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

[Reza]

Rocky Mountain (William Keighley, 1950) 8/10

The downbeat tone of Flynn's last Western is probably why he decided to take on the role - he was never fond of all the action oriented roles he had played in this genre. The theme of the film also fits in with the mood prevailing back then when heroes were less than perfect and endings weren’t always happy. During the dying days of the Civil War a weary captain (Errol Flynn) in the Confederate Army is sent west to California to raise a rebel army in order to create enough heat to deflect from their forces back east. The small group finds themselves stranded on a mountain top waiting for a bandit warlord to provide an army. Their gallant rescue of a stagecoach from Indians backfires as the sole survivor (Patrice Wymore) turns out to be the fiancé of a Union officer stationed nearby who also turns up with his men and taken prisoner on the mount. It becomes a tense waiting game as Indians around them go on the warpath leading to the film's very realistic finalé. Despite Wymore's presence there is not even a hint of romance with Flynn - although offscreen she became his third and last wife. Despite Slim Picken's screen debut there is no corny comic track in the film (unlike boistrous comic scenes in previous Flynn Westerns) keeping up with the bleak storyline. Keighley shoots with great precision - both the action scenes as well as the talky scenes on the mount using the outdoor location to great effect.

Royal Wedding (Stanley Donen, 1951) 8/10

This is the one where Astaire dances with a coat rack and later on the walls and ceiling of a room which decades later Lionel Richie re-created in the hit video of his song "Dancing on the Ceiling". A brother (Fred Astaire) and sister (Jane Powell) dance act (mirroring Astaire's own former act with his sister Adele) opens in London on the eve of the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. The partners also find romance along the way - he with a chorus girl (Sarah Churchill - Winston's actress daughter) and she with an impoverished Lord (Peter Lawford). Keenan Wynn tries to arrange two marriages while the royal one is on. The ballad "Too Late Now", sung by Powell to Lawford, was nominated for an Oscar, Alan Jay Lerner wrote all the lyrics, first choice Judy Garland was fired by MGM (she apparentley tried to slash her throat in response), second choice June Allyson dropped out due to pregnancy so Powell got the role playing sister to Astaire who was 30-years older. Memorable film, a sort of filler, before Astaire's masterpiece "The Band Wagon" which was just around the corner. Nobody could really equal the color and A-list pizzazz of musicals like MGM. This may have been minor compared to many other musicals yet still manages to maintain a classic status with some of Astaire's best hoofing.

Red Notice (Rawson Marshall Thurber, 2021) 4/10

Utterly predictable heist yarn that tries to revive memories of "Charade", "Gambit", "How to Steal a Million" and many others before it. They forgot that the charm of Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Michael Caine, Shirley MacLaine and Peter O'Toole is missing from this rather tired recipe. An FBI agent (Dwayne Johnson) is forced to partner with a famous art thief (Ryan Reynolds) to take on an up-and-coming criminal (Gal Gadot) in their quest to retrieve three ancient Egyptian fabergé-like gold eggs which were a wedding gift from Marc Antony to his wife Cleopatra. The chase is on with the three double crossing each other from one end of the world to another as they go from Rome to Bali to a Russian prison to the jungles of Argentina where a Nazi bunker houses the missing third egg. Blatant rip-off moments from Spielberg's "Raiders of the Lost Ark" - at one stage Reynolds cheekily whistles John Williams' "Raiders March" tune as he sets foot in an underground cavern full of stolen Nazi treasures. The three stars seem to be having a ball passing quips as they torture each other in their quest for one-upmanship. However, it comes off terribly forced and since none of the characters show any redeemable qualities one doesn't care either way for them. Looks like there will be a sequel as the set up is in place at the end.

Rogue's March (Allan Davis, 1953) 3/10

British soldiers with veddy stiff upper lips. One (Peter Lawford), a promising young soldier just betrothed to an officer's daughter (Janice Rule) and on the verge of sailing to India, gets framed as a traitor and is court-martialed. Enlisting again on the sly he turns up in the North Western Frontier under the command of his own dad (Leo G. Carroll), goes on the lam on the Khyber Pass after the Russians (villains de jour) with his fiancé's current boyfriend (Richard Greene). Rousing action against the pathans who shout out a lot of their speeches in pushto. And a rare glimpse of the Khyber Pass, circa 1953, passing off as early century. It's mixed in with footage shot in Southern California and on the studio lot. Interesting to see the Ruskies as the bad guys even back then as they "interfered" with the politics of Afghanistan against the Brits. A poor man's "Four Feathers" with heavy doses of the Dreyfuss Affair. A rather weak affair overall.

[Reza]

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Destin Daniel Cretton, 2021) 6/10

Don't get me wrong - I absolutely loved this idea of a Chinese Marvel comic book superhero (notice I'm not calling him a Chinese-American superhero) - but how the heck did THIS come about? Was it something on the lines of #OscarsSoWhite where African-Americans went up in arms boo-hooing that the Academy pussyfooted only with white actors? Similarly did Asians (of the Far East variety - not brown Asians like some of us located not that far East) want equal time in the comic boom universe because they were fed up seeing only white and black superheroes? Shaun or Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), trained as a child to be an assassin by his dad (Tony Leung) - leader of the clandestine criminal organization called Ten Rings - leaves home, settles incognito as a hotel valet in San Francisco and befriends kooky Katy (Awkwafina). When his dad unleashes a gang of thugs on him taking a green pendant given by his late mother, he makes a beeline for Macau to warn his sister that the gang could be after her pendant too. Dad, vicious as ever, turns up with a far-fetched story saying Mom is alive and being held prisoner by her kin in her native village. The way to the village is like a maze with a door that opens up only once a year. No matter how ridiculous the plot one sort of weaves oneself into all the inanities and go with the characters on their journey which like most such films is clearly influenced in some way or the other by Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park (minus the dinosaurs but with other exotica) and Game of Thrones. Since its all Asian it takes on the feel of a Hong Kong action thriller with Michelle Yeoh in residence as the kick-ass maiden aunt to the two kids. And Ben Kingsley weirdly wanders in as an actor-jester who leads them to the hidden village. Lots of noisy balletic fights, visual effects galore and lots and lots of sage advice which is the ultimate cliché from the Eastbound world. Not too painful to sit through but its all very deja vu and rather a waste of the large Asian cast. Still they managed to get into the comic book universe which brings me to maybe protest that its high time that a Pakistani gets into the superhero groove.

No Time to Die (Cary Joji Fukunaga, 2021) 7/10

Daniel Craig's last Bond film and he goes out not with a whimper but with a mighty big bang. It rates a very distant third amongst his five, after Skyfall (2012) and Casino Royale (2006) - we shall ignore the other crappy two and pretend they didn't happen. This one is pretty much a hit and miss as well cramming in far too much plot. I miss the simple days of the earlier Bond films when the story lines were easier to follow, the girls were prettier and totally undressed in bed, the villains had balls and Bond actually fucked in between shooting people dead. The silver Aston Martin DB5 makes a kick-ass appearance in full shooting glory and is followed later by a sleek black Aston Martin V8. The Cuba sequence made me almost nod off to sleep catching 5 winks so Ana de Armas shooting a gun while running in high heels in a black evening dress with a plunging neckline is almost a blur - obviously not fully asleep otherwise wouldn't have noticed that dress. Also started nodding off during the overlong attack on the island at the end especially during boring villain Rami Malek's ponderous monologue - and he's much too young to be the person who appears during the pre-credits flashback. Did they forget to age him during the scenes set in the present? And did they have to make his facial skin look so yucky? Léa Seydoux is back and just as bland second time round. Ditto Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) - so tiresome for still being around 50 years on. At least he was sexy bald and had a cute pussy back in the day. The rest of the gang all returns - M (Ralph Fiennes) in full-on constipated mood - the plot's main fuck-up is thanks to him - Miss Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) who gets sidelined by the introduction of a new 007 (Lashana Lynch) - a black statuesque Amazon who gets Bond's number after he has retired, Q (Ben Whishaw) who comes to the rescue as usual, Tanner (Rory Kinnear) and Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) caught in a harrowing sequence. Two boy-toy villains - Logan Ash (Billy Magnussen) and Primo the Cyclops (Dali Benssalah) - pop up during the many chase sequences with the two Aston Martins, a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado LC90, a Land Rover, a Triumph Scrambler 1200 XC and on a helicopter - and prove to be vicious adversaries for Bond. The film uses eclectic locations in Jamaica, Scotland, the Faroe Islands, Italy and the spectacular Atlantic Ocean Road in Norway. And it seems that Bollywood movies have really made strides on World Cinema because this Bond film caps it off with the daddy of all Bollywood sentimental plotlines. And last but not least the title song by Billie Eilish is utter crap. However, it was a cool touch at the end to hear Louis Armstrong sing "We Have All the Time in the World" in an ironic homage to "On Her Majesty's Secret Service".

