Rate The Last Movie You Saw

[mojofilter]

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1416/8662/products/Working_Girl_original_film_art_spo_600x.jpg?v=1551944315
WORKING GIRL
(1988)

First viewing. A decent comedy drama directed by Mike Nichols, and starring Harrison Ford, Melanie Griffith, Alec Baldwin, and Sigourney Weaver.

3

[pahaK]

Flash Gordon (1980)
2.5
A campy pulp that's often so bad it's good. It sort of reminded me of The Yellow Submarine with a ton of sexual references thrown into the mix.

--
The Painted Bird (2019)
4
The sufferings of a young Jewish boy in WW2 Poland. Very beautiful B&W cinematography that fits the harrowing tone of the film perfectly. IMDb reviews are severely exaggerating the brutality of the film, but the comparisons to Come and See are justified. I have some little issues with the pacing and structure, but as a whole, it's at least very close to being great.

[mark f]

Yo, adolescente AKA Memories of a Teenager (Lucas Santa Ana, 2019) 2.5 6/10
Last Three Days (Brian Ulrich, 2020) 2 5/10
The Gumball Rally (Chuck Bail, 1976) 2.5 6/10
The Life Ahead (Edoardo Ponti, 2020) 3 6.5/10
https://www.acusticafm.com.br/images/usuario/sophia_lauren_rosa_e_momo.jpg
Madame Rosa (Sophia Loren) doesn't trust her new Senegalese street kid resident Ibrahima Gueye but he slowly comes to care for her.
Fear (Alfred Zeisler, 1946) 2 5/10
Ball of Fire (Howard Hawks, 1941) 3 6.5/10
The River (Tsai Ming-liang, 1997) 2 5/10
Brother Orchid (Lloyd Bacon, 1940) 3 6.5/10
https://i.cdn.turner.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i447/brotherorchid_nicemiugs_FC_470x264_072620170503.jpg?w=400
Mobster Edward G. Robinson hides out in a monastery with whom he considers a bunch of chumps, including Donald Crisp and Cecil Kellaway.
Echo Boomers (Seth Savoy, 2020) 2 5/10
The Reagans Part 1 - The Hollywood Myth Machine (Matt Tyrnauet, 2020) 3.5 7/10
Exes Baggage (Dan Villegas, 2018) 2 5/10
Keep in Touch (Sam Kretchmar, 2015) 3 6.5/10
https://img.fdb.cz/galerie/d/d223169961a9e50d6407be26f40cf0c5.jpg
Singer Gabbie McPhee helps parolee Nicholas Boshier try to resolve the many loose ends of his complicated life.
Ramkhind (Amit Dutta, 2001) 2.5 6/10
Transhood (Sharon Liese, 2020) 3- 6.5/10
Say It with Songs (Lloyd Bacon, 1929) 2- 5/10
All Joking Aside (Shannon Kohli, 2020) 2.5 6/10
https://rlsbb.unblockit.app/imgp/images/8q0dCeOim.jpg
Aspiring stand-up comic Raylene Harewood takes lessons from washed-up Brian Markinson who she agrees with up to a point.
Miss Tatlock's Millions (Richard Haydn, 1948) 3 6.5/10
Chick Fight (Paul Leyden, 2020) 2.5 5.5/10
Recon AKA Peace (Robert David Port, 2019) 2 5/10
The Blood of Wolves (Kazuya Shiraishi, 2018) 2.5 6/10
https://static-movie.a.88cdn.com/35a1dab511d524ed7c5453be9b93ee6f5ee0d9d2?imageView2/2/w/1081/q/85/interlace/1/format/gif
Japanese detectives battle amongst themselves to get the dirt on yakuza murderers.

[ScarletLion]

'The Innocents' (1961)

Dir.: Jack Clayton

https://i.imgur.com/RaaCyjF.gif

Wow. I was not expecting to enjoy this so much. Very creepy, chilling psychological horror - I'd love to go back in time and see some of the reactions of theatre audiences. It's the story of a young woman who agrees to be a nanny for 2 children in an old house - but she increasingly becomes adamant the house is haunted by figures of the past. It is brilliantly lit so the cinematography is beautiful and at times plays tricks on the eye. Apparently cinematographer Freddie Francis used so many lamps to light the set that Deborah Kerr had to wear sunglasses between takes.

There's a really disturbing theme to the plot that grows as the film goes on, and the sound design is very sinister. Brilliant film.

4.5

[the samoan lawyer]

What didn't you like about it? I thought it was interesting, although the ending was a bit melodramatic.


Lack of story, infuriatingly slow and despite what I had heard before watching, there was little to no tension at all.


There was room for improvement there though, which was equally annoying. Increasing the paranoia definitely would have added to the rating.

[Marco]

Tightrope (1984)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c1/Tightrope_film.jpg/220px-Tightrope_film.jpg
Tight (see what I did there?) neo noir thriller with strong sexual themes, albeit a bit tame by todays standards. I found it a bit "weird" seeing Clint prey to a lot of physical temptation but that's exactly why this works....a bot of a strange one in his canon but very interesting.

3

[the samoan lawyer]

'The Innocents' (1961)

Dir.: Jack Clayton

https://i.imgur.com/RaaCyjF.gif

Wow. I was not expecting to enjoy this so much. Very creepy, chilling psychological horror - I'd love to go back in time and see some of the reactions of theatre audiences. It's the story of a young woman who agrees to be a nanny for 2 children in an old house - but she increasingly becomes adamant the house is haunted by figures of the past. It is brilliantly lit so the cinematography is beautiful and at times plays tricks on the eye. Apparently cinematographer Freddie Francis used so many lamps to light the set that Deborah Kerr had to wear sunglasses between takes.

There's a really disturbing theme to the plot that grows as the film goes on, and the sound design is very sinister. Brilliant film.

rating_4_5



Was sure you had seen this already! One of my all time favourite films, so beautifully filmed and as you say, really dark themes. Just brilliant. Hope it does well it the top 100.

[the samoan lawyer]

https://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/honeyland.jpg (https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slashfilm.com%2Fhoneyland-trailer-the-sundance-award-winning-documentary-reveals-the-secret-life-of-beekeepers%2F&psig=AOvVaw2m7SOFRWay3zjbj63GeAtB&ust=1605706677321000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCNDritnZie0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAO)
Honeyland (2019)


Really intimate and powerful documentary. A subtle film with a pretty damming message, that's what I got out of it anyway.


rating_3_5

[Thunderbolt]

68962
Angels and Demons (2009)

Rewatch. Science vs religion battle in this adaptation of the Dan Brown novel. Faster paced and more straight forward than The Da Vinci Code. The book was more gripping but the film was a fair effort.

3.5

[ScarletLion]

https://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/honeyland.jpg (https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slashfilm.com%2Fhoneyland-trailer-the-sundance-award-winning-documentary-reveals-the-secret-life-of-beekeepers%2F&psig=AOvVaw2m7SOFRWay3zjbj63GeAtB&ust=1605706677321000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCNDritnZie0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAO)
Honeyland (2019)


Really intimate and powerful documentary. A subtle film with a pretty damming message, that's what I got out of it anyway.


rating_3_5

I loved how it merged documentary and fiction. Beautiful but sad film.

[Torgo]

Outland - 3

Described as High Noon in space, a movie I'm ashamed to have not seen, I found this movie to be a pretty good lean and mean crime thriller. With the space mine's claustrophobic hallways, pro-blue-collar stance and Jerry Goldsmith score, it has no shame in wanting to ride Alien's coattails, but I found the setting to be appropriate rather than a gimmick. The source of O'Niel's investigation belongs in science fiction, and besides, what could be more miserable than working in such a cramped and isolated place? It's also nice to see Connery in a relatively low-key role and I enjoyed always-reliable James Sikking's work as his sympathetic co-worker, but Frances Sternhagen - better known as Cliff's mother in Cheers - is the cast's MVP for her performance as the irascible, drunk Dr. Lazarus. Despite its unique setting and how well it's presented, it does not distinguish itself that much from other "one person against the system" thrillers. It's still one of the better movies to wear its Alien influences on its sleeve, not to mention one of director Peter Hyams’ best works. It's also an ideal movie to watch after a lousy day at the office.

[WHITBISSELL!]

Just watched both of these last year but these are first rate Val Lewton productions.


I Walked with a Zombie has atmosphere to burn. Director Jacques Tourneur and cinematographer J. Roy Hunt make judicious use of shadows and darkness to not only create mood but to obscure the fact that this was in essence a low budget production filmed mostly on sound stages. A Canadian nurse accepts a job caring for the sick wife of a sugar plantation owner on a Caribbean island. The voodoo aspects as well as the screen treatment of the local islanders is refreshingly low on patronizing attitudes. It's not a perfect film of course. Like so many pictures of the era the romance elements seem a little forced but all in all this is a effectively eerie experience. 90/100

The Seventh Victim - Mark Robson in his directorial debut. You wouldn't think this is the same guy who finished up his career directing schlock like Valley of the Dolls and Earthquake. Kim Hunter plays a young (?) girl named Mary Gibson. When the film opens she is enrolled in a finishing or boarding school of sorts which implies that she might be a minor. This is germane to the movie because she goes looking for her older sister who has disappeared in NYC and runs across an older man who turns out to have been married to her sister. He’s played by High Beaumont and as so often happens with movies of this era they are romantically thrown together with no real basis in logic or reality. They meet and show no real chemistry or ardor but a few screentime minutes later they’re pledging their undying love for each other. Anyway, after some investigative work and plenty of moody, foreboding scenes she finds her sister and also discovers that she's become involved with a covert cult. What I particularly liked from this point forward is that they don't sensationalize the cult. They're decidedly non threatening and yet it's this very banality that somehow adds a layer of menace to the proceedings. I won't give anything else away but suffice it to say that this is another Lewton triumph. 90/100

[SpelingError]

Floating Clouds (1955) - 8/10

A deceptively simple film which gets more interesting with rewatches once you uncover the various layers to the character motivations. Though Kengo is a womanizer, I found his relationship with Yukiko to be a decent bit more complex than most films which feature this characterization are, and this made for a handful of interesting dynamics between the two of them. For instance, as becomes more apparent as the film goes on, Kengo has no intention of resuming his relationship with Yukiko. Yet, Yukiko either doesn't realize this or doesn't want to accept it and continues to stick around him. Though Kengo is able to handle her presence at first, as the days they spend together add up, he's soon stuck with her. His response to this reveals that she, in a way, has more emotional strength than him, given how she's able to endure his constant rejections, while Kengo responds to them with cowardice, attempting to flee from her advances. In addition to the emotional resonance in the latter scenes of the film, Kengo's arc also doubles as a rather unique example of the "Running away from your past" archetype. Finally, I appreciated how the flashbacks, which were brightly lit in comparison to the rest of the film, were used very sparingly, as if the film was acknowledging how little happiness occurred between them while they knew each other, even before the war. Overall, I greatly appreciated the handling of both Yukiko and Kengo. While I've seen a bunch of movies about philanderers, I think this film had a great deal of subtlety with the character motivations which distinguished it from many of the other films I've seen on this subject.

[Takoma11]

'The Innocents' (1961)

Dir.: Jack Clayton

https://i.imgur.com/RaaCyjF.gif


There's a really disturbing theme to the plot that grows as the film goes on, and the sound design is very sinister. Brilliant film.

4.5

Yes, it's a completely gorgeous, atmospheric film. It's the first horror film that I remember watching as a child. The ending is especially shocking and memorable.

[WHITBISSELL!]

Borat - I guess this is one of those movies where you have to strike while the iron is hot. The same thing happened to me while watching Ex Machina. That was a perfectly serviceable sci-fi thriller but I guess I waited too long to watch it. After having seen two seasons of something like Westworld, I suppose it lost some of it's potency. 14 years removed from it's initial run the same thing happened to Borat. In the intervening years there's been countless references and memes and clips and trailers and articles written so that what must have once seemed fresh and novel was now well trod territory. I wanted to watch the sequel on Amazon Prime so I figured I'd better familiarize myself with the original. But then come to find out I was already more or less familiar with it. Don't get me wrong. It's still funny and Cohen is still a master at inhabiting a character. And it does have me looking forward to watching the new one so...mission accomplished. 75/100

[Fabulous]

To Be or Not to Be (1942)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/p69ybBV94wSmyCGE2y2pH9U86l0.jpg

[GulfportDoc]

I think there’s a few times when prison drama distinctly overlapped with noir, this and Riot in Cell Block 11 as prime examples. I think what sets them apart is the distinct sense of institutional failure/sadism and the inability to overcome it.

Cronyn was excellent and it was great seeing him play such a substantial role. I’m a big fan of his scene stealing turn in Postman Always Rings Twice.

Huzzah! Siegel (who also did Riot) made a remake of the Killers that’s also very worth checking out if you haven’t.
I forgot all about Cronyn's role as the attorney in "Postman". Yes, he was excellent. And how about his very first role as the next door neighbor in Hitchcock's superb Shadow of a Doubt? Cronyn also worked on the screenplays for Hitch's Rope and Under Capricorn.

I have vague memories of seeing the The Killers 1964 remake with Lee Marvin. But I'll have to re-visit and watch it again. Good tip!

[ThatDarnMKS]

I forgot all about Cronyn's role as the attorney in "Postman". Yes, he was excellent. And how about his very first role as the next door neighbor in Hitchcock's superb Shadow of a Doubt? Cronyn also worked on the screenplays for Hitch's Rope and Under Capricorn.

I have vague memories of seeing the "Postman" 1964 remake with Lee Marvin. But I'll have to re-visit and watch it again. Good tip!
I love SOAD but need to rewatch it. Cronyn didn't leave an impression as Joseph Cotten deservedly stole that show. Yet another reason!

I'm a big fan of Rope and UC so I'll just chalk this as another reason I should be a bigger fan.

I only know of Rafelson/Nicholson/Lange remake of Postman. Didn't know there was a Marvin one. I'll have to track it down.

[Fabulous]

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

4

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/msPUiG0tIVPcLblsCs43yRKEdBr.jpg

[gomorra82]

Les Diaboliques (1955) Henri-Georges Clouzot
This one has been part of a list of Horror/Gothic themed, older movies i have been wanting to see. I have seen The Night of the Hunter and Daughter of Horror (Dementia) earlier this year. Coincidentally, all three movies where released the same year, 1955. The next movies on this list is Rebecca (Hitchcock), Cape Fear,1962.
8/10

The Spirit of the Beehive (1973) Víctor Erice
This one i have had on my watchlist for a long time, after reading about it on Roger Eberts Great Movies list. But I had very little knowledge about it. And i had almost forgotten about it, until recently.
Taking place right after the Spanish Civil War ended, the story is pretty simple. Two sisters go to a traveling cinema that arrives in town. The movie they see is Frankenstein. This movie has a deep impact on the youngest sister, which allow her imagination to run free. This movie pushes for a spot on my favorites list.
8.5/10
68994

Dark Horse (2011) Todd Solondz
7/10

Color out of Space (2019) Richard Stanley
This is a visually interesting movie, which is why i picked it up. This movie is based on the short story, The Colour out of space, by H. P. Lovecraft. It is in the Horror/Sci Fi genre.
6.5/10

Lady Bird ( 2017) Greta Gerwig.
Not the first time I seen this one.
8/10.

[Fabulous]

Trees Lounge (1996)

3

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/z1k2iKciaDTKBEorLmb97GOfnko.jpg

[pahaK]

O Estranho Caso de Angélica (2010)
aka The Strange Case of Angelica
2
I guess this is some sort of magical realism. Anyways, an odd tale of a young photographer who falls in love with a dead girl. Maybe one needs to be closer to a hundred years old to get the film's ideas about death and existence, but for me, it didn't work too well. I also didn't like the acting (apparently such unnatural style was a trademark of the director), and the silent film style soundtrack felt oddly out of place (though a bit less so now that I know the director started working during the silent era).

[Wooley]

I also think IV sucks, but it does have the best and strangest moment in the entire series - well, the first six movies, anyway, which are all I've seen - and that is when we see Crispin Glover's dance moves.

I think we can all agree on that.

[Nux]

1980, 3
https://walter.trakt.tv/images/movies/000/016/779/posters/thumb/a0411f871e.jpg.webp

[Thunderbolt]

68996
Black Christmas (1974)
My festive films start here with this classic. This predates Halloween and certainly sets the standard for the genre. Black Christmas is drenched in atmosphere and tension from beginning to end. I cannot recommend this film enough. Forget the remakes, this is the one to watch.

5

[Wooley]

Borat - I guess this is one of those movies where you have to strike while the iron is hot. The same thing happened to me while watching Ex Machina. That was a perfectly serviceable sci-fi thriller but I guess I waited too long to watch it.

This hurts me as I think Ex Machina was my favorite film of that year. Of course, when I went to watch Westworld my thought was, "I'd rather just watch Ex Machina again and be done in 2 hours instead of 20."

[Iroquois]

Natural Born Killers - 3

eh, still not as good as Pulp Fiction

[xSookieStackhouse]

Natural Born Killers - 3

eh, still not as good as Pulp Fiction

i agree

[xSookieStackhouse]

Jigsaw (2017) i know im huge fan of saw movie trilogy but i give jigsaw 8/10 its an alright movie
https://www.joblo.com/assets/images/oldsite/posters/images/full/jigsaw3post.jpg

[Marco]

The Dark and the Wicked (2020)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e3/The_Dark_and_the_Wicked.jpg/220px-The_Dark_and_the_Wicked.jpg
Tidy horror that is more about abandoning those you love rather than cheap shocks. Some parts are still rather gruesome and this was a well judged low-budget chiller.

3

[ScarletLion]

The Spirit of the Beehive (1973) Víctor Erice
This one i have had on my watchlist for a long time, after reading about it on Roger Eberts Great Movies list. But I had very little knowledge about it. And i had almost forgotten about it, until recently.
Taking place right after the Spanish Civil War ended, the story is pretty simple. Two sisters go to a traveling cinema that arrives in town. The movie they see is Frankenstein. This movie has a deep impact on the youngest sister, which allow her imagination to run free. This movie pushes for a spot on my favorites list.
8.5/10

.

You should seek out 'El Sur' by the same director. It's equally as beautiful.

[Cobra]

Jigsaw (2017) i know im huge fan of saw movie trilogy but i give jigsaw 8/10 its an alright movie

Saw II was the best one.

[gomorra82]

You should seek out 'El Sur' by the same director. It's equally as beautiful.

I will see it as soon as possible then, ScarletLion. I saw El Sol Del Membrillo on Youtube, right after i saw Spirit if the Beehive. It was a Documentary/Biography.

[Hey Fredrick]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.sIaZB2WOAqzD9IbjTtANXQHaED%26pid%3DApi&f=1

I needed a little pick me up the way this week is going so I figured why not run this one again. Only my second time seeing it and I have to say it's better than I remembered. I think the first time I watched it I was so preoccupied with the notorious stuff and waiting for it to happen that I didn't pay too much attention to the other stuff (plot and silly things like that).

[SpelingError]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.sIaZB2WOAqzD9IbjTtANXQHaED%26pid%3DApi&f=1

I needed a little pick me up the way this week is going so I figured why not run this one again. Only my second time seeing it and I have to say it's better than I remembered. I think the first time I watched it I was so preoccupied with the notorious stuff and waiting for it to happen that I didn't pay too much attention to the other stuff (plot and silly things like that).

I think the arguments it tries to push fall apart (who are the real monsters?/the media can go way too far for sensationalism) due to the film's hypocrisy, but as a splatterhouse film, it is, admittedly, well-made and that it offers a handful of effective moments. It's not something I want to watch again (I looked away during many of the animal cruelty scenes), but I do think there's some quality content in there.

