View Full Version : Rate The Last Movie You Saw
SpelingError
11-25-20, 04:45 PM
I like Lean too though I would have to think carefully which movies of his I have seen.
In addition to this one, I've seen Lawrence of Arabia, Brief Encounter, and Great Expectations. I consider all of these films to be great and among my favorite films of their respective decades.
Takoma11
11-25-20, 04:47 PM
That's one of my all-time favorites. Glad you also loved it. I'm a huge fan of Lean, overall.
Same. He has a talent for the epic and a talent for the intimate. I think that Lawrence of Arabia is the best example of him combining the two, but Bridge on the River Kwai certainly had its moments.
SpelingError
11-25-20, 04:50 PM
Same. He has a talent for the epic and a talent for the intimate. I think that Lawrence of Arabia is the best example of him combining the two, but Bridge on the River Kwai certainly had its moments.
In terms of his intimate films, I recommend Great Expectations. It's not quite as strong as Brief Encounter, but it comes pretty close, in my opinion.
ThatDarnMKS
11-25-20, 05:28 PM
A COLT IS MY PASSPORT- dope out of dope. Heck of a climax.
Takoma11
11-25-20, 06:01 PM
Dunno why my spoiler format isn’t working. I’ll just keep that vague as well and hope people avoid it.
You need to put an "s" at the end. Right now your front tag says "Spoilers" but your end tag says /spoiler. I fixed it when I quoted you, which is why it's working in my post.
In terms of his intimate films, I recommend Great Expectations. It's not quite as strong as Brief Encounter, but it comes pretty close, in my opinion.
I've seen it and quite liked it!
ThatDarnMKS
11-25-20, 06:06 PM
You need to put an "s" at the end. Right now your front tag says "Spoilers" but your end tag says /spoiler. I fixed it when I quoted you, which is why it's working in my post.
I've seen it and quite liked it!
Thanks! One of those brain autocorrects that makes self editing so difficult.
Have you seen his Oliver Twist? It's as good as it is (unintentionally?) anti-Semitic... Very!
ThatDarnMKS
11-25-20, 06:11 PM
Fun fact: David O. Selznick assaulted David Lean at a party due to how Anti-Semetic Guinness' portrayal of Fagin is in Oliver Twist.
Takoma11
11-25-20, 06:24 PM
https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/blog.umd.edu/dist/0/134/files/2014/11/the-last-king-of-scotland-24f2pff.jpg
The Last King of Scotland, 2006
This film documents the rise of dictator Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker) as seen through the eyes of a (fictional) Scottish physician named Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy).
The strength of the film is undoubtedly Whitaker's commanding performance as Amin. It is a powerful portrayal of someone who is equal parts charisma and danger, so that you understand his popularity and his capacity for atrocity all in one go.
McAvoy is good in his role, someone who is swept up in Amin's charm and only realizes too late the true nature of the man. Garrigan repeatedly comes across as a self-serving weasel (running a man over with his car to help Amin escape an attack, tattling on another member of Amin's cabinet, etc), but at the same time it's very, very easy to imagine someone acting in the same way. Garrigan has no real allies, and so his need to keep Amin placated generates strong dramatic tension.
A fundamental problem that I had with the film was its need to center on a non-Ugandan, white outsider. McAvoy is good in his part, but there are many compelling secondary characters who are Ugandan (another doctor who works in the hospital, one of Amin's wives who has been shunned because she bore an epileptic child) who could easily have acted as an audience surrogate. I get that using a white protagonist makes the film more accessible to a Western/white audience, but many times I felt that the movie was overly centered on his character.
A good example of this is in the portrayal of violence in the film. Multiple characters are beaten, murdered, shot, or otherwise harmed by Amin or his people. And yet the film reserves the most dramatic sequence of violence (a sequence of torture) for the white guy. This film is supposedly based on the life of a man named Bob Astles, but the script makes several significant departures from this true story (such as the fact that Astles already worked in the Ugandan government before Amin's rise to power). The film seems to want us to like Garrigan more than he deserves, and I felt as if his character arc was totally stunted by the slightly wishy-washy approach to his character--one minute totally brave and moral, the next minute acting in a way that puts others in mortal danger.
Garrigan slowly realizing the depths of Amin's cruelty is an interesting dynamic, but the way that the story is trapped between real history and a fictionalized character ultimately does it a disservice. I wish that we had been given more time with Kerry Washington's Kay (who's entire subplot centers on her attraction to Garrigan who, according to the film, is a totally irresistible stud muffin), or David Oyelowo's Dr. Junju, the former of which certainly did exist and provides more than enough of an understanding of the kindnesses and cruelties of being in Amin's intimate circle.
A great performance surrounded by a film that could have been a lot better.
3.5
Stirchley
11-25-20, 06:30 PM
⬆️ Brilliant movie. Loved it.
WHITBISSELL!
11-25-20, 07:06 PM
Ball of Fire - Howard Hawks directed this 1941 screwball comedy from a script co-written by Billy Wilder. Amazing pedigree to be sure but then Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck knock it out of the park with their roles. Cooper plays Prof. Bertram Potts who, along with seven of his colleagues, is cobbling together a comprehensive encyclopedia. Potts is an etymologist and composing a subsection on American slang. He meets nightclub singer Sugarpuss O'Shea (an absolutely, drop dead sexy Stanwyck), and asks for her help. She's the girlfriend of gangster Joe Lilac (Dana Andrews) and inadvertently becomes entangled in a murder investigation. Lilac and his lawyer come up with the idea of having them marry so she can't be compelled to testify against her husband. There's the usual romantic comedy entanglements and will-she-or-won't-she moments but Wilder's whip smart script and Cooper and Stanwyck's onscreen chemistry make it seem fresh and original. 90/100
Fabulous
11-25-20, 07:09 PM
Heathers (1989)
3.5
https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/g1sFk9RElHaNvx10Dwx5PfFKqkW.jpg
GulfportDoc
11-25-20, 08:34 PM
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
You might be right about the best doc on Nixon. And at 50 minutes, it's probably the shortest as well. Watched it the other night, and thought it was a fair assessment.
Nixon was a fascinating guy, although a very middle of the road President. He was great in foreign affairs, but some of his domestic stuff was awful, plus he formally closed the gold window, which has since allowed Wall St., the Treasury Dept., and the Federal Reserve to systematically degenerate our economy to the pitiful state it is today.
I grew up with Nixon. I recall wearing a "I Like Ike and Dick" pin in grade school, and then of course grew along with him as his career advanced. It's funny. The Watergate thing, which ultimately caused him to resign, is such small potatoes next to what dirty stuff has happened since...:rolleyes:
Gideon58
11-25-20, 10:41 PM
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/16/Running_with_Scissors_%282006_movie_poster%29.jpg
3
Takoma11
11-25-20, 11:13 PM
https://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/200526-1-1100.jpg?resize=800,450
Amulet, 2020
It is disappointing, but at the same time unsurprising, to see that a whopping 11% of IMDb users scored this film a 1/10. In many respects, the film is a hate magnet: slow paced, highly allegorical, a more nuanced/psychological form of "horror", and some of the least-subtle feminist/gender-related imagery I've seen recently.
And yet.
This film, the writing and directing debut of actress Romola Garai, has enough intriguing and/or disturbing imagery and a firm enough grasp on its main character that I think it's well worth checking out.
Tomas (Alec Secareanu) is a former soldier, living homeless. Offered free room and board if he will become a live-in handyman for a young woman, Magda (Carla Juri) and her very ill mother, Tomas's time in the house is intercut with flashbacks to his time as a soldier manning an isolated outpost and his encounter with a desperate refugee.
In a lot of films, and especially horror and thriller films, the question that lurks as a twist is "what did someone do?". Here that isn't really the question (if you can't guess in the first ten minutes, maybe you've never seen a movie before?). The question is: what are you going to do now? Who do you think you are, and what are you going to do about it?
Not in a literal sense (because that would be very spoiler-y), this film reminded me a bit of Fascination--a film where the enticing question is who is in danger, and in what way.
I saw a review that compared this film to The Lighthouse, and while it's not at that level, it does give you a sense of what the pace is like. It's the kind of film where the label "horror" probably does more harm than help. (Though I have to say that there were two different moments that totally shocked me and some wonderfully disgusting and disturbing imagery.)
Speaking of imagery, I honestly had to admire the in-your-face visuals that spoke unambiguously to sex. The main character never puts his fist through a Georgia O'Keeffe painting, but it's close. In less assured hands, it could come off as misogynistic (you know, around the time a character is reaching into a suggestively slit open fish) or parody. But the way that the film walks the line between female vulnerability and femme fatale, the imagery feels more like something to be decoded. Likewise, the dialogue walks that double edge. What does it mean for a woman to tell a male character, "You're a good man". What is her motivation? What does it mean for a man to tell a female character a variation on the old classic, "I'm not going to hurt you"? The actions of the male and female characters mirror and echo each other until the usual signals about victims and perpetrators in horror become totally scrambled.
This is not a great horror film, and it certainly has its weak points. There's an exposition dump toward the end that dings the pace, and there's a denouement that leans way too heavy-handed. But there's no way it deserves so many low votes. If Garai writes or directs another horror film, I will definitely check it out. There was too much excellent weirdness for her to go under the radar.
3.5
gomorra82
11-26-20, 12:13 AM
Blood Tea Red String (2006) Christiane Cegavske.
Stop-motion animated film. Very interesting movie. Some mice and some other bird like creatures both have a deep desire for a doll that has been made, and there is an ongoing struggle between them through out the film. It is a pretty dark and obscure story that is told, and the animation style is one of a kind.
69324
8
Belladonna of Sadness. (1973) Eiichi Yamamoto.
A woman makes a deal with the devil, after being treated poorly in her village.
Animated film. The music in this film is very good, and gives the film a special atmosphere.
69325
Takoma11
11-26-20, 12:50 AM
Blood Tea Red String (2006) Christiane Cegavske.
Stop-motion animated film. Very interesting movie. Some mice and some other bird like creatures both have a deep desire for a doll that has been made, and there is an ongoing struggle between them through out the film. It is a pretty dark and obscure story that is told, and the animation style is one of a kind.
69324
I really enjoy Cegavske's work, and I signed up last month to her Patreon account. I really like the look of the new film she's making, and I'm more than happy to send her $5 a month until it's done!
Blood and Sunflowers, a short she made, is also good.
skizzerflake
11-26-20, 01:07 AM
Don't say I didn't warn you. I'm halfway through that new Netflix epic, Hillbilly Elegy. It's based on JD Vance's book about his dysfunctional family from the hinterlands and don't let the "stars", Glenn Close and Amy Adams fool you. It wants to have moments of cultural insight now and again, wants to have emotional depth, but wow. I expected more from Ron Howard.
It reminds me of that recent exercise in scenery chewing by Nick Cage, Color Out of Space, like you're not sure you really want to finish it, but you also want to see if it gets any better, but you doubt that it will but you want to see where it ends up and you already have an hour of your life invested, but there's nothing else going on anywhere anyway and it's too late to start another movie.
You have an interview with a law firm tomorrow morning, but your mom just overdosed on heroin and you remember the time when you were a kid and she got arrested for abusing you and your gnarly grand-maw is yelling at everybody and you have a flashback of your dad being set on fire by your mom.
Don't say I didn't warn you. And they say that horror movies are bad. Get the heck out of this town.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW_3aaoSOYg
gomorra82
11-26-20, 01:16 AM
I really enjoy Cegavske's work, and I signed up last month to her Patreon account. I really like the look of the new film she's making, and I'm more than happy to send her $5 a month until it's done!
Blood and Sunflowers, a short she made, is also good.
Interesting. I read that Blood Tea was meant to be first of 3 films. It has been some years since she stated that, but i will keep an eye on what comes from her.
Steve Freeling
11-26-20, 02:16 AM
https://images.fancaps.net/images/movies/Boy_Beast/Boy_Beast_Screenshot_1982.jpg
The Boy and the Beast (2015) - First Time on 9anime 4.5
Whoa. Mamoru Hosoda never ceases to amaze me. I expected to enjoy The Boy and the Beast. I expected to be entertained. Shooo… I had no idea. I had no way of preparing myself for how emotionally satisfying, by turns poignant, and richly rewarding Hosoda's film would turn out to be. The animation is stunning, utilizing character designs by Neon Genesis Evangelion co-creator Yoshiyuki Sadamoto who has worked on all of Hosoda's films; the beast world in which much of the film takes place is well-realized. Hosoda has also crafted an incredible story, never missing a beat and throwing several surprises along the way; Hosoda also takes a chance to explore the human condition, the darkness we all carry inside, whether it's possible to overcome that darkness, and what happens when someone lets that darkness control them. Masakatsu Takagi's excellent musical score also plays a big role in how the film plays out; from the second it opens over the title card, it flawlessly captures the film's adventurous tone. It's a strong entry in Hosoda's filmography for sure. There's far worse ways to spend 119 minutes of your time; just between us, this one can hold its head up high next to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, The Untouchables, and Howl's Moving Castle—which Hosoda was set to direct until he and Miyazaki had an argument about how it should be made. As usual, Funimation has delivered an excellent English dub. Luci Christian and Eric Vale are excellent as Ren, later renamed Kyūta. Christian effectively captures what it would be like to be a nine-year-old boy who just lost his mom and wants nothing more than to live with his dad and ends up in a strange world full of animals possessing human traits as the apprentice of an abrasive creature named Kumatetsu. Vale voices the character in the latter half at 17 years old when he's grown up and become hardened by all his training and eventually rediscovers the human world. Both capture the character's soul flawlessly at different times in his life and make him likable, sympathetic, and easy to root for. Gendo Ikari himself John Swasey is equally impressive as Kumatetsu, an abrasive beast—described in the opening narration as looking like a bear—who takes Ren on as his apprentice, renaming him Kyūta, in an effort to prepare for a battle to earn the title of Lord. Swasey is gruff but likable in the role, completely in his element here; when his backstory is revealed, it becomes all too easy to understand why he's the way he is and he just grows on you throughout the film. Bryn Apprill is rock-solid as Kaede, a high school girl Ren meets upon his first return to the human world who teaches him to read Moby Dick. Alex Organ is also good as Hyakushūbō, a benevolent pig beast who does his best to keep the other beasts from bullying Kyūta, in quite the departure from his villainous turn as Shogo Makishima in Psycho-Pass. Also, watch out for Chuck Huber as the father Ren never expected to see again; I must confess that the scene in which he appears was especially hard-hitting for me since I haven't seen my own father in a month. Everyone else is also solid and the dub script is completely natural. All things considered, I really enjoyed The Boy and the Beast, it was far more rewarding than I could have expected, and if I ever get the chance, I'll buy the Blu-ray and return to it repeatedly in the future. Oh, yeah. Hosoda's done it again, y'all.
ThatDarnMKS
11-26-20, 03:32 AM
A BITTERSWEET LIFE
5/5
I'd recalled this being brilliant and it was better than I remembered. How does this not have a boutique Blu-ray release?
xSookieStackhouse
11-26-20, 04:04 AM
Heathers (1989)
3.5
https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/g1sFk9RElHaNvx10Dwx5PfFKqkW.jpg
https://i.gifer.com/lmJ.gif
good choice
Fabulous
11-26-20, 04:12 AM
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
3.5
https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/8lR6tjXwWUSUDBcfJoaj2qCXA0U.jpg
ScarletLion
11-26-20, 06:17 AM
I expected more from Ron Howard.
Really?
https://media-cache.cinematerial.com/p/500x/axci9wqa/ludo-indian-movie-poster.jpg?v=1479805648
It's like two short movies slaped together with little interaction between them... and they both suck.
Chypmunk
11-26-20, 07:44 AM
The Lusty Men (Nicholas Ray & Robert Parrish, 1952) 3+
It could have been a load of bull but Hayward/Mitchum make sure it's a decent enough ride
the samoan lawyer
11-26-20, 09:26 AM
https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c44089a96d455239adaa88a/1576569018897-AAFTITSG4F04W1OU64B0/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kIJOwZJ2_j5bVt0Z5AK98zkUqsxRUqqbr1mOJYKfIPR7LoDQ9mXPOjoJoqy81S2I8N_N4V1vUb5AoIII bLZhVYxCRW4BPu10St3TBAUQYVKcsYzCpYEbGo9R7mHZBXjH-Ani6Xli0a-hL2C7JfKFeDhq458rxzBv7iNbETxSsVJn/s1.jpg (https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.marathmarath.com%2Fblog%2Fsad-lonely-times-starfish-2018&psig=AOvVaw3uN2CI8eVSq09ykcNpiTPJ&ust=1606483337125000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCNCn4_ymoO0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD)
Starfish (2018)
rating_1_5
https://thesimplecinephile939631772.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/image-w1280.jpg (https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fthesimplecinephile.com%2F2019%2F06%2F11%2Ffunnygames-2007%2F&psig=AOvVaw2K47UTku8WWQMs6jPxTief&ust=1606483390992000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCOiel82noO0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAJ)
Funny Games (2007)
rating_3
martyrofevil
11-26-20, 10:17 AM
Please forgive this long list of mostly short films...
Wax, or the Discovery of Television Among the Bees (David Blair, 1991) - 9/10
Finding the Telepathic Cinema of Manchuria (David Blair, 2010) - 7/10
PUPARIA (Shingo Tamagawa, 2020) - 7/10
The Interpreter (Noriko Okaku, 2015) - 8/10
Spherical Harmonics (Alan Warburton, 2014) - 7/10
The Sun and the Moon (Stephen Dwoskin, 2008) - 5/10
The Art of Mirrors (Derek Jarman, 1973) - 8/10
Dear Phone (Peter Greenaway, 1976) - 8/10
Catalog (John Whitney, Sr., 1961) - 8/10
A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness (Ben Rivers & Ben Russell, 2013) - 6/10
Evolution (Jim Davis, 1954) - 8/10
Gyromorphosis (Hy Hirsh, 1954) - 8/10
Hurry, Hurry! (Marie Menken, 1957) - 4/10
N.Y., N.Y. (Francis Thompson, 1957) - 9/10
36/78: Rischart (Kurt Kren, 1978) - 8/10
37/78: Tree Again (Kurt Kren, 1978) - 7/10
Pharmaceutical Hallucinations (Georges Melies, 1908) - 7/10
17/68: Green-red (Kurt Kren, 1968) - 7/10
(Tommy-Chat Just E-Mailed Me.) (Ryan Trecartin, 2006) - 7/10
Engram (Toshio Matsumoto, 1987) - 8/10
Decided to run through some Library holds these are the 2020 films I've seen.
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Babyteeth (2019) -
This might be my number #1 film of the year to me. Teen girl has horrible disease falls in love and we get the tragic lovestory/comedy. But this movie takes the dying girl trope and goes dark....some of the narrative choices just floored me.
4.5
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/fqnxEgZnmS1LiXTspIZmcBdbznh7PMVClQJOHs8KYjVpbx3XBfug4Nl9mmb9gzqORMRW_4DexBHArXolyMA4JWuDUQaeL9rFvdIx 6PrhK6ZOLPwbpw99rfOnxXqHw2KjL0b1J2x0TU1fww
A Rainy Day in New York (2019)
It's a split story about a couple in new york, one a young woman who gets to interview a star director and the other a wealthy boy friend trying to meet up with her. They both have adventures, Fanning's story is far better but the performances from Timothy's section are more endearing. I kinda wish Woody would have made this a trilogy or a compilation because he's got something good here but the end result kinda meh.
3
https://imagesvc.meredithcorp.io/v3/mm/image?q=85&c=sc&poi=face&w=1500&h=1000&url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.onecms.io%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F6%2F2019%2F12%2Fbtftm_ew2.jpgBill and Ted face the music (2020)
This was a failure of excess...way to many women in the story. The worst thing is we get these daughters that are sort of clones of Bill and Ted but they are given practically no personality other than aping their fathers and redoing the plot of the first film. And far too many cameos
2
Mallrats (1995):
Awesome comedy from the 90s by Kevin Smith. Still holds up quite well, watch the threatrical cut over the extended cut. Not a Ben Affleck fan but liked him in this film as well as Chasing Amy and Dogma. Relatable dialogue that sounds like things you would say to your friends. Probably has one of the funniest scenes in film in the Easter Bunny scene. Soundtrack is filled with 90s rock and ska throughout.
9.5/10.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpWCVoNeHRY
skizzerflake
11-26-20, 10:58 AM
Really?
Sure. At his otherwise worst, Howard's movies are decent pop entertainment. I can't say that at all about Hillbilly Elegy. I can think of so many ways that you could tell a similar story that would work or even ways you could tell this story with less awful performances that I'd be embarrassed to be Howard. I'd be gravely insulted if I were someone who identified with that culture, not unlike being black and seeing Stepinfetchit in Judge Priest.
matt72582
11-26-20, 11:37 AM
David Bowie: The Last Five Years - 6/10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1805LSIjZ7Y
WHITBISSELL!
11-26-20, 03:42 PM
The Howling – This is director Joe Dante’s first (Piranha doesn’t count IMO) straight up horror film and he makes the most of it. He packs so much into the 90 minute runtime that you’ll probably need to view it several times just to catch all the references and inside jokes and cameos. It’s been years since I watched this and I remembered John Carradine being in it but completely forgot another of my favorite character actors, Slim Pickens, was as well. Not to mention Dick Miller and co-writer of the screenplay, John Sayles, in an uncredited bit as a morgue attendant. Forrest J. Ackerman and Roger Corman are also along for the ride in blink-and-you’ll-miss-them appearances. Television reporter Karen White (Dee Wallace) is foolishly sent out on a dangerous assignment to meet up with a serial killer. He’s been corresponding with her and when she shows up at an adult film store she is almost killed and is traumatized to the point of retrograde amnesia. A therapist (Patrick MacNee) recommends that she visit a remote mountain retreat in order to heal and to try and recall her experience in the bookstore. Once there she and her husband Bill (Christopher Stone) meet the oddball residents and things quickly go downhill from there. The makeup effects are topnotch for the era, having been started by Rick Baker before he left to work on An American Werewolf in London. This is a must see for horror aficionados and for fans of clever, irreverent, and self referential films. 80/100
Oh and I especially like the ending with Dee Wallace turning into what can only be described as an adorable Pekingese. Also, this movie is responsible for one of my best movie going moments. I went to a midnight showing of sorts with a decent sized crowd in attendance and right at the beginning there's a scene where Dee Wallace is at a phone booth where she's supposed to get a call from psycho killer Eddie Quist instructing her where to meet him. She opens the door and there's a jump cut to a smiley face sticker. Right then some clever guy in the audience lets go with a loud scream and the whole theater cracks up.
Saboteur - 4
This is an engaging and often comedic "innocent man on the run" thriller that Hitchcock did so well.* This time, it's a mechanic, Barry Kane (Robert Cummings), who treks from California to New York to nab the actual culprit of an attack on the aircraft factory where he works.* It has everything you know and love in movies like this one such as a reluctant blonde companion, Pat (Priscilla Lane), encounters with bystanders who you're not sure are friends or foes, set pieces you cannot believe take place in a studio, etc.* It's also quite funny and clever thanks to touches like road signs and book titles that telegraph the plot to a scene that references Bride of Frankenstein of all things.* Cummings is not Jimmy Stewart or Cary Grant - then again, who is - and it's also no North by Northwest or The 39 Steps.* It still does what it does very well, and its final set piece, which like North by Northwest also features a famous American landmark, is as tense as Hitchcock gets.* Oh, and keep an eye out for Norman Lloyd - who as of 2020 is thankfully still with us - in his debut role.
Olivier Parent
11-26-20, 04:57 PM
69348
MASTERPIECE
5/5
matt72582
11-26-20, 05:08 PM
Studs Terkel: Listening to America - 7.5/10
https://vimeo.com/69121535
matt72582
11-26-20, 06:32 PM
Bannon's War - 6.5/10
"American Dharma" is much better. This was full of establishment hack pundits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0k7SUT38eg
https://br.web.img3.acsta.net/r_1280_720/pictures/16/03/18/15/45/381671.jpg
Also known as Go With Me. I liked this one.