The Return of Bulldog Drummond (Walter Summers, 1934) 6/10

Drummond (Ralph Richardson), the gentleman adventurer, comes out of retirement - he has been heading a vigilante group doffing evil foreigners - and tries to solve the mystery of various assassinations. When the slimy villain (Francis L. Sullivan) makes the mistake of kidnapping his beloved wife (Ann Todd) all hell breaks loose. Fast moving film has Richardson's droll performance at its center along with many action packed sequences.

The Last of the Mohicans (Michael Mann, 1992) 8/10

Old-fashioned epic, based on the classic James Fenimore Cooper novel, gets a typically pulsating and violently savage treatment by Michael Mann. It also cemented the intense romantic image of star Daniel Day-Lewis and further displayed the now slightly rugged and ravaged beauty of Madeleine Stowe as the two stars vied for the positon of the year's most romantic screen couple. Also helping this remake (the screenplay was also based on Phillip Dunne's 1936 screen version) is the authenticity of the locations in contrast to the studio-bound sets in the Randolph Scott version. The plot is about an assortment of people and two pairs of star-crossed lovers caught up in the colonial war between the British and French fighting over the new land as settlers and natives are forced to pick sides. Dante Spinotti's lush cinematography and the instantly recognizable score by Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman were surprisingly not nominated for Oscars - it did win for its sound design though. The film has a huge cult following today and helped make Wes Studi, as the scary protagonist Magua, into a formidable presence on the big screen.

[Reza]

Music For Madame (John G. Blystone, 1937) 4/10

An attempt to make Italian Nino Martino - a leading operatic tenor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City - into a Hollywood star. Unfortunately the screenplay is trite - involving him (as what else but an aspiring opera singer) in a plot about stolen pearls for which he is accused - and surrounds him with a cast in full-on corny comic mode particularly Alan Hale as a bumbling detective. Martino does get to sing and he has a magnificent voice. Joan Fontaine, still three years away from full blown stardom, plays his love interest and Alan Mowbray spoofs famous conductor Leopold Stokowski.

My Love Came Back (Curtis Bernhardt, 1940) 8/10

Charming fluff is a remake of "Episode" the classic 1935 Austrian film by Walter Reisch. This Hollywood remake is notable for its musical direction (by Heinz Roemheld) and unique swing orchestral arrangements of classical pieces by Ray Heindorf. A promising violinist (Olivia de Havilland) on scholarship at a prominent music school decides to quit as she cannot make ends meet. A wealthy patron of the arts (Charles Winninger), who develops a crush on her, decides to annonymously provide her a monetary grant through his business manager (Jeffrey Lynn). The two also start attending concerts together. Meanwhile she meets the young manager and both fall in love. The film's comic situation arises when she is suspected by the old man's children of having an affair with their father as does the young manager. The confusion gets resolved at a lavish party where she performs solo in the swing band belonging to her two chums (Eddie Albert & Jane Wyman). The entire cast is delightful - including Spring Byington as Winninger's all-knowing wife and S. Z. Sakall as a cantankerous conductor - with de Havilland just on the cusp of becoming a huge star (she had appeared in "Gone With the Wind" the previous year). The "friendship" between Winninger and de Havilland would never past muster today as it would be deemed creepy although the twinkle in the old man's eyes betray what is only an infatuation any man could develop for a pretty girl. It used to be ok to have such feelings once upon a time without the world crashing down in cross-eyed judgement.

Brainstorm (William Conrad, 1965) 6/10

Scientist (Jeffrey Hunter) rescues suicidal woman (Anne Francis) from a traintrack and discovers she is stuck in a marriage with his tryannical boss (Dana Andrews). Sympathy changes to love and he plots to kill the man to rescue her from a life of misery. He manages to carry out the deed but things don't quite go as planned which leads to an ironical conclusion typical of the neo-noir genre. Hunter is good and Andrews is outstanding as the repellent man who wants things his own way. Interesting to see Richard Kiel - who years later would go on to play "Jaws" in two Bond films - as an inmate in a psychiatric hospital.

Man-Trap (Edmond O'Brien, 1961) 7/10

Good neo-noir mixes a soap opera plot with a robbery and is based on the novel "Soft Touch" by John D. MacDonald. A Korean war veteran (Jeffrey Hunter) is stuck in a lousy marriage to his boss's alcoholic, slutty, emotionally cruel daughter (Stella Stevens) while having an affair on the side with a secretary (Elaine Devry). When his war buddy (David Janssen) arrives with a plan to rob a South American dictator of $3 million and is willing to share it with him he reluctantly goes along with the plan hoping it will allow him to leave his wife. As with all good noirs the plan does not quite go according to plan as a shootout ensues, his friend is hit and three thugs chase them for the loot. Meanwhile his wife makes a play for the friend, he decides he wants no part of the loot and kicks his friend out of his house who takes off for Mexico. Matters go from bad to worse when there is an unexpected death, the thugs walk in looking for the money and bash his skull while the friend finds himself in an equally ironical twist in Mexico. Fast moving film has a riveting performance by Stevens as the boozy, seductive, sadist wife who also gets all the best lines. Hunter is also good as a basically decent man who is not really having a very nice life. And what a fun set of party-animal friends they have - always drunk and willing to play sexual games.

Men of Two Worlds / Afrikas Son (Thorold Dickinson, 1946) 5/10

Ambitious film just goes on and on when it could have been edited down by a good thirty minutes. An African (Robert Adams) returns to his village after spending 15 years in London as a professional composer and pianist. He plans on teaching children in his village. However, an outbreak of sleeping sickness caused by the tsetse fly has reached pandemic proportions and spreading fast. It results in a battle against superstition of the villagers and the local witch doctor who manipulates the frightened villagers from not moving to a safe area. He is helped by the local District Commissioner (Eric Portman) and a doctor (Phyllis Calvert) but falls sick with guilt after his father dies and his family accuse him of killing the old man. Shot on location in Tanganyika in lovely color the screenplay (by Joyce Carey) attempts to show a balanced view of the African people. Although it condemns superstition and witchcraft it does so by closely identifying with all the dilemmas faced by the African protagonist who has to balance his modern European world view with that of the centuries old African way of life and thinking. Adams, a distinguished British Guyanese actor of stage and film, is very good in the lead role.

The Last Outpost (Lewis R. Foster, 1951) 5/10

Brothers (Ronald Reagan & Bruce Bennett) on opposite sides during the American Civil War have to join hands when there is a threat of an Indian attack. Pretty Rhonda Fleming, a recent widow and former fiancé of the younger brother, is around as the token love interest. The plot is total historical fiction - could the North & South join hands to fight as one unit against Indians? Highly improbable. Reagan's first starring Western is strictly a B-film but he manages to carry it off with his rakish charm. A couple of good action sequences helped make this low budget entry into a hit at the boxoffice.

