Rate The Last Movie You Saw

[ScarletLion]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6d/Blue_Bayou_%28film%29.jpg
By IMP Awards / 2021 Movie Poster Gallery / Blue Bayou Poster (#2 of 2), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68197138

Blue Bayou - (2021)

Well, this was very heavy handed - it's a 'message movie' about an issue, and particularly emotionally manipulative, but if you're okay with all of that then you might enjoy it. Antonio LeBlanc (Justin Chon) was born in Korea, but adopted by an American family when he was three years old. Married, with a stepdaughter and biological daughter on the way, he desperately looks for work to supplement the income he and his wife are making (he's a tattoo artist.) He ends up crossing his partner's ex, who is a cop, and ends up in trouble - he has a criminal record and the authorities decide to deport him back to Korea, despite the fact he has an American family, accent, and doesn't even speak Korean or remember the place. You see, in the U.S. people who were adopted out as babies are being deported - ripped away from their families and sent to places that are foreign to them. It seem pretty silly, but it's happening. Anyway, really top notch film - very well directed and the actors are great. I recommend it - but afterwards you do get the feeling you've been hit about the head with a baseball bat with the film's message on it. It doesn't rely on subtlety, but it's pretty good.

7/10

I enjoyed it, but his first two films 'Gook' and 'Ms Purple' are much much better. He's a very talented guy and produced / directed the current AppleTV series 'Pachinko' which takes on similar themes of displacement and korean diaspora yet again. It's very good.

[Allaby]

The Dirty Dolls (1973) Directed by Stu Segall. A criminal gets his sister and some other teenage girls to commit crimes, including a diamond robbery and taking hostages. This is better than you might think. Some sleazy shenanigans and some action sequences keep things moving along. It's fast paced and interesting enough to be entertaining. Watched on Arrow streaming. 3.5

[Death Proof]

Everything Everywhere All At Once


Visually stunning, trippy, great action sequences. Michelle Yeoh really gets to explore her many skills and Ke Huy Quan was an unexpected delight. The whole cast is just excellent.



9/10

[Torgo]

The Killing - 5

This early Stanley Kubrick effort may be the best "best laid plans" noir I've seen. Its centerpiece is a horse track heist that is the brainchild of Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden), a man who is as meticulous as the director himself. His plan about who on his team needs to do what and when could not be any more precise. If you assume that complications arise when Clay and company put their plan into action, you would be correct.

From his intimidating presence to his husky, staccato delivery of the hard-boiled dialogue - courtesy of legendary crime novelist Jim Thompson - Hayden could not have been better cast. I almost envy him for the lines he got to say and how he said them, my favorite being "you got a great big dollar sign there, where most women have a heart," which he tells Sherry (Marie Windsor), the opportunistic and not-so-loyal wife of George (Elisha Cook, Jr.), the team's biggest sad sack. Speaking of his teammates, none of their performers are slouches either, and in addition to veteran "that guys" like Cook, there are faces that may be familiar to Kubrick fans like Timothy Carey, who succeeds at making his wounded veteran and sharpshooter one loathsome guy. My favorite, though, is Kola Kwariani's wrestler and, appropriately, chess player Maurice, whose fight scene would make Tor Johnson blush. Besides the performances, there's something praiseworthy in each aspect of the filmmaking, particularly Gerald Fried's brassy score, which fittingly resembles Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring for how each heist preparation smacks of impending doom. I also approve of something Kubrick had to include against his wishes: the voiceover narration, which I believe enhances the movie's fatalistic atmosphere. You also have to love the nonlinear structure, which expectedly confused '50s audiences, but wouldn't be out of place today given that Tarantino, Soderbergh, etc. normalized it.

Just like Paths of Glory could be described as a "thinking person's war movie" and 2001: A Space Odyssey a "thinking person's science fiction movie," the descriptor also applies to this heist movie. Specifically, it demonstrates that Johnny, like the rest of us, can expect a clock to show 1:02 PM when it is indeed 1:02 PM, but you should not expect even the most loyal person - or not to spoil it too much, creature - to show up at that time when requested. In other words, Kubrick revealed his fascination with dehumanizing forces much earlier than you may have thought. It ends up being a noir that is bound to make fans of the genre even bigger fans, and for those who are lukewarm on it and are just in the mood for something Kubrickian, it is certainly that. With all that said, I would easily trade this movie in for a one-man play in which Sterling Hayden reads all of the parts.

[Torgo]

Everything Everywhere All At Once


Visually stunning, trippy, great action sequences. Michelle Yeoh really gets to explore her many skills and Ke Huy Quan was an unexpected delight. The whole cast is just excellent.



9/10Agreed, and it's also hilariously funny, especially the Racacoonie joke, which still makes me laugh whenever I think about it.

[John McClane]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTQ5ODk1NDg2NF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMTM5OTEyNw@@._V1_.jpg
Kiki's Delivery Service - (1998 dubbing)
5

I went out of my way, and paid out the nose, to find a new, unopened copy of the 2003 DVD so I could get this dubbing. I get why the changes were implemented in the 2010 reissue, but I don't care. This is the dubbing I grew up watching and I will admit that I'm coming at it from a purely emotional perspective; but dammit, I'm a millennial and I like my nostalgia unadulterated.

This is my favorite Studio Ghibli movie with Castle in the Sky and Ponyo as close seconds

[Stirchley]

86874

On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give this 5. Inbetween a really good movie (like Traffic) & a mediocre movie. Two hours long & I did finish it. Evangeline Lilly very good. Armie Hammer not the best actor around, but he did his best I would say.

[Death Proof]

Agreed, and it's also hilariously funny, especially the Racacoonie joke, which still makes me laugh whenever I think about it.


I couldn't believe that was the kid from The Goonies and Temple of Doom. He was great.

[Torgo]

I couldn't believe that was the kid from The Goonies and Temple of Doom. He was great.Indeed. Like, Oscar-worthy great.
It was nice seeing him in a movie again. It was like a visit from an old friend. I guess he's been in the industry all this time, working as a stunt coordinator and assistant director.

This is the first movie I watched in a theater since The Invisible Man way back in February of 2020 and I'm glad I returned with this one. It demands to be seen in one if you ask me.

[Gideon58]

https://www.tias.com/stores/mspackratz/pictures/kepma99a.jpg


2

[Gideon58]

Yeah, I rolled my eyes through this whole movie when it came out in the theater.
It's the movie that kinda made me lose respect for Pacino and not wanna see any more of his work.
It's really a classic example, to me, of how lost cinema was in the 90s. Not that there were no good films but the general mainstream product was arguably the poorest of any decade.

One of the most overrated movies ever...all the movies that Pacino made and they gave him the Oscar for this?

[Stirchley]

One of the most overrated movies ever...all the movies that Pacino made and they gave him the Oscar for this?

Which movie are you talking about?

[Allaby]

The Girl from Pussycat This is the only film directed by Smythe David, which is likely a fake name. The director was likely too embarrassed to put his name on this film. The plot, if you can call it that, is about an all female gang of lesbian bank robbers. Honestly, the best parts of this film is the nudity, which there is quite a bit of. There is almost no story, the acting is weak and the writing is pretty poor. 2.5

[John Klein]

Uncharted (2022) - frankly speaking, not the most interesting film in this genre. Somehow everything is monotonous, and very predictable. Somehow there is a certainty that in half a year I won't remember what exactly this movie is about. As for me, even Tomb Raider (2018) is a head higher. Maybe I'm wrong.

[Takoma11]

This is the first movie I watched in a theater since The Invisible Man way back in February of 2020 and I'm glad I returned with this one. It demands to be seen in one if you ask me.

Literally same, and totally agree.

[Wyldesyde19]

Agreed, and it's also hilariously funny, especially the Racacoonie joke, which still makes me laugh whenever I think about it.

The scene with the rock/boulders was also a hilarious scene.

[Gideon58]

Which movie are you talking about?


Sorry, I was talking about Scent of a Woman

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.themovieguys.net%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F02%2Fimitationgame.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

The Imitation Game, 2014

During WW2, Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) is hired by the military to help break the German Enigma machine. Told in extended flashbacks, we see Turing's attempts to design a machine that can perform the computations to break the German cypher. Hiding his sexuality---to the extent that he enters an engagement of convenience with his co-worker Joan (Keira Knightley)--Turing must brave setbacks in his personal and professional life.

I enjoyed this film a lot more than I expected to, and almost in spite of what I often find really tiresome about prestige films and especially biographical ones.

The performances are all pretty solid, with the caveat that I don't know enough about Turing's life to judge one way or another how the people portrayed match up to their real counterparts. The friendship between Alan and Joan is especially enjoyable, as it serves both their interests to be seen as a couple.

In terms of the Enigma machine itself, well, I am a big math nerd and would have liked a more elaborate explanation of how it all worked and the nature of Alan's decoding machine. The movie gives a lot of "smart people" shorthands, but whatever.

Normally my biggest quibble with biographies is the underlying discomfort with knowing that events, words, and sometimes even people have been invented wholecloth for the purposes of the film. But in this case I actually didn't mind it. The film sets up a theme of deception (or, to be more accurate, imitation), and it plays out pretty well through the film. Obviously the literal reference is to the machines, but Alan is also imitating being a "normal" person, and beyond that imitating being a straight "normal" person. Through the film there are multiple people who pretend to be what they aren't. It nicely frames the absurdity of Alan having to hide being gay. I quite liked a sequence where Alan talks about machine intelligence with a police investigator, in which he questions what it means to be thinking, further questioning why we are so upset when people are wired differently.

As with many biographies, what we learn about Turing's life feels cursory and a bit shallow. But I enjoyed the sections they highlighted, and the performances are strong enough to keep you invested.

A step above what I expected.

4

[GulfportDoc]

Night and the City - My unintentional flurry of Jules Dassin movies continues. This is a really effective noir from 1950 and stars Richard Widmark as American expatriate Harry Fabian. He's a low level hustler living in London and working as a "club tout" for Philip Nosseross. He goes out and, using his network of cab drivers, doormen and bouncers, entices well to do targets into visiting his bosses nightclub. Fabian is kind of a pathetic schmuck and hustler always looking for the big score that will land him on Easy Street. He lives with his long suffering girlfriend Mary Bristol (Gene Tierney) who seemingly never tires of lending him money for his endless debts and get rich quick schemes.


One night while at the wrestling matches he runs across Gregorius (Stanislaus Zbyszko), a battle-scarred and retired Greco-Roman wrestling champion. He's now managing and training an up and coming young wrestler named Nikolas. Gregorius is also ashamed of his own son Kristos (Herbert Lom), who controls all the wrestling venues throughout London. His father thinks that the glitzy, manufactured entertainment Kristos promotes is an affront to the tradition of classic Greco-Roman wrestling. Never one to let an opportunity pass by, Harry makes sure to meet and charm the old man into a partnership, which would also serve to shield him from Kristos' wrath when he finds out Harry is going into competition with him.

Having conned his way into the old man's graces Fabian next has to come up with the money needed to launch Harry Fabian Promotions. Enter Helen Nosseross (Googie Withers) Philip's rapacious, ambitious wife. She's married the corpulent and lovestruck Philip for his money and has been scheming to break free of him and open her own nightclub. She offers to put up the money on the sly if Harry can help her acquire a license for her new club. There are also intimations that she and Harry were once romantically involved.
There's something about Richard Widmark that just meshed with playing desperately wretched characters and he turns in an indelible performance as Harry Fabian. You can plainly sense that it won't (and will never) end well for the guy. But you still can't look away. It's a dark, moody and palpably angry motion picture and critics at the time were taken aback at the story. But with a deeper appreciation of noir this came into it's own to some extent. Recommended.

85/100


I too am a Dassin fan, at least as far as his films..🙂 Widmark does some enjoyable intense scenery chewing in this one. Here's some commentary from me awhile back:


Night and the City (1950)

Produced at the peak of the classic film noir era, this picture is a lollapalooza of a noir, ticking so many boxes of classic noir's characteristics, that it risked coming close to being a send up.

It stars Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, and Brit star Googie Withers, with nice turns by Francis L. Sullivan, Herbert Lom, and Hugh Marlowe. Shot on location in London, it's wonderfully directed by Jules Dassin (Brute Force), with immensely impressive noir cinematography by Max Greene (So Evil My Love). The locations and studio sets are perfect.

Widmark moved away from being typecast as another psychopathic killer like Tommy Udo in Kiss of Death (1947), but he gave 110% as a sleazeball get-rich-quick dreamer Harry Fabian, who would stop at nothing to try to scam his way into prominence and to claw away at elusive respect. It's almost exhausting watching his schemes, antics and emotional outbursts.

Tierney plays Fabian's sweet, honest but enabling girlfriend. Fabian continually lies to her and asks for money for his big final attempt to be a big shot by rising to prominence as London's biggest wrestling promoters. But Fabian goes too far and has burned too many bridges. The underworld kings eventually have enough of Fabian's scheming and lying.

Of particular interest is a long and authentic private grudge wrestling match between Mike Mazurki (Murder, My Sweet), "The Strangler", and Stanislaus Sbyszko (Madison Square Garden), "Gregorius the Great". Both men had been former championship wrestlers, and the realism in their contest makes it one of the best on film.

Dassin reported that Fox studio head Darryl Zanuck had requested that Tierney be cast in the film. She was having psychological problems at the time, and he felt that the work would help pull her out of them. She rose to the occasion in this memorable picture.

But it's the keen photography by Max Greene that sets this film apart. His set ups, locations, lighting and camera angles rival those of the great John Alton, and continue to the movie's uniqueness.

Available on YouTube.

Doc's rating: 7/10

[GulfportDoc]

The Killing - rating_5

This early Stanley Kubrick effort may be the best "best laid plans" noir I've seen. Its centerpiece is a horse track heist that is the brainchild of Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden), a man who is as meticulous as the director himself. His plan about who on his team needs to do what and when could not be any more precise. If you assume that complications arise when Clay and company put their plan into action, you would be correct.
...
Nice review. One of the best crime noirs ever. No slouches in the cast. Everything clicked. I recall one of Hayden's lines: "Don't bone me, man!" That expression means something else today from what it did in 1956..:) But Marie Windsor and Elisha Cook, Jr.? Who could ask for more???

[Nausicaä]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/11/Gunpowder_Milkshake_%28poster%29.jpeg

3

SF = Zzz


[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

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f3/KingandCountry.Bogarde.png/330px-KingandCountry.Bogarde.png
By Joseph Losey/ Norman Priggen/ BHE Films - This image was retrieved from the internet. - http://www.moviepostermem.com/images/products/16200236-18a0-464c-afe7-a36c328ee47a.jpg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47717277

King and Country - (1964)

Interesting one this - although I can pretty much sum the whole film up as Paths of Glory except with the British army and only one soldier. Yep, this one soldier, Arthur Hamp (Tom Courtenay) has been fighting for 3 years during the First World War and after nearly drowning in an impact crater simply walks off - "away from the guns firing", and is captured 3 days later - and tried for desertion. Captain Hargreaves (Dirk Bogarde) defends him at his court-martial, and indeed Bogarde is the highlight of the film, giving us a sense of restrained passion in the face of army bureaucracy. Hamp is the nicest fellow you could ever meet, has fought hard and well after volunteering and appears to be shell-shocked, but the prosecution paints an unfair image of "cowardice" and has no sense of what psychological damage he's been done by the conflict. Throughout the film we're shown stills of real corpses from the front line of that conflict. Paths of Glory, released 7 years earlier, does it better though. Based on a play and novel.

7.5/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8f/Stillwater_2021_film.jpg
By IMP Awards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67637882

Stillwater - (2021)

I really enjoyed Stillwater, it defied my expectations throughout, thereby proving to me that it was a fresh look at cultural differences between the United States and the rest of the world (specifically, in the film's case, France.) Bill Baker (Matt Damon, who I thought was very good in this) has a daughter, Allison (Abigail Breslin - forging a career beyond Little Miss Sunshine and Zombieland) who is in a French jail due to a murder she's been convicted of. She enlists her father's help in clearing her name, and he is not the kind of guy to adjust easily to these circumstances - but despite his difficulties he meets a French lady and her daughter and becomes close to them. From the crime solving mystery and the fish out of water tale of Bill himself comes an interesting combination which doesn't just zero in on some Scooby Doo solving - instead the focus shifts and the film takes more of a real-life approach - where the characters themselves are more important. Bill is a simplistic "I own two guns" blue-collar worker whose life is taking a detour nobody would ever have predicted. He's given a new perspective, but it might be too late to change him in any fundamental way.

7/10

[WHITBISSELL!]

I too am a Dassin fan, at least as far as his films..🙂 Widmark does some enjoyable intense scenery chewing in this one. Here's some commentary from me awhile back:


Night and the City (1950)

Produced at the peak of the classic film noir era, this picture is a lollapalooza of a noir, ticking so many boxes of classic noir's characteristics, that it risked coming close to being a send up.

It stars Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, and Brit star Googie Withers, with nice turns by Francis L. Sullivan, Herbert Lom, and Hugh Marlowe. Shot on location in London, it's wonderfully directed by Jules Dassin (Brute Force), with immensely impressive noir cinematography by Max Greene (So Evil My Love). The locations and studio sets are perfect.

Widmark moved away from being typecast as another psychopathic killer like Tommy Udo in Kiss of Death (1947), but he gave 110% as a sleazeball get-rich-quick dreamer Harry Fabian, who would stop at nothing to try to scam his way into prominence and to claw away at elusive respect. It's almost exhausting watching his schemes, antics and emotional outbursts.

Tierney plays Fabian's sweet, honest but enabling girlfriend. Fabian continually lies to her and asks for money for his big final attempt to be a big shot by rising to prominence as London's biggest wrestling promoters. But Fabian goes too far and has burned too many bridges. The underworld kings eventually have enough of Fabian's scheming and lying.

Of particular interest is a long and authentic private grudge wrestling match between Mike Mazurki (Murder, My Sweet), "The Strangler", and Stanislaus Sbyszko (Madison Square Garden), "Gregorius the Great". Both men had been former championship wrestlers, and the realism in their contest makes it one of the best on film.

Dassin reported that Fox studio head Darryl Zanuck had requested that Tierney be cast in the film. She was having psychological problems at the time, and he felt that the work would help pull her out of them. She rose to the occasion in this memorable picture.

But it's the keen photography by Max Greene that sets this film apart. His set ups, locations, lighting and camera angles rival those of the great John Alton, and continue to the movie's uniqueness.

Available on YouTube.

Doc's rating: 7/10Good write-up Doc. :up: I agree about Fabian being such a manic character. So far all the Dassin flicks I've watched I've really liked so now I need to keep an eye out for Rififi.

[xSookieStackhouse]

Uncharted (2022) - frankly speaking, not the most interesting film in this genre. Somehow everything is monotonous, and very predictable. Somehow there is a certainty that in half a year I won't remember what exactly this movie is about. As for me, even Tomb Raider (2018) is a head higher. Maybe I'm wrong.
the movie uncharted is based on the video game uncharted series ,

[mark f]

The Turning Point (Riccardo Antonaroli, 2021) 2.5 5.5/10
Mad Max (George Miller, 1979) 3 6.5/10
Man to Man (Allan Dwan, 1930) 2.5 5.5/10
Silver Streak (Arthur Hiller, 1976) 3.5 7+/10
https://thumbs.gfycat.com/SkeletalPartialAcaciarat-size_restricted.gif
To escape from the police and solve a murder mystery, Gene Wilder poses as a black, but thief Richard Pryor worries they'll get in trouble, especially if they meet up with some Muslims.
The Window (Ted Tetzlaff, 1949) 3 6.5/10
The Nameless Days (Andrew Mecham & Matthew Whedon, 2022) 2 5/10
Always in My Heart (Jo Graham, 1942) 2.5 5.5/10
A Letter to Three Wives (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1949) 3.5+ 7.5/10
https://i.makeagif.com/media/11-20-2016/xVTs_D.gif
Linda Darnell, Ann Sothern and Jeanne Crain receive a letter that says one of their husbands ran off with another woman and we see what happened that brought them there.
The Great O'Malley (William Dieterle, 1937) 2.5 6/10
The Merchant of Four Seasons (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1972) 3 6.5/10
Enviar Y Recibir (Cosmo Collins Salovaara, 2021) 2.5 5.5/10
Chinese Roulette (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1976) 3 6.5/10
https://64.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lnpatnbYAG1qkbufzo1_500.gifv
Anna Karina is one of the family members who are at their estate who play Chinese Roulette, a vicious game which is meant to rip apart the vicious participants.
Death of Nintendo (Raya Martin, 2020) 2.5 5.5/10
His Greatest Gamble (John S. Robertson, 1934) 2 5/10
House of Women (Walter Doniger, 1962) 2.5 6/10
Why Would I Lie? (Larry Peerce, 1980) 3 6.5/10
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/edb2G2vN0_4/hqdefault.jpg
Compulsive liar Treat Williams gets away with lots of things, but when he becomes a social worker, he tries to reconnect foster child Gabriel Macht with his birth mother and thinks he finds guidance counselor Lisa Eichhorn a likely candidate.
We're All Going to the World's Fair (Jane Schoenbrun, 2021) 2.5 5.5/10
Luzifer (Peter Brunner, 2021) 2 5/10
Going Home (Herbert B. Leonard, 1971) 2.5 6/10
Ambulance (Michael Bay, 2022) 3 6.5/10
https://64.media.tumblr.com/64e6e8d455c6d1b0b1f19a640d50ee5d/d558e2367100aa9c-e3/s540x810/f5ed537168eeeda1ac9e4424f6617fc0bcb3af88.gifv
When a bank heist in L.A. goes FUBAR, the leader (Jake Gyllenhaal) and his brother (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) steal an ambulance to try to escape but the chief paramedic (Eiza González) seems to be still in charge.

[John Klein]

the movie uncharted is based on the video game uncharted series ,

I understand, but I give an assessment as a movie) again, Lara Croft is also a well-known series of games from the late 20th century.

[Allaby]

The Girl Can't Help It (1956) I enjoyed the music and the performances were good. The film looks great. An entertaining musical comedy. 4

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYjBmODhiZTEtYzcwMy00MWY3LWE0ODEtMDM5MmZlZTc2OTI2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTMwMDA5ODU3._V1_.jpg


2.5

[mrblond]

After Love (2020)

Strong feeling.
Superb clean performance by Joanna Scanlan.

4.0
86889

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F-ELqffKRB5Hk%2FViwt67dRLiI%2FAAAAAAAAbGA%2Ftk0bibekibs%2Fs640%2Ftomjones.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

Tom Jones, 1963

Tom Jones (Albert Finney) is a foundling who is raised by a wealthy landowner. Tom is in love with Sophie (Susannah York), a young woman who returns his affections. But Tom's social status means that they cannot marry. The film follows Tom's many misadventures as he pursues Sophie and must endure the deliberate sabotages of the jealous Blifil (David Warner).

Have you ever been at a party/gathering and met a new person and gone "Wow! This person is fun and full of energy, yay!" only to 15 minutes later think "Dear lord this person is exhausting!"?

That was pretty much my experience with Tom Jones, whose frantic, mocking, absurd comic stylings were charming for the first half hour or so, and then slowly lost their charms as time went on.

Finney is charming in the lead role, which is tricky because Tom's constant drunken shenanigans can skew more obnoxious than endearing. But Finney gives him enough himbo naivete that you end up rooting for the big lunk.

The supporting performances are all in line with each other, the problem being that the film's over-the-top comedy tone is a lot to handle. At one point Sophie's father is rolling around in a pile of hay, yelling and farting and I was just like "Eh . . . ". Reading a little about the filming, it sounds like the director and Finney were not overall very happy and that there were some unfortunate tensions on set.

There are some stand-alone sequences that are fun. There's a ridiculously long flirty meal between two characters and some decent physical comedy. But overall it just doesn't come together in a satisfying way. With about 30 minutes left in the movie, I realized that I just didn't care what happened to anyone.

There's also an unfortunate amount of unkind animal handling, which never scores points with me.

Just kind of blah.

2.5

[Nausicaä]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/fe/No_Time_to_Die_poster.jpg/220px-No_Time_to_Die_poster.jpg

4

SF = 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

[GulfportDoc]

Good write-up Doc. :up: I agree about Fabian being such a manic character. So far all the Dassin flicks I've watched I've really liked so now I need to keep an eye out for Rififi.
One of my favorite Dassin's is The Naked City (1948). If you haven't seen it, it's a good story with dynamite photography of NYC. But I really liked Barry Fitzgerald as Det. Lt. Dan Muldoon.

I saw Rififi only within the last year. It's good, but I think overrated. Perhaps being French gave it a little extra buzz. It does feature a memorable and lenthy jewelry burglary shot entirely in silence. It's been imitated many times. When you see it, I'd like to get your impression.

[WHITBISSELL!]

One of my favorite Dassin's is The Naked City (1948). If you haven't seen it, it's a good story with dynamite photography of NYC. But I really liked Barry Fitzgerald as Det. Lt. Dan Muldoon.Oh yeah. I caught it a few months back. I like how Dassin can take on different genres like breezy caper flicks (Topkapi) or noirish police procedurals (The Naked City) or tightly wound prison thrillers (Brute Force) with equal aplomb. Now that I'm familiar with his work I'll have to check out films that I've overlooked in the past like The Canterville Ghost and Thieve's Highway. And of course Rififi.

