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

[Hustler]

The Town 5/10

[Reza]

The Special Relationship (Richard Loncraine, 2010) 6/10

Michael Sheen and Hope Davis are superb as Tony Blair and Hillary Clinton in this take on the relationship between the American President and the British Prime Minister. The Brits get all the hilarious dialogue especially in their reactions to the Clinton and Monica Lewinsky ''affair''. Dennis Quaid (as Clinton) is also very good although the actor looks too bloated compared to the real Clinton.

[Precious Doll]

Arise, My Love (1940) Mitchell Leisen 4/10
Where Love Has Gone (1964) Edward Dmytryk 3/10
Many Wars Ago (1970) Francesco Rosi 7/10
Please Please Me (2009) Emmanuel Mouret 4/10
Madeinusa (2006) Claudia Llosa 7/10
The City of Your Final Destination (2010) James Ivory 5/10

Repeat Viewings

Bonjour Tirstesse (1958) Otto Preminger 7/10
Sundays and Cybele (1962) Serge Bourguignon 7/10
Marlene (1984) Maximillian Schell 6/10



Edited By Precious Doll on 1287052266

[HarryGoldfarb]

Inception (Christopher Nolan, 1010): As good as I had expected. DiCaprio is a very very good actor but he really needs to do something different than his disturbed guy trick quikly. I loved the economy or subtlety in the effects department: even though the effects were superb, Nolan choose not to overfill the film with it, a hard task considering the subject. Effective and very enjoyable. 7/10

Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974): When trying to explain my feelings about this film, I immediately note my limitations with the english language... I guess there r some films that might be considered a sure or deserving Best Picture Winner in any other year than theirs. Those films that most likely came in second at the Academy Awards against another that ended up becoming an icon in film history in its own right. I mean Cabaret vs The Godfather, The Grapes of Wrath vs. Rebecca... Chinatown surely is high on that list. It is an almost perfect film. The great directing work, the cinematography, the script, the rythm and pulse of the film and specially the performances... the final product is more an atmosphere than a film. And then, as a plus, I ask: Is a film better if it is an homage to the art itself? I don't know if it is deliberate but I love the music and the style in general... not as a recreation of the period but as a recreation of a form in filmmaking long ago disappeared or considered to be obsolete. This was done in such a tasteful way that a film with an obvious intention to do such an homage like Far from Heaven looks almost ridicule. A true american masterpiece. 10/10

10 Things I Hate About You (Gil Junger, 1999): I have never cared about this film; guess I had never had the intention of watching it, but a few days ago TV brought it my dorm-room. My wife and I were, I don't know, dazzled by the nostalgia (the film is SO 90's) and by the presence of Heath... so young! How come an actor ended uo being this charismatic? Julia Stiles was Julia Stiles doing what Julia Stiles does and that was good on some teen level. I was amazed too by this way younger Gordon-Levitt after recently seeing him in Inception... In the end, corny and dated as it is, we never changed the channel. 4/10

[Hustler]

Life As we Know It 4/10

Charlie St. Cloud 2/10

[Reza]

The Pillars of the Earth (Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, 2010) 6/10

Old fashioned 8 hour mini-series based on Ken Follet's book with dollops of sex and gory medieval violence. I found it engrossing more from the historical point of view. The fictional story of the intrigues behind the building of a cathederal are set during the historic times of two early British monarchs, King Henry I (1100-1135 AD) and King Stephen (1135-1141 AD). The period covered in the film comes just before the reign of the more famous King Henry II, covered by Hollywood in detail in the films Becket and The Lion in Winter.

[Precious Doll]

Repeat Viewings

My American Uncle (1980) Alain Resnais 8/10
Love Unto Death (1984) Alain Resnais 7/10
Salvador (1986) Oliver Stone 1/10

Intriguing... How did u rate Salvador on 1st viewing?? In the case u didn't like it, how come did u see it again? Otherwise, how come has it grown thinner in your appreciation?