[Kay Burton]

I think the arguments it tries to push fall apart (who are the real monsters?/the media can go way too far for sensationalism) due to the film's hypocrisy, but as a splatterhouse film, it is, admittedly, well-made and that it offers a handful of effective moments. It's not something I want to watch again (I looked away during many of the animal cruelty scenes), but I do think there's some quality content in there.

I agree with you. I am personally horrified by scenes of violence against animals, so I try not to watch films / TV shows / videos at all, where this is present. Perhaps the creators of this product wanted to cause a resonance among the public, but it turned out to be too harsh.

[SpelingError]

I agree with you. I am personally horrified by scenes of violence against animals, so I try not to watch films / TV shows / videos at all, where this is present. Perhaps the creators of this product wanted to cause a resonance among the public, but it turned out to be too harsh.

I think the thesis of this film was that the characters were going way too far for sensationalism by killing people during the production of their film. While this theme could've worked if it was handled right, Deodato was also guilty of going that far for sensationalism himself as all the animal cruelty scenes in the film were, in fact, real. I found it hard to take that thesis seriously as a result due to the hypocrisy and the lack of sincerity Deodato showed for it.

[Marco]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.sIaZB2WOAqzD9IbjTtANXQHaED%26pid%3DApi&f=1

I needed a little pick me up the way this week is going so I figured why not run this one again. Only my second time seeing it and I have to say it's better than I remembered. I think the first time I watched it I was so preoccupied with the notorious stuff and waiting for it to happen that I didn't pay too much attention to the other stuff (plot and silly things like that).

A disturbing but excellently plotted film.

[Stirchley]

I think the thesis of this film was that the characters were going way too far for sensationalism by killing people during the production of their film. While this theme could've worked if it was handled right, Deodato was also guilty of going that far for sensationalism himself as all the animal cruelty scenes in the film were, in fact, real. I found it hard to take that thesis seriously as a result due to the hypocrisy and the lack of sincerity Deodato showed for it.

Definitely a movie to avoid. Anyone who hurts an animal is the lowest form of pond life. AND DON’T TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS IN THE MOVIE. THANKS!

[Thief]

I think the thesis of this film was that the characters were going way too far for sensationalism by killing people during the production of their film. While this theme could've worked if it was handled right, Deodato was also guilty of going that far for sensationalism himself as all the animal cruelty scenes in the film were, in fact, real. I found it hard to take that thesis seriously as a result due to the hypocrisy and the lack of sincerity Deodato showed for it.

Yeah, I think we've gone through this before but this is pretty much where I land on.

For anyone interested, I wrote a bit about this several years ago...

Cannibal Holocaust: Is its reputation earned? (https://hubpages.com/entertainment/Cannibal-Holocaust-Is-it-reputation-earned)

[this_is_the_ girl]

https://mostudiesireland.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/giphy.gif
Training Day (2001, Antoine Fuqua)
3.5
3/4 of this movie is good to great, the final 1/4 is kind of a letdown.
Denzel's performance is hellishly charismatic tho.

[Stirchley]

the final 1/4 is kind of a letdown.

Huh? Did we see the same movie?

[xSookieStackhouse]

Saw II was the best one.

i agree and the first one aswell

[GulfportDoc]

I love SOAD but need to rewatch it. Cronyn didn't leave an impression as Joseph Cotten deservedly stole that show. Yet another reason!

I'm a big fan of Rope and UC so I'll just chalk this as another reason I should be a bigger fan.

I only know of Rafelson/Nicholson/Lange remake of Postman. Didn't know there was a Marvin one. I'll have to track it down.
My mistake. I was conflating two movies in my gourd at the same time: Postman and Killers. I was referring to the '64 remake of The Killers. FWIW I edited my previous post.

Rope and Under Capricorn are not my favorite Hitchcock's-- for different reasons. But they, of course, have one thing in common: the extremely long takes. The takes were much more complicated in "Capricorn". I wonder if Cronyn had any input in that? Probably not.

[ThatDarnMKS]

My mistake. I was conflating two movies in my gourd at the same time: Postman and Killers. I was referring to the '64 remake of The Killers. FWIW I edited my previous post.

Rope and Under Capricorn are not my favorite Hitchcock's-- for different reasons. But they, of course, have one thing in common: the extremely long takes. The takes were much more complicated in "Capricorn". I wonder if Cronyn had any input in that? Probably not.
Ah! Yeah. I’m a fan of that version. Siegel directing Marvin, Cassavettes and Dickenson, you can’t go wrong. Also, it had Reagan playing a villain. Worth seeing just for that.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Hitch picked him because he could write sustained sequences that would lend themselves to longer takes.

[Gideon58]

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81sw9v2yZcL._SL1500_.jpg



5

[Fabulous]

Rabbit Hole (2010)

3

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/aDw6JVpHIfFVTwE6YB0KsohfUyd.jpg

[ThatDarnMKS]

*****
UNDERWORLD USA fits in nicely alongside Fuller’s other noir/neo-noir and perhaps features his most striking visuals and aggressive filmmaking. The movie feels relentless, always moving always looking for an angle. It doesn’t have the strength of House of Bamboo’s plot, the unique racial dynamics of Crimson Kimono, or the surrealism of Naked Kiss, but it bests them in moments of pure cinema. As Scorsese put it, every image is like bolded print.

[gbgoodies]

https://dvdbash.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/audrey-hepburn-1989-always-steven-spielberg-dvdbash1.jpg
ALWAYS
(1989)

First viewing. Underrated ghost film by Steven Speilberg featuring a great cast that includes Richard Dreyfuss, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and Audrey Hepburn in her last feature film. Not Speilberg's best but still an enjoyable watch.

3


I think Always is a great movie. The only issue for me is the miscasting of Brad Johnson as Ted.

It was the movie that I chose when we were doing the Movie of the Month (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?t=45857) a few years ago.

[Fabulous]

Gods and Monsters (1998)

3

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/v1HOjtXoGwQz26fT4elHeNT0JnW.jpg

[StuSmallz]

https://mostudiesireland.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/giphy.gif
Training Day (2001, Antoine Fuqua)
3.5
3/4 of this movie is good to great, the final 1/4 is kind of a letdown.
Denzel's performance is hellishly charismatic tho.I didn't feel that the final quarter of Training Day was substantially worse than what came before, but that's because the entirety of it felt like a pretty standard, meandering crooked cop Thriller to me, without much of a point or anything worth saying. That being said, though, it's still worth watching just for Denzel's rare turn as a villain, so at least there's that.Ah! Yeah. I’m a fan of that version. Siegel directing Marvin, Cassavettes and Dickenson, you can’t go wrong. Also, it had Reagan playing a villain.Psssh, Reagan was villain enough when he was President, if you ask me.

:D

[xSookieStackhouse]

https://mostudiesireland.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/giphy.gif
Training Day (2001, Antoine Fuqua)
3.5
3/4 of this movie is good to great, the final 1/4 is kind of a letdown.
Denzel's performance is hellishly charismatic tho.

gosh it been long time that i havent watched training day again lol

[this_is_the_ girl]

Huh? Did we see the same movie?
So you thought all of it sucked? :)

To me, the film maintains its intensity pretty well up to a certain point, keeping you in suspense as to whether Jake is going to succumb to the dark side in the end, but once that's made clear and out of the way, it suddenly gets way too obvious and predictable - and the final showdown is kind of underwhelming.

[StuSmallz]

In Cold Blood (Brooks, '67):

https://i.ibb.co/pJP179j/EB20020609-REVIEWS08206090301-AR.jpg (https://ibb.co/YpWNCqB)

I thought Mr. Clutter was a very nice gentleman... I thought so right up to the time I cut his throat.

Despite how ahead-of-its-time Truman Capote's "non-fiction novel" In Cold Blood was considered at the time of its release (a book which, to be perfectly honest, I still haven't read), I suspect that the film was likely just as groundbreaking within its own medium; after all, since it was released in 1967, it played side-by-side in theaters with such watersheds as Bonnie & Clyde and The Graduate, films which helped pushed the envelopes on cinematic portrayals of sex & violence, but most importantly, advanced the cinematic style of Hollywood film by light years, leaving behind a legacy that's still felt in the industry to this day. However, though it was slightly buried in that year's box office compared to those two juggernauts, In Cold Blood is still just as intense and devastating an experience as ever, feeling as though it's barely aged a day since its release 50 years ago, making it rank as my current favorite film from that legendary year, and also just one of the best movies I've seen from any year, period.

The film tells the true story of Dick Hickock & Perry Smith, two ex-convicts who, in November of 1959, robbed and murdered the Clutters, an idyllic family of Kansas farmers, as the title says, "in cold blood". However, while the murders are obviously the film's inciting incident, director Richard Brooks smartly doesn't structure it as such, instead, showing us what happened just before and after that fateful night, revealing to us chilling details in its aftermath, such as a severed phone cord, a bloody shoeprint, and the ropes that were utilized to hogtie the Clutters as they waited to be slaughtered. The police investigation of, community reactions to, and journalistic reportings on the crime are presented as a parallel track in the film to Dick and Perry's short-lived life on the run, as they drift from Mexico to back to Kansas and all points inbetween, before being apprehended for a final time during a gambling trip to Vegas.

All this time on the road gives us ample opportunity to gain deeper insights into both men, delving intimately into both their individual and shared psychologies; Dick, played by a fresh off In The Heat Of The Night Scott Wilson, is casually, arrogantly psychopathic​, but is nonetheless humanized by his dark "friendship" with Perry, and by the way he very humanly cracks under the weight of crimes once he's brought to justice, while Perry himself, agonizingly portrayed by Robert Blake, is the product of an unfaithful, alcoholic mother, a physically & emotionally abusive father, and a damaged childhood in general. He's an awkward, pathetic, broken man, both physically and mentally, constantly gulping down aspirin in the hopes of quelling at least one of his many pains, and the tense, uneasy relationship Dick & Perry share throughout the film give In Cold Blood its backbone, as we travel with, and grow to somehow pity both of these confessed killers, reminding us that even the "monsters" among us are still, at the end of the day, fellow human beings as well, no matter how reprehensible they may seem at first.

The horror of their relationship culminates during the night of the murders, which Richard Brooks brilliantly flashes back to for the climax of the film, giving the scene a tremendous weight it would've lacked if we hadn't already spent so much time getting to know these characters, and the pivotal, long-delayed sequence doesn't disappoint when it finally arrives, lasting for over 15 minutes, and showing us in agonizing detail the step-by-step process of the robbery, as Dick & Perry intrude upon and restrain the Clutters, searching futilely for a rumored safe full of money that isn't even there. The whole sequence is vividly captured by Conrad Hall's stark, intensely intimate black-&-white cinematography, and plays out in almost complete silence on the soundtrack, as the desolate Kansas wind howls outside like some sort haunted spectre, and, when the murders finally do happen, they are almost as upsetting to witness on film as they would have been in person, and, though hardly graphic in its level of violence by today's jaded standards, the sequence is nonetheless captured with an incredible intensity that was not only unseen in the films of that time, but remains rare even today, proving that indeed, sometimes less is much, much more.

This intensity that is delivered during the film's centerpiece scene is reflected throughout the entirety of In Cold Blood, rendering the before and afters of the massacre equally memorable in their vividness, and the film doesn't try and make a real sort of sense or meaning out of the central tragedy, portraying it equally as senseless on film as it really was in life. And, at the end, as the gallow trapdoor opens and Smith falls to the end of his rope for his crimes, there are no more answers to give, just the sound of the man's heart slowly stopping, as the film fades away into black one last time.

Favorite Moment:

https://youtu.be/k4YuBxpQwqA



Final Score: 10

[Fabulous]

The Ghost Writer (2010)

3

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/dXWJ3cNNx3BOk124s7VT5xrklTI.jpg

[Iroquois]

Mank - 2.5

Eh, it's no Citizen Kane

[LordWhis]

More American Graffiti- 8/10
It’s not even half as good as the original which is one of my all time best movies (I consider it better than the Star Wars series in fact). But it is still very good. It has a more humorous tone than the original and is clearly a much more lighthearted movie.
What really amazes me is how it feels like it could have been made today, which is insane for a movie that is over 40 years old. Many of the actors who are extremely young in it are now old and have been so for the last 5-10 years. It doesn’t like an old film at all, something about it is so instinctively modern.
This is not only because of the scenes of police attacking a protest and calling them communists and then being called fascists which hit a little too close to home in 2020 (and makes one wonder how much the world has really advanced in the last several decades) but the general tone and sense of humour of the movie.
One could easily imagine this movie coming out today with no changes whatsoever to the script but starring Adam Sandler, David Spade and Chris Rock and no one would be able to tell it was a 40+ year old movie.

[Tequila]

Agent Vinod - An okay Bollywood spy film that gets a lot of hate (from what I've read anyway). I found it enjoyable enough but quite difficult to follow. 2.5

Goosebumps 1 & 2 - My kids chose both the Goosebumps movies for consecutive family film nights. I found them entertaining enough with good special effects. My kids loved them, especially slappy the dummy. Goosebumps 1 - 3 Goosebumps 2 - 2.5

Secret beyond The Door - A psychological thriller in which Joan Bennett marries widower Michael Redgrave, who has a very strange hobby. It is very well shot, with great performances and a strong story.
This is one of my favourite films of a favourite of mine in Michael Redgrave. 5

[Thief]

So you thought all of it sucked? :)

To me, the film maintains its intensity pretty well up to a certain point, keeping you in suspense as to whether Jake is going to succumb to the dark side in the end, but once that's made clear and out of the way, it suddenly gets way too obvious and predictable - and the final showdown is kind of underwhelming.

I agree that the last act is weaker than the first two, mostly because of the same reasons than you. I felt that the film succeeded in playing well the psychological cat and mouse game between Alonzo and Jake for most of its duration, but the last act shifts into a more action-oriented gear. There's no tension anymore.

[xSookieStackhouse]

Agent Vinod - An okay Bollywood spy film that gets a lot of hate (from what I've read anyway). I found it enjoyable enough but quite difficult to follow. 2.5

Goosebumps 1 & 2 - My kids chose both the Goosebumps movies for consecutive family film nights. I found them entertaining enough with good special effects. My kids loved them, especially slappy the dummy. Goosebumps 1 - 3 Goosebumps 2 - 2.5

Secret beyond The Door - A psychological thriller in which Joan Bennett marries widower Michael Redgrave, who has a very strange hobby. It is very well shot, with great performances and a strong story.
This is one of my favourite films of a favourite of mine in Michael Redgrave. 5

classic goosebumps tv series in the 90s were better

[ThatDarnMKS]

I.Psssh, Reagan was villain enough when he was President, if you ask me.

:D
Many have argued it’s his most natural performance for a reason.

[WHITBISSELL!]

House on Haunted Hill - 1959 version directed by William Castle. Old fashioned scares which must have wowed them in a darkened theater back in the day. It's not quite the same these days but it's still fun. Vincent Price plays a millionaire type who invites five people to spend the night at a supposedly haunted mansion. If they make it to 8 AM the following morning he'll give them 10,000 dollars. Since this is a Castle movie there's an element of cheese running throughout, with disembodied heads earnestly filling in background details and enjoyably silly effects. I've seen four of Castle's "horror" movies and enjoyed them all. 80/100

[Citizen Rules]

House on Haunted Hill - 1959 version directed by William Castle. Old fashioned scares which must have wowed them in a darkened theater back in the day. It's not quite the same these days but it's still fun. Vincent Price plays a millionaire type who invites five people to spend the night at a supposedly haunted mansion. If they make it to 8 AM the following morning he'll give them 10,000 dollars. Since this is a Castle movie there's an element of cheese running throughout, with disembodied heads earnestly filling in background details and enjoyably silly effects. I've seen four of Castle's "horror" movies and enjoyed them all. 80/100Glad to see some love for House on Haunted Hill and William Castle. One of my favorite fun to watch films. Which other Castle films have you seen?

[Marco]

The Final Wish (2018)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/13/The_Final_Wish_%282018%29_Film_Poster.jpg/220px-The_Final_Wish_%282018%29_Film_Poster.jpg
Pretty snappy little horror about the strange occurrences that happen in a small town when an absentee son comes home following his fathers death. It's a bit predictable but all the actors do well. A few shocks on the road......seem to be watching a lot of horrors recently!!!

2.5

[WHITBISSELL!]

Glad to see some love for House on Haunted Hill and William Castle. One of my favorite fun to watch films. Which other Castle films have you seen?Uhh, let's see. I've watched The Old Dark House with Tom Poston, Mr. Sardonicus, The Tingler and this one, House on Haunted Hill. And having caught the 2001 version of 13 Ghosts I'd really like to check out Castle's original.

[WHITBISSELL!]

Family Plot - Last year or so, after realizing I was shamefully unfamiliar with a lot of his catalogue, I went on a Hitchcock tear. Along with a number of his more well known features I checked this one out, his final directorial outing. It doesn't measure up to his classics of course but, that being such an unreasonably high bar to clear, it's easily forgiven. This one involves a pair of high end kidnappers, a sex starved (according to one of the characters) medium, her cab driver/wannabe actor/amateur sleuth boyfriend and the traditional murderous henchman. It's a more light-hearted Hitchcock outing and given the mid 70's period in which it was filmed, a lot more frank with it's sexual references. It's also mostly fun with a solid cast featuring Barbara Harris, Bruce Dern, William Devane and Karen Black. Definitely worth watching even if you're not necessarily a Hitchcock completist. 90/100

[mark f]

Blood on the Wall (Sebastian Junger & Nick Quested, 2020) 3+ 6.5/10
What We Wanted (Ulrike Kofler, 2020) 2.5 6/10
Twenty Two (Guo Ke, 2015) 3 6.5/10
Secret Zoo (Son Jae-gon, 2020) 2.5 6/10
https://nekosdrama.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/sz01.jpg?w=640
Trying to bring back a dead zoo to life, several friends and employees pose as animals.
Surviving Lunch (Kt Curran, 2019) 2.5+ 6/10
Contracts (Alex Chung, 2019) 1.5 4/10
Star in the Night (Don Siegel, 1945) 3.5 7/10
Shag (Zelda Barron, 1989) 3 6.5/10
https://alchetron.com/cdn/Shag-film-images-c50f07b4-5343-46b0-a022-f4688c3467b.jpg
South Carolina, 1963. Just after graduation, four girlfriends (Bridget Fonda, Annabeth Gish, Page Hannah & Phoebe Cates) go to Myrtle Beach to party and find some boys.
Open Up to Me (Simo Halinen, 2013) 2.5 6/10
A Taboo Identity (Michael Hanson & Craig Muckler, 2017) 3 6.5/10
Cemetery (Carlos Casas, 2019) 2.5 6/10
Take a Giant Step (Philip Leacock, 1959) 3 6.5/10
https://i.pinimg.com/474x/4b/46/9d/4b469d24dd344133d1278adc8e0bee69.jpg
High schooler Johnny Nash can't fit in with his white neighbors and feels his sick nana (Estelle Hemsley) is the only one who understands him.
Hitler's Hollywood: German Cinema in the Age of Propaganda 1933-45
(Rüdiger Suchsland, 2017) 3.5 7/10
Friendsgiving (Nicol Paone, 2020) 2.5 5.5/10
Uncle Frank (Alan Ball, 2020) 2.5 5.5/10
The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special (Ken Cunningham, 2020) 3.5 7/10
https://fastly.syfy.com/sites/syfy/files/styles/1400xauto/public/lego-star-wars-holiday-special-1.gif
Many of the characters are impressed with Kylo Ren's torso, but the Emperor doesn't like his title of Supreme Leader.
Sonja: The White Swan (Anne Sewitsky, 2018) 2.5 6/10
Sara's Notebook (Norberto López Amado, 2018) 2.5 6/10
aTypical Wednesday (J Lee, 2020) 2.5+ 6/10
Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on the Exorcist (Alexandre O. Philippe, 2019) 3.5+ 7.5/10
https://i.pinimg.com/600x315/30/66/2a/30662a2333551c93880e49c640467172.jpg
Director Friedkin goes in-depth about how The Exorcist was filmed.