I saw Rififi only within the last year. It's good, but I think overrated. Perhaps being French gave it a little extra buzz. It does feature a memorable and lenthy jewelry burglary shot entirely in silence. It's been imitated many times. When you see it, I'd like to get your impression.Will do. :up:

[MovieGal]

86892


The Prince of Jutland
(1994)
Directed by Gabriel Axel
3.25/5

With all the hype about Robert Eggers' The Northman, I thought I would visit a film from long ago. I watched The Prince of Jutland back in the early 2000's when I was on a Christain Bale filmography kick. I enjoyed the film as it was a tale from the old chronicles of Denmark. A more accurate telling of Shakespeare's "Hamlet". The film has a huge cast of now-famous actors, including Gabriel Byrne, Helen Mirren, Kate Beckinsale, Christian Bale, Brian Cox, Tom Wilkinson, Andy Serkis, Steve Waddington, and Freddie Jones to name a few.

In no way is this film, as violent as perhaps The Northman can be but it is a similar story to be told. I haven't had a chance to watch The Northman so I can't compare the two. I do plan on viewing it as soon as I can.

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f2/A_Rainy_Day_in_New_York_poster.jpg
By IMP Awards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60781426

A Rainy Day in New York - (2019)

Going on most other Woody Allen films from this century I thought I'd probably enjoy A Rainy Day in New York, but I really didn't like it very much. Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning play a couple in their very early 20s, but the lines they've been given and the way they're being directed makes them sound and look like a couple in their early 40s or even 50s. Now, I know they're meant to be two very upper-class snobs, but no kid (and they're basically kids) I know has such a deep general knowledge, serious tone and wisdom, and the way they speak you'd think they belong in the British Royal Family - with mannerisms to match. They're in New York for the weekend and get involved in madcap capers, meeting people (Fanning's Ashleigh gets to interview a film director, producer and has a sexy actor hit on her.) It's like Woody Allen is making this film from inside a bubble, and has absolutely no idea how real people in the outside world behave. There's so much snootiness, posh sensibilities and, as one critic noted, "painfully pretentious and on-the-nose" dialogue it made me nauseous. I'd normally leave out what someone else has said about the film - but that said it just perfectly. I normally like Woody Allen's films, but this is one I intensely disliked. It's a film that's a long long way up it's own rear end.

3/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7e/Dream_Horse_poster.jpeg
By Studio and or Graphic Artist - Can be obtained from film's distributor., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63153424

Dream Horse - (2020)

Okay, I said I was going to stop watching these kind of films. Obviously I didn't have a great movie night last night. Like Fisherman's Friends, this is a true story that's treated in a light manner, with risk-free conventional plotting and cinematography. The first 10 minutes or so are interesting, as we're introduced to Jan Vokes (Toni Collette) and Brian Vokes (Owen Teale) - a couple of down to earth middle aged people who have a love of animals. When they decide to breed a horse for racing the entire plot ran through my mind, and the movie followed that plot to the very letter. It follows the formula everyone is taught the very first morning at film school. It's not a kids movie - but it could serve as one, being as family-friendly as it is, and might be better enjoyed by 10 year-olds with an interest in horses. Sadly predictable and derivative, but if you like those kind of conventional easy-going feel-good flicks then you'll probably rate it higher than I have.

5/10

[MovieBuffering]

Red Rocket - 2021

Sheesh. Dude from the Scary Movies, Simon Rex, has some chops. Saw him on Normand and Morrill's podcast and they peaked my interest in this flick (great interview/pod). What a star making performance. He charms the hell out of you with a character that has next to no redeeming qualities. I have no clue how he wasn't nominated for an Oscar. The cast were really a bunch of nobodies and some street casting but man were they all great. I think they mixed people from the Texas town with legit actors and the product feels genuine. I need to see Sean Baker's other movie The Florida Project now. This was truly an independent flick, you can feel it. Not in a bad way there are some great shots. It's a great snap shot of small town Texas. Not sure if this movie will be for everyone but I really dug it. It shouldn't be engrossing but it was. It didn't quite reach stellar status but it was a very solid entertaining flick I'd watch again.

3.5

https://pics.filmaffinity.com/Red_Rocket-690217513-large.jpg

[Thief]

STAR WARS
(1977, Lucas)

https://i.imgur.com/fNVGsgd.png


"If there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet that it's farthest from."



A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... we met this young man who hadn't really seen the world beyond his home planet of Tatooine. Star Wars follows the adventures of this young man, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), as destiny finds its way into this faraway planet to set him on the heroic path that was expected of him. After tragedy hits, Luke joins a mysterious hermit, a rouge pilot and his Wookie sidekick to rescue Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher).

Obviously, this wasn't my first watch, but as I was preparing for an upcoming podcast episode, I decided to give it a go, along with my kids. And even though they drifted off a bit in the second act, they really dug the last act as our heroes try to take down the Death Star. As someone who grew up watching this since I was a kid (the film was released literally the same year I was born), it was certainly a moving experience to try to pass that down to them.

Grade: 4.5


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2298415#post2298415)

[Stirchley]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f2/A_Rainy_Day_in_New_York_poster.jpg
By IMP Awards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60781426

A Rainy Day in New York - (2019)

Going on most other Woody Allen films from this century I thought I'd probably enjoy A Rainy Day in New York, but I really didn't like it very much. Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning play a couple in their very early 20s, but the lines they've been given and the way they're being directed makes them sound and look like a couple in their early 40s or even 50s. Now, I know they're meant to be two very upper-class snobs, but no kid (and they're basically kids) I know has such a deep general knowledge, serious tone and wisdom, and the way they speak you'd think they belong in the British Royal Family - with mannerisms to match. They're in New York for the weekend and get involved in madcap capers, meeting people (Fanning's Ashleigh gets to interview a film director, producer and has a sexy actor hit on her.) It's like Woody Allen is making this film from inside a bubble, and has absolutely no idea how real people in the outside world behave. There's so much snootiness, posh sensibilities and, as one critic noted, "painfully pretentious and on-the-nose" dialogue it made me nauseous. I'd normally leave out what someone else has said about the film - but that said it just perfectly. I normally like Woody Allen's films, but this is one I intensely disliked. It's a film that's a long long way up it's own rear end.

3/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7e/Dream_Horse_poster.jpeg
By Studio and or Graphic Artist - Can be obtained from film's distributor., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63153424

Dream Horse - (2020)

Okay, I said I was going to stop watching these kind of films. Obviously I didn't have a great movie night last night. Like Fisherman's Friends, this is a true story that's treated in a light manner, with risk-free conventional plotting and cinematography. The first 10 minutes or so are interesting, as we're introduced to Jan Vokes (Toni Collette) and Brian Vokes (Owen Teale) - a couple of down to earth middle aged people who have a love of animals. When they decide to breed a horse for racing the entire plot ran through my mind, and the movie followed that plot to the very letter. It follows the formula everyone is taught the very first morning at film school. It's not a kids movie - but it could serve as one, being as family-friendly as it is, and might be better enjoyed by 10 year-olds with an interest in horses. Sadly predictable and derivative, but if you like those kind of conventional easy-going feel-good flicks then you'll probably rate it higher than I have.

5/10

Very good reviews. I own Dream Horse, but haven’t gotten to it yet. I don’t expect much from it.

I seem to have avoided seeing the Woody Allen movie for some reason. I must have read bad reviews. What a cast though!

[Thief]

GONJIAM: HAUNTED ASYLUM
(2018, Bum-shik)

https://i.imgur.com/T8mseBk.jpg


"Ghosts live here, everyone. And we are at the place where ghosts live."



Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum feeds off of that curiosity. The film follows the crew of a YouTube channel called "Horror Times" that decides to explore the building and transmit it live. The focus of their exploration seems to be the enigmatic Room 402, which has remained closed since the hospital closed. The film opens with two teenage boys trying to break the door open, only to disappear, which sparks the Horror Times crew to investigate.

On all my years on the Internet, I've seen several different viral videos that are frequently shared via social media of certain security cameras where everything goes calm for a while only to have a horrifying image suddenly jump in front of the camera to scare you. A fair share of them have made me jump, others not so much. Is it gimmicky? Yes, but I guess they achieve what they set out to do.

Grade: 3


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2298471#post2298471)

[ueno_station54]

https://www.closeupfilmcentre.com/download_file/view_inline/7470/
The Last of England (Derek Jarman, 1987)
i will almost assuredly love any film that is entirely montage. bonus points for the gay sex atop the british flag.
rating_4

[Stirchley]

bonus points for the gay sex atop the british flag.


People have been beheaded for less. :eek:

[Marco]

Ambulance (2022)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d2/Ambulance_film_poster.jpg
Heist movie, pretty trite. I prefer films (of this ilk) where you keep guessing. This was really boringly average. Apart from the relationship between brothers (never really expanded on) and a few action scenes, typical Michael Bay popcorn.
1.5

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi5.walmartimages.com%2Fasr%2F8d020dcf-a396-4317-a255-c795074f5fe1_1.35370a0199691478ece0ceb389ec852d.jpeg&f=1&nofb=1

The Blue Angel, 1930

A professor named Rath (Emil Jannings) tries busting his students for bad behavior, which leads him to an irresistible nightclub singer named Lola Lola (Marlene Dietrich). As Rath becomes more and more obsessed with Lola, he makes decisions that will have ruinous impact on his life.

This is one of those films I've been vaguely aware of for years, especially with its reputation for launching Dietrich into the spotlight. Overall I enjoyed it, though it was far sadder and harder to watch than I expected.

It is incredibly easy to see why this film did wonders for Dietrich. It showcases her particular brand of effortless sexuality and the way that she so often seems like she's in on a joke and maybe you're the punchline. Jannings is also good as the hapless Rath, who isn't exactly at the top of the heap before he meets Lola. Movies about sexual obsession depend on the relationship between the desirability of one party and the culpability of the other. In this film, both halves of the equation make sense.

I do wish that I'd managed to watch a better copy. The version I saw had particularly sketchy audio. I don't hold that against the film itself, but it did take some of the edge off of the sequences in the nightclub.

4

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYmIyMmJkMTMtZjk3Mi00Nzk5LTllMzgtZTM3M2Y5NDEwYmVlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUzOTY1NTc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.j pg


4

[xSookieStackhouse]

4.5 rewatched
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZTM2ZGJmNjQtN2UyOS00NjcxLWFjMDktMDE2NzMyNTZlZTBiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzkwMjQ5NzM@._V1_.jpg

[Fabulous]

The Forgotten Battle (2020)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/vyHGB7UaAz2f1KDrA4EGiNUimKr.jpg

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6a/The_Third_Wife_poster.jpg
By https://www.filmmovement.com/the-third-wife, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62533768

The Third Wife - (2018)

Child brides, polygamy and privilege in this Vietnamese film, which is set during the 19th Century, take us into the bedroom to give us a very uncomfortable look at what would be considered sheer madness and sick debauchery in this time and Western culture. You could say "well, if it works..." but it really doesn't. The end results are often suicide, death in childbirth and misery for anyone unlucky to be born female. May is 14 years-old and has just been married to a middle-aged wealthy landowner who already has 2 wives. Her sexual initiation is steeped in ritual (which includes an egg yolk) and the bloody sheet is hung up on the front porch for all to see. May hopes to give her new husband a son, and she falls pregnant not long after her first period - which she has not even had yet when she married. His son to a different wife is getting married to a girl who appears to be a child of around 12, but he is in love with another, and can't bear to sleep with her - his refusal to do so on his wedding night will cause severe repercussions...for her! Among all the rituals, belief and misogyny, there's a mysterious beauty surrounding the people in this film - but there is also unnecessary misery because of those very things - a misery which will end up giving the results they do at the film's conclusion. This film has been re-edited, given a new soundtrack and re-released in black and white as Between Shadow and Soul, which sounds kind of awesome, so I might check that out.

7/10

https://i.postimg.cc/1tXfNVZ5/moon-rock-for-monday.jpg
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62533768

Moon Rock for Monday - (2020)

Cheap and h̶a̶r̶m̶l̶e̶s̶s̶ harmful Australian road movie, which has Nicholas Hope show up as a "Moon Man" for a few minutes to alleviate our boredom. He charges people money to take them out into the middle of nowhere, and leave them there (because it feels like being stranded on the moon, I guess.) The rest (ie - "plot") isn't even worth mentioning. Except for the "throw your medication away, it's only making you sicker" attitude, which in the case of most people is actually inadvisable.

4/10

[PHOENIX74]

I seem to have avoided seeing the Woody Allen [A Rainy Day in New York] movie for some reason. I must have read bad reviews. What a cast though!

It did get bad reviews, and it is bad. This is coming from someone who usually likes Woody Allen movies, both those from his earlier era and the more recent ones. Most of the cast seem to just be checking off "appear in a Woody Allen film" from their bucket list. None of them fit the roles they've been given, except perhaps Diego Luna.

[matt72582]

Tricheurs - 7.5/10

If it was any other director, I might have hesitated with this. It's nice to have a "New Wave" or "experimental" director with themes/plots that are usually redundant.... And within minutes, I was hooked in, in part because I might have found a possible "good luck charm" (probably not). Real good movie.



It was just on TCM.. Must have been part of some Gambling Marathon, because "California Split" and "The Gambler" were on - both good movies, but this was better.



https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f4/Tricheurs.jpg

[WHITBISSELL!]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/fcb329812c905b405fdc98fb36fb7d60/217c3b55343cb4f0-5d/s540x810/901aa5bc02424eca30e1ed31f022ce6935dc545c.gifv
https://64.media.tumblr.com/39f5f8e7d528e092196a41e9316b18e2/ea4dddf71eb637e2-23/s540x810/a4a82faf180eb5f3e1e698d27e43dd2084631c5e.gifv
The Quarry - Shea Whigham and Michael Shannon. Those are two names that always make me sit up and pay attention. Either one of them is enough to at least get me interested in checking out a movie. But when you combine them like in Boardwalk Empire or Take Shelter it's impossible to resist. This film unfortunately has a weak script but Shannon and Whigham attempt and largely succeed in elevating it to more than just an average mystery thriller.

Whigham plays The Man. He's never given a name and he's first seen lying by the side of a road in Texas where he's picked up by David Martin (Bruno Bichir), an alcoholic preacher en route from Ohio to a new congregation in South Texas. He buys The Man a meal and offers to take him along as far as he wants to go. But when he decides to stop in an out-of-the-way spot and question the enigmatic stranger he triggers a violent outburst that leaves him dead.

The Man assumes his identity and travels on to the small town of Bevel where he meets the church caretaker Celia (Catalina Sandino Moreno). He promptly gets Martin's stolen van broken into which is when he meets up with Police Chief John Moore (Shannon). The two thieves turn out to be Celia's cousins who also deal drugs, some of which they grow themselves at a quarry outside of town.When I first started watching this I assumed the title referred to a quarry as in prey. Something (or someone) being pursued by a hunter or predator. Maybe it's meant to have a double meaning but since the film is pretty much straightforward I kind of doubt it. It's a slow moving and character driven film with a weak third act. But like I said, Shannon and Whigham turn in their usual outstanding performances. It's up to you to decide whether or not that's enough to make this a worthwhile use of your time.

80/100

[ueno_station54]

https://dazedimg-dazedgroup.netdna-ssl.com/756/azure/dazed-prod/1260/3/1263444.JPG
Jawbreaker (Darren Stein, 1999)
incredibly evil film.
rating_4

[Nausicaä]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/10/Petite_Maman_poster.jpeg/220px-Petite_Maman_poster.jpeg

4

SF = 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

[Gideon58]

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/29eefa78-02ab-4687-b6fb-31f01d19a026.4f35c6630fce12e2ab5087d71a9c2fe5.jpeg?odnHeight=612&odnWidth=612&odnBg=FFFFFF


4.5

[ueno_station54]

https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_560,w_850/https%3A%2F%2Ffansided.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F159840882-850x560.jpeg
Sugar & Spice (Francine McDougall, 2001)
i really wanted to like this. some good moments early on and some choice lines but really doesn't live up to the premise and is also weirdly homophobic for no discernible reason.
2.5

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3d/Those_Who_Wish_Me_Dead.png
By IMP Awards / 2021 Movie Poster Gallery / Those Who Wish Me Dead Poster (#1 of 2), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67664490

Those Who Wish Me Dead - (2021)

Seen this Taylor Sheridan film reviewed a few times here, with verdicts being from average to poor - and I was hoping that would mean my expectations would be lowered and I'd really enjoy it. As it was, I found it to be fairly average myself, even though it did have some good moments of suspense and action. Angelina Jolie was horribly miscast, that much is true (and Sheridan demanded her.) The usual theme for him - that of "the hunt" - is there, but there's not much else. An average, very competent thriller that lacks new ideas, and it's simple formula will mean it won't stay in your memory for very long.

6/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/59/Crossing_the_line_region_1_dvd_2006-07.jpg
By May be found at the following website: https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Line-James-Joseph-Dresnok/dp/B000XJD3HU, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42151917

Crossing the Line - (2006)

Fascinating documentary about the 4 U.S. servicemen who crossed the border from South Korea to North Korea to defect during the 1960s - believing that they'd be treated like kings in the hermit kingdom. They were for a time, but eventually the poor conditions in the country had them arriving at the Soviet embassy pleading for passage to the Soviet Union. Embassy officials promptly told the North Korean authorities - and these 4 Americans underwent "re-education". One remained as of 2006, and the documentary interviews him. Obviously he extolls the virtues of the regime and country, but there's sadness in his voice when he tells us he's happy living "a simple life". During their time there, they were recruited for the North Korean film industry, always playing the parts of "evil Americans" in North Korean films - becoming huge celebrities within the country. Two died during the 1980s, and another had escaped by the early 2000s. I'd never heard of this before (they all reminded me a lot of Lee Harvey Oswald and his defection to the Soviet Union in the 1950s) so it was really interesting.

7/10

[Obi-Wan_Mifune]

I guess I have a bit of a backlog now thanks to the crazy week that I’ve been having.

Fatal Attraction (1987) — People love to complain abojt the death of the mid-budget studio movie for adult audiences (and I certainly sympathize, don’t get me wrong), but these have never been my kind of movies: slickly-produced, modestly-interesting and narratively incredibly safe. Some definitely rise above the rest, but, on the whole, I vastly prefer the stark arthouse / opulent tentpole divide of the current era to milquetoast thrillers and middlebrow dramas (although it is not nearly as stable of a business model to base an entire industry on). Fatal Attraction, probably the best of the 1980s sexual thrillers, is pretty much the quintessential one of these movies. And while certainly enjoyable enough on balance, it really is only ever just okay. Extremely dated sexual politics, some expectedly reflexive nipponophobia and some very awkward-looking sex scenes (such as mounting Glenn Close in a sink full of dirty dishes) keep this movie pretty middling overall. 3

Chronicle of a Summer (1961) — A potentially compelling documentary about the state of mid-century France told by extrapolating on one very simple question — “are you happy?” — it never quite manages to rise to how interesting its subject is. A few of the subjects it follows prove to be quite interesting, and while handsomely shot, the long stretches given over to silent, vérité tracking shots doesn’t quite make up the difference. Academically interesting, but not exactly narratively compelling. 3

Umberto D. (1952) — with its emphasis on real-world settings, non-professional actors and frequently improvised scripts, Italian Neo-Realism often presents a rather dry viewing experience. Despite being one of the quintessential directors in this mode, however, I’ve always liked what I’ve seen of Vittorio de Sica, who seems to have had a stronger sense of his characters and stories than many of his contemporaries. Playing out like a cross between de Sica’s Bicycle Thieves and dos Santos’s Barren Lives (or, if you prefer, like a proto-Wendy and Lucy), I found this simple story of an increasingly desperate man trying to keep a roof over his head (against the machinations of his antagonistic landlady) and his dog out of harm’s way to be incredibly moving. 4

The Lives of Others (2006) — Not quite the The Conversation-alike that I had assumed it to be going in, this story of domestic spying is a sometimes-compelling voyeuristic drama that occassionally feels a bit too similar to the mid-budgeted CIA thrillers from the same time period. It’s an interesting and well-crafted enough piece of filmmaking in the end, but doesn’t quite excel at anything the way I was expecting it to. 3

Dragon Wars (2007) — Despite its innumerable shortcomings as a film (ranging from its perplexed-looking cast to the incredibly jumbled script to even the most basic understanding of its US setting), I had a lot of fun with this, over-the-top, spectacle-driven, modern fantasy / creature feature epic from South Korea. The last 20 or so minutes genuinely constitutes one of the craziest action climaxes I’ve ever seen, which includes aerial dogfights with fire-breathing dragons, dinosaur-mounted knights cutting into soldiers, canon-mounted frog-monsters squaring off against modern tanks and a kaiju-sized snake constricted a skyscraper while fighting army helicopters. It was a bit much getting there (including multiple, needlessly nested backstories to lay the narrative groundwork for that kickass climax), but worth it in the end. 3

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) — A personal favorite of mine, which beneficially doubles as a crash-course in the workings of the US legislative branch. Capra’s Rockwellian idealism and Jimmy Stuart’s bumbling, childlike optimism are perfectly suited to a story of the harsh realities of corruption and dishearteningly pragmatic political machinations. This time around, the DC tour when Mr. Smith finally arrives in Washington was pleasantly similar to a recent favorite of mine (Born Yesterday) and the fillibuster stretch at the end is, as ever, a real winner. 5

[WHITBISSELL!]

https://media1.giphy.com/media/fsseUOqeLYUgqUkChI/giphy.gif?cid=790b76116e4ee5335efa463cd61481c4a549c68b31a1e7d2&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g
https://media4.giphy.com/media/cKWFoPB7bzwk6dTRQl/giphy.gif

The Lighthouse - I lost my study guide so I'll give you the Cliff Notes version. Popeye and Bluto drop acid, trip balls and we get to watch. But seriously this is too dense a film to corral in a paltry few sentences so I won't even try. Suffice it to say that it's a two man show. Literally. Outside of what I'm going to assume is an allegorical mermaid character the only two people onscreen are costars Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson. They play Thomas Wake and Ephraim Winslow respectively.

Wake is the actual "wickie" or lighthouse keeper and Winslow is a one-time lumberjack wanting to make a fresh start. But Wake keeps a covetous almost maniacal grip on "the light" and refuses to let Winslow anywhere near it, at the same time assigning him all manner of menial, back breaking tasks. Their month long stint on the remote island finally at an end, the two men look forward to being relieved. But a violent storm strands them and things quickly unravel. Which is putting it much too mildly.

I'm not sure how one is supposed to react to the story. I think most people will come out of it a little twitchy and maybe stupefied. I also think that was director Robert Eggers intent. But then you can also appreciate the acting clinic put on by Dafoe and Pattinson. And the dialogue. And the cinematography. And the sublime sound design. This is definitely something you can recommend. But maybe with a caveat?

90/100

[WHITBISSELL!]

Umberto D. (1952) — with its emphasis on real-world settings, non-professional actors and frequently improvised scripts, Italian Neo-Realism often presents a rather dry viewing experience. Despite being one of the quintessential directors in this mode, however, I’ve always liked what I’ve seen of Vittorio de Sica, who seems to have had a stronger sense of his characters and stories than many of his contemporaries. Playing out like a cross between de Sica’s Bicycle Thieves and dos Santos’s Barren Lives (or, if you prefer, like a proto-Wendy and Lucy), I found this simple story of an increasingly desperate man trying to keep a roof over his head (against the machinations of his antagonistic landlady) and his dog out of harm’s way to be incredibly moving. rating_4 Really liked this one as well. :up:

Dragon Wars (2007) — Despite its innumerable shortcomings as a film (ranging from its perplexed-looking cast to the incredibly jumbled script to even the most basic understanding of its US setting), I had a lot of fun with this, over-the-top, spectacle-driven, modern fantasy / creature feature epic from South Korea. The last 20 or so minutes genuinely constitutes one of the craziest action climaxes I’ve ever seen, which includes aerial dogfights with fire-breathing dragons, dinosaur-mounted knights cutting into soldiers, canon-mounted frog-monsters squaring off against modern tanks and a kaiju-sized snake constricted a skyscraper while fighting army helicopters. It was a bit much getting there (including multiple, needlessly nested backstories to lay the narrative groundwork for that kickass climax), but worth it in the end. rating_3

I remember running across this totally by chance and somehow being completely drawn in. It's that kind of flick. Guilty pleasure indeed.

[Fabulous]

Marie Antoinette (2006)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/hlbRkinr9YcC3UOc871Df5zu9Ly.jpg

[this_is_the_ girl]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.moviehousememories.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F05%2Fchronicle-2012-featured-2.jpg&f=1&nofb=1
Chronicle (2012, Josh Trank)
3.5
I've seen parts of this before but never the whole thing until now. This is a pretty decent 'found-footage' type sci-fi flick about a group of teenagers gaining superpowers. The 'found footage' approach with lots of handheld camerawork actually works to the film's benefit, giving it a more believable look and vibe.

[Marco]

Charlie Says (2018)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2d/Charlie_Says_%282018_film%29_poster.jpg
Well worn tale of the women in Charles Manson's The Family that I watched out of curiosity to see how Matt Smith would do as Manson. And he did very well, very intense and believable. The remainder of the cast are so-so and the story is told of the build up to the Tate-La Bianca murders. It's decent enough fare but sheds no new light on the story.
2.5

[D54pod]

Joe (2013)

https://static.onecms.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2014/04/joe-review.jpg

This has been on my list for some time now. One of the 'rawest' movies I have been. It's definitely a slow burn, and to be honest not much happens in the movie from a plot perspective. But I did enjoy this, especially due to the performances from everyone. Cage is at his gritty best, reminds me a little of his performance in Mandy. But I was even more impressed by the homeless man (yes Homeless man and not actor) Gary Poulter. He'd never acted before, so I guess he was playing himself. Which makes this all the more depressing. A hard watch, but I would highly recommend it. It's not everyday you get a movie like this.