I had given it one star but had walked out during it.

I thought it only fair to give it a second viewing, particularly as James Woods went on to receive an Oscar nomination and the film is reasonably well regarded more then 20 years later.

Ironically I couldn't remember who much of the film I originally saw but I knew the scene that I walked on during. Turns out its about 70 minutes into the picture.

I found the film as bombastic as most of Oliver Stones lesser works and that the film didn't improve during the remainder of the duration that I missed the first time. I am glad I gave it a second chance.

[HarryGoldfarb]

In Bruges (Martin McDonagh) - 8/10

This was such a pleasent surprise. I enjoyed it a lot!

[HarryGoldfarb]

Repeat Viewings

My American Uncle (1980) Alain Resnais 8/10
Love Unto Death (1984) Alain Resnais 7/10
Salvador (1986) Oliver Stone 1/10

Intriguing... How did u rate Salvador on 1st viewing?? In the case u didn't like it, how come did u see it again? Otherwise, how come has it grown thinner in your appreciation?

[Mister Tee]

Thanks to TCM, caught up with the long-sought The Family Way.

The film had an uphill battle with me, as it encompassed alot of elements for which I don't care. It's obviously based on a (mediocre) play, with long remembrance stories that slow the action down. Much of the familial interplay is of the insult variety, popular in 70s sitcoms but not with me. The father/son relationship is the hoary old "blue-collar dad/sensitive son" face-off -- even including a test-of-macho arm-wrestling match I feel like I've seen a hundred times. And the main plot involves hordes of sniggery neighbors observing/commenting on a couple's intimate issues. Oh, and it has Hywel Bennett in the central male role -- a lightweight presence who looks disconcertingly like Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Yet, with all that, I enjoyed things about the film -- chiefly the actors. I can't say Hayley Mills offered anything especially insightful, but she remains the lovable golden beauty of my childhood. And the oldsters -- John Mills, and most especially the much-touted Rhodes -- rise above the material. They're the ones stuck with the expository monologues (chiefly one about an old buddy of Mills' -- a subject covered in massive detail yet somehow left opaque), and Rhodes is also assigned alot of the insult-zingers. But she, in particular, gives her dialogue a wonderfully fresh spin. Her line readings are so perfectly dry they lose their formulaic quality and seem to leap to another dimension. By the second hour, I was laughing nearly every time she opened her mouth. Even her small reactions are priceless -- like one moment when Mills says he hopes their TV isn't repaired because it "kills the art of conversation", and her look tells us everything about the reality of the household.

The subject matter has of course long since lost its ability to scandalize (as has the brief shot of pure little Hayley's butt). I can imagine it passed for quite sexy in 1967. Now it feels fairly quaint.

Anyway, I enjoyed it enough despite all its shortcomings, and I'm glad to have become belatedly acquainted with the impressive Rhodes.

[Reza]

The Girl Who Played With Fire / The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Daniel Alfredson, 2009) 5/10

Second and third parts of the trilogy. Although these two films are basically one story in two parts. Like the first film, the novelty is in looking at the swedish locations. Maybe I need to read the three books now to see what all the shouting was about. The stories are standard mysteries with sex and violence thrown in.

The Other Guys (Adam McKay, 2010) 1/10
Serves me right for thinking the film would be good based on the trailer. Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg are totally unfunny as the leads. The film may have been better if the two second leads, Samuel L Jackson and Dwayne Johnson, had been given more screen time.

Shut Up and Kiss Me (Devion Hamilton, 2010) 4/10
Is a film softcore if an erect penis is shown on screen? The trails in the life of a gay man who is out looking for love. Has its moments.

Mother and Child (Rodrigo Garcia, 2009) 4/10
Strictly by the books film about motherhood and adoption. I liked the scenes between Samuel L Jackson and Naomi Watts.