Fabulous
11-26-20, 08:10 PM
Cromwell (1970)
3
https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/q6jV4IwZ1eVulRJDyilnDICz5yk.jpg
GulfportDoc
11-26-20, 08:36 PM
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
Good review, and you're right about influencing Raiders of the Lost Arc. The "macguffin" turns out to be a radioactive device in a leather case that fried that doll Gaby Rodgers, who opened the box which contains it; and it even explodes buildings!..:D
Thanks to your review I went back and re-watched it after many years. It's even better than I remembered. I never felt that Ralph Meeker --who played Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer-- was more than a medium weight actor, but he was perfect here as the hard boiled but slightly sleazy shamus.
Spillane himself was a tough guy. An old friend of mine who is a novelist (Don "E.T." Lewis), following many years as an attorney, was invited to Spillane's place near Myrtle Beach, SC 15 years ago. Don was pretty tough himself, having been in special forces in Viet Nam. The two hit it off great, and Don got some good writing advice from Spillane.
But the recognizable character actors that were in the cast is fascinating! Cloris Leachman in her first movie role of course was mesmerizing as the woman running for her life, and is picked up by a passing Mike Hammer.
And how about Jack Elam, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Marian Carr, Strother Martin, Jack Lambert, and the gorgeous Maxine Cooper as the sultry Velda?? Most of these names are not recognizable, but at first glance are instantly familiar.
The picture is often characterized as one of the best "B" noirs, but I think it belongs up there with many of the "A's"! Very enjoyable!
~Doc
GulfportDoc
11-26-20, 08:52 PM
Don't say I didn't warn you. I'm halfway through that new Netflix epic, Hillbilly Elegy. It's based on JD Vance's book about his dysfunctional family from the hinterlands and don't let the "stars", Glenn Close and Amy Adams fool you. It wants to have moments of cultural insight now and again, wants to have emotional depth, but wow. I expected more from Ron Howard.
It reminds me of that recent exercise in scenery chewing by Nick Cage, Color Out of Space, like you're not sure you really want to finish it, but you also want to see if it gets any better, but you doubt that it will but you want to see where it ends up and you already have an hour of your life invested, but there's nothing else going on anywhere anyway and it's too late to start another movie.
You have an interview with a law firm tomorrow morning, but your mom just overdosed on heroin and you remember the time when you were a kid and she got arrested for abusing you and your gnarly grand-maw is yelling at everybody and you have a flashback of your dad being set on fire by your mom.
Don't say I didn't warn you. And they say that horror movies are bad. Get the heck out of this town.
Ha! Your review was a riot..:D I had a feeling that "Elegy" would be a turkey, so I didn't even investigate it. Thanks for the warning...
Takoma11
11-26-20, 09:35 PM
https://daveandhiscriticisms.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/screen-shot-2013-10-17-at-7-30-47-pm.png
Veronika Decides to Die, 2009
In the very beginning of this film Veronika (Sarah Michelle Gellar) decides that she's had enough--enough of chasing shallow rank at her job, enough of the emotionless people who surround her on the subway, and enough of therapy and anti-depressants that don't work. So Veronika decides to die. Only her attempt is not successful and she wakes up in a mental health care facility where she learns that her overdose did permanent damage to her heart. She's alive, but not for long.
This is a very engaging premise, and I appreciated that the film doesn't feel the need to go "big" with how Veronika deals with her limited time remaining. At first she is determined to go through with another suicide attempt, but with nothing left to lose she finally begins to take a strong perspective on her own life and successfully self-advocate. Along the way she forms a bond with a fellow inmate, Edward (Jonathan Tucker), who has been silent since suffering his own trauma.
This is a very subdued film. There's a subplot that feels like it could be taken to a sensational place (Veronika becomes newsworthy because of the way she blasted a certain company in her suicide letter), but the film mostly sweeps this aside in favor of focusing on Veronika's development as a person.
My enjoyment of this film was no doubt boosted by the cast. I really, really like Sarah Michelle Gellar. Ever since her days on Buffy the Vampire Slayer I've felt that she does a really great job of portraying someone experiencing deep unrest under a calm surface. I also really like Jonathan Tucker, who plays her love interest. David Thewlis (another favorite of mine) is there as well, playing Veronika's unconventional therapist. Throw in Melissa Leo and Erika Christensen as fellow patients, and this was a cast I was very predisposed to enjoy.
As with any film about unconventional psychiatric treatment, I felt that there were some serious ethical issues with several things that took place in the film. This specifically includes one thing (that I had actually guessed might happen) that I felt was VERY unethical. While it's all in service of an interesting character arc, it was still problematic.
Overall this is a very, for lack of a better word, mild film. I thought that it was very sweet and a great example of a film not needing a forceful lead to have impact. There is a certain degree to which the film is a bit simplistic in its approach to portraying depression and how it might be addressed. Still, I enjoyed it.
3.5
cricket
11-26-20, 10:38 PM
No Reason (2010)
2-
https://www.filmtipps.at/kritiken/No_Reason/gallery/No_Reason_1.jpg
This is a German extreme film that's fairly well made for its type. It starts off interesting enough but then gets a little spiritual for my taste, even journeying into Hellraiser like territory. There's certainly plenty of sick things happening, and I liked the twisty way it wraps up.
Takoma11
11-27-20, 01:28 AM
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/imageserver/image/%2Fmethode%2Ftimes%2Fprod%2Fweb%2Fbin%2Fd4d74684-69f1-11ea-b96a-000a4e1a8b0c.jpg?crop=1500%2C844%2C0%2C78&resize=1180
Dogs Don't Wear Pants, 2019
An interesting theme has emerged in three of the last films I've watched (this one, Veronika Decides to Die, and The Earrings of Madame de . . . .): someone learning to feel deeply, no matter how much it hurts.
Years after his wife drowned (accidentally? on purpose?), heart surgeon Juha is living an outwardly fine but muted life, caring for a daughter on the edge of young adulthood. Intrigued by an intense, chance encounter with a dominatrix, Mona, Juha employs her to take him deeper into a coping mechanism--oxygen deprivation--that he's been unsuccessfully using to self-medicate.
The idea of BDSM as therapy is by no means a new idea. What I found most powerful about this portrayal of such a dynamic was (1) the clear presentation of how and why Juha benefits from his sessions with Mona and (2) the attention given to Mona's character and how her relationship with Juha impacts her.
This film is definitely not for the faint of heart. The main reason that I was able to watch it was because the sequences of more graphic gore were very easy to spot coming. I did fast forward one sequence because I knew I couldn't handle it. (For those wondering if they would want to also skip the sequences, there are two parts in the film that were a bit too much for me: in one sequence, the main character pulls out one of his nails. I held my hand up to block the top 90% of the screen so I could still read the subtitles. Later in the film, Mona uses pliers to remove one of Juha's teeth. This is the sequence that I skipped and it lasts for a looooooong time).
But the film isn't just after shock value. It's clear that all of the people we see exploring this world of kink are getting something out of it. There is a clear sense of empathy underneath all of the action, which keeps it from just feeling like a freakshow where we gawp at all the kinksters. The pain inflicted on Juha becomes a bridge that allows him to get in touch with his pain, but at the same time the film doesn't lose sight of the cost to Mona (who works days as a physical therapist) of inflicting that pain.
My only real complaint with the film is that it doesn't take enough time to establish Mona's professional ethical obligations before moving into a space that is inappropriate. Asphyxiation is expert level kink play, but the film acts as if choking a person into unconsciousness is just a rote day-to-day event. Both Mona and Juha go to a dangerous place with their relationship, and I wish that the film had taken a bit more time to establish Mona's "normal".
A trope that the film admirably avoids is making Mona a kink version of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Not only by acknowledging the complexities of her own emotions, but by making Juha the driver of his own journey. In pursuing his emotions, Juha endangers his job, his health, and his relationship with his daughter. This isn't just the case of a tight-laced businessman discovering that he needs to follow his dreams with the help of a free-spirited woman. Juha's liberation comes at a cost, and it's not the kind of journey that ends with everything tied up in a neat bow.
It wasn't an easy watch, but it's a deeply human film that makes room for the inner lives of all of its characters.
4
Fabulous
11-27-20, 02:38 AM
Rocky (1976)
3
https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/wC36tEU7AqP5llAvjXkZhZ248tX.jpg
WHITBISSELL!
11-27-20, 02:54 AM
Near Dark - Kathryn Bigelow's ferocious updating of the vampire mythos was quite the ride when it was first released 33 years ago. And it still is. These weren't the courtly or ostentatious bloodsuckers film goers were used to seeing. These were vampires re-imagined as an outlaw gang. Low rent vampires. Bigelow uses three actors from James Cameron's Aliens cast with the late Bill Paxton stealing the show as Severin. The group's arrival at the redneck bar and what ensues is still one of the most effectively disturbing scenes I've ever watched. 85/100
MovieBuffering
11-27-20, 03:32 AM
Planes, Trains and Automobiles - 1987
Never actually sat down and watched this flick. I enjoy a bunch of Steve Martin films and Candy is entertaining enough. Figured I'd give it a go. It was decent enough. Story ends up having some heart to it. The biggest problem for me is the movie just feels dated in it's comedy and story. I could see this being really enjoyable when it first came out and 10 or 15 years after. Feels old now. It also drags for a lot of the movie to me and the story itself while it has heart isn't really that engaging to me. You can just feel the movie moving from bit to bit instead of being a flowing story. Candy's character's back story is a bit too vauge for me. Martin and Candy save it by being so entertaining.
It's a fun little Thanksgiving movie to throw in but has it's problems, at least to me.
I'd give it a 2.5
https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0032429305251_p0_v2_s1200x630.jpg
Fabulous
11-27-20, 04:44 AM
Crash (2004)
3
https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/pu5yRPsqVZcXbBGpQln2SVdtDWm.jpg
Sling Blade (1996)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/44/Slingbladeposter.jpg/220px-Slingbladeposter.jpg
First time viewing, incredible performances from all especially BBT and a very affecting story. Near perfect.
4
Dr. Badvibes
11-27-20, 08:32 AM
https://cdn.britannica.com/83/77083-050-C6802975/Roddy-McDowall-Walter-Pidgeon-How-Green-Was.jpg
How Green Was My Valley - ★★★★☆
- John Ford, 1941 -
-------------------------------------------------------
Still as stunningly beautiful and captivating as I remembered, although it could be argued that the crystal clear remastering of this release provides something of a disservice to the film's less sophisticated decors. Oh well. It's the kind of movie that makes you want to curl up on your couch in front of the television with a box of hankies next to you, while tearfully mouthing along with every line of dialogue as it is spoken. You'll feel like you're in a Cyndi Lauper music video.
https://d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net/wp/wp-content/images/the-endless-influences-.jpg
The Endless - ★★★☆☆
- Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead, 2017 -
---------------------------------------------------------------
A canonical successor to Resolution. I like my horror Lovecraftian and otherwise cosmic, so I was very willing to give this a chance, especially after having enjoyed its predecessor. For the most part, it did not disappoint, although the lack of budget is extremely apparent, even by Benson & Moorhead standards. However, the film is carried reasonably well by its two leads and their purposefully derivative direction. It's as if David Lynch and Terence Malick had a baby that was adopted by Stuart Gordon and home-schooled by Vincenzo Natali. Interesting. My appreciation for this movie will likely increase over time.
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
Yes!
Was this the first time you'd seen it?
And yeah, this is how I will always remember Alec Guinness despite many excellent performances (including The Ladykillers, Tunes Of Glory, and of course, Kind Hearts and Coronets), even though Obi-Wan will always be at the forefront in all our minds.
Takoma11
11-27-20, 12:37 PM
Yes!
Was this the first time you'd seen it?
And yeah, this is how I will always remember Alec Guinness despite many excellent performances (including The Ladykillers, Tunes Of Glory, and of course, Kind Hearts and Coronets), even though Obi-Wan will always be at the forefront in all our minds.
Yes, it was a first time viewing.
This is one of those movies that got turned around in my head and I thought I knew what it was about but totally didn't. (Maybe I was confusing it with The African Queen?). Anyway, it was a very pleasant surprise and I imagine it was pretty stunning on the big screen.
ScarletLion
11-27-20, 12:57 PM
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/imageserver/image/%2Fmethode%2Ftimes%2Fprod%2Fweb%2Fbin%2Fd4d74684-69f1-11ea-b96a-000a4e1a8b0c.jpg?crop=1500%2C844%2C0%2C78&resize=1180
Dogs Don't Wear Pants, 2019
An interesting theme has emerged in three of the last films I've watched (this one, Veronika Decides to Die, and The Earrings of Madame de . . . .): someone learning to feel deeply, no matter how much it hurts.
Years after his wife drowned (accidentally? on purpose?), heart surgeon Juha is living an outwardly fine but muted life, caring for a daughter on the edge of young adulthood. Intrigued by an intense, chance encounter with a dominatrix, Mona, Juha employs her to take him deeper into a coping mechanism--oxygen deprivation--that he's been unsuccessfully using to self-medicate.
The idea of BDSM as therapy is by no means a new idea. What I found most powerful about this portrayal of such a dynamic was (1) the clear presentation of how and why Juha benefits from his sessions with Mona and (2) the attention given to Mona's character and how her relationship with Juha impacts her.
This film is definitely not for the faint of heart. The main reason that I was able to watch it was because the sequences of more graphic gore were very easy to spot coming. I did fast forward one sequence because I knew I couldn't handle it. (For those wondering if they would want to also skip the sequences, there are two parts in the film that were a bit too much for me: in one sequence, the main character pulls out one of his nails. I held my hand up to block the top 90% of the screen so I could still read the subtitles. Later in the film, Mona uses pliers to remove one of Juha's teeth. This is the sequence that I skipped and it lasts for a looooooong time).
But the film isn't just after shock value. It's clear that all of the people we see exploring this world of kink are getting something out of it. There is a clear sense of empathy underneath all of the action, which keeps it from just feeling like a freakshow where we gawp at all the kinksters. The pain inflicted on Juha becomes a bridge that allows him to get in touch with his pain, but at the same time the film doesn't lose sight of the cost to Mona (who works days as a physical therapist) of inflicting that pain.
My only real complaint with the film is that it doesn't take enough time to establish Mona's professional ethical obligations before moving into a space that is inappropriate. Asphyxiation is expert level kink play, but the film acts as if choking a person into unconsciousness is just a rote day-to-day event. Both Mona and Juha go to a dangerous place with their relationship, and I wish that the film had taken a bit more time to establish Mona's "normal".
A trope that the film admirably avoids is making Mona a kink version of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Not only by acknowledging the complexities of her own emotions, but by making Juha the driver of his own journey. In pursuing his emotions, Juha endangers his job, his health, and his relationship with his daughter. This isn't just the case of a tight-laced businessman discovering that he needs to follow his dreams with the help of a free-spirited woman. Juha's liberation comes at a cost, and it's not the kind of journey that ends with everything tied up in a neat bow.
It wasn't an easy watch, but it's a deeply human film that makes room for the inner lives of all of its characters.
4
I've been trying to get hold of a copy of this for ages. Where did you watch it?
Takoma11
11-27-20, 01:08 PM
I've been trying to get hold of a copy of this for ages. Where did you watch it?
For reasons I don't 100% understand, it is on Shudder. From what I can tell you could also rent it from Amazon for $3.99.
ScarletLion
11-27-20, 01:13 PM
Thanks, I can get a 7 day trial of that. Result.
Girl (Chad Faust, 2020) 2+ 5/10
27 Missing Kisses (Nana Djordjadze, 2000) 2.5 6/10
1 Night in San Diego (Penelope Lawson, 2020) 2 5/10
The Kite (Randa Chahal Sabag, 2003) 2.5 6/10
https://d3uc4wuqnt61m1.cloudfront.net/images/images/000/030/663/30663.large.jpg?1423868900
Wedding in Lebanon/Israel exposes patriarchal hypocrisy.
Overseas (Sung-a Yoon, 2019) 2.5 6/10
This Is the Sea (Mary McGuckian, 1997) 2.5 6/10
Happiest Season (Clea DuVall, 2020) 2.5 6/10
Catching Up (Bill Crossland, 2019) 3- 6.5/10
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYjI5Y2VjOTgtOTY5YS00NGNjLTljYTgtYWI0MTczM2FkOTcxXkEyXkFqcGdeQVRoaXJkUGFydHlJbmdlc3Rpb25Xb3JrZmxv dw@@._V1_UX477_CR0,0,477,268_AL_.jpg
Bill Crossland, a teacher with muscular dystrophy, seeks a relationship and physical intimacy.
The Odd Couple: Together Again (Robert Klane, 1993) 2.5 6/10
Talking to God (Maya Batash, 2020) 2.5 6/10
Strive (Robert Rippberger, 2019) 2.5 6/10
Playhouse (Fionn Watts & Toby Watts, 2020) 2.5 6/10
https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/images/newsite/Playhouse1_600.jpg
Is a Scottish castle haunted? These three teenagers choose to find out.
Lovers Rock (Steve McQueen, 2020) 2.5 6/10
The Man in the Woods (Noah Buschel, 2020) 2.5 6/10
The Skin of the Wolf (Samu Fuentes, 2017) 2.5 6/10
Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies (Danny Wolf, 2020) 3.5 7/10
https://img.mako.co.il/2014/02/06/phoebe-cates-wallpaper-1733678873_i.jpg
130 years of nudity in the movies.
Murder at the Vanities (Mitchell Leisen, 1934) 2.5 6/10
The Cheat (George Abbott, 1931) 2 5/10
Search for Beauty (Erle C. Kenton, 1934) 2.5 6/10
Nimic (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2019) 2.5 6/10
https://imagecurl.com/images/17148913590850324278_thumb.png
Matt Dillon and his precursor show up at the same place,
Voces (2020)
aka Don’t Listen
3
A better than expected Spanish Netflix horror. There's nothing new or overly innovative, but it does its thing rather well. Sort of a mix of Insidious (which I hated, by the way, and didn't even finish) and Amityville Horror with some modern Hereditary-like grief and loss as a spice. Not sure if that post-credit scene is needed, though.
The Howling – This is director Joe Dante’s first (Piranha doesn’t count IMO) straight up horror film and he makes the most of it. He packs so much into the 90 minute runtime that you’ll probably need to view it several times just to catch all the references and inside jokes and cameos. It’s been years since I watched this and I remembered John Carradine being in it but completely forgot another of my favorite character actors, Slim Pickens, was as well. Not to mention Dick Miller and co-writer of the screenplay, John Sayles, in an uncredited bit as a morgue attendant. Forrest J. Ackerman and Roger Corman are also along for the ride in blink-and-you’ll-miss-them appearances. Television reporter Karen White (Dee Wallace) is foolishly sent out on a dangerous assignment to meet up with a serial killer. He’s been corresponding with her and when she shows up at an adult film store she is almost killed and is traumatized to the point of retrograde amnesia. A therapist (Patrick MacNee) recommends that she visit a remote mountain retreat in order to heal and to try and recall her experience in the bookstore. Once there she and her husband Bill (Christopher Stone) meet the oddball residents and things quickly go downhill from there. The makeup effects are topnotch for the era, having been started by Rick Baker before he left to work on An American Werewolf in London. This is a must see for horror aficionados and for fans of clever, irreverent, and self referential films. 80/100
Oh and I especially like the ending with Dee Wallace turning into what can only be described as an adorable Pekingese. Also, this movie is responsible for one of my best movie going moments. I went to a midnight showing of sorts with a decent sized crowd in attendance and right at the beginning there's a scene where Dee Wallace is at a phone booth where she's supposed to get a call from psycho killer Eddie Quist instructing her where to meet him. She opens the door and there's a jump cut to a smiley face sticker. Right then some clever guy in the audience lets go with a loud scream and the whole theater cracks up.
Haven't seen this film in probably 30 years, but I remember being creeped out by the special effects. Need to revisit it, see how well it holds for me.
Saboteur - 4
This is an engaging and often comedic "innocent man on the run" thriller that Hitchcock did so well.* This time, it's a mechanic, Barry Kane (Robert Cummings), who treks from California to New York to nab the actual culprit of an attack on the aircraft factory where he works.* It has everything you know and love in movies like this one such as a reluctant blonde companion, Pat (Priscilla Lane), encounters with bystanders who you're not sure are friends or foes, set pieces you cannot believe take place in a studio, etc.* It's also quite funny and clever thanks to touches like road signs and book titles that telegraph the plot to a scene that references Bride of Frankenstein of all things.* Cummings is not Jimmy Stewart or Cary Grant - then again, who is - and it's also no North by Northwest or The 39 Steps.* It still does what it does very well, and its final set piece, which like North by Northwest also features a famous American landmark, is as tense as Hitchcock gets.* Oh, and keep an eye out for Norman Lloyd - who as of 2020 is thankfully still with us - in his debut role.
Hitchcock did such a good job with these spy thrillers. I mean, even if few of them are really memorable or groundbreaking, he had the formula so down to a T that all of them are incredibly fun.
Belladonna of Sadness. (1973) Eiichi Yamamoto.
A woman makes a deal with the devil, after being treated poorly in her village.
Animated film. The music in this film is very good, and gives the film a special atmosphere.
69325
IMO, this film is a must-see for everyone. Even if you don't think it's great, which I don't, the logistics of how it is made, and the time when it was released, should be enough for any film fan or cinephile to check it out at least once.
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
Loved this. Particularly how it balances the theme of purpose in life. I wrote a bit about it on Letterboxd (https://letterboxd.com/thief12/film/the-bridge-on-the-river-kwai/), in case you're curious.
Hitchcock did such a good job with these spy thrillers. I mean, even if few of them are really memorable or groundbreaking, he had the formula so down to a T that all of them are incredibly fun.It is one of the highlights in the Hitchcock Ultimate Collection (https://www.bestbuy.com/site/alfred-hitchcock-the-ultimate-collection-blu-ray/6397076.p?skuId=6397076&ref=212&loc=1&ref=212&loc=BM01&gclid=CjwKCAiA5IL-BRAzEiwA0lcWYiOC1rLm1qSOQ7L129ifL1Zn0TYqSHSaTMxpEi69Cn8vMm85fyNBERoCzdcQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds), which I received as a birthday gift and is a must-own for any movie lover.
Unfortunately, I'm down to what I've heard are the dregs of his filmography such as Topaz, Torn Curtain and Family Plot. Hopefully, they're better than the reviews and feedback suggest.
WHITBISSELL!
11-27-20, 04:18 PM
Touch of Evil: Extended – It’s been so long since I first watched this that I’m not exactly sure what was added to this extended version. I remember that relatively short but brilliant tracking shot that opens the movie. It’s only around three and a half minutes but it is continuous and I liked the way director Orson Welles starts off with a couple getting into a car and then eventually dovetailing that into Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh walking along a street. They walk alongside the couple in the car and drift away and back but eventually the shot ends with both parties at a border crossing. It’s a great opening to the movie. Welles continues his virtuosity with crane shots and a POV with Heston behind the wheel of a convertible and zipping down narrow streets. He also employs judicious close-ups and lighting effects to accentuate his overarching themes of corruption and dissolution, in this case exemplified by his bordertown setting. The cast brings their “A” game and if you can look past Heston in brownface there are no weak links. Character actor Akim Tamaroff is especially good as Uncle Joe Grandi, the head of a crime family that’s trying to stop Heston’s Mexican narcotics officer Mike Vargas from testifying against his brother. Welles is the cornerstone of the plot as the ruthless and shady Police Captain Hank Quinlan. Marlene Dietrich and Dennis Weaver round out the principal cast of characters. Highly recommended. 95/100
WHITBISSELL!