[Thief]

Family Plot - Last year or so, after realizing I was shamefully unfamiliar with a lot of his catalogue, I went on a Hitchcock tear. Along with a number of his more well known features I checked this one out, his final directorial outing. It doesn't measure up to his classics of course but, that being such an unreasonably high bar to clear, it's easily forgiven. This one involves a pair of high end kidnappers, a sex starved (according to one of the characters) medium, her cab driver/wannabe actor/amateur sleuth boyfriend and the traditional murderous henchman. It's a more light-hearted Hitchcock outing and given the mid 70's period in which it was filmed, a lot more frank with it's sexual references. It's also mostly fun with a solid cast featuring Barbara Harris, Bruce Dern, William Devane and Karen Black. Definitely worth watching even if you're not necessarily a Hitchcock completist. 90/100

I don't know why this film gets blasted so much. I mean, I don't think it's perfect, but I laughed the hell out of it. I've seen many, many Hitchcock films, but this one is probably in my "Pretty good" tier.

[WHITBISSELL!]

I don't know why this film gets blasted so much. I mean, I don't think it's perfect, but I laughed the hell out of it. I've seen many, many Hitchcock films, but this one is probably in my "Pretty good" tier.I enjoyed the hell out of it too. Both times I watched it. Especially that runaway car sequence.

[WHITBISSELL!]

Nightfall - This is a 1956 noir directed by Jacques Tourneur and stars Aldo Ray, a really young Anne Bancroft and James Gregory. Brian Keith and a memorable Rudy Bond (Cuneo from The Godfather) play the heavies, two bank robbers. This is unlike any other noir I've seen with numerous parts set during daylight hours and intriguing scenes at a coastal oilfield and a fashion show. The story revolves around a missing satchel of loot and Tourneur puts his trust in the offbeat plot and lets it carry the story along. Recommended if you're a fan of noir and of Jacques Tourneur. 85/100

[Thief]

I enjoyed the hell out of it too. Both times I watched it. Especially that runaway car sequence.

I know, right?? I almost mentioned it on my first post. That scene had me slapping my knee so hard :D

[GulfportDoc]

['64 The Killers]Ah! Yeah. I’m a fan of that version. Siegel directing Marvin, Cassavettes and Dickenson, you can’t go wrong. Also, it had Reagan playing a villain. Worth seeing just for that.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Hitch picked him because he could write sustained sequences that would lend themselves to longer takes.
Re-watched the '64 "Killers" last night. It wasn't nearly as good as I recalled. I loved the actors in it. But it just seemed too pretentious-- in some scenes playing like a satire. The story was a stretch in comparison with the '46 version.

I seem to remember Reagan saying that he believed it was his best work, but I disagree. He was too affable, and had too clean of an image to play a bad guy. He sort of brought it off, but it wasn't believable for me.

Cassavetes was a great actor, but either he was miscast in his role, or Dickenson was in hers. They had zero chemistry. And that's saying something for Dickenson, who was a bonafide sex kitten.

I enjoyed some of the period stuff (I was 20 at the time), and also felt that the music score was a cut above. But this version pales in comparison to the well done 1946 picture with Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, and Edmond O'brien.

Re Cronyn's screenwriting, you might be right that he was adept at writing long scenes.

[Gideon58]

https://www.nme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/2014TombstonesNeesonE1-1.png


3.5

[gomorra82]

Nosferatu, Phantom Der Nacht (1979) Herzog/Kinski collaboration

7/10

Pain and Glory (2019) Almodovar.

7/10


The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) Bunuel

7/10.

With Bunuel and Almodovar, The two films above didn’t quite live up to my earlier experiences with their films:
-Belle De Jour ( Bunuel)
- The Skin i Live in (Almodovar)
I will probaby see Exterminating Angels (Bunuel) and Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down (Almodovar). Then I think I am happy with the films i have seen for now. I don’t feel the movies i have seen lately, have led me down the path I was hoping.

[ThatDarnMKS]

Re-watched the '64 "Killers" last night. It wasn't nearly as good as I recalled. I loved the actors in it. But it just seemed too pretentious-- in some scenes playing like a satire. The story was a stretch in comparison with the '46 version.

I seem to remember Reagan saying that he believed it was his best work, but I disagree. He was too affable, and had too clean of an image to play a bad guy. He sort of brought it off, but it wasn't believable for me.

Cassavetes was a great actor, but either he was miscast in his role, or Dickenson was in hers. They had zero chemistry. And that's saying something for Dickenson, who was a bonafide sex kitten.

I enjoyed some of the period stuff (I was 20 at the time), and also felt that the music score was a cut above. But this version pales in comparison to the well done 1946 picture with Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, and Edmond O'brien.

Re Cronyn's screenwriting, you might be right that he was adept at writing long scenes.
I've only seen it the once (seen the original twice). While I definitely didn't prefer it, I doubt I'll have a more negative reaction. Siegel's sensibilities great appeal to me and I enjoy virtually everything I've seen from him (around 13 or so movies).

I may rewatch it before Noirvember comes to a close.

[Fabulous]

Men in Black (1997)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/je9H1s09ozp7kkiFqDvFD8aLW9e.jpg

[WHITBISSELL!]

The Dirty Dozen - This 1967 WWII classic has a runtime of two and a half hours and the covert mission that's at the heart of the story doesn't get rolling until the last half hour. But that doesn't end up mattering thanks to director Robert Aldrich and his all star, all male cast. If you check Aldrich's catalogue you'll find he's like a prolific Samuel Fuller. Specializing in mostly action flicks with strong leading men. In this one he had his pick from Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, Clint Walker, John Cassavetes, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Donald Sutherland or Ernest Borgnine among others. It's a guy movie with guy humor. But it's never boring. 90/100

[AgrippinaX]

Nosferatu, Phantom Der Nacht (1979) Herzog/Kinski collaboration

7/10

Pain and Glory (2019) Almodovar.

7/10


The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) Bunuel

7/10.

With Bunuel and Almodovar, The two films above didn’t quite live up to my earlier experiences with their films:
-Belle De Jour ( Bunuel)
- The Skin i Live in (Almodovar)
I will probaby see Exterminating Angels (Bunuel) and Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down (Almodovar). Then I think I am happy with the films i have seen for now. I don’t feel the movies i have seen lately, have led me down the path I was hoping.

I know the feeling, that was my experience with Casablanca. When something is over-hyped, even just in the film community, it’s hard to not feel disappointed. The Skin I Live In is very bizarre and not for everyone - I had my relationship with someone very close to me grow ice cold for weeks because she really didn’t appreciate that piece of cinema.

[ScarletLion]

'Cleo from 5 to 7'
(Varda)

https://i.imgur.com/FygRiej.gif

Pioneering French wave brilliance with a fine balance of tragedy and hope. Cleo is young and vain but just needs to be brought back down to earth. The amount of mirrors in this really ram home the 'self reflection' theme.

8.5/10

4

[pahaK]

Electra Glide in Blue (1973)
3
A story of a humane motorcycle patrolman who dreams of becoming a detective. Quite a pessimistic film that doesn't play out as you'd expect.

[ThatDarnMKS]

The Dirty Dozen - This 1967 WWII classic has a runtime of two and a half hours and the covert mission that's at the heart of the story doesn't get rolling until the last half hour. But that doesn't end up mattering thanks to director Robert Aldrich and his all star, all male cast. If you check Aldrich's catalogue you'll find he's like a prolific Samuel Fuller. Specializing in mostly action flicks with strong leading men. In this one he had his pick from Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, Clint Walker, John Cassavetes, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Donald Sutherland or Ernest Borgnine among others. It's a guy movie with guy humor. But it's never boring. 90/100
What I love is that despite this being true for his noir and later career, he's also the guy that made Whatever Happened to Baby Jane and Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, essentially crafting the subgenre of Hagsploitation with the the talents of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. Apparently, he was worried he'd only make lady pictures after that so he may have overcorrected course.

[Chypmunk]

Wonder (Stephen Chbosky, 2017) 3+
Tbh I spent most of the runtime looking for Fred Savage and Danica McKellar to show up

[Stirchley]

What I love is that despite this being true for his noir and later career, he's also the guy that made Whatever Happened to Baby Jane and Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, essentially crafting the subgenre of Hagsploitation with the the talents of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. Apparently, he was worried he'd only make lady pictures after that so he may have overcorrected course.

“Hagsploitation”? Charming. :rolleyes:

And what are “lady pictures”?

[Stirchley]

69096

Excellent movie.


69097

Like a Woody Allen movie, but European. One of those movies that isn’t bad (terrific cast), but one wonders who thought it would be a good idea to make this movie. Instantly forgettable.

[honeykid]

And what are “lady pictures”?
Now the following is what you call restraint. After a set up like that, I'm going to answer the question properly.

He could've meant Womens Film

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman%27s_film

Or, given the time I assume it was said, melodrama, drama, romance, family films. All were referred to as womens films from Golden Age through to New Hollywood. I can't remember where I read it but I remember reading that LB Mayer said something to the effect that he liked to always be making womens films so he'd have something to take his wife or mother to.

[ThatDarnMKS]

“Hagsploitation”? Charming. :rolleyes:

And what are “lady pictures”?
These are either his wording or accepted terminology for the low budget rip offs that followed those films, like Strait Jacket, Berzerk, Whatever Happened to Auntie Roo, Die Die My Darling, etc.

Aldritch took the job at a low point in his career and fancied himself a high calibur director that was slumming with these films (though he seemed to fully dedicate himself to any project).

If you've taken any offense, it's with the world of cinema past. Not me.

[AgrippinaX]

69096

Excellent movie..

This looks great! Might watch it next.

[HollowMan]

Stand By Me. (1986)


https://www.cinematographe.it/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Il-significato-del-film-di-Rob-Reiner.-Stand-by-Me-Ricordo-di-unestate-3.jpg



Classic 80s coming of age film. Simple story about four friends going on an adventure. Rewatching it for the first time since my youth, I never realized how much the theme of death underpins the story. The film was tinged with a sense of melancholy that I didn't remember as a kid. Still, it was an enjoyable watch, although I did find Will Wheaton vaguely irritating.


3.5/5 Stars.

[Thief]

BATTLEFIELD EARTH (2000)
A film considered to be one of the worst

https://resizing.flixster.com/YTEH7uuWBNTD9hBjlZP-Si-RbUI=/740x380/v1.bjsxMTQ2NjY7ajsxODYzMTsxMjAwOzIxNjA7MTA4MA

Yep. Everything you've heard about this film is true. Mediocre or just simply atrocious in almost any aspect, from the script and direction to the performances and the special effects. The film is set in a dystopian future where an alien race, the Psychlos, have ruled the Earth for 1000 years, while humans have reverted to their primitive ways. It follows Jonnie (Barry Pepper), one of the few humans who refuses to give up and is brave enough to face the aliens. As a result, Terl (John Travolta) captures him, along with others, to illegally mine gold for his own purposes, while Jonnie and his friends organize a rebellion.

But although the dystopic premise might be interesting, the execution from top to bottom is piss-poor. Roger Christian's direction is amateurish in almost every level, the script is full of silly and cringe-inducing lines, most of the performances feel lost and misguided, and the special effects are almost at "Asylum" levels. It barely scrapes by if you watch it just for kicks, with a "so bad it's good" attitude, but beyond that, there's no other way to look at it. This is crap.

Grade: 0.5

[Gideon58]

https://exclaim.ca/images/Louis_CK_2017.jpg



4.5

[gomorra82]

Cobra Verde (1987) Herzog/Kinski
Slave trade and war between tribes in South Africa. Herzog and Kinski last production together. Their work together is known for their relationship colored with temperament and fights. This movie allegedly had some major eruptions between the two. It makes me want to see the documentary My Best Fiend from 1999.

7.5/10

[xSookieStackhouse]

BATTLEFIELD EARTH (2000)
A film considered to be one of the worst

https://resizing.flixster.com/YTEH7uuWBNTD9hBjlZP-Si-RbUI=/740x380/v1.bjsxMTQ2NjY7ajsxODYzMTsxMjAwOzIxNjA7MTA4MA

Yep. Everything you've heard about this film is true. Mediocre or just simply atrocious in almost any aspect, from the script and direction to the performances and the special effects. The film is set in a dystopian future where an alien race, the Psychlos, have ruled the Earth for 1000 years, while humans have reverted to their primitive ways. It follows Jonnie (Barry Pepper), one of the few humans who refuses to give up and is brave enough to face the aliens. As a result, Terl (John Travolta) captures him, along with others, to illegally mine gold for his own purposes, while Jonnie and his friends organize a rebellion.

But although the dystopic premise might be interesting, the execution from top to bottom is piss-poor. Roger Christian's direction is amateurish in almost every level, the script is full of silly and cringe-inducing lines, most of the performances feel lost and misguided, and the special effects are almost at "Asylum" levels. It barely scrapes by if you watch it just for kicks, with a "so bad it's good" attitude, but beyond that, there's no other way to look at it. This is crap.

Grade: 0.5

that movie was so horrible

[martyrofevil]

Quick catch up:

Come and See (Elem Klimov, 1985) - 8/10 (rewatch)
Adele Hasn't Had Her Supper Yet (Oldřich Lipský, 1978) - 8/10
No Fish Where to Go (Janice Nadeau & Nicola Lemay, 2014) - 8/10
Mamie (Janice Nadeau, 2016) - 7/10
Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Adolescence of Utena (Kunihiko Ikuhara, 1999) - 5/10
Midori (Hiroshi Harada, 1992) - 8/10 (rewatch)
Chasuke's Journey (SABU, 2015) - 6/10
Nana (Jean Renoir, 1926) - 8/10

[Fabulous]

Under the Silver Lake (2018)

3

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/gXbcj4taNuDsKjavcm9UrzfyYxd.jpg

[GulfportDoc]

I've only seen it the once (seen the original twice). While I definitely didn't prefer it, I doubt I'll have a more negative reaction. Siegel's sensibilities great appeal to me and I enjoy virtually everything I've seen from him (around 13 or so movies).

I may rewatch it before Noirvember comes to a close.
Agreed. I really enjoyed Escape From Alcatraz, Dirty Harry, and Play Misty for Me.

"Noirvember". Good one...:)

[WHITBISSELL!]

Electra Glide in Blue (1973)
rating_3
A story of a humane motorcycle patrolman who dreams of becoming a detective. Quite a pessimistic film that doesn't play out as you'd expect.I love 70's movies like this. Rancho Deluxe, Freebie and the Bean, Mother, Jugs & Speed, Fuzz, The Super Cops, Mr. Majestyk, White Line Fever and Rolling Thunder. They're like comfort food.

[HollowMan]

12 Years a Slave. (2013)


http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UPDlQGRUYls/UrjBxR0VgfI/AAAAAAAAEpY/kbRF3s7JPYU/s1600/12years3.jpg



A powerful, moving film with brilliant performances from an impressive cast that explores the complexity and inhumanity of the slave trade. An excellent and important work of cinema.


4.5/5 Stars.

[ThatDarnMKS]

Agreed. I really enjoyed Escape From Alcatraz, Dirty Harry, and Play Misty for Me.

"Noirvember". Good one...:)
Despite acting in it and being the intended director, Siegel only acted in PMFM. It was Eastwood's directorial debut (though his style is basically Siegel with a dash of Leone).

Love EFA and DH. They embody how strange and contradicting Siegel's political sensibilities could be, with the former (along with Riot in Cell Block 11) being a treatise for better treatment of convicts and DH essentially being an indictment of Miranda laws and rights for the accused. Both great films but almost diametrically opposed politically.

I wish I could take credit for coining "Noirvember." I started doing it of my own accord and was excited to share the concept when I saw the hashtag existed for at least a year prior on Twitter. Convergent thinking strikes again!

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZTJlMzk4NTYtZTAxZi00YWY1LWEyZjEtZjI0MjdlYzg3MjBjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMDI2NDg0NQ@@._V1_.jpg



4

[Fabulous]

Death Wish (1974)

3

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/91CbIfKCy7UvtmMC5UfvX3WGeBL.jpg

[Captain Terror]

https://assets.mubicdn.net/images/film/86107/image-w856.jpg?1508061887

Paging Wooley:
I watched this tonight based on your review from a few weeks ago. Any chance you saved that? I'd like to read it again.

I don't always have patience for things of this nature. I wouldn't argue with someone that found this self-indulgent and obnoxious, but I found it went down really smooth. Before I knew it the film was half-over. And as someone that considers the 70s to be my "home base" in terms of pop culture, my comfort zone, those final 20 minutes were sheer bliss. It was kind of a rough week, but watching two kids doing The Bump on top of a station wagon made it all better. Nice find, friend!

7/10

[xSookieStackhouse]

Stand By Me. (1986)


https://www.cinematographe.it/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Il-significato-del-film-di-Rob-Reiner.-Stand-by-Me-Ricordo-di-unestate-3.jpg



Classic 80s coming of age film. Simple story about four friends going on an adventure. Rewatching it for the first time since my youth, I never realized how much the theme of death underpins the story. The film was tinged with a sense of melancholy that I didn't remember as a kid. Still, it was an enjoyable watch, although I did find Will Wheaton vaguely irritating.


3.5/5 Stars.

one of the good movies :)

[pahaK]

Cannibal Ferox (1981)
2.5
By modern standards, the violence is rather tame, and the story isn't that great either. It has some charm still, and I absolutely loved the ending. There's some real animal cruelty, but even that's been blown off the proportions.

[Thunderbolt]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.sIaZB2WOAqzD9IbjTtANXQHaED%26pid%3DApi&f=1

I needed a little pick me up the way this week is going so I figured why not run this one again. Only my second time seeing it and I have to say it's better than I remembered. I think the first time I watched it I was so preoccupied with the notorious stuff and waiting for it to happen that I didn't pay too much attention to the other stuff (plot and silly things like that).

I'm a massive horror fan and have seen so many disturbing films over the past few decades. I have heard that this is a notoriously graphic film and whilst I’m always keen to give a movie a chance, this is one that I’m just not bothered about catching up on. I love Italian splatter movies but this I have no interest for.

[AgrippinaX]

I'm a massive horror fan and have seen so many disturbing films over the past few decades. I have heard that this is a notoriously graphic film and whilst I’m always keen to give a movie a chance, this is one that I’m just not bothered about catching up on. I love Italian splatter movies but this I have no interest for.

Likewise. I watched Human Centipede and it was at that point that I thought, ‘You know what, that’ll do for now’.

[Wooley]

https://assets.mubicdn.net/images/film/86107/image-w856.jpg?1508061887

Paging Wooley:
I watched this tonight based on your review from a few weeks ago. Any chance you saved that? I'd like to read it again.

I don't always have patience for things of this nature. I wouldn't argue with someone that found this self-indulgent and obnoxious, but I found it went down really smooth. Before I knew it the film was half-over. And as someone that considers the 70s to be my "home base" in terms of pop culture, my comfort zone, those final 20 minutes were sheer bliss. It was kind of a rough week, but watching two kids doing The Bump on top of a station wagon made it all better. Nice find, friend!

7/10

(Sadly, didn't save anything from Corri.)

Yeah, I didn't know how this was gonna go and there was a brief lull maybe 1/3 of the way through when I thought they may have lost me but I was really glad I stuck it out and yeah, you're right, the last 20 minutes are so rewarding. I knew I liked my new girlfriend when I showed her the big dance finale and she loved it.

[Thief]

Likewise. I watched Human Centipede and it was at that point that I thought, ‘You know what, that’ll do for now’.