Love Under Fire (George Marshall, 1937) 3/10

A Scotland Yard detective (Don Ameche) falls in love with an alleged jewel thief (Loretta Young) in the middle of the Spanish Civil War. Confused film cannot decide if its a sophisticated love story, a screwball comedy or a heavy drama. And they don't even bother to resolve if the pearls were stolen by her. In the midst of their dramatic escape out of the country they are joined by another woman (Frances Drake) who has stolen a set of diamonds and a group of musicians who attempt to liven things up through corny musical-comedy routines. John Carradine wanders into this mess as the obligatory villain. Skip this one.

Innocents in Paris (Gordon Parry, 1953) 5/10

Quaint but silly film about a group of Brits on a weekend trip to Paris. Strictly interesting for its cast and the shenanigans they get upto in the city of romance. A diplomat (Alastair Sim) in town for a conference clashes with his Russian counterpart over shots of vodka and ends up at a Russian nightclub where Ludmila Lopato, a Russian tzigane chanteuse, sings the original Russian version of the song that became "Those were the Days", which became a hit record for Mary Hopkin. An amateur artist (Margaret Rutherford) visits the Louvre and the Left Bank in search of artists. A naive young woman (Claire Bloom) in search of romance finds it with an older frenchman (Claude Dauphin) who takes her on a tour of the city. A Scotsman (James Copeland) who parades around the city in his kilt causing amusement. A Captain (Jimmy Edwards) looks out for an archetypal British pub in the city and spends the entire weekend drinking there. Many uncredited early appearances by actors who later became stars - Christopher Lee, Kenneth Williams, Laurence Harvey. The screenplay revels in the stereotypical views of both Brits and foreigners and is interesting to see how the city looked during the early 1950s.

The Eagle and the Hawk (Lewis R. Foster, 1950) 4/10

Painfully slow film about a Texas Ranger (John Payne) and a government agent-Union spy (Dennis O'Keefe) who join hands and get involved in Mexican politics - to sustain Juarez on the throne and ensure that Napoleon III's candidate Maximillian is deposed. A would be Pancho Villa (Thomas Gomez) is on the side of Juarez while Maximillian has a crooked agent (Fred Clark) rooting for him. The latter's lovely wife (Rhonda Fleming) provides the love interest and with this ravishing redhead in tow the color cinematography is handled superbly by James Wong Howe. Interesting plot is all talk and no action which makes it a chore to sit through.

[Reza]

Spencer (Pablo Larraín, 2021) 10/10

Kristen Stewart's stunning performance perfectly captures Diana Princess of Wales in all her mannered and awkward glory. It's Christmas 1991 at Sandringham and the Royal family descends for the annual get together. Diana, driving alone, gets lost enroute muttering "where the fuck am I?", and has to ask for directions at a petrol pump much to the astonishment of people at the café. She is met by her two sons, is relieved to see her lady-in-waiting (Sally Hawkins) and ushered in by Major Gregory (Timothy Spall) who asks her to hurry on into the drawing room where the Queen is waiting for sandwiches to be served. Diana takes a detour via the toilet where she promptly throws up before freshening up to make her entrance. It's the three-day weekend she spent with the family - exactly 10 years after her marriage - just as disillusionment with her life had set in after learning that there was another person sharing her marriage to Charles - he presents an exquisite pearl necklace as a Christmas gift to Diana and a duplicate one to his mistress Camilla as well. Diana appears to be stuck in a haunted horror house (the long endless corridors seem straight out of Stephen King's "The Shining") with herself as the threatening monster which the family perceives her to be. It's a weekend all about protocol and lashings of food which when coupled with her bulimia becomes a total farce. Larraín stages a remarkable tense scene in the dining room where Charles and the Queen stare down at Diana as she imagines Queen Anne Boleyn (the one who lost her head when her husband King Henry VIII found another woman) at the table - the pearl necklace around her neck brings on flashes of the beheading which she pulls and snaps the pearls into her soup which she then swallows only to later run and vomit in the toilet. An amazing moment which reflects Diana's very disturbed state of mind. She is a woman dressed in designer wear but trapped in a gilded cage - a haunting montage of Diana seen prancing about the vast corridors and rooms of the castle wearing different familiar dresses provides a glaring glimpse into the stifling demands made on famous women known for their designer wear. This theme also ran through Larraìn's "Jackie" and like that film this too has outstanding production and costume design, stunning cinematography (by Claire Mathon) and a wonderful score (by Jonny Greenwood). Very offbeat film - a work of fiction with scary moments of truth - is held together by Stewart's astute performance which will be the one to beat at the Oscars next year. And it was a happy sight to see the screenplay do justice to Diana's close and very loving relationship with her two boys.

Innocents in Paris (Gordon Parry, 1953) 5/10

Quaint but silly film about a group of Brits on a weekend trip to Paris. Strictly interesting for its cast and the shenanigans they get upto in the city of romance. A diplomat (Alastair Sim) in town for a conference clashes with his Russian counterpart over shots of vodka and ends up at a Russian nightclub where Ludmila Lopato, a Russian tzigane chanteuse, sings the original Russian version of the song that became "Those were the Days", which became a hit record for Mary Hopkin. An amateur artist (Margaret Rutherford) visits the Louvre and the Left Bank in search of artists. A naive young woman (Claire Bloom) in search of romance finds it with an older frenchman (Claude Dauphin) who takes her on a tour of the city. A Scotsman (James Copeland) who parades around the city in his kilt causing amusement. A Captain (Jimmy Edwards) looks out for an archetypal British pub in the city and spends the entire weekend drinking there. Many uncredited early appearances by actors who later became stars - Christopher Lee, Kenneth Williams, Laurence Harvey. The screenplay revels in the stereotypical views of both Brits and foreigners and is interesting to see how the city looked during the early 1950s.

The Eagle and the Hawk (Lewis R. Foster, 1950) 4/10

Painfully slow film about a Texas Ranger (John Payne) and a government agent-Union spy (Dennis O'Keefe) who join hands and get involved in Mexican politics - to sustain Juarez on the throne and ensure that Napoleon III's candidate Maximillian is deposed. A would be Pancho Villa (Thomas Gomez) is on the side of Juarez while Maximillian has a crooked agent (Fred Clark) rooting for him. The latter's lovely wife (Rhonda Fleming) provides the love interest and with this ravishing redhead in tow the color cinematography is handled superbly by James Wong Howe. Interesting plot is all talk and no action which makes it a chore to sit through.

Chief Crazy Horse (George Sherman, 1955) 7/10

Reverential, if slightly plodding, screen biography of the Lakota Sioux Chief Crazy Horse is highly fictionalized but shot in stunning colour by Harold Lipstein. Victor Mature, looking rather heavy-set and long in the tooth, gives a compassionate portrayal of the warrior at odds with the fork-tongued white man. Pretty Suzan Ball, in brown face, is his wife Black Shawl and there are good turns by John Lund as a sympathetic white friend to the Indians and Ray Danton as his rival (and murderer) Little Big Man. Good battle sequences including the victory at Little Big Horn where Crazy Horse and his braves defeated General Custer. One of numerous sympathetic films during the 1950s that portrayed the West from the point of view of the Indians.

Chicago Deadline (Lewis Allen, 1949) 3/10

Confusing and noir goes on and on with no stopping in sight. A journalist (Alan Ladd) swipes the diary belonging to a dead girl (Donna Reed) who is discovered in a boarding house. He begins calling each person mentioned in the diary and discovers that none of them want to be associated with the dead woman or are too scared to respond. Through a series of tedious flashbacks we get to check out the woman's life - her brother (Arthur Kennedy) provides some information and after her husband died she became friends with a prostitute (June Havoc) and the lover of a gangster (Shepherd Strudwick) who gets his face smashed in by another crook who wants her for himself. When she rejects him her fate is sealed. The film unsuccessfully tries to repeat the success of Otto Preminger's "Laura" which was also about a mysterious dead woman whose story unfolds via flashbacks.

