure of Sierra Madre, East of Eden), it's a magnificent performance, magnificently showcased. And so is Peggy Wood's portrayal of the alternately solemn and bemused Mother Abbess. Don't tell me she doesn't sing "Climb Eve'ry Mountain". They may not have used her voice in the finished product but just look at the way she uses her face and throat muscles. That wasn't lip-synching, it was the real thing, and so is the film.
Edited By Big Magilla on 1288795237
Fox, which started out as one of the first studios to get their films out on DVD in great numbers, has in recent years deteriorated to the point where they rarely release anything new and instead repackage the same films over and over.
Sometimes, however, they spend a few bucks in restoring those same films and make a repurchase worthwhile. Such is the case with these three films.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) Jim Sharman 7/10
Dismissed by just about every critic as tacky and tasteless and not successful until it started playing midnight shows which were legendary, home video releases have until now been unexceptional, but in picture and sound perfect high definition the film looks and sounds marvelous. The perfect upbeat Halloween movie.
Moulin Rouge! (2001) Baz Luhrmann 7/10
OK, so I hated this when it first came out, but you know what? Its feverish, overheated spectacle, which once seemed like a bad dream now seems like a lovely tribute to both the era it takes place in and the anachronistic music it showcases, a wonderful tribute to Twentieth Century music that came after it.
At the time I thought Nicole Kidman should have gotten an Oscar nomination for The Others instead, but no more. In fact, I think Jim Broadbent should have gotten a nomination, if not necessarily the win, for this instead of the mordant Iris and Ewan McGregor should have been nominated for Best Actor in place of Sean Penn.
The Sound of Music (1965) Robert Wise 9/10
Conventional wisdom says that this film was such a huge hit at the time of its release because everything else around was dark and dreary and generally disappointing. Maybe, but that doesn't explain the film's enduring pull on succeeding generations throughout the world.
Rodgers and Hammerstein had tackled bold many bold subjects in their long careers, from mixed marriage in Show Boat (Hammerstein) to unapologetic raging sexuality in Pal Joey (Rodgers) to racial prejudice in South Pacific and spousal abuse in The King and I, the latter two together. By the end of the 1950s, shortly before Hammerstein's death from cancer, they had nothing left to prove. The result was their most relaxed effort. While the stage version of The Sound of Music was good, it was the film version that made it their enduring masterwork.
Often sentimental, but never cloying, the tale of the postulant nun who becomes a nanny and then a wife and mother was only the first part of Maria Von Trapp's intriguing life story, but it was enough for us to get a look at one of the Twentieth Century's most amazing personalities.
Never mind that the real Maria looked more like Peggy Wood than Julie Andrews, Julie and she were kindred spirits and Julie beguiles from beginning to end. Sure the film drags in its last hour - it was an almost three hour long movie after all- but from that spectacular opening number to that silhouette kiss in the garden courtesy of master cinematographer Ted McCord (Treasure of Sierra Madre, East of Eden), it's a magnificent performance, magnificently showcased. And so is Peggy Wood's portrayal of the alternately solemn and bemused Mother Abbess. Don't tell me she doesn't sing "Climb Eve'ry Mountain". They may not have used her voice in the finished product but just look at the way she uses her face and throat muscles. That wasn't lip-synching, it was the real thing, and so is the film.
Edited By Big Magilla on 1288795237
-
Big Magilla
- Site Admin
- Posts: 19378
- Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 3:22 pm
- Location: Jersey Shore
Three musicals new to Blu-ray.
Fox, which started out as one of the first studios to get their films out on DVD in great numbers, has in recent years deteriorated to the point where they rarely release anything new and instead repackage the same films over and over.
Sometimes, however, they spend a few bucks in restoring those same films and make a repurchase worthwhile. Such is the case with these three films.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) Jim Sharman 7/10
Dismissed by just about every critic as tacky and tasteless and not successful until it started playing midnight shows which were legendary, home video releases have until now been unexceptional, but in picture and sound perfect high definition the film looks and sounds marvelous. The perfect upbeat Halloween movie.
Moulin Rouge! (2001) Baz Luhrmann 7/10
OK, so I hated this when it first came out, but you know what? Its feverish, overheated spectacle, which once seemed like a bad dream now seems like a lovely tribute to both the era it takes place in and the anachronistic music it showcases, a wonderful tribute to Twentieth Century music that came after it.
At the time I thought Nicole Kidman should have gotten an Oscar nomination for The Others instead, but no more. In fact, I think Jim Broadbent should have gotten a nomination, if not necessarily the win, for this instead of the mordant Iris and Ewan McGregor should have been nominated for Best Actor in place of Sean Penn.