Given the premise, I thought the first Human Centipede was surprisingly tame, and a pretty solid horror thriller to boot. Dieter Laser is excellent as the mad doctor. Now the other two... :sick:

[Thief]

I'm a massive horror fan and have seen so many disturbing films over the past few decades. I have heard that this is a notoriously graphic film and whilst I’m always keen to give a movie a chance, this is one that I’m just not bothered about catching up on. I love Italian splatter movies but this I have no interest for.

Visually and graphically speaking, I felt that the worst parts were the animal scenes; and maybe it wasn't necessarily a matter of how graphic they were, but rather that we know it was true. There are indeed graphic scenes against "humans", but the ones that stuck with me were the animals.

[AgrippinaX]

Given the premise, I thought the first Human Centipede was surprisingly tame, and a pretty solid horror thriller to boot. Dieter Laser is excellent as the mad doctor. Now the other two... :sick:

Yes, in a way. I didn’t find it that bad, but it was pretty crazy. Then again, when I first saw it - not kidding! - my mother was asleep in a hotel room bed ten feet away. The combination of these factors made it seem worse than it was. The second one is more brutal and good meta-fiction (which I love), but I thought HCIII descended into self-parody, and therefore had less shock value. Not that you’ll be shocked once you know what it’s about. Hard to tell by now, it was a while back.

[Thief]

MARUJA (1959)
A film from Puerto Rico

https://images.mubicdn.net/images/film/234021/cache-428688-1555519375/image-w1280.jpg?size=740x

Last week we celebrated the so-called "discovery" of our island, or rather Columbus' arrival, so I felt it was appropriate to watch a local film, and more appropriate, to "discover" something classic, and that I did. Maruja is one of the first feature films filmed and produced here in Puerto Rico that achieved some level of popularity. The film follows the titular character (Marta Romero), a young woman that everybody in town is smitten with; something that she takes advantage of, despite being newly married to an older, humble barber.

For numerous reasons, economical, sociopolitical, etc. the film industry here hasn't been as successful or prolific as other Latin American or Caribbean regions. As a result, many local projects are often unfairly dismissed as "lesser". Maybe that inherent "low self-esteem" about our own "products" is why I was pleasantly surprised by this, or perhaps it was really that good. The direction by Oscar Orzábal Quintana was for the most part clean and fluid, with some great choices in terms of shots, framing, cinematography, and mise en scene.

The story, despite some typical romantic melodrama of the era, also managed to be quite good and a bit ahead of its time. Despite being almost two hours, the film is engaging and the pace feels breezy. There are also a couple of twists towards the end that really caught me off guard. Maybe the last act that follows is hindered a bit by the aftermath, but not very much. The performances are mostly OK, with Romero being the standout. But Axel Anderson, as one of her wannabe paramours, also shines.

What saddens me is the following: This film was released 60 years ago, and it barely gets mentioned here, let alone elsewhere. The only place where I could find it was on YouTube, via some uploaded videos by some random movie fan like me. Like it, there have been tons of local films that have came and went, with few or no support at all from the local media/TV stations, the government, or anyone. As a proud Puerto Rican and a cinephile, I wish there were more efforts put in place to distribute and promote our art and culture. One can only hope.

Grade: 3.5

[AgrippinaX]

Game Night (2011)
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/816wEsmKBFL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
3
I’m doing my best to find a post-90’s comedy I can appreciate, but so far, to no avail. This was watchable, but that’ll be my last comedy for the next six months. Also bizarre to see Bateman in a comedic role post-Ozark. Feels like an impostor.

[Thief]

Yes, in a way. I didn’t find it that bad, but it was pretty crazy. Then again, when I first saw it - not kidding! - my mother was asleep in a hotel room bed ten feet away. The combination of these factors made it seem worse than it was. The second one is more brutal and good meta-fiction (which I love), but I thought HCIII descended into self-parody, and therefore had less shock value. Not that you’ll be shocked once you know what it’s about. Hard to tell by now, it was a while back.

I kinda get what Six wanted to make with the second one, by putting it in stark contrast with the first one, but I don't think he pulled it off. I do think that, like the first one, the performance of the antagonist (Laurence R. Harvey) was perfect for the material.

As for the third one, I agree. I just found it downright horrible, loud, and annoying in almost every aspect.

[CharlesAoup]

Snakes On A Plane, 2006 (D)

What an overwhelmingly unremarkable movie. About 3-5 total minutes of setup, then you meet the stock characters, then the snakes, then at least 30-45 minutes of yelling, then the stock characters try to act like anyone cares about them, problem gets solved, plane lands, happy endings all around. Whoever wrote that one line better have had his salary tripled because it did so much work for this trash movie.

[Marco]

Electra Glide in Blue (1973)
3
A story of a humane motorcycle patrolman who dreams of becoming a detective. Quite a pessimistic film that doesn't play out as you'd expect.

Yeah, was quite a "swinging" look at cop and hippie interactions. Quite an average film I thought with a shocking (and brilliant) pay off.

[WHITBISSELL!]

Where Eagles Dare - This has somehow become my go-to WWII related film. It doesn't necessarily have the overwhelming star power of something like The Dirty Dozen or the grittiness of something like Fury or the boldness of Inglorious Basterds. But it does have an original script by Alistair MacLean and the surprisingly compatible pairing of Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood. The British put together a covert mission to rescue an American general being held at a mountaintop fortress accessible only by cable car. There's a heavy dose of espionage like intrigue along with Burton and Eastwood more or less decimating the German army. 90/100

[Fabulous]

The Prophecy (1995)

2

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/ed7c1oWavgcgZmWKbPr2oKg4JAD.jpg

[LChimp]

https://www.tampasdowntown.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Shawshank.Redemption_Poster.png

Ah yes. One of cinema's greatest moments, I can never get tired of this movie.

[AgrippinaX]

Maelström (2000)

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTfRmf1VqvQANj-fzuGQvsyeeHJbiHQ04udLgPPNJSere6tHIM1
4

I wasn’t a fan of the fish, but otherwise, good stuff, ending quite original. Man in the bar/on the tube made me think of Breaking Bad & Jane’s father.

[Takoma11]

The Prophecy (1995)

2

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/ed7c1oWavgcgZmWKbPr2oKg4JAD.jpg

I think you meant 4.5.

I mean, Christopher Walken wants to suck the soul of a sociopathic Vietnam War general out of the mouth of a little girl!

Viggo Mortenson is the devil!

The sign in the morgue says "Fridges are for bodies, not beer!"

In all seriousness, the film has just enough personality and quirky touches (like Adam Goldberg and Amanda Plummer as the unwilling reanimated assistants, or the way that the angles are able to defy physics and perch like birds) that I kind of love it. The story is bonkers but coherent, and the leads are enjoyable.

[Marco]

Sus (2010)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f6/Sus_film.jpg/330px-Sus_film.jpg
Film from a play that suffers and benefits from restricted space as many of the same adaptations do. In this case a black murder suspect brought in by the Metropolitan Police in London on the evening of Thatcher's election victory (1979) for interrogation. Strong, as you'd expect. and uncompromising language with 3 excellent performances.
3

[Nux]

1974, rating_4 rewatch

https://walter.trakt.tv/images/movies/000/010/369/posters/thumb/4bf89981fa.jpg.webp

1989, rating_3
https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w300/otGd93PuwKLEfRAS9cGnOhK2Yjj.jpg

[Fabulous]

Clue (1985)

2.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/iRmOH1ESFCECLtJovC2qHgO63Vu.jpg

[kgaard]

69168

Z (1969)

I spent six weeks during the summer between high school and college traveling around Greece with a friend. This friend was of Greek descent and still had family living there. When we arrived at the airport in Athens his uncle, who had been a colonel in the Greek military, came to pick us up. When we passed through customs he simply waved at the guards and they waved us through. Later during our stay, before leaving Athens to traipse about the country, he said, out of the blue and with clear pride, "When the coup comes, I turn off the telephones for all of Athens!" Of course, at the time I had absolutely no sense of Greek history that didn't involve philosophers or epic poetry, so I had no real reaction to this. I do recall being fascinated that the political spectrum of the country included actual fascists and actual communists. (Actual fascists, it turns out, are not so fascinating at home.)

Anyway, Costa-Gavras's compelling movie directly recalls events of the pre-coup period in Greece, thinly disguised as occurring in France/Algeria (so thinly that Costa-Gavras makes a point of saying that its resemblance to actual events "is INTENTIONAL"). He dramatizes an assassination and the subsequent investigation such that simple questionings of witnesses are thick with tension. Victims are allowed their humanity, their personal flaws displayed alongside their political heroism. If the outcome is unsatisfying, well, just look around, nothing about the world and politics today would surprise Costa-Gavras.

9/10

[Rockatansky]

BATTLEFIELD EARTH (2000)
A film considered to be one of the worst

https://resizing.flixster.com/YTEH7uuWBNTD9hBjlZP-Si-RbUI=/740x380/v1.bjsxMTQ2NjY7ajsxODYzMTsxMjAwOzIxNjA7MTA4MA

Yep. Everything you've heard about this film is true. Mediocre or just simply atrocious in almost any aspect, from the script and direction to the performances and the special effects. The film is set in a dystopian future where an alien race, the Psychlos, have ruled the Earth for 1000 years, while humans have reverted to their primitive ways. It follows Jonnie (Barry Pepper), one of the few humans who refuses to give up and is brave enough to face the aliens. As a result, Terl (John Travolta) captures him, along with others, to illegally mine gold for his own purposes, while Jonnie and his friends organize a rebellion.

But although the dystopic premise might be interesting, the execution from top to bottom is piss-poor. Roger Christian's direction is amateurish in almost every level, the script is full of silly and cringe-inducing lines, most of the performances feel lost and misguided, and the special effects are almost at "Asylum" levels. It barely scrapes by if you watch it just for kicks, with a "so bad it's good" attitude, but beyond that, there's no other way to look at it. This is crap.

Grade: 0.5
I tried watching this when it popped up on Netflix a few months ago.*Bailed maybe after twenty minutes because that canted angles were giving me a headache.*Just a viscerally unpleasant looking film.*

[Rockatansky]

69168

Z (1969)

I spent six weeks during the summer between high school and college traveling around Greece with a friend. This friend was of Greek descent and still had family living there. When we arrived at the airport in Athens his uncle, who had been a colonel in the Greek military, came to pick us up. When we passed through customs he simply waved at the guards and they waved us through. Later during our stay, before leaving Athens to traipse about the country, he said, out of the blue and with clear pride, "When the coup comes, I turn off the telephones for all of Athens!" Of course, at the time I had absolutely no sense of Greek history that didn't involve philosophers or epic poetry, so I had no real reaction to this. I do recall being fascinated that the political spectrum of the country included actual fascists and actual communists. (Actual fascists, it turns out, are not so fascinating at home.)

Anyway, Costa-Gavras's compelling movie directly recalls events of the pre-coup period in Greece, thinly disguised as occurring in France/Algeria (so thinly that Costa-Gavras makes a point of saying that its resemblance to actual events "is INTENTIONAL"). He dramatizes an assassination and the subsequent investigation such that simple questionings of witnesses are thick with tension. Victims are allowed their humanity, their personal flaws displayed alongside their political heroism. If the outcome is unsatisfying, well, just look around, nothing about the world and politics today would surprise Costa-Gavras.

9/10
I will recommend The Confession and State of Siege of you haven't seen them.*All are Costa-Gavras/Yves Montand collaborations and look at authoritarian governments from different angles (Confession depicting infighting and dissent in the ruling party, Siege depicting insurgent movements). I'm making them sound a little dry, but Montand sells the heck out of the human element that grounds all the films.*

[Takoma11]

1989, rating_3
https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w300/otGd93PuwKLEfRAS9cGnOhK2Yjj.jpg
[/CENTER]

I LOVE Society. It's so weird and unpredictable. It has one of my favorite director's commentaries.

https://jojud265nia2bj9sy4ah9b61-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/lesenfantsterribles-1600x900-c-default.jpg

Les Enfants Terribles, 1950

I always get a little nervous writing about a "classic" film before reading up on it, out of some fear that I will have wildly misinterpreted the meaning. Oh well!

Paul and Elisabeth are adult siblings (I never quite picked up on their ages in the film, but the actors were both in their mid/late 20s) who have a strange, co-dependent relationship that over the course of the film morphs into something dangerous and borderline psychotic.

Cards on the table: I am in a MOOD this week, between the stress at work and the approaching reality of spending Thanksgiving alone. And I had a VISCERAL reaction to several sequences in this film. The siblings at one point conspire to upset a small child at a restaurant, and Paul practically quivers with excitement when the child is finally slapped by her mother. In another sequence, Paul throws a pot of milk over Elisabeth while she is in bed. Later, Elisabeth feeds a piece of crayfish flesh to a sleeping Paul. Sorry to repeat vocabulary, but there was such a visceral element to the mind games played by the siblings--it goes way beyond cutting words and scheming.

I have so many disjoint thoughts about this film, but one thing that really stood out to me was the way that the character degrade others but are also themselves degraded. Elisabeth is expected to take care of their ailing mother and Paul (who is injured in the first scene and is sickly thereafter). Paul is injured in what may be a homophobic attack (we learn that Paul is attracted to the boy who attacks him) by a classmate. There's a scene later where Elisabeth suddenly realizes that her brother has pictures of actors and other male figures on his walls and he definitely has a "type"--and we see her with her tongue between her teeth, realizing something about her sibling, but maybe also recognizing ammunition? The siblings constantly turn on each other--ranging from acting like small children (rushing to be the first into a bath and then wrestling in the tub) to horribly duplicitous behavior (confiscating and destroying important correspondence). Elisabeth comes off as the worse of the two (as her actions often rope in others, such as her co-worker/roommate and their childhood friend Gerald), but it's fascinating to watch the mutually destructive behavior spiral and spiral until it becomes deadly.

I can't even organize my thinking around how the film was shot and the staging of certain sequences, but I'll just say that I found it very effective and there was this odd duality of claustrophobia and agoraphobia that I'll have to think on more.

4

https://d24fxnpb2c5viy.cloudfront.net/2018/06/Last-Waltz-2.jpg

The Last Waltz, 1978

My dad is a big fan of The Band, so shame on me for not seeing this documentary before now.

Scorsese films the final concert performance of The Band, interweaving footage of the concert with interviews with the band members.

I mean, what's there to say? The music is great. The guest stars are AMAZING. The interviews reveal a very powerful melancholy from artists who know that they need to stop, and yet are painfully aware of what they are giving up. But as Robbie Robertson lists the artists who have been lost living the "touring life", you understand at once their decision despite the pain it causes. There is a heightened sense of the fleeting nature of time, from a group of performers who are by no means over the hill, but who are also 16 years into an intense life of hustling, performance, and success.

4.5

[skizzerflake]

🍿🍿

Got talked into this...supposedly the last installment of Bill and Ted, this time Bill and Ted Face the Music. The titular characters are several decades down the road, with families and have to save the world by doing a bunch of time travel to see themselves in past and future times and then coming up with a song that will save the universe. Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter are still using their patented speech mannerisms, haven't really changed all that much, other than being older and I won't tell you whether or not they DO save the world, but you can probably guess.

Generally, my eyes glaze over when movie script writers try to explain time travel and this one's no exception, but it doesn't really matter. A bunch of things will happen, they will way
"Whoa!" a lot, Mozart gets reanimated along with some other historical characters, and eventually, after a lot of stuff, a song gets written.

My expectations were not all that high and they were certainly not exceeded. It's really pretty dumb (surprise!) but entertaining enough. It's available for pay on Amazon Prime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dng7gn7hbi4

[kgaard]

I will recommend The Confession and State of Siege of you haven't seen them.*All are Costa-Gavras/Yves Montand collaborations and look at authoritarian governments from different angles (Confession depicting infighting and dissent in the ruling party, Siege depicting insurgent movements). I'm making them sound a little dry, but Montand sells the heck out of the human element that grounds all the films.*

Noted, thanks! This was my first experience with Costa-Gavras so I'm happy to entertain suggestions. I think I've only seen Montand in Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources but obviously he's a big figure in film and music so I'd like to see more of his work too.

[Fabulous]

The Addams Family (1991)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/zY8r3K8ViKRSSNYQQKySuJz6ERX.jpg

[Swan]

Some recent high scores...

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (Alfred Hitchcock, 1927) - 5

Hitch prefers to think of this as his debut, which I can understand, having also watched The Pleasure Garden recently (his actual debut, and not very good). I consider The Lodger to be one of the best films in his oeuvre. Actually, it makes me wonder if the man would have been better suited for the silent era, which almost makes sense except that the notion is immediately dispelled when one remembers what he gave us with his talkies.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001) - 5

I don't remember this being so good. I knew it was my favorite of the three, which it still is and always will be. But these are mammoths of filmmaking that deserve their revolutionary status.

Grand Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937) - 5

I watched this around 3 in the morning and it was a wonderful, transfixing experience. It's also the first Renoir film to really click with me. What initially grabbed me was the excellent camerawork - I especially loved when the camera would do something like move around the dinner table while they all blabber about. That doesn't sound that impressive, I guess, but the artistry in its execution is hard to miss. Anyway, what kept me going were the wonderful characters and the noticeable compassion present in so much of it.

Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929) - 5

I have less to say about the inventive camerawork and editing and more to just say man, what a wild ride this is! Nyman's score was a great accompaniment, but the film probably maintains its energy without it.

[Takoma11]

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001) - 5

I don't remember this being so good.

That was my reaction when I watched this a few months back. I had seen the trilogy in the theater, which obviously adds to the experience.

Aside from finding some of the humor a bit corny, I was like "Whoa, this is really good!".

I forgot just how much action and suspense and character development is packed into the one movie. The thrill of Liv Tyler rescuing Frodo from the Ring Wraiths, the introduction of Aragorn, Boromir's entire arc. And years later it still looks really good.

[Fabulous]

Under the Skin (2013)

4

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/ymeoEex1vzu8iqRyw3b0kaQ8MZB.jpg

[Marco]

The Magus (1968)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/68/The_Magus_FilmPoster.jpeg
Was intrigued to find a copy of this as have read the John Fowles book a number of times (and its a bit of a head-spinner). Michael Caine plays a cock-sure but restless teacher who goes to work on a Greek island to get away from his girlfriend and daily drudge. At first satisfied, he is then enchanted by an older man on the island who may, or may not, have magical powers.

This is fairly loyal to the book but has a hard job conveying Fowles' post-modern ideas simply in a film. I accepted it for what it was but would read the book again before watching the film...Michael Caine is pretty horribly miscast too, even when thinking of casting before watching I thought Terence Stamp was the man for the part.
2.5

[Hey Fredrick]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Finsessionfilm.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F04%2Fmotley-crue-the-dirt-fb.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

2.5

Shout at the Devil was the first cassette I ever bought so I used to really like Motley Crue (up to Dr. Feelgood anyway). Still, I had no interest in seeing this but we have a houseguest who loves this movie and has been asking me to watch it since it was released. So after several beers and him talking about it again I said "Fine, let's watch it." Most of what is covered is well known to anyone who was a casual viewer of Mtv during the 80's. It's not boring but it feels like a rushed, made for tv movie. A collection of stories more than a story. I would say the most interesting thing I learned was who came up with the band's name.

[this_is_the_ girl]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia3.giphy.com%2Fmedia%2FH1Bdj663xCL1DBJElE%2Fsource.gif&f=1&nofb=1
Greenland (2020, Ric Roman Waugh)
2.5

https://i2.wp.com/projectedfigures.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/MV5BNDM4MGFkN2UtNGIyZS00YmQzLWE3NzUtMGYyMDgxYWFhZDY4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNDQzMjI2OTU@._V1_SX1777_CR001777 999_AL_.jpg?fit=640%2C268
The Fare (2018, D.C. Hamilton)
3.5

https://64.media.tumblr.com/1d20ae81863e8d0f225db0b7e920553d/66c9a92d151c2b4f-64/s500x750/9d32768f4d7fad077adc8995f7d9cd42fe757e87.gifv
Black Box (2020, Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour)
2.5

[Rockatansky]

Noted, thanks! This was my first experience with Costa-Gavras so I'm happy to entertain suggestions. I think I've only seen Montand in Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources but obviously he's a big figure in film and music so I'd like to see more of his work too.