[gunnar]

Eternals (2021) - 7/10 - Overall, I liked the film, but it is my least favorite MCU film so far. I never got into the Eternals characters in the comics so that may have played a small role. There were good parts interspersed, especially in smaller character scenes. The battles with the deviants generally weren't all that interesting. The movie felt like it could have used more editing to tighten it up and cut the run time. 7/10 might be a bit generous, but I'll stick with that for now.

[gunnar]

I decided to catch up on the three Studio Ghibli films that I hadn't seen yet:

Tales from Earthsea (2006) - 5/10 - This film is somewhat lackluster and generic. It's my least favorite film from them so far. It is sort of an adaptation of Ursula K. LeGuin's books, but with a lot of stuff changed. The pacing and characters were not that interesting.

Earwig and the Witch (2021) - 7.5/10 - A girl is left at an orphanage as a baby with a note that her name is Earwig. She grows up there and is later adopted by a witch who wants to use her as an extra pair of hands. This film has pretty low ratings, but I enjoyed it. I liked the main character and the music.

My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999) - 7/10 - This movie is a series of short sketches featuring the Yamada family - Takashi and Matsuko along with their children, Noboru and Nonoko plus Shige (Matsuko's mother). We get to see the humor in their daily lives through the sketches. The art style is very different from other Studio Ghibli films and it may take a while to get used to it, but I liked it. It isn't the best Ghibli film, but it was pretty good overall.

[Reza]

The Rhythm Section (Reed Morano, 2020) 5/10

She (Blake Lively) goes from being a drug-addicted prostitute to a wig-donning assassin. And she has to be one of the most annoying characters with typical human frailties of being a fuck-up at the most awkward of times. She used to be a grieving woman who sets out for revenge after discovering that the air crash that killed her parents and siblings was by a terrorist's bomb and who the authorities have allowed to walk the street. She is trained by a disgraced former MI6 operative (Jude Law) and goes on a killing spree after being put into contact with a former CIA officer (Sterling K. Brown) who now makes a living as a private intelligence broker. She manages to zero in on the terrorist - Reza (Tawfeek Barhom) - in the midst of him carrying out another terrorist bombing on a bus using a suicide bomber. But she has the final ace up her sleeve when she confronts the actual person behind every attack. Globe trotting drama goes from London and takes in Scotland, Madrid, Tangier, New York and Marseille along the way. By-the-numbers action thriller has nothing new to add to the terrorist genre although Blake Lively gives it a massive try.

The Harder They Fall (Jeymes Samuel, 2021) 10/10

We are in very serious Sergio Leone - Sergio Corbucci territory but with a witty and exciting twist. An alternate Western World where white folk are rightfully relegated to the part of the invisible extra and peopled instead by black folk which allows an exciting cream of the current African-Americana crop of actors to shine in vivid roles. The characters are based on real cowboys, lawmen and outlaws of the 19th-century American West. All black. The director keeps the plot very simple and is about revenge. A 10-year old kid sees his parents shot dead by a gunslinger and grows up (as Jonathan Majors) seeking revenge. His posse consists of a sharpshooter (Edi Gathegi), a young and brash quick-draw (RJ Cyler), his wild-maned former lover - Stagecoach Mary (Zazie Beetz) - and owner of a chain of hip saloons (which look like a cross between Maxims in Paris and Toulouse Lautrec's hangouts), a Marshall (Delroy Lindo) and Cuffee (Danielle Deadwyler) who is based on Cathay Williams the first Black woman to enlist, and the only documented woman to serve in the United States Army posing as a man during the American Indian Wars. They go up against Rufus Buck (Idris Elba) and his close co-horts - his deadly over-the-top lover (Regina King), quick-draw Cherokee Smith (Lakeith Stanfield) and a former associate (Deon Cole) who keeps changing alliances. The spectacular cast elevates what is basically a well-worn template bringing a lot of style to the genre. The wonderful screenplay imbibes the chemistry between all the actors as they bicker, berate and kill each other. A film full of soulful surprises with a whole lotta Mel Brooks style comic moments hidden within is shot in magnificent widescreen which captures not only the vast countryside but every flicker and movement on the expressive faces of the superb cast. Even the production design shows wit - a bank robbery takes place in an all-white town where even the buildings and the ground they stand on are white. Elba and King are especially memorable as the two nasty villains without any redeeming qualities. Great use of music and songs throughout which almost takes the film into the musical genre. Not surprising considering the backgrounds of both the director (a British singer and songwriter who goes by the stage name "The Bulletts") and producer (Jay-Z).

The Black Scorpion (Edward Ludwig, 1957) 5/10

One of numerous giant bug themed films that came out of Hollywood during the 1950s. This one is almost like a remake of "Them" which was about giant ants on the rampage after a nuclear fallout. After a volcano erupts in Mexico it is discovered that the accompanying earthquake opened a vast crevice in the ground from which emerges a giant scorpion which goes on a destructive rampage across the countryside. A scientist (Richard Denning) goes down into the cavern and discovers a gigantic cave and home to many giant scorpions, centipedes and spiders. The closeup of the giant arachnid looks very fake but the stop motion animation special effects are pretty good. Major action set pieces involve a battle between a scorpion and a centipede, a train wreck caused by a scorpion and the final showdown with the daddy of all scorpions in a stadium in Mexico City as tanks, helicopters, guns and missiles are let loose on the relentless insect. Overlong film goes for the jugular with revolting closeups of the scorpion but the screenplay doesn't give much depth to the human characters who just scream, run and get killed. Mara Corday plays the pretty love interest.

Gun For a Coward (Abner Biberman, 1957) 6/10

A widow (Josephine Hutchinson) runs a vast farm with her three sons - the responsible eldest (Fred MacMurray), the sensitive middle one (Jeffrey Hunter) thought of as a coward and the apple of his mother's eye and the brash youngest (Dean Stockwell). The eldest is engaged to a neighbor's daughter (Janice Rule) who in turn is in love with the sensitive brother. Like all Westerns this too celebrates honour, pride, independence and courage with its underlying message of what makes a man and how his courage, or lack of it, defines him. The film also throws in a few Indians, a cattle drive and a bar room brawl. Hutchinson was only 5 years older than MacMurray who plays her son while he is miscast as the older brother being over 20 years older than Hunter, Stockwell and Rule.

The Homestretch (H. Bruce Humberstone, 1947) 7/10

Stock footage of the coronation of King George VI in London, of Buenos Aires, of the racecourses at Ascot, the Kentucky Derby, Saratoga, Belmont and Hollywood Park in this story about a race horse bought by a breeder (Cornel Wilde) at a throwaway price much to the anger of rival breeder (Helen Walker) who also happens to be in love with him. However, he only has eyes for the horse's previous owner - a prim Boston socialite (Maureen O'Hara), engaged to be married to a diplomat (debonair Glen Langan). Needless to say the two come together, get married and then part with jealousy rearing its ugly head followed by racing debts and a miscarriage. Everything but the kitchen sink. Great chemistry between Wilde and O'Hara who was never more beautiful. Don't know why they said that because she was always very beautiful. And a firebrand.