[Precious Doll]

The Girl Who Played With Fire (2009) Daniel Alfredson 5/10
You Don't Know Jack (2010) Barry Levinson 6/10
Big Gay Musical (2009) Casper Andreas & Fred M Caruso 5/10
Between Love and Goodbye (2008) Casper Andreas 2/10
The Human Centipede (2009) Tom Six 4/10
Eat Pray Love (2010) Ryan Murphy 2/10
Buried (2010) Rodrigo Cortes 4/10

Repeat Viewings

Black Jack (1979) Ken Loach 8/10
Caged Heat (1974) Jonathan Demme 6/10
Billy Budd (1962) Peter Ustinov 9/10
We of the Never Never (1982) Igor Auzins 8/10
Loulou (1980) Maurice Pialat 7/10
Melo (1988) Alain Resnais 8/10

[Hustler]

I was attending the 10th edition of the german film festival here in Buenos Aires and these are my recommendations:

1. When We Live (Die Fremde/Feo Aladag) (2010) 7/10

2. Vincent Will Meer (Ralf Huettner/2010) 8/10

3. Lila Lila (My Words-My Lies-My Love/Alain Gsponer) (2009) 7/10

4. I´ve Never Been Happier (Alexander Adolph) (2009) 7/10

[Precious Doll]

Rapt (2009) Lucas Bellvaux 7/10
The Pleasure Girls (1965) Gerry O'Hara 6/10
La Nostra Vita (2010) Daniele Luchetti 4/10
Eika Katappa (1969) Werner Schroeter 4/10
Repo Men (2010) Miguel Sapochnik 1/10
The Portuguese Nun (2009) Eugene Green 7/10
Dinner for Schmucks (2010) Jay Roach 6/10

Repeat Viewings

Life is a Bed of Roses (1982) Alain Resnais 7/10

[Reza]

Broken Embraces (Pedro Almodovar, 2009) 7/10
Almodovar's films are like reading a pulp novel. This one is no exception and even if it is not as good as a couple of his previous films it has enough drama and humour to keep one watching. At least it is better than most of what Hollywood keeps churning out. He has truly found his muse in Penelope Cruz.

Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act (Philip Martin, 2006) 7/10
The role that brought Helen Mirren worldwide acclaim. The last act and she is brilliant as the burnt out cop on her last case before retirement.

The Last Station (Michael Hoffman, 2009) 5/10
Helen Mirren gives a flamboyant performance and Christopher Plummer matches her every step of the way (despite being buried under a huge white beard) as the Leo Tolstoys.

Cries and Whispers (Ingmar Bergman, 1972) 10/10
A superbly scripted, directed and acted masterpiece. Ingrid Thulin is especially marvellous.

Bound for Glory (Hal Ashby, 1976) 3/10
For years I avoided this film because the subject did not hold any interest to me. And I wasn't dissapointed. As suspected I was bored and it was a terrible chore to sit through it. Can't believe it was up for best picture. David Carradine is good though.

Event Horizon (Paul W.S. Anderson, 1997) 2/10
Trashy science fiction nonsense.

North Country (Niki Caro, 2005) 5/10
Strictly tv movie fare although well acted by Charlize Theron and the rest of the cast.

Ma Nuit Chez Maud (Eric Rohmer, 1969) 6/10
Talky film not without interest. Jean-Louis Trintignant, Francoise Fabian and a ravishing Marie-Christine Barrault are superb. Wonder if this was the film that inspired Ethan Hawke to make his two films with Julie Delpy?

Shadow of a Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock, 1943) 8/10
Joseph Cotten is superb as the killer and should have been nomiinated for an Oscar. Teresa Wright matches him every step of the way. Usual mixture of black humour and suspense from Hitchcock. Great character actors in support at their peak.

Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years 1929-1939 (Ferdinand Fairfax, 1981) 6/10
Robert Hardy is excellent as Churchill and the film covers his career during a period of great trouble for him. A good history lesson along the way.



Edited By Reza on 1285839216