8/10

[Torgo]

Excalibur - 4

This epic about Arthur Pendragon's rise from squire to king is bound to satisfy fans of his legend and lovers of the sword and sorcery genre alike. For a 40-year-old movie, I was struck by how good and not dated it looks, at least in comparison to a lot of movies in this genre from this decade. It helps that its visual effects would come across as unique in any era, my favorite being how it uses light from the knights' shining armor to the otherworldly green glow of the titular sword. You don't have to be an expert in the King Arthur legend to know how expansive it is, and I like how Boorman and company account for this by structuring the movie as a series of episodes. As a result, none of its time jumps seem out of place or make the movie seem incoherent. Also, whether directly or indirectly, this approach keeps the movie briskly paced and more reliant on dialogue than narration. Another quality that makes it so much fun is that it's a who's who of other legends: those of the British acting world. The joy of seeing familiar faces like Patrick Stewart, Helen Mirren, Liam Neeson, et al, all of whom are just as watchable then as they are now, never gets old, but that's not to take away from the performers in more prominent roles who I do not know as well. Familiar or not, the standout is Nicol Williamson as Merlin, who could not be a better guide and friend to Nigel Terry's Arthur, or to the audience for that matter thanks to his consistent - and consistently surprising -appearances. Credit also goes to Nicholas Clay as Lancelot, who is utterly convincing at how his love for Arthur's bride conflicts with his need to be his king's most just and loyal knight. Moreover, thanks to him and how it puts its R rating to good use, the movie earns its romance label as much as it earns its sword and sorcery labels.

Again, this movie covers a lot of material in its two-and-a-half-hour runtime and thankfully without coming across as overstuffed, but there are characters and subplots I wish were more fleshed out, namely Morgana le Fay, Perceval, and the quest for the Holy Grail. In other words, those expecting a deep exploration of the entire Arthurian legend rather than the survey this movie provides may be disappointed. Despite wishing it had been a little bit longer for this reason, I am more than satisfied with this movie's treatment of it. Besides, it succeeds at telling King Arthur’s story, if anyone’s, and since I’d be happy to watch, but do not feel compelled to see any other movies that tell this story that have been or are yet to be made, it must be doing something right.

[ThatDarnMKS]

JOE pairs very nicely with MUD, both Southern crime flicks with a young Tye Sheridan. JOE is the grimier of the two but both sport brilliant titular performances from their stars. Big fan of each, though I prefer the formal precision of Nichols to Green’s attempts at realism.

[Thief]

THE HEIRESS
(1949, Wyler)

https://i.imgur.com/zEYHv5w.jpg


"She's gone to the best schools in the city, she's had the finest training I could get her, music and dancing. She's sat with me evenings on end. I've tried to make conversation, give her some social adeptness. I've given her freedom wherever I could. The result is what you see. An entirely mediocre and defenseless creature with not a shred of poise."



The Heiress follows Catherine (Olivia de Havilland), a naïve and shy young woman with poor social skills. This results in the disappointment of her father, Dr. Austin Sloper (Ralph Richardson), a widower that can't help but compare her to his late wife; "Only I know what I lost when she died, and what I got in her place." Ouch. So when a young and handsome man, Morris (Montgomery Clift) starts courting Catherine, Dr. Sloper is obviously suspicious and assumes he's after her money.

This is a film I hadn't heard much about, until two guests of my podcast brought it up a couple of months ago, specifically praising De Havilland's performance, and oh, how right they were. She is excellent in the role as she perfectly portrays the evolution of Catherine in a way that's both believable and organic. Clift and Richardson are not far behind; especially Richardson, who is also great handling the contempt under that façade of fake admiration.

Grade: 4.5


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2298776#post2298776)

[Marco]

London Fields (2018)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/64/London_Fields_film_poster.png
Wow, what an absolute mess. It's not even as if they had the "well, the book is un-filmable" get-out clause, they have just made a stylized, pale, wan version of it. The characterisation is actually not too bad, Sturgess maybe overdoing the Keith Talent chavness somewhat. It's just the writing is so boring and dull, in an attempt to be profound it just makes it look like a read though. Thats one of many problems, the resetting of the timeline, the complete lack of humour in the Amis novel (think that's the biggest failing).
1.5

[TheUsualSuspect]

Punch-Drunk Love - 3.5

This film is usually passed over because it is sandwiched between two classics. This Sandler flick has charm, humour and a vibe that Anderson hasn't captured since.

Evil Dead II - 5 Went to a 35mm screening of this in Toronto. Loved it. Great crowd.

The Northman - 4.5 - Probably Eggers most accessible film, while maintaining his weird imagery, dialogue and tone. I can see people having issues with this one, but I was in it from the beginning.

[Thief]

THEY LIVE
(1988, Carpenter)

https://i.imgur.com/W3B1D0W.png


"They're free-enterprisers. The earth is just another developing planet. Their third world."



They Live follows a nameless drifter (Roddy Piper), who stumbles upon an alien conspiracy to manipulate people's thoughts and behaviors through subliminal messages. He realizes this when he finds out some special sunglasses that are designed to reveal not only these hidden messages, but the aliens hidden in plain sight that are behind them.

Piper might not be the best actor, but I think he's perfect for this role. There's an "everyday guy" vibe and an innocent charm to his performance that you can't help but root for him. Plus, he's helped by Keith David who, as usual, is all kinds of awesome. Aside from that, Carpenter's direction is very assured and efficient.

Grade: 3.5


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2298801#post2298801)

[Stirchley]

THE HEIRESS
(1949, Wyler)

https://i.imgur.com/zEYHv5w.jpg




The Heiress follows Catherine (Olivia de Havilland), a naïve and shy young woman with poor social skills. This results in the disappointment of her father, Dr. Austin Sloper (Ralph Richardson), a widower that can't help but compare her to his late wife; "Only I know what I lost when she died, and what I got in her place." Ouch. So when a young and handsome man, Morris (Montgomery Clift) starts courting Catherine, Dr. Sloper is obviously suspicious and assumes he's after her money.

This is a film I hadn't heard much about, until two guests of my podcast brought it up a couple of months ago, specifically praising De Havilland's performance, and oh, how right they were. She is excellent in the role as she perfectly portrays the evolution of Catherine in a way that's both believable and organic. Clift and Richardson are not far behind; especially Richardson, who is also great handling the contempt under that façade of fake admiration.

Grade: 4.5


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2298776#post2298776)

It’s a brilliant movie. So sad & touching. Based, of course, on Henry James’s Washington Square.

[Stirchley]

Umberto D. (1952) — with its emphasis on real-world settings, non-professional actors and frequently improvised scripts, Italian Neo-Realism often presents a rather dry viewing experience. Despite being one of the quintessential directors in this mode, however, I’ve always liked what I’ve seen of Vittorio de Sica, who seems to have had a stronger sense of his characters and stories than many of his contemporaries. Playing out like a cross between de Sica’s Bicycle Thieves and dos Santos’s Barren Lives (or, if you prefer, like a proto-Wendy and Lucy), I found this simple story of an increasingly desperate man trying to keep a roof over his head (against the machinations of his antagonistic landlady) and his dog out of harm’s way to be incredibly moving. 4

When Umberto loses his little dog I bawl my eyes out. Every single time I’ve seen this movie.

[WHITBISSELL!]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FRSY9W-XoAAFd8t?format=jpg&name=large
http://www.cinemacats.com/wp-content/uploads/gifs/saintjack.gif
Saint Jack - I really enjoyed this 1979 Peter Bogdanovich comeback of sorts. His last three movies had not been well received and/or tanked after his previous (and introductory) three had earned him a wunderkind sort of rep. Jack Flowers (Ben Gazzara) is an American expatriate hustler living in early '70's Singapore. When the film opens he's working for Chinese national Mr. Hing (Kian Bee Ong) but also does some procuring on the side.

The unfailingly laid-back and affable Jack's dream is to open his own high end brothel. Denholm Elliot costars as William Leigh, a British accountant and auditor who flies in once a year to go over Mr. Hing's books. Leigh's visits are used to mark the passage of time but it also shows the easygoing friendship that forms between the two seemingly disparate characters. Jack's eventual venture come to pass and is a big success which runs him afoul of the local triad.

Gazzara is so wonderful in this. He makes the movie. I would say he inhabits the role but that would imply some kind of effort on his part. His performance and the actual character are so seamless that the rest of the story is just carried along in it's wake. Bogdanovich himself is in this as CIA agent Eddie Schuman, who approaches Jack with an interesting business proposition. And there's a couple of cameos worth noting including George Lazenby as a U.S. Senator. There's also an uncredited and brief appearance of a very young (and mustached) Bruce Campbell as a brothel customer.

This put me in mind of The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, another film where Gazzara plays a father figure of sorts to a group of entertainers. But that's the loosest of analogies. This was a much more sentimental sort of film and to be honest, as much as I loved this, TKoaCB is the better film. But it's still highly recommended for Gazzara's performance alone.

90/100

[mark f]

Cry Wolf (Peter Godfrey, 1947) 2.5 5.5/10
The Big Boodle (Richard Wilson, 1957) 2 5/10
Let the Wrong One In (Conor McMahon, 2021) 2.5 6/10
The Batman (Matt Reeves, 2022) 3 6.5/10
https://64.media.tumblr.com/075abc5aed3853a8c37795fd58de5752/d836a465eb359839-3c/s540x810/f585104a61fa91abd16167c8e137ea6f1810e812.gifv
The Batman (Robert Pattinson) in a fiery chase with the Penguin (Colin Farrell).
Uncharted (Ruben Fleischer, 2022) 2.5 6/10
The Lady Gambles (Michael Gordon, 1949) 2 5/10
Moonfall (Roland Emmerich, 2022) 2.5 6/10
Huda's Salon (Hany Abu-Assad, 2021) 3 6.5/10
https://i0.wp.com/joshatthemovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/huda-s_salon_02.jpg?resize=712%2C356&ssl=1
In Bethlehem, Resistance officer Ali Suliman arrests hairdresser Manal Awad who is blackmailing women for the Secret Service. Basically, nobody trusts anybody, and it will not end well.
Marija (Michael Koch, 2016) 2.5 6/10
Umma (Iris K. Shim, 2022) 2+ 5/10
California Split (Robert Altman, 1974) 2.5 6/10
Midnight (Kwon Oh-seung, 2021) 3 6.5/10
https://64.media.tumblr.com/71458bfb53c6eb43c66ea838388fd76a/0051373aca43414d-60/s540x810/58cb741cdfd87b3e02ac2c881762c24a8038b787.gifv
Ridiculous but exciting thriller where psycho murderer Wi Ha-joon plays with his victims, such as hearing-impaired Jin Ki-joo who can play a pretty good game herself.
The Workers Cup (Adam Sobel, 2017) 2.5 6/10
Spider Baby (Jack Hill, 1967) 2 5/10
France (Bruno Dumont, 2021) 2.5 6/10
The Survivor (Barry Levinson, 2021) 2.5 6/10
https://img.particlenews.com/img/id/3Eocn2_0br0Ip2X00?type=thumbnail_1200x627&limit=20
Holocaust survivor Harry Haft (Ben Foster), who learned to box in a concentration camp, takes on Rocky Marciano with some brief help from Marciano's trainer (Danny DeVito).
Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (Robert Aldrich, 1964) 2.5 6/10
Three Wise Fools (Edward Buzzell, 1946) 2.5 6/10
Too Much, Too Soon (Art Napoleon, 1958) 2.5 5.5/10
Paris, 13th District (Jacques Audiard, 2021) 2.5 6/10
https://www.womanlynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/paris-13th-district-watch-the-striking-first-trailer-for-jacques-audiard-s-new-movie-cannes-film-festival_20911245_v2.jpg
Makita Samba and Noémie Merlant are two of the characters whose lives intersect in Paris. Characters do grow (slowly) and lotsa nudity.

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fa/The_Mirror_%281975_film%29.png
By Official RUSCICO DVD cover - http://media.senscritique.com/media/000004623415/source_big/Le_Miroir.jpg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51896153

Mirror - (1975)

There have been many times this past year or two where my current practice of going into movies completely blind has paid of really well - but as far as Mirror is concerned that totally backfired. I felt like a dunce, not understanding much of what was going on at all, despite this being filmed in such a beautifully enchanting manner. It was like watching someone else's dream, and the film flowed to a kind of dream-logic. In that manner it felt haunting at times, at others achingly sad or just nostalgic. It was like being let loose inside someone's head, finding dreams and memories scattered about and moving between them with scant, dream-like connections. I don't know if I should rate this - I feel like reading up on the film and revisiting it, and already feel a sense of a 9/10 film due to it's wonderful visual quality which mixes colour, sepia-toned and black and white with newsreel footage to create a collage of thought. This is really something from inside Tarkovsky's mind - and is autobiographical. I give it the score I do just by how excited I feel about examining this film in the future.

9/10

Foreign Language Countdown films seen : 83/100

[skizzerflake]

:popcorn::popcorn::popcorn:
It wasn't exactly a great choice, but we were there at the movies, had seen the others so it was Father Stu tonight. It stars Mark Wahlberg and Mel Gibson, both self proclaimed catholics in real life, with Wahlberg playing a character with parallels to his real life with a dubious youth followed by conversion. The difference here is that "Father Stu", after his conversion, also unfortunately begins to suffer from a fatal neurological disorder. His time is limited but he wants to be ordained before he dies. The story contains some kernels of truth.

Gibson is his father, a blustering alcoholic who goes on racist and anti-semitic rants, again with parallels between actor and character. The plot follows their personal evolution after getting religion and how both as well as Stu's mother, deal with the inevitable death of the son. It could be a sad movie, but for the weird characters and their interactions.

As for performances - Gibson is about as gnarly as you might expect but does manage to bring some sort of forgivability to this nasty character. Wahlberg, as Father Stu, is fairly good as this guy who wants to come out of the streets, doesn't quite know how to fit into formal catholicism, is definitely an edgy priest. It's also worth noting that as Stu goes into his inevitable decline, he also adds a lot of very soft weight, which seems to have been prosthetically added to Wahlber's well muscled frame as he declines into a wheel chair guy.

This is not my kind of movie, but it was somewhat interesting. Nothing about it appeared to be digital; it had the look of makeup and acting, which is unusual in this time. Mine is a dubious recommendation.....more conventionally catholic than I am (I'm not at all), weird characters and a plot that was taken from real life but altered in a dubious way. I just don't know.

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

[Fabulous]

I Am Mother (2019)

2.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/fz2OeMw4FT0so4Ypv9a2jwyqmJq.jpg

[WHITBISSELL!]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/abf128881edabbc8ed90d7afaa3fd41c/84917be3f92678ef-61/s540x810/aa023b69d90c5ea5a732f8539a07ac7969e5867b.gifv
http://www.midnightonly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Sorcerers-2.jpg
The Sorcerers - Tried this and something called Jubilee based solely on their respective 100% Tomatometer scores. Couldn't hang with Jubilee. I tried but it was just too GD silly. But this one also had Boris Karloff going for it and even though director Michael Reeves only made two other films the one after this was Witchfinder General. So I gave it a chance and couldn't bring myself to quit on it.


Karloff plays once renowned medical hypnotist Dr. Marcus Montserrat. He's been relegated to living in a small London flat with his wife Estelle (Catherine Lacey) and has been working on a device that will give him control of a persons mind and allow him to experience their actions. It being the height of 60's counter culture, Estelle hits upon the idea of trying out the machine on one of the disaffected youth cluttering the streets of London.

It isn't long before the Doctor runs across Mike Roscoe (Ian Ogilvy), the jaded young owner of an antique shop named ... The Glory Hole. Sure, why not? After luring him to their flat they successfully run him through the process and find that they can vicariously live through whatever he's going through. They can also implant suggestions and have him obey their will. Dr. Montserrat is hoping to publish his findings and restore his reputation but Estelle is fixated on experiencing new things in a younger body. As it turns out the old lady is a straight up OG and has a much stronger will than Marcus and it doesn't end well for almost everyone involved. I don't see how this has a 100% rating. The scenes between Karloff and Lacey have a certain gravity to them and once it gets going the plot moves along nicely. But like so many other 60's horror the rest of the movie is weighted down with dubious and labored "modish" content. Maybe not as egregious as other films I can name but it's strictly filler.

This is perfectly fine for Karloff fans, everyone else should probably skip it.

75/100

[matt72582]

I guess I have a bit of a backlog now thanks to the crazy week that I’ve been having.



Chronicle of a Summer (1961) — A potentially compelling documentary about the state of mid-century France told by extrapolating on one very simple question — “are you happy?” — it never quite manages to rise to how interesting its subject is. A few of the subjects it follows prove to be quite interesting, and while handsomely shot, the long stretches given over to silent, vérité tracking shots doesn’t quite make up the difference. Academically interesting, but not exactly narratively compelling. rating_3

Umberto D. (1952) — with its emphasis on real-world settings, non-professional actors and frequently improvised scripts, Italian Neo-Realism often presents a rather dry viewing experience. Despite being one of the quintessential directors in this mode, however, I’ve always liked what I’ve seen of Vittorio de Sica, who seems to have had a stronger sense of his characters and stories than many of his contemporaries. Playing out like a cross between de Sica’s Bicycle Thieves and dos Santos’s Barren Lives (or, if you prefer, like a proto-Wendy and Lucy), I found this simple story of an increasingly desperate man trying to keep a roof over his head (against the machinations of his antagonistic landlady) and his dog out of harm’s way to be incredibly moving. rating_4

The Lives of Others (2006) — Not quite the The Conversation-alike that I had assumed it to be going in, this story of domestic spying is a sometimes-compelling voyeuristic drama that occassionally feels a bit too similar to the mid-budgeted CIA thrillers from the same time period. It’s an interesting and well-crafted enough piece of filmmaking in the end, but doesn’t quite excel at anything the way I was expecting it to. rating_3



Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) — A personal favorite of mine, which beneficially doubles as a crash-course in the workings of the US legislative branch. Capra’s Rockwellian idealism and Jimmy Stuart’s bumbling, childlike optimism are perfectly suited to a story of the harsh realities of corruption and dishearteningly pragmatic political machinations. This time around, the DC tour when Mr. Smith finally arrives in Washington was pleasantly similar to a recent favorite of mine (Born Yesterday) and the fillibuster stretch at the end is, as ever, a real winner. rating_5


"Chronicles" is one of my favorites, but I only like social documentaries, bio-docs, or things made about those I like. You might like "Place de la Republique" more by Louis Malle.

"Umberto D" is one of my favorite movies by my favorite director.

I just put "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" on my Top 250. I just rated "Mr. Deeds Goes To Town" at #55.


Oh, and if you want a better "The Lives of Others", try "The Ear". It's more natural, domestic (involving bad marriage) and the threat of "The Ear" of the government listening in. It's a very unique movie, where "The Lives of Others" is kinda mainstream. Good, but overrated. "The Conversation" is one I love, and think I just put that on my all-time favorites list a few days ago.


https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066498/

[Thursday Next]

Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022)

It's not just that it was badly written, it just didn't really have anything have anything more to say. If you loved Downton Abbey and want to watch all your favourite characters just be there on the screen, having a jolly old time and then saying a fond farewell, you might get something out of it.

2

[john05]

Venom 2 is my last movie I watched.

I love this movie..

[Wooley]

Spider Baby (Jack Hill, 1967) 2 5/10


This is incorrect.

[Guaporense]

http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/d3k3Qz5RMWewRMQRCGp48sjimqK.jpg

I am watching Spanish movies to learn Spanish because of professional reasons. So I am not understanding all the dialogue at this point, but this movie was a moderately entertaining comedy. ;) 6/10

[WHITBISSELL!]

I am watching Spanish movies to learn Spanish because of professional reasons.Small world. I watch documentaries so I can learn to be taken seriously.

[ThatDarnMKS]

Small world. I watch documentaries so I can learn to be taken seriously.
For the last time, Real Housewives doesn’t count as a documentary!

[Allaby]

Crush (2020) This is fairly predictable and safe in a lot of ways. The girls are cute and charming and there are some funny moments though. 3

[Rockatansky]

For the last time, Real Housewives doesn’t count as a documentary!

What if his professional ambition is to become a real housewife?

[Gideon58]

https://fffmovieposters.com/wp-content/uploads/14910.jpg


3

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2Fb5%2Fa8%2F88%2Fb5a88865ab8b0a94f185302c85728db2.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

Limite, 1931

A man (Raul Schnoor) and two women (Olga Breno and Tatiana Rey) are adrift in a lifeboat, and a clear sense of despair has settled over them. In flashbacks we learn about their lives before the lifeboat, each its own brand of sorrow.

I know that films are an inherently visual medium, but I've realized over the last few years that most of what I absorb from a film is not visual, but rather verbal. I glean most of my meaning from listening and reading the subtitles. This makes silent films particularly challenging for me, and experimental silent films are basically my Everest. Which is to say that it took me seven or eight attempts to watch Limite, because I would realize I was not looking at the screen but just listening to the music. And when I'd return my eyes to the screen I would find the camera lingering on an image with no sense of why. Stop. Rewind.

But once I got myself into the flow of the film, I was incredibly enchanted and moved by what it had to offer.

The style of the film is very evocative of a Soviet montage style, but with more of an emphasis on emotional symbolism. It's the kind of film that is hard to review, because the degree to which it's just operating on emotional frequency makes it inadequate to use words to explain its impact. It seems silly to type that a shot of a woman's arms gently swaying in the water that then transitioned to an askew shot of a field of grass blowing in the wind affected me emotionally, but it did. The images in this film are powerful because they don't demand a literal symbolic meaning. Yes, some of the images have obvious interpretations (like a fish gasping for air or a solitary tree that then transforms into an image of a woman), but many of the images seem there to be felt with no sense or worry that you're reading them incorrectly.

In addition to the images themselves, the movement of the camera is also worth noting. It seems to transition between something like a human point of view---moving along at ground level with the characters--to something more omniscient---swooping over trees and in and around the characters. In one great shot, the camera is mounted to the wheel of a train as it begins to accelerate, the camera rising and falling as the wheel circles.

Despite what sounds like a very abstract basis, the film actually has a pretty strong central narrative for each character: one of the women has escaped from prison, likely with the help of a guard. One of the women has left her husband. The man cheated on his wife with tragic outcomes. The film is almost entirely without dialogue/titles. At first I thought that this was because of the difficulty in restoring it, but I read in another review that this was intentional. There are only two sequences where we see translations/dialogue, and both are in service of explaining parts of the character backgrounds that might not be grasped by the imagery alone.

The emotions explore here, if they hit you the right way, are intense. This is a film about hope (or the lack/loss thereof) and confinement and escape that might not really be escape. As one character stares over the edge of the lifeboat, it's unclear whether she's looking for rescue or thinking about jumping. It often seems to post a question about what our limits are, and suggests just how horrible it might be to actually find out the answer to that question.

For me, this movie really worked. I am really aware that films in this style can read as silly or pretentious to some people. You'll know in the first 10 minutes if this film is for you. I found it incredibly rewarding and moving.

4.5

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/d3Zrknv2/yi-yi.jpg
By https://xl.movieposterdb.com/12_10/2000/244316/xl_244316_a0791425.jpg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17818396

Yi Yi - (2000)

I was initially daunted by it's length, but Yi Yi's final scene left me with a deep impression of everything that had gone before it - a reflection on one family, with it's hopes and dreams mixed with a certain nostalgia depending on which family member is being focused on. Love and life in Taipei doesn't sound all too different from what I experience, but there's a deep undercurrent of sadness in the Jian family - offset by little Yang-Yang who really gets his share of the limelight, and it's an idea he has which explains why so much of the promotional stuff for this film only shows the backs of people's heads. There were many comedic things happening in the opening wedding scene, but as the film goes on there's less humour and more tragedy and angst. It settled deep inside of me, and as I said, that last scene brings it home. It's a shame Edward Yang is no longer with us.

8/10

[John W Constantine]

Wanted to like that one more, but found it just ok. We'll always have A Brighter Summer Day tho

[SpelingError]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2Fb5%2Fa8%2F88%2Fb5a88865ab8b0a94f185302c85728db2.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

Limite, 1931

A man (Raul Schnoor) and two women (Olga Breno and Tatiana Rey) are adrift in a lifeboat, and a clear sense of despair has settled over them. In flashbacks we learn about their lives before the lifeboat, each its own brand of sorrow.

I know that films are an inherently visual medium, but I've realized over the last few years that most of what I absorb from a film is not visual, but rather verbal. I glean most of my meaning from listening and reading the subtitles. This makes silent films particularly challenging for me, and experimental silent films are basically my Everest. Which is to say that it took me seven or eight attempts to watch Limite, because I would realize I was not looking at the screen but just listening to the music. And when I'd return my eyes to the screen I would find the camera lingering on an image with no sense of why. Stop. Rewind.

But once I got myself into the flow of the film, I was incredibly enchanted and moved by what it had to offer.

The style of the film is very evocative of a Soviet montage style, but with more of an emphasis on emotional symbolism. It's the kind of film that is hard to review, because the degree to which it's just operating on emotional frequency makes it inadequate to use words to explain its impact. It seems silly to type that a shot of a woman's arms gently swaying in the water that then transitioned to an askew shot of a field of grass blowing in the wind affected me emotionally, but it did. The images in this film are powerful because they don't demand a literal symbolic meaning. Yes, some of the images have obvious interpretations (like a fish gasping for air or a solitary tree that then transforms into an image of a woman), but many of the images seem there to be felt with no sense or worry that you're reading them incorrectly.

In addition to the images themselves, the movement of the camera is also worth noting. It seems to transition between something like a human point of view---moving along at ground level with the characters--to something more omniscient---swooping over trees and in and around the characters. In one great shot, the camera is mounted to the wheel of a train as it begins to accelerate, the camera rising and falling as the wheel circles.