11-27-20, 04:23 PM
Unfortunately, I'm down to what I've heard are the dregs of his filmography such as Topaz, Torn Curtain and Family Plot. Hopefully, they're better than the reviews and feedback suggest.I had a chance to watch Torn Curtain but passed on it. And I liked Family Plot. As long as you go in not expecting peak Hitchcock then chances are you'll be suitably entertained.
ThatDarnMKS
11-27-20, 04:24 PM
It is one of the highlights in the Hitchcock Ultimate Collection (https://www.bestbuy.com/site/alfred-hitchcock-the-ultimate-collection-blu-ray/6397076.p?skuId=6397076&ref=212&loc=1&ref=212&loc=BM01&gclid=CjwKCAiA5IL-BRAzEiwA0lcWYiOC1rLm1qSOQ7L129ifL1Zn0TYqSHSaTMxpEi69Cn8vMm85fyNBERoCzdcQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds), which I received as a birthday gift and is a must-own for any movie lover.
Unfortunately, I'm down to what I've heard are the dregs of his filmography such as Topaz, Torn Curtain and Family Plot. Hopefully, they're better than the reviews and feedback suggest.
Topaz and Torn Curtain each have strong performances and exquisite sequences of “pure cinema” as he would describe it and are at least on par with some of his earlier works.
Family Plot is an odd outlier in that it feels more akin to The Trouble With Harry, in that quirky comedy crime film that seemingly predicts what the Coen bros would perfect a couple decades later. It’s the least ambitious or polished but I still like it.
“Dregs” is something Hitchcock doesn’t have.
SpelingError
11-27-20, 04:31 PM
Touch of Evil: Extended – It’s been so long since I first watched this that I’m not exactly sure what was added to this extended version. I remember that relatively short but brilliant tracking shot that opens the movie. It’s only around three and a half minutes but it is continuous and I liked the way director Orson Welles starts off with a couple getting into a car and then eventually dovetailing that into Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh walking along a street. They walk alongside the couple in the car and drift away and back but eventually the shot ends with both parties at a border crossing. It’s a great opening to the movie. Welles continues his virtuosity with crane shots and a POV with Heston behind the wheel of a convertible and zipping down narrow streets. He also employs judicious close-ups and lighting effects to accentuate his overarching themes of corruption and dissolution, in this case exemplified by his bordertown setting. The cast brings their “A” game and if you can look past Heston in brownface there are no weak links. Character actor Akim Tamaroff is especially good as Uncle Joe Grandi, the head of a crime family that’s trying to stop Heston’s Mexican narcotics officer Mike Vargas from testifying against his brother. Welles is the cornerstone of the plot as the ruthless and shady Police Captain Hank Quinlan. Marlene Dietrich and Dennis Weaver round out the principal cast of characters. Highly recommended. 95/100
That's one of my favorites. Glad you also loved it! And I agree that the cinematography is one of the film's main highlights.
Topaz and Torn Curtain each have strong performances and exquisite sequences of “pure cinema” as he would describe it and are at least on par with some of his earlier works.
Family Plot is an odd outlier in that it feels more akin to The Trouble With Harry, in that quirky comedy crime film that seemingly predicts what the Coen bros would perfect a couple decades later. It’s the least ambitious or polished but I still like it.
“Dregs” is something Hitchcock doesn’t have.So glad to hear all of this. I was treating them like the candy at the bottom of the Halloween bowl. I mean, how bad could Torn Curtain be if Paul Newman and Julie Andrews are in it?
ThatDarnMKS
11-27-20, 04:50 PM
So glad to hear all of this. I was treating them like the candy at the bottom of the Halloween bowl. I mean, how bad could Torn Curtain be if Paul Newman and Julie Andrews are in it?
I feel like contemporary criticism was based upon Hitchcock still making them fairly classically styled in comparison to the New Waves hitting the world. Modern criticism seems to stem from them not being Vertigo or Rear Window quality.
But if you’re someone that has dove into his filmography, I can’t imagine not finding a lot to like about them. There’s a sequence in Torn Curtain that could go toe-to-toe with just about any Hitch sequence and some of the imagery in Topaz is just gorgeous. Had he cast bigger names in the latter, I think it would be considered a much stronger effort.
It is one of the highlights in the Hitchcock Ultimate Collection (https://www.bestbuy.com/site/alfred-hitchcock-the-ultimate-collection-blu-ray/6397076.p?skuId=6397076&ref=212&loc=1&ref=212&loc=BM01&gclid=CjwKCAiA5IL-BRAzEiwA0lcWYiOC1rLm1qSOQ7L129ifL1Zn0TYqSHSaTMxpEi69Cn8vMm85fyNBERoCzdcQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds), which I received as a birthday gift and is a must-own for any movie lover.
Unfortunately, I'm down to what I've heard are the dregs of his filmography such as Topaz, Torn Curtain and Family Plot. Hopefully, they're better than the reviews and feedback suggest.
I still have about a dozen or two to complete his filmography, so I also haven't seen Topaz or Torn Curtain. However, I did think that Family Plot was a lot of fun. Very light and breezy, plus some great camera work from Hitchcock, as expected.
It is one of the highlights in the Hitchcock Ultimate Collection (https://www.bestbuy.com/site/alfred-hitchcock-the-ultimate-collection-blu-ray/6397076.p?skuId=6397076&ref=212&loc=1&ref=212&loc=BM01&gclid=CjwKCAiA5IL-BRAzEiwA0lcWYiOC1rLm1qSOQ7L129ifL1Zn0TYqSHSaTMxpEi69Cn8vMm85fyNBERoCzdcQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds), which I received as a birthday gift and is a must-own for any movie lover.
Unfortunately, I'm down to what I've heard are the dregs of his filmography such as Topaz, Torn Curtain and Family Plot. Hopefully, they're better than the reviews and feedback suggest.
I'm checking out info on that "collection" and see it has a bunch of discs, but can't find a list of what films it includes. Can you share a list?
EDIT: Nevermind. Just found a picture of the back cover. That's a fine bunch of films
Psycho
The Birds
Vertigo
Rear Window
North by Northwest
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Marnie
Saboteur
Shadow of a Doubt
Rope
The Trouble with Harry
Torn Curtain
Topaz
Frenzy
Family Plot
I haven't seen the ones in bold, but most of the rest are top-notch. I did see the original TMWKTM, with Peter Lorre, and that's a pretty good one too.
I'm checking out info on that "collection" and see it has a bunch of discs, but can't find a list of what films it includes. Can you share a list?
EDIT: Nevermind. Just found a picture of the back cover. That's a fine bunch of films
Psycho
The Birds
Vertigo
Rear Window
North by Northwest
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Marnie
Saboteur
Shadow of a Doubt
Rope
The Trouble with Harry
Torn Curtain
Topaz
Frenzy
Family Plot
I haven't seen the ones in bold, but most of the rest are top-notch. I did see the original TMWKTM, with Peter Lorre, and that's a pretty good one too.Cool, you found it. Not a bad collection, although it would have been nice if they included Strangers on a Train and Dial M for Murderousness. Oh, and there are a few episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
Dial M for Murder is my #3 Hitchcock, so yeah. But with the special features and all, it seems to be a pretty solid investment.
WHITBISSELL!
11-27-20, 06:27 PM
Marnie - Still crossing Hitchcock films off of my unseen list. According to IMDb he helmed 54 full length features and as far as I can tell I've watched 19 of them. I set out to tackle his most well known ones first and then go by highest rated. My next one should be Shadow of a Doubt and then maybe Spellbound. After that whatever either strikes my fancy or whenever the opportunity comes up. Marnie is a 1964 mystery and psychological study. Tippi Hedren plays the title character, a compulsive thief and con artist with a whole closet full of neuroses that include a fear of thunderstorms and of the color red. Sean Connery plays Mark Rutland, one of her unwitting victims who eventually recognizes her from a previous caper. He falls for her. Hard. Obsessively hard. Instead of turning her over to the authorities he inexplicably blackmails her into marrying him and sets out to untangle the Gordian knot that is her psyche. Their cruise ship honeymoon turns out to be an abject failure due to her revulsion to being touched by any man. This is made clear in a previous scene with her aloof and embittered mother. There's a scene in their stateroom that insinuates an assault takes place and which caused a storm of controversy at the time. Marnie's unresolved issues eventually come to a head with some prodding from her tenacious husband. The cast, as is usually the case with any Hitchcock movie, is solid with Connery and Hedren proving themselves as worthy as the directors other onscreen pairings. 90/100
WHITBISSELL!
11-27-20, 06:31 PM
I'm checking out info on that "collection" and see it has a bunch of discs, but can't find a list of what films it includes. Can you share a list?
EDIT: Nevermind. Just found a picture of the back cover. That's a fine bunch of films
Psycho
The Birds
Vertigo
Rear Window
North by Northwest
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Marnie
Saboteur
Shadow of a Doubt
Rope
The Trouble with Harry
Torn Curtain
Topaz
Frenzy
Family Plot
I haven't seen the ones in bold, but most of the rest are top-notch. I did see the original TMWKTM, with Peter Lorre, and that's a pretty good one too.Out of the 15 listed the ones I haven't seen are Torn Curtain and Topaz so I guess I'm doing okay.
HollowMan
11-27-20, 06:51 PM
For a Few Dollars More. (1965)
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/sgp-catalog-images/region_US/mgm-FORAFEWDOLLARSMORE-Full-Image_GalleryBackground-en-US-1484002533208._SX1080_.jpg
A classic.
4.5/5 Stars.
Dial M for Murder is my #3 Hitchcock, so yeah. But with the special features and all, it seems to be a pretty solid investment.
Also one of my favorites, I like it a lot more than Rope which gets more love (I compare them because they both feel like stage-plays with most or all of both films taking place inside a single apartment).
SpelingError
11-27-20, 07:14 PM
For a Few Dollars More. (1965)
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/sgp-catalog-images/region_US/mgm-FORAFEWDOLLARSMORE-Full-Image_GalleryBackground-en-US-1484002533208._SX1080_.jpg
A classic.
4.5/5 Stars.
I like A Fistful of Dollars and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly a decent bit more than that one, but I'm a fan of all three films in the Dollars trilogy.
GulfportDoc
11-27-20, 07:19 PM
69424
In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)
This somewhat confusing sci-fi thriller opens with a good-natured Spielberg atmosphere, and in fact most of the story is fairly tame in comparison to most films of its style today. Its TV-MA rating strikes me as too high, and I'm usually conservative when it comes to ratings.
In Philadelphia several people from different walks of life suddenly die, and there seems to be no explanation for it. Yet all the victims have a pattern of 3 puncture wounds on the backs of their necks. Presumed to be the work of a serial killer, the police search high and low for clues and motive without success. 9 years later a similar occurrence stuns the city. Is it a copycat?
This sets up a gradual morphing into a time travel mystery in which the police officer most involved becomes obsessed, while hoping the case will advance his career. Suddenly the crimes become the single important thing in his life.
Despite its lack of star power and big name production people, the picture is a first rate effort. The ending feels a little worn, but the tale is woven very nicely. Some of it evokes incredulity, but after all, it IS sci-fi.
Available on Netflix and various streaming services.
Doc's rating: 6/10
GulfportDoc
11-27-20, 08:31 PM
It is one of the highlights in the Hitchcock Ultimate Collection (https://www.bestbuy.com/site/alfred-hitchcock-the-ultimate-collection-blu-ray/6397076.p?skuId=6397076&ref=212&loc=1&ref=212&loc=BM01&gclid=CjwKCAiA5IL-BRAzEiwA0lcWYiOC1rLm1qSOQ7L129ifL1Zn0TYqSHSaTMxpEi69Cn8vMm85fyNBERoCzdcQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds), which I received as a birthday gift and is a must-own for any movie lover.
Unfortunately, I'm down to what I've heard are the dregs of his filmography such as Topaz, Torn Curtain and Family Plot. Hopefully, they're better than the reviews and feedback suggest.
Oh, I think you'll enjoy all 3, Torgo. I did. The big let down for me in Torn Curtain was the mediocre film score. As you know, Hitch and Herrmann had a falling out, so Hitch used John Addison. Also IMO Paul Newman was miscast, but nevertheless it was a good film.
Personally I never warmed up to Bruce Dern in Family Plot. He was too whiny and nasally. But there again-- enjoyable film.
cricket
11-27-20, 09:06 PM
Rolling Vengeance (1987)
2.5-
https://images.static-bluray.com/reviews/16073_1.jpg
https://moviesanddrinkscom.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/rolling-vengeance-ned-beatty.jpg?w=900
Big time cheese with a slice of nasty. A truck driver has his whole family wiped out and his girlfriend assaulted by the local baddies led by daddy scene stealer Ned Beatty. When the law can't help, the young man builds a monster truck to take his revenge. It's an amusing watch.
Fabulous
11-27-20, 09:42 PM
Hellraiser (1987)
3
https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/6YnMQyCAxc3Gn8Cor2wrdssyv03.jpg
Gideon58
11-27-20, 09:54 PM
https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/3410/34106504_sa.jpg
2.5
Takoma11
11-27-20, 10:02 PM
So glad to hear all of this. I was treating them like the candy at the bottom of the Halloween bowl. I mean, how bad could Torn Curtain be if Paul Newman and Julie Andrews are in it?
I thought that Torn Curtain was actively a bad movie. It sounds like others think it's okay/pretty good. But I STRUGGLED to get through it. Something about it was just off and the character development and chemistry between the actors was non-existent.
Fabulous
11-28-20, 12:23 AM
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
2
https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/fYwtG8ENB7Q2omjMZGiCGxfQPzN.jpg
WHITBISSELL!
11-28-20, 02:26 AM
1917 - Although you can acknowledge and certainly appreciate the technical artistry on display the movie comes off a little bloodless to me. Maybe it was a more organic experience on a big screen but for some reason the story just didn't engage me. I spent the majority of the time wondering how many extras they had to employ and clothe or how many miles of trenches they had to dig or exactly how much square acreage of land was used. It's not a bad film of course but it does sort of hold you at arms length. 80/100
Nausicaä
11-28-20, 12:02 PM
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d5/Uncle_Frank_%28film%29.png
3.5
Snooze factor = Z
[Snooze Factor Ratings]:
Z = didn't nod off at all
Zz = nearly nodded off but managed to stay alert
Zzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed
Zzzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed but nodded off again at the same point and therefore needed to go back a number of times before I got through it...
Zzzzz = nodded off and missed some or the rest of the film but was not interested enough to go back over it
Rolling Vengeance (1987)
2.5-
https://images.static-bluray.com/reviews/16073_1.jpg
https://moviesanddrinkscom.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/rolling-vengeance-ned-beatty.jpg?w=900
Big time cheese with a slice of nasty. A truck driver has his whole family wiped out and his girlfriend assaulted by the local baddies led by daddy scene stealer Ned Beatty. When the law can't help, the young man builds a monster truck to take his revenge. It's an amusing watch.
What the ****?!
50 year-old Ned Beatty in a black leather jacketed villain role being hounded by a monster truck of vengeance is something I should have seen 33 years ago. And probably every year since.
Takoma11
11-28-20, 12:49 PM
https://www.slantmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/dancerupstairs.jpg
The Dancer Upstairs, 2002
In a South American country (which I never caught, but perhaps was intentionally unnamed?), a police detective, Rejas (Javier Bardem) is on the hunt for an elusive revolutionary who seems to be at the center of increasingly disturbing and brutal attacks. Complicating his investigation is the corrupt government around him and his interest in his daughter's ballet teacher (Laura Morante).
Bardem once again proves that he is a capable lead, and he has that particular gift of not having to say much to imply depths beneath the surface. His character feels very real: a man who is not himself corrupt, but who does not choose to fight the corruption around him. His past life as a lawyer has shown him some of the worst of his country (he represented a young rape victim whose family was later terrorized until she fled to Miami--the perpetrator of the rape was the country's current president), and we see a man doing the best he can in his corner of the country.
The central story--that of the dangerous revolutionary--was a mixed bag for me. At its best, it reflects the way that corruption can perpetuate from generation to generation. Rejas has the personal experience of his family's farm having been seized by the military. In a country where indigenous and vulnerable people have constantly been trod underfoot, you can see how the sparks of a revolution would catch.
On the flip side, the portrayal of the revolution at times didn't quite mesh with what we see of the characters. The terrorism as portrayed in this film not only uses violence as a means to accomplish its goal, it seems to revel in cruelty. Children are used as suicide bombers. The film blurs the line between people pushing for revolution and people under the thrall of someone more akin to a cult leader. Because the antagonist is kept off screen for almost all of the runtime and because his followers do little more than yell slogans, we are never given insight into how this man has marshaled an army of seemingly sensitive and empathetic people into committing violent atrocities (and animal cruelty). Sometimes the film is able to leverage this seeming contradiction, as in a scene where Rejas tries to help a mortally wounded young woman who even in her death throes violently rejects him. But for the most part the dynamics of the revolution are too vague.
This is a well-acted, solidly directed film, but the story lacks the fire or momentum it needs to make it truly engaging.
3
Gideon58
11-28-20, 04:59 PM
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
2
https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/fYwtG8ENB7Q2omjMZGiCGxfQPzN.jpg
I was curious as to why you rated this so low
cricket
11-28-20, 04:59 PM
Pig (2010)
1.5+
https://bloody-disgusting.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Screen-Shot-2017-03-08-at-10.46.39-AM.jpg
Extreme film that is supposedly hard to find, so I jumped at the chance when I finally found it. The first 70+ minutes are shot in one take, very cool in the right hands, but in this case editing was needed to prevent the movie from wearing out it's welcome. The result is a 93 minute movie that should've been 60 minutes. It's sick, had its moments, and I liked the way it was filmed, but I can not recommend.
Fabulous
11-28-20, 05:58 PM
The Handmaiden (2016)
4
https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/3upEZ0ltY7WwOSFVXrtiP34D48p.jpg
Gideon58
11-28-20, 09:35 PM
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTkwNTg2MTI1NF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMDM1MzUyMQ@@._V1_UY1200_CR90,0,630,1200_AL_.jpg
3.5
Takoma11
11-28-20, 10:11 PM
https://bamlive.s3.amazonaws.com/styles/program_slide/s3/Demme_Stop-Making-Sense_015_1200.jpg?itok=KDu6ByZq
Stop Making Sense, 1984
After watching David Byrne's American Utopia and really enjoying it, it only made sense to go back in time and watch this classic concert film of the Talking Heads.
Not a ton to say here. The music is good. There is a joyful, purposeful, and yet loose flow to the entire thing. The way that Byrne integrates his fellow performers is really admirable--they are all part of the music, movement, and energy of the concert. The time that he takes at the end to recognize them all feels genuine (as it did in American Utopia).
On Amazon Prime and highly recommended.
4.5
gomorra82
11-28-20, 10:56 PM
M (1931) Fritz Lang
The hunt for a child-murderer. When the police struggle to catch the killer, the criminals of the german city decide they are gonna catch him.
8
Paris,Texas. (1984) Wim Wenders
Harry Dean Stantons performance gives the movie credibility.
8
69455
Small Children (2006) Todd Field.
Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly,Jackey Earle Haley.
There was a vision for this movie, but the director was not able to pull it off and show it on screen.
6.5
Forbidden Planet (1956) Fred M. Wilcox.
Sci Fi. A great Science Fiction film. I would rate it among the best Sci Fi ever made.
8,5
Fabulous
11-29-20, 12:45 AM
Friday the 13th (1980)
2.5
https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/Y4E38GCezVsm7zT7ZwNP7ULNZE.jpg
Takoma11
11-29-20, 12:47 PM
https://static.rogerebert.com/uploads/review/primary_image/reviews/the-merry-gentleman-2009/EB20090429REVIEWS904299974AR.jpg
The Merry Gentleman, 2008
A woman named Kate (Kelly MacDonald) leaves her abusive husband (Bobby Canavale) and starts a new life in Chicago. While there, she accidentally catches sight of a depressed hitman, Frank (Michael Keaton), unaware that he's just killed a man. Whether he intends to kill her or is on some self-destructive turn, Frank strikes up a relationship with Kate. Meanwhile, the detective on the case (Tom Bastounes) also takes a romantic interest in Kate.
The strength of the film is undoubtedly the performances mixed with the script's attention to the characters' internal lives. Time is taken to explore the hopes, fears, and doubts of all of the characters. Even for characters like Kate and Frank whose desires are complex--both of them want companionship but, for different reasons, are wary of close relationships--the film takes time to sit with their conflicts. I've always found Kelly MacDonald to be a compelling and intriguing performer, and I think that she's well matched with Keaton. I'm not a huge fan of romances with huge age gaps, but in this film, the age gap sort of works with the off-kilter nature of the relationship between them which skirts a weird space between friendship and romance.
There's an interesting device in the first third of the movie, as multiple characters are defined in their relationship to Kate by how they respond to her very obvious black eye. Her co-worker who gently broaches the subject. The detective who immediately knows what's up, though he kindly accepts her excuses before subtly letting her know she can call him for help. A drunk co-worker who, in the midst of flirting with her, indelicately brings it up. Frank, of course, doesn't even need to ask. It's a clever way to establish the various personalities.
The whole film is very melancholy, and it's hard to know just where everything will land for the different characters. The film's blend of realism and coincidence works for the most part and generates a weird mix of optimism and anxiety as the film goes on.
I'm still debating how I feel about the ending, and specifically where it leaves the character of Kate. It's the kind of thing I'll have to think about for a bit.
4
THANKSKILLING (2008)
A film about Thanksgiving
https://www.slickstermagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/turkeyandsheriffsharetea_ny9xlt.jpg
I always say, there's a time to eat caviar and filet mignon, and there's a time to eat... well, turkey. That time was a couple of days ago when I decided to check this out, and it delivered what you would expect from a film about a possessed, murderous turkey. The film follows a group of friends, each fitting the traditional slasher tropes (jock, good girl, slutty girl, party dumb guy, nerd guy) as they head home for their Thanksgiving break. However, they end up being terrorized by a cursed, killer turkey that appears every 505 years.
The film, which was made for $3,500, wears its low budget on its sleeve. There really isn't much of an attempt to hide it, but it does manage to play with its silliness fairly well. The direction and editing are very amateurish, and the performances are borderline cringy. However, the humor is solid and the script lands a decent amount of jokes. There's a sequence where the turkey dons a costume that had me ROTFL, which is the obvious intention.
Hardly a masterpiece, but it fulfilled its goal of keeping me entertained and not bored for an hour and a half. Grade: 2
WAJIB (2017)
A film from Palestine
https://files.list.co.uk/images/2018/09/10/wajib-LST312151.jpg
Went pretty much blind into this and I'm so glad I did. The film follows a father and son (played by real-life father/son Mohammad and Saleh Bakri) as they spend a day together, fulfilling their "wajib" or duty to deliver the invitations for the wedding of their daughter and sister. During their time together on the road, in traffic, and visits, many issues, conflicts, regrets, and past wounds come to the surface, forcing them to finally address them.
This was quite a surprise. The film follows a very simple premise, with a solid script, and lets the actors handle the rest. As I was about to write this, I found out that the leads were actually father/son in real life, and it figures, cause their interactions were so believable and true. I loved how director Annemarie Jacir didn't rely in gimmicks or political statements to get her point across, but still managed to pepper a good amount of socio-political commentary all through.