[Reza]

Man on Fire (Tony Scott, 2004) 6/10

A "Death Wish" retread. Charles Bronson started the fashion of vigilante killing in 1974 - there may have been others before him - but he made it cool to kill scum. And the trend continued - here and beyond. Former CIA officer (Denzel Washington), now a broken alcoholic, is persuaded by his close buddy (Christopher Walken) to take on a job as bodyguard to the daughter (Dakota Fanning) of a rich Mexican automaker (Marc Anthony) and his American wife (Radha Mitchell). The film is a story of a broken man's redemption with the kid his saviour. When she is kidnapped he goes after the gang and one by one relishes each brutal murder on his way to the kidnapper who is known as "The Voice". The best scenes are all between Washington and his interactions with the remarkably astute Fanning - an actress with a scary range considering she was only 9 or 10 during the shoot. Helping him along the way is a journalist (Rachel Ticotin) and the cop (Giancarlo Giannini) on the case. A pre-facial surgery Mickey Rourke plays a lawyer who may know more about the kidnapping than he wishes to divulge. All the action scenes have Tony Scott's trademark razzle dazzle - all flashing lights, distorted images and rapid editing - which gets to be a tad annoying. Once an adman always an adman - Scot spent 15 years making commercials before he entered the world of movies.

Old (M. Night Shyamalan, 2021) 4/10

Nature at its most deadly and threatning which becomes a parable for the Covid pandemic - lock-down causing claustrophobia, fear and uncertainty of whether it will leas to survial or death. Shyamalan also seems to be making some kind of negative connotation about fear of ageing. A group of people - who have some form of an underlyimg medical condition - arrive at a tropical holiday resort. A group of guests is taken on a daytrip and left at a secluded cove on a beach for a day's rest and recreation. To their horror they discover they cannot leave, have started rapidly aging and die gruesome deaths. Interesting premise but with a ghastly twist not unlike Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians" with its group of people at a secluded spot and being killed off one by one. Indifferently acted film has a few shocks in store but soon becomes very tiresome. The stunning location and the lovely cinematography get top marks though.

Chaos Walking (Doug Liman, 2021) 2/10

A screen adaptation of a young-adult (wtf is that?) science fiction novel set on New World - an alien planet only recently colonized by humanity. Men rule the roost in one part where the story goes that women all died years ago in battle at the hands of an alien race. Men have an annoying affliction where they can hear each others' (and animals') thoughts, described as "Noise". Women did not have that affliction so could hear everything men thought about. When a spaceship crashes, the lone survivor - a girl (Daisy Ridley) - is discovered by a young man (Todd Holland). The townfolk, led by their leader (Mads Mikkleson), want to capture her but she goes on the run aided by the young man while chased by all the men in town. Eventually certain truths are revealed as they race against time to contact and warn a mother ship which is about to land on this planet. It is all very deja vu conjuring up images of many similar stories with "Planet of the Apes" immediately coming to mind. Same concept with minor changes. Hence not very original of Patrick Ness who came up with this stale concept for "young-adults" who made the books a roaring success. Young-adults....or morons? Both Holland and Ridley give stiff performances looking incredulous that they got stuck in such crap.

Hold Your Man (Sam Wood, 1933) 5/10

An immediate re-teaming of Gable and Harlow (it was their third of six films together) after their hit film from the previous year "Red Dust". Odd mixture of comedy- drama which turns excessively sentimental during a long sequence set in a jail during the second half. Resisting arrest a conman (Clark Gable) runs into the apartment of a brassy dame (Jean Harlow) to hide. She diverts the cop, resists warming upto him and later falls in love with him. While getting involved with more scams he accidently kills a man who is trying to harass her and she ends up pregnant and in jail while he goes into hiding. The jail sequence involves inmates helping the two reach a visiting black preacher in the chapel to do things right in the way of the Lord. The studio shot this sequence also with a white actor as the preacher for prints of the film shown to the bigoted American South. Maudlin film gets by on the great chemistry between the two stars who were great chums off screen.

[Reza]

The Golden Horde (George Sherman, 1951) 3/10

Eastern hokum with expected corny dialogue. Samarkand Princess (Ann Blyth) defends her city from the son and vizir of the mighty Genghis Khan with help from a British Crusader (David Farrar). Colorful action-adventure is boring with Farrar a boorish love interest for pretty Blyth who looks marvelous in Technicolor.

Too Many Girls (George Abbott, 1940) 5/10

College flick 1940s style based on a hit Broadway musical also directed by Abbott. A tycoon enlists four Ivy League football players to act as bodyguards for his spoilt reckless daughter (Lucille Ball) who plans on going to a hick College in New Mexico just to be close to her much older British boyfriend. The boys - Eddie Bracken, Hal Le Roy, Desi Arnaz, Richard Carlson - help out the College which is in bad financial straits and take its dismal football team into the winner's circle while getting involved with Lucy's shenanigans. Onscreen she falls for Carlson but offscreen ended up in a tumultuous 20-year marriage with Desi with whom she eloped. Pleasant, if corny, musical with undistinguished songs. Ann Miller tap dances and Van Johnson has a bit as a chorus boy. Lucy's 61st film and Desi's 1st - he was also in the Broadway production.

Tell It To the Judge (Norman Foster, 1949) 7/10

Corny film has a couple of hilarious laugh-out-loud moments with Rosalind Russell. Nobody was funnier on screen playing brash career women with that distinctive voice taking pratfalls while dressed to her teeth in evening wear. Divorcée and potential judge (Rosalind Russell) gets into a tussle with her ex-husband (Robert Cummings) who wants her back. In full-on screwball mode they get remarried but she has to pretend she is married to someone else (Gig Young) while her husband keeps finding himself in a compromising position with a blonde client (Marie McDonald). Roz goes full throttle with the comedy not afraid to get soaked, bumped, knocked around and look completely disheveled. She has great chemistry with Cummings who gives her competition in buffoonery. Silly but great fun.

Two Girls on Broadway (S. Sylvan Simon, 1940) 6/10

Song and dance man (George Murphy) auditions and gets into a show on Broadway. He wrangles a place for his fiancé (Joan Blondell) as his dance partner who shows up with kid sister in tow (Lana Turner). Through a nasty twist of fate the kid sister gets chosen as the dance partner while older sister gets relegated as the cigarette girl. Adding insult to injury the couple fall in love and dump older sister. Remake of the Oscar winning "The Broadway Melody" the role provides just the right boost to Lana Turner's career who was a year away from superstardom. And who knew she was such a great dancer matching Murphy every step of the way. Pity Fred Astaire never took on Turner as his dance partner in a film. The plot, with every cliché intact, takes second place and instead spends all its time (rightfully) showcasing Lana Turner and at the expense of the more seasoned Joan Blondell in her first film for MGM.

[gunnar]

Samurai II - Duel at Ichijoji Temple (1955) - 7.5/10 - We jump ahead a bit and Musashi has improved in the way of the sword and is challenging the Yoshioka school, though the disciples are a bit underhanded in trying to protect their masters. We also get to meet Kojiro Sasaki. This was good, though I liked the first movie a lot more. It had more humor and was more entertaining.

Samurai III - Duel at Ganryu Island (1956) - 7.5/10 - Musashi decides to travel and take up farming, putting off his duel with Sasaki for a year. I liked this one a bit more than the second film, but it still didn't equal the first film.

Dune (2021) - 7.5/10 - The movie has great visuals and is a pretty solid adaptation as far as it goes. I also like the cast. However, the deliberate pacing left me a bit bored at times.

[Reza]

The Shepherd of the Hills (Henry Hathaway, 1941) 8/10

Set amongst a superstitious community of moonshiners in the Ozark mountains of Missouri - although shot in stunning Technicolor in Big Bear Valley California - this melodrama involves a bitter young man (John Wayne) desperate for revenge on his father who abandoned his family years before causing his mother to die young. Into the community arrives a stranger (Harry Carey) who not only buys the young man's land, befriends his girlfriend (Betty Field) but also brings positive changes into the lives of the people. Loosely based on the novel by Harold Bell Wright - this was the first sound version - the story plays like a Christian parable about how kindness can bring love and turn things around for the better. Moving film with a memorable Wayne in his first teaming with Hathaway in a collaboration that would eventually net the actor his first and only Oscar almost 30 years later. The memorable supporting cast of character actors - Beulah Bondi, John Qualen, James Barton, Marjorie Main, Ward Bond - play assorted colorful mountain folk. Good chemistry between Wayne and Field.