The Sound of Music (1965) Robert Wise 9/10
Conventional wisdom says that this film was such a huge hit at the time of its release because everything else around was dark and dreary and generally disappointing. Maybe, but that doesn't explain the film's enduring pull on succeeding generations throughout the world.
Rodgers and Hammerstein had tackled bold many bold subjects in their long careers, from mixed marriage in Show Boat (Hammerstein) to unapologetic raging sexuality in Pal Joey (Rodgers) to racial prejudice in South Pacific and spousal abuse in The King and I, the latter two together. By the end of the 1950s, shortly before Hammerstein's death from cancer, they had nothing left to prove. The result was their most relaxed effort. While the stage version of The Sound of Music was good, it was the film version that made it their enduring masterwork.
Often sentimental, but never cloying, the tale of the postulant nun who becomes a nanny and then a wife and mother was only the first part of Maria Von Trapp's intriguing life story, but it was enough for us to get a look at one of the Twentieth Century's most amazing personalities.
Never mind that the real Maria looked more like Peggy Wood than Julie Andrews, Julie and she were kindred spirits and Julie beguiles from beginning to end. Sure the film drags in its last hour - it was an almost three hour long movie after all- but from that spectacular opening number to that silhouette kiss in the garden courtesy of master cinematographer Ted McCord (Treasure of Sierra Madre, East of Eden, it's a magnificent performance, magnificently showcased. And so is Peggy Wood's portrayal of the alternately solemn and bemused Mother Abbess. Don't tell me she doesn't sing "Climb Eve'ry Mountain". They may not have used her voice in the finished product but just look at the way she uses her face and throat muscles. That wasn't lip-synching, it was the real thing, and so is the film.
Fox, which started out as one of the first studios to get their films out on DVD in great numbers, has in recent years deteriorated to the point where they rarely release anything new and instead repackage the same films over and over.
Sometimes, however, they spend a few bucks in restoring those same films and make a repurchase worthwhile. Such is the case with these three films.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) Jim Sharman 7/10
Dismissed by just about every critic as tacky and tasteless and not successful until it started playing midnight shows which were legendary, home video releases have until now been unexceptional, but in picture and sound perfect high definition the film looks and sounds marvelous. The perfect upbeat Halloween movie.
Moulin Rouge! (2001) Baz Luhrmann 7/10
OK, so I hated this when it first came out, but you know what? Its feverish, overheated spectacle, which once seemed like a bad dream now seems like a lovely tribute to both the era it takes place in and the anachronistic music it showcases, a wonderful tribute to Twentieth Century music that came after it.
At the time I thought Nicole Kidman should have gotten an Oscar nomination for The Others instead, but no more. In fact, I think Jim Broadbent should have gotten a nomination, if not necessarily the win, for this instead of the mordant Iris and Ewan McGregor should have been nominated for Best Actor in place of Sean Penn.
The Sound of Music (1965) Robert Wise 9/10
Conventional wisdom says that this film was such a huge hit at the time of its release because everything else around was dark and dreary and generally disappointing. Maybe, but that doesn't explain the film's enduring pull on succeeding generations throughout the world.
Rodgers and Hammerstein had tackled bold many bold subjects in their long careers, from mixed marriage in Show Boat (Hammerstein) to unapologetic raging sexuality in Pal Joey (Rodgers) to racial prejudice in South Pacific and spousal abuse in The King and I, the latter two together. By the end of the 1950s, shortly before Hammerstein's death from cancer, they had nothing left to prove. The result was their most relaxed effort. While the stage version of The Sound of Music was good, it was the film version that made it their enduring masterwork.
Often sentimental, but never cloying, the tale of the postulant nun who becomes a nanny and then a wife and mother was only the first part of Maria Von Trapp's intriguing life story, but it was enough for us to get a look at one of the Twentieth Century's most amazing personalities.
Never mind that the real Maria looked more like Peggy Wood than Julie Andrews, Julie and she were kindred spirits and Julie beguiles from beginning to end. Sure the film drags in its last hour - it was an almost three hour long movie after all- but from that spectacular opening number to that silhouette kiss in the garden courtesy of master cinematographer Ted McCord (Treasure of Sierra Madre, East of Eden, it's a magnificent performance, magnificently showcased. And so is Peggy Wood's portrayal of the alternately solemn and bemused Mother Abbess. Don't tell me she doesn't sing "Climb Eve'ry Mountain". They may not have used her voice in the finished product but just look at the way she uses her face and throat muscles. That wasn't lip-synching, it was the real thing, and so is the film.