A pretty darn good drama, all around. Strongly recommended. Grade: 4
AgrippinaX
11-29-20, 01:54 PM
The Nest (2020)
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMGRjYzI5ZGUtZGJjYy00ZTYyLWJlNzItNWM0MDc0ZDVmM2IwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTkxNjUyNQ@@._V1_.jpg
4
I’ll start off by saying this is a very strange film. For me it was a pretty extreme case of expectation versus reality, which is even more odd as I rarely have expectations as such about a film. It wasn’t on my radar at all - I came from work last night and saw a review flash among my media updates (can’t remember which publication). The Atlantic summed up the film as a horror where ‘wealth’ is the demon. Naturally, I thought, ‘Crikey, that sounds interesting!’. I then glanced at the review. Some people here know I don’t really care about spoilers, but I didn’t read the whole of it simply because I was half-dead after work and wanted to actually watch something, not read about it. I find the money is the demon idea very strange because it’s a film where the protagonist (Jude Law) is predictably broke, and whose world revolves around keeping up appearances. His wife (the gorgeous Carrie Coon) is of course used to a certain lifestyle, but she ends up working the very definition of a manual job to make money, so it’s not like she expects him to hand her things on a silver platter. She’s used to money, rather than dependent on it - that was my reading. I mention all this because it doesn’t make sense to me how with the above in mind wealth is the monster in this film. Anyway, it’s a pretty good and rather deep one, but I’m not even sure it belongs in the thriller category - let alone in horror. I’m all for soft scares and low-key horror, but sometimes I just don’t see why a certain film is meant to be perceived as horror, and that’s definitely the case here. If I had to pick a genre for The Nest after the first viewing, having read no reviews, I’d say ‘drama’ and never think twice. Carrie Coon was spectacular, she and her character are a great match (she made me think of Cate Blanchett as Katherine Hepburn in The Aviator - the same vibe), but Law was also very persuasive. I don’t know why I haven’t rated it a 5 - maybe because I didn’t quite love it, good as it is. I did love Martha Marcy May Marlene - it’s one of my favourite films - so I guess The Nest just can’t live up to that.
Takoma11
11-29-20, 02:02 PM
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/3Afb0qWBmJPS7xzfS8jW-pPuTAytl7Noc-AvHShOivucsgOqAgPf5Gwh19FIGNUt2PyjfpQZt18XQxfLDj8R4x-nJVih28dl80nAQ_DepaPeXwaqVA
Seed Money, 2015
This film charts the life of Chuck Holmes, a gay porn director/producer whose work redefined the perception and image of gay pornography and, more broadly, gay men. The film follows Holmes through the beginning of his business, the AIDS crisis, and the way that Holmes leveraged his money and charisma in the interest of gay rights.
The main thing that I loved about this movie was also a major source of frustration: there is so much interesting stuff going on here! The way that gay erotica is related to the image and perception of masculinity (including straight male masculinity); the complicated relationship between the rights of citizens and the consumption/distribution of porn; the internal homophobia of the gay community itself; the way that gay people (and specifically gay men) are defined by their sexuality; the way that pornography allows people in oppressive cultures to explore and understand their desires; the way that pornography can reflect the fantasies and fears of its specific creators; etc. I could have watched a whole documentary about any of these topics, and yet so many of them are glossed over in just about 5 minutes.
I appreciated that the film does not try to idolize Holmes. Though its interviews, the movie makes it clear that Holmes struggled to balance the personal, money, and ethical sides of his business. Specifically, the film discusses the way that Holmes was reluctant to include condom use in his movies and really had to be pushed by the performers and his co-creators. It's all complicated, however, and during the AIDS crisis porn becomes a vital outlet for many gay men who are afraid of sexual intimacy.
The interviewees (a mix of friends, performers, and pop culture figures like John Waters) are all very personable and blunt. It is doubly tragic that so many of the early gay performers lost their lives to the AIDS crisis, and their absence is sorely felt. I would have especially loved to hear the point of view of one of the few actors of color to appear in the films.
I think that the film makes a really compelling argument for the subversive power of being visibly sexual. Paired with the exploration of how Holmes created an image of gay life that was classy and wholesome and very much all-American, it's a good reminder that what we see in movies (both things that reflect ourselves and things that show us the world of others) can be very powerful.
I would have loved more analysis of some of the broader sociological elements discussed. And for a film centered on Holmes, his own voice and words are conspicuously absent, often conveyed second hand via his acquaintances. Still, this was a really neat look at how one person can revolutionize an industry and how that can create ripples into the real world.
4
matt72582
11-29-20, 02:18 PM
My Psychedelic Love Story - 7.5/10
The subject of the film says she lies all the time in the very beginning, and has her entire life. She says "I think I am a CIA plant", which I think is a lie. I think she set Leary up from the beginning in an effort to discredit him after he admits to the world that he became an informant for the FBI. Lots of theater. The CIA always infiltrate art because they know the artist (or political heroes) is the inspired one, and so many want to go along for the trip, vicariously. Heroes are important, and without them, a society feels lost... I've heard from friends in Argentina who say the country is in deep mourning, because Maradona is the only person you think of when you hear about Argentina. Of course, the press has gone after him ostensibly for drugs (because he's the only one), but in actuality, it was all about being outspoken about anti-imperalism, and when you say "In my heart, I'm a Palestinian", you're essentially "canceled".
LSD is a hell of a drug... Brought to you by the CIA :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJAsSX_V86I
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMzg4NTYwMWItZmQzMC00MTM2LWFjN2ItOGM2YWNlMDRjMDQ5XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTAyODkwOQ@@._V1_UY1200_CR87,0,6 30,1200_AL_.jpg
I recently remembered this movie and watched it again.Kinda slow paced (for today standards), but still a great movie.
Call (2020)
2.5
A Korean horror/thriller about how calling someone 20 years in the past can screw your life. I'm not a huge fan of time-travel or time-anything movies, and while Call is above average as such, it still feels forced and contradictory.
https://bamlive.s3.amazonaws.com/styles/program_slide/s3/Demme_Stop-Making-Sense_015_1200.jpg?itok=KDu6ByZq
Stop Making Sense, 1984
After watching David Byrne's American Utopia and really enjoying it, it only made sense to go back in time and watch this classic concert film of the Talking Heads.
Not a ton to say here. The music is good. There is a joyful, purposeful, and yet loose flow to the entire thing. The way that Byrne integrates his fellow performers is really admirable--they are all part of the music, movement, and energy of the concert. The time that he takes at the end to recognize them all feels genuine (as it did in American Utopia).
On Amazon Prime and highly recommended.
4.5
First viewing?
It really is just a beautiful thing I've been watching over and over for 40 years.
Paris,Texas. (1984) Wim Wenders
Harry Dean Stantons performance gives the movie credibility.
8
This might be my second-favorite film of all time.
https://i.imgur.com/1YbaSP1.jpg?1
(I have tried to refer to plot-points here without making them spoilers, I hope I succeeded.)
I just put this on in the background while I made breakfast because I hadn't seen it in several years. Of course, I ended up watching the whole thing.
I'm the person who really, really liked this movie the first time around and didn't think it was a letdown after Casino Royale (yes, there is such a person).
And I really, really liked it again. I mean, as much as pretty much any of the new Bond movies. I prefer this film to Skyfall myself (as I have always felt, since my first viewing in the theater, that the third act of that film is a total non-sensical collapse). I've always really enjoyed the complexity of the relationship between Bond and M in this film and there are a couple of moments here (when he escapes but returns to tell M that Fields' bravery must be documented in her report and in a later scene when he tells her that he never left M.I.6 despite her perception to the contrary) that I just really really love for the characters and their relationship but especially for building who Bond is in this incarnation. I was really happy with Bond's relationship with Mathis in this film, especially flowing over from the last. I thought Kurylenko was a very good "Bond girl" (even though it's hard to live up to Vesper from the previous film, who haunts this one to the very end). And I thought Amalric's villain was an interesting turn on the classic Bond villain, just being the slimy, sociopathic representative of the shadowy organization, rather than some arch mustache-twirler. I particularly liked the angle of Revenge and whether Bond was motivated by it and mirrored by another character who is totally motivated by it and how both of those arcs resolve. I also loved the Opera scene (which I thought was as clever as anything in the Bond movies, particularly when Mr. White remains seated) and the climactic scene when Bond faces Yusef and Corinne. Just great stuff.
There was just so much that I liked here.
I'm not sure why so many people dislike this movie or think it is a step down from the rest of the series, though I am aware that that is the case. I liked everything about this film on re-watching it and I suspect I will re-watch it more often than either Skyfall or Spectre.
CharlesAoup
11-29-20, 03:38 PM
The Spy Who Dumped Me, 2018 (F)
Just awful. All I could think of while watching this is how much better Leslie Nielsen's movies, and even the Scary Movie franchise were at doing comedy. Good, structured movies with a preponderence of jokes and lightness and actual punchlines and time to breathe.
This movie is not a comedy, first off. It's an underwhelming thriller plot in which Kate Mckinnon and Mila Kunis act silly and never stop talking. Even when there's a funny moment, it's ruined because no one can ever shut up. The thriller elements are completely void of comedy and drag the mood down into the pits, and the comedy elements make it impossible to take the dramatic elements seriously. There's also a ton of dry character moments that just add nothing.
Takoma11
11-29-20, 03:44 PM
First viewing?
It really is just a beautiful thing I've been watching over and over for 40 years.
Yeah, first time. And it was really good.
https://i.imgur.com/1YbaSP1.jpg?1
I'm the person who really, really liked this movie the first time around and didn't think it was a letdown after Casino Royale (yes, there is such a person).
There was just so much that I liked here.
I'm not sure why so many people dislike this movie or think it is a step down from the rest of the series, though I am aware that that is the case. I liked everything about this film on re-watching it and I suspect I will re-watch it more often than either Skyfall or Spectre.
I really enjoyed Quantum of Solace. Everyone was bagging on it, but I liked it both times I watched it. I thought it was a lovely epilogue to the events of Casino Royale while still being its own thing.
matt72582
11-29-20, 05:28 PM
WAJIB (2017)
A film from Palestine
https://files.list.co.uk/images/2018/09/10/wajib-LST312151.jpg
Went pretty much blind into this and I'm so glad I did. The film follows a father and son (played by real-life father/son Mohammad and Saleh Bakri) as they spend a day together, fulfilling their "wajib" or duty to deliver the invitations for the wedding of their daughter and sister. During their time together on the road, in traffic, and visits, many issues, conflicts, regrets, and past wounds come to the surface, forcing them to finally address them.
This was quite a surprise. The film follows a very simple premise, with a solid script, and lets the actors handle the rest. As I was about to write this, I found out that the leads were actually father/son in real life, and it figures, cause their interactions were so believable and true. I loved how director Annemarie Jacir didn't rely in gimmicks or political statements to get her point across, but still managed to pepper a good amount of socio-political commentary all through.
A pretty darn good drama, all around. Strongly recommended. Grade: rating_4
I went into this blind as well! I saw you post this, and immediately went and watched it. You have a very good write-up, and don't think I can add any more, except to say thanks.. I noticed I get these kneejerk impulses to watch a movie after someone posts it, usually because of a title, or a line, and I can think of just some really good ones I recently saw.
M (1931) Fritz Lang
The hunt for a child-murderer. When the police struggle to catch the killer, the criminals of the german city decide they are gonna catch him.
8
Paris,Texas. (1984) Wim Wenders
Harry Dean Stantons performance gives the movie credibility.
8
https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=69455
Both fine movies. "M" might be my favorite thriller, and "Paris, Texas" might be his best road movie, along with "Alice in the Streets" (also gave it an 8/10 - Harry is always good)
matt72582
11-29-20, 05:31 PM
Wajib - 7.5/10
Good, minimalist. It's on Amazon Prime (I'm milking the hell out of those free-trials). Solid all around. Good script, acting, and some good humor. I love how the father has his little white lies, or act as if he knew some kind of local information despite hearing (and being corrected) by someone a few minutes before. The father-son were damn good actors.. Maybe the younger guy is a star now (if he hasn't been killed by the mossad)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a6/Wajib_%28film%29.jpg
WHITBISSELL!
11-29-20, 06:05 PM
Shadow of a Doubt - This makes 20 Hitchcock films I've seen and even though there aren’t any of his usual set pieces or exotic locales it still delivers the goods suspense wise. Joseph Cotten plays Charlie Oakley, who’s first appears onscreen in his room at a boarding house where the landlady informs him that two men have been asking about him. He sets out to ascertain their true motivations as they pursue and he eludes. Hitchcock lets the story unfold at a deliberate, unhurried pace as Oakley decides to visit his sister and her family in the small California town of Santa Rosa. There he meets up with his namesake niece Charlie Newton (Teresa Wright). They seem to share an uncommon connection with mentions of their almost telepathic bond. But that’s more of a plot device than anything. Young Charlie arrives at her misgivings about her uncle the old fashioned way, through subtle clues and his somewhat erratic behavior and flashes of temper. The cast is first rate with Cotten and Wright holding center stage, engaging in a Hitchcock trademark game of cat and mouse and essentially carrying the movie. 90/100
https://i.imgur.com/1YbaSP1.jpg?1
(I have tried to refer to plot-points here without making them spoilers, I hope I succeeded.)
I just put this on in the background while I made breakfast because I hadn't seen it in several years. Of course, I ended up watching the whole thing.
I'm the person who really, really liked this movie the first time around and didn't think it was a letdown after Casino Royale (yes, there is such a person).
And I really, really liked it again. I mean, as much as pretty much any of the new Bond movies. I prefer this film to Skyfall myself (as I have always felt, since my first viewing in the theater, that the third act of that film is a total non-sensical collapse).
https://media.giphy.com/media/5xtDarmwsuR9sDRObyU/giphy.gif
I agree so much with this...
Shadow of a Doubt - This makes 20 Hitchcock films I've seen and even though there aren’t any of his usual set pieces or exotic locales it still delivers the goods suspense wise. Joseph Cotten plays Charlie Oakley, who’s first appears onscreen in his room at a boarding house where the landlady informs him that two men have been asking about him. He sets out to ascertain their true motivations as they pursue and he eludes. Hitchcock lets the story unfold at a deliberate, unhurried pace as Oakley decides to visit his sister and her family in the small California town of Santa Rosa. There he meets up with his namesake niece Charlie Newton (Teresa Wright). They seem to share an uncommon connection with mentions of their almost telepathic bond. But that’s more of a plot device than anything. Young Charlie arrives at her misgivings about her uncle the old fashioned way, through subtle clues and his somewhat erratic behavior and flashes of temper. The cast is first rate with Cotten and Wright holding center stage, engaging in a Hitchcock trademark game of cat and mouse and essentially carrying the movie. 90/100
Oh, I love this one. I think it's one of Hitchcock's most complex films.
I went into this blind as well! I saw you post this, and immediately went and watched it. You have a very good write-up, and don't think I can add any more, except to say thanks.. I noticed I get these kneejerk impulses to watch a movie after someone posts it, usually because of a title, or a line, and I can think of just some really good ones I recently saw.
Thank you. Glad you liked it as well!
Takoma11
11-29-20, 06:28 PM
The Spy Who Dumped Me, 2018 (F)
Just awful. All I could think of while watching this is how much better Leslie Nielsen's movies, and even the Scary Movie franchise were at doing comedy. Good, structured movies with a preponderence of jokes and lightness and actual punchlines and time to breathe.
This movie is not a comedy, first off. It's an underwhelming thriller plot in which Kate Mckinnon and Mila Kunis act silly and never stop talking. Even when there's a funny moment, it's ruined because no one can ever shut up. The thriller elements are completely void of comedy and drag the mood down into the pits, and the comedy elements make it impossible to take the dramatic elements seriously. There's also a ton of dry character moments that just add nothing.
One of my favorite recent comedies. Dumb in all the right ways. And several set pieces that I liked, such as the confrontation with the one-night stand and the attempted car theft.
Rewatched it recently with my sister and her husband and liked it just as much the second time around. I'd probably give it a 3.5 because it has a few pacing issues and at times relies too much on the charm of its leads instead of solid writing, but I didn't care that much.
Takoma11
11-29-20, 06:38 PM
https://www.pluggedin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Beyond-the-Mask-large.jpg
Behind the Mask, 2015
Barely worth writing up. (Just needed something on the TV while I did some knitting).
Set in sort of an alternate history of the American colonies, an assassin tries to reform himself in the colonies, including thwarting a plot to destroy the Continental Congress.
This has a strong made-for-TV vibe. The leads are all a bit too pretty, the writing a bit too cutesy. It's sort of inoffensive and vaguely pleasant, but maybe not as much if you were actually giving it 100% of your attention.
2.5
gomorra82
11-29-20, 06:39 PM
Both fine movies. "M" might be my favorite thriller, and "Paris, Texas" might be his best road movie, along with "Alice in the Streets" (also gave it an 8/10 - Harry is always good)
I might end up seeing some more of Wenders films. The only other film i have seen from him is The Million Dollar Hotel, which i saw around the time it came out. And i wasn’t acually aware that it was directed by Wenders.
Saboteur (Alfred Hitchcock, 1942) 3 6.5/10
Torn Curtain (Alfred Hitchcock, 1966) 2.5 6/10
Marnie (Alfred Hitchcock, 1964) 3- 6.5/10
The Trouble with Harry (Alfred Hittchcock, 1955) 4- 8/10
https://64.media.tumblr.com/63bc4a55245a9668fffe9f8b740e7c42/ebaaaff5a71f22c5-79/s540x810/13d884a0bbfc0726f104a29a92dad2b97d4fc0d8.gifv
Most of us know them, Captain (Edmund Gwynn), even if we've never buried a dead body and unearthed it three times over.
Black Beauty (Ashley Avis, 2020) 2.5 6/10
Topaz (Alfred Hitchcock, 1969) 2 5/10
Don't Listen (Ángel Gómez Hernández, 2020) 2.5 6/10
Shadow of a Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock, 1943) 3.5- 7/10
https://25.media.tumblr.com/548b8c3d139b2da84fca9ce1f418c38b/tumblr_ml9zbowonK1qiz3j8o1_500.gif
Shouldn't wear that ring in public in front of certain people.
The Girl from Parma AKA La parmigiana (Antonio Pietrangeli, 1963) 2.5 6/10
The Beast (Ludovico Di Martino, 2020) 2.5 5.5/10
Call (Lee Chung-Hyun, 2020) 2.5+ 6/10
Whirlybird (Matt Yoka, 2020) 3+ 6.5/10
https://resizing.flixster.com/1CNsdvaZ2dCed5xvBW2PgrnYKIE=/740x380/v1.bjsyNDMxOTk0O2o7MTg2NTg7MTIwMDsxOTIwOzEwODA
Bill Tur's Breaking News helicopter in front of the L.A. moon during the Rodney King riots.
Crazy, Not Insane (Alex Gibney, 2020) 3 6.5/10
Penrod's Double Trouble (Lewis Seiler, 1938) 2.5 6/10
The Mystery of D.B. Cooper (John Dower, 2020) 3 6.5/10
Zappa (Alex Winter, 2020) 3.5 7/10
https://i.pinimg.com/474x/fb/be/3c/fbbe3c0362895a9ed69790b2afe22509--best-guitarist-frank-zappa.jpg
Love letter to the life and music of Frank Zappa.
Princess of the Row (Van Maximilian Carlson, 2019) 2.5 6/10
Superintelligence (Ben Falcone, 2020) 2+ 5/10
The Christmas Chronicles 2 (Christopher Columbus, 2020) 2.5+ 6/10
Tenet (Christopher Nolan, 2020) 3 6.5/10
https://thumbs.gfycat.com/DevotedFemaleCoqui-size_restricted.gif
Lots going on here - and something about the end of the world.
sawduck
11-29-20, 09:53 PM
Little Big Man
8/10
An underrated gem of a movie starring Dustin Hoffman and Chief Dan George
John W Constantine
11-29-20, 11:06 PM
The Monster Squad (1987)- 8/10
Picked this one up a while back when I was searching thru Shane Black's catalogue. Was meaning to watch it around Halloween but didn't get to it until now. This was pretty par with his other writing efforts in terms of fun. Enjoy the relative unknow cast that doesn't include main stays from this period of time, kind of refreshing in a way. Low budget and sweet.
xSookieStackhouse
11-29-20, 11:36 PM
The Witches (1990) 10/10 had to rewatched it again cause i watched the witches remake a while ago and they both amazing movies
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjI1MDg5NzAyMV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNzU5Mzk4NjE@._V1_.jpg
Yeah, first time. And it was really good.
I really enjoyed Quantum of Solace. Everyone was bagging on it, but I liked it both times I watched it. I thought it was a lovely epilogue to the events of Casino Royale while still being its own thing.
I am pleased to know I was not alone. That is kind of exactly how I felt about it.
gomorra82
11-30-20, 12:00 AM
Kin-Dza-Dza! (1983) Georgiy Daneliya. Sci Fi comedy. Good entertainment.
69474
We follow two russian men, who ends up on the planet Pluk, lightyears away from earth.
8
Shadow of a Doubt - This makes 20 Hitchcock films I've seen and even though there aren’t any of his usual set pieces or exotic locales it still delivers the goods suspense wise. Joseph Cotten plays Charlie Oakley, who’s first appears onscreen in his room at a boarding house where the landlady informs him that two men have been asking about him. He sets out to ascertain their true motivations as they pursue and he eludes. Hitchcock lets the story unfold at a deliberate, unhurried pace as Oakley decides to visit his sister and her family in the small California town of Santa Rosa. There he meets up with his namesake niece Charlie Newton (Teresa Wright). They seem to share an uncommon connection with mentions of their almost telepathic bond. But that’s more of a plot device than anything. Young Charlie arrives at her misgivings about her uncle the old fashioned way, through subtle clues and his somewhat erratic behavior and flashes of temper. The cast is first rate with Cotten and Wright holding center stage, engaging in a Hitchcock trademark game of cat and mouse and essentially carrying the movie. 90/100
I liked this so much more on second-viewing. I had a lot of positive things to say about it the first time but just didn't connect with it. This time (on TCM) I was able to sit back and connect with all the things it does so well. The romance angle still seemed very forced and frankly unnecessary, but it is what it is.
ThatDarnMKS
11-30-20, 12:18 AM
THE AMERICAN FRIEND *****/*****
An excellent neo-noir that feels like Melville decided to adapt Highsmith. The first genre film I’ve seen from Wim Wenders but I’d be keen to see more.
https://i.imgur.com/rIn7E8t.jpg?1
Well, I haven't seen this movie in at least 20 years, maybe not since it was in theaters or if there was a cable run sometime in the late 80s or so. I remember that I liked it back then but then got it into my head that it would be corny and/or cheesy if I went back to it and that it probably was to begin with and that it was probably too dated and all that.
The fact is, or at least my opinion is, it is a great romantic comedy, absolutely deserving of its legendary status, and is really a pretty great movie. The tagline is very misleading it is not really about whether friends can sleep together and still be friends/whatever (although it is discussed in the movie). That is such a gross oversimplification of the very real ways in which this movie looks at love, particularly love for people who have already lost at it once. It is a sweet movie but I don't think it's saccharine. Having been through this, I felt it was very, very real and a pretty good portrayal of these people and of the feelings many of us have navigating romance after divorce and navigating friendship and romance.
Really, the whole thing is just exactly as charming as it should be and really succeeds at what it is attempting to do. The writing is first rate, Ryan and Crystal are perfect (although the age difference is a little weird when they are supposed to be contemporaries), and Reiner handles it all pretty deftly. It feels a bit, as many have said, like a Woody Allen romantic comedy if Woody Allen wasn't cynical and sarcastic but really wanted his characters to be happy. Whether that is a good assessment or not, this movie is a great romantic comedy.
skizzerflake
11-30-20, 01:00 AM
I got a cheap film noir set, starting at the top with Whirlpool (1950). Directed by Otto Preminger, starring Gene Tierney and Jose Ferrer, a woman seems to have committed a murder but has no memory and may have been hypnotized. It's classic noir, excellent monochrome cinematography that's been well transferred to DVD. All that's left to know is whether SHE committed the murder.
:popcorn::popcorn::popcorn:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGiSdMOhb_Y
WHITBISSELL!