Despite what sounds like a very abstract basis, the film actually has a pretty strong central narrative for each character: one of the women has escaped from prison, likely with the help of a guard. One of the women has left her husband. The man cheated on his wife with tragic outcomes. The film is almost entirely without dialogue/titles. At first I thought that this was because of the difficulty in restoring it, but I read in another review that this was intentional. There are only two sequences where we see translations/dialogue, and both are in service of explaining parts of the character backgrounds that might not be grasped by the imagery alone.

The emotions explore here, if they hit you the right way, are intense. This is a film about hope (or the lack/loss thereof) and confinement and escape that might not really be escape. As one character stares over the edge of the lifeboat, it's unclear whether she's looking for rescue or thinking about jumping. It often seems to post a question about what our limits are, and suggests just how horrible it might be to actually find out the answer to that question.

For me, this movie really worked. I am really aware that films in this style can read as silly or pretentious to some people. You'll know in the first 10 minutes if this film is for you. I found it incredibly rewarding and moving.

4.5

That sounds like something I should keep an eye out for.

[Fabulous]

Late Night (2019)

2

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/vCS3RcU32pr0Kix8P9bJIKDTT3m.jpg

[Takoma11]

That sounds like something I should keep an eye out for.

I watched it on Criterion, and it looks like that's the only place it is streaming. But I do recommend adding it to your watchlist and seeing if it pops up somewhere you have access to.

[Nausicaä]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/67/The_King%27s_Man.jpg

3

SF = Zzz


[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

[Chypmunk]

That sounds like something I should keep an eye out for.
Limite may well still be on YT, that's where I watched it last year anyway.

[pahaK]

Citizen X (1995)
2.5
An HBO movie about a Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo. It focuses too much on the personal life of the lead investigator and has quite a bit of pacing issues (its approach may have worked better as a series). The film also takes unnecessary liberties with the story. My favorite thing about it was the main protagonist's children, who didn't age a bit in the ten years or so the film covered.

--
The Black House (1999)
2
All the reviews spoke of a combination of a proto J-horror and Noir. Unfortunately, the truth was more like a B-tier Miike without his unrestrained violence. Sluggishly paced and poorly acted film with only a handful of decent scenes. Can I sue the people who reviewed this positively on IMDb or Letterboxd?

--
The Boogens (1981)
2
A run-of-the-mill American horror with an apparent target audience in teenagers. It's not bad, but I'm not into this "let's drink some beer and have a laugh while watching a horror film" subgenre that lessens the value of US horror as a whole. The monster itself is pathetic. Can I sue the people in here who told me this is better than The Strangeness?

--
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
2.5
This rewatch wasn't really worth it. There are few laughs to be had, but there's so little content or effort. Austin is basically a sketch character and half of the jokes are basically copy-pastas from Bonds (or Angel of H.E.A.T.). I kinda remember the other two are better so maybe I'll give them a go at some point.

--
Hell House LLC (2015)
2.5
A pretty standard found-footage horror. Again, it has these American things that don't open up to me (the whole Halloween shebang) but at least it tries to be somewhat serious. I'd say it's above average for its kind, but not worth the raving reviews I read (don't want to sue anyone on this, though).

--
Charlie Zone (2011)
2.5
A Canadian low-budget action-thriller. Like most films on this post, this one's also extremely average. It's somewhat violent and gritty, and its ending doesn't fit there at all.

--
FleshEater (1988)
0.5
Stop the press! We have a new worst film seen in 2022. Apparently playing a zombie in Romero's film doesn't make you a proper filmmaker. The only thing that doesn't absolutely suck balls in this one is the soundtrack, which is pretty decent. It's technically one of the most inept movies I've ever seen and it also lacks any other redeeming factors. Why on earth was this released on a Bluray? A special mention goes to the audio which is filled with all sorts of buzzes and hisses and other random noises. Can I sue God for allowing this film to happen?

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.moviehousememories.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F06%2FI-Was-Born-But-1932-featured-2.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

I Was Born, But . . ., 1932

Brothers Keiji (Tomio Aoki) and Ryoichi (Hideo Sugawara) have a rough time of things when their family moves to a new town for their father Yoshi's (Tatsuo Saito) work. Picked on at school and realizing that their father isn't a fancy business man both take a toll on the boys. Yoshi and his wife, Haha (Mitsuko Yoshikawa) gently steer their boys toward a more even-keeled outlook on life.

This is an early film from Ozu, and it has his very familiar comfortable family interactions dynamic. Whereas I more associate Ozu's films with relationships between older children and their parents, the examination of a family ecosystem works nicely even with the younger kids.

The comedy and the drama in this film nicely capture the kind of highs and lows that feel much more potent to a child. The boys are picked on by a group of local schoolchildren, one of whom turns out to be their father's boss's son. In a moment of problem solving, they attempt to "hire" a local to be on their side in these confrontations. Later, when they are angry with their parents, they decide to go on a hunger strike.

I enjoyed the different levels that are played with in this film. We spend most of our time watching interactions between the two boys. But we also get moments of interaction between their parents, and between the parents and the boys. The film really captures the multiple perspectives at play, especially when there is inter-generational conflict. The parents must "come down" to the level of their sons to understand how to help them move past their upset.

The mood of the film is very light, and the whole setting feels very lived in. The performances are really good, and the film benefits tremendously from the brotherly chemistry between the two child actors. At one point the two wordlessly exchange glances as they watch home movies taken by their father's boss, and those moments of significant eye contact capture a sibling dynamic to great degree.

I had no complaints about this film. It is a film that has "low stakes", to be sure, which is part of its charm. I'm not sure it's a film I would revisit, but I thought it was very charming.

4

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3e/The_Jerk.jpg
By [1], Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4035442

The Jerk - (1979)

I watched this yesterday before submitting my votes for the Comedy top 100 Countdown, as it has been ages since seeing either this or The Man With Two Brains. Now, I was expecting something pretty lackluster with dated jokes - something that wouldn't hold up to how I felt about it back in the day. Boy, was I wrong. Although some moments fall flat, especially at the start, this has enough goofy charm and funny moments to still be worth watching. That complicated my list even further, with several films vying to break into a 25 I'm pretty solid on. It'll be even worse if The Man With Two Brains holds up (used to be a favourite of mine) although somehow I'm doubting Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. Laughed quite a bit watching The Jerk without really expecting to.

7/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/44/Never_Rarely_Sometimes_Always.png
By Studio and or Graphic Artist - Can be obtained from film’s distributor., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63154341

Never Rarely Sometimes Always - (2020)

I'm not female, but that doesn't mean I didn't live this movie through character Autumn Callahan (Sidney Flanigan) - this film has a really simple premise, but Sidney Flanigan plays the part so well, with some excellent direction from Eliza Hittman, that every moment counts. Callahan has just discovered that she's pregnant, and simply cannot let her parents find out. Desperate for an abortion, she steals away to New York, but complications arise. She though she was 10 weeks, but she's actually 18 - and hanging around in the dangerous city is required to go all the way through the painful procedure. Her cousin, Skyler (Talia Ryder) is there to help, but the two of them receive plenty of unwanted attention. In fact, the whole film is full of creepy guys (one who works at the same supermarket they do, a superior, insists on giving their hands two kisses each time they hand money over - which makes them shudder - and another decides to open his fly and fondle himself when he attracts eye contact with another.) Above all that is the inner torment of knowing what's going on in Autumn's body, and the enormity that the decision to terminate the process so far along is. Much is subtle - these aren't girls who display their emotions - which I thought makes everything all the more powerful - but there's one harrowing scene, where difficult questions are asked and answered, that opens the floodgates. This film was hard-hitting and character driven - it made a huge impact with me.

9/10

[skizzerflake]

:popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn:

I recall being dragged to this when I was a kid and my parents wanted to go to the Drive-In, a re-run of Hitchcock's The Rear Window. It's truly brilliant. A news photographer (Jimmy Stewart) has a broken leg. It's hot summer in the West Village in New York and he's watching life across the alley from his rear window. It's a Hitchcock movie, so murder has to happen. The photog is observing the wake of a crime, murder, along with parties, people doing calisthenics and regular life, while his girlfriend (Grace Kelley) gets interested. He can see more with the long lens on his camera. What happens when the murderer realizes that he's been spied? The photographer is in a wheelchair with a broken leg.

The whole thing is a brilliant conceit, a complete alley set built on a back lot, complete with the rear window and the interior of the rooms behind the windows. A pianist (a resident of the street), is rehearsing what will be the musical soundtrack of the movie, music coming from one of the windows. Neighbors are having loud parties and the police don't believe the photographer.

Jimmy Stewart doesn't do much acting but he's great at being Jimmy Stewart in this situation. Grace Kelley is sleek and elegant, and will become the Princess of Monaco after her real life marriage.

It's really a terrific period piece and one of Hitchcock's finest. Instead of a trailer, here's the first six minutes...one long sequence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9lZRDAoecs

[WHITBISSELL!]

It'll be even worse if The Man With Two Brains holds up (used to be a favourite of mine)I can't see how it wouldn't. It's got some of the most quotable lines of any comedy including this one ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfuWe1N09qI

[littlefoot]

The Meddler staring Susan Sarandon 10/10 I m a fan.

[xSookieStackhouse]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/67/The_King%27s_Man.jpg

rating_3

SF = Zzz


[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
lucky me and my support worker didnt choose that movie when it came out while ago

[Hey Fredrick]

https://www.720p-fullizleme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Beyond-the-Infinite-Two-Minutes-236x350.jpg


For a movie with a budget that appears to be roughly the size of my last grocery bill, this was impressive. One take, pretty much two room film about a cafe owner who lives above his cafe and discovers that the tv/monitor in his room shows two minutes into the future and the tv/monitor in his cafe is showing two minutes from the past. As with most time travel films things start out neato for the cafe owner and his friends but go downhill the more they tinker with it. This is just a fun movie, a movie where the less you know going in the more fun your bound to have. It's kind of a One Cut of the Dead type of fun, with a bit of Primer and a touch of Being John Malkovich. rating_4

[Marco]

Moneyball (2011)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2e/Moneyball_Poster.jpg
Not being a fan of American sports, I was a bit apprehensive watching this. Glad I did, a really intriguing story of how to cut the unsurmountable odds in your favour for a change. Brad Pitt is excellent as the cock-sure General Manager who knows the sad turn-around of the sporting dreams for many.
3.5

[Corax]

Uncharted: Predictably forgettable. Spider Man seems like Spider Man. Marky Mark seems like Marky Mark (Say "Hi" to your mother for me"). It's like watching an extended video game cut scene, which makes sense given the source material.

[Wooley]

The Boogens (1981)
2
A run-of-the-mill American horror with an apparent target audience in teenagers. It's not bad, but I'm not into this "let's drink some beer and have a laugh while watching a horror film" subgenre that lessens the value of US horror as a whole. The monster itself is pathetic. Can I sue the people in here who told me this is better than The Strangeness?



It is better than The Strangeness. It's not my fault you don't like fun.
The Defense rests.

[Wooley]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3e/The_Jerk.jpg
By [1], Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4035442

The Jerk - (1979)

I watched this yesterday before submitting my votes for the Comedy top 100 Countdown, as it has been ages since seeing either this or The Man With Two Brains. Now, I was expecting something pretty lackluster with dated jokes - something that wouldn't hold up to how I felt about it back in the day. Boy, was I wrong. Although some moments fall flat, especially at the start, this has enough goofy charm and funny moments to still be worth watching. That complicated my list even further, with several films vying to break into a 25 I'm pretty solid on. It'll be even worse if The Man With Two Brains holds up (used to be a favourite of mine) although somehow I'm doubting Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. Laughed quite a bit watching The Jerk without really expecting to.

7/10



Glad to hear it, it's been a few years for me too.
I think you'll be pretty safe with Two Brains, I still think it's fun but I don't think you're gonna feel like it's a classic or anything.

[Allaby]

Sweet Sugar (1972) This was pretty fun and entertaining. 3.5

[Wooley]

I can't see how it wouldn't. It's got some of the most quotable lines of any comedy including this one ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfuWe1N09qI

That is pretty funny.

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91CJA0eXszL._SL1500_.jpg



4.5

[ueno_station54]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Gnp5kY5eVXU/UY6teA0n9QI/AAAAAAAABKk/a4TwtwP9V0o/s1600/Andro3.JPG
Andromedia (Takashi Miike, 1998)
cannot believe this is a real movie.
4

[Rockatansky]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3e/The_Jerk.jpg
By [1], Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4035442

The Jerk - (1979)

I watched this yesterday before submitting my votes for the Comedy top 100 Countdown, as it has been ages since seeing either this or The Man With Two Brains. Now, I was expecting something pretty lackluster with dated jokes - something that wouldn't hold up to how I felt about it back in the day. Boy, was I wrong. Although some moments fall flat, especially at the start, this has enough goofy charm and funny moments to still be worth watching. That complicated my list even further, with several films vying to break into a 25 I'm pretty solid on. It'll be even worse if The Man With Two Brains holds up (used to be a favourite of mine) although somehow I'm doubting Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. Laughed quite a bit watching The Jerk without really expecting to.
It's not on the same level, but The Lonely Guy is another Reiner/Martin collab worth seeing, mostly for Charles Grodin's performance.

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMmY4M2MwMzAtYWI0ZC00NTA5LTg3MDUtZjkwZjA5NTk5NzQwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTA3MDk2NDg2._V1_.jpg



2

[Fabulous]

Laurence Anyways (2012)

3

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/1b2rEUSCzMsHVoz3hl37RvaoBJq.jpg

[PHOENIX74]

It's not on the same level, but The Lonely Guy is another Reiner/Martin collab worth seeing, mostly for Charles Grodin's performance.

You've just sparked an ancient memory from deep within me, of Grodin's character telling Steve Martin's that "Even Hitler had a dog" and Martin asking "Adolf Hitler?" I didn't even remember this film at all when I decided to go back to all those old films Martin is in to see if they're still funny. I'll look forward to seeing that again.

I can't see how it wouldn't. It's got some of the most quotable lines of any comedy including this one ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfuWe1N09qI

Glad to hear it, it's been a few years for me too.
I think you'll be pretty safe with Two Brains, I still think it's fun but I don't think you're gonna feel like it's a classic or anything.

Comedies really date with me, and I often see them again years later and the humour has gone stale, but with these Carl Reiner/Steve Martin films, they still give me a lot to laugh about, and I really think I'll have to include one in my voting list for the Comedy Countdown. Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid has a decent rating on the IMDb and Letterboxd, and I used to love that one too, so I've got a bit of catching up to do.

[PHOENIX74]

My router was hit with a computer virus, so I've been watching movies until it was fixed. I'm gonna try and be quick.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7b/Ready_or_Not_2019_film_poster.jpg
By Scene Creek, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61065617

Ready or Not - (2019)

This one is slick. Maybe a little too slick. It also has an ending that reminded me of all the bad things about the ending of the remake of Suspiria. But aside from that it's energetic and fun, giving off action, comedy and horror vibes in equal measure. A little too much CGI damn it, so those flaws really cost the film in my opinion - I can't give it a flat out 7 - but it's in that ballpark.

6.5/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dc/Life%2C_Animated_Official_Poster.jpg
By The poster art can or could be obtained from the distributor., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52901272

Life, Animated - (2016)

Really cute, intelligent and involving documentary about a young man with severe autism and the battle his parents have waged to raise him. When all was nearly lost, when this guy was a boy, his autistic-aligned mind grabbed hold of all the Disney animated films, and he learned everything he knows from them. Unfortunately, life is more complex than a Disney cartoon would make out. Learning about the challenges they've faced, and watching them confront new ones as this guy moves away from home, was really interesting, and I enjoyed this doco.

7/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/19/Open_City_DVD.jpg
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4164911

Rome, Open City - (1945)

It's a shame to brush by this one with speed, but I watched it last night and it was the last act that really surprised and moved me. Some mark this film as the beginning of Italian neo-realism, but it was still somewhat larger-than-life with resistance leaders and priests becoming martyrs to the anti-fascist cause. I need to see it again one day, then the rating might go up.

7.5/10

Foreign Language Countdown films seen : 84/100

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/94/John_Wick_Chapter_3_Parabellum.png
By Lionsgate - https://www.cbr.com/john-wick-chapter-3-parabellum-poster/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59676695

John Wick Chapter: 3 – Parabellum

I loved the beginning and end, which had the usual smart and daring action sequences, and the unusual new world that's being constructed - a John Wick assassin universe with complex rules and always those consequences. The movies are slowly getting longer though - I think the 100 minutes of the first film should be a maximum. I don't want to see a 130 minute John Wick movie (which is basically what I've just watched.)

7/10

[this_is_the_ girl]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.tmdb.org%2Ft%2Fp%2Foriginal%2F5hKaMeWkVgMjeoF0Wz71ohUl2S9.jpg&f=1&nofb=1
Resolution (2012, Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead)
3
This is a prequel to Endless and was apparently shot in the same locations. It's not as good as the latter film (which I thought was a flawed but very intriguing sci-fi time-loop mind bender) but there are some good aspects to it, and I just generally tend to dig these type of indie sci-fi films because of their own quirky, weird, but unique vision and cinematic language, so even with all the flaws I can still appreciate them. There are some standout moments — the scene in the French archaeologist's trailer is definitely my favorite, very Lynch-esque.

[Marco]

X (2022)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/34/X_%282022_film%29.jpeg
This was good fun in a kind of homage to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre way. The added in angle of the porn didn't really have much to do with the story apart from going through an economic depression trying to earn a buck. Stylish (in a Tobe Hooper stylee) and witty, only some of the elements of the "slasher" parts let it down, a bit daft.

3

[Siddon]

https://biographyland.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Finch-Movie-Cast.webp

Finch (2021)

Finch is everything that is wrong with streaming films. The film has a lot of potential, Tom Hanks plays the last man on earth (apparently) who decides he needs to go on a road trip from St. Louis to San Fransisco. He creates a robot named Jeff and he grabs his dog Goodyear to go on this adventure.

Finch has a lot of really good ideas and you have a good a story here but it's a bubble movie with Hanks going it alone. It's one of those films that reminds you of better films...and when that better film is I am Legend than we have a problem. Hanks is great but the Robot is weird...it doesn't move like a Robot should move it moves like a CGI character.

The film has some really powerful scenes with potential for horror and suspense but the filmmakers chicken out. And Hanks doesn't go overboard with his 15 years of isolation...he's still Tom Hanks...and that's a problem. This could have been a masterpiece instead it's just content for Apple.

rating_3

[Thief]

FOUR
(2021, Petersen)

https://i.imgur.com/2GT1B1h.png


"We keep living our lives. You're the one missing out."



In 1969, psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross introduced the "five stages of grief" model, which states that people that are grieving experience five different stages or emotions: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Although contested and criticized by some, the model is widely referenced by fellow experts, but also in popular media.

Four is a short film that follows Ross (Eoin Macken), who seems to be going through this process, while his wife (Rachel Lyn Murray) tries to reason with him. The title is a reference to the stage he's currently in, but also a reference to the four family members, which also include their two children: Naomi and Ben.

With an 8-minute runtime, the short is fairly simple but it has a solid emotional core. Macken and Murray are not excellent, but they are competent enough. It does give the impression to romanticize certain things in the aftermath of the grieving process, but maybe that was a matter of my perception, and not the short film's intention. Still, it's a solid short film to check out.

Grade: 3

[Wooley]

My router was hit with a computer virus, so I've been watching movies until it was fixed. I'm gonna try and be quick.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7b/Ready_or_Not_2019_film_poster.jpg
By Scene Creek, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61065617

Ready or Not - (2019)

This one is slick. Maybe a little too slick. It also has an ending that reminded me of all the bad things about the ending of the remake of Suspiria. But aside from that it's energetic and fun, giving off action, comedy and horror vibes in equal measure. A little too much CGI damn it, so those flaws really cost the film in my opinion - I can't give it a flat out 7 - but it's in that ballpark.

6.5/10



I absolutely agree with the "too slick" part.
I really thought this movie was winking and patting itself on the back far, far too much for what was actually on-screen.

[matt72582]

The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes
I recommend checking this out. Even if you barely know about her like myself.


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e1/THE_MYSTERY_OF_MARILYN_MONROE%2C_THE_UNHEARD_TAPES_POSTER.jpeg
__________________

[Guaporense]

Some Almodovar's films:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/39/Tacones_lejanos_poster.JPG

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e9/Parallel_Mothers_poster.jpg

I rate the first 6/10 and the second 7/10. Both are decent but not special films.

[Allaby]

I just finished watching Cuties (2020). This was my 3rd time watching the film. Directed by Maïmouna Doucouré, Cuties is a controversial coming of age drama. Fathia Youssouf stars as Amy, an 11 year old Muslim girl torn between the values and traditions of her family and the Cuties, a dance group of "cool girls" at her school.

First, I want to say that I apologetically love this film. Cuties is a powerful and beautiful film that isn't afraid to make some bold choices and take risks. It is challenging and provocative. Fathia Youssouf is a revelation and I absolutely loved her beautiful, brave performance. Médina El Aidi-Azouni is fantastic too and the other girls in the film are good too. The film has depth, heart, and is always engaging and compelling. The opening shot is wonderful and captivating and the final shot is fantastic.

There was a lot of controversy that started even before the film was released. Netflix mishandled the marketing and some people got the wrong impression and made assumptions about the film without seeing it. I remember when I posted my review of the film on Facebook in some movie groups and got a lot of insults and called nasty names from people who didn't know me and hadn't even seen the film. Cuties is absolutely not child pornography. It is not an exploitation film. It was not made for paedophiles. Cuties is an excellent, well crafted film that raises important questions and intentionally doesn't provide easy answers. 4.5

[Fabulous]

One Day (2011)

3

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/cBXxrN7jcCfXNageCMYPbOjZusl.jpg

[TheUsualSuspect]

Kimi - 3.5 An updated Rear Window style suspense film where a stream analyst for an 'alexa' like device hears a murder and tries to bring about justice. The issue is she is an agoraphobic and must overcome that fear. Well acted by Zoe Kravitz and well written with little set-ups littered throughout. Directed by Soderbergh and shot during the pandemic, which does play a role in her agoraphobia.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage - 2 - One of the most "meh" movies I've seen in a long time. No room to breathe, no set-ups, just plot point to plot point. It moves at a quick pace and at 97 minutes, she's a short one. Didn't care for the bromance between Brock and Venom. The comedy fell flat and despite some well shot sequences, the film was kind of boring.

I Want You Back - 3 Charlie Day and Jenny Slate are broken up by their respective partners, whom they thought they were going to spend the rest of their lives with. They meet up and hatch a plan to break-up their exes new relationships...but will they fall in love along the way??? Classic rom-com set up and execution. Fine for a time killer and nothing new brought to the table. It was enjoyable for what it wanted to achieve,

[Allaby]

Turning Red (2022) Rewatched on blu ray with the audio commentary. Still my favourite film of the year so far. Turning Red is cute and funny. I really enjoyed the story and the characters. 4.5

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slantmagazine.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2Flatalante.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

L'Atalante, 1934

Jean (Jean Daste) marries Juliette (Dita Parlo) and then brings her to live on his canal boat with two of his workers, including the eccentric Jules (Michael Simon). But the figurative honeymoon is soon over as Juliette feels penned in and Jean can't control his jealousy, leading to a catastrophic blow-up when the canal boat temporarily docks in Paris.

This was the last film made by Jean Vigo before he died, and his only feature film. It really speaks to a strong visual talent.

The best thing about the film is the way that it exists at once in a grubby sort of reality and in a borderline-dream reality. There are some lovely strange or surreal touches, like a sequence where Jean, having jumped into the river, is suddenly taken with a vision of Juliette floating in the water in her wedding dress. Later, the two lovers (in different beds) awaken covered by the same shadow pattern, each physically longing for the other. Through the whole film the presence of dozens of cats who overrun the boat add a sense of whimsy, including a sequence where they surround a phonograph as it plays music.

From a story point of view, the film shows a very realistic dynamic whereby two people don't really bring out the best in each other. The performances are very good, to be sure. Especially Michael Simon as the odd ship hand.

One of the challenges I had with this film was that I found it hard to root for anyone in it, and especially hard to root for the relationship between Jean and Juliette. Jean is controlling and abusive. And not in some nuanced, "that was then" way. When he doesn't like how Juliette behaves, he hits her. When he doesn't like someone flirting with her, he drags her back to the boat and orders her to stay there while HE gets to go out and enjoy the Paris night life. When she goes out anyway, he pulls up the anchor and abandons her with no resources in Paris. Jean, to put it mildly, is a grade A jerk, and we see little of his "nice side" to balance out all the crappy stuff he does to Juliette. Juliette is better than Jean, but she also, you know, throws around racial slurs. It's hard to tell if we are meant to find Juliette to be a flirt or what. She enjoys getting attention from Jules and a peddler who compliments her, but who wouldn't want a little attention after being locked away on a boat with a husband who spends most of his time berating her?

Even Jules, who at first seems like a harmless eccentric was a bit over the edge for me. If you'd like me to pinpoint the moment he crossed the line, well, I'd say it was around the time that he revealed that he had kept his former friend (or lover's?) HANDS IN A JAR IN HIS CABINET.. And while there isn't as much animal mishandling as I anticipated given the number of cats, there's still quite a bit of rough handling or throwing them around in dangerous ways.

Despite feeling like a lot of the characters were the worst, I still really enjoyed this film. Jean and Juliette are clearly that couple who has great sex and is also terrible to each other for the entire duration of their relationship. I'm glad I don't have to share a canal boat with them, to put it mildly. Overall, this was a good watch. It was an engaging story with a real visual flair.