The Interpreter (Sydney Pollack, 2005) 6/10

Film fitfully resembles the paranoid political thrillers of the 1970s including Pollack's own, far superior "Three Days of the Condor". A United Nations interpreter (Nicole Kidman) inadvertently overhears a whispered conversation about the assassination of a visiting African dictator who the U.N. is considering indicting for committing genocide against his countrymen. Not believing her is the Secret Service agent (Sean Penn) who has been assigned to protect the visiting dignitary who is soon arriving to address tbe General Assembly. The plot takes a twist when it is revealed that she has close ties to the African country where her parents died at the hands of the dictator. Talky thriller with brief moments of action and the obligatory potholes is held together by earnest performances by the two stars - Kidman's South African accent comes and goes while Penn looks very tired. They look good together but have little chemistry. Apparently he was overworked, wanted to spend time with his family but roped in by Pollack to join the project. Catherine Keener, as Penn's partner, steals the film in a brief part. It was the first time any film had been given access to shoot within the U.N. building and it also proved to be Pollack's last film before his death.

The International (Tom Tykwer, 2009) 7/10

Eric Warren Singer's screenplay is inspired by the BCCI (Bank of Credit and Commerce International) banking scandal that took place in the 1980s and early 1990s - here the fictional Luxumbourg-based merchant bank is called IBBC and serves organized crime and corrupt governments as a banker and as an arms broker with its ruthless senior managers (Armin Mueller-Stahl, Ulrich Thomsen) willing to assassinate suspected threats, including their own employees. Hot on their trail is an Interpol detective (Clive Owen) and a Manhattan Assistant D.A. (Naomi Watts). The investigation, double dealings, various assassinations and shootouts take place in many exotic locations - Milan, Berlin, Istanbul (the rooftops of the Grand Bazaar and the underground Bascilica cistern) and inside the Guggenheim Museum in New York. They actually re-built a replica of the cavernous interior of the museum inside an abandoned warehouse which becomes the setting for a spectacular shootout between the Interpol agent, who teams up with an assassin (Brían F. O'Byrne), against the bank's assassins who are out to get them both. Convoluted plot is a slowburn with Owen outstanding as the relentless agent hellbent on bringing the bank down. Watts is wasted in an underwritten role although she gets into the thick of action as well.

The Da Vinci Code (Ron Howard, 2006) 3/10

The first of three Dan Brown books to go Hollywood courtesy of Ron Howard and star Tom Hanks and causing much consternation for the Catholic Church. Brown asserts that Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene and the union produced a daughter. He also mentions the Priory of Sion, a secret society engaged in a centuries-long benevolent conspiracy to install a secret bloodline of the Jesus bloodline on the thrones of France. Claptrap or truth? French Police Chief (Jean Reno) suspects American symbologist and author Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) of the murder of the Louvre curator (Jean-Pierre Marielle) who is found naked, dead and posed like Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man with a secret message on the floor readable only by blacklight. In fact the old man was shot by an albino monk (Paul Bettany), prone to serious bouts of self flagellation, who demands to know the whereabouts of the Holy Grail. Before the author can be arrested by the cops he is whisked off by a police cryptographer (Audrey Tautou) who also happens to be the dead man's estranged granddaughter. They also decipher the messages leading to clues in Leonardo da Vinci's works and deduce that the dead man was the present grand master of the secret society. All of this may sound very believable on the printed page but it comes off absurd and clumsily put across on the big screen. The police come off as stupid oafs during the sequence at the Louvre and the scenes at the bank and later with the manager (Jurgen Prochnow) make no sense. Hanks' expressions throughout are one of disbelief and dialogue spoken between all the characters are all about explaining Dan Brown's complex theories so the audience can stay abreast with every confusing action taking place on the screen. A very droll Sir Ian McKellen suddenly turns up as a crippled friend of the author, who then in a twist, completely goes off his rocker. Alfred Molina is around as a shady Bishop but has nothing much to do. The film shamed many religious groups - Catholics and Muslims - with the film getting banned or picketed. A nun and a priest stood in silent protest at the Cannes film festival where the film was first unveiled. Instead of the protests being on religious grounds people should have boycotted this film for being utter crap. It was a huge boxoffice hit proving people are fascinated by violence and kink especially if it is served with a mixture of religiosity. Howard's direction is virtually non-existent with many scenes making no sense as continuity flows in a haphazard way. In the midst of all this nonsense Hanks and Tautou try but fail to convince you of all the mumbo jumbo.

Angels & Demons (Ron Howard, 2009) 7/10

Sequel to "The Da Vinci Code", based on Dan Brown's novel, has four favoured Papal candidates kidnapped after the Pope dies mysteriously. A man, claiming to be a member of the secret society, Illuminati, provides clues to the eventual murders of the four kidnapped Cardinals and threatens to blow up the Vatican via a stolen vial of antimatter - a bomb. Harvard University professor, Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), teams up with a Nuclear research scientist (pretty Israeli star Ayelet Zurer) and the police in a race against time to save the four Cardinals and retreive the bomb. The plot becomes a travelogue of the Vatican City and prominent churches of Rome - both above the ground and in the underground catacombs - where each Cardinal is to be murdered and the chase starts at the Pantheon and goes onto Santa Maria del Popolo, St. Peter's Square, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Piazza Navona, Castel Sant'Angelo and inside St. Peter's tomb. Probable suspects aiding and abetting the investigation are the head of the Swiss guard (Stellan Skarsgård) - protector of the Pope - the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church (Ewan McGregor) - who was the protegé of the deceased Pope - and the Dean of the College of Cardinals (Armin Mueller-Stahl). Fast paced thriller is a masterpiece compared to the first installment with Hanks fully involved in the investigation without looking bored. It is still all quite absurd but if you buy into the incredible premise it becomes an interesting roller coaster ride. And of course you can never go wrong looking at all the wonderful sights in Rome.

National Treasure (Jon Turteltaub, 2004) 6/10

An Indiana Jones clone but set in modern times with Nicolas Cage as the scion of a family of eccentric and relentless treasure hunters with before him his father (Jon Voight) and grandfather (Christopher Plummer in a cameo) equally eccentric and relentless in their pursuit of hidden treasure. A historian and amateur cryptologist (Nicolas Cage) follows clues left by American Freemasons during the American Revolutionary War of vast treasures accumulated (stolen) by them from all over the world and hidden somewhere on American soil. The first clue, by way of a frozen ship in the Arctic, just happens to be on the back of the Declaration of Independance so stealing it becomes the first step of the plan. Helping him along the way is his buddy and computer expert (Justin Bartha) and an archivist (Diane Kruger) at the National Archives who begrudgingly finds herself along on the quest with the boys while a former friend (Sean Bean), turned foe, gives chase and puts obstacles in the way. Predictable film cashes in on the Spielberg films and is just as improbable but with less thrills. Goofy Cage is a delight though and Kruger makes a feisty leading lady.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets (Jon Turteltaub, 2007) 4/10

The whole gang is back in this sequel which is not only yet again a clone of the Indiana Jones franchise but also a clone of its own first installment. A black market antique dealer (Ed Harris) accuses the great-great grandfather of treasure hunter, historian and cryptologist, Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) of being the architect of Lincoln's assassination. This does not bode well with him and his dad (Jon Voight) and soon the hunt is on to prove this accusation wrong and to find a treasure his ancestor was searching for. Along for the ride is his Dad, his estranged girlfriend (Diane Kruger), his buddy (Justin Bartha) and his Mom (Helen Mirren). The clues lead them to Paris, London - where they crash the Queen's private quarters at Buckingham Palace while she is away in Windsor - the White House - where they first crash the Oval Office and later crash and "kidnap" the President (Bruce Greenwood) from his private birthday party. The treasure hunt concludes at Mount Rushmore with a series of familiar set pieces lifted from many such films where the protagonists get trapped inside booby-trapped caves. Harvey Keitel also returns as the detective hot on their trail. Both Cage and Voight were nominated for Razzies as the worst actors of the year although the latter is amusing in his running angry banter with Helen Mirren throughout the film.