As far as Montand goes, I am not that well versed in his work, but The Wages of Fear is probably essential (I understand that's what made him a star).*I'm also quite fond of his work in Grand Prix and Le Cercle Rouge, although those are smaller roles.


He also has a key, if minor, role in Mr. Freedom, which is not a particularly shrewd political satire but has its comic book charms.

[Rockatansky]

The asterisks seem to be a side effect of the formatting. They are not intentional on my part, but I will leave them for posterity.

[pahaK]

Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
3.5
A step (or stride) above Lenzi's Cannibal Ferox both in quality and in gruesomeness. I suppose Deodato is just a better filmmaker. A pessimistic and bleak portrayal of humanity and civilization. I don't think its message is as clear-cut as many reviews seem to think, and it goes well beyond the critique of sensationalist media (or if it doesn't it's rather poorly written).

[Torgo]

The Peanut Butter Falcon - 4

This is a heartwarming and funny road movie that succeeds for what it doesn't do as much as for what it does right. I tend to avoid movies with premises that can be described as quirky like this one because they often invite us to laugh at their subjects rather than with them. Thankfully, it avoids this trap by presenting Tyler (LaBeouf) and Zack (Gottsagen) in a way that makes you empathize with and root for them. It also sidesteps the pitfall of being cloying and manipulative that similar movies tend to fall into, and as an added bonus, its portrayal of southerners is more authentic than stereotypical. The quality of the performances has a lot to do with all of this, and if Shia LaBeouf and Dakota Johnson's lousy track record in big-budget movies make you skeptical, you will be surprised. Like Kristen Stewart, whose big-budget work is also less than stellar, LaBeouf and Johnson must be better suited to the indie movie environment. I also liked Bruce Dern's work as Zack's nursing home ally as well as Thomas Haden Church as the Salt Water Redneck, a former wrestler who thanks to Tyler and Zack gets a new lease on life. The road movie format is a tried and true one, but those seeking innovation in it may be disappointed here. Also, while there are many beautiful songs on the soundtrack, their not-so-ideal placement makes the movie come close to dipping into sentimentality. Thankfully, what the movie doesn't do, what it does right and the charms, laughs and hope it provides shine through the most. And yes, that's Mick Foley and Jake "The Snake" Roberts in the wrestling scenes!

[Wooley]

I think you meant 4.5.

I mean, Christopher Walken wants to suck the soul of a sociopathic Vietnam War general out of the mouth of a little girl!

Viggo Mortenson is the devil!

The sign in the morgue says "Fridges are for bodies, not beer!"

In all seriousness, the film has just enough personality and quirky touches (like Adam Goldberg and Amanda Plummer as the unwilling reanimated assistants, or the way that the angles are able to defy physics and perch like birds) that I kind of love it. The story is bonkers but coherent, and the leads are enjoyable.

Sigh... I gotta say I'm with him. I watched it once, I won't watch it again.

[Takoma11]

The Peanut Butter Falcon - 4

This is a heartwarming and funny road movie that succeeds for what it doesn't do as much as for what it does right. I tend to avoid movies with premises that can be described as quirky like this one because they often invite us to laugh at their subjects rather than with them. Thankfully, it avoids this trap by presenting Tyler (LaBeouf) and Zack (Gottsagen) in a way that makes you empathize with and root for them. It also sidesteps the pitfall of being cloying and manipulative that similar movies tend to fall into

I watched this with my sister and her husband. All three of us have done significant amounts of work with people with disabilities (and I currently have a student with severe Down Syndrome). This movie got so many things right that are often gotten so wrong. I specifically loved the speech/fight about Johnson's character babying Zack and the message that sends him. ("You might not be saying the word 'retard', alright, I'll give you that, but you're damn sure is making him feel retarded.")

I was also very impressed with the way that they portrayed Tyler's journey and specifically his guilt and grief over the loss of his brother. Making connections to other people, needing them and letting them need you, takes off some of the intensity, but deep sorrow like that doesn't just go away.

And while Johnson's character got the least development, I liked the way that she came to an understanding that good intentions aren't enough. (And, to be fair, many people --especially young women--are thrust into positions of caring for people/children with disabilities without the proper training).

Altogether I thought that the film was fantastic. And if it did have a few moments that tripped a little too close to "feel good", I thought the movie had more than earned them.

[Wooley]

Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
3.5
A step (or stride) above Lenzi's Cannibal Ferox both in quality and in gruesomeness. I suppose Deodato is just a better filmmaker. A pessimistic and bleak portrayal of humanity and civilization. I don't think its message is as clear-cut as many reviews seem to think, and it goes well beyond the critique of sensationalist media (or if it doesn't it's rather poorly written).

I did not "like" this movie per se, just because its content is so unpleasant, but I also thought it was better than people say and I agree that people do the reductionist "Who are the real monsters" thing just to lazily dismiss the film.

[Takoma11]

Sigh... I gotta say I'm with him. I watched it once, I won't watch it again.

/removes Wooley from Christmas card list.

[Wooley]

/removes Wooley from Christmas card list.

Ouch.

[WrinkledMind]

I watched Unhinged today, and I cannot understand why someone like Crowe would do this. He was great (almost looked like an angry John Goodman) and I can't fault the other actors in the movie, but what was the point. This could easily have been a YouTube short.

[Takoma11]

Ouch.

Fine.

/puts Wooley back on the list.

[ThatDarnMKS]

Fine.

/puts Wooley back on the list.
/Removes Tak from Christmas card list for being weak willed

[Takoma11]

/Removes Tak from Christmas card list for being weak willed

/removes MKS from Christmas card list and, like, totally means it this time.

[Thief]

/removes Tak and Wooley from Christmas card list for overdramatic.

/removes MKS from Christmas card list for agitator

[Thief]

Some recent high scores...

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (Alfred Hitchcock, 1927) - 5


Pretty good film that just got better with a second viewing for me.


Hitch prefers to think of this as his debut, which I can understand, having also watched The Pleasure Garden recently (his actual debut, and not very good). I consider The Lodger to be one of the best films in his oeuvre.


I don't know how Hitchcock felt about this or The Pleasure Garden, but I found the latter to be pretty solid.


Actually, it makes me wonder if the man would have been better suited for the silent era, which almost makes sense except that the notion is immediately dispelled when one remembers what he gave us with his talkies.


This reminds me of his quote where he says that you should be able to turn the sound off a film and still understand what's going on. Either way, he was a master of cinema.

[Torgo]

Christmas Card eats man. Woman inherits the Earth.

[Captain Terror]

Wait, y'all send cards to each other? Ouch.

[Marco]

Kajillionaire (2020)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/22/Kajillionaire_poster.jpeg
Alright story about a grown up child in a family of grifters. She is expected now to provide ideas and pick up the slack for her parents. Story was ok but rather one dimensional, Evan Rachel Wood was really good in it and you can tell the frustration in her performance.
2.5

[Takoma11]

/removes Tak and Wooley from Christmas card list for overdramatic.

/removes MKS from Christmas card list for agitator

OVERDRAMATIC?!

https://media.giphy.com/media/3oEjHKvjqt5pssL99C/giphy.gif

https://www.rollingstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/AMERICAN_UTOPIA_S_0296s-1.jpg?resize=940,705&w=940

David Byrne, American Utopia, 2019

This is a concert documentary of Byrne's show that played on Broadway, filmed by Spike Lee.

I thought this was pretty excellent. Byrne and his collection of singers/musicians/dancers are all bursting with talent. The dance choreography is complex and meticulous, but very accessible so that it always adds to what is happening on stage.

Some of Byrne's between-song dialogue might seem too on the nose for some people, but I appreciated that he made his points (at times bluntly) and then got back to the music. Like it or not, the dialogue firmly grounds this performance in time and place--urging people to register to vote, and a song commemorating Black victims of police violence (feel depressed as you realize how many more people died in the time between the performance of the song and watching it now--for example George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor are honored in images following the song).

In terms of the filming itself, I quite liked Lee's approach, which made use of bold camera moves and angles that gave the film a dynamic, intimate, and exhilarating feeling without the sense that you are missing important moments.

I would totally watch this again.

4

https://insidecontent.tv/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/diana1-1024x576.jpg

Diana, 2018

A framing device shows us a high-end escort, Sofia, being interviewed by a journalist. We then watch as a man, Juno, whose company is about to go big books a date with her.

This movie suckered me in with an interesting cover, and I was very underwhelmed.

I'll start by admitting that I didn't really understand what was happening at time (and whether it was meant to be real or in a character's head) and I did not care to rewind and figure it out. The two lead actors are . . . fine.

Movies LOVE to portray characters who are sex workers, as the explicit transactional nature of their work allows for exploration of the dynamics between men and women. But this film falls into some face-palming elements, such as asserting that sex workers are the ones with all the power (LOL, no!), asserting that it's the male clients who are most in danger when they visit sex workers (LOL! NO!), and just generally portraying things that make little sense (such as the main character booking two clients immediately back to back). The director also can't seem to resist throwing a ton of butt shots into the movie. These make sense when they seem to be from the male character's point of view--showing how Sofia is seducing him. But many of the shots . . . are just there. In a film that uses a lot of subjective/POV stuff, these disembodied jiggle shots stand out in a bad way. (And please pretend to be shocked when I tell you that a film portraying multiple sexual encounters only gets the male character undressed one time, and it's for a scene of sexual violence).

There's supposed to be this whole mystery element and Sofia has a past and what does her tattoo that says "Diana" mean and blah, blah, blah. The film totally underdelivers in this regard.

I was also confused by the film's idea of "edgy" sex play, because it casually includes strangulation (which is incredibly high risk) in several sequences, but later wants us to believe that Sofia putting her foot on Juno's face is, like, really intense power play. I just felt baffled much of the time about what the sex was supposed to be telling us about these characters and their relationship/dynamic.

I will say this for it: there is a dog that appears in the last act that earned the film a whole star. That's about the nicest thing I can say for it. At one point I was like "Oh, thank god. It's over." And then there were 20 more minutes.

Oh, and the ending makes zero sense. Skip.

1.5

[ThatDarnMKS]

/Rips up Christmas Card list only to realize such list doesn't exist. Worries about what document was actually destroyed.

Loved American Utopia. Watched it Election Night then rewatched it when Biden was announced. Hit differently but powerfully each time.

Spike Lee really killed it this year with AU and Da 5 Bloods.

[SpelingError]

Spike Lee really killed it this year with AU and Da 5 Bloods.

Still need to watch American Utopia. I loved Da 5 Bloods. I probably wrote the most about that film than any other film this year, classic, recent, or otherwise.

[Fabulous]

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)

3

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/3hNTv0ZnPF5BTUMhyGsKKHg3UmA.jpg

[AgrippinaX]

Run (2020)
https://static.metacritic.com/images/products/movies/7/bc866d8a73fdae266598d938b02ce091-2400.jpg
4
I’ve been looking forward to this, and for the most part, I wasn’t disappointed. I’ve read a lot about the film being simplistic/not really getting into mental health/ psychological implications of enduring health issues. That’s fair enough, but as a thriller, it’s pretty good. The concept is old, but hasn’t been taken to such extremes in a while. It does become predictable once we know the ‘twist’, but that’s inevitable (and I think it’s fairly uncommon not to show the character’s full rehabilitation in the last scene). It differs a lot from ‘Misery’ & ‘Boxing Helena’ because Chloe sees her situation as the norm and has never known anything else. There’s no ‘abduction’ moment and no flashback to when life became a confinement. In that way, it’s a lot more like ‘Room’ than any of the above.. The only thing that felt genuinely underwritten/ridiculous was the stack of paper cuttings Diane keeps in the box. I mean; come on. Besides, who apart from serial killers would really save papers as any kind of keepsake? I’ve always felt that even as a plot device it’s not that great; no matter how it’s framed, any kind of ‘paperwork’ will always be telling instead of showing. But something about ‘telling’ the biggest twist (alright, maybe second biggest) of the film via press cuttings is just so, so old. Makes me think of ancient epistolary horror like ‘Frankenstein’.

[Takoma11]

Run (2020)
https://static.metacritic.com/images/products/movies/7/bc866d8a73fdae266598d938b02ce091-2400.jpg
4

I've been looking forward to this one ever since seeing the trailer on Hulu. Good to hear it's worth checking out!

The only thing that felt genuinely underwritten/ridiculous was the stack of paper cuttings Diane keeps in the box. I mean; come on. Besides, who apart from serial killers would really save papers as any kind of keepsake?

I would be interested to know how often people keep paperwork. I do feel as though it's not uncommon for people to keep mementos. I will admit that I totally horde paperwork--it took a lot of willpower to get rid of an electric bill from 15 years ago. Would I keep damning paperwork . . . honestly, I probably would.

However, I agree completely that it's a over-used trope that someone finds the bad guy's "scrapbook of evil". I don't mind it so much when main characters manage to find a clue in something like a library book or a yearbook or something--but maybe that's just the nerd in me being like "Yes! Books will solve our problems!".

I think that the device is used so often because it creates a situation where briefly the protagonist knows something that the antagonist doesn't think they know while at the same time being an exposition dump for the viewer.

[AgrippinaX]

I've been looking forward to this one ever since seeing the trailer on Hulu. Good to hear it's worth checking out!



I would be interested to know how often people keep paperwork. I do feel as though it's not uncommon for people to keep mementos. I will admit that I totally horde paperwork--it took a lot of willpower to get rid of an electric bill from 15 years ago. Would I keep damning paperwork . . . honestly, I probably would.

However, I agree completely that it's a over-used trope that someone finds the bad guy's "scrapbook of evil". I don't mind it so much when main characters manage to find a clue in something like a library book or a yearbook or something--but maybe that's just the nerd in me being like "Yes! Books will solve our problems!".

I think that the device is used so often because it creates a situation where briefly the protagonist knows something that the antagonist doesn't think they know while at the same time being an exposition dump for the viewer.

I hope you didn’t read the spoilers! It’d hate to ruin it for you, it really is pretty good. Paulson is excellent. I’m still processing it (finished watching 2 hours ago). I agree with the above - it’s not about hoarding paperwork as such, which I do myself (and the power of filing was shown beautifully in ‘Dark Waters’, ‘Zodiac’, etc) - but hoarding the sort of thing that could, I don’t know, implicate you, for lack of a better word, or cause you trouble (!). It feels like pure plotting. I’d be curious to know what you think once you watch it.

[mark f]

Time Walker (Tom Kennedy, 1982) 1.5 4/10
Lost Boundaries (Alfred L. Werker, 1949) 2.5 6/10
Dirt Music (Gregor Jordan, 2019) 2 5/10
Mangrove (Steve McQueen, 2020) 3 6.5/10
https://www.londonvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/mangrove-800x445.jpg
The Mangrove 9 is tried at the Old Bailey for rioting against the police in 1970.
Scandal in Sorrento AKA Pane, amore e..... (Dino Risi, 1955) 2.5 6/10
Dawn of the Mummy (Frank Agrama, 1981) 1.5 4/10
Ludo (Anurag Basu, 2020) 2.5 6/10
Run. (Aneesh Chaganty, 2020) 2.5 5.5/10
https://obs.line-scdn.net/0hmiEp5F10MkZ4CRtKiPdNEUJfMSlLZSFFHD9jWChnbHICPiZHET91c1QNaSNRbnUYFjp7KVQKKXcHaXwTQWd1/w580
Mother Sarah Paulson and daughter Kiera Allen have a dishonest relationship from the time of her birth.
Rag Doll (Bailey Kobe, 2019) 2.5 6/10
Fatman (Eshom Nelms & Ian Nelms, 2020) 2.5 5.5/10
Merry Andrew (Michael Kidd, 1958) 2.5 6/10
Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds (Werner Herzog & Clive Oppenheimer, 2020) 3 6.5/10
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-COir5EqEODE/X6eju1DBm5I/AAAAAAAAqqw/aOHG64IPz-YpvIN_J9NY8arTuOxaH6_JQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h336/fireball1.jpg
Herzog excitedly but sparingly discusses cataclysms from outer space, what they mean and what they may prove.
Here Comes Rusty (Tyler Russell, 2016) 2.5 6/10
Blindfire (Michael Nell, 2020) 2 5/10
Trump vs the Illuminati (BC Fourteen, 2020) 2.5 5.5/10
Welcome II the Terrordome (Ngozi Onwurah, 1995) 2.5 6/10
https://d2g2d79hvofmwa.cloudfront.net/cdn/ff/NuqGLOD1HWkVgBIR20oc0gRdL7hZo539H1cVnT3xrO8/1532629885/public/styles/landscape_480x270/public/hero-images/d79f379b05372494b1bfd2734ab3b5ff.jpg?itok=jTNZ4Zbz
Strong depiction of rampant racism in England masquerades as a sci-fi/fantasy which somewhat dilutes its power.
The Sign of Venus (Dino Risi, 1955) 2.5 6/10
Benjamin (Simon Amstell, 2018) 2.5 6/10
Jiu Jitsu (Dimitri Logothetis, 2020) 1.5+ 4.5/10
Come Play (Jacob Chase, 2020) 2.5 6/10
https://www.joblo.com/assets/images/arrow/news/2020/10/Captu656-343-re2.jpg
Larry can be a scary bastard when he wants a friend.

[Takoma11]

I hope you didn’t read the spoilers! It’d hate to ruin it for you, it really is pretty good. Paulson is excellent. I’m still processing it (finished watching 2 hours ago). I agree with the above - it’s not about hoarding paperwork as such, which I do myself (and the power of filing was shown beautifully in ‘Dark Waters’, ‘Zodiac’, etc) - but hoarding the sort of thing that could, I don’t know, implicate you, for lack of a better word, or cause you trouble (!). It feels like pure plotting. I’d be curious to know what you think once you watch it.

I did not read anything that you put in spoiler text, so no worries. I already have some ideas about what the twists might be, so it'll be interesting to watch it and see if I'm correct.

I actually do believe that someone would hold on to implicating paperwork, and for several reasons. Sentiment is very powerful, to start with. People who commit crimes/abuse can often be overconfident and self-centered. Then there's the whole psychology thing of maybe wanting to be caught. I appreciate that you've stayed vague about what the papers are that the person kept, so I'll have to wait until I watch it to decide if I think it makes sense or if it's very silly.

Also, good use of the spoiler tags? This is how you get on the Christmas Card list, fellas!

[WHITBISSELL!]

Beasts of the Southern Wild - A little girl named Hushpuppy lives with her alcoholic father Wink in a ramshackle island community off the coast of Louisiana. Her father's sick and the movie posits that it's somehow tied in with the state of the world at large. It's been so long since I first watched this that I had more or less forgotten all but the basic outline of the movie. I don't even remember what I first thought of it but now I mostly wish I could say I liked it more than I did. Even though it's a somewhat imaginative and lyrical film it's also disjointed with nebulous supporting characters and an ultimately shaky script. I don't think there's enough there to merit the praise it originally garnered. Not after eight robust years of indie features to compare it against. 70/100

[AgrippinaX]

I actually do believe that someone would hold on to implicating paperwork, and for several reasons. Sentiment is very powerful, to start with. People who commit crimes/abuse can often be overconfident and self-centered. Then there's the whole psychology thing of maybe wanting to be caught.

That’s a fair point. I always assume people would be a 100% rational, which is pretty reductionist. ‘Overconfident’ & ‘self-centered’ definitely applies here.

[GulfportDoc]

69197

An Ordinary Man (2017)

Starring Ben Kingsley and Icelandic actress Hera Hilmar, this film has an near allegorical plot which makes it feel offbeat, despite the fact that the story is as serious as a heart attack.