4

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZDBkYTNjOTMtM2U0NC00ZjQ1LTk4NmQtZGJjNjRiZmYyZWYwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUzOTY1NTc@._V1_.jpg



3.5

[GulfportDoc]

[Rear Window]:popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn:

I recall being dragged to this when I was a kid and my parents wanted to go to the Drive-In, a re-run of Hitchcock's The Rear Window. It's truly brilliant. A news photographer (Jimmy Stewart) has a broken leg. It's hot summer in the West Village in New York and he's watching life across the alley from his rear window. It's a Hitchcock movie, so murder has to happen. The photog is observing the wake of a crime, murder, along with parties, people doing calisthenics and regular life, while his girlfriend (Grace Kelley) gets interested. He can see more with the long lens on his camera. What happens when the murderer realizes that he's been spied? The photographer is in a wheelchair with a broken leg.

The whole thing is a brilliant conceit, a complete alley set built on a back lot, complete with the rear window and the interior of the rooms behind the windows. A pianist (a resident of the street), is rehearsing what will be the musical soundtrack of the movie, music coming from one of the windows. Neighbors are having loud parties and the police don't believe the photographer.

Jimmy Stewart doesn't do much acting but he's great at being Jimmy Stewart in this situation. Grace Kelley is sleek and elegant, and will become the Princess of Monaco after her real life marriage.

It's really a terrific period piece and one of Hitchcock's finest. Instead of a trailer, here's the first six minutes...one long sequence.
I agree with you. It's one of Hitchcock's best, and IMO one of the great films of all time-- a near perfect film in every aspect. In fact after watching the clip you posted I'm about ready for another re-watch..;)

I didn't realize until a few years ago that the screen play was based on the great Cornell Woolrich's It Had to be Murder. Woolrich of course was one of the most go-to guys for source material for some of the great noirs in the 1940s (e.g. Phantom Lady, The Black Angel, and dozens of others.). He was a sad case in real life, but what a writer!

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1d/Paisaposter.jpg
By http://www.activitaly.it/immaginicinema/imago/thumbcine4/images/paisa.jpg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11288934

Paisan - (1946)

Wow, okay, this was more like it - the brilliant stuff I was expecting from Rossellini. Rome, Open City got all of the attention when it comes to these early films, but Paisan really is a work of complexity, yet simplicity. The film is made up of six episodes which detail the clashes of culture and language that occurred when Americans fought the Nazis and Italian fascists from South to North Italy during the Second World War. Gradually, the stories have Americans and Italians getting closer to each other until the film ends with a stunning act of sacrifice and brotherhood. Language barriers, mistrust, hatred and cultural differences prove to be tough barrier to cross, and some of the early stories have the Italians regarding the Americans as not so different from the Germans, but slowly they learn about each other. Each story has a very impactful ending, with poverty, lost love, tragic death and religious inspiration all playing roles. I enjoyed this film very much, and I'm looking forward to watching Germany Year Zero tonight.

8/10

[chawhee]

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
https://javierdiazrevorio.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Blade-Runner-2049.png
4.5
My favorite movie of 2017, and the person I wanted to show this to for the first time fell asleep during it....I can't blame her, it is a slow burn. That might be its only fault, if it even qualifies. The world, the acting...everything is terrific.

[Obi-Wan_Mifune]

So thanks to some car trouble last week and me having to follow up on it multiple times since then (long story short, I’m getting a brand new engine at no cost to myself), I built up quite the backlog (about one week’s worth by the look of it). And since there’s no way I can catch up with it the way that things currently stand… lightning round!

Bitter Rice (1949) — 4
The Mill on the Po (1949) — 3

Variety Lights (1950) — 4
Bright Road (1953) — 3
I Vitelloni (1953) — 4
The Cousins (1959) — 3

Zaziw Dans Metro (1960) — 2
Doctor Dolittle (1967) — 2

Amityville II: The Possession (1982) — 2
Top Secret! (1984) — 3
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) — 3
The Little Mermaid (1989) — 4

Predator 2 (1990) — 2
Aladdin (1992) — 4
Basic Instinct (1992) — 4
Finding Christa (1992) — 3
The Hours and Times (1992) — 3
The Inland Sea (1992) — 3
Billy Madison (1995) — 3
Hercules (1997) — 3
Mulan (1998) — 4

Lilo & Stitch (2002) — 4
Punch Drunk Love (2002) — 4
Resident Evil (2002) — 3
One Missed Call (2003) — 3
Stitch! The Movie (2003) — 3
The Incredibles (2004) — 5
The Great Yokai War (2005) — 3

Jack and Jill (2011) — 1
Brave (2012) — 3
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013) — 3
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) x2 — 5
Moana (2016) — 4

The Night House (2020) — 3
The French Dispatch (2021) — 3
Inside (2021) — 4
Onward (2021) — 5
Rurouni Kenshin (2021) — 4
Alice (2022) — 3
The Batman (2022) — 2

[Fabulous]

Small Town Crime (2017)

3

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/gFS3QO2zIlzo4j7cHWtaRZgbHLe.jpg

[xSookieStackhouse]

rating_5 i loved it soo much. as a elizabeth olsen and scarlet witch fan elizabeth olsen is such a bad ass as scarlet witch, she did amazing job. hope theres gonna solo movie of scarlet witch like she said if they have a good storyline she definitely will be there!!! . amazing movie!!!! i loved it. bendict cumberbatch always does amazing job in his movies 🙂.
https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/images/au_movies_poster_doctorstrange_multiverseofmadness_trai_cc08bfbc.jpeg

[Torgo]

Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood - 4

This is a sometimes funny, sometimes terrifying and always entertaining love letter to that era of cinema Tarantino adores so well: the late '60s, which he undoubtedly loves for having as many classic studio movies as classic B movies. Our hero, much to his chagrin, is in the latter camp: fictional actor Rick Dalton (DiCaprio), who headlined a popular Western series in the 1950s, but now scrounges for guest spots and lead roles in spaghetti westerns. His best friend and assistant is stunt double Cliff Booth (Pitt), who's been with him since his heyday. Rick lives on Cielo Drive and is neighbors with the very real Sharon Tate (Robbie).

Like a talkative guest on a podcast whom the host cannot talk over such as, well, Tarantino tends to be, the director's movies exhaust me when his crew cannot keep his excesses under control. This is why I can take or leave his two westerns. Despite what this one's runtime would lead you to believe, more of it is spent in service of what I like about his movies than what I don't. DiCaprio and Pitt earn their Oscar recognition, the former for how Rick transitions from a prima donna to accepting of his new lot in life. The scene where he tearfully talks to a child co-star about a book he’s reading and how its main character's sad state resembles his own is easily my favorite and features what could be the best acting in DiCaprio's career. As for Pitt, he's convincing as the best friend anyone could hope for and a man who has quit trying to rid himself of his bad habit of picking fights. Both veterans also demonstrate that there is no more reliable comedy than when the handsomest or most beautiful performers play roles that take their egos down a notch, the highlights being when Rick gives a passionate monologue while wearing a ridiculous moustache and Booth's acid trip. None of what they, Robbie, et al do would be convincing if the movie didn't look and feel like '60s Hollywood, which is never a problem. It resembles the paradise Tarantino imagines it to be, so much so that there are moments when I wondered how they did it, especially when Pitt drives down a road covered with historically accurate signage, Rick appears in The Great Escape and the TV series FBI and of course that breathtaking moment when the lights turn on at landmarks like Cinerama and El Coyote. This is not all just a nostalgia trip, though: when Dalton and Booth get involved with Tate's unwelcome visitors, Tarantino delivers the chills. The moments when Cliff is subject to the dead-eyed glares of the residents of Spahn Ranch would not be out of a place in a horror movie.

Besides its history lesson, what else did I get out of this movie? The question "why don't the good times last" and all the bittersweet vibes that come from asking it, if anything. It's a question the movie asks in many ways from it being on Rick's mind half the time to the heinous crime that Tarantino argues ended these good times. I'm late to the party on this movie considering social media users barely share its best shots and memes anymore, but I'm glad I watched it now because the question would not have resonated during the miserable times when it came out like it would have during today's much more miserable ones. The movie is not perfect: there is a scene with Bruce Lee that rings false and whenever Tarantino reveals his most notorious fetish, it distracts much more than it contributes. I still rank it as one of his best, particularly for how it made me appreciate late '60s cinema even more than I already do, but especially for how its conclusion optimistically rephrases that big question: "what would it have been like if these good times lasted forever?"

[Hey Fredrick]

"No man ever went broke overestimating the ignorance of the American public." P.T Barnum.
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fm.media-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FM%2FMV5BYTQwYjZkNWYtYjYwYi00OTY3LTgxMDUtMWRmM2UxMTQxYjY3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzU1Nz E3NTg%40._V1_.jpg&f=1&nofb=1


Damon Wayans as boxing's Heavyweight Champion of the World, James "The Grim Reaper" Roper, looking like "a half sucked milk dud" as he weighs in for the fight of his career in The Great White Hype.

After a string of successful but lackluster payday championship fights, Wayans promoter, The Sultan (Samuel L. Jackson), decides that the only way to reinvigorate the heavyweight division is to find a white challenger. Good luck. "White Heavyweight? The words don't even go together." Well, if there's money to be made the Sultan will figure it out. What follows is a hilarious ride through the world of boxing promotion.

The film is bookended by in the ring action but that's all your gonna get to see about the Sweet Science. What you will see in the manipulation of everybody by the Sultan and his crew as he promotes this sham of a fight and it's glorious. On the sidelines we have Jamie Foxx, as the camera shy promoter for Marvin Shabazz, the number one contender, complaining about ducks and merlot bro-hams, Jeff Goldblum as an investigative journalist with a binder full of compromising pics of the Sultan, trying to expose the Sultan as a charlatan and Peter Berg as Irish "I'm NOT Irish" Terry Conklin, a burned out former amateur boxer with an explosive overhand right, "no significant brain damage," the last person to defeat Roper (as an amateur) and who has been spending the last ten years in Cleveland, fronting a band and living the dream?

This is written by Ron Shelton of Bull Durham, Tin Cup and White Men Can't Jump fame and directed by Reginald Hudlin, who does a great job of selling the hype in Shelton's script. The cast, which also includes Cheech Marin, Jon Lovitz, Corbin Bernsen, John Rhys-Davies and Salli Richardson-Whitfield, is running on all comedic cylinders. They each have their time to shine but Jackson, Goldblum and Foxx are really delivering. Can't remember if this is on my comedy ballot but it should be. rating_4_5

[SpelingError]

Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood - 4

This is a sometimes funny, sometimes terrifying and always entertaining love letter to that era of cinema Tarantino adores so well: the late '60s, which he undoubtedly loves for having as many classic studio movies as classic B movies. Our hero, much to his chagrin, is in the latter camp: fictional actor Rick Dalton (DiCaprio), who headlined a popular Western series in the 1950s, but now scrounges for guest spots and lead roles in spaghetti westerns. His best friend and assistant is stunt double Cliff Booth (Pitt), who's been with him since his heyday. Rick lives on Cielo Drive and is neighbors with the very real Sharon Tate (Robbie).

Like a talkative guest on a podcast whom the host cannot talk over such as, well, Tarantino tends to be, the director's movies exhaust me when his crew cannot keep his excesses under control. This is why I can take or leave his two westerns. Despite what this one's runtime would lead you to believe, more of it is spent in service of what I like about his movies than what I don't. DiCaprio and Pitt earn their Oscar recognition, the former for how Rick transitions from a prima donna to accepting of his new lot in life. The scene where he tearfully talks to a child co-star about a book he’s reading and how its main character's sad state resembles his own is easily my favorite and features what could be the best acting in DiCaprio's career. As for Pitt, he's convincing as the best friend anyone could hope for and a man who has quit trying to rid himself of his bad habit of picking fights. Both veterans also demonstrate that there is no more reliable comedy than when the handsomest or most beautiful performers play roles that take their egos down a notch, the highlights being when Rick gives a passionate monologue while wearing a ridiculous moustache and Booth's acid trip. None of what they, Robbie, et al do would be convincing if the movie didn't look and feel like '60s Hollywood, which is never a problem. It resembles the paradise Tarantino imagines it to be, so much so that there are moments when I wondered how they did it, especially when Pitt drives down a road covered with historically accurate signage, Rick appears in The Great Escape and the TV series FBI and of course that breathtaking moment when the lights turn on at landmarks like Cinerama and El Coyote. This is not all just a nostalgia trip, though: when Dalton and Booth get involved with Tate's unwelcome visitors, Tarantino delivers the chills. The moments when Cliff is subject to the dead-eyed glares of the residents of Spahn Ranch would not be out of a place in a horror movie.

Besides its history lesson, what else did I get out of this movie? The question "why don't the good times last" and all the bittersweet vibes that come from asking it, if anything. It's a question the movie asks in many ways from it being on Rick's mind half the time to the heinous crime that Tarantino argues ended these good times. I'm late to the party on this movie considering social media users barely share its best shots and memes anymore, but I'm glad I watched it now because the question would not have resonated during the miserable times when it came out like it would have during today's much more miserable ones. The movie is not perfect: there is a scene with Bruce Lee that rings false and whenever Tarantino reveals his most notorious fetish, it distracts much more than it contributes. I still rank it as one of his best, particularly for how it made me appreciate late '60s cinema even more than I already do, but especially for how its conclusion optimistically rephrases that big question: "what would it have been like if these good times lasted forever?"

As for the Bruce Lee scene, while I understand why Lee's family took offense to it, I wasn't bothered by it. Since the movie takes place in a fantasy universe and is about not trusting the mythology of Hollywood, I don't think it's far off to say that theme extends to Bruce Lee's scene. Also, that the fight is told via flashback by Cliff, who may be an unreliable narrator, brings doubt to whether the scene happened the same way it was shown, or if that was Cliff's version of the events.

Still though, great review. It's definitely one of my top 3 Tarantino films.

[Wooley]

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
https://javierdiazrevorio.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Blade-Runner-2049.png
4.5
My favorite movie of 2017, and the person I wanted to show this to for the first time fell asleep during it....I can't blame her, it is a slow burn. That might be its only fault, if it even qualifies. The world, the acting...everything is terrific.

I need to re-watch this.
I really didn't like it but I am a massive, life-long fan of the OG.

[mark f]

Futura (3 Directors, 2021) 2.5 6/10
Boom! (Joseph Losey, 1968) 2 5/10
Crush (Sammi Cohen, 2022) 2.5 6/10
You Won't Be Alone (Goran Stolevski, 2022) 3+ 6.5/10
https://kaist455.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/youwontbealone04.jpg?w=640
Otherworldly horror which, believe it or not, resembles a Malick film but with God being a witch. Set in 19th-century Macedonia, it takes awhile to figure out but is always beautiful AND repugnant.
Terminal USA (Jon Moritsugu, 1993) 2.5 6/10
Shopping for Fangs (Quentin Lee & Justin Lin, 1997) 2.5 6/10
Fresh Kill (Shu Lea Cheang, 1994) 2.5 6/10
Death on the Nile (John Guillermin, 1978) 3.5 7+/10
https://media3.giphy.com/media/51W53EmUQZxLXGELsq/giphy.gif
Agatha Christie mystery with the usual all-star rogues' gallery of suspects and detectuve Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov) to solve it. Different enough [and better than] the Branagh version that it's fun to watch both.
The Vintage (Jeffrey Hayden, 1957) 2.5 6/10
Angels in the Outfield (Clarence Brown, 1951) 3 6.5/10
Road to Bali (Hal Walker, 1952) 2.5 6/10
Nitram (Justin Kurzel, 2021) 3 6.5/10
https://64.media.tumblr.com/ed615733aa94a5aaa8925e6b95fceaed/b458e3e9a822c672-ec/s500x750/b35901fcd3400862cb5381220721c33681476690.gifv
Recreation of events leading to the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania is mostly-low-key but still very chilling. Caleb Landry Jones is the troubled title chararcter.
Love Steaks (Jakob Lass, 2013) 2.5 6/10
The Clock (Vincente Minnelli, 1943) 3 6.5/10
Escape Through Africa (Ted Betz, 2022) 2 5/10
Our Lady of the Nile (Atiq Rahimi, 2019) 2.5 6/10
https://s.rfi.fr/media/display/786380d0-4812-11ea-a9e7-005056bf87d6/w:720/p:16x9/dscf1430_0.jpg
The Rwandan genocide is examined through what happened 20 years earlier at a remote Catholic boarding school.
Silverton Siege (Mandla Dube, 2022) 2.5 6/10
Devil Story (Bernard Launois, 1986) 1.5 4/10
Panic in Year Zero! (Ray Milland, 1962) 2.5 6/10
On the Beach (Stanley Kramer, 1959) 3.5 7/10
https://i.makeagif.com/media/10-06-2016/Y1jiSY.gif
Nuclear war has destroyed civilization but Australia has the last remaining survivors [for a few months anyway]. Among them are married Lt. Anthony Perkins, widowed submarine commander Gregory Peck and scientist Fred Astaire.

[Wooley]

rating_5 i loved it soo much. as a elizabeth olsen and scarlet witch fan elizabeth olsen is such a bad ass as scarlet witch, she did amazing job. hope theres gonna solo movie of scarlet witch like she said if they have a good storyline she definitely will be there!!! . amazing movie!!!! i loved it. bendict cumberbatch always does amazing job in his movies 🙂.
https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/images/au_movies_poster_doctorstrange_multiverseofmadness_trai_cc08bfbc.jpeg

This pleases me.
I don't know if we've ever talked about it but I grew up a fan of Scarlet Witch from the 70s comics (when I was a little kid) and she has always been one of my favorite Marvel characters and therefore one of my favorite characters, period, since I grew up a Marvel addict in the 70s and 80s.
I was a little disappointed in the on-screen representation of her in the first two films she appeared in (not because of Olsen who I think is a genuinely excellent actor but because the films kinda rushed through her minimal story-lines... or maybe minimized her existing story-lines) but the show really brought her into focus (even if I was let down by the finale).
I am so ready for her to really emerge.

(Honestly, I could give a shit about Cumberbatch's bland Doctor Strange, that's another character I grew up on and I think Marvel's desperation to replace Tony Stark led to them really norming this character to a point where he's not very interesting to me.)

[Wooley]

As for the Bruce Lee scene, while I understand why Lee's family took offense to it, I wasn't bothered by it. Since the movie takes place in a fantasy universe and is about not trusting the mythology of Hollywood, I don't think it's far off to say that theme extends to Bruce Lee's scene. Also, that the fight is told via flashback by Cliff, who may be an unreliable narrator, brings doubt to whether the scene happened the same way it was shown, or if that was Cliff's version of the events.


I agree, I really couldn't believe people were gettin' their panties so bunged-up about this.
And I didn't even like the movie.

[Torgo]

As for the Bruce Lee scene, while I understand why Lee's family took offense to it, I wasn't bothered by it. Since the movie takes place in a fantasy universe and is about not trusting the mythology of Hollywood, I don't think it's far off to say that theme extends to Bruce Lee's scene. Also, that the fight is told via flashback by Cliff, who may be an unreliable narrator, brings doubt to whether the scene happened the same way it was shown, or if that was Cliff's version of the events.

Still though, great review. It's definitely one of my top 3 Tarantino films.All good points that I didn't consider while watching that scene. My impression of Lee is that he was a peaceful dude who wouldn't even let someone who pushes buttons like Cliff get to him, and the scene goes against that, of course.

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZWMzNjg2NDktYzRjZS00MTc4LWE2ZDEtNjk5NTk2MDljZTlhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUzOTY1NTc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.j pg


4th Rewatch...It's been a couple of decades since I've watched this film and I thought it would be interesting to take another look at it in this "Me too" generation. Don't get me wrong, this is Woody's artistry as a filmmaker at its zenith. This often breathtaking valentine to New York City is one of his most lyrical and seductive films, but the story of a divorced television writer having an affair with his best friend's mistress and a 17 year old girl definitely has its share of broken characters with shaky moral barometers. If this movie were released today, Woody's character, Isaac Davis, would end up in jail at some point for having a sexual relationship with a 17 year old. And it's not only the sexual aspect, his emotional abuse of the girl is even worse. He has put this girl through the emotional wringer by the time the credits roll, to pursue Keaton's character, who is so self-absorbed and emotionally shredded she doesn't know what she wants either. And that final scene between Woody and Mariel Hemingway still destroys me. Woody and Marshall Brickman's Oscar-nominated screenplay is so smart and edgy, admiration must be paid and Woody's cinematic eye toward New York is unlike anything scene in cinema. I love that shot on the poster and the shot at the street corner where Woody and Diane are walking her dog. It's still one of Woody's richest cinematic journeys, all played against a flawless collection of George Gershwin music. 4.5

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.tmdb.org%2Ft%2Fp%2Fw533_and_h300_bestv2%2FhEqk5M9sgj5yA870qKXlMU2yOe2.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

The Ghost Goes West, 1935

Murdoch Glourie (Robert Donat) is a flighty skirt-chaser who dies ingloriously in battle while trying to sneak away for a hookup. Doomed by his shame to haunt his family's castle, Murdoch's routine is shaken up when his descendant Donald (also played by Donat) sells the castle to a wealthy American who plans to ship the castle, in pieces, to the US. Things get even more complicated when Donald's crush, Peggy (Jean Parker) is wooed by both Murdoch and Donald.

This film, directed by Rene Clair, has plenty of whimsy and engaging enough leads in Donat and Parker (along with Eugene Pallette as the grocery magnate who purchases the castle). But despite its fun elements, I found it a bit slight.

The main issue that I had with the film was that it felt rather repetitive. Maybe it was just the challenge of adapting the story into a feature-length film (which still comes in at a slight 82 minutes). Maybe it was a case of a writer thinking that something was so funny that it was worth seeing three different times. Whatever the case, I got a bit impatient with seeing similar sequences again and again. Murdoch tells a woman a riddle and then demands a "forfeit" in the form of a kiss (this happens at least four times). Donald doesn't realize Peggy has been flirting with Murdoch and is clueless, which makes her mad (this also happens at least four times).

The visual element of the film was definitely my favorite thing about it. The effects of Murdoch's ghost are really well done, as are the sequences where Donat shares the screen with himself. Yes, there's some obvious double work. But there are also surprisingly good sequences of him talking to himself. There are also some fun touches, like a sound system embedded in a suit of armor. The staging of the final sequence of the film, a dinner party that includes a professional skeptic, is enjoyable.

That said, there's a lack of depth to the film that kept me from really vibing with it. The characters, despite the charismatic performances, never feel like they are developed in anything other than broad strokes.

Not bad, but just a bit lacking.

3.5

[GulfportDoc]

[Manhattan]
4th Rewatch...It's been a couple of decades since I've watched this film and I thought it would be interesting to take another look at it in this "Me too" generation. Don't get me wrong, this is Woody's artistry as a filmmaker at its zenith. This often breathtaking valentine to New York City is one of his most lyrical and seductive films, but the story of a divorced television writer having an affair with his best friend's mistress and a 17 year old girl definitely has its share of broken characters with shaky moral barometers. If this movie were released today, Woody's character, Isaac Davis, would end up in jail at some point for having a sexual relationship with a 17 year old. And it's not only the sexual aspect, his emotional abuse of the girl is even worse. He has put this girl through the emotional wringer by the time the credits roll, to pursue Keaton's character, who is so self-absorbed and emotionally shredded she doesn't know what she wants either. And that final scene between Woody and Mariel Hemingway still destroys me. Woody and Marshall Brickman's Oscar-nominated screenplay is so smart and edgy, admiration must be paid and Woody's cinematic eye toward New York is unlike anything scene in cinema. I love that shot on the poster and the shot at the street corner where Woody and Diane are walking her dog. It's still one of Woody's richest cinematic journeys, all played against a flawless collection of George Gershwin music. rating_4_5
I agree. Manhattan is one of Allen's very best films. The scenes of NYC are beautifully shot. I like this picture much better than Annie Hall, which got much more attention.

[SpelingError]

28th Hall of Fame

Blue Spring (2001) - 4

As someone who's grown somewhat weary of high school/teen movies, this film clicked with me much more than I expected it would. Its representation of teen angst and troubled youths encompassed by their run-down and violent surroundings with little hope for their futures resonated really well with me. Some of the characters are given more focus than others, but none of them were unmemorable since they're all in the same boat. Given the apparent 'freedom' the boys have in the school which includes wandering out of their classes at will, spraying graffiti around the school's interior, fighting each other in the halls without punishment, and playing a dangerous game of chicken on the school's roof, the school feels like a playground that allows for their behavior to continue, in spite of how several faculty members warn the boys of their situations. A few scenes in this film might be too weird for some people, but given its somewhat unconventional style, I don't think the film is going for realism. Rather, it seems caught between reality and a dream. I don't have much to say about this film in the way of flaws. I suppose the soundtrack teetered on being overbearing every now and then, but not enough to harm the film much. Overall, really enjoyed this one.

[Gideon58]

I agree. Manhattan is one of Allen's very best films. The scenes of NYC are beautifully shot. I like this picture much better than Annie Hall, which got much more attention.


Bless you! I think Annie Hall is woody's most overrated film and it had no business winning the Best Picture Oscar. I think he's made at least half a dozen movies that are better, including Manhattan

[Hey Fredrick]

As for the Bruce Lee scene, while I understand why Lee's family took offense to it, I wasn't bothered by it. Since the movie takes place in a fantasy universe and is about not trusting the mythology of Hollywood, I don't think it's far off to say that theme extends to Bruce Lee's scene. Also, that the fight is told via flashback by Cliff, who may be an unreliable narrator, brings doubt to whether the scene happened the same way it was shown, or if that was Cliff's version of the events.