The Sun Never Sets (Rowland V. Lee, 1939) 4/10

British Colonials on the Gold Coast of Africa - a family of career "diplomats" serving all over the world for a country on which the sun never sets. Elder brother (Basil Rathbone) convinces younger brother (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.), who is not in favour of colonial service, to join as well. Finally convinced by his grandfather (Sir C. Aubrey Smith) he too trots off with his brother where they both take on a rogue (Lionel Atwill) who plans on taking over the world. Listless, slow drama with too many stiff upper lips along with melodrama on the homefront as one wife (Barbara O'Neill) gives birth to a dead baby which is followed by an air raid on the rogue's camp. Rathbone is the lead here even if Fairbanks gets top billing.

The Thirteenth Chair (George B. Seitz, 1937) 8/10

A murder takes place during Colonial times in old Calcutta - based on the 1919 stage play by Bayard Veiller which had already been filmed twice before as silents. A group is gathered together for a séance at the behest of the murdered man's best friend (Henry Daniell) who then is found stabbed in the heart during the session conducted by an old biddy (Dame May Whitty) with a lower-class accent. A battle of wits ensues between the old woman and the police Inspector (Lewis Stone) after he accuses the old woman's daughter (Madge Evans) of both murders. Interesting, if rather creaky, whodunnit in the Agatha Christie / Charlie Chan vein with Dame May absolutely delightful as the fake medium who suddenly needs her powers as a medium to work in order to save the life of her daughter. Great fun.

[gunnar]

Belle Epoque (1992) - 8/10 - In 1931, a young man has left the army and is headed for Madrid. Along the way, he ends up at a country farmhouse and befriends the older man who lives there. He is about to depart when the older man's four lovely daughters arrive by train and he somehow misses his own train. The movie is a lot of fun throughout and is a pleasant watch.

Phantom of the Opera (1943) - 7.5/10 - While not as good as the Lon Chaney silent version, I enjoyed this take on the classic tale. It made good use of the technicolor through much of it (not as much in the sewer scenes) and there was good music and decent performances.

Lone Wolf and Cub 4 - Baby Cart in Peril (1972) - 8.5/10
Lone Wolf and Cub 5 - Baby Cart in the Land of Demons (1973) - 8/10
Lone Wolf and Cub 6 - White Heaven in Hell (1974) - 7.5/10 - Things get a bit ridiculous in the final episode with enemies who can move underground like swimming in water and a big ski battle going down a mountain against 100 members of the Yagyu, though it was still fun. There also wasn't any real resolution in the end, but unfortunately this was the last in the series. The manga continued for 2 more years after this came out.

[gunnar]

The Long Goodbye (1973) - 7/10 - Philip Marlowe gets involved in a case where a friend is accused of murdering his wife. He's also looking for his cat. Marlowe's neighbors were certainly interesting. The movie was good, but I did get tired of the overuse of the song, stylistic choice or not.

Cría cuervos… (1976) - 8.5/10 - The film is shown from the viewpoint of 8 year old Ana (Ana Torrent) who listens to her father die of a probably heart attack and then watches his mistress leave late one night. Her mother died earlier so Ana's aunt and grandmother come to live with Ana and her two sisters. Ana is a sad child who is keenly aware of death. I thought this was an excellent film and one that I liked a lot more than the other films that I've seen from Carlos Saura. The use of the song Porque te vas was also very good here.

Ivan's Childhood (1962) - 8/10 - Ivan is a young boy who has lost his parents and sister to the Germans during WWII. He is small and able to sneak across enemy lines and gather intelligence which he passes on to his friends in the Russian army. There are three soldiers who look after Ivan and try to protect them as much as they can. They want to send him away from the front lines, but he threatens to run away and return on his own if they do. It's a pretty bleak childhood, but Ivan has memories of better times. I thought it was a very good movie and I liked it more than Tarkovsky's later Solaris.

The Rules of the Game (1939) - 8/10 - This comedy of manners from Jean Renoir involves a group of upper class individuals and their servants spending a weekend at a country estate, hunting, socializing, and enjoying entertainment. There is a fair amount of flirting, cheating, and jealousy going on as well. Fortunately the film was restored almost to its original length after being shortened due to an initial poor response. It's a very good film.

Alice in Wonderland (2010) - 6/10 - I didn't think that Tim Burton's version of the Alice story was quite as bad as some reviews that I've read. I liked the opening part up through the mad tea party and then after that it was just okay.

Open Doors (1990) - 7.5/10 - In 1937, an Italian man who was recently fired kills his former employer, a former coworker, and his wife. At trial, he seems eager to get the death penalty, but one of the judges is opposed to killing people and seeks a way to keep it from happening. A well acted and entertaining film.

[gunnar]

All That Heaven Allows (1955) - 8/10 - Cary Scott (Jane Wyman) is a suburban widow who lives in a nice house, has two college age kids who visit on weekends, and spends quite a bit of time with her country club friends. When she falls in love with a younger man (Rock Hudson) who tends her trees, her friends and children turn on her in disapproval. This is a nice film that looks beautiful. The colors seem very rich.

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) - 7.5/10 - A serial killer calling himself The Avenger has been targeting blond women on Tuesday evenings. Suspicion falls on a mysterious man who rents a room in a lodging house, but Daisy, the daughter of the house, is attracted to him and believes that he is innocent. This early Hitchcock silent film is pretty good.

Band of Outsiders (1964) - 8/10 - Franz and Arthur are friends and small time criminals who plan a heist using information they got from a young woman named Odile that Franz met in English class. A man in the home where Odile lives keeps a large amount of money in an unlocked room in the home. There is a nice dance scene in a cafe and a brief visit to the Louvre mixed in to the three hanging out and planning the theft.

Bob le flambeur (1956) - 9/10 - Bob is a well known and liked gambler who once did time for a bank job, but has been straight for 20 years. He has a run of bad luck and decides to assemble a crew and rob a casino. Unfortunately, word leaks out. This was very well done.

Out of the Past (1947) - 8/10 - Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum) runs a gas station in California, but has a secret past that catches up to him one day. He was a private detective working for a powerful gambling boss (Kirk Douglas) when he ended up having to hide out after a job went wrong. He relates the story to his girlfriend (Jane Greer) and then finds himself back in with the same crowd looking for a way out. It's a classic example of film noir.

[Reza]

Le combat dans l'île (Alain Cavalier, 1962) 8/10

A love triangle between a rich industrialist's son (Jean-Louis Trintingnant) who moonlights as an assassin for a right-wing group, his flirty wife (Romy Schneider) who was an actress and his close friend (Henri Serre) who runs a printing business. When he is betrayed and the assassination of a left-wing political figure goes wrong he is forced to take his wife to hide her with his friend in the countryside. When he leaves to settle the score with the traitor his wife falls in love with his friend during his absence. Louis Malle, who produced the film, made this as a rebuke to Godard for his right-wing views and support of the Algerian War. With Serre in the cast it almost seems like a preview of François Truffaut's "Jules et Jim" which came out later in the year. Pierre Lhomme's stark black and white photography takes this into neo-noir territory. Trintignant plays it nasty, Serre is romantic and Schneider is as enigmatic as ever while caught between the two and the cause of a deadly duel.