11-30-20, 01:03 AM
I liked this so much more on second-viewing. I had a lot of positive things to say about it the first time but just didn't connect with it. This time (on TCM) I was able to sit back and connect with all the things it does so well. The romance angle still seemed very forced and frankly unnecessary, but it is what it is.You mean niece Charlie and the younger detective? You're right of course but I've noticed that about movies of that era. People declaring their undying love for each other with no plausible setup or buildup. It's almost like it was a stipulation for getting a movie made.
xSookieStackhouse
11-30-20, 04:41 AM
https://i.imgur.com/1YbaSP1.jpg?1
(I have tried to refer to plot-points here without making them spoilers, I hope I succeeded.)
I just put this on in the background while I made breakfast because I hadn't seen it in several years. Of course, I ended up watching the whole thing.
I'm the person who really, really liked this movie the first time around and didn't think it was a letdown after Casino Royale (yes, there is such a person).
And I really, really liked it again. I mean, as much as pretty much any of the new Bond movies. I prefer this film to Skyfall myself (as I have always felt, since my first viewing in the theater, that the third act of that film is a total non-sensical collapse). I've always really enjoyed the complexity of the relationship between Bond and M in this film and there are a couple of moments here (when he escapes but returns to tell M that Fields' bravery must be documented in her report and in a later scene when he tells her that he never left M.I.6 despite her perception to the contrary) that I just really really love for the characters and their relationship but especially for building who Bond is in this incarnation. I was really happy with Bond's relationship with Mathis in this film, especially flowing over from the last. I thought Kurylenko was a very good "Bond girl" (even though it's hard to live up to Vesper from the previous film, who haunts this one to the very end). And I thought Amalric's villain was an interesting turn on the classic Bond villain, just being the slimy, sociopathic representative of the shadowy organization, rather than some arch mustache-twirler. I particularly liked the angle of Revenge and whether Bond was motivated by it and mirrored by another character who is totally motivated by it and how both of those arcs resolve. I also loved the Opera scene (which I thought was as clever as anything in the Bond movies, particularly when Mr. White remains seated) and the climactic scene when Bond faces Yusef and Corinne. Just great stuff.
There was just so much that I liked here.
I'm not sure why so many people dislike this movie or think it is a step down from the rest of the series, though I am aware that that is the case. I liked everything about this film on re-watching it and I suspect I will re-watch it more often than either Skyfall or Spectre.
they did a guinness world records on the film spectre Largest film stunt explosion
John-Connor
11-30-20, 06:10 AM
TENET 2020 Christopher Nolan
69475
4
Hillbilly Elegy (2020)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/40/Hillbilly_Elegy_%28film%29.png
Pretty decent, all of the acting was accomplished (esp Amy Adams) and I'd never heard of the book/memoir beforehand. A bit "soapy" but when you have a film based on family memoirs that's perhaps unavoidable.
3
ScarletLion
11-30-20, 07:44 AM
Matthias & Maxime (2019)
After a couple of misfires, Dolan is back. It's his usual fare (sexuality and mother issues) but there's alot of pent up emotion here and he nails the tone beautifully. He's an underrated actor too. Great soundtrack.
3.5 7.5/10
Dreams (1990)
Obviously different from most of Kurosawa's other work but some beautiful images.
4 8.1/10
https://i.imgur.com/Fvbxgek.gif
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
You have to admire Peckinpah's steadfast approach to make his films grittier, bloodier and darker than what came before. Really enjoyed this one.
4 7.8/10
Citizen Kane (1941)
Rewatch in preparation for 'Mank'
5
Cannibal Ferox (1981)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4d/Cannibalferoxposter.jpg/220px-Cannibalferoxposter.jpg
I would have been too young to see this at the time and I think it was on the banned list. Story about a group who venture to the rain forest to debunk the myth that the lady believes is cannibalism. Bit of a cheap knock-off "Holocaust" (and indeed, Robert Kerman appears here too) and doesn't really try to dress itself up in any anthropological overtones. The acting is woeful but the violence is nice and nasty. Whole film feels rushed so I suppose that was a case of budget and trying to "exploit" the cannibal genre.
2.5
this_is_the_ girl
11-30-20, 10:06 AM
https://img.aullidos.com/imagenes/voces-2020/imagen-9.jpg
Don't Listen (2020, Ángel Gómez Hernández)
2.5
It was OK. Far from original and terribly uneven, with some good scenes and scares alternating with not-so-good ones, but I enjoyed it for what it was. I thought it kicked off to a promising start (that opening shot was pretty nifty), and a decent first half, but the second half (starting with the introduction of that old supernatural researcher and his daughter) went downhill for me.
Oh and by the way...
How did they not notice the pictures on the wall earlier?:confused:
Cannibal Ferox (1981)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4d/Cannibalferoxposter.jpg/220px-Cannibalferoxposter.jpg
I would have been too young to see this at the time and I think it was on the banned list. Story about a group who venture to the rain forest to debunk the myth that the lady believes is cannibalism. Bit of a cheap knock-off "Holocaust" (and indeed, Robert Kerman appears here too) and doesn't really try to dress itself up in any anthropological overtones. The acting is woeful but the violence is nice and nasty. Whole film feels rushed so I suppose that was a case of budget and trying to "exploit" the cannibal genre.
2.5
Realise I'd rated this not so long ago (forgot) sorry folks, age catching up with me :)
You mean niece Charlie and the younger detective? You're right of course but I've noticed that about movies of that era. People declaring their undying love for each other with no plausible setup or buildup. It's almost like it was a stipulation for getting a movie made.
Yeah, I think you're right, it's like there HAD to be a love-angle. But in this one, we're at undying love in like a day and a half, amidst a deadly mystery, and the romance adds nothing but distraction really. It's a shame but not that big of one because the movie is very good.
Deep Rising - 3
It's derivative, cheesy, has clunky dialogue and its special effects resemble those found in SyFy original movies, but I still enjoyed the heck out of this. Having a premise similar to Alien's, the movie it cribs from the most, the stealthy, many-tentacled monster's lair is a derelict cruise ship while our heroes - who are hardly heroes - include pirates for hire, a thief and a band of mercenaries. Director Stephen Sommers elevates the material by making the thrills visceral, adding unpredictability in spite of the familiar setup and by giving it a sense of fun. There were times when I pictured him in the director's chair saying "isn't this great?" with a big smile on his face. It also has a deep character actor roster, with everyone knowing what kind of movie they're in and whose awed and fearful reactions to the monster give it legitimacy despite its dated CGI. While the cast has many recognizable faces from Famke Janssen to Wes Studi, I was most impressed by the less well-known Kevin J. O'Connor as Joey, the wise-cracking engineer and audience surrogate. With his screechy voice and goofy one-liners, I assumed I would end up hating him when it was all over, but I soon found myself truly caring about what happens to him. As much as I enjoyed it, the movie never rises above the other ones that inspired it, and while I can forgive the stale special effects, lines like "I've got a bad feeling about this" and "there's something you don't see every day" would have seemed dated in its release year. Even so, it's as good a proof as any that enthusiasm and professionalism can elevate B-grade material. Oh, and not to spoil it too much, but it's a shame we'll never receive what the ending promises.
the samoan lawyer
11-30-20, 11:42 AM
Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001) - 3.5
The Devil All the Time (2020) - 3
Haunt (2019) - 2.5
Cold Fish (2010) - 3.5
The Lie (2018) - 1.5
John-Connor
11-30-20, 11:45 AM
The Trouble with Harry 1955 Alfred Hitchcock
69480
4+
https://images.wolfgangsvault.com/m/xlarge/ZZZ060665-PO/the-usual-suspects-poster-sep-15-1995.webp
Shamefuly, I admit I've never seen this movie. Now I know.
Chypmunk
11-30-20, 12:05 PM
Cold Fish (2010) - 3.5
Nice to see some love for this one :up:
martyrofevil
11-30-20, 01:00 PM
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/IV711ghffDa8TmhBDHaszQ0esRuyjZjvWcE9YBe68VRrWDnhMniK4inbJ5TKWRepoXLvrrMrr0l3cJNpAEhttkWU_aTTsBB5Apzh g2mmBzUQ
I-Be Area
dir. Ryan Trecartin, 2007
An hour-40 of completely unbridled gay chaos filtered through a 2000's internet culture fever dream. Almost entirely non-content that somehow manages to string together scene-to-scene just enough to avoid being complete nonsense and there's so many oddly likeable characters throughout to help carry you through the especially dense, loud, near-nonsense parts. Feels a bit like something that would air on Adult Swim at 3am but a bit less forced. Really loved this. 8/10
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/yyyKmiTwBgLwxOt5dsjCOqYSyb3zzguXbq1ayAXB6u-M9RSa9_hJqtsKdHUAYGxKGbxHCRIxZQ8takjEGGpW7p9Xp5mqLfsEbl0mnaSMxi8bXLO4_pdExTBvS0rXq7XnWAdyd7yg-au_hvkKNfZb
The Trouble with Harry 1955 Alfred Hitchcock
69480
4+
My mom took me to see this in the theater when it go some special screening when I was a kid (this'd be around maybe 1982-84 range) and I really liked it.
John-Connor
11-30-20, 04:03 PM
My mom took me to see this in the theater when it go some special screening when I was a kid (this'd be around maybe 1982-84 range) and I really liked it.
Saw it for the first time today after my mom reminded me :) Perfect little fall/autumn movie by the master. Great location and cast, with a very young Blake Carrington :p
Olivier Parent
11-30-20, 05:23 PM
69488
5/5 DAMN MASTERPIECE makes me want to watch his revenge trilogy
Fabulous
11-30-20, 08:08 PM
The Good Shepherd (2006)
3.5
https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/axiHReDKcLP5R3x6IVOl5DrP9RX.jpg
GulfportDoc
11-30-20, 08:30 PM
I got a cheap film noir set, starting at the top with Whirlpool (1950). Directed by Otto Preminger, starring Gene Tierney and Jose Ferrer, a woman seems to have committed a murder but has no memory and may have been hypnotized. It's classic noir, excellent monochrome cinematography that's been well transferred to DVD. All that's left to know is whether SHE committed the murder.
:popcorn::popcorn::popcorn:
Wonderful movie! Tierney was one of the most beautiful woman to ever be in Hollywood films. And no one was more suave or debonair than Jose Ferrer.... that voice!
The story is one of many in the 1940s that explored the use of hypnotism. This one was a beauty.
GulfportDoc
11-30-20, 08:36 PM
Yeah, I think you're right, it's like there HAD to be a love-angle. But in this one, we're at undying love in like a day and a half, amidst a deadly mystery, and the romance adds nothing but distraction really. It's a shame but not that big of one because the movie is very good.
I agree with you. I think the romance was written so that the detective would be able to gain more inside knowledge of the case he was pursuing against the Uncle Charlie character.
StuSmallz
11-30-20, 11:31 PM
Batman Returns (Burton, '92):
https://i.ibb.co/gj4hy3B/1218-batman2.jpg (https://ibb.co/yf470Xb)
The Bat, The Cat, The Penguin
I was never really a big fan of Warner Brother's original series of Batman films on the whole, as they generally seemed unable to find the proper tone or strike the right balance between style and substance, a criticism which absolutely applies to Tim Burton's original Batman, as Burton seemed more interested in developing the character of Gotham City than in focusing on the film's actual characters. That being said, however, I can certainly make an exception for its sequel, 1992's Batman Returns; sure, it has its fair share of problems, not the least of which is its occasionally overbearing, overly dark tone, which got plenty of parental backlash at the time, and earned the ire of McDonald's and their tie-in line of movie toys, but it mostly makes up for that with plenty of Burton's signature stylistic flair, an overall sense of dark fun, and dare I say it, a surprising amount of substance, at least when it comes to the film's central relationship.
Admittedly, the story proceeds in fits and starts, kind of awkwardly going from one random plot tangent to another with basically every new scene, which shows the difficulty screenwriter Daniel Waters had in balancing the film's four major characters, not to mention all the supporting players (although the stream-of-consciousness plotting kind of enhances the film's overall dreamlike quality, and the dialogue, to Waters' credit, is relentlessly snappy and quotable). At any rate, smooth storytelling isn't really the main appeal of Returns anyway, in light of the film's incredible style and atmosphere, balancing out the inherent artificiality of its soundstage-bound Gotham City with a rich, chilly Christmas time ambience (and the typically cheerful spirit of the holiday makes for a great seasonal contrast with the film's overall tortured, cynical tone), and Returns also benefits greatly from Stefan Czapsky's grand, elegantly sweeping cinematography, Danny Elfman's darkly whimsical score, Bo Welch's gothic production design, which withers Gotham under the granite stare of massive, oppressive, ominipresent statues, and Burton's macabre stylistic flourishes, and incredibly colorful, limitless sense of imagination (or at least, it seemed limitless at this point in his career... ahem).
And the characters in Returns are just as exaggerated as its aesthetics, whether it be Christopher Walken's slimy, brash, corrupt retail mogul Max Schreck, or Danny DeVito's monstrously deformed, manically ranting Penguin, though these parts are over-the-top to a fault at times, especially DeVito, who, although he puts in a technically strong performance here, his character is still so needlessly, distractingly revolting and lecherous that he eventually just becomes tiresome to watch, which leaves Selina Kyle as the best character here, portrayed in an iconic (and unfortunately, not Oscar-nominated) turn by Michelle Pfeiffer. While she approaches campy caricature herself sometimes as a pre-transformation Selina or the avenging feminist Catwoman, as either an outsized parody of a frizzy, bespectacled, bumbling nerd, or that nerd's silly idea of what a predatory femme fatale from Hollywood would act like in real life, she's still always utterly convincing regardless of which mode she's in, and she shines her brightest when she just gets to be herself, which is ironically the side of Selina who has no idea just who she is, as she's caught between the two warring factions of her personality in a portrayal that's both incredibly passionate, hopelessly sad, and ultimately lost at the same time, as a woman who can't help but be torn apart by the struggle between the vengeful vigilante she's become, and the normal person she wishes she could be.
Her undeniable onscreen chemistry with Bruce even gives his character some substance by association, as, when he's doing the mandatory crime-fighting as Batman, he's often just a silent, glowering presence, one that's often forced to take a backseat in his own film, but his tragic romance with Selina, and the way they can't help but be drawn to one another because of the inner pain from their dual/dueling identities (which is also the reason why they're doomed to never be together in the end) is what gives his character some actual dimension here, certainly moreso than in the '89 film, where Burton hardly seemed to care to develop him in any compelling manner. So, while certainly a flawed film in certain aspects, on the whole, Batman Returns still manages to be a satisfying sort of superhero fairy tale, one that, although its quirky sensibilities do take some getting used to, they're still enjoyable once you adjust to them, so give it a chance, will ya?
Favorite Moment:https://youtu.be/P_yN85I4YOY
Final Score: 8
https://i.imgur.com/HUhm69k.jpg?1
I feel like context is one of the most important things for enjoying the larger catalogue of films.
If one does not know that this was 1941, that the Film Noir genre did not yet exist, and that this was Humphrey Bogart's breakout role from being considered a supporting actor in Hollywood, perhaps one might think this was a run of the mill Bogie ganster/noir flick.
But with that context, one actually watches the movie differently, noticing all the things audiences were seeing for the first time... not the least of which is a certain future screen legend who would actually not even get top billing in a film in which he is clearly the lead. That would go to Ida Lupino, the bigger star at the time.
Given that context, there is a lot to take in and appreciate and enjoy here. It's a genuinely good ganster flick that goes pretty dark by the end. Bogart is perfect. Simply perfect. Ida Lupino is no slouch either, by the way. The story is good and the bones of it would make a prototype for so many films to come. It's and exciting and also kinda sad film. The hero of the movie, in the era of the Hays Code, is a criminal, a robber who can be as ruthless as any, but one with a soul and someone to love. In the era of the Hays Code, we all know what must happen to him (and her). But we are taken there with both excitement and empathy. We know we shouldn't be rooting for him, but dammit, we just can't help it.
If you're a fan of old crime films, you wanna see "pre-Noir", you wanna see Humphrey Bogart's breakout role, or hell, maybe you wanna see Ida Lupino, this is a movie worth seeing.
Fabulous
12-01-20, 02:17 AM
The African Doctor (2016)
2
https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/l3V5iCkwNxWmwXeu16S2mkn4dgZ.jpg
1959, rating_3_5
http://www.athensbook.gr/assets/elc/1611/nazarin.jpg
1964, rating_4
https://www.filmamo.it/assets/public/img/movies/49687.jpg
ThatDarnMKS
12-01-20, 09:50 AM
https://i.imgur.com/HUhm69k.jpg?1
I feel like context is one of the most important things for enjoying the larger catalogue of films.
If one does not know that this was 1941, that the Film Noir genre did not yet exist, and that this was Humphrey Bogart's breakout role from being considered a supporting actor in Hollywood, perhaps one might think this was a run of the mill Bogie ganster/noir flick.
But with that context, one actually watches the movie differently, noticing all the things audiences were seeing for the first time... not the least of which is a certain future screen legend who would actually not even get top billing in a film in which he is clearly the lead. That would go to Ida Lupino, the bigger star at the time.
Given that context, there is a lot to take in and appreciate and enjoy here. It's a genuinely good ganster flick that goes pretty dark by the end. Bogart is perfect. Simply perfect. Ida Lupino is no slouch either, by the way. The story is good and the bones of it would make a prototype for so many films to come. It's and exciting and also kinda sad film. The hero of the movie, in the era of the Hays Code, is a criminal, a robber who can be as ruthless as any, but one with a soul and someone to love. In the era of the Hays Code, we all know what must happen to him (and her). But we are taken there with both excitement and empathy. We know we shouldn't be rooting for him, but dammit, we just can't help it.
If you're a fan of old crime films, you wanna see "pre-Noir", you wanna see Humphrey Bogart's breakout role, or hell, maybe you wanna see Ida Lupino, this is a movie worth seeing.
Big fan of HS. Bogie’s career is interesting in that so many of the roles that made him iconic were roles that he only got because George Raft, the bigger gangster star, turned down. Now which one is the Hollywood legend?
I think HS would be especially interesting to modern viewers not only for its place in Bogie’s career but in its influence that reaches all the way to today. Hell or High Water not only follows the general formula of empathetic criminal breaking the law for somewhat noble means, but also lifting the climax almost directly.
skizzerflake
12-01-20, 11:11 AM
Wonderful movie! Tierney was one of the most beautiful woman to ever be in Hollywood films. And no one was more suave or debonair than Jose Ferrer.... that voice!
The story is one of many in the 1940s that explored the use of hypnotism. This one was a beauty.
Indeed. I will have to watch it (Whirlpool,1950) again. When I started, I was doing something else, only half paying attention and then got hooked on it. Between the movie's looks, Tierney's looks and Ferrar's accent, this one seems worth a second view, paying better attention.
In a previous career time, I actually took a psych course that went into hypnotism and this was interesting for that reason. Unfortunately, however, this being classic Hollywood, their take on the science of that subject was rather cinematic.
ScarletLion
12-01-20, 02:30 PM
'Mank' (2020)
Dir.: David Fincher.
https://i.imgur.com/oroM2lM.gif
Looks pretty awesome on the big screen. Some brilliant photography, set design and costume design. Pretty good cast and that era of Old Hollywood is captured perfectly. I'm not sure it's the 5 star masterpiece some critics are making it out to be but it's entertaining. The story of Herman J. Mankiewicz is told well for the most part with his struggles to write the screenplay of Citizen Kane the main theme. I did feel there were some historical inaccuracies towards the end, although it all just adds to the mystery of the movie.
7.6/10
WHITBISSELL!
12-01-20, 04:57 PM
Welcome to Hard Times - For some reason I thought this had a higher rating and was therefore worthy of a watch. But it was corny in that dated 60's way with material that's been reused dozens of times in like minded westerns. But I suppose that can be explained away by it being originally produced for television. It was also distressingly talky. Maybe it was the cast that first drew me in. Henry Fonda stars with Aldo Ray as the villain and it had plenty of supporting talent like Warren Oates and loads of character actors like Keenan Wynn, Edgar Buchanan, Royal Dano, Lon Chaney Jr., Denver Pyle and Elisha Cook Jr. Janis Paige also contributes a sketchy Irish accent. And I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it might have influenced Blazing Saddles along with a scene that The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean apparently lifted in it's entirety. All in all though I don't think anyone should bother with this. 60/100
GulfportDoc
12-01-20, 07:51 PM
69534
ZAPPA (2020)
Written and directed by Alex Winter (The Panama Papers, Bill & Ted Face the Music), this is a well put together accolade to iconoclastic jazz/rock composer/musician Frank Zappa. The subject matter is enhanced by Winter's exclusive authorized access to Zappa's massive personal archive --known as "The Vault"-- containing many thousands of audio and video recordings and memorabilia covering his private and public life's work from aged 16 to his death at 52.
Zappa was a life-long compulsive recorder and editor, frequently compiling recordings consisting of sessions or concerts recorded sometimes years apart. Similarly Mr. Winter does a clever job of selecting and arranging bits of Zappa interviews, stage performances, and TV appearances. There is lots of behind-the-scenes and previously discussed revelations about Zappa, his family, his political views, his philosophy of music and composition, and his personal activities. It must have been a daunting task to delve into all that material, and try to capsulize it into a two hour documentary.
Illuminating interviews were featured from some of the phenomenal musicians I had the pleasure of playing with in Zappa's Mothers of Invention: Ruth Underwood, Bunk Gardner and Ian Underwood, along with guitarists Steve Vai, and Mike Keneally, and others.
If there was any shortcoming in the documentary it was the absence of anything negative about the subject; and there were no interviews of any of Frank's children: Moon, Dweezil, Ahmet or Diva. Authorized by the Zappa Family Trust, the film is more of a tribute or homage rather than a stark expose or journalistic piece. But it's so packed with information and rare concert footage, that the film speeds by to its touching conclusion. Zappa was one of the most fascinating composers/musicians of the 20th Century, and his life and times are well represented in this first rate documentary.
Available for rent from many outlets.
Doc's rating: 9/10
Evergreen (Joe Duca, 2019) 2.5 5.5/10
That Touch of Mink (Delbert Mann, 1962) 3+ 6.5/10
Mags and Julie Go on a Road Trip (Ryann London, 2020) 2+ 5/10
Indiscreet (Stanlet Donen, 1958) 3.5 7/10
https://anybodygotamatch.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/indiscreet-1958.jpg?w=809
Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman have a battle of wits in between loving each other.
Some of the Best: Twenty-Five Years of Motion Picture Leadership (No Director Listed, 1949) 3.5 7/10
Notes for My Son (Carlos Sorin, 2020) 2.5 6/10
Faith (Eli Daughdrill, 2019) 2 5/10
Too Many Kisses (Paul Sloane, 1925) 2.5 5.5/10
https://bottomshelfmovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/37D67958-2081-4B30-9623-ACE28DCF17D4.jpeg
Harpo Marx and William Powell are two of the baddies trying to break up Richard Dix and Frances Howard in Basque Country.
Buddy Games (Josh Duhamel, 2019) 2 5/10
Our Time Will Come (Ann Hui, 2017) 2.5 5.5/10
Mosul (Matthew Michael Carnahan, 2019) 3 6.5/10
Getting to Know You (Joan Carr-Wiggin, 2020) 2.5 6/10
https://www.liveforfilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GETTING-TO-KNOW-YOU-STILL1-copy-550x309.jpg
Through a series of complications, Rupert Penry-Jones and Natasha Little pose as a married couple in a mature yet crazy rom dramedy.
Sinful (Rich Mallery, 2020) 2 5/10
Flap (Carol Reed, 1970) 2.5 5.5/10
Body (Dan Berk & Robert Olsen, 2015) 2 5/10
Sheitan AKA Satan (John Kim Chapiron, 2006) 2.5 5.5/10
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fANxbIAv2uY/Xrl_bylDNzI/AAAAAAAAAiA/e1998fhoUHgohuHB9LYFImilYp9e3fnpwCK4BGAsYHg/sheitan%2B4.JPG
Vincent Cassel is disgusting and insane in this unclassifiable film.