Still though, great review. It's definitely one of my top 3 Tarantino films.

Right! If there is anything to object to in this fantasy, how Bruce Lee was treated isn't even remotely at the top of the list. Everybody who was murdered by Manson's family ended up alive in the movie. How's that for accuracy? It's insane that of all the stuff in this movie, this is what riles people up. How Bruce Lee was portrayed? However he was portrayed was nothing compared to how the events of that night were portrayed. It's...a ...fantasy. Great movie. Top 3 Tarantino for me.

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1f/Man_With_Two_Brains.jpg
By https://iwakeupscreaming.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/the-man-with-two-brains.jpg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4035495

The Man With Two Brains - (1983)

It's been so long since I've seen these films, and it's great to see that they retain their offbeat humour so well. I notice Steve Martin got a screenwriting credit on this, as I assume he did some ad-libbing and suggested inclusions as filming went on - there seems to be a lot of funny additions to scenes - every brain operation he does he ends up having to say "Get that cat out of here!" Love the bit where he licks his hands and thus is able to suction cup his way around on the upper floors of a building. Carl Reiner directed 4 Steve Martin comedies in a row, The Jerk, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, this and All of Me. If I remember correctly, All of Me wasn't as crazy or wildly funny as the other three. Anyway, I hope to catch Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid soon.

7/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3f/Germania%2C_anno_zero_poster.jpg
Copyright held by the film company or the artist. Claimed as fair use regardless., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26592928

Germany, Year Zero - (1948)

This was made not so long after Rossellini's 9 year-old son suddenly died of appendicitis, and it's a very downbeat, depressing and pessimistic film. Filmed amongst the real ruins of Berlin after the war, it tells the tale of one family, and more specifically twelve-year-old Edmund Köhler, who runs around trying to find food for his family, running across various hustlers and criminals who influence him. That influence turns into something horrifying, so if you ever decide to watch this, be ready. It's not going to leave you with a pleasant feeling. The film met with a harsh reaction - but I think it's a good film, it just happens to be a good film with a particularly dark and nasty subject matter.

7/10

[Rockatansky]

If I remember correctly, All of Me wasn't as crazy or wildly funny as the other three.

It's a more controlled exercise than the others, but the courtroom scene might be the funniest thing I've ever seen Martin do. And with Lily Tomlin as a co-star, how can you lose?

[PHOENIX74]

It's a more controlled exercise than the others, but the courtroom scene might be the funniest thing I've ever seen Martin do. And with Lily Tomlin as a co-star, how can you lose?

Well, I wasn't going to cover that one as well, but now I really want to.

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/08/Zeros_and_Ones.jpg
By http://www.impawards.com/2021/zeros_and_ones.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69007713

Zeros and Ones - (2021)

I forgot I watched this last night. I borrowed it from the library out of curiosity - looking it up, it had a 3.4/10 rating on the IMDb, and some very interesting reviews, so I had to see it for myself. It markets itself as just an ordinary action/thriller, but it's very, very far from ordinary - and the question has to be asked, does what Abel Ferrara has done here work? The film is bookended by two recordings by Ethan Hawke himself to the audience, the first talking about the project with Ferrara, and the second telling us he's just watched the film we just saw, and what he thinks about it. The plot is completely incomprehensible - and that's not me saying I didn't understand it. It's deliberately incomprehensible. The visuals are taken from snippets of digital video, zoom, etc, in an almost 'found footage' kind of way. The film is lauded by some in an almost pretentious manner, but those that give it four and a half or five stars really are tying themselves in knots to give us their theories on why it's great. I understand what this film was going for in a 'future dystopia', 'pandemic', 'post-9/11' and 'technology' way, but to me it all seemed too clumsy and on the nose to make me appreciate it as art. I am glad I watched it though, if only to immerse myself in something that really is different, and a change. Dialogue about "3000 year-old wars", "Whose side was Jesus on, really?" and "Why don't people light themselves on fire anymore?" are offset by scenes you'd find in any other typical thriller - and that's where it got me. Not the deliberately confusing narrative, visual style or strange ponderings - which I could accept. The banal, typical type stuff you find everywhere these days - that destroyed it for me. Ferrara wouldn't go all the way, and was caught in a No Man's Land of cinematic death. Inside of all the film's very unconventional ways (that are many) is un underlying conventionality that poisons the rest.

2/10

[Thief]

BLACK GIRL
(1966, Sembène)

https://i.imgur.com/g15FIiP.jpg


"Never will I be a slave. I did not come here for the apron or the money. Never will she see me again. Never will she scold me again. Never again, Diouana."



Black Girl follows Diouana (Mbissine Thérèse Diop), a young Senegalese woman that goes to work for this wealthy French couple as a nanny while they're settled in Senegal. Eventually she moves with them to France hoping to continue her work as a nanny, but finds herself working as a servant instead, and the subject of harsh treatment from the wife (Anne-Marie Jelinek) and apathy from the husband (Robert Fontaine).

Directed by Ousmane Sembène, Black Girl was one of the first films from Africa to gain international attention. The way the director uses the relationships between this European couple and our African lead as an allegory to the relationships between both countries is brilliant and thought-provoking, as he uses it as a way to address the effects of colonialism.

Grade: 4.5


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2299729#post2299729)

[Gideon58]

[QUOTE=PHOENIX74;2299646]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1f/Man_With_Two_Brains.jpg
By https://iwakeupscreaming.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/the-man-with-two-brains.jpg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4035495

The Man With Two Brains - (1983)

It's been so long since I've seen these films, and it's great to see that they retain their offbeat humour so well. I notice Steve Martin got a screenwriting credit on this, as I assume he did some ad-libbing and suggested inclusions as filming went on - there seems to be a lot of funny additions to scenes - every brain operation he does he ends up having to say "Get that cat out of here!" Love the bit where he licks his hands and thus is able to suction cup his way around on the upper floors of a building. Carl Reiner directed 4 Steve Martin comedies in a row, The Jerk, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, this and All of Me. If I remember correctly, All of Me wasn't as crazy or wildly funny as the other three. Anyway, I hope to catch Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid soon.

7/10

Nice to see some love for The Man with Two Brains, one of Martin's most underrated comedies. I rated it even higher than you did.

[Takoma11]

Nice to see some love for The Man with Two Brains, one of Martin's most underrated comedies. I rated it even higher than you did.

I tend to be a bit mixed on Martin's stuff (sometimes there's a frantic tone to it that doesn't gel well with me), but I LOVE The Man with Two Brains. The quips really tend to land, and the payoff to the running "Elevator Killer" gag is gold.

[Corax]

rating_5 i loved it soo much. as a elizabeth olsen and scarlet witch fan elizabeth olsen is such a bad ass as scarlet witch, she did amazing job. hope theres gonna solo movie of scarlet witch like she said if they have a good storyline she definitely will be there!!! . amazing movie!!!! i loved it. bendict cumberbatch always does amazing job in his movies 🙂.
https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/images/au_movies_poster_doctorstrange_multiverseofmadness_trai_cc08bfbc.jpeg


"America" was a bit on the nose. "You just need to believe in yourself!"

[pahaK]

All the Moons (2020)
Ilargi guztiak
3.5
A Basque coming-of-age film with vampires. It's a mixture of things like Interview with the Vampire, Let the Right One In, Near Dark, and modern Del Toro fantasy. It manages to blend familiar themes and concepts somewhat uniquely (it obviously helps that I personally like most of these ideas myself - some scenes were close to what I've been thinking for years now). The film looks great and the young lead does a fantastic job. There's a minus half star on my rating for the ending.

[Allaby]

I just finished watching Young Man with a Horn (1950). Directed by Michael Curtiz, this drama features a great cast including Kirk Douglas, Doris Day, Lauren Bacall, Hoagy Carmichael and Juano Hernandez. Douglas plays Rick Martin, a talented and obsessive trumpet player whose self destructive nature threatens his career and relationships. The lead actors are all good here. I believed Douglas's performance and I thought Day and Bacall were convincing and interesting in their roles as the women in his life. Black and white cinematography was well done and the music was nice too. I felt that some of the story elements were a little predictable and formulaic at times though. The film does feel a touch too long and could have easily been a little shorter without losing anything significant. Director Michael Curtiz doesn't always get the appreciation he deserves. He directed 173 an impressive 173 feature films, including some great ones. I've seen at least 11 of his films and I would rank Young Man with a Horn as his 5th best. 3.5

[MovieGal]

87034

The Evil Next Door
(2020)
3.75/5

Not a bad little Swedish horror film.

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMGE3ZWIxMTEtODE3NC00NDUxLWJkZjMtYTNkZGFiZjYxZTJmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjg1NDcxNDE@._V1_.jpg



[Rating]2.5[/Rating

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/08/ARMY_OF_SHADOWS_1SH.jpg
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8778289

Army of Shadows - (1969)

Well, that has to be one of the best World War II movies I've ever seen - I haven't seen many about the French Resistance, but this is about as realistic and as gritty as you can get. It's populated by real flesh and blood people, and by that I mean characters that have tremendous depth and we care about. Aside from that, the way everything is staged is very suspenseful, but we never veer off into fantasy. Sound is used to great effect. The cinematography is out of this world. The casting was perfect. Make no mistake though, this film is as bleak as it's subject matter is, and it's not about heroes and victory, or thrills and action - it's about sacrifice, death and struggle. It's about giving yourself body and soul to a cause. These resistance fighters lose themselves, become murderers and eventually martyrs. I loved the fact that Army of Shadows did not romanticize the war or resistance - but showed it how it really was, becoming a real anti-war statement and powerful film.

9/10

Foreign Language Countdown films seen : 85/100

[Captain Steel]

This pleases me.
I don't know if we've ever talked about it but I grew up a fan of Scarlet Witch from the 70s comics (when I was a little kid) and she has always been one of my favorite Marvel characters and therefore one of my favorite characters, period, since I grew up a Marvel addict in the 70s and 80s.
I was a little disappointed in the on-screen representation of her in the first two films she appeared in (not because of Olsen who I think is a genuinely excellent actor but because the films kinda rushed through her minimal story-lines... or maybe minimized her existing story-lines) but the show really brought her into focus (even if I was let down by the finale).
I am so ready for her to really emerge.

(Honestly, I could give a shit about Cumberbatch's bland Doctor Strange, that's another character I grew up on and I think Marvel's desperation to replace Tony Stark led to them really norming this character to a point where he's not very interesting to me.)

Just an excuse to post a classic Scarlet Witch comic cover! :)

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tY6R0OD9spM/T5b3eanvO-I/AAAAAAAAQtE/TplkUNDhOR0/s1600/Avengers186_01.jpg

[Wooley]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZWMzNjg2NDktYzRjZS00MTc4LWE2ZDEtNjk5NTk2MDljZTlhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUzOTY1NTc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.j pg


4th Rewatch...It's been a couple of decades since I've watched this film and I thought it would be interesting to take another look at it in this "Me too" generation. Don't get me wrong, this is Woody's artistry as a filmmaker at its zenith. This often breathtaking valentine to New York City is one of his most lyrical and seductive films, but the story of a divorced television writer having an affair with his best friend's mistress and a 17 year old girl definitely has its share of broken characters with shaky moral barometers. If this movie were released today, Woody's character, Isaac Davis, would end up in jail at some point for having a sexual relationship with a 17 year old. And it's not only the sexual aspect, his emotional abuse of the girl is even worse. He has put this girl through the emotional wringer by the time the credits roll, to pursue Keaton's character, who is so self-absorbed and emotionally shredded she doesn't know what she wants either. And that final scene between Woody and Mariel Hemingway still destroys me. Woody and Marshall Brickman's Oscar-nominated screenplay is so smart and edgy, admiration must be paid and Woody's cinematic eye toward New York is unlike anything scene in cinema. I love that shot on the poster and the shot at the street corner where Woody and Diane are walking her dog. It's still one of Woody's richest cinematic journeys, all played against a flawless collection of George Gershwin music. 4.5

I really think the movie is pretty much a masterpiece.

[Wooley]

BLACK GIRL
(1966, Sembène)

https://i.imgur.com/g15FIiP.jpg




Black Girl follows Diouana (Mbissine Thérèse Diop), a young Senegalese woman that goes to work for this wealthy French couple as a nanny while their settled in Senegal. Eventually she moves with them to France hoping to continue her work as a nanny, but finds herself working as a servant instead, and the subject of harsh treatment from the wife (Anne-Marie Jelinek) and apathy from the husband (Robert Fontaine).

Directed by Ousmane Sembène, Black Girl was one of the first films from Africa to gain international attention. The way the director uses the relationships between this European couple and our African lead as an allegory to the relationships between both countries is brilliant and thought-provoking, as he uses it as a way to address the effects of colonialism.

Grade: 4.5


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2299729#post2299729)

I thought this movie was just riveting and incredibly memorable. I hung on every minute, it gave me a great deal to think about, and it changed the way I thought about African filmmaking.
Made a tremendous impression on me.

[Siddon]

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ipBHDYLVrAC7X4viETrJTD.jpg


Marvel has been on a bit of a slump for me...Black Widow felt very amateurish and dated. Shang Chi was alright but it felt to silly at times with Awkafina when the tone should have been wonder. Eternals I liked for what they were going for but the execution was lacking. I was starting to worry that Marvel was done...the magic was gone. And here comes Doctor Strange to sort of fix the problems.

Doctor Strange isn't a home run...modern films have to be political in the effort for representation we end up with silly, cheap, and stupid scenes. And Strange definitely has that...you have a scene where one character has to be a hero while the other a coward now imagine one is a white dude and the other is a black female...guess which played which role. The movie also has a walking mcguffin in America Chavez who has the typical personality, character arc and powers of the laziest of writers. You have a contrast with the characters in which in which the female characters are generally one note except for the one who isn't...and that person carries and elevates the film.

Sam Rami is also the star of the film...in that this is 100% a Sam Rami film in that it's a light horror film that shocks you at points but always lets you have a good time. Some of the set pieces and visuals in the film are remarkable...and restrained. It's subtleties and contrasts that makes a story like this work. I'm really sad that this wasn't made in 3D like the first one because it so many of these worlds and vistas would have been improved.

My biggest pop that got a little tear out of my eye wasn't a scene but a note. I didn't expect it but when I saw it I got a nostalgia feeling that added an extra star in my eyes. You have actual emotionally earned moments in the film that will touch the marvel fan in you. I sincerely hope the Strange series continues.

rating_4

[Fabulous]

The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017)

2.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/zJMgcoNLUv4h4Zu0sv7VpYujXkN.jpg

[Yomi]

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021)
rating_3_5

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNTZiNDVlYjAtMjIxYy00YzkxLTg5MDQtYzkxZWE2OGI5YzJhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTkxNjUyNQ@@.jpg._V1_FMjpg_UX400 _.jpg

[Thief]

I thought this movie was just riveting and incredibly memorable. I hung on every minute, it gave me a great deal to think about, and it changed the way I thought about African filmmaking.
Made a tremendous impression on me.

I totally agree. It has stuck with me something fierce, and has potential to eventually be a 5/5 for me.

[Torgo]

The Gunfighter - 4

This is a classic western that argues that being the best gunfighter is more curse than blessing. It stars Gregory Peck as Jimmy Ringo, who is confronted by challengers everywhere he goes, with it ending badly for them every time. One such encounter occurs before he visits the small town of Cayenne, where he hopes to reconnect with a lost love and his young son and whose Marshal, Mark Strett (Millard Mitchell), happens to be one of his old partners in crime. If it weren't enough that the brothers of his ill-fated challenger are after him, Cayenne has yet another hot shot, Hunt Bromley (Skip Homeier), who's gunning (no pun intended) for Jimmy's title.

I like how the movie shows that being the best gunfighter is like being a celebrity and having a contagious disease at the same time for how everyone is equally fascinated by Jimmy, but also wants to keep their distance. This is exemplified by Cayenne's expansive and empty saloon that becomes his hideout, which besides the Marshal and loyal bartender Mac (a young Karl Malden) is only visited by the few customers who somehow haven't heard of Jimmy. The presence the townsfolk's fascination gives Jimmy combined with the threat of those who would see him dead makes for genuine tension. It helps that Peck is 100% convincing for how his skill puts the weight of the world on his shoulders. Thankfully, there is room for tenderness within all the tension, the highlight being when the Marshall reminisces with Jimmy about their time together and explains how he was able to get out. As for the moments when Jimmy finds who he is looking for, they are as bittersweet as you can imagine and are bound to bring tears to the eye to someone who is just as hardened as our antihero. In short, it's an affair as suspenseful as it is melancholic and it successfully shows that being the best at something may make one's life easier in some ways, but the difficulty it adds to others makes you wonder if the tradeoff is worth it. The movie also proves that genre deconstruction was happening much earlier than Unforgiven, which this movie would pair well with in a double feature.

[Wooley]

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ipBHDYLVrAC7X4viETrJTD.jpg


Marvel has been on a bit of a slump for me...Black Widow felt very amateurish and dated. Shang Chi was alright but it felt to silly at times with Awkafina when the tone should have been wonder. Eternals I liked for what they were going for but the execution was lacking. I was starting to worry that Marvel was done...the magic was gone. And here comes Doctor Strange to sort of fix the problems.

Doctor Strange isn't a home run...modern films have to be political in the effort for representation we end up with silly, cheap, and stupid scenes. And Strange definitely has that...you have a scene where one character has to be a hero while the other a coward now imagine one is a white dude and the other is a black female...guess which played which role. The movie also has a walking mcguffin in America Chavez who has the typical personality, character arc and powers of the laziest of writers. You have a contrast with the characters in which in which the female characters are generally one note except for the one who isn't...and that person carries and elevates the film.

Sam Rami is also the star of the film...in that this is 100% a Sam Rami film in that it's a light horror film that shocks you at points but always lets you have a good time. Some of the set pieces and visuals in the film are remarkable...and restrained. It's subtleties and contrasts that makes a story like this work. I'm really sad that this wasn't made in 3D like the first one because it so many of these worlds and vistas would have been improved.

My biggest pop that got a little tear out of my eye wasn't a scene but a note. I didn't expect it but when I saw it I got a nostalgia feeling that added an extra star in my eyes. You have actual emotionally earned moments in the film that will touch the marvel fan in you. I sincerely hope the Strange series continues.

rating_4

I'm glad to hear this because I agree with you completely, I think Marvel is in a serious slump with Black Widow and Shang-Chi and Eternals.

[Wooley]

I totally agree. It has stuck with me something fierce, and has potential to eventually be a 5/5 for me.

I think it's a 5/5 for me. I can't think of a flaw. And it really hit me. Loved the end too. Definitely an instant classic in my world, I'd recommend it to almost anyone.

[John W Constantine]

Doc Strange in one of the Multiverses of Madness

2

This felt like a little bit of a mess. There is stuff to like here and moments to mark out for, but it didn't really get going for me until the last part of it. I realize they're trying to tell a more focused story but the multiverse dimensions felt a little limited and under used. I did start laughing at a part towards the end and couldn't stop. May have been the drugs.

[Marco]

The Survivor (2021)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/73/The_Survivor_%282021_film%29.jpg
This was good if understated (rightfully so) film. Ben Foster plays the boxer Harrf Haft that was in the concentration camps during the 2nd WW. It's a great story and Ben Foster (as always) is excellent as the man still struggling with his past and present.

3.5

[Thief]

JASON X
(2001, Isaac)

https://i.imgur.com/VWhCshf.jpg


"What's going on?"
"Jason-fu¢king-Voorhees, that's what's going on!"



Jason X, the 10th installment in the immortal Friday the 13th franchise does exactly that, taking Jason-fu¢king-Voorhees to fu¢king space, and it is as much dumb fun as you would expect. The basic premise has a cryogenically frozen Jason waking up in a spaceship in the year 2455, only to wreak havoc again among its passengers. Along for the ride is Rowan (Lexa Doig), a scientist that that was accidentally frozen along with Jason.

Regardless of whatever flaw you can think of, this film pretty much delivers what you would expect from the tenth film in a slasher franchise about a zombie killer that's sent to space, in the future. Still, despite having the biggest budget of the franchise, to that point, the production values are pretty cheap. Also, although it features one of the most memorable kills of the franchise (guess which one!), the film isn't as gory as I would've expected.

Grade: 2.5


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2299868#post2299868)

[Thief]

From Black Girl to Jason X. Don't let anybody tell you I'm not versatile :laugh:

[Deschain]

JASON X
(2001, Isaac)

https://i.imgur.com/VWhCshf.jpg




Jason X, the 10th installment in the immortal Friday the 13th franchise does exactly that, taking Jason-fu¢king-Voorhees to fu¢king space, and it is as much dumb fun as you would expect. The basic premise has a cryogenically frozen Jason waking up in a spaceship in the year 2455, only to wreak havoc again among its passengers. Along for the ride is Rowan (Lexa Doig), a scientist that that was accidentally frozen along with Jason.

Regardless of whatever flaw you can think of, this film pretty much delivers what you would expect from the tenth film in a slasher franchise about a zombie killer that's sent to space, in the future. Still, despite having the biggest budget of the franchise, to that point, the production values are pretty cheap. Also, although it features one of the most memorable kills of the franchise (guess which one!), the film isn't as gory as I would've expected.

Grade: 2.5


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2299868#post2299868)
Not a great movie at all but the scene with the VR girls makes me laugh every time. :D

[Stirchley]

I thought this movie was just riveting and incredibly memorable. I hung on every minute, it gave me a great deal to think about, and it changed the way I thought about African filmmaking.
Made a tremendous impression on me.

Same. Seen it more than once.

[Thief]

Not a great movie at all but the scene with the VR girls makes me laugh every time. :D

"We love premarital sex!"

https://i.makeagif.com/media/3-27-2015/t7EEyP.gif

[Thief]

ARMOUR OF GOD
(1986, Chan)

https://i.imgur.com/Idic7tH.jpg


The Sword of the Holy Spirit recently put up for auction, was stolen by him from an African tribe. If he has the ability to acquire The Sword, he'll naturally have the ability to acquire the remaining pieces."



Armour of God follows Asian Hawk (Jackie Chan), an Indiana Jones-like adventurer that collects treasures from around the world. When the girlfriend of his former best friend, Alan, is kidnapped by an evil religious cult, he reaches out to Hawk for help. Hawk, in turn, is being recruited by the same evil cult to retrieve the "Armour of God", or something like that.

For a film about a globe-trotting adventurer and explorer, I was expecting more adventure and more thrills. I suppose it is a good thing that they left most of the stunts and good action for the end, because it kinda ends things in a high note. Just not enough for me to feel great about the film.

Grade: 2


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2299889#post2299889)

[Gideon58]

I really think the movie is pretty much a masterpiece.


Couldn't agree with you more, Wooley

[Rockatansky]

ARMOUR OF GOD
(1986, Chan)

https://i.imgur.com/Idic7tH.jpg




Armour of God follows Asian Hawk (Jackie Chan), an Indiana Jones-like adventurer that collects treasures from around the world. When the girlfriend of his former best friend, Alan, is kidnapped by an evil religious cult, he reaches out to Hawk for help. Hawk, in turn, is being recruited by the same evil cult to retrieve the "Armour of God", or something like that.

For a film about a globe-trotting adventurer and explorer, I was expecting more adventure and more thrills. I suppose it is a good thing that they left most of the stunts and good action for the end, because it kinda ends things in a high note. Just not enough for me to feel great about the film.

Grade: rating_2


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2299889#post2299889)
Jackie had a near fatal accident during the filming of the opening action scene (there's a part where he jumps and grabs a tree branch - he slipped during one of the takes and had a head injury), and shooting was on hold for several months while he recovered. So that's probably the reason it isn't as action packed as some of his other films from the era, although the action that is there is great. But the bigger problem is that the movie doesn't have a feel for the genre and saddles him with an awful co-star.

[Thief]

Jackie had a near fatal accident during the filming of the opening action scene (there's a part where he jumps and grabs a tree branch - he slipped during one of the takes and had a head injury), and shooting was on hold for several months while he recovered. So that's probably the reason it isn't as action packed as some of his other films from the era, although the action that is there is great. But the bigger problem is that the movie doesn't have a feel for the genre and saddles him with an awful co-star.

Yep. I went into a bit more detail on the full review about those two aspects.

[Nausicaä]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/36/The_curse_of_la_llorona_poster.jpg

2.5

SF = 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

[Allaby]

Move Over, Darling (1963) Doris Day, James Garner, Polly Bergen, and Thelma Ritter star in this comedy about a woman who returns after being missing for 5 years and presumed dead. The only problem is that her husband just got remarried that morning! I enjoyed this. It was charming, cute and fun. 3.5

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjMxNzhmNWUtMDJiNS00ODRjLWFlZmItZWVkNTc2NGE5YTE1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzc5MjA3OA@@._V1_.jpg


2.5

[MovieGal]

87054

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
(2022)
4/5

Marvel's first horror film. It was f**king amazing!!

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1c/Deadmenplaidposter.jpg
By It is believed that the cover art can or could be obtained from the publisher or studio., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11668728

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid - (1982)

I remember enjoying Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid a great deal the first time I saw it, but subsequent rewatches haven't been as great an experience. It still has exceptional moments which are really funny, and reach the heights of other Carl Reiner/Steve Martin comedies, but it's a bit more hit and miss than any other as well. Of course, this one has the famous splicing in of high-profile 1940 noir movies, and if you know those movies you'll get even more of a kick out of the film. There's been some mention these days of the casual sexism and misogyny in the film, but then again, if it's spoofing those old noir films you'd see it there as well. Good moments, but also a lot of pointless plot diversions in order to fit the old footage in. It's okay, even pretty good, but not as good as The Jerk or The Man With Two Brains.