Set in current day, The General (Kingsley) has been accused of international war crimes due to his ethnic cleansing of a people-- presumably in the Balkans. The countries and nationalities are never mentioned. He is sought for those crimes, but his many sympathetic compatriots form a large group who protect The General from capture, even though he often hides in plain sight.

A young woman (Hilmar) happens onto the scene in The General’s “safe house” apartment, and is quickly convinced by him to be his maid. Turns out she has been sent by his compatriots to help protect him.

I wasn’t sure what this picture was trying to say. Was it dramatizing their relationship, which was very interesting; was it trying to show the heartlessness of The General which was gradually softened; or was it outlining the sacrifices that political and national ideologues make?

The acting was first rate, as were the settings. I was confused by Kingsley’s accent, which may be from the North, and it may be his natural accent. But it seems like a more accurate accent would be better while playing a Balkan type general.

The picture definitely held my interest throughout, and the tension of wondering how it would all end held my attention. But that, you’ll have to see for yourself.

Available free for Netflix subscribers, and also on various streaming services.

Doc’s rating: 6/10
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[Rockatansky]

Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
3.5
A step (or stride) above Lenzi's Cannibal Ferox both in quality and in gruesomeness. I suppose Deodato is just a better filmmaker. A pessimistic and bleak portrayal of humanity and civilization. I don't think its message is as clear-cut as many reviews seem to think, and it goes well beyond the critique of sensationalist media (or if it doesn't it's rather poorly written).
I liked this less than you did, but I will throw in a cautious recommendation for Jungle Holocaust AKA Last Cannibal World.*It's less formally adventurous and lacks as clear a social message (not a negative in my eyes), but as a result focuses more on the jungle adventure elements.*It also has a (seemingly) rare positive Ivan Rassimov role.*Still extremely unpleasant in ways common to the subgenre, but worth a watch if you can stomach it.*

[GulfportDoc]

...
Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on the Exorcist (Alexandre O. Philippe, 2019) rating_3_5+ 7.5/10
https://i.pinimg.com/600x315/30/66/2a/30662a2333551c93880e49c640467172.jpg
Director Friedkin goes in-depth about how The Exorcist was filmed.


Took your tip and watched Leap of Faith the other night. I was very impressed by The Exorcist when it came out, although I almost never watch horror films-- certainly in modern times. The film's music theme --Tubular Bells-- along with the stunning movie poster are some of the best ever done.

Written and directed by Alexandre Philippe, the documentary was very well put together, and featured lots of interview footage of William Friedkin, who looks very good at aged 84/85, and is very sharp minded.

There were comparatively few vintage clips, but Friedkin's revelations about what he believes film should be are not only interesting to a lay person, but would certainly be of value to film students. As a plus he intermittently revealed his spiritual beliefs which are somewhat represented in the The Exorcist. They are also similar to my own beliefs.

I was a huge fan of his The French Connection, and have enjoyed several of his projects since. Even if one didn't care for The Exorcist, this documentary about Friedkin, his pictures and his philosophy will keep most viewers' attention during the entire 98 minute running.

Doc's rating: 8/10

[Nux]

1971, rating_4

https://walter.trakt.tv/images/movies/000/010/988/posters/thumb/2acb15378b.jpg.webp

1979, rating_3_5
https://walter.trakt.tv/images/movies/000/008/004/posters/thumb/dfba1cf490.jpg.webp

[GulfportDoc]

MARUJA (1959)
A film from Puerto Rico
Last week we celebrated the so-called "discovery" of our island, or rather Columbus' arrival, so I felt it was appropriate to watch a local film, and more appropriate, to "discover" something classic, and that I did. Maruja is one of the first feature films filmed and produced here in Puerto Rico that achieved some level of popularity. The film follows the titular character (Marta Romero), a young woman that everybody in town is smitten with; something that she takes advantage of, despite being newly married to an older, humble barber.

For numerous reasons, economical, sociopolitical, etc. the film industry here hasn't been as successful or prolific as other Latin American or Caribbean regions. As a result, many local projects are often unfairly dismissed as "lesser". Maybe that inherent "low self-esteem" about our own "products" is why I was pleasantly surprised by this, or perhaps it was really that good. The direction by Oscar Orzábal Quintana was for the most part clean and fluid, with some great choices in terms of shots, framing, cinematography, and mise en scene.

The story, despite some typical romantic melodrama of the era, also managed to be quite good and a bit ahead of its time. Despite being almost two hours, the film is engaging and the pace feels breezy. There are also a couple of twists towards the end that really caught me off guard. Maybe the last act that follows is hindered a bit by the aftermath, but not very much. The performances are mostly OK, with Romero being the standout. But Axel Anderson, as one of her wannabe paramours, also shines.

What saddens me is the following: This film was released 60 years ago, and it barely gets mentioned here, let alone elsewhere. The only place where I could find it was on YouTube, via some uploaded videos by some random movie fan like me. Like it, there have been tons of local films that have came and went, with few or no support at all from the local media/TV stations, the government, or anyone. As a proud Puerto Rican and a cinephile, I wish there were more efforts put in place to distribute and promote our art and culture. One can only hope.

Grade: rating_3_5
Nice review. It sounds like an interesting film that I'll put on my list. 1959 Sounds like it was a banner year for Puerto Rico; but not such a good year for Cuba...:(

Cheers!

[gomorra82]

Wiener-Dog (2016) Todd Solondz.
We follow a Wiener-Dogs life as it shifts owners throughout the film. The owners all have different challenges in their daily life.
With Greta Gerwig, Kieran Culkin, Danny DeVito. The Story built around Greta Gerwig and Kieran Culkin where good, and i could definitely have stayed longer with them.
DeVito does a nice job as well, in his role as a film school teacher, not appreciated by his students.

7.5/10.

The City of Lost Children (1995) Jean Pierre Jeunet/ Marc Caro.

Ron Perlmans character gets help from a young girl named Miette, to find his young brother, who has been kidnapped by an old scientist on an island. He kidnap children to steal their dreams.
With its dark scenery, set in a dystopian society, it is easy to compare it to other Sci Fi films as Dark City, Brazil, Twelve Monkeys.

As a little side note, Jeunet, Dominique Pinon and Ron Perlman all worked together on Alien Resurrection, which make me want to see that movie again. Since I did not know anything about the director at the time I saw the film, it explains a lot about the style, which make it an interesting Alien movie. And as i am getting more acquainted with Jeunets style, maby i will have a new experience with Alien Ressurection.

8/10
69200

[Takoma11]

Run (2020)

I’ve been looking forward to this, and for the most part, I wasn’t disappointed.

So just watched this one, and I think that I mostly agree with your assessment.

I'm just going to put all of my thoughts in a spoiler box so that I don't have to do like four of them.


I thought it was interesting how quickly Chloe jumped to being suspicious of her mother. I think it implies that she's sensed something was wrong, and it's only now really crystallizing.

From what I understand of people like the mother here, usually the person who is the victim has no idea what's happening. It was interesting that once Chloe was in the know, things were able to get so scary so quickly. You kind of get the sense that things were going to come to a head anyway, since Chloe anticipated going to college.

Regarding your point about mom's Box of Exposition, the only wrong note there for me was the newspaper clipping. I think it was totally unnecessary. The death certificate plus the photo of her running as a baby was all the information we (or Chloe) needed to see.

I really liked the whole sequence with the mailman, and that he didn't give in to the mom's attempt to intimidate him. Even though I knew he was going to get killed--and was very sad about it--it did warm my heart when he was like "Hospital or police?".

I did think it was a bit far-fetched in terms of some of the hospital stuff. Like, when the mom takes Chloe--how on Earth does a patient flat-lining not immediately get a response? How does the whole hospital not get locked down when a suicidal patient has been kidnapped?

I really, REALLY did not care for that final scene. Are we to believe that Chloe has been poisoning her mother for literally years? It's gross, especially because, to me, it implies that Chloe might not be above poisoning her own family. I get that the movie wanted one last stinger, but c'mon. "I think it's time for me to go" was a perfect ending point. It's also dumb because unlike Chloe, the mom is receiving medical care from the same group of people. "Gosh, why is this patient randomly paralyzed?" is a question that you'd think would come up.

As a thriller it was pretty strong. Maybe my only real complaint is that I wish we'd gotten to know Chloe a bit more before everything really kicked off. And that last 30 seconds.

This movie kind of made me think of another film. I'm going to put the title in spoiler tags, just in case.

Have you seen The Harvest?

[Takoma11]

The City of Lost Children (1995) Jean Pierre Jeunet/ Marc Caro.

With its dark scenery, set in a dystopian society, it is easy to compare it to other Sci Fi films as Dark City, Brazil, Twelve Monkeys.

Have you seen Delicatessen? It's another quirky dystopian Jeunet.

[Fabulous]

State of Play (2009)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/9hZ5VFTQxCek2VJqmVoyJMck0Vw.jpg

[gomorra82]

Have you seen Delicatessen? It's another quirky dystopian Jeunet.

Thanks Takoma11. No, it’s one of his films that still are on my watchlist, along with A Very Long Engagement.
Amelie i have had on dvd for some years, and really liked. But only recently i started catching up on his other films. I really like his style. I will see it as soon as possible.

[Takoma11]

Thanks Takoma11. No, it’s one of his films that still are on my watchlist, along with A Very Long Engagement.
Amelie i have had on dvd for some years, and really liked. But only recently i started catching up on his other films. I really like his style. I will see it as soon as possible.

I liked A Very Long Engagement, though it was a lot sadder than I'd expected.

Of the films I've seen from Jeunet I'd rank them thusly:

City of Lost Children
Amelie
Delicatessen
A Very Long Engagement
Alien: Resurrection
Micmacs

I haven't seen Amelie in a long while (I watched it two or three times when it first came out, but not since then), so that ranking is the most tentative.

[gomorra82]

Of the films I've seen from Jeunet I'd rank them thusly:

City of Lost Children
Amelie
Delicatessen
A Very Long Engagement
Alien: Resurrection
Micmacs

I agree, Micmacs didn't make the same impression as City of Lost Children and Amelie.

[the samoan lawyer]

I loved how it merged documentary and fiction. Beautiful but sad film.


Yeah, two very different halves to the film.

[the samoan lawyer]

Tideland (2005) - 2 needed more Lebows.... I mean Bridges
Muriel's Wedding (1994) - 3
Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) - 2.5
VFW (2019) - 2.5
Dead Man's Line (2018) - 3+
Wild Rose (2018) - 3 Buckley!

[neiba]

Hey everyone, there's a new Stand-up Comedy Hall of Fame starting if anyone wants to join. For new members, Halls of Fame are one of the coolest part of MoFo and would be worth finding more about it!

Check it out here: https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2143461#post2143461

[chawhee]

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
https://themoviehunters.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/hot-tub-time-machine-group.jpg
5
Another comedy that I find irresistible, though the sequel was destined to be awful. This one had a lot of charm with good storytelling in my opinion, but I'll admit some of the jokes are a bit juvenile. One of the few movies that used Rob Corddry effectively.

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjA3OTM2NDM3NV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNjA3NjU3._V1_.jpg


One of my guilty pleasure that I ran across channel surfing over the weekend. The cinematic equivalent of a big pretty package with nothing inside. This male version of Waiting to Exhale features a very pretty cast stuck in a predictable and sometimes silly story that only sustains interest for fans of the stars. 2.5

[Wooley]

Fine.

/puts Wooley back on the list.

Yay!

[Wooley]

https://www.rollingstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/AMERICAN_UTOPIA_S_0296s-1.jpg?resize=940,705&w=940

David Byrne, American Utopia, 2019

This is a concert documentary of Byrne's show that played on Broadway, filmed by Spike Lee.

I thought this was pretty excellent. Byrne and his collection of singers/musicians/dancers are all bursting with talent. The dance choreography is complex and meticulous, but very accessible so that it always adds to what is happening on stage.

Some of Byrne's between-song dialogue might seem too on the nose for some people, but I appreciated that he made his points (at times bluntly) and then got back to the music. Like it or not, the dialogue firmly grounds this performance in time and place--urging people to register to vote, and a song commemorating Black victims of police violence (feel depressed as you realize how many more people died in the time between the performance of the song and watching it now--for example George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor are honored in images following the song).

In terms of the filming itself, I quite liked Lee's approach, which made use of bold camera moves and angles that gave the film a dynamic, intimate, and exhilarating feeling without the sense that you are missing important moments.

I would totally watch this again.

4



I got to see him do this show at The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and it smoked so hard a friend of mine who does not really know or like The Talking Heads (that he knows of) stood up and said, "Dude, this is actually pretty awesome, what the **** am I watching?"
Seriously, everyone here was pretty floored and he initially added another show to his tour to come and do it for us again because the response was so strong but he didn't end up pulling it off.

[WHITBISSELL!]

Kiss Me Deadly - What can you say about a movie that not only influenced the French New Wave movement but plot devices from such diverse films as Repo Man and Raiders of the Lost Ark? That's a lot of territory to cover especially from such an unexpected source as this 1955 noir starring Ralph Meeker as Mickey Spillane's archetype tough guy PI Mike Hammer. From it's offbeat opening credits, to the first scene featuring a very young Cloris Leachman running barefoot down a road dressed in nothing but a trench coat, the movie grabs your attention. This is the second Robert Aldrich film I've watched in the last few days and it also stars a no nonsense male lead. Meeker turns in an indelible performance as Hammer who apparently conducts business in a bull-in-a-china-shop sort of way. Aldrich does a great job of capturing the night time streets of Los Angeles. Many other films have attempted to depict the city as a dangerously shady and amoral place but Aldrich and company altogether succeed. There are plenty of femme fatales whose sole purpose seems to be to throw themselves at Hammer. There's also a decent MacGuffin and hired goons and blackjacks to the head. A veritable wish list of noir mainstays. 90/100

[SpelingError]

I had a classic gangster film binge, so I figured I'd share my thoughts on the films I watched for it.

Little Caesar (1931) - 6/10

My experience with this film was feeling as if I was watching a historical document rather than feeling it in my pores. Rico's arc, though unique when it came out, is pretty standard nowadays as the genre elements it features are pretty bare bones by today's standards and their impacts were drastically lessened over time. In addition, the most interesting character in the film, Joe Massara, was largely pushed to the sideline throughout the film and got much less screen time than Rico, a move which further distanced myself from the characters. If anything, this film is worth watching for Edward G. Robinson's performance. I normally don't pay attention to acting, but I really appreciated the charisma he showed in his role. Watching him was sometimes the only thing which kept me entertained. It's also worth watching as a historical document, as mentioned above. Several elements of this film - ambitious gangster trying to control all the gangs in the city - lead character becoming boss of his gang - hostile takeovers of rival gangs - people not associated with the gang being negatively effected by it - the law trying to close in on the gang - were pioneered by this film and its influence can be felt all throughout the genre, so I appreciate it for its impact. While this film laid a rough template for the genre, I think other films went on to perfect upon that template.

Scarface (1932) - 9/10

It would be fair to criticize this film for some of what I criticized Little Caesar for. Like LeRoy's film, both films are, essentially, smorgasbord's of the same genre elements that the genre would perfect later on (lead gangster trying to achieve control, becoming boss, hostile takeovers, negative effects on people not in the gang, the law force on their trail). What differentiates these two films for me though is Hawks' film is able to find its own unique voice to represent these elements with. The style of the film has a lot of similarities to German Expressionism as it bursts with unconventional tracking shots, evocative shadow effects, its usage of lighting in darkened areas, or the stylistic editing found in montages. This style also extends to the actors themselves as the later degradations of Tony's character arc are represented by his tattered clothing and disheveled hair. The violence was fairly shocking when this film was released, with an uncharacteristically large body count (again, for the time), a few scenes of several people being killed at once, and some dead bodies falling/being ejected out of cars. Though the violence is tame by today's standards, the arrangement of the people/objects involved in the violent scenes still packed quite a punch, like the aforementioned shadow effects, the bowling alley, a few scenes in the final act, etc. Overall, the style of this film was distinct and impressive enough that I didn't mind the similarities its plot had to Little Caesar one bit. I was sold by the film's look and feel.

The Public Enemy (1931) - 8/10

A common thing I'm noticing about gangster films from this time period is that they can be more interesting as historical document than as interesting and compelling stories. I loved the feel of Scarface and connected to it really well, but I had my issues with Little Caesar. I'd say this film falls somewhere in the middle of those two films. While watching it, I found myself less taken in by the gangster elements of it (though, I still enjoyed them) and more impressed by the way Matt and, especially, Tom's participation in Paddy Ryan's gang had on their lives. Tom not only experienced conflict with his various romantic partners, but also with his straight-laced brother Mike, who disapproved of both his lifestyle and how he lied to his mother about how he obtained money. His mother, misinformed about Tom's involvement in Ryan's gang, was confused and saddened by Mike's disapproval of Tom, further representing how their family was torn apart. I also appreciated the gang elements quite a bit such as the first act's depiction of Tom's and Matt's rise as gangsters, the visually impressive shootout in the rain, or the final minute (even though I saw it coming). I still appreciated the family drama bits the most and some of the gang-related scenes didn't matter much to me, but I still appreciated some of the imagery in those sequences. Overall, this film was pretty solid.

[matt72582]

Nixon in the Den - 6/10
"Our Nixon" is probably the best Nixon documentary, and I'm sure I've seen all of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV9JT4pZH_o

[matt72582]

Prezident - 7/10
Interesting because a few months ago I saw this documentary on the streets of Moscow from 1991, and noticed Putin in the background!

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5180266/?ref_=rt_li_tt

[matt72582]

The KGB Connections - 8/10
This was REALLY good.. Defectors, sexual blackmail (sound familiar?), etc.. I took a lot of notes, paused a lot to look everyone interviewed up, searching to find more interviews and downloading any books they read.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0949880/?ref_=rt_li_tt

[matt72582]

Pyongyang s'amuse - 6.5/10
More revealing than a lot of documentaries on North Korea, but was too saccharine for me. Not an indictment on the director, since he was very limited. Made in 2019, so you see the Trump thaw in relations.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9817964/?ref_=rt_li_tt

[Gideon58]

https://occ-0-1001-1009.1.nflxso.net/art/2442e/a86fb285440a0dad9f515cbb368608ad1822442e.jpg



2.5

[Fabulous]

Invisible Life (2019)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/34Syjx9Slmvp4Czj0mjs02TH9Zk.jpg

[Thunderbolt]

69257
The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)
A story of the grind/rise and fall emotions of showbiz. The whole cast is on top form with a razor sharp script to match. This has to be my most watched movie of all time and just doesn’t tire. It’s also nice to watch a modern film but, made in pre internet times so no Twitter, Facebook or mobile phone talk. A captivating great escape.

5

[ScarletLion]

Kiss Me Deadly - What can you say about a movie that not only influenced the French New Wave movement but plot devices from such diverse films as Repo Man and Raiders of the Lost Ark? That's a lot of territory to cover especially from such an unexpected source as this 1955 noir starring Ralph Meeker as Mickey Spillane's archetype tough guy PI Mike Hammer. From it's offbeat opening credits, to the first scene featuring a very young Cloris Leachman running barefoot down a road dressed in nothing but a trench coat, the movie grabs your attention. This is the second Robert Aldrich film I've watched in the last few days and it also stars a no nonsense male lead. Meeker turns in an indelible performance as Hammer who apparently conducts business in a bull-in-a-china-shop sort of way. Aldrich does a great job of capturing the night time streets of Los Angeles. Many other films have attempted to depict the city as a dangerously shady and amoral place but Aldrich and company altogether succeed. There are plenty of femme fatales whose sole purpose seems to be to throw themselves at Hammer. There's also a decent MacGuffin and hired goons and blackjacks to the head. A veritable wish list of noir mainstays. 90/100

Amazing film. Also has clear homage paid to it in Pulp Fiction and Lost Highway.