In My End is My Beginning (Min Kyu-dong, 2009) 2.5 5.5/10
Centigrade (Brendan Walsh, 2020) 2 5/10
Are You Glad I'm Here (Noor Gharzeddine, 2018) 2.5 6/10
Strange Lady in Town (Mervyn LeRot, 1955) 3 6.5/10
https://dkanut5j171nq.cloudfront.net/catalogue-images/ti117652.jpg
Greer Garson and Dana Andrews as two doctors in an eventful 1880 Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Fabulous
12-01-20, 08:39 PM
First Knight (1995)
1.5
https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/mk0r6FdfEvvW5vRaBCBsEkray6q.jpg
GulfportDoc
12-01-20, 08:50 PM
I feel like context is one of the most important things for enjoying the larger catalogue of films.
If one does not know that this was 1941, that the Film Noir genre did not yet exist, and that this was Humphrey Bogart's breakout role from being considered a supporting actor in Hollywood, perhaps one might think this was a run of the mill Bogie ganster/noir flick.
But with that context, one actually watches the movie differently, noticing all the things audiences were seeing for the first time... not the least of which is a certain future screen legend who would actually not even get top billing in a film in which he is clearly the lead. That would go to Ida Lupino, the bigger star at the time.
Given that context, there is a lot to take in and appreciate and enjoy here.
...
That's a good point, Wooley. It raises an issue that always surprises me: that people who tend to diss old films tend to compare them against contemporary films; and after which the older films' plots, style, stories and technical aspects have been imitated time and again.
I too like to imagine seeing a film and all of its innovation as if it were being watched at the time it was released.
I know what you mean about the film noir genre not yet existing in 1941. You're referring to film noir as a formally recognized style. As you know there were plenty of noir films from the '30s, and some argue even from the '20s. I forget --Billy Wilder or someone-- said that he didn't know he was making film noir, he was just trying to make a good picture.
Takoma11
12-01-20, 10:29 PM
https://www.thefilmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Hot-Fuzz-Review-Banner.jpg
Hot Fuzz, 2007
All last month people have been scheduling important things for today, and I would go "Oh, heh. That's my birthday." Thus today I had three different important meetings in addition to a regular teaching day. I say "regular", but a Zoom issue meant that I spent the first 30 minutes of the day trying to teach and provide e-mail tech support to frustrated parents at the same time.
It's been, you might say, a day.
In the need of comfort food in every definition of the word, I turned to an old favorite.
Man, how much do I love this movie? From beginning to end it is PERFECT. The dialogue; the performances; the edits; the swan. Wright's flair for visual communication (like a night at the pub where increasingly smaller denominations are passed over the bar) is in top form here, and the central story/mystery is full of twists and turns until the very end.
There is literally nothing that I can fault in this film (aside from maybe one gory set-piece that is a bit too much for me, but that I also recognize is hilarious).
Nothing picks up my mood like Hot Fuzz. For me it's a prime example of "if you could only ever watch 3 movies for the rest of your life . . ."
5
Rockatansky
12-01-20, 10:40 PM
Happy birthday, Takoma.
Takoma11
12-01-20, 10:50 PM
Happy birthday, Takoma.
Thanks!
That's a good point, Wooley. It raises an issue that always surprises me: that people who tend to diss old films tend to compare them against contemporary films; and after which the older films' plots, style, stories and technical aspects have been imitated time and again.
I too like to imagine seeing a film and all of its innovation as if it were being watched at the time it was released.
I know what you mean about the film noir genre not yet existing in 1941. You're referring to film noir as a formally recognized style. As you know there were plenty of noir films from the '30s, and some argue even from the '20s. I forget --Billy Wilder or someone-- said that he didn't know he was making film noir, he was just trying to make a good picture.
Yeah, I think I first learned this maybe from Bonnie and Clyde. There's a moment when I said to myself, "Holy ****, that must have freaked people out in 1967. That's like Pulp Fiction in '94 ****." And the clouds parted for me.
And vis a vis "noir" versus "Noir", yeah, I am specifically referring to The Maltese Falcon (released later that year) commonly being referred to as The First Film Noir.
SpelingError
12-01-20, 11:18 PM
It's Takoma's birthday? Happy birthday then!
Jinnistan
12-01-20, 11:28 PM
And vis a vis "noir" versus "Noir", yeah, I am specifically referring to The Maltese Falcon (released later that year) commonly being referred to as The First Film Noir.
It wasn't even Peter Lorre's first Noir.
Takoma11
12-01-20, 11:44 PM
It's Takoma's birthday? Happy birthday then!
Thank you!
I celebrated by cooking a meal for one, watching a movie under a blanket on the couch, and finishing (FINALLY) knitting a hat.
I'm really leaning into the spinster vibe.
Fabulous
12-01-20, 11:52 PM
Highlander (1986)
2.5
https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/242g8er5qEXz5PDqdLk46QF9gb5.jpg
gomorra82
12-02-20, 12:42 AM
Knife in The Water. ( 1962) Roman Polanski
Most of the story take place on a sailboat. A married couple decide to bring a hiker they picked up by the road, along to go sailing on their boat.
Polanskis first feature film.
8
The Last Picture Show (1973) Peter Bogdanovich
8
Paper Moon (1971) Peter Bogdanovich.
8
Rocco and His Brothers. (1960) Luchino Visconti
A big italian family move to Milan to start a new life.
69546
Rocco and his Brother Simone both have a talent for boxing. The role as Rocco is played by Alain Delon ( Le Samouraï,1967).
8
Fabulous
12-02-20, 04:00 AM
A Royal Affair (2012)
4
https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/vY4JCrt1Fr5u3vgi5sulO7S3tzc.jpg
Steve Freeling
12-02-20, 04:31 AM
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Psychic School Wars (2012) - First Time on Funimation 4.5
I didn't really know what to expect. All I knew was that I saw the trailer on the Your Name Blu-ray and it looked good. So I decided to finally check it out and boy, was it worth it. Ryosuke Nakamura's Psychic School Wars proved to be far more engrossing than its IMDb score and naysayers would have you believe, the characters are likable, and I could see myself returning to it many times in the future. There's no way around this one: the animation is stunning. Every background is a literal work of art and it has some of the boldest colors I've seen. The story is also worth following—though you'll want to watch all the way through the credits to get the whole story since the real ending comes after the credits—and Nakamura and Yuko Naito give their best shot at adapting Taku Mayumura's 1973 novel of the same name for the 21st century, in the novel's seventh adaptation following four live-action series and two live-action films; for my money, they didn't do half-bad, though I must confess that I actually want to go read it now. Shusei Murai has also done an excellent musical score here that effectively captures a wide-eyed wonder during the scenes where insane magic is happening, humor when characters are bickering, and when necessary, melancholy. NYAV Post has yet again delivered an excellent English dub, as they have for such films as Your Name, A Silent Voice, Napping Princess, Mirai, Okko's Inn, Promare, and Weathering With You and such series as Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn and Gundam SEED. Graham Halstead is excellent as Kenji Seki, a 14-year-old living his life in a small town in Japan when his school up and bans cellphones right around the same time a mysterious transfer student arrives, molding him into a likable character with aplomb. Cassandra Lee Morris, who is undoubtedly the biggest name out of all the voice actors in this dub, is equally impressive as Natsuki Suzūra, Kenji's childhood friend who constantly teases him for his crush on a mutual classmate and often calls Kenji stupid in one way or another, even going so far as to dub him a "G--damn moron" in one scene; Kenji also gets beat up quite a bit at her hands, though this is actually because she has feelings for him—that he's completely oblivious to—and she's none too pleased about his—at least in her mind—wandering eyes. Morris also manages to make Natsuki likable, which is pretty impressive since it would be very easy for a character like this to be annoying and nothing more. Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld is also up to par as Kahori Harukawa, the classmate Kenji has a thing for—at least initially, who has a thing for a certain mysterious transfer student. Daniel J. Edwards is rock-solid as Ryoichi Kyogoku, a mysterious transfer student whom Kahori has a thing for, and whom Kenji quickly becomes friends with, who is actually from the future looking for middle school students who have psychic powers. Edwards gives Ryoichi a personality at least somewhat reminiscent of Kaworu Nagisa from Neon Genesis Evangelion, coming off as a bit closed off, not understanding the point of school plays and having never had a hamburger or a cellphone before, much to the surprise of his classmates. Everyone else is also solid and the dub script is completely natural. All things considered, I really enjoyed this one and I don't see why it gets such a bad rap. I'll definitely be returning to it in the future. Later, guys. I think I'm gonna go watch some My Hero Academia so that, for once, I don't have to think about all the stupid crap going on in this house all the time.
https://pad.mymovies.it/filmclub/2019/12/231/locandina.jpg
The Beast
NetFlix has its own Taken, nothing new here. Stick to the original.
Thunderbolt
12-02-20, 09:03 AM
69552
Heartbreak Ridge (1986)
More light hearted and comical than I remembered it for. Eastwood is on usual top form with sharp witty one liners throughout. Certainly not a serious war film but thoroughly enjoyable.
3.5
John-Connor
12-02-20, 09:15 AM
Shoot the Piano Player 1960 ‘Tirez sur le pianiste’ François Truffaut
69556
Incredibly stylish and artful French noir, from BFI's 100 Film Noirs list, recommended by doc & matt. 👍
4+
The Nest (2020)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/cc/The_Nest_poster.jpeg/220px-The_Nest_poster.jpeg
Jude Law plays an egotistical trader that - on a whim - moves his family from the USA to England in the hope of building up a portfolio and starting his own dealing house. This was vaguely interesting and the performances were good but...nothing much happens. The family dynamics are interesting but the story flags on so many occasions that its merely a passible drama.
2.5
the samoan lawyer
12-02-20, 11:09 AM
Nice to see some love for this one :up:
Yep. Really good film. Had been on my watchlist for a long long time.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles - 1987
2.5
Why so low? I think it was probably one of John Hughes best.
the samoan lawyer
12-02-20, 11:20 AM
Host (2020) - 3+
American Murder (2020) - 3
Fabulous
12-02-20, 11:25 AM
Climax (2018)
4
https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/v0sblc9A8eaE8EqDQ5Y6fELj4oB.jpg
Due Date (2010):
One of Todd Phillips better films (only has 1 or 2 bad films), you can tell they had a good time making this, shows a lot of versatility for the main stars, Jamie Foxx stole the scene he was in and I wish he did more comedies nowadays.
7/10
Iroquois
12-02-20, 11:46 AM
Mortal Kombat - 3.5
still waiting for that reboot to drop though
It wasn't even Peter Lorre's first Noir.
Well, I'm not here to debate what is or isn't or when or who or anything else, I'm just saying that many critics and film-scholars and random people refer to The Maltese Falcon as the official First Film Noir and the official beginning of the genre.
That's all I'm saying.
Obviously there are tons of films that were maybe heading down that path or had various elements that would later become hallmarks of the Film Noir genre, but the Falcon is the one people point to as the sort of moment when all of that came together into the actual first production model.
Don't kill the messenger.
On a black and white kick?
69552
Heartbreak Ridge (1986)
More light hearted and comical than I remembered it for. Eastwood is on usual top form with sharp witty one liners throughout. Certainly not a serious war film but thoroughly enjoyable.
3.5
I struggled to understand what the point of this movie was. I've seen it many times, in the theater on its release, the VHS was lying around our house when I was in college so it got watched a lot, and I revisited it maybe five years ago or so... and I just don't understand what the point of the movie was. What was it actually about? I mean it felt like there was some point to it but if that's true I still don't know what it was.
Stirchley
12-02-20, 03:10 PM
I struggled to understand what the point of this movie was. I've seen it many times, in the theater on its release, the VHS was lying around our house when I was in college so it got watched a lot, and I revisited it maybe five years ago or so... and I just don't understand what the point of the movie was. What was it actually about? I mean it felt like there was some point to it but if that's true I still don't know what it was.
So why would you watch it so often?
THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964)
A film from the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die list whose ranking includes the #11
https://forgottenfilmcast.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/masque-of-the-red-death-1.png
Produced and directed by Roger Corman, and based on an Edgar Allan Poe short story, the film follows Prince Prospero (Vincent Price), a tyrannical ruler that seeks refuge from a deadly plague (the Red Death) inside his castle, along with a group of noblemen, while leaving the townsfolk down to their own luck.
I found this to be an odd bag of fun, mostly thanks to Vincent Price's, who's at his scenery-chewing best. Corman's direction is also very effective and appropriate. His use of colors and light, and the whole set and production design are pretty awesome. If anything, I'd say that the story about the dwarves felt a bit out of place (I wasn't surprised to read later that it came from a separate short story).
My other complaint would be with the characters of Gino and Ludovico, both of which I don't think were that well used and executed. But the truth is that I don't even think they were needed. This film rests solely on the shoulders of Price's performance and Corman's direction. Definitely worth a watch. Grade: 3.5
ThatDarnMKS
12-02-20, 03:30 PM
Well, I'm not here to debate what is or isn't or when or who or anything else, I'm just saying that many critics and film-scholars and random people refer to The Maltese Falcon as the official First Film Noir and the official beginning of the genre.
That's all I'm saying.
Obviously there are tons of films that were maybe heading down that path or had various elements that would later become hallmarks of the Film Noir genre, but the Falcon is the one people point to as the sort of moment when all of that came together into the actual first production model.
Don't kill the messenger.
It’s cool, man. You have the benefit of being academically correct. The term originated from French critics in the mid-40’s to describe the metamorphosis of American cinema at the time. This is why Film Noir, classically, is referred to more as an era than a genre, and is distinctly American. Other countries usually have the country preceding noir when referring to their contemporary and similar films (British Noir, French Noir, etc)
There are certainly proto-noir that would fit it as a genre and the outright and even more nebulous deluge of neo-noir in the 60’s and beyond but the classical Film Noir period begins with Maltese Falcon and ends with Touch of Evil.
Not that any of this really means anything, as eras and genres will always have a degree of messiness that can be argued with.
But High Sierra is counted as a late era gangster film and Proto-Noir in most circles.
I struggled to understand what the point of this movie was. I've seen it many times, in the theater on its release, the VHS was lying around our house when I was in college so it got watched a lot, and I revisited it maybe five years ago or so... and I just don't understand what the point of the movie was. What was it actually about? I mean it felt like there was some point to it but if that's true I still don't know what it was.I haven't seen it, but this Letterboxd review has me curious:
Nothing more and nothing less than 130 minutes of people coming up with new ways to say that Clint Eastwood is a bad mofo.
Sounds like a description of the majority of his movies, really.
Jinnistan
12-02-20, 03:47 PM
Well, I'm not here to debate what is or isn't or when or who or anything else, I'm just saying that many critics and film-scholars and random people refer to The Maltese Falcon as the official First Film Noir and the official beginning of the genre.
That's all I'm saying.
Obviously there are tons of films that were maybe heading down that path or had various elements that would later become hallmarks of the Film Noir genre, but the Falcon is the one people point to as the sort of moment when all of that came together into the actual first production model.
Don't kill the messenger.
Nothing is "official" about noir because the entire conceit is retroactively applied. No one was officially designating any of it noir at the time.
This is why Film Noir, classically, is referred to more as an era than a genre, and is distinctly American.
I fundamentally disagree. These are the kinds of asinine rules that people use to say that Hitchcock doesn't qualify as noir. Speaking of Lorre, if M and Man Who Knew Too Much don't qualify as noir, then I honestly have no idea what the coherent aesthetic is supposed to be.
So why would you watch it so often?
Well, back in the late 80s/early 90s, you could only watch movies you actually had in your possession (unless you happened to catch something on cable). So you could drag your ass to the video-store and spend an hour choosing a movie (which we did sometimes) or you watched the movies you actually had lying around over and over. A lot of people from my generation have seen a bunch of movies from the VHS era a dozen times, twenty times even because it was a care-free afternoon, we had nothing else to do, and it was lying right there on the coffee-table. Well, Heartbreak Ridge was one of the movies we had lying around. Can't tell you how many times I've seen Bull Durham, Major League, and Field Of Dreams. We also had Platoon (which I think sucks but when we were only like 19 or whatever we thought it was really cool) and Apocalypse Now so I've seen those 15-20 times also. I stopped counting how many times I had seen A Nightmare On Elm Street when I hit 30 watches.
THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964)
A film from the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die list whose ranking includes the #11
https://forgottenfilmcast.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/masque-of-the-red-death-1.png
Produced and directed by Roger Corman, and based on an Edgar Allan Poe short story, the film follows Prince Prospero (Vincent Price), a tyrannical ruler that seeks refuge from a deadly plague (the Red Death) inside his castle, along with a group of noblemen, while leaving the townsfolk down to their own luck.
I found this to be an odd bag of fun, mostly thanks to Vincent Price's, who's at his scenery-chewing best. Corman's direction is also very effective and appropriate. His use of colors and light, and the whole set and production design are pretty awesome. If anything, I'd say that the story about the dwarves felt a bit out of place (I wasn't surprised to read later that it came from a separate short story).
My other complaint would be with the characters of Gino and Ludovico, both of which I don't think were that well used and executed. But the truth is that I don't even think they were needed. This film rests solely on the shoulders of Price's performance and Corman's direction. Definitely worth a watch. Grade: 3.5
I agree completely with your assessment and I also enjoyed the movie quite a bit.
WHITBISSELL!
12-02-20, 04:03 PM
The Black Stallion - This is easily one of the best family movies out there while also being just a damn good film. It's a gorgeous undertaking with first time feature director Carroll Ballard and his cinematographer Caleb Deschanel carefully setting the right mood in the first half of the film set on a deserted island. First time actor Kelly Reno is outstanding as Alec Ramsey, the little shipwrecked boy who ends up forging an unshakeable bond with a wild stallion. Mickey Rooney also turns in a solid performance as retired jockey Henry Dailey, which earned him an Academy Award nomination. Teri Garr rounds out the small primary cast as Alec's supportive mother. The racing scenes are some of the most stirring and kinetic I've ever seen committed to film. Recommended to everyone regardless of age. I hope this makes the top 100 list. 95/100
EDIT: Just two quick recommendations. If you've haven't seen Never Cry Wolf or Fly Away Home by all means take the time to do so. They're also Carroll Ballard movies and they're also pretty darn good.
I haven't seen it, but this Letterboxd review has me curious:
Nothing more and nothing less than 130 minutes of people coming up with new ways to say that Clint Eastwood is a bad mofo.
Sounds like a description of the majority of his movies, really.
I think that aptly describes it.
ThatDarnMKS
12-02-20, 04:17 PM
Nothing is "official" about noir because the entire conceit is retroactively applied. No one was officially designating any of it noir at the time.
I fundamentally disagree. These are the kinds of asinine rules that people use to say that Hitchcock doesn't qualify as noir. Speaking of Lorre, if M and Man Who Knew Too Much don't qualify as noir, then I honestly have no idea what the coherent aesthetic is supposed to be.
As I said, the term was coined to describe an era and shift in American cinema.
As a “genre,” it’s nebulous enough to essentially mean nothing except vague notions of crime, detective, mystery and thriller that only becomes more vague as it goes.
M and Man Who Wasn’t There would certainly function outside as “Proto-noir” but they are not “Classic Film Noir.” They just aren’t. No matter how much Lang’s experience in the Weimar Republic influenced his approach to the genre when he came to America.
Arguing otherwise is like arguing that Jean Vigo was a part of French New Wave. He wasn’t. No matter how much his techniques anticipated the era and movement.
Jinnistan
12-02-20, 04:33 PM
No matter how much Lang’s experience in the Weimar Republic influenced his approach to the genre when he came to America.
There was no genre to approach when Lang came to America. It was a consistent continuation of the work he had already been working in for years prior. Isn't it weird how many of the "classic" film noirs that were made by European exiles? Lang and the others didn't just adopt noirish stylings when they landed. All of the key significant aspects of the noir aesthetic were fully apparent in British-era Hitchcock and French/German crime dramas prior to 1940. That's the fact of the matter.
John-Connor
12-02-20, 04:39 PM
Buffalo ’66 1998 Vincent Gallo
69575
Disturbingly beautiful romantic dark comedy. This Vincent Gallo is a talented dude. The film, although totally American, felt like a European art house flick at times. I like where Gallo took the film and how it ended. Christina Ricci :love:. Also dope cameo's by Mickey Rourke and Jean Michael Vincent.
3.5+
ThatDarnMKS
12-02-20, 04:40 PM
There was no genre to approach when Lang came to America. It was a consistent continuation of the work he had already been working in for years prior. Isn't it weird how many of the "classic" film noirs that were made by European exiles? Lang and the others didn't just adopt noirish stylings when they landed. All of the key significant aspects of the noir aesthetic were fully apparent in British-era Hitchcock and French/German crime dramas prior to 1940. That's the fact of the matter.
Which is why he’s a pivotal figure in Film Noir when he comes to America.
As I said, it’s like arguing Jean Vigo is French New Wave. Film Noir describes the era of American cinema.
It’s why it’s such an opaque genre that falls into numerous sub genres with little connective tissue. One can retroactively apply the terminology and tropes to films that came before it and call it “noir” but that doesn’t change that classic Film Noir is an era of American cinema in the 40s and 50s.
That’s the fact of the matter.
Stirchley
12-02-20, 04:43 PM
69575
Good movie.
Fabulous
12-02-20, 05:21 PM
Casino Royale (2006)
3.5
https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/125H5AszmtAt0mYl2vpfChMFofv.jpg
Jinnistan
12-02-20, 05:43 PM
One can retroactively apply the terminology and tropes to films that came before it and call it “noir” but that doesn’t change that classic Film Noir is an era of American cinema in the 40s and 50s.
As I said, "All of the key significant aspects of the noir aesthetic were fully apparent in British-era Hitchcock and French/German crime dramas prior to 1940".
Setting your school books aside, if there is a key significant aspect of the noir aesthetic that you can show to be "distinctly American", then let's see it. If Film Noir is an established aesthetic, then that definition applies to those filmmakers who established the aesthetic.
crumbsroom
12-02-20, 05:53 PM
The Black Stallion - This is easily one of the best family movies out there while also being just a damn good film. It's a gorgeous undertaking with first time feature director Carroll Ballard and his cinematographer Caleb Deschanel carefully setting the right mood in the first half of the film set on a deserted island. First time actor Kelly Reno is outstanding as Alec Ramsey, the little shipwrecked boy who ends up forging an unshakeable bond with a wild stallion. Mickey Rooney also turns in a solid performance as retired jockey Henry Dailey, which earned him an Academy Award nomination. Teri Garr rounds out the small primary cast as Alec's supportive mother. The racing scenes are some of the most stirring and kinetic I've ever seen committed to film. Recommended to everyone regardless of age. I hope this makes the top 100 list. 95/100
EDIT: Just two quick recommendations. If you've haven't seen Never Cry Wolf or Fly Away Home by all means take the time to do so. They're also Carroll Ballard movies and they're also pretty darn good.
I could have easily included this in my top 25, but it didn't even occur to me. Just one of those great movies you don't think about in the crunch.
I had no idea that Ballard did Fly Away Home. I remember that was playing in a bus during some trip I took and muted it. If I had known it was the guy who also did Stallion and Never Cry Wolf I might have at least pretended to be interested it.
ThatDarnMKS
12-02-20, 06:08 PM
As I said, "All of the key significant aspects of the noir aesthetic were fully apparent in British-era Hitchcock and French/German crime dramas prior to 1940".
Setting your school books aside, if there is a key significant aspect of the noir aesthetic that you can show to be "distinctly American", then let's see it. If Film Noir is an established aesthetic, then that definition applies to those filmmakers who established the aesthetic.