/Jungle Fever/ (Spike Lee) - 6/10
Sometimes it's difficult not to review the film that wasn't made. I was ten when this film was released but I'm reasonably sure it was criticized in some circles for not truly creating a portrait of the central interracial relationship. This film is a mess in concept and execution. The latter deserves some form of attention for its egregiously overblown soundtrack (save for the awesome Stevie Wonder songs), while the former is more difficult to gauge. I like how mildly Brechtian Lee stages this miasma of early 90's New York manners. Several scenes are as fantastic as others are mired in bombast. It's everything but the kitchen sink...but sometimes it loses sight of what room it's in.
Ultimately, the Jungle Fever that Lee is teasing us with is a taboo that Lee wants to keep locked away. He's a filmmaker better at portraying regressive outrage rather than progressive romance. Flipper and Angie have a sadly anonymous presence on-screen, but that which floats around them is quite interesting. It's a film of arguments, at times well-worded, well-thought out arguments, whereas Do the Right Thing is all manners and behavior. It feels as spontaneous as Jungle Fever is labored. When Flipper tells Angie at the end "I don't think there's anything left to talk about." he's as wrong as he is right. Bottom line: there is no room left for Spike Lee to dance around the subject of the movie he has made. He's all out of monologues.
I find Jungle Fever as desperate as it is at times vibrant. I think Annabella Sciorra's bold attempts to undermine Lee's didacticism are fairly outstanding. She has one of the smallest roles in the films but she clearly has drawn a line in the sand against Lee, and it works at reveals the selfishness of him as a filmmaker. Just as Flipper tells Angie that this was all about black dick and white pussy, Sciorra's performance tells Lee that he will never understand women. The film's inability to find strong ground is both a strength and weakness. At its best, it creates a living stage of vignettes. At its worst, it reveals Lee as a simp.
The ensemble is outstanding. The New York Film Critic's Circle was right to choose Samuel L. Jackson as Best Supporting Actor and he would have been a far stronger nominee than anyone else up for the Oscar in that category. Was he gives good odds? Was John Turturro even discussed? I would cite John Goodman for Barton Fink as better choices as well as Laurence Fishburne for Boyz N the Hood.
Edited By Sabin on 1288771487
Sometimes it's difficult not to review the film that wasn't made. I was ten when this film was released but I'm reasonably sure it was criticized in some circles for not truly creating a portrait of the central interracial relationship. This film is a mess in concept and execution. The latter deserves some form of attention for its egregiously overblown soundtrack (save for the awesome Stevie Wonder songs), while the former is more difficult to gauge. I like how mildly Brechtian Lee stages this miasma of early 90's New York manners. Several scenes are as fantastic as others are mired in bombast. It's everything but the kitchen sink...but sometimes it loses sight of what room it's in.
Ultimately, the Jungle Fever that Lee is teasing us with is a taboo that Lee wants to keep locked away. He's a filmmaker better at portraying regressive outrage rather than progressive romance. Flipper and Angie have a sadly anonymous presence on-screen, but that which floats around them is quite interesting. It's a film of arguments, at times well-worded, well-thought out arguments, whereas Do the Right Thing is all manners and behavior. It feels as spontaneous as Jungle Fever is labored. When Flipper tells Angie at the end "I don't think there's anything left to talk about." he's as wrong as he is right. Bottom line: there is no room left for Spike Lee to dance around the subject of the movie he has made. He's all out of monologues.
I find Jungle Fever as desperate as it is at times vibrant. I think Annabella Sciorra's bold attempts to undermine Lee's didacticism are fairly outstanding. She has one of the smallest roles in the films but she clearly has drawn a line in the sand against Lee, and it works at reveals the selfishness of him as a filmmaker. Just as Flipper tells Angie that this was all about black dick and white pussy, Sciorra's performance tells Lee that he will never understand women. The film's inability to find strong ground is both a strength and weakness. At its best, it creates a living stage of vignettes. At its worst, it reveals Lee as a simp.
The ensemble is outstanding. The New York Film Critic's Circle was right to choose Samuel L. Jackson as Best Supporting Actor and he would have been a far stronger nominee than anyone else up for the Oscar in that category. Was he gives good odds? Was John Turturro even discussed? I would cite John Goodman for Barton Fink as better choices as well as Laurence Fishburne for Boyz N the Hood.
Edited By Sabin on 1288771487
"How's the despair?"