[ScarletLion]

'Enter the Void' (2009)

Dir. Gaspar Noe

https://i.imgur.com/GgymiZu.gif

Harrowing, shocking, nauseating but beautiful. An absolute technical masterpiece with superb editing and camerawork.

After the shocking event that happens after around 20 minutes, you wonder how Noe is going to fill the subsequent 2 hours. But he does, and manages to do it superbly. It's a spiritual journey into what death might look like melded with an acid trip. Even the sound design has an epic sense of dread. Some of the overhead shots of Tokyo are breathtaking, and you think they are simply model sets filmed in a tilt shift type effect, then the camera moves down into a real scene with moving talking characters. Feels other-worldy throughout.

The dream sequence I feel could have been omitted but all you can ask for is for artists to keep on pushing boundaries, and Noe seems to do it with ease. Incredible film.

4.5

[ScarletLion]

The Nest (2020)
Not exactly riveting but worth a watch as it's directed well. Carrie Coon is good as the mother in a family falling apart. 3


Mangrove (2020)
from Steve McQueen's BBC mini film series 'Small Axe'. It's clearly a made for TV affair but is an important watch and has some good performances3.5


Lovers Rock (2020)
2nd episode of 'Small Axe' - A slice of life house party in 1970s London. Almost like a real time musical. Very well done. 3.5

[Fabulous]

Kindergarten Cop (1990)

2

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/5ZHk9kVYm48D7CQ4kkKvMxOsgzw.jpg

[the samoan lawyer]

https://i0.wp.com/warped-perspective.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/koko-group.jpg?resize=640%2C360 (https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwarped-perspective.com%2Findex.php%2F2020%2F08%2F07%2Fkoko-di-koko-da-2019%2F&psig=AOvVaw1OYUfVaQdiz5nfdBPYOsst&ust=1606305221049000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCMDd1r2Pm-0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD)
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQQYNnbsInygIoUAtIAmhrBU9qjWkwq6RwrBg&usqp=CAU (https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Floudandclearreviews.com%2Fkoko-di-koko-da-review-2%2F&psig=AOvVaw10aLrsFjU3DmncPBTxnBor&ust=1606305326115000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCKjfs_CQm-0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD)
Koko-di Koko-da (2019)


Bizarre film based on a couple experiencing grief but in the style of a Lynchian Groundhog Day. Not really sure how else to explain this. Whatever it was, it didn't really do much for me.


rating_2

[Marco]

Rebecca (2020)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ae/Rebecca_poster.jpeg
This was an OK adaptation of a Daphne du Maurier novel. Directed well by Wheatley with fantastic scenic shooting (Dorset for Cornwall) but just didn't raise the required amount of tension for me. The 2 main actors are - Maxim, who is very stiffly played by Armie Hammer, (even by the standards of the time) and Mrs De Winters who is too winsomely played by Lily James to elicit any real sympathy or concern. Needed more punch.
2

[LChimp]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BM2RiYTM3NjAtNDUyOC00OWFhLWE3ZGEtNjkzNzI5YmE1M2E5XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMDM2NDM2MQ@@._V1_.jpg

Well.... this movie sucked!!

[Cobra]

Fanboys (2009):
Underrated film with some hilarious scenes throughout. Seth Rogen's 1st cameo is the best part. Very accurate at times to how Star Wars fans talk. Quotable film.
"Make it so!”
"Nobody calls Han Solo a b!"
9/10

[Thunderbolt]

Rebecca (2020)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ae/Rebecca_poster.jpeg
This was an OK adaptation of a Daphne du Maurier novel. Directed well by Wheatley with fantastic scenic shooting (Dorset for Cornwall) but just didn't raise the required amount of tension for me. The 2 main actors are - Maxim, who is very stiffly played by Armie Hammer, (even by the standards of the time) and Mrs De Winters who is too winsomely played by Lily James to elicit any real sympathy or concern. Needed more punch.
2

The Hitchcock version is superb.

[Marco]

The Hitchcock version is superb.

Bang....on the list Thunderbolt! Wasn't aware there was one, some parts of the story felt really familiar so (having not read the book) had a dig and there was a UK TV mini-series with Charles Dance as Mawin and Emilia Fox as Mrs de Winter....Diana Rigg as Mrs Danvers also that I must have seen.

[SpelingError]

'Enter the Void' (2009)

Dir. Gaspar Noe

https://i.imgur.com/GgymiZu.gif

Harrowing, shocking, nauseating but beautiful. An absolute technical masterpiece with superb editing and camerawork.

After the shocking event that happens after around 20 minutes, you wonder how Noe is going to fill the subsequent 2 hours. But he does, and manages to do it superbly. It's a spiritual journey into what death might look like melded with an acid trip. Even the sound design has an epic sense of dread. Some of the overhead shots of Tokyo are breathtaking, and you think they are simply model sets filmed in a tilt shift type effect, then the camera moves down into a real scene with moving talking characters. Feels other-worldy throughout.

The dream sequence I feel could have been omitted but all you can ask for is for artists to keep on pushing boundaries, and Noe seems to do it with ease. Incredible film.

4.5

I'm a huge fan of that film. Definitely my favorite of Noe's films. Also, in terms of violence, it's actually pretty toned down from Noe's other films.

[Torgo]

Prince of the City - 4

Butchie from The Wire said it best: "Conscience do cost." NYPD Detective Daniel Ciello (Treat Williams) learns this the hard way in Sidney Lumet's solid police corruption epic. Like the Strike Team in The Shield, Ciello's SIU takes a little evidence for themselves every now and then. Eventually, the voice inside Ciello's head becomes too loud to ignore, so he goes undercover to expose the rot in the system, a decision that makes him consider doing the unthinkable: betray his partners. Williams, in one of his first roles, is strong as Ciello. He gives the detective an everyman quality that puts you in his shoes and the way he expresses his assignment's escalating pressure got under my skin. I also like how he and Lumet let the audience rather than themselves decide if Ciello is a good person and if his corruption is borne from necessity or the thrill of the steal. The way the movie highlights the divide between the working-class NYPD and the more elite, status-seeking lawyers - exemplified by Bob Balaban’s performance as the tweedy Santimassino - who hire Ciello to go undercover is another nice touch. It makes you wonder how much better the American legal system would operate if each group was more willing and able to understand its counterpart. Not to mention, while this applies to most of Sidney Lumet’s work, it's a must-see for lovers of movies set in New York City, especially since it's one of the few to be filmed in all five boroughs. Regardless, this is not a classic like Lumet's most popular movie about police corruption, Serpico. One glaring flaw is that the source of Ciello's apprehension, betraying his partners, lacks emotional weight. You don't have to be a police commissioner to know that this is a cardinal sin amongst cops, but I would have liked to have seen the SIU together more beyond the opening sting operation scene and the few perfunctory moments of them cracking wise with each other. The editing also limits the emotional resonance overall because too many scenes end before it seems like they should and jarringly shift to much different locations. I described the movie as an epic for a reason - it is nearly three hours long - but since it's long as it needs to be to tell its story, I do not think this is a mark against it. Despite its drawbacks, this is still a very good and very underseen entry in Lumet's filmography. Even so, if you haven't seen Serpico yet, you should watch it first.

[matt72582]

Cold War Roadshow - 8/10
Great documentary on Nikita S. Kruschev (not to confuse with all the others) 8-day trip to the US going across the country to some ups and downs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbQ7uWo3b7M

[matt72582]

Officers - 4/10
Jingoistic agitprop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE6PY4H8UBU

[matt72582]

Lady in a Cage - 5/10
I love these kinds of movies, but they blew a great chance. Very sexual. Ann Sothern looked very good, as did Olivia, so much focus on the cleavage of women a little older than me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy9XGPgrNEo&list=PLetd8-wc1H-a25-jQdClzkIy1rYcdiqkf

[matt72582]

Magic Trip: Ken Kesey's Search for a Kool Place - 8/10

Are you experienced?
I loved the archival footage around the country in 1964, it's a lot more accurate than the (coincidental) "1964" PBS documentary I saw earlier today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q8qlsx8tdA

[WHITBISSELL!]

Green Room - Finally watched this after having had it in my Netflix queue for quite awhile. Should have made time to watch it sooner because it's as perfect an indie thriller as you could hope for. Plus it's directed by Jeremy Saulnier who also did one of my all time favorites Blue Ruin. A cash strapped punk band takes a last minute gig at a remote club deep in the Oregon woods that turns out to be a neo-nazi stronghold. They inadvertently stumble across a crime and end up having to barricade themselves backstage. It sounds like an overly simplistic premise but the thrills and chills are bolstered by a fiercely intelligent script and winning performances by the young cast. Anton Yelchin and Alia Shawkat play members of the hapless band and Patrick Stewart delivers an unexpected gut punch as the sociopathic leader of the remorseless and homicidal crew. 95/100

[Fabulous]

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/bAemQZumJz7ky102nPcXEdzrrRD.jpg

[gomorra82]

Rebecca (1940) Hitchcock
8

Storytelling (2001) Todd Solondz
Interesting cast: Paul Giamatti, Selma Blair, John Goodman, Leo Fitzpatrick.
The most amusing element in this film is Paul Giamatti trying to make a documentary, about teens of today. And his subject for the documentary, the laid back slacker Scooby.
7,5
69269



Delicatessen (1991) Jean-Pierre Jeunet/Marc Caro
Post apocalyptic setting in an apartment building, where the landlord occationally kills and chop up his employees for food. The humor and the scenery are pretty dark.
7,5

The Young Girls of Rochefort(1967) Jaques Demy
Musical.

The main reason I saw this was because of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Demy). Where Umbrellas had a storyline during wartime and take us into the lives of the workingclass, with their struggles, The Young Girls of Rochefort felt very shallow compared. It is about two sisters/dancers ( Catherine Deneuve, Francoice Dorleac) looking for love. And there are some different men swarming for them.

6,5

[Takoma11]

Bang....on the list Thunderbolt! Wasn't aware there was one, some parts of the story felt really familiar so (having not read the book) had a dig and there was a UK TV mini-series with Charles Dance as Mawin and Emilia Fox as Mrs de Winter....Diana Rigg as Mrs Danvers also that I must have seen.

The Hitchcock film is a must.

My favorite response when the news of the remake came out was someone who tweeted, "Oh, Rebecca remake: you'll never be good enough."

Green Room - Finally watched this after having had it in my Netflix queue for quite awhile. Should have made time to watch it sooner because it's as perfect an indie thriller as you could hope for. Plus it's directed by Jeremy Saulnier who also did one of my all time favorites Blue Ruin.

I love Saulnier, but I've been holding off on this one because I'm still in the sad zone with Yelchin's death.

[mark f]

My Summer as a Goth (Tara Johnson-Medinger, 2018) 2+ 5/10
Flay (Eric Pham, 2019) 1.5+ 4.5/10
TINY: The Life of Erin Blackwell (Martin Bell, 2016) 3- 6.5/10
If Anything Happens I Love You (Will McCormack & Michael Govier, 2020) 3.5 7/10
https://www.hitc.com/static/uploads/2020/11/Screenshot-2020-11-20-at-5.19.49-PM.png
Poetic, heartbreaking new Netflix animated short.
The Nights Before Christmas (Paul Tanter, 2019) 2- 5/10
Alien Xmas (Stephen Chiodo, 2020) 2.5+ 6/10
The Carpenter (David Wellington, 1988) 2 5/10
Belushi (R.J. Cutler, 2020) 3.5 7/10
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/11/22/arts/22comedy-belushi4/22comedy-belushi4-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale
Rise and fall of John Belushi. Closing song by a young Belushi is extremely affecting.
The Clones (Lamar Card & Paul Hunt, 1975) 2 5/10
Dreamland (Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, 2019) 2.5 6/10
Lowdown Dirty Criminals (Paul Murphy, 2020) 2 5/10
Team Marco (Julio Vincent Gambuto, 2019) 2.5+ 6/10
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZDYxMjA4NzEtMDBkZS00OWE4LWFlMjAtZmNhOGJmNWNmOTk0XkEyXkFqcGdeQVRoaXJkUGFydHlJbmdlc3Rpb25Xb3JrZmxv dw@@._V1_UX477_CR0,0,477,268_AL_.jpg
12-year-old Marco (Owen Vaccaro) learns about Old School life from his nonno (Anthony Patellis).
Influenza (Bong Joon Ho, 2004) 2.5 6/10
Loco (Justin Galindo, 2020) 2+ 5/10
EXT. Night (Ahmad Abdalla, 2018) 2.5 6/10
The Nest (Sean Durkin, 2020) 3- 6.5/10
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMDZkMGUzMTYtMWNjYi00MmQ4LWIwNjYtYzczY2UyMGM1OTBiXkEyXkFqcGdeQWFybm8@._V1_CR0,102,4632,2605_AL_UX 477_CR0,0,477,268_AL_.jpg
Film about delusional parents (Carrie Coon & Jude Law) improves as it progresses.
Boss Level (Joe Carnahan, 2020) 2.5 6/10
Iron Mask (Oleg Stepchenko, 2019) 2 5/10
Let Him Go (Thomas Bezucha, 2020) 2.5 5.5/10
Hillbilly Elegy (Ron Howard, 2020) 2.5 6/10
https://img.particlenews.com/img/id/045VZ6_0XJCY6Ki00?type=thumbnail_512x288
Yale law student J.D Vance remembers his grandma Glenn Close and mom Amy Adams.

[Wooley]

Lady in a Cage - 5/10
I love these kinds of movies, but they blew a great chance. Very sexual. Ann Sothern looked very good, as did Olivia, so much focus on the cleavage of women a little older than me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy9XGPgrNEo&list=PLetd8-wc1H-a25-jQdClzkIy1rYcdiqkf

You had me at Ann Southern.
I've seen most of the Maisie movies.

[Wooley]

The Young Girls of Rochefort(1967) Jaques Demy
Musical.

The main reason I saw this was because of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Demy). Where Umbrellas had a storyline during wartime and take us into the lives of the workingclass, with their struggles, The Young Girls of Rochefort felt very shallow compared. It is about two sisters/dancers ( Catherine Deneuve, Francoice Dorleac) looking for love. And there are some different men swarming for them.

6,5
Probably my favorite "foreign" musical and a movie I really, really like. Actually prefer it to The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg.

[WHITBISSELL!]

I love Saulnier, but I've been holding off on this one because I'm still in the sad zone with Yelchin's death.
I think you're right to hold off. He's so good in this and was such an emotive presence in his films that a large part of anyone's viewing will be melancholic.

[SpelingError]

Probably my favorite "foreign" musical and a movie I really, really like. Actually prefer it to The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg.

We discussed this back at Corrie, but agreed. The Young Girls of Rochefort is in the running for my 10 favorite first time watches of this year. None of the music in it is as good as I Will Wait For You in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, but rewatches have gotten me to connect more with the oblique missed opportunity themes in TYGoR, while my appreciation of TUoC has stayed pretty much the same since my first viewing. And, I'm not criticizing [I[TUoC[/I] or anything. I think it does a wonderful job at most of what it did. I just think TYGoR is able to create a wider emotional spectrum, which makes it the better film, in my opinion.

[gomorra82]

Probably my favorite "foreign" musical and a movie I really, really like. Actually prefer it to The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg.

Maby a little unfair that i saw The Umbrellas of Cherbourg in cinema for the first viewing. And maby i expected The Girls of Rocheford to be a bit different.
I really enjoyed the way they sang all the dialog in Cherbourg. And there where some scenes that really made an impression, like the last scene at the gas station.
Maby you guys know if any other film by Demy is worth watching? Other films with same use of color maby.

[Takoma11]

I think you're right to hold off. He's so good in this and was such an emotive presence in his films that a large part of anyone's viewing will be melancholic.

I'm not entirely sure what it was about his death that shook me so much. I've had actors around my age die before. If you'd asked me to name favorite actors, he wasn't super on my radar. Maybe it's just that he seemed like a nice person and his death was so random and "unfair".

But last year or so I started rewatching Odd Thomas and I couldn't get past the first 30 or so minutes. I dunno. Maybe the more I put off watching him, the more I'm building it up in my mind. But when I see the cover for Green Room (which is on my watchlist) even that makes me kind of sad.

But here's a less sad/morbid thought: have you ever looked at a picture of Saulnier? Doesn't he look almost eerily . . . normal? Like, for a person who made Blue Ruin and Murder Party. And he sort of looks like your friend's boyfriend who works in Accounting and has strong opinions about local breweries?

[gomorra82]

White Sun of the Desert (1970) Vladimir Motyl.
The main character is easy to like, Red Army Soldier Fyodor Sukhov. The desert scenery, combined with the battle scenes between Red Army/ Rebellions gives associations to american western movies.
8/10.69277

White Dog (1982). Samuel Fuller.
7,5

[WHITBISSELL!]

I'm not entirely sure what it was about his death that shook me so much. I've had actors around my age die before. If you'd asked me to name favorite actors, he wasn't super on my radar. Maybe it's just that he seemed like a nice person and his death was so random and "unfair".

But last year or so I started rewatching Odd Thomas and I couldn't get past the first 30 or so minutes. I dunno. Maybe the more I put off watching him, the more I'm building it up in my mind. But when I see the cover for Green Room (which is on my watchlist) even that makes me kind of sad.

But here's a less sad/morbid thought: have you ever looked at a picture of Saulnier? Doesn't he look almost eerily . . . normal? Like, for a person who made Blue Ruin and Murder Party. And he sort of looks like your friend's boyfriend who works in Accounting and has strong opinions about local breweries?I did notice exactly that when I was checking out his info again on IMDb. I had first done it after I watched Blue Ruin a few years back. I liked that one so much that I figure it belongs on my Top 10 list. If I ever get around to making one that is :blush: I also have Hold the Dark in my Netflix queue and will track down Murder Party as well. But you're definitely right about him being surprisingly clean cut.

[ScarletLion]

'Run' (2020)

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0Dhh7q9Us5c/hqdefault.jpg

Absolutely terrible. Some trashy lazy 3rd rate knock off of a Stephen King novel. Shame as I really like Sarah Paulson.

0.5

[xSookieStackhouse]

'Run' (2020)

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0Dhh7q9Us5c/hqdefault.jpg

Absolutely terrible. Some trashy lazy 3rd rate knock off of a Stephen King novel. Shame as I really like Sarah Paulson.

0.5

loved her on american horror story

[Captain Terror]

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f9/da/3c/f9da3c1ab7ef43940072834b990f0415.jpghttps://i.pinimg.com/736x/4a/ee/79/4aee795403eaf1125b0efcc07bd5ee25--film-noir-horror-movies.jpg

Watched a couple of Noirs from Byron Haskin (War of the Worlds).
Both are definitely second-tier at best but if you don't mind wading into the sleazier pulpy end of the noir pool I can recommend them both. I Walk Alone is especially fun as we watch Burt Lancaster and baby Kirk Douglas going toe to toe. I have very little experience with Lancaster and he impressed me here. I should look for his more famous work I guess.

But yeah, all the elements are here. The cinematography, gun play, double crosses, two-faced dames, etc. Genre fans should be pleased with both.

4 for both films

[Takoma11]

I did notice exactly that when I was checking out his info again on IMDb. I had first done it after I watched Blue Ruin a few years back. I liked that one so much that I figure it belongs on my Top 10 list. If I ever get around to making one that is :blush: I also have Hold the Dark in my Netflix queue and will track down Murder Party as well. But you're definitely right about him being surprisingly clean cut.

I probably need to revisit Hold the Dark, but I was kind of underwhelmed. Maybe a case of expectations being too high.