6/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/93/HanaBi_poster.jpg
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2544156

Fireworks - (1997)

It took me a while getting used to Takeshi Kitano's narrative style, with a film that initially jumps around in time a lot that had me confused, but once it got going, and I realised what it's main focus would be, I really started to enjoy it. This is a film that I feel I should watch again, now that I don't have to keep groping around for some kind of idea of what it's all about - I can just sit back and enjoy it. There were heaps of great ideas in the way scenes were constructed, editing and it had a very unusual pace to it - but emotionally I was fully there by the end, being especially touched by Kayoko Kishimoto as the sick wife of Takeshi Kitano's character. It had a very hard, violent edge to it, but it was the love that held it together.

7.5/10

Foreign Language Countdown films seen : 86/100

[MovieGal]

87056
Blade
(1998)
3.75/5

Still one of the better Marvel movies. No one is better at this than Westly Snipes.

[SpelingError]

28th Hall of Fame

Cuties (2020) - 2.5

I wasn't eager to watch this film given the controversy it got, but I'm still happy I gave it a fair chance. With that being said, while I didn't hate this film, its point ultimately fell apart for me. Firstly, no, this film isn't child pornography by any means. The film clearly has different intentions in mind. I also think the type of content shown in this film can function in the right context, in the same way that extreme portrayals of violence and racism in media can be used to create a point on both subjects. Rather, where this film falls apart for me is that the young actresses don't have the ability to properly consent to being portrayed the way they are in this film, which includes wearing revealing clothing, dancing in sexually suggestive ways, and showing close-ups of them twerking. While I appreciate the point Doucouré was making with this film, I think it would've worked better if the content was either shown in a different medium or if the film took the route that many high school sex dramas/comedies take by having adults play younger kids (though, the latter suggestion would've obviously been hard to pull off since the girls in this film are supposed to be 11, as opposed to 16 or 17). I will give the film some credit in a few areas though. Fathia Youssouf does a great job as Amy, a naïve young girl slowly falling out of touch with her religion as she spends time with Angelica and her friends, all the while being unaware of the consequences her actions have on her and other people. There's also some technically impressive moments here and there, like the opening and closing shots. I also thought there were some non-problematic disturbing scenes in the film here and there, like a scene where Amy walks in on her friends watching porn in a bathroom or when Amy's asked to photograph a random boy's penis. I wouldn't say these aspects outweigh my issues with the film and I wouldn't say I enjoyed watching it, but I do think there's a fair share of compelling bits mixed in with the problematic bits which made it easier to stomach. Anyways: Right intentions, wrong execution of them.

[this_is_the_ girl]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-Vx_sKvoB1m0%2FWrSzTkpNUfI%2FAAAAAAAAY8I%2F1QIxuK1OqjAXwVcY8iBXf6VggPJ3ylR5QCLcBGAs%2Fs1600%2FOrdinar y-People-Mary-Tyler-Moore-1980%252B%2525284%252529.JPG&f=1&nofb=1
Ordinary People (1980, Robert Redford)
4
This won 'Best Picture' in 1981, and I can kinda see why — it's a well directed family drama with some excellent acting performances, very low-key and understated, and very... how can I say it... 'classic Hollywood' in its vibe. I really, really liked the ending - it almost fools you into thinking there's a horrible 'twist' incoming but none comes, it's like a reverse 'twist' of sorts. The film addresses a number of themes related to family relationships (alienation, guilt, etc.) and does so in a lovingly nuanced way, focusing on the story and the psychology of the characters, rather than aiming to shock or impress the viewer.

Good film but let's face it - either Raging Bull or The Elephant Man should have won instead.

[chawhee]

Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)
https://cdn.flickeringmyth.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/never-rarely-sometimes-always-poster-600x300.jpg
3
Contemporary material to watch given the ongoing Roe v Wade discussions, but the movie itself didn't do much for me. It is pretty minimal in terms of dialogue and plot points, yet the emotion does carry through heavily in a few scenes.

[Nausicaä]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9e/Yesterday_%282019_poster%29.png

3.5

SF = 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

[matt72582]

Family Life - 7.5/10
This is not the Ken Loach "Family Life" also from 1971... This is a Polish movie with the same title/yr... I gave both movies the same score.


https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.mubicdn.net%2Fimages%2Ffilm%2F29032%2Fimage-w856.jpg%3F1581452617&f=1&nofb=1

[mrblond]

Everyone Says I Love You (1996)

I came across it browsing the TV channels two days ago. Probably my sixth view of this film.

It is amazing how easy is for Woody to create a masterpiece, this time including musical elements.
Sweet, clever and funny as always. The scene in the family apartment when everybody argues with everybody including the old Bavarian maid-servant and the witty joke with the WWII belligerent groups is outstanding.

4.5 (9/10)
87068

[Raven73]

Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness
6.5/10.
I thought it was okay, but not great. Certainly not one of Marvel's best.
Wanda's transformation into a villain came out of nowhere - it wasn't even foreshadowed. Couldn't she have just adopted? Found a new love after Vision?
I was ecstatic to finally see Prof. X and Reed Richards in a Marvel movie, but they were only in the movie for 20 minutes and then they died! The movie also suffered from an overabundance of CGI. The first Dr. Strange was much better, IMO.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNWM0ZGJlMzMtZmYwMi00NzI3LTgzMzMtNjMzNjliNDRmZmFlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTM1MTE1NDMx._V1_.jpg

[Gideon58]

Everyone Says I Love You (1996)

I came across it browsing the TV channels two days ago. Probably my sixth view of this film.

It is amazing how easy is for Woody to create a masterpiece, this time including musical elements.
Sweet, clever and funny as always. The scene in the family apartment when everybody argues with everybody including the old Bavarian maid-servant and the witty joke with the WWII belligerent groups is outstanding.

4.5 (9/10)
87068

I think you and I are the only people on the planet who like this movie.

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51-KsIReQjL._AC_SY580_.jpg

4

[Allaby]

I think you and I are the only people on the planet who like this movie.

I like it a lot too. I have it on dvd.

[Gideon58]

I love it...I never get tired of that tap number in the jewelry store

[ThatDarnMKS]

I think you and I are the only people on the planet who like this movie.
I’m a big fan of it. Very excited to finally see it on bluray since that Woody Allen set got released with most of his 90s output.

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f6/The_Peanut_Butter_Falcon_poster.jpeg
By Studio and or Graphic Artist - Can be obtained from film's distributor., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61253230

The Peanut Butter Falcon - (2019)

This is one of those films for me where the final scene upset the apple cart, making it harder for me to encapsulate the whole thing with an easy rating to send it down a river with. I'd enjoyed the first 99.9% of the movie, and got onboard after watching Shia LaBeouf in Honey Boy, noticing just how good his performance was in that which tempered a natural hatred I have for him (and any film he might appear in.) The whole premise of his struggling fisherman coming across a guy with Down's Syndrome who has escaped from his care center and bonding with him sounds like it might be a little too sweet, but their journey on the water (and off) is well handled. I really got into it. There's added context with Zack Gottsagen, who has had other film roles with what has to be a career limiting disability, playing Zak as a wrestling lover wanting to connect with his personal hero, the Salt Water Redneck who is played by Thomas Haden Church - an actor I'm always happy to see. Then we get one of those abrupt endings, which felt like the movie version of speed reading the final stretch. 20 minutes of movie in 2 minutes. That left me a little cold, but overall I really enjoyed watching The Peanut Butter Falcon last night.

6/10

[Corax]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftheglobalcoverage.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F06%2FDoctor-Strange-in-the-Multiverse-of-Madness.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

6.5/10


It was OK. There's too much to keep track of in the MCU now. Too many universes, too many characters, too many ultimate ontological boundaries / foundations that are tossed away in the next installment (like Infinity Stones deposited into a bureaucrat's desk).

This film was running ahead of itself like a JJ Abrams film (action running just faster than the plot holes EX: Why doesn't Wands just let America send her the 'verse of her choice? Well, Wanda's kids might get sick despite her ridiculous magical powers, so "No!" she will have to kill America and take all the power for herself. ). Big, dumb, and fast. Hmm, we need to do a little expo/mutual understanding by having our new friends share memories. How might we do that?

I love Bruce Campbell and the Evil Dead nods. But this felt more like watching a Disney+ installment or The Boys than a Marvel film of the highest caliber.

[Siddon]

https://www.groundedreason.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/1200x675.jpg

The Shrink Next Door (2021)

So going through my Apple trial we come across an eight episode miniseries called The Shrink Next Door. It tells the story of a pair of jewish men that starts in 1982 and runs through to 2021. What I'm seeing from these Apple shows is that some of them would have been better suited as movies and less as TV series as the story is somewhat padded.

This is an interesting performance from Will Ferrell, he kind of shoots for the fences in a dramatic role but he misses the mark. Paul Rudd's character is more the focus of the story and has more interesting parts to his character, but we only get glimpses of his mental problems. It's one of those series that doesn't dive deep enough into the mental issues, the crimes, or the psychology but instead gives the actors room to play around.

The series is very much a mixed bag, the humor pretty much falls flat but the dark moments are really good. This is a film that touches on the aftermath of the abuse which you don't really see in most films/TV series. The showrunner tried to walk a fine line and failed which keeps this from being a classic. Still I enjoyed it

rating_3_5

[mark f]

9 Bullets (Gigi Gaston, 2022) 2 5/10
Murder on Diamond Row (William K. Howard, 1937) 2.5 6/10
Bedtime Story (Ralph Levy, 1964) 3+ 6.5/10
X (Ti West, 2022) 2.5+ 6/10
https://64.media.tumblr.com/4284a664b49bb1c28d348031c8f58112/20307e362f4376ca-a4/s540x810/f05b1daa55222b4caab8489a0fe557e02c52f2dc.gifv
Mia Goth has reasons to be upset when her crew films a porno in remote Texas in 1979 on the property of an eccentric elderly couple. Typical mixture of the director's social commentary, longueurs and gore.
Robin Hood of El Dorado (William A. Wellman, 1936) 2.5 6/10
The Space Between (Rachel Winter, 2021) 2 5/10
The Treasure of Pancho Villa (George Sherman, 1955) 2.5 5.5/10
Juarez (William Dieterle, 1939) 3.5 7/10
https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i393/juarez_thepeoplesblindfaith_FC_470x264_021820160541.jpg
Vice President Alejandro Uradi (Joseph Calleia) and President Benito Juárez (Paul Muni) work together and apart while Archduke Maximilian von Habsburg (Brian Aherne) has control of Mexico in the 1860s.
Great Freedom (Sebastian Meise, 2021) 2.5 6/10
A Cowgirl's Song (Timothy Armstrong, 2022) 2 5/10
Clouds Over Europe AKA Q Planes (Tim Whelan, 1939) 2.5 6/10
Howl's Moving Castle (Hayao Miyazaki, 2004) 3.5 7+/10
https://media0.giphy.com/media/wUCgLRvDdtWs8/giphy.gif
The walking castle of a cursed wizard holds the key to happiness for another cursee, this time a girl. Expansive fantasy world created by Miyazaki and one of his best.
The Devil You Know (Charles Murray, 2022) 2 5/10
Time Piece (Jim Henson, 1965) 3.5 7/10
Puzzle of a Downfall Child (Jerry Schatzberg, 1970) 2 5/10
Along for the Ride (Atiq Rahimi, 2022) 2.5 6/10
https://64.media.tumblr.com/91b340f875042239ad1e48f496312423/4ccb18dd6b1723c9-cb/s540x810/9d46484cb670d7e7d74de5e0b078aa1736c683ea.gifv
Strait-laced high scnool graduate Emma Pasarow tries to loosen up with the help of a seemingly more playful Belmont Cameli. Through their experiences and those of her friends and family, the summer proves more meaningful.
Whirlpool (José Ramón Larraz, 1970) 2 5/10
The Big Shot (Ralph F. Murphy, 1931) 2.5 6/10
Stigma (José Ramón Larraz, 1980) 2 5/10
Explorer: The Last Tepui (Renan Ozturk & Taylor Freesolo Rees, 2022) 3 6.5/10
https://films.sunvalleyfilmfestival.org/images/user/svff_13686/film%20fest%20images%202022/ExplorerTheLastTepui_002.jpg
80-year-old scientist Bruce Means takes an expedition with some of the greatest, most-daring climbers in the world [here with Alex Honnold] to try to catalogue as many unknown species as he can on his final trip to the tepuis of the Guyana Shield.

[WHITBISSELL!]

https://media1.giphy.com/media/gVRBnRP6fkijUPJFHF/giphy.gif?cid=790b7611fbb1f17ae18d47b2e071d8ed6d96be66a64fa310&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g
http://p6.toutiaoimg.com/large/pgc-image/5ea1208a48a642a49ca4d30bc13e66e4?from=detail&index=12
A Quiet Place Part II - Not as fresh or mind-bending as the first one because you basically know what's coming. But if you liked that one I don't see how you wouldn't like this. Krasinski still does a pretty good job with it. The part I didn't really get was why Regan (Millicent Simmonds) was so hostile towards Emmett (Cillian Murphy)? At one point she vehemently declares, "You're nothing like him!" referring to her father Lee (John Krasinski). But outside of one previous scene their characters had very little interaction. Nothing that would explain her enmity. It seemed like something that might have been lost during editing.Anyway, still worth watching.

80/100

[Corax]

https://media1.giphy.com/media/gVRBnRP6fkijUPJFHF/giphy.gif?cid=790b7611fbb1f17ae18d47b2e071d8ed6d96be66a64fa310&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g
http://p6.toutiaoimg.com/large/pgc-image/5ea1208a48a642a49ca4d30bc13e66e4?from=detail&index=12
A Quiet Place Part II - Not as fresh or mind-bending as the first one because you basically know what's coming. But if you liked that one I don't see how you wouldn't like this. Krasinski still does a pretty good job with it. The part I didn't really get was why Regan (Millicent Simmonds) was so hostile towards Emmett (Cillian Murphy)? At one point she vehemently declares, "You're nothing like him!" referring to her father Lee (John Krasinski). But outside of one previous scene their characters had very little interaction. Nothing that would explain her enmity. It seemed like something that might have been lost during editing.Anyway, still worth watching.

80/100


One wonders how many plot holes are created in the editing bay, especially when there are too many cooks with notes.

[Gideon58]

https://media1.giphy.com/media/gVRBnRP6fkijUPJFHF/giphy.gif?cid=790b7611fbb1f17ae18d47b2e071d8ed6d96be66a64fa310&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g
http://p6.toutiaoimg.com/large/pgc-image/5ea1208a48a642a49ca4d30bc13e66e4?from=detail&index=12
A Quiet Place Part II - Not as fresh or mind-bending as the first one because you basically know what's coming. But if you liked that one I don't see how you wouldn't like this. Krasinski still does a pretty good job with it. The part I didn't really get was why Regan (Millicent Simmonds) was so hostile towards Emmett (Cillian Murphy)? At one point she vehemently declares, "You're nothing like him!" referring to her father Lee (John Krasinski). But outside of one previous scene their characters had very little interaction. Nothing that would explain her enmity. It seemed like something that might have been lost during editing.Anyway, still worth watching.

80/100

I liked it a little more than you did, but agree with most of what you've said.

[PHOENIX74]

Got busy yesterday, and managed to round up the last two Best Picture nominees from the 2021 Oscars, meaning I've seen them all now...

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f8/Mank.png
By http://www.impawards.com/2020/mank.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65643316

Mank - (2020)

Well, this was an easy watch which must mean I enjoyed it a great deal - it looked lovely and if not for Anthony Hopkins, then Gary Oldman would have been a shoo-in for Best Actor. You know how the Academy loves biographical performances. It's good to go off and learn the true story of Herman Mankiewicz's involvement in Citizen Kane, for there's a great deal of departure from the truth in the film, but in a way I admire the movie more for that, because of the necessity of doing so to make a great narrative that builds character and drama. Orson Welles though, is probably turning in his grave. One more thing - watching this really made me want to see Citizen Kane again.

8/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c2/TrialChicago7poster.jpeg
By Netflix - can be retrieved from the distributor, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65307685

The Trial of the Chicago 7 - (2020)

This was the best film I watched yesterday, out of 4 Oscar nominated films (that included one winner) - I came away from Chicago 10 distinctly unimpressed, but watching that and reading up really prepared me for this film, which abounds in fantastic performances and tells an interesting true story about repression, state violence, politics, rebellion and power. Frank Langella, Mark Rylance, John Carroll Lynch, Sacha Baron Cohen and Eddie Redmayne were all in top form, and I can't forget Michael Keaton and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (with apologies to others) - just a great ensemble. Fantastic screenplay - which ended up losing to Promising Young Woman. Enjoyed this heaps - and then some.

9/10

Despite those two ratings, I regard The Father as the most worthy of 2021's eight nominated films for Best Picture. Judas and the Black Messiah and Promising Young Woman were really good.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5b/Green_Book_%282018_poster%29.png
By CineMaterial, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59741016

Green Book - (2018)

I saw this at a cinema with a friend in 2019, just days before it won Best Picture - the day also happened to be my birthday, and it also happened to occur on the day when I last ever spoke to my mother before she passed away. Watching it yesterday, I felt almost exactly the same as I thought watching it back then - it's an average, okay movie. It fits in amongst the 100s of films that were okay in 2019, but to rank it as the best film of the year seems very odd. My friend enjoyed it a lot though. It gets an 8.2/10 on the IMDb, which seems manifestly too high.

7/10

Out of the eight nominees for Best Picture at the 2019 Oscars, I still haven't seen Black Panther. Choosing a winner from the nominees is indeed a pickle. It wasn't the greatest year for nominees. I'd pick The Favourite as head and shoulders above the rest and easily my favourite among them. Roma and BlacKkKlansman were really good as well.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5c/Don%27t_Look_Up_2021_film.jpg
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69285599

Don't Look Up - (2021)

Okay, on to this year's nominees. I pretty much knew what to expect from Don't Look Up, and yes, it does shove an obvious message right down your throat, but that doesn't make for unsalvageable film - this one giving Leonardo DiCaprio a bit of range, and having an amusing tone throughout (it never got to the stage where I'd actually laugh, but I don't think it was that kind of film.) It was pretty polarizing here when it first came out, with people either loving or hating it - I thought it was pretty decent, but nowhere near worthy of an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. My last "apocalyptic space-debris collision" movie was 2020's Greenland, and this was definitely a step-up from that, which makes me think that a lighter tone makes the subject all the more horrifying.

7/10

[skizzerflake]

Tonight, it's The Mothman Prophecies, vaguely based on true incidents that happened in the small town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia in 1966. Richard Gere plays John Keel, the widowed John Kline, the widowed Washington Post reporter to encounters the author of a non-fiction book about the town where people repeatedly saw a humanoid with large wings and glowing red eyes and also received strange phone calls. The sightings continued until 1967 when the bridge into town collapsed, killing dozens. That's the true part. In the movie, those many witnesses and sightings are condensed partially into one unfortunate character played by Will Patton who is tortured by what he sees. Sightings also continue in the movie until the tragic bridge collapse.

The movie is a quiet pot-boiler with a slow build. The town's chief of police, played by Laura Linney, takes part in the investigation of the sightings, along with Gere's character. Tension builds because you know something is going to happen in this crypto-zoology drama. Eventually it does.

I like this one. It has that slow build and a loomingly ominous gloom. All of the characters are decent people, not stereotypes, so the drama is completely believable. It's minimal on FX, but focuses on the human drama in this dark situation. Everybody in this little town is stressed, none of it makes any sense to any of them and something is going to happen. Clues also abound, but none of those make any sense either. None of it looks good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt42df3AscE

[gbgoodies]

I watched two movies today that are basically the same movie, except one is a drama and the other is a comedy that was based on that drama. The movies are Zero Hour! (1957) and Airplane! (1980).

Both movies have the same plot, and even some of the same dialogue. An ex-war pilot who was traumatized by his past has to try to land a commercial airplane after both the pilot and copilot, as well as some of the passengers, get sick from food poisoning.

Zero Hour! is the original drama, and it's very good, but because the movies are so similar, and also because I've seen Airplane! so many times over the years, my mind was filling in some of the comedy and momentarily taking me away from the drama during some scenes. If you haven't seen Airplane! yet, I highly recommend watching Zero Hour! first.

On the other hand, now that I've seen the original movie Zero Hour!, I can appreciate the brilliance of Airplane! even more than before. The first time I saw Airplane! many years ago, I thought it was a great movie, but to see the original drama and realize how they turned it around and made such a funny movie from it, raises it up to a whole new level.

[LChimp]

https://assets-prd.ignimgs.com/2022/01/13/uncharted-poster-full-1642086040683.jpg

It was kinda fun actually. I'd give it a solid 7/10.

[Thief]

ONE EARTH
(2020, Pennes)

https://i.imgur.com/Ufihshi.png


"There is but one Earth, tiny and fragile, and one must get 100,000 miles away to appreciate fully one's good fortune in living on it." --Michael Collins



The above quote comes from Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins. It is not on this short film, but it is perhaps what inspired its title and theme. As part of Earth Day last month, I wanted to check a film about the environment and stumbled upon this very brief short. It lasts less than 5 minutes, but its content is both gorgeous and saddening.

Created by French musician Romain Pennes, the short film is composed of a series of drone and aerial shots of different places of Earth. It opens with the lush and colorful vegetation of a forest, the vast and rocky terrains of a mountain range, and the crashing waves on a shore, but gradually moves on to show human intervention in our nature landscapes. From logging and farming to urban development, it quickly devolves into overpopulation and pollution.

The shots, which comes from various sources, are neatly shot and breathtaking; and even though there's no narration, I love the "story" it tells through its progression of images. It makes us think of how careless our treatment of this one Earth has often been, as if there was no tomorrow. Maybe Pennes didn't go as far above as Collins, but the hundreds of feet he did, surely made me appreciate and feel for our Earth.

Grade: N/A

[Torgo]

The Satanic Rites of Dracula - 4

This late entry in Hammer's Dracula series is one of its best and I’m not just saying that because its poor reception lowered my expectations. For one, I appreciate its ambition for how it incorporates the evils and taboos of its era. These include the obvious one of devil worship to one you'd be surprised would end up in this series: the likely Watergate-influenced paranoia regarding the intentions of the very powerful. The major complaint I've read about this movie is that it trades the series' Gothic appeal for those found in the typical James Bond movie. While I too appreciate the aesthetic that dominated the series before its jump to the 1970s, it's not like it does away with it entirely, and the spy elements never rang false or as an attempt at pandering. It helps that Peter Cushing's Van Helsing is once again along for the ride, and the class and professionalism the actor provides even elevates scenes he's not in. As for Lee, he gets to do more, not to mention more interesting work than he has in the last few movies, and his chemistry with Cushing has not lost its luster. The scene in a corporate building where Lee attempts a Romanian accent is a peculiar highlight of the series, not just this entry. With that said, Dracula's evil plan in this one, while also a product of its era, does seem a bit out of character for the villain. Not to spoil it too much, but it's hard to believe Dracula would not want to live forever. The movie still exceeded my expectations, so much so that it made me wish there had been a '70s London trilogy.

[Wooley]

https://i.imgur.com/VWJYOlM.jpg?1

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Fan-Service

"It’s a Frankenmovie, a blockbuster sewn together from pieces of other films, comic books, and TV shows and given life with the electricity of a Marvel budget." -rogerebert.com

Sigh.
I don't usually "rate" movies but I got to thinking a lot about how I even possibly could rate this deeply challenged "film". Challenged, unfortunately, from the core of its being and fought for at the fringes by its director and stars and a few really fun bits.
Or is it the opposite, were those latter three challenging the Death Of The MCU... and losing, but spectacularly.
Yeah, I think it might be that.
Make no mistake, from an actual, ya know, movie point of view, this is a pretty bad film. Most of the emotional conflict of the film is extremely simple and one-note and is actually mostly played out in previous films, with this movie being more like the third act of several other movies, which are constantly being referenced.
The dialogue is just abysmal, continuing a recent Marvel trend bucked only by No Way Home. Marvel decided about 5 or 6 movies ago that the only dialogue there needs to be in films is one of the following four items:
1. Explaining what is happening.
2. Explaining why it's happening.
3. Somebody say something quippy.
4. Somebody say something that sounds cool.
And they're usually failing these days at the fourth one.
Marvel has completely abandoned the kind of heart that made the whole machine run. They still give the characters motivations but they are always really simple, really quickly described by someone, and then really quickly resolved. Nobody ever says anything that's truly moving anymore and none of the relationship-building that existed in most of Phases 1-3 remains.
It's sad because they get such good actors. But let's be honest, they get them so they can put them on the posters. Why did Angelina Jolie, a truly great actor, need to be in Eternals? That role could have been played by a no-name or B-lister and no-one would have been the wiser. I mean, Olsen, who is an enormously talented actor, has to work so damn hard here to keep this movie watchable. Wait, maybe that's why they cast these great actors, because you have to be a f*cking master of your craft to make these recent Marvel movies feel like there's any soul to them at all.
Let me touch on just a couple of other negatives and then I will be positive for a minute.
Marvel's second greatest failure in some of Phase 3 and all of Phase 4 (except Spidey) is the way they pace and edit their films. The movies rush along so quickly that you have no time to care about anything before another CGI battle is dumped over your head. Camera movements are too fast (almost certainly sped up in post because I don't think helicopters even fly that fast), rushing you into scenes with establishing shots you barely get to look at before they're gone, then crucial dialogue scenes are abridged to only the words the audience must hear in order to follow into the next set-piece. Emotional moments are cut jarringly short so that nothing ever lands and the audience has to work really, really hard to care about characters they are supposed to love (Wanda, in this case).
This actually began in The Winter Soldier but didn't really take off until Captain Marvel. At this rate, I think Marvel will actually cut out dialogue altogether sometime during Phase 5.
Another really distracting bummer is the increasingly poor CGI in Marvel films. Again, starting right about Captain Marvel, you started seeing CGI that looks ten or some people have even said 15-20 years old. This was never more evident than in Shang-Chi, the third act of which honestly looks like a movie from the late 90s or early 00s or something that should have been DTV, and it's nearly as bad in Eternals as well. As someone who used to defend the MCU, I'm almost embarrassed for them how bad large sections of their film look. The CGI in the opening 15 minutes of Multiverse Of Madness aren't quite as bad as Shang-Chi but every bit as bad as Eternals. Which is to say, terrible.
Finally, the fan-service in this is just brutal. So many constant references to other MCU films, famous comics, popular characters, and in this one even constant winks by the director to... himself?
A good example is The Illuminati section of the film, which I was very excited about and then realized after I saw it was completely unnecessary to the film. Those of you who have seen it, just run the movie quickly back through your head but cut out the entire Illuminati sequence. Is the movie changed in any way? The film had already shown that Wanda was more powerful than Doctor Strange, Wong, and an entire army of sorcerers combined. So that wasn't the reason. They'd already shown that she would torture and kill so that wasn't the point. What was the point? The point was to sell tickets. They actually wasted one of the most interesting ideas in the history of Marvel comics to do ten minutes of fan-service that amounted to nothing.
And that, folks is where the ten minutes of dialogue and character-building that this movie needed to even be worthy of the top half of MCU films or to even really be called a "film" rather than a content-exercise (or profit-machine) went. It went to crap like that.