The genre is distinctly American because it was used to describe the transition of American cinema into something more cynical and fixated on crime. It wasn’t used to describe the cynicism of films under the Weimar Republic, which have been heavily analyzed and scrutinized by film scholars for its own trends and idiosyncrasies, such as the “school book” (you serious dipping into anti-intellectualism with this one, JJ?) is From Caligari to Hitler by Siegfried Kracauer.*
In it, he denotes that one difference between the works of German Expressionism and American Film Noir is the notion of luck/chance. There’s a degree of determinism and fatalism in German cinema (including Lang’s work) that’s largely absent in Film Noir, which emphasizes choice and victim hood of chance. Detour would be a prime example of the difference.*
None of this is to say that the genre tropes are exclusive to Film Noir. Everything in film has precedent in some form or another. What I’m saying is you’re making a categorical mistake to say “well, it’s similar enough to be called noir!”*
I’m saying it’s a categorical mistake and it has nothing to do with tropes. If we’re going to go the “language evolves” route and go completely into semantics, as you’re apt to do, then it interests me about as much as saying movies shot digitally shouldn’t be called “films.” Noir as a genre is opaque enough that almost any melodrama or any crime film could be called that, which is why I haven’t indulged that area of discourse.*
It’s why I’ve been pretty overt in framing this in regards to formal and academic use of the phrase Film Noir. If you have no use for formal or academic accuracy of a phrase, then you also have no use for continuing your attempt at arguing with facts.
Jinnistan
12-02-20, 06:52 PM
(you serious dipping into anti-intellectualism with this one, JJ?)
I don't see anything particularly intellectual about dogmatic distinctions. If Noir is a defined criteria of mood, theme and style, then those are the aspects worth discussing rather than arbitrary standards of time and nationality, especially when the designation comes from a different time and nation.
In it, he denotes that one difference between the works of German Expressionism and American Film Noir is the notion of luck/chance. There’s a degree of determinism and fatalism in German cinema (including Lang’s work) that’s largely absent in Film Noir, which emphasizes choice and victim hood of chance.
Hm. Strange that fatalism is a commonly ascribed theme in noir. There's also a book called Fatalism in American Film Noir, for example. But whatever. I guess the lack of chance in, say, You Only Live Once wouldn't count since it had the misfortune of being made in 1937.
Since I saw it on the front page, it reminds me of the similarly tenuous appelation of "slasher", a term formally coined to describe specifically American horror films of 70s and 80s. But despite the fact that the term was coined for these American films, it isn't the least bit controversial to apply the designation to the preceding Italian giallo as well as those prior landmarks, from Leopard Man to Psycho, that happen to fit the substance of the form. Saying that slashers can only be applied to American films from 1974-1989, the "classic era" of slashers, is asinine and provides little understanding of those things which make them distinct.
ThatDarnMKS
12-02-20, 06:57 PM
I don't see anything particularly intellectual about dogmatic distinctions. If Noir is a defined criteria of mood, theme and style, then those are the aspects worth discussing rather than arbitrary standards of time and nationality, especially when the designation comes from a different time and nation.
Hm. Strange that fatalism is a commonly ascribed theme in noir. There's also a book called Fatalism in American Film Noir, for example. But whatever. I guess the lack of chance in, say, You Only Live Once wouldn't count since it had the misfortune of being made in 1937.
Since I saw it on the front page, it reminds me of the similarly tenuous appelation of "slasher", a term formally coined to describe specifically American horror films of 70s and 80s. But despite the fact that the term was coined for these American films, it isn't the least bit controversial to apply the designation to the preceding Italian giallo as well as those prior landmarks, from Leopard Man to Psycho, that happen to fit the substance of the form. Saying that slashers can only be applied to American films from 1974-1989, the "classic era" of slashers, is asinine and provides little understanding of those things which make them distinct.
*shrugs*
Giallo are distinct and aren’t slashers either. Neither are Leopard Man and Psycho. So... Where do we go from here?
Jinnistan
12-02-20, 06:59 PM
Try looking up from the map and viewing the territory?
ThatDarnMKS
12-02-20, 07:04 PM
Try looking up from the map and viewing the territory?
Nah. I’m content in being correct.
Looks like we need to break off a conversation into its own thread.
WHITBISSELL!
12-02-20, 07:06 PM
I could have easily included this in my top 25, but it didn't even occur to me. Just one of those great movies you don't think about in the crunch.
I had no idea that Ballard did Fly Away Home. I remember that was playing in a bus during some trip I took and muted it. If I had known it was the guy who also did Stallion and Never Cry Wolf I might have at least pretended to be interested it.Being a lifelong procrastinator I kind of threw my top 25 list together at the last minute (just like I used to do with all my homework). But having reviewed it I don't think there's a clinker among them. I could have made room for The Black Stallion though.
GulfportDoc
12-02-20, 08:08 PM
Yeah, I think I first learned this maybe from Bonnie and Clyde. There's a moment when I said to myself, "Holy ****, that must have freaked people out in 1967. That's like Pulp Fiction in '94 ****." And the clouds parted for me.
And vis a vis "noir" versus "Noir", yeah, I am specifically referring to The Maltese Falcon (released later that year) commonly being referred to as The First Film Noir.
Right you are about Bonnie and Clyde. We were living in NYC at the time. A good friend saw the movie, and was so knocked out that he took us to see it the next night. Then we were so impressed that WE went back to see it again. Talk about a film that changed horses mid stream emotionally!...
Many consider Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) to be the first true noir-- at least the first true American noir. It starred Peter Lorre, and included Elisha Cook, Jr. Directed by Boris Ingster at RKO.
But The Maltese Falcon suits me as the first noir. I love that film, and have seen it a dozen times. As far as the style, I personally favor detective noirs as the best examples. I must have watched The Big Sleep 20 times. Never get tired of it.
GulfportDoc
12-02-20, 08:30 PM
Shoot the Piano Player 1960 ‘Tirez sur le pianiste’ François Truffaut
https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=69556
Incredibly stylish and artful French noir, from BFI's 100 Film Noirs list, recommended by doc & matt. 👍
rating_4+
Right you are, John. It's a charming but off-beat film, eccentricity that was unusual for 1960, and VERY touching. My favorite Truffaut, and one of the best films of the 1960s.
I think it's relevant to bring up something that was said a couple of pages ago... since the term "film noir" was coined in the mid 1940s, essentially well after what is now argued to be the "start" of the era and the release of several films that are now considered film noir, the labeling of such films and when the "era" started is going to be inherently shaky and blurry. Scholars, cinephiles, and regular viewers can look back at many films from the late 1930s and see them as "film noir", or precursors of it. However, it's a fact that most literature and sources I've read on the topic like to point out The Maltese Falcon as the "first film noir". As far as I'm concerned, I'm OK with it cause I don't think it's done to dismiss previous films, but rather serves the purpose of highlighting when the "style" came to full form so to speak, while establishing some "boundaries" for the sake of discussion with what can be seen as a perfect example of the "noir aesthetics". Beyond that, of course they're going to be previous films that could be labeled as "film noir", and of course they're going to be films with *some* elements of "film noir". That's how it eventually came to be and like I said, it's inevitable that some people will look at pre-1940s films and see them as "noir".
Another important thing to bring up is that not even scholars agree on *what* exactly is "film noir". Is it an era (1940-1959)? is it a style (lowkey lights, angled shots)? is it a genre (crime, betrayal, etc.)? And this inability to properly define it further complicates the labeling of what films are/aren't "film noir". At the end of the day, I don't think it's that relevant to argue what film was the "first one". Like so many things in life, it was something that was born and grown progressively over several years, not in an instant.
Takoma11
12-02-20, 09:38 PM
I think it's relevant to bring up something that was said a couple of pages ago... since the term "film noir" was coined in the mid 1940s, essentially well after what is now argued to be the "start" of the era and the release of several films that are now considered film noir, the labeling of such films and when the "era" started is going to be inherently shaky and blurry. Scholars, cinephiles, and regular viewers can look back at many films from the late 1930s and see them as "film noir", or precursors of it. However, it's a fact that most literature and sources I've read on the topic like to point out The Maltese Falcon as the "first film noir". As far as I'm concerned, I'm OK with it cause I don't think it's done to dismiss previous films, but rather serves the purpose of highlighting when the "style" came to full form so to speak, while establishing some "boundaries" for the sake of discussion with what can be seen as a perfect example of the "noir aesthetics". Beyond that, of course they're going to be previous films that could be labeled as "film noir", and of course they're going to be films with *some* elements of "film noir". That's how it eventually came to be and like I said, it's inevitable that some people will look at pre-1940s films and see them as "noir".
Another important thing to bring up is that not even scholars agree on *what* exactly is "film noir". Is it an era (1940-1959)? is it a style (lowkey lights, angled shots)? is it a genre (crime, betrayal, etc.)? And this inability to properly define it further complicates the labeling of what films are/aren't "film noir". At the end of the day, I don't think it's that relevant to argue what film was the "first one". Like so many things in life, it was something that was born and grown progressively over several years, not in an instant.
It's almost like you took a class on this topic! (With the world's best classmate!)
LOL, I should bring out my notes :D
Gideon58
12-02-20, 09:56 PM
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6f/The_Boys_in_the_Band.jpeg
4
ThatDarnMKS
12-02-20, 10:16 PM
I think it's relevant to bring up something that was said a couple of pages ago... since the term "film noir" was coined in the mid 1940s, essentially well after what is now argued to be the "start" of the era and the release of several films that are now considered film noir, the labeling of such films and when the "era" started is going to be inherently shaky and blurry. Scholars, cinephiles, and regular viewers can look back at many films from the late 1930s and see them as "film noir", or precursors of it. However, it's a fact that most literature and sources I've read on the topic like to point out The Maltese Falcon as the "first film noir". As far as I'm concerned, I'm OK with it cause I don't think it's done to dismiss previous films, but rather serves the purpose of highlighting when the "style" came to full form so to speak, while establishing some "boundaries" for the sake of discussion with what can be seen as a perfect example of the "noir aesthetics". Beyond that, of course they're going to be previous films that could be labeled as "film noir", and of course they're going to be films with *some* elements of "film noir". That's how it eventually came to be and like I said, it's inevitable that some people will look at pre-1940s films and see them as "noir".
Another important thing to bring up is that not even scholars agree on *what* exactly is "film noir". Is it an era (1940-1959)? is it a style (lowkey lights, angled shots)? is it a genre (crime, betrayal, etc.)? And this inability to properly define it further complicates the labeling of what films are/aren't "film noir". At the end of the day, I don't think it's that relevant to argue what film was the "first one". Like so many things in life, it was something that was born and grown progressively over several years, not in an instant.
Can we put aside your formal education on the matter in order to indulge an arbitrary recognition of similar predecessors?
ThatDarnMKS
12-02-20, 10:58 PM
THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER
*****/*****
An endearing Holiday classic Romantic Comedy that’s become a tradition in my household. Not only is it heartfelt, charming and finely crafted, but also very funny with a sense of comedic timing in its dialogue that feels timeless.
I really need to see more Lubistch. I’ve only seen this and To Be or Not To Be
Rockatansky
12-02-20, 11:14 PM
I struggled to understand what the point of this movie was. I've seen it many times, in the theater on its release, the VHS was lying around our house when I was in college so it got watched a lot, and I revisited it maybe five years ago or so... and I just don't understand what the point of the movie was. What was it actually about? I mean it felt like there was some point to it but if that's true I still don't know what it was.
Ebert seems fonder of the film than I am, but I think his describes its aims pretty accurately:
"He seems to be aiming for the kind of scuzzy, fast-paced vitality of a low-budget Samuel Fuller picture, and he gets it." (https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/heartbreak-ridge-1986)
I don't know if there's a deeper message, but it's interesting seeing an unserious war movie done on the cheap during that era that has a different flavour than a Cannon Films production.
gomorra82
12-02-20, 11:37 PM
Who is Afraid of Virginian Wolf. (1966) Mike Nichols.
8
A Ciambra. (2017) Jonas Carpignano
An interesting look into a Romani Community in Italy. The director Carpignano had his car full of equipment stolen, while filming in 2012. He went to negotiate with the Romani community, to get the car back. This is where he first met the Amato family, which we follow in this film, A Ciambra.
69587
7
Riffifi. (1955) Jules Dassin.
4 men plan to pull of an difficult heist. They want to pull of the perfect crime.
8
The Black Stallion - This is easily one of the best family movies out there while also being just a damn good film. It's a gorgeous undertaking with first time feature director Carroll Ballard and his cinematographer Caleb Deschanel carefully setting the right mood in the first half of the film set on a deserted island. First time actor Kelly Reno is outstanding as Alec Ramsey, the little shipwrecked boy who ends up forging an unshakeable bond with a wild stallion. Mickey Rooney also turns in a solid performance as retired jockey Henry Dailey, which earned him an Academy Award nomination. Teri Garr rounds out the small primary cast as Alec's supportive mother. The racing scenes are some of the most stirring and kinetic I've ever seen committed to film. Recommended to everyone regardless of age. I hope this makes the top 100 list. 95/100
EDIT: Just two quick recommendations. If you've haven't seen Never Cry Wolf or Fly Away Home by all means take the time to do so. They're also Carroll Ballard movies and they're also pretty darn good.
You talkin' about that '79 version?
And yeah, Never Cry Wolf was pretty cool.
Since I saw it on the front page, it reminds me of the similarly tenuous appelation of "slasher", a term formally coined to describe specifically American horror films of 70s and 80s. But despite the fact that the term was coined for these American films, it isn't the least bit controversial to apply the designation to the preceding Italian giallo as well as those prior landmarks, from Leopard Man to Psycho, that happen to fit the substance of the form. Saying that slashers can only be applied to American films from 1974-1989, the "classic era" of slashers, is asinine and provides little understanding of those things which make them distinct.
I don't wanna get too deep into this whole discussion, it feels like it's going somewhere I don't care to invest a lot of energy, but I would like to say for my part, since I put the giallos, The Leopard Man and Psycho on my slashers list, that while I may tend to be one of the most sticklerish people about genre definition ( as we know from many discussions in the past), I intentionally stretched the definition of Slasher for my list of them, kinda just for the lulz. Is an Italian giallo like B&BL a "Slasher"? I'm not so sure it is, but I like playing with the idea. Is every serial-killer movie like The Leopard Man a slasher? Probably not. But it's fun to play with that notion.
And I think it's fun to play with the boundaries of other genres, say the Film Noir genre and say that everything that influenced it and led up to it is actually it as well, but that's not the real story and we all know it. Just as, when I was at USC they were very clear on what was and wasn't a Screwball Comedy (a very clearly defined genre in the USC Film School's opinion), Film Noir has boundaries and they are fairly defined. It's not just every black and white crime film with good using of shadow and light.
But I couldn't resists putting Bava and Tourneur in the Slasher genre, even as I was rattling my saber that I have RULES for Slashers, dammit!
StuSmallz
12-03-20, 02:56 AM
I think it's relevant to bring up something that was said a couple of pages ago... since the term "film noir" was coined in the mid 1940s, essentially well after what is now argued to be the "start" of the era and the release of several films that are now considered film noir, the labeling of such films and when the "era" started is going to be inherently shaky and blurry. Scholars, cinephiles, and regular viewers can look back at many films from the late 1930s and see them as "film noir", or precursors of it. However, it's a fact that most literature and sources I've read on the topic like to point out The Maltese Falcon as the "first film noir". As far as I'm concerned, I'm OK with it cause I don't think it's done to dismiss previous films, but rather serves the purpose of highlighting when the "style" came to full form so to speak, while establishing some "boundaries" for the sake of discussion with what can be seen as a perfect example of the "noir aesthetics". Beyond that, of course they're going to be previous films that could be labeled as "film noir", and of course they're going to be films with *some* elements of "film noir". That's how it eventually came to be and like I said, it's inevitable that some people will look at pre-1940s films and see them as "noir".
Another important thing to bring up is that not even scholars agree on *what* exactly is "film noir". Is it an era (1940-1959)? is it a style (lowkey lights, angled shots)? is it a genre (crime, betrayal, etc.)? And this inability to properly define it further complicates the labeling of what films are/aren't "film noir". At the end of the day, I don't think it's that relevant to argue what film was the "first one". Like so many things in life, it was something that was born and grown progressively over several years, not in an instant.I agree; as far as genres go, I don't know if any of them have ever been birthed fully formed with one "first film". Instead, as far as I'm concerned, they evolve gradually step-by-step over time from what came before, until they reach a point where critics and fans can look back at in retrospect, and decide upon an invisible line drawn in time and characteristics that defines that particular style of film (even then, there's always debate over where the line should be drawn).
WHITBISSELL!
12-03-20, 03:42 AM
You talkin' about that '79 version?
And yeah, Never Cry Wolf was pretty cool.No, the '96 version with Jeff Daniels and Anna Paquin. It's not on a par with Black Stallion or Never Cry Wolf but it's still pretty good.
John-Connor
12-03-20, 04:29 AM
Right you are, John. It's a charming but off-beat film, eccentricity that was unusual for 1960, and VERY touching. My favorite Truffaut, and one of the best films of the 1960s.
Same here, not many would agree but I like it more than The 400 Blows.
xSookieStackhouse
12-03-20, 05:32 AM
Mortal Kombat - 3.5
still waiting for that reboot to drop though
well hope it be good
the samoan lawyer
12-03-20, 07:07 AM
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZjNjZTRiMGUtZDI0MS00ZDEyLWE1MzEtNTM5NmY3MzNmZmNmXkEyXkFqcGdeQVRoaXJkUGFydHlJbmdlc3Rpb25Xb3JrZmxv dw@@._V1_UX477_CR0,0,477,268_AL_.jpg (https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.imdb.com%2Ftitle%2Ftt0058500%2F&psig=AOvVaw1NGSjSocoJ4X_soelZshbf&ust=1607079342945000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCJjG86HTse0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD)https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61mWOBjza8L._AC_SX522_.jpg (https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FPumpkin-Eater-Bancroft-Photo-Print%2Fdp%2FB07H5CCBHL&psig=AOvVaw1NGSjSocoJ4X_soelZshbf&ust=1607079342945000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCJjG86HTse0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAY)
The Pumpkin Eater (1964)
Had never even heard of this before but it was showing on TV and what stood out for me was the director Jack Clayton and the cast of Anne Bancroft, Peter Finch and James Mason. The Pumpkin Eater is a kitchen-sink style film of a bad marriage and in not to dissimilar events from AWUTI, the wife experiences a breakdown as a result. Here, Bancroft is the star, although Finch is very good too. James Mason, although plays a crucial part in the film, isn't used as much as was expected but this is not a criticism. Its a devastating film at times, just watching poor Bancroft and how she is treated throughout the film by almost every single character and you impossible to not feel empathetic for the loneliness she is feeling.
Highly recommend this film to anyone. Superb.
rating_4+
Ultraviolence
12-03-20, 07:45 AM
https://fanart.tv/fanart/movies/36557/movieposter/casino-royale-5e10d778c59f2.jpg
James Bond that doesn't care.
Oh how I wish he cared... the romance sucks.
3
xSookieStackhouse
12-03-20, 07:49 AM
Over The Moon (2020) 10/10 loved the music and Ken Jeong who does the voice of gobi is my favorite character in the movie
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dc/Over_the_Moon_%282020%29.pnghttps://media1.tenor.com/images/d67b76721ec50ee98a9c893ce0f9f8a0/tenor.gif?itemid=18618735
FromBeyond
12-03-20, 12:22 PM
Becoming
Flicking through a list of 2020 horror films I came across this and a picture of Toby Kebbell standing in front of a bathroom mirror with his face totally covered in shaving foam and wearing a creepy ass grin..
A young woman learns her fiancé has been possessed by an entity during a road trip..
It was... alright, I really like Kebbell and good to see him in a main role and he did a good job in what is a double roll, also really like Jason Patrick as the crazy trailer park guy who knows all about what’s going on, kind of got irritated towards the end when the young woman just makes ridiculous decisions (or rather doesn’t make sensible decisions based on everything she see’s) but overall it wasn’t a bad watch, it was okay
I wanted to post a picture but I still cannot do that which is why I hardly ever post on this forum anymore.
3/5
But The Maltese Falcon suits me as the first noir. I love that film, and have seen it a dozen times. As far as the style, I personally favor detective noirs as the best examples. I must have watched The Big Sleep 20 times. Never get tired of it.
Ya know, my only gripe with The Big Sleep (which obviously is great) is that I read the book first and they changed SO much of what the film was about, not the plot beats mind you, those were fairly similar, but the content, what crime was actually going on and the up-front sexuality of it, that it was like watching a castrated version. I understand the Hays Code wasn't gonna let ANY of that content get through but it still just takes some of the edge off for me.
AgrippinaX
12-03-20, 03:08 PM
You mean niece Charlie and the younger detective? You're right of course but I've noticed that about movies of that era. People declaring their undying love for each other with no plausible setup or buildup. It's almost like it was a stipulation for getting a movie made.
That’s hilarious, I very much agree. I’d even say it persists as a problem. It’s very difficult to sufficiently ground romance even in the most sophisticated of films, so that you could actually see what attracted character x to character y and why. I can’t think of one film off the top of my head where that works, except maybe Only Lovers Left Alive (2013).
WHITBISSELL!
12-03-20, 03:40 PM
That’s hilarious, I very much agree. I’d even say it persists as a problem. It’s very difficult to sufficiently ground romance even in the most sophisticated of films, so that you could actually see what attracted character x to character y and why. I can’t think of one film off the top of my head where that works, except maybe Only Lovers Left Alive (2013). :up: Great movie. Works on so many levels. It's probably my favorite Jarmusch which is saying something. It came close to making my Top 25.
WrinkledMind
12-03-20, 03:51 PM
Watched Duma today. A fairly decent and enjoyable movie, with a gorgeous cat.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT37lc15vdL2-tSD7csaL47qXt-sN0n7boFfA&usqp=CAU
WHITBISSELL!
12-03-20, 04:06 PM
Harper - Paul Newman looks like he's having fun with this and that's what sells the movie. He plays worn down private detective Lew Harper who's hired by the rich and paralyzed Elaine Sampson (Lauren Bacall) to find her missing husband. As is usually the MO with PI movies the seemingly uncomplicated case turns into anything but with the usual tangled web of likely suspects. There's the rich man's personal pilot (Robert Wagner) his oversexed daughter (Pamela Tiffin) his attorney and close friend of Harper (Arthur Hill) and lots of colorful riffraff including Shelley Winters, Robert Webber, Strother Martin and Julie Harris. The cast, as you can tell, is first rate and there are plenty of red herrings and Newman's character gets the usual amount of lumps and beatings. His Harper is equal parts laconic and sardonic and altogether entertaining. 90/100
Takoma11
12-03-20, 04:29 PM
Ya know, my only gripe with The Big Sleep (which obviously is great) is that I read the book first and they changed SO much of what the film was about, not the plot beats mind you, those were fairly similar, but the content, what crime was actually going on and the up-front sexuality of it, that it was like watching a castrated version. I understand the Hays Code wasn't gonna let ANY of that content get through but it still just takes some of the edge off for me.
I almost have to regard them as separate entities that I love equally. I took a Film Noir class in high school where we'd read the books and then watch the movies, and The Big Sleep was one of my favorites.
That’s hilarious, I very much agree. I’d even say it persists as a problem. It’s very difficult to sufficiently ground romance even in the most sophisticated of films, so that you could actually see what attracted character x to character y and why. I can’t think of one film off the top of my head where that works, except maybe Only Lovers Left Alive (2013).
I don't mind that it's hard to "see" people fall in love (I mean, except when it really feels contrived and doesn't seem to fit with the characters).