Of the three I've seen from him, I'd put Blue Ruin high at the top, then a step down and you'd find Murder Party and Hold the Dark about tied (they are VERY different films with VERY different tones). I sometimes accidentally drag I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore into that group because it was directed by Macon Blair who starred in Blue Ruin and it has some of the vibe of that film.

'Run' (2020)

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0Dhh7q9Us5c/hqdefault.jpg

Absolutely terrible. Some trashy lazy 3rd rate knock off of a Stephen King novel. Shame as I really like Sarah Paulson.

0.5

Trashy? Absolutely. But I still enjoyed it. I thought it had some moments of genuinely enjoyable suspense (like the scene with the mailman). I thought the acting was fine. The writing was weak at points, but in such an outlandish film I didn't mind it too much.

Not the kind of film I'd watch at 8pm, but a perfect movie for a Saturday night when I'd stayed up too late and just needed the kind of movie where a girl realizes that her mother has been dosing her with dog muscle relaxants.

[Thief]

I'm not entirely sure what it was about his death that shook me so much. I've had actors around my age die before. If you'd asked me to name favorite actors, he wasn't super on my radar. Maybe it's just that he seemed like a nice person and his death was so random and "unfair".

But last year or so I started rewatching Odd Thomas and I couldn't get past the first 30 or so minutes. I dunno. Maybe the more I put off watching him, the more I'm building it up in my mind. But when I see the cover for Green Room (which is on my watchlist) even that makes me kind of sad.

But here's a less sad/morbid thought: have you ever looked at a picture of Saulnier? Doesn't he look almost eerily . . . normal? Like, for a person who made Blue Ruin and Murder Party. And he sort of looks like your friend's boyfriend who works in Accounting and has strong opinions about local breweries?

I loved Green Room, maybe even a bit more than Blue Ruin, but if his death is still hitting you that hard, maybe you're right to put it off for a while.

As for Saulnier, I still haven't seen Murder Party or Hold the Dark, but should probably prioritize them.

[Thief]

IN A LONELY PLACE (1950)
A film noir

https://trailersfromhell.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/5094topLone.jpg

The film follows Dix Steele (Humphrey Bogart), a cynical, down-on-his-luck screenwriter looking for a hit. When a young girl is murdered after visiting his home, he becomes the primary suspect to the police and to his neighbor and romantic interest, Laurel (Gloria Grahame). But is he really guilty? Did he do it? *Could* he do it?

I had heard mostly good things about this one, and for the most part, it didn't disappoint. The film has a solid story and script, full of great dialogue, the plot is tense and interesting in the way that it keeps you guessing, and all of the members of the cast are at the top of their game, particularly Bogey. Even though the film gives him enough quippy and sardonic lines, I was more impressed by the moments where he crosses the line into more darker, psychological territory. Grahame was just as good as she beautifully portrays the crumbling of a confident, stoic woman.

In many ways, this reminded me a bit of Hitchcock's Suspicion, but ultimately better and more confident in its own story. If you're a noir or classic film fan, definitely a must see.

Grade: 4

[Takoma11]

As for Saulnier, I still haven't seen Murder Party or Hold the Dark, but should probably prioritize them.

They both have their own strengths (and I get the impression that many people enjoyed Murder Party a fair bit more than I did), though neither of them quite hits the level of Blue Ruin.

I'd say they are both still well worth seeing.

[Thief]

A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2009)
A film from the 2000s

https://sofiaglobe.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Ebenezer-Scrooge-604x272.jpg

This one was an unexpected watch. My wife had put it for the kids, shortly after I got home from work, so I decided to sit with them. There's little changes to the well-known story, but it follows Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey), as he is visited by three spirits that will teach him the value of Christmas.

Considering that most people know the story and there are pretty much no surprises, I suppose that director Robert Zemeckis chose the stop-motion treatment to use the visuals to carry the film. In that aspect, the film was impressive, even on TV. The quality and detail of the animation is superb, and the way he plays with lights and shadows, I found to be the main highlight.

I thought Carrey was pretty effective, perhaps more restrained than I was expecting. There are a few moments where I think Zemeckis lets the film get away from his hands, particularly in the last act, perhaps in his effort to showcase the visuals. Overall, I don't think the film brings much new to the table, but if you like animated films and appreciate great visuals, maybe you'll appreciate this one.

Grade: 2.5

[Marco]

In the Heart of the Sea (2015)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8b/In_the_Heart_of_the_Sea_poster.jpg/220px-In_the_Heart_of_the_Sea_poster.jpg
The incredible story of the Whaling ship Essex that was attacked by a Whale and the crew forced to take to 3 smaller whaling boats for survival. The bad planning and greed of the captain and the ships owners soon see them in dire straits though.
Excellent cast but a simple retelling of the amazing story would have been fine without the artistic licence shown here. There is also too much CGI for my liking which is as subtle as a sledgehammer here. Final quibble...Hemsworths accent...on a par with Crowes in Robin Hood for all-over-the-place-ness. Could have been so much better.
2.5

[Thief]

FROST/NIXON (2008)
A film about politics

https://resizing.flixster.com/ih5pUNmZnC3QBtxDNj_YitxWUvQ=/740x380/v1.bjs2OTUyNjU7ajsxODYzODsxMjAwOzE1MDA7OTg4

This film follows the before, during, and after of the famous interviews between British journalist David Frost and former US President Richard Nixon, held in 1977. The interviews are framed in the premise that both Frost (Michael Sheen) and Nixon (Frank Langella) had something to prove to their peers, the country, and the world. From Frost's apparent desire to prove that he's more than an entertainer, and Nixon's desire to bring up his legacy and prove that he's innocent.

For the most part, the film manages to be brisk and engaging, with characters that are easy to connect with. Sheen does a great job in portraying Frost's insecurities and feelings of a "fish out of the water", while Langella walks a fine line between making Nixon into a pensive, complex figure and a bit of an a$$hole. The supporting cast is rounded out by solid, if not underused performances from Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt, Matthew MacFayden, Rebecca Hall, and Kevin Bacon.

I really appreciated the way director Ron Howard staged everything as if it was a boxing match, with each interview representing a "round", even with each "fighter" being coached by their crew in their "corner", in between. However, Howard does take some liberties with some lines of dialogue, small but not subtle, to turn Nixon into more of an antagonist. Be it to make him seem like he's racist, a chauvinist, or a money-grubbing crook. Despite that, taken at face value, it is like I said, very engaging and entertaining.

Grade: 3.5

[Thunderbolt]

69295
The Naked City (1948)
Blink and you might lose the plot. Lots of concentration is needed to follow the many characters in this story. A great film from a great period. The movie is entirely shot on the streets or in the buildings of New York and has a cracking finale. A must see noir/crime picture.

4.5

[TheReelRater]

Hillbilly Elegy (2020)

This movie was a huge let down. Although it was a true story, it felt like a cookie cutter rise from poverty story. In its effort to show the struggle of low-income living, it overplayed the drama of the story into almost being a parody of the topics it was trying to cover.

Clearly this was a drive for awards, but Amy Adams does not deserve recognition for this. She played an unloveable character even though the story demanded that you at least pity her.

Glen Close, on the other hand, puts on a hell of a performance and it’s worth it to at least watch her in this one. She plays a character with a lot of depth, showing love for her family with discipline and hard truths.

This movie did not give me much to care about, story wise, but there are a couple performances that make it at least worth watching.

5/10

[Takoma11]

https://quadcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/earrings-of-madame-de-1400x992.jpg

Earrings of Madame de . . ., 1953

Well this was a sneaky little film.

At first I admit that I was having trouble getting into it. Though the whole thing is beautifully shot, the main idea in the first act seems to be about a frivolous upper class woman who is going to be brought down to earth when the lies she tells (to her husband and others) begin to catch up with her. Layer this in with some blatant hypocrisy (her husband is unabashedly having an affair), and I was ready for something that looked amazing but didn't really do much for me story-wise.

Then the story shifts gears in the most wonderful way. Our main character falls in love, and that simple, unexpected twist opens her (and the audience) up to a series of highs and lows of emotion that feel like rare and delicate things in the overly-mannered ecosystem in which she lives.

The film's even-handed treatment of its male and female characters is incredibly refreshing, and it reminded me of the dynamics in La Ronde, only for me to discover later that it was made by the same director. In The Earrings of Madame de . . ., the main character is the only one who ultimately bows down to love, while all the other characters seem to be driven only by money, "honor", or both.

Danielle Darrieux is wonderful as the lead character, a woman who we slowly watch discover love and heartbreak almost simultaneously. Charles Boyer is equally good as her patronizing husband, who assumes that any of her ailments (physical or emotional) are things she has invented. Vittorio de Sica is effortlessly charming as her lover, a man who seems decent, but who is also frustratingly subservient to social norms.

Even the ending, which is joyfully and maddeningly ambiguous, was perfect for the story.

4.5

[Takoma11]

The Naked City (1948)
Blink and you might lose the plot. Lots of concentration is needed to follow the many characters in this story. A great film from a great period. The movie is entirely shot on the streets or in the buildings of New York and has a cracking finale. A must see noir/crime picture.

4.5

Yeah, my main memory of this film is being super confused. I think I watched it years ago when I was home sick? Anyway, around 40 minutes in I think I just gave up and kept waiting for characters to summarize it for me.

[ThatDarnMKS]

I probably need to revisit Hold the Dark, but I was kind of underwhelmed. Maybe a case of expectations being too high.

Of the three I've seen from him, I'd put Blue Ruin high at the top, then a step down and you'd find Murder Party and Hold the Dark about tied (they are VERY different films with VERY different tones). I sometimes accidentally drag I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore into that group because it was directed by Macon Blair who starred in Blue Ruin and it has some of the vibe of that film.

Blair was also in Murder Party and Green Room and wrote Hold the Dark. He’s so linked to Saulnier’s filmography that it’s hard to extricate him. IDFAHITWA is definitely him applying what they learned together in his own film. It’s a fair mix up to make.

[Takoma11]

Blair was also in Murder Party and Green Room and wrote Hold the Dark. He’s so linked to Saulnier’s filmography that it’s hard to extricate him. IDFAHITWA is definitely him applying what they learned together in his own film. It’s a fair mix up to make.

Oh, yeah. They definitely have a lot of overlap. It's just funny to me that I repeatedly roll I Don't Feel at Home . . . into Saulnier's filmography despite having realized and corrected the error many times in my own posting.

[Thunderbolt]

Yeah, my main memory of this film is being super confused. I think I watched it years ago when I was home sick? Anyway, around 40 minutes in I think I just gave up and kept waiting for characters to summarize it for me.


A second watch to understand who's who may be needed, but a great film. I think quite a few noir films are similar. Plots move so fast it's sometimes hard to keep track.

[TheUsualSuspect]

I probably need to revisit Hold the Dark, but I was kind of underwhelmed. Maybe a case of expectations being too high.

Of the three I've seen from him, I'd put Blue Ruin high at the top, then a step down and you'd find Murder Party and Hold the Dark about tied (they are VERY different films with VERY different tones). I sometimes accidentally drag I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore into that group because it was directed by Macon Blair who starred in Blue Ruin and it has some of the vibe of that film.



Trashy? Absolutely. But I still enjoyed it. I thought it had some moments of genuinely enjoyable suspense (like the scene with the mailman). I thought the acting was fine. The writing was weak at points, but in such an outlandish film I didn't mind it too much.

Not the kind of film I'd watch at 8pm, but a perfect movie for a Saturday night when I'd stayed up too late and just needed the kind of movie where a girl realizes that her mother has been dosing her with dog muscle relaxants.

RE: Run, it has a pretty good Tomato score. I'll check it out.

[ThatDarnMKS]

Oh, yeah. They definitely have a lot of overlap. It's just funny to me that I repeatedly roll I Don't Feel at Home . . . into Saulnier's filmography despite having realized and corrected the error many times in my own posting.
They just made it too easy.

Also, I am all for everyone rewatching or watching Hold the Dark until they realize it’s brilliant.

[Takoma11]

A second watch to understand who's who may be needed, but a great film. I think quite a few noir films are similar. Plots move so fast it's sometimes hard to keep track.

I liked it, despite only grasping like 70% of the plot.

RE: Run, it has a pretty good Tomato score. I'll check it out.

It is junk food, but fun junk food. It's also really short and moves at a very quick pace. For me it pretty much flew by.

They just made it too easy.

Also, I am all for everyone rewatching or watching Hold the Dark until they realize it’s brilliant.

I will concede that I am very drawn to mysteries, and so when presented with a film like Hold the Dark, my instinct is to focus on the literal aspect of the plot. And that is . . . not what Hold the Dark seemed to be after.

[ThatDarnMKS]

I liked it, despite only grasping like 70% of the plot.



It is junk food, but fun junk food. It's also really short and moves at a very quick pace. For me it pretty much flew by.



I will concede that I am very drawn to mysteries, and so when presented with a film like Hold the Dark, my instinct is to focus on the literal aspect of the plot. And that is . . . not what Hold the Dark seemed to be after.
Indeed. HTD is beholden to the Coen Brothers MO of using a crime story to explore the epistemological nightmare of human existence. No Country and A Serious Man being the most obvious in its DNA, the film is more about observing and accepting the chaos of certain people and events than the understanding of them that a mystery usually tantalizes as its payoff.

And I’m not just naval gazing. I made a similar tweet and it was liked by Saulnier himself. VALIDATION!

[Takoma11]

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59e512ddf43b55c29c71b996/1508700915676-2VGR158YKVKP0QFQQM2H/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kJniHBRZhDcrWa107SpDgd4UqsxRUqqbr1mOJYKfIPR7LoDQ9mXPOjoJoqy81S2I8N_N4V1vUb5AoIII bLZhVYxCRW4BPu10St3TBAUQYVKc_X0o0JtX_2hI-S6P-Isy8qFItFT0JLkZVh7qn0_B7_Yb4VsgDjZXwo0Du4nVm43h/The-Bridge-on-the-River-Kwai.jpg?format=1000w

The Bridge on the River Kwai, 1957

This nearly three-hour long epic follows a group of WW2 prisoners of war who are forced to help construct a bridge while being held in a Japanese POW camp. For one of the officers in the camp (played by Alec Guiness), building the bridge becomes a point of pride and leads to a tragic clash with an Allied plan to destroy the bridge.

This film was great, really well acted, and the final 20 minutes made me incredibly anxious!

Guinness does a wonderful job portraying Colonel Nicholson, a man for whom military duty overlaps dangerously with personal ego. The film centers the humanity of the story through the use of several observer type characters: a doctor (James Donald) who cares for the sick and injured at the POW camp and an unnamed group of women who accompany the Allied soldiers on their mission. The heart of the film is a man named Shears, a pessimistic American soldier whose cynicism both helps and hinders him.

The film contains several breathtaking sequences, including a night-time parachute landing and a final sweeping shot that speaks volumes.

4.5

[Takoma11]

the film is more about observing and accepting the chaos of certain people and events than the understanding of them that a mystery usually tantalizes as its payoff.

Exactly. And this is something I realized around halfway through the film. But by that time, it was a little late to mentally shift gears.

The film it makes me think of the most is actually Antichrist--that sense of the unknowable reasons that people do harm, and about the confusing bonds that can exist between people during or after violence and trauma.

[Stirchley]

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59e512ddf43b55c29c71b996/1508700915676-2VGR158YKVKP0QFQQM2H/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kJniHBRZhDcrWa107SpDgd4UqsxRUqqbr1mOJYKfIPR7LoDQ9mXPOjoJoqy81S2I8N_N4V1vUb5AoIII bLZhVYxCRW4BPu10St3TBAUQYVKc_X0o0JtX_2hI-S6P-Isy8qFItFT0JLkZVh7qn0_B7_Yb4VsgDjZXwo0Du4nVm43h/The-Bridge-on-the-River-Kwai.jpg?format=1000w

The Bridge on the River Kwai, 1957


Such a good movie. Alec Guinness was so amazing in this.

[ThatDarnMKS]

Exactly. And this is something I realized around halfway through the film. But by that time, it was a little late to mentally shift gears.

The film it makes me think of the most is actually Antichrist--that sense of the unknowable reasons that people do harm, and about the confusing bonds that can exist between people during or after violence and trauma.
I can definitely see the connection there thematically. The two are so stylistically far apart that it hadn’t crossed my mind but I like the comparison. In particular with...

mythology creating a self fulfilling prophecy for the morbid behavior of the characters. They’re groomed to behave destructively, unknown to those around them, so their behavior seems beyond comprehension

Though Trier uses this element for a more pointed critique of misogyny and Saulnier uses it for a more broad assessment of violence.

I suppose I’ll have to rewatch both.

Dunno why my spoiler format isn’t working. I’ll just keep that vague as well and hope people avoid it.

[Takoma11]

Such a good movie. Alec Guinness was so amazing in this.

It's an amazing portrayal of the power and danger of ego.

I can definitely see the connection there thematically. The two are so stylistically far apart that it hadn’t crossed my mind but I like the comparison. In particular with...

mythology acting as a self fulfilling prophecy for the morbid behavior of the characters. They’re groomed to behave destructively, unknown to those around them, so their behavior seems beyond comprehension

Though Trier uses this element for a more pointed critique of misogyny and Saulnier uses it for a more broad assessment of violence.

I suppose I’ll have to rewatch both.

I mean, on an even more literal level, I was thinking of mothers harming their own children, the imagery of animals consuming/harming their own young, the idea of harmful "forces"/evil that may be influencing character choices, etc.

[ThatDarnMKS]

It's an amazing portrayal of the power and danger of ego.



I mean, on an even more literal level, I was thinking of mothers harming their own children, the imagery of animals consuming/harming their own young, the idea of harmful "forces"/evil that may be influencing character choices, etc.

It’s certainly operating with similar content and themes. It reminds me of the much more overt connection between Sunset Blvd and Mulholland Dr.

Parallels in plot and theme but the style and structure is so different, it can be hard to see. But once seen... Very intriguing.

I think both Antichrist and Hold The Dark deserve better reputations, with the former getting lost in the discussion of “elevated horror” and the latter getting lost almost entirely (damn you, Netflix! I doubt a Criterion release is on the way for this one...).

[SpelingError]

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59e512ddf43b55c29c71b996/1508700915676-2VGR158YKVKP0QFQQM2H/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kJniHBRZhDcrWa107SpDgd4UqsxRUqqbr1mOJYKfIPR7LoDQ9mXPOjoJoqy81S2I8N_N4V1vUb5AoIII bLZhVYxCRW4BPu10St3TBAUQYVKc_X0o0JtX_2hI-S6P-Isy8qFItFT0JLkZVh7qn0_B7_Yb4VsgDjZXwo0Du4nVm43h/The-Bridge-on-the-River-Kwai.jpg?format=1000w

The Bridge on the River Kwai, 1957

This nearly three-hour long epic follows a group of WW2 prisoners of war who are forced to help construct a bridge while being held in a Japanese POW camp. For one of the officers in the camp (played by Alec Guiness), building the bridge becomes a point of pride and leads to a tragic clash with an Allied plan to destroy the bridge.

This film was great, really well acted, and the final 20 minutes made me incredibly anxious!

Guinness does a wonderful job portraying Colonel Nicholson, a man for whom military duty overlaps dangerously with personal ego. The film centers the humanity of the story through the use of several observer type characters: a doctor (James Donald) who cares for the sick and injured at the POW camp and an unnamed group of women who accompany the Allied soldiers on their mission. The heart of the film is a man named Shears, a pessimistic American soldier whose cynicism both helps and hinders him.

The film contains several breathtaking sequences, including a night-time parachute landing and a final sweeping shot that speaks volumes.

4.5

That's one of my all-time favorites. Glad you also loved it. I'm a huge fan of Lean, overall.

[Stirchley]

That's one of my all-time favorites. Glad you also loved it. I'm a huge fan of Lean, overall.

I like Lean too though I would have to think carefully which movies of his I have seen.