Ok, given all that, it shouldn't be hard for me to rate it, right? I should just say this was terrible and move on.
But the movie actually offers a lot of excitement and fun when you're not either cringing, rolling your eyes, or feeling exasperated. It's fairly exciting for a flimsy-as-hell plot. Raimi is given more latitude than I think anyone even expected and he really makes some of these scenes cook. It is true that there is a real Horror element to this film and it plays really nicely. Some of the things that happen are genuinely, truly imaginative and I found myself grinning in spite of myself (actually in spite of the rest of the movie).
And let's just say it, Olsen, not Cumberbatch, carries this film. While he does his job well, he is simply not the new Tony Stark no matter how much Marvel tries to make him that. And Xochitl Gomez is actually very good as what might have been an interesting new hero, but she's given so little emotional time on-screen, just saying things that get us from sequence to the next.
No, it is Olsen who is the star of this movie and when she's on-screen, even when the dialogue she has to deliver is excruciatingly wooden and expository and tone-deaf, she manages to make things exciting.
In all, I initially feel like the film ends up being like a 5 or a 5.5, held up entirely by some really awesome fantasy-action scenes and Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch.
If I were judging the movie as an actual, ya know, movie though, man, I'm not sure what number I think would be too low.

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BODRlMTRiODktMGY5Ni00NGM3LThhNTAtOTcxN2U5MjQ5ZjBmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTA1NTIxMzA3._V1_.jpg


3

[Stirchley]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BODRlMTRiODktMGY5Ni00NGM3LThhNTAtOTcxN2U5MjQ5ZjBmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTA1NTIxMzA3._V1_.jpg


3

LOL, apparently they don’t.

[mrblond]

Stealing Beauty (1996)

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci

This is my second view of the film. Seen many years ago, I needed a re-watch.

Movie full of beautiful aromas. The great Bertolucci masterfully turns Liv Tyler into a flower that magically flies through the scenes. I needed more screen time with Jeremy Irons.

4.0 (8/10)
87091
87092

[WHITBISSELL!]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6un54Bkpl1qgxbs4o2_500.gifv
https://64.media.tumblr.com/162714db8d78737d204a876560d05a83/tumblr_pw8xx3Bk5x1rclau1o3_540.jpg

Beau Geste - 1939 version directed by William Wellman. It's a romanticized adventure featuring three brothers, Michael "Beau" Geste (Gary Cooper), Digby (Preston Foster) and John (Ray Milland). They're orphans adopted by Lady Patricia Brandon (Heather Thatcher). Fifteen years pass and the household is running out of money thanks to the gamblings debts of Aunt Patricia's husband.

She makes plans to sell the families valuable "Blue Water" sapphire but it's promptly stolen with Beau taking the rap. He runs away and joins the French Foreign Legion and Digby quickly follows. John soon joins his brothers and they're placed under the command of the cruel and autocratic Sergeant Markoff (Brian Donlevy).

The story is told in flashback but it's well set up and really adds to the overall mystery and quixotic aspects of the tale. This is the kind of story people used to read to their child at bedtime. It's full of heroism and sacrifice and the type of bond that only brothers share. It might be considered old fashioned but it's certainly doesn't come off the least bit dated. I think that's mostly due to the wonderful cast. I'm glad I finally watched this.

90/100

[GulfportDoc]

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=87099
Dark City (1950)

Stars: Charlton Heston, Lizabeth Scott, Dean Jagger, Viveca Lindfors, Jack Webb, Harry Morgan, Ed Begley, Don Defore, and Mike Mazurki.
Director: William Dieterle, DP: Victor Milner, Score: Franz Waxman. Paramount PIctures.

I was surprised that, with all the heavyweights involved in this noir, the end product was rather mediocre. Veterans Dieterle, Milner, and Waxman evidently could not overcome the average screenplay, despite the fact that the story sounds good on paper.

A bookie joint is busted by the police. The owner (Heston) decides to set up private poker games to fleece unsuspecting players. One businessman (Defore) gets set up, and ends up losing a $5000 check that wasn't his. He subsequently commits suicide. The guys in the poker game start getting murdered. Turns out the businessman's brother (Mazurki) is avenging his brother's death. Heston's girlfriend (L. Scott), a chanteuse, is trying to convince Heston to take their relationship more seriously, but he doesn't want to settle down. Heston subsequently goes looking for Mazurki, and the story winds down from there.

There were several faults in the screenplay. There was too much film showing Scott performing songs, for no real reason. The story could have been structured better.

Still, it was absorbing to see Heston in his first appearance (and starring) in a feature motion picture. His action showed nuance, and he had plenty of charisma. Likewise Dean Jagger gave a first rate performance as the police chief.

Of note were Jack Webb and Harry Morgan, who of course later co-starred in the long running TV series Dragnet. It was peculiar seeing Webb as a slime ball. He actually had some chops. If you've never seen Pete Kelly's Blues (1955), he was excellent in it. Morgan has been in a million of them. He also had an excellent run as Col. Sherman T. Potter in the TV series, MASH ('74-'83).

And it's worth mentioning that the title was used in the titles for at least two marvelous books on film noir: Eddie Muller's superb Dark City: the Lost World of Film Noir; and Spencer Selby's Dark City, the Film Noir.

This is a picture worth watching for the actors. Otherwise it has the feel of a "B" crime drama.

Doc's rating: 6/10

[Wooley]

87099
Dark City (1950)

Stars: Charlton Heston, Lizabeth Scott, Dean Jagger, Viveca Lindfors, Jack Webb, Harry Morgan, Ed Begley, Don Defore, and Mike Mazurki.
Director: William Dieterle, DP: Victor Milner, Score: Franz Waxman. Paramount PIctures.

I was surprised that, with all the heavyweights involved in this noir, that the end product was rather mediocre. Veterans Dieterle, Milner, and Waxman evidently could not overcome the average screenplay, despite the fact that the story sounds good on paper.

A bookie joint is busted by the police. The owner (Heston) decides to set up private poker games to fleece unsuspecting players. One businessman (Defore) gets set up, and ends up losing a $5000 check that wasn't his. He subsequently commits suicide. The guys in the poker game start getting murdered. Turns out the businessman's brother (Mazurki) is avenging his brother's death. Heston's girlfriend (L. Scott), a chanteuse, is trying to convince Heston to take their relationship more seriously, but he doesn't want to settle down. Heston subsequently goes looking for Mazurki, and the story winds down from there.

There were several faults in the screenplay. There was too much film showing Scott performing songs, for no real reason. The story could have been structured better.

Still, it was absorbing to see Heston in his first appearance (and starring) in a feature motion picture. His action showed nuance, and he had plenty of charisma. Likewise Dean Jagger gave a first rate performance as the police chief.

Of note were Jack Webb and Harry Morgan, who of course later co-starred in the long running TV series Dragnet. It was peculiar seeing Webb as a slime ball. He actually had some chops. If you've never seen Pete Kelly's Blues (1955), he was excellent in it. Morgan has been in a million of them. He also had an excellent run as Col. William T. Potter in the TV series, MASH ('74-'83).

And it's worth mentioning that the title was used in the titles for at least two marvelous books on film noir: Eddie Muller's superb Dark City: the Lost World of Film Noir; and Spencer Selby's Dark City, the Film Noir.

This is a picture worth watching for the actors. Otherwise it has the feel of a "B" crime drama.

Doc's rating: 6/10

Sherman T. Potter, Doc. I know you knew that but I had to mention it.

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6d/The_Power_of_the_Dog_%28film%29.jpg
By http://www.impawards.com/2021/power_of_the_dog_ver2.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68573148

The Power of the Dog - (2021)

I was pleased with this, probably because many reviews I've read didn't give it the acclaim I was expecting - perhaps my expectations were lowered, and other people's expectations were high. Kodi Smit-McPhee was awesome, and if I'd seen this before the Oscars I would have been hoping he won Best Supporting Actor (without having seen three out of the five performances though.) I'm interested in the novel now, the story dealing with a delicate interplay between four main characters had me wanting to know more about them, their hidden desires and motivations - not to say the film was unclear in conveying them. Any scene involved with the interplay between Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch - great here) and Peter (Smit-McPhee) was great to watch. Enthralling, low-key story set in 1925 Montana was very enjoyable. I'm glad it at least won Best Director, but to see it lose in so many other categories was deflating - that's the way the Academy cookie crumbles I guess.

8.5/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/51/Attica_documentary_poster.jpg
By Internet Movie Database, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70054353

Attica - (2021)

I never knew the true story behind what is mostly known as something Al Pacino's Sonny mentions in Dog Day Afternoon - and yet everybody should. The completely shocking story of how a prison riot was resolved in a brutal slaughter of inmates (plus hostages), and savage, uncalled for, revenge through the torture of those who survived. How could something this horrifying happen in 1971 New York, and yet remain this obscure? The documentary (Oscar nominated) is really first-class, and although some have pointedly complained that it doesn't give both sides of the story, a documentary doesn't need to do that in many cases. What happened happened, and I don't think it's open to too much debate, considering the evidence presented. A must-see documentary.

8/10

https://i.postimg.cc/vBf8t2y9/four-hours.jpg
By Internet Movie Database, Fair use, [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70054353

Four Hours at the Capitol - (2021)

Very basic, 'talking heads'-type documentary about the attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building (something I never thought I'd see in my lifetime.) There's some great footage which gives a sense of how well historical events are going to be recorded in this day and age of body cameras, phones and security footage - but having to sit and listen to crackpots talk about politicians torturing babies and Trump being ordained by God is pretty unpleasant.

4/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5a/Fear_Street_Part_One_-_1994_%282021_film%29.png
By The poster art can or could be obtained from Netflix., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67714003

Fear Street Part One: 1994 - (2021)

Something a little different from what I expected, which actually improves during it's second half, taking what initially felt like an average slasher film into supernatural territory. A variety of monstrous killing entities are resurrected in the fictional Shadyside (as opposed to neigbouring Sunnyvale, which had me pondering how much people like R.L. Stine make from their young readers) and go on the hunt for Sam, who has disturbed the bones of a witch. We're not given first-rate performers, and I'm uncertain about director Leigh Janiak, but it has potential, so I'll keep going and have a go at Part Two sometime in the future.

6/10

[LChimp]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNWM0ZGJlMzMtZmYwMi00NzI3LTgzMzMtNjMzNjliNDRmZmFlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTM1MTE1NDMx._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.j pg

Awesome, kinda wish they'd go even deeper in the multiverse and showed a bunch of other characters and universes... but I guess that would be too cofusing for the "civilian" audience.

[ScarletLion]

Tangerines (2013)

Dir.: Zaza Urushadze


https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91jhZHy8FTL._AC_SY550_.jpg


This is superb. It's a tale of an Estonian man who stays in war torn Georgia while his family goes back to their homeland. Based in 1992. The man continues to try and set up a business selling tangerines, but gets visited by 2 factions of the warring sides which spirals into a whole new situation - and to say anymore would spoil the film. But the ending is earth shatteringly beautiful.

9/10

[Deschain]

Fear Street Part One: 1994 - (2021)

Something a little different from what I expected, which actually improves during it's second half, taking what initially felt like an average slasher film into supernatural territory. A variety of monstrous killing entities are resurrected in the fictional Shadyside (as opposed to neigbouring Sunnyvale, which had me pondering how much people like R.L. Stine make from their young readers) and go on the hunt for Sam, who has disturbed the bones of a witch. We're not given first-rate performers, and I'm uncertain about director Leigh Janiak, but it has potential, so I'll keep going and have a go at Part Two sometime in the future.

6/10

While still worth a watch Part One is definitely the weakest. The sequels are better. All three are campy fun.

[Fabulous]

Passing (2021)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/l3dsea9EVfgotxu72QRYq4NVMVU.jpg

[mrblond]

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

Directed by Kenneth Branagh

My second watch (came across it on the television this evening)

The Branagh version of this classic is a feast of cinematography, production design and costumes filled with mind blowing cast.
Stylish, Stylish, Stylish but... I feel there is something empty in the screenplay adaptation.

3.5 (7/10)
87111

[Gideon58]

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/cy4AAOSw619cvTYC/s-l400.jpg


2

[edarsenal]

https://images.newrepublic.com/9d0a3552b28b053afa0c17ce1b67e35496be369f.jpeg
https://thedrunkenodyssey.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/henry-v-robert-newton1.png?w=529
https://journals.openedition.org/babel/docannexe/image/772/img-5-small580.jpg


Henry V aka The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fifth with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France (1944) 4++

Tell the Dauphin his jest will savor but of shallow wit, when thousands weep more than did laugh at it.
Once more unto the breach! Dear friends, once more; or close the wall up with our English dead!

Laurence Olivier's Henry V opens with historical theatrical production. Actors speak directly to their crowd as the camera follows in and out of behind the stage before transporting us to live locations filmed in Ireland. And then transition back into a stage production in the final scenes.
An enjoyable surprise was seeing the "Father of Pirate Speech" Rober Newton playing an exuberant Rooster in his role as Ancient Pistol. F@ckin delightful!

Now, as it is often done, one is easily swayed to compare renditions of an already firmly ReWatch A Lot Favorite when reviewing a newly watched version. For myself, it is Kenneth Branagh's 1989's rendition.
https://moso-minute.mssu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/henry-v.jpg

He was my first. I was twenty-five; in the old-time, smaller Detroit Art Institute movie theater, I sat in the balcony, far right, what's considered the President's Booth.
My God. By the time he finished reciting the Asigncourt Pep Talk, "We few, we happy few," I was hanging halfway over the edge, ready to join him. I sh#t you not.

So, in comparing Old Guard with, at the time, New Guard, I remain a fanboy of Branagh's rendition.

But in no way does it diminish or cast a shadow on Olivier's Ode/Dedication to Classically performed Shakespeare with a tight cast, some great camera work, and a not too shabby Agincourt battle. A definite Must See! for any enthusiast of Shakespeare and Olivier. A far too long, way overdue Must See! for myself and hot diddly d@mn that the due has been met.

[GulfportDoc]

Sherman T. Potter, Doc. I know you knew that but I had to mention it.
Right you are, Wooley. I edited to correct it. 'Course it left that silly picture attachment at the end...:mad:

[GulfportDoc]

...
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5c/Don%27t_Look_Up_2021_film.jpg
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69285599

Don't Look Up - (2021)

Okay, on to this year's nominees. I pretty much knew what to expect from Don't Look Up, and yes, it does shove an obvious message right down your throat, but that doesn't make for unsalvageable film - this one giving Leonardo DiCaprio a bit of range, and having an amusing tone throughout (it never got to the stage where I'd actually laugh, but I don't think it was that kind of film.) It was pretty polarizing here when it first came out, with people either loving or hating it - I thought it was pretty decent, but nowhere near worthy of an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. My last "apocalyptic space-debris collision" movie was 2020's Greenland, and this was definitely a step-up from that, which makes me think that a lighter tone makes the subject all the more horrifying.

7/10
You make some interesting points, and I agree with them. However, personally I though DLU was a big fat turkey. Here is my commentary from last year:

Don’t Look Up (2021)

This is one of those shockingly bad films that comes along once in awhile which is packed with big name actors who, despite their best efforts, could not rescue it. It’s difficult to believe that writer/director Adam McKay was the same man who directed and co-wrote The Big Short (2015), which was a very well done film. Perhaps his co-writer on that project, Charles Randolph, might have made something of this turkey had he been employed.

Right out of the chute the premise of the picture was shaky, and had been done before in several iterations. To try to make an end-of-the-world black comedy humorous would be a very tall order no matter who were the writers. In this case it was the cinematic equivalent of a loud belch at a funeral.

Two scientists (Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence) discover and determine that a large comet will collide with the Earth in 6 month’s time, the impact of which will destroy the planet. The pair eventually are able to take this news to the President of the U.S. (Meryl Streep), and her son and chief of staff (Jonah Hill). They at first pooh-pooh the idea, but then later see it as a move to increase their re-election chances. In addition, a Steve Jobs/Elon Musk type character (Mark Rylance) latches onto the circumstance as a way to make trillions by bombing the comet and mining its large trove of rare earth metals.

Along the way we meet two news anchors, ala the Today show, one of which (Cate Blanchett) inexplicably falls for the nerdy looking DiCaprio. The other scientist (Lawrence) flees home to Illinois where she has a relationship with a stoner (Timothee Chalamet). We’ll spare you the ending, but it’s as consistently bad as the rest of the film.

The picture was not without some good acting. DiCaprio let out all the stops when screaming to the TV audience that this would be the end of the world. Mark Rylance did a very effective and creepy portrayal of a megalomaniacal CEO whose sole intention was to increase his power and wealth. Some of the other actors did their best, but it’s not possible to breath life into a dead script.

Despite the fact that the title –Don’t Look Up—was a signal that this was to be a comedy, it was 15 minutes into the movie before there was evidence of it. As the story dragged on, hammering away with one leaden satiric or comedic misfire after another, the task soon became to try to last through a little longer believing that surely the film would improve. It didn’t. By the time the credits and two epilogues wound through at a tedious 138 minutes we’d become numbed but yet flabbergasted that this picture was made at all. If one didn’t know better one could imagine that this was a satire about a cast of social justice types who have attempted to make a satire. At least that would have been novel.

Doc’s rating: 2/10

[GulfportDoc]

I watched two movies today that are basically the same movie, except one is a drama and the other is a comedy that was based on that drama. The movies are Zero Hour! (1957) and Airplane! (1980).

Both movies have the same plot, and even some of the same dialogue. An ex-war pilot who was traumatized by his past has to try to land a commercial airplane after both the pilot and copilot, as well as some of the passengers, get sick from food poisoning.

Zero Hour! is the original drama, and it's very good, but because the movies are so similar, and also because I've seen Airplane! so many times over the years, my mind was filling in some of the comedy and momentarily taking me away from the drama during some scenes. If you haven't seen Airplane! yet, I highly recommend watching Zero Hour! first.

On the other hand, now that I've seen the original movie Zero Hour!, I can appreciate the brilliance of Airplane! even more than before. The first time I saw Airplane! many years ago, I thought it was a great movie, but to see the original drama and realize how they turned it around and made such a funny movie from it, raises it up to a whole new level.
Very nice commentary! If you haven't seen it, The High and the Mighty (1954) was the granddaddy of airplane disaster films, and I think you'd like it.


It starred John Wayne, Robert Stack, Claire Trevor, and a handful of other names. I loved the film when it came out, although it's pretty tame today. It did have a very popular theme song with a very catchy whistling motif. I still whistle it today once in awhile!

[pahaK]

Germany Year Zero (1948)
3
I watched this because of the PHOENIX74 review. It has all the ingredients to be a great movie, but something's still missing. Some of the scenes feel haphazard and pointless, while others are almost perfect in their haunting simplicity (like the lingering shot of the streetcar leaving). Another thing that bothered me was the acting, especially the boy playing Edmund. Still, it's a quite decent film and definitely worth a watch.

--
Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny & Girly (1970)
2.5
A British black comedy about a weird family consisting of titular characters and a friend, a person brought to the house by the kids to be their playmate. If the friend doesn't abide by the rules, he's sent to the angels, and a new friend is needed. It's a twisted pentacle drama between one of the friends and the family. Not exactly a laugh-out-loud comedy, but exaggerated enough to lean towards funny. Would have benefited from being more obnoxious. Oh, and Girly is really hot.

--
MP - Minä pelkään (1982)
I'm Afraid
2
An obscure (back in '82 302 people saw it in theater and now, 40 years later, it gets its second chance on national television) Finnish artsy horror (kinda) mostly about the fear of war. It's technically amateurish and extremely pretentious, but there are moments when it (almost) works.

[Wooley]

https://images.newrepublic.com/9d0a3552b28b053afa0c17ce1b67e35496be369f.jpeg
https://thedrunkenodyssey.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/henry-v-robert-newton1.png?w=529
https://journals.openedition.org/babel/docannexe/image/772/img-5-small580.jpg


Henry V aka The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fifth with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France (1944) 4++

Tell the Dauphin his jest will savor but of shallow wit, when thousands weep more than did laugh at it.
Once more unto the breach! Dear friends, once more; or close the wall up with our English dead!

Laurence Olivier's Henry V opens with historical theatrical production. Actors speak directly to their crowd as the camera follows in and out of behind the stage before transporting us to live locations filmed in Ireland. And then transition back into a stage production in the final scenes.
An enjoyable surprise was seeing the "Father of Pirate Speech" Rober Newton playing an exuberant Rooster in his role as Ancient Pistol. F@ckin delightful!

Now, as it is often done, one is easily swayed to compare renditions of an already firmly ReWatch A Lot Favorite when reviewing a newly watched version. For myself, it is Kenneth Branagh's 1989's rendition.
https://moso-minute.mssu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/henry-v.jpg

He was my first. I was twenty-five; in the old-time, smaller Detroit Art Institute movie theater, I sat in the balcony, far right, what's considered the President's Booth.
My God. By the time he finished reciting the Asigncourt Pep Talk, "We few, we happy few," I was hanging halfway over the edge, ready to join him. I sh#t you not.

So, in comparing Old Guard with, at the time, New Guard, I remain a fanboy of Branagh's rendition.

But in no way does it diminish or cast a shadow on Olivier's Ode/Dedication to Classically performed Shakespeare with a tight cast, some great camera work, and a not too shabby Agincourt battle. A definite Must See! for any enthusiast of Shakespeare and Olivier. A far too long, way overdue Must See! for myself and hot diddly d@mn that the due has been met.

Wait, when did you go to a Yellowbeard av?

[Wooley]

--
Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny & Girly (1970)
2.5
A British black comedy about a weird family consisting of titular characters and a friend, a person brought to the house by the kids to be their playmate. If the friend doesn't abide by the rules, he's sent to the angels, and a new friend is needed. It's a twisted pentacle drama between one of the friends and the family. Not exactly a laugh-out-loud comedy, but exaggerated enough to lean towards funny. Would have benefited from being more obnoxious. Oh, and Girly is really hot.

--


Given my love of Spider Baby, I probably need to see this.

[pahaK]

Given my love of Spider Baby, I probably need to see this.

I liked Spider Baby a bit more. I kinda get why the two seem to be mentioned together, though. My complaint about the lack of obnoxiousness is also shared by both movies (even though Girly isn't as family-friendly as Spider Baby).

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/55/MarriageStoryPoster.png
By Netflix - IMP Awards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61570092

Marriage Story - (2019)

A few years ago I happened upon Hungry Hearts, a 2014 film that gave Adam Driver a go at an angry and confused husband character that I thought he approached quite well - and was great preparation for his role as Charlie Barber, a theater director who is in the process of divorcing his wife, Nicole (Scarlett Johansson). As the film begins when both parties have already decided to separate and divorce, this story itself is about the pain of that process, the justification and guilt both of them feel, and the fight to live the life they want while still having their son in their lives. Nicole has been living in the shadow of her husband, and living his life, while her needs, wants and desires have been left by the wayside. When she hires lawyer Nora Fanshaw (Laura Dern) what was at first an amicable split starts to turn bitter and angry. I spent most of my time watching Marriage Story thinking about Kramer vs Kramer, which I always thought of as an Oscar-backlash film, done disservice by winning Best Picture - Marriage Story didn't win, and retains it's down to earth veracity, heart and emotion. Great performances - and very enjoyable small parts from the likes of Ray Liotta, Julie Hagerty and Alan Alda.

8/10

That's 8/9 Best Picture nominees from the 2020 Academy Awards I've seen - only leaving The Irishman left from that year. Interesting that Marriage Story, The Irishman and Parasite have already had Criterion releases. They certainly aren't wasting any time there. Picking a winner is so tough, because this year had a great many super nominations (as opposed to the year after.) I loved Joker - but how can I look beyond Parasite? Then there's 1917, Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood and JoJo Rabbit. I think the Academy got it right