But I agree that to often romantic subplots are compulsively wedged into films where they do not belong. I recently watched Lindsey Ellis's series on the Hobbit movies. She has a whole section about the romantic triangle (linked below) that was put in AFTER THE MOVIE HAD FILMED. So they made the whole movie, then made the actors come back to add scenes so that there was a romantic triangle. And the actress had even specified that she would take the part only if there wasn't a romance angle to it. SIGH. (The relevant part of the video starts at 24:09)
https://youtu.be/ElPJr_tKkO4?t=1449
Fabulous
12-03-20, 04:55 PM
The Ipcress File (1965)
3
https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/w9j0ec619bykL0i9ED1LZXiUy9.jpg
Jinnistan
12-03-20, 06:01 PM
Another important thing to bring up is that not even scholars agree on *what* exactly is "film noir". Is it an era (1940-1959)? is it a style (lowkey lights, angled shots)? is it a genre (crime, betrayal, etc.)? And this inability to properly define it further complicates the labeling of what films are/aren't "film noir". At the end of the day, I don't think it's that relevant to argue what film was the "first one". Like so many things in life, it was something that was born and grown progressively over several years, not in an instant.
I subscribe to the aesthetic definition of noir - the "mood, themes and style" - under which a number of pre-1940 films qualify. Lang's noir style, evident from M and Mabuse, didn't radically change when arriving in Hollywood, nor did it substantially shift after 1941. If the only thing separating You Only Live Once and Scarlet Street from the noir designation is the year they were made, then I think the distinction is meaningless. MKS seems to subscribe to the more temporal and national criteria of what makes a noir, and that's the crux of our disagreement.
Maltese Falcon makes for an ideal tentpole in the genre. It's a fundamental and excellent example and was culturally iconic enough to shorthand the movement. I see it more as a crest than a conception.
Jinnistan
12-03-20, 06:22 PM
Is every serial-killer movie like The Leopard Man a slasher? Probably not. But it's fun to play with that notion.
I mentioned that one as a peripheral example. It definitely is at the outskirts of stretching the term. The relevant aspects being the grisliness of the murders (although largely inexplicit on screen) and the use of the camera to simulate "stalking". But these are not hard and fast rules, nor should they be.
Film Noir has boundaries and they are fairly defined. It's not just every black and white crime film with good using of shadow and light.
Heh. Well, along the noirish themes of fate, temptation and existential dread, and the specific style of shadow composition in the genre, I still find pre-American Hitchcock and Lang well within the boundaries.
Olivier Parent
12-03-20, 06:44 PM
Batman Returns (Burton, '92):
https://i.ibb.co/gj4hy3B/1218-batman2.jpg (https://ibb.co/yf470Xb)
The Bat, The Cat, The Penguin
Favorite Moment:https://youtu.be/P_yN85I4YOY[/spoilers]
Final Score: 8
I made an essay on this particular movie for my class last week I loved it. It is a very deep movie. here it is:
CONTENT VS CONTEXT (200 WORDS)
In Gotham City, during the holiday season, a dark fellow named the Penguin comes out of the city's sewers and allies himself with a wealthy, unscrupulous businessman named Schreck. The latter wants to build a power station to drain all of the city's energy. However, when Selina Kyle, her assistant, finds out about Schreck's malicious plans, Schreck will attempt to eliminate her by throwing her out the window. Thus, Catwoman will be born. In order to eliminate Batman, Selina Kyle will also ally himself with the penguin, who in the meantime, pushed by Schreck, decides to run for mayor in order to make the latter's plans possible. As discussed above, the action takes place during the holiday season in Gotham, which as usual is rife with crime. Going from shootings to explosions, the metropolis will become a place of disorder for residents and authorities.
FORMAL AND AESTHETIC APPROACH (400 WORDS)
Tim Burton was obviously greatly inspired by the German expressionist movement when filming Batman Returns. Thus, we find in his work several characteristics specific to expressionism. First of all, the city plays a very important role in the story. Gotham seems alive and the director has fun filming it from all angles. Alleys, sewers, public places, roofs, poor neighborhoods, wealthy neighborhoods, nothing belonging to the metropolis is hidden. Moreover, the latter is filmed with very little light, which accentuates the level of fear and uncertainty specific to the expressionist cinema from which it is inspired. Then the puppet's roles are clearly defined by Selina Kyle, who, before becoming Catwoman, was Schreck's shy secretary, as well as the Penguin, who came out of the shadows and manipulated by the wealthy businessman. Next comes the theme of the double. Indeed, all the main characters of the film have a double identity. Whether it's Bruce Wayne and Batman, Selina Kyle and Catwoman or Oswald Cobblepot and the Penguin, all have an alter-ego. There is also the presence of the theme of moral revolt against the bourgeoisie, a recurring theme of German expressionism, is also present in the film. Indeed, it is important to remember that it is Catwoman and not Batman who will get rid of billionaire Schreck. Selina Kyle who, unlike Bruce Wayne, is not part of the bourgeoisie. We will deepen this analysis in the following paragraph. Additionally, Burton’s film is filmed entirely inside huge studios, as was largely the case during the German Expressionist film era. The size of the studios in particular allowed the construction of magnificent urban settings with very rectangular buildings (apart from the Schreck tower) forming rigid and aggressive lines. Finally, comes the processing of the circle and the angle. Indeed, Gotham marries the two types of traits very well. Going from rough, angular and straight for buildings, these lines become rounded and supple when we dive into the world of the Penguin. As proof of this, the sewers, the capitals and the spiral staircases, present in his marker when he became a candidate for mayor. In short, by noting the characteristics of German expressionist films, one can easily see that Tim Burton was inspired by this movement when he produced his film. Now, it remains to be seen how Batman Returns is such a mannerist movie. First of all, what is obvious is the exuberant presence of film references. Tim Burton likes to quote the big names in German expressionist cinema like Fritz Lang, Robert Wiene, Max Schreck himself and many others. (The aspect of the penguin as well as the chase towards the end of the film refers to Doctor Caligari (1920), the appearance of the city, the aspect of Schreck, the latter's office, the public square as well as the giant statue of the worker pushing the lever are all references to Metropolis (1927), the name of the rich billionaire businessman is a reference to the German actor Max Schreck, whose character in Batman Returns is reminiscent of the vampire who drains energy from the city) Aside from expressionism, the director will quote Orson Welles and his film noir The Third Man, when the time comes to film the sewers of Gotham. One can also find references to the films The Phantom of the Opera (1925), Vertigo (1958), The Feline (1942) and many others. In addition, Tim Burton will not hesitate to make self-reference. Whether it is the striped suit that Schreck wears, reminiscent of the one worn by Michael Keaton four years earlier in the excellent Beetlejuice (1988) or even a reference to his 1985 film Pee Wee big adventure since the parents of the Penguin are played by the actors of Pee Wee and Simone, two characters present in Pee Wee. Then, the interbreeding of the arts present in Burton's film effectively indicates that Batman Returns is a post-modern film. Indeed, the film does not only deal with the cinematographic universe, but also considers the art of the spectacle, with the services that the Penguin does when he presents himself for the town hall, as well as the world of the circus with the presence of clowns, which recalls the close bond that Tim Burton maintains with his characters, in this case the Penguin, often treated as "Freaks". Finally, as specified by Francisco Ferreira: “The“ mannerists ”will then offer a certain type of reinterpretation of the classics, by exaggeratingly deploying their great stylistic formulas in films openly presenting themselves as variations from a filmic work, d 'a sequence, or even a pattern, considered as matrix. »(Francisco Ferreira. 2006: Dead man (1995) by Jim Jarmusch. (Since I came across this article and find it difficult to find it I put the link: High school students in the cinema (clermont-filmfest.com))) The exacerbation of style is part of mannerism. Therefore, Tim Burton and his artistic team will not hesitate to exaggerate the features of their sets, lighting and costumes in order to almost caricature the style of movements from which they are inspired.
SUBJECT VS SENSE (200 WORDS)
By directing Batman Returns, Tim Burton takes the opportunity to make his film a critique of the contemporary world. Thus, he will mainly criticize the power of multinationals, the media and powerful businessmen. First, it's important to note that the film was released in the United States on June 19, 1992, but the action in Diegesis takes place during the holiday season. The connection between the holiday season and capitalism is therefore more than obvious. Then, the abundant presence of media sources such as television and newspapers invade the daily lives of the citizens of Gotham. So much so that at times, it feels like being in the middle of reality TV, like when the journalists harass the penguin, when the latter is in front of the grave of these deceased parents or when Oswald presents himself for town hall. In addition, Tim Burton takes the opportunity to deal with the class struggle, because as treated above, it is Selena Kyle, the only one not part of the high society, who gets rid of the rich businessman Schreck and not Batman. On this subject, Marc DiPaolo, the author of The Politics of Batman, Part 5, will say: “Ironically, when Shreck is definitely beaten at the end of the film, it is not thanks to Batman, but because of from Shreck's personal secretary, Selina Kyle, who is from the lower middle class. Thus, she is better placed than Wayne to know how bad men like Schreck are ”. (Marc DiPaolo. October 8, 2014: The Politics of Batman, Part 5:Batman Returns, Enron, and the Buying of American Democracy) Finally, the director will take the opportunity to assert that multinationals and bourgeois are becoming so powerful that the law itself no longer concerns them. Marc DiPaolo clarifies, “However, he (Batman) cannot find a way to decisively defeat Shreck, or to strip him of his wealth and power. Therefore, the film suggests that Shreck is above the law and beyond the reach of Bruce Wayne and Batman ”. That’s why the only way I could have beaten Schreck was by killing him.
Olivier Parent
12-03-20, 06:46 PM
69618
4.5/5
Im on a good streak. I watched 3 very little known masterpiece in a row (violent cop, joint security area and drug wars)
AgrippinaX
12-03-20, 06:50 PM
I don't mind that it's hard to "see" people fall in love (I mean, except when it really feels contrived and doesn't seem to fit with the characters).
But I agree that to often romantic subplots are compulsively wedged into films where they do not belong. I recently watched Lindsey Ellis's series on the Hobbit movies. She has a whole section about the romantic triangle (linked below) that was put in AFTER THE MOVIE HAD FILMED. So they made the whole movie, then made the actors come back to add scenes so that there was a romantic triangle. And the actress had even specified that she would take the part only if there wasn't a romance angle to it. SIGH. (The relevant part of the video starts at 24:09)
https://youtu.be/ElPJr_tKkO4?t=1449
I think we’re talking about two slightly different things (which is great, that’s what I love about talking to you). I fully agree that it’s near-impossible to show people falling in love, because it’s a hormonal/neurological process that cannot be ‘observed’ empirically even outside film.
What I mean was in terms of storytelling, films rarely ground the relationship in the sense that you don’t see why this person loves that person. I remember you and I talking about Twilight (I might have been a bit belligerent), and you mentioned a conversation with a student who said that Bella had no characteristics apart from liking Edward. And that’s exactly what grounds human interactions and it’s usually lacking - even if the characters are well-developed. I honestly think if there was a film that could ground the chemistry between two people, that would be Oscar-worthy on its own. Nothing that I can think of comes anywhere near addressing this mystery (I won’t even bother listing things like Titanic, that would be sacrilege).
What I think makes Only Lovers Left Alive so brilliant is how profoundly the relationship is explored and grounded as much as can be. This is open to interpretation, but I remember discussing this a lot when I first saw it, and there’s a view that Adam is meant to be much older than Eve in terms of ‘lived years’, though he got turned when he was younger as a human. And that distinction is very well explored - we can see that she likes him for being world-weary whilst she is herself energetic. It might exasperate her at times, but that’s the ‘sexy’ part for her. Then we see that he’s actually much weaker (probably because he is older) and he is the one who suffers more from the lack of blood nutrition. We also see that they exist in a kind of symbiosis where they indulge him for a bit and then her for a bit, which, incidentally, blows a fat big hole in the idea of ‘compatibility’.
Even these things don’t come close to explaining why each of these characters likes the other. But I think it would be much more about grounding and justifying the emotion in terms of storytelling than ‘seeing’ the moment they fell in love. This is very crude, but I think the only way to handle a romantic plot in an ideal world is to explore why person A evokes such strong reactions from person B, what it is that they have that person B wants, and why.
Sorry, this is a massive tangent.
P.S. I do agree that randomly shoehorned-in romantic subplots are absurd. I had no idea about Hobbit, but I remember someone fairly well-versed in film complaining about Walter White of all people (!!!) having no ‘proper’ romantic interest/storyline, and how terrible that was... some people...
Takoma11
12-03-20, 07:22 PM
I think we’re talking about two slightly different things (which is great, that’s what I love about talking to you). I fully agree that it’s near-impossible to show people falling in love, because it’s a hormonal/neurological process that cannot be ‘observed’ empirically even outside film.
What I mean was in terms of storytelling, films rarely ground the relationship in the sense that you don’t see why this person loves that person.
.
.
.
Even these things don’t come close to explaining why each of these characters likes the other. But I think it would be much more about grounding and justifying the emotion in terms of storytelling than ‘seeing’ the moment they fell in love. This is very crude, but I think the only way to handle a romantic plot in an ideal world is to explore why person A evokes such strong reactions from person B, what it is that they have that person B wants, and why.
I don't think we're talking about entirely different things.
I think that a lot of times when it comes to love, there are some internal processes/intangibles that you just can't put on screen (and that probably sound silly if you try to externalize them as a character expressing their thoughts).
I feel as though there are quite a few films that do a good job of economically showing us how and why two people are compatible. (There's maybe a different conversation to be had about action/horror/thriller-type movies where characters seem to bond under extreme pressure and duress). I don't know that it's necessary that we understand the deep mechanics of a relationship, so much as it's necessary that the relationship have an internal logic that makes sense.
An example would be the relationship in Fargo between Marge and her husband. They are both kind and compassionate people. She sees horrible things in her work sometimes, and he's this solid homebody that provides solace for her. In a book/movie like Pride and Prejudice, it's easy to see why Darcy and Lizzie make sense together. They are both smart and clever; he is impressed (and annoyed, but eventually impressed) by her forceful character; she admired him for his honorable behavior. I talked about this recently in a different thread (the Horror challenge, maybe?), but I think that Mandy does a particularly fantastic job of constructing (through writing and performances) a relationship that feels real and lived-in with just a handful of scenes.
Now, it is definitely true that a lot of films (including ones actually centered on the relationship/romance!) don't develop the characters beyond a superficial degree and it makes it hard to be invested in the relationship or even believe it any further than the usual suspension of disbelief.
AgrippinaX
12-03-20, 07:39 PM
I don't think we're talking about entirely different things.
‘course not, I said ‘slightly’!
I think that a lot of times when it comes to love, there are some internal processes/intangibles that you just can't put on screen (and that probably sound silly if you try to externalize them as a character expressing their thoughts).
Agreed, but I think you could do a very tentative inner monologue only for the crucial thoughts. There’s a rather odd series called ‘You’ which I don’t know that anyone has watched it but me. It has its drawbacks, but its craziness is that it centres on the concept of love - and I mean it when I say I have never seen ‘love’ approached like that. That does, upon reflection, give it its all to explore why people like each other. But then, it’s a very strange product which is technically a thriller.
I feel as though there are quite a few films that do a good job of economically showing us how and why two people are compatible. (There's maybe a different conversation to be had about action/horror/thriller-type movies where characters seem to bond under extreme pressure and duress). I don't know that it's necessary that we understand the deep mechanics of a relationship, so much as it's necessary that the relationship have an internal logic that makes sense.
Yes, that’s true. I think I partly remembered You because it manages to avoid the ‘duress’ context entirely, yet it is a thriller.
An example would be the relationship in Fargo between Marge and her husband. They are both kind and compassionate people. She sees horrible things in her work sometimes, and he's this solid homebody that provides solace for her. In a book/movie like Pride and Prejudice, it's easy to see why Darcy and Lizzie make sense together. They are both smart and clever; he is impressed (and annoyed, but eventually impressed) by her forceful character; she admired him for his honorable behavior.*
Don’t remember Fargo too well, unfortunately. P&P is definitely the case where it’s done brilliantly, but I feel that’s a whole other level - and books are allowed to indulge in far more ‘explaining’. On the topic of P&P, I have always felt ‘Wuthering Heights’ was simply perfect as a portrait of two people obsessed with each other - the ‘why’ and how sick it all is. May not be a perfect novel, but the ‘grounding’ is faultless.
I talked about this recently in a different thread (the Horror challenge, maybe?), but I think that Mandy does a particularly fantastic job of constructing (through writing and performances) a relationship that feels real and lived-in with just a handful of scenes.
A thousand times ‘yes’. That relationship was brutally well done and economical too. Pretty perfect.
Now, it is definitely true that a lot of films (including ones actually centered on the relationship/romance!) don't develop the characters beyond a superficial degree and it makes it hard to be invested in the relationship or even believe it any further than the usual suspension of disbelief.
I don’t know. You’re probably right. I maybe feel on an intuitive level that it’s not just about character development - it might be something to do with how the director understands love/this relationship. But that’s a bit vague. I’d be really interested what your thoughts are about You, if you ever check it out - even just one season.
Takoma11
12-03-20, 08:24 PM
Agreed, but I think you could do a very tentative inner monologue only for the crucial thoughts.
I guess I'm more comfortable with just believing if a film tells me that two people complete each other, unless I am distracted by details in the film that seem to indicate otherwise.
Don’t remember Fargo too well, unfortunately. P&P is definitely the case where it’s done brilliantly, but I feel that’s a whole other level - and books are allowed to indulge in far more ‘explaining’.
I think that even the film depictions of the story do a pretty good job. A great example is just the look that Darcy gives Lizzie when he realizes she hiked a huge distance by foot in a storm to come and see her sick sister--it's this mix of admiration, curiosity, and a pinch of "is this chick crazy?" and it makes complete sense as a moment that would start feelings of love.
But that’s a bit vague. I’d be really interested what your thoughts are about You, if you ever check it out - even just one season.
I'll admit that the "stalker as protagonist" thing has kept me away.
GulfportDoc
12-03-20, 08:44 PM
Harper - Paul Newman looks like he's having fun with this and that's what sells the movie. He plays worn down private detective Lew Harper who's hired by the rich and paralyzed Elaine Sampson (Lauren Bacall) to find her missing husband. As is usually the MO with PI movies the seemingly uncomplicated case turns into anything but with the usual tangled web of likely suspects. There's the rich man's personal pilot (Robert Wagner) his oversexed daughter (Pamela Tiffin) his attorney and close friend of Harper (Arthur Hill) and lots of colorful riffraff including Shelley Winters, Robert Webber, Strother Martin and Julie Harris. The cast, as you can tell, is first rate and there are plenty of red herrings and Newman's character gets the usual amount of lumps and beatings. His Harper is equal parts laconic and sardonic and altogether entertaining. 90/100
I agree. Harper was a very enjoyable P.I. film, and a perfect vehicle for Newman. I re-watch it now and then. Lauren Bacall and Janet Leigh were very effective as well.
I also enjoy the '75 reprisal of the Harper character: The Drowning Pool, with Joanne Woodward. It doesn't have quite the punch of the first one, but Newman still shines.
Takoma11
12-03-20, 09:17 PM
https://thetelltalemind.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/fear-in-the-night-33.jpg
Fear in the Night, 1972
A young bride named Peggy (Judy Geeson), recovered from a semi-recent nervous breakdown, joins her husband Robert (Ralph Bates) at his rural countryside school. On the eve of moving into her new house, Peggy is attacked by an unseen assailant who she realizes has a prosthetic arm. Arriving at the school, Peggy discovers that the school's headmaster (Peter Cushing) has a prosthetic arm. Is he the one who attacked her? Was the attack real or imagined?
This is a film that is moderately successful--one of those movies where the things that work also are the flip sides of things that don't work.
Peggy is an incredibly meek character--constantly cowering and seemingly afraid to even speak in a loud voice. This meek, simpering performance comes across as believable from what we know of her character, but it does make it hard to connect with Peggy. The entire film at times seems to consist of every single character intimidating, patronizing, or criticizing her. Peggy just feels a bit bland. It's maybe a more "real" portrayal, but it's also kind of boring.
Another aspect of the film is the way that it holds its cards so close to the chest. There are really four possibilities in a film like this: (1) it's in Peggy's head, (2) the headmaster is the person who attacked her, (3) she is being gaslit by her husband or the headmaster's wife (a delightfully snobby Joan Collins), or (4) the real assailant is some other character we haven't met yet. The movie holds onto this ambiguity until almost the last 10 minutes. And while it does build some interesting suspense, it means that we don't get to know any of the characters beyond the superficial.
I will say that there are some delights in the last 10 or 15 minutes. Some memorable images, some borderline scary/funny sequences, and an over-the-top final sequence. Yes, in retrospect quite a few things don't actually make much sense, but by the final act I was sort of past caring about logic if the film would just step up the entertainment. Recommended, if only for the payoff (and for an astoundingly awkward scene where Cushing's character offers to retie Peggy's hairband and makes working a prosthetic arm look like the most uncomfortable, laborious undertaking).
3
Fabulous
12-03-20, 10:00 PM
Solaris (1972)
3.5
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National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989):
The greatest Christmas movie ever made, everyone has a cousin like Cousin Eddie, aged very well.
9.5/10
Faith (Valentina Pedicini, 2019) 2.5 5.5/10
Very Annie Mary (Sara Sugarman, 2001) 2.5 6/10
La cigarette (Germaine Dulac, 1919) 2.5 5.5/10
O Ébrio AKA The Drunkard (Gilda de Abreu, 1946) 2.5 6/10
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BFOO-HFoMSg/hqdefault.jpg
Vicente Celestino becomes a wealthy singer and loses it all when his wife leaves him.
Effie Gray (Richard Laxton, 2014) 2.5 6/10
Ash (Andrew Huculiak, 2019) 2.5 5.5/10
Finding Agnes (Marla Ancheta, 2020) 2 5/10
Men of Blue Cross (Andrzej Munk, 1955) 3 6.5/10
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/Ql41cEHE4boyFpbO755K3E2gNiH6ShxEO-MvAgD_GbRi_btOL9zsRCx6xpOw8q9Z2D_UxiHClId60hfgfaugeeeXSuQLd3l_H6RjwekPwxJiBdsdGJLz8_jhI0ByGQrr
Polish mountain rescue team goes on their most difficult mission of WWII.
Infidel (Cyrus Nowrasteh, 2019) 2.5 6/10
Complete Strangers (Pau Maso, 2020) 1.5+ 4.5/10
The Last Attraction (Olga Preobrazhenskaya & Ivan Pravov, 1929) 3 6.5/10
The Devil and Daniel Webster AKA All That Money Can Buy (William Dieterle, 1941) 4 8/10
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Mr. Scratch (Walter Huston) is on the lookout for the next soul to buy.
The Crumbs (David J. Espinosa, 2020) 2.5 6/10
Castle Freak (Tate Steinsiek, 2020) 2 5/10
Life in a Year (Mitja Okorn, 2020) 2.5 6/10
Snapshots (Melanie Mayron, 2018) 3 6.5/10
https://static.adjaranet.com/movies/covers/510/758/878367758-a03d93c86637311722fa0cff9ba18932.jpg
Three generations (Brooke Adams, Emily Baldoni & Piper Laurie) of a family reminisce and reveal their true selves.
Anything for Jackson (Justin G. Dyck, 2020) 2.5 6/10
Blood Beat (Fabrice A. Zaphiratos, 1983) 1.5 4/10 Camp Rating: 7/10
Seventeen AKA Siebzehn (Monja Art, 2017) 2.5 6/10
Tripping with Nils Frahm (Benoit Toulemonde, 2020) 3 6.5/10
https://thyblackman.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Tripping-with-Nils-Frahm-2020-Music.jpg
German multi-instrumentalist in concert at the Funkhaus Berlin.
That’s hilarious, I very much agree. I’d even say it persists as a problem. It’s very difficult to sufficiently ground romance even in the most sophisticated of films, so that you could actually see what attracted character x to character y and why. I can’t think of one film off the top of my head where that works, except maybe Only Lovers Left Alive (2013).
Love that movie.
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