Qui? / The Sensuous Assassin (Léonard Keigel, 1970) 8/10

A Chabrol-like mystery with gialo overtones but minus the blood and gore. Although there is a stabbing with blood. A woman (Romy Schneider) and her boyfriend (Gabriele Tinti) have a violent argument, a pistol is fired, he roughs her up and both get into a car and go on a wild car ride through the Brittany countryside ending up high over cliffs as the car overshoots and falls down into the ocean. The woman manages to jump off and she sees the car go down into the waves. The man's body is not found. This entire suspenseful sequence is part of the film's opening credirs. His brother (Maurice Ronet) comes to her rescue as she is distraught and they start a relationship although he also accuses her of murdering his brother while she claims she is being watched by some unknown presence. Then a body is recovered from the ocean while she is confronted by a man who chases her. Is the dead body her ex-boyfriend? And who is the man chasing her? An ironic twist of fate concludes the mystery which appears to have been inspired by the climax of "Plein Soleil". The enigmatic Schneider and Ronet create sparks together even if the plot has far too many potholes.

The Knack...and How to Get It (Richard Lester, 1966) 4/10

Hilariously dated film won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Lester's anachronistic direction has such a frenzy about it that it almost seems contemporary. It's an interesting if rather boring look at the Swinging Sixties - the John Barry score, Rita Tushingham - an actress who should never have made it as a star during that era but managed to do just that thank you very much and knocked around in a number of seminal films from that decade. And a pre-Phantom Michael Crawford, who for years was an acquired taste as a dimwit comic, yet was also very successful like his female co-star. Innocent times when it was perfectly ok to oogle a woman's arse and tits. Men did it and everyone laughed. Now those same women are taking those men to court for their behaviour 40 years ago. Also an important change. The world has changed. Here we have a plot involving a large wrought iron bed on wheels which becomes a transport vehicle and a pickup for Tushingham en-route to the YWCA. Crawford wants to gain the "knack" and bed the birds like his randy housemate (Ray Brooks) who tries to have his way with the naive out-of-towner who screams rape, makes a nuisance of herself, strips and ends up with a man. Interesting turn of events which would never pass muster in these more complicated and sadly non permisive times today. The camera oogles various London birds and if you look quick enough you will catch the movie debuts of Charlotte Rampling, Jacqueline Bisset and Jane Birkin in tiny bit parts. The latter bagged John Barry as her first husband fresh off an encounter on this movie. Inexpicably the film was also nominated for many Bafta awards. Let's just say the film hasn't aged well at all.

Spirits of the Dead / Histoires Extraordinaires (Roger Vadim, Louis Malle & Federico Fellini, 1968) 6/10

Three twisted tales by Edgar Allan Poe get a twirl by three European directors in this anthology of horror. Fresh off "Barbarella" Roger Vadim again presents his wife Jane Fonda in a debauched frenzy in the medeival set "Metzengerstein". A promiscuous Countess (Jane Fonda), who enjoys participating in forced orgies, is rescued from a trap in the forest by her estranged cousin and neighbor (Peter Fonda). She is instantly attracted to him but he rejects her. In anger she burns down his stables and he dies trying to save his horses. A wild black stallion escapes and comes to her castle. She tames the animal and obsessively rides it. Is the animal a reincarnation of the dead man and is it planning to take revenge? Stiffly acted segment is gorgeously photographed by Claude Renoir on location in Brittany. Peter Fonda conceived the idea of making "Easy Rider" during the shoot of this film. Alain Delon plays a murderer and his doppelgänger in the segment "William Wilson" directed by Louis Malle. Confessing in church he relates his debauched life to a priest relating incidents of torture from his childhood to the present (scenes of a live woman being dissected) which his dopplelgänger always interrupts. When he finds his match in a woman (Brigitte Bardot in a severe black wig) on the card table his humiliation of her - whipping her naked back in front of a room full of men - suddenly turns to a frenzy of violence when his doppelganger reappears and humiliates him in retaliation. Delon's good looks and cold features are used to excellent effect in this portrait of a a psychopath and Bardot is striking in a brief part as the catalyst in black that proves to be the man's downfall. This is all stunningly filmed with superb production values. Fellini's segment was the most critically acclaimed and a restored version of this was declared a ''masterpiece'' at the Tribeca film festival. Frankly I fail to understand why. Terence Stamp stars as "Toby Dammit", a British film star, who arrives in Italy to make a film, is interviewed by the press, appears on a tv talk show, acts obnoxiously (is he on drugs?) and attends an award ceremony. The usual Fellini grotesque characters parade up and down with the devil in attendance in the form of a little girl which is followed by a decapitation. None of this is even amusing let alone interesting despite obvious similarities to "La Dolce Vita", "8 1/2" and "Juliet of the Spirits". Although none of the episodes quite capture Poe's macabre flavor the three segments are exquistely produced with an eclectic cast, superb sets, costumes, music and cinematography.

The Eve of St. Mark (John M. Stahl, 1944) 5/10

Sentimental WWII propaganda film about young American soldiers getting drafted and shipped out to the Pacific where they find themselves trapped and fighting the Japanese on a remote island. During a tense moment when the boys are coming down with malaria and losing all hope a farm boy (William Eythe) communicates with his mother (Ruth Nelson) and girlfriend (Anne Baxter) through dreams asking them what to do - fight and die or escape from the island and live. Story about faith and hope. Vincent Price is a standout as a southern soldier who likes to spout poetry by Keats. Based on a play by Maxwell Anderson.

Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine / Tribulations of a Chinaman in China / Up to His Ears (Philippe de Broca, 1965) 4/10

Loosely based on the Jules Verne novel this extremely silly film with pratfalls and outrageous stunts is de Broca and star Belmondo's follow-up to their boxoffice hit "L'Homme de Rio" from the previous year. Like a travelogue the film is shot mostly on exotic locations in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Nepal, India with outstanding footage of the Himalayan mountain range. The plot, whatever little there is, involves a millionaire (Jean-Paul Belmondo), bored with life, who keeps attempting suicide but fails each time. His old chinese tutor gets him life insurance and puts a hit on him but when he meets up with a striptease dancer (Ursula Andress) he no longer wants to die. So he, along with his faithful manservant (Jean Rochefort), goes on the run trying to escape the assassins. Climbing up and down the Himalayas (the snow sequences were shot in Switzerland), falling off and hanging precariously off a suspension bridge, getting almost burnt alive in Nepal, escaping in the nick of time in a balloon, walking on and hanging off a high-rise construction scaffolding and sitting on an elephant during a stampede are just some of the highlights. Andress is merely around as voluptuous decoration which offscreen led to a 7-year relationship between the two stars. Silly nonsense is just an excuse for Belmondo to perform outrageous stunts. The film was another huge boxoffice hit.

The Searching Wind (William Dietetle, 1946) 5/10

Misery begets misery in Lillian Hellman's second stage adaptation (after "Watch on the Rhine") about the rise and evils of fascism. Set around a love triangle between three childhood friends who grow up to become an American diplomat (Robert Young) in Europe, a socialite (Ann Richards) and an idealistic journalist (Sylvia Sidney). The man represents the United States - ambivalent about the growing horrors in Europe and quite willing to remain confused and hope it is just a passing phase. This ruins his relationship with the journalist - both are madly in love with each other - as she can't be with such an indecisive blind man. So he gets married to the superficial socialite who is indifferent to the political situation around them and who is quite content to hobnob in society. All three are miserable as the two lovers keep bumping into each other in all the European cities and carry on their affair. The story is related in flashback - going back to the early 1930s just when Hitler's political party was coming into power - after the couple's wounded son returns home after fighting in WWII. Young, as the film's hero, is such a weak drip failing to take a positive stance on the perils brought about by Hitler, Mussolini and Franco that it tips the movie in favour of Sidney's anguished journalist and even that is presented in a wishy washy manner in the screenplay. Young plays his part totally deadpan which becomes annoying and compares unfavorably to both his leading ladies. A handsome production but a terribly static film despite a number of dramatic moments throughout. Dudley Digges gets the film's best lines as a retired newspaper publisher who is a self-confessed coward and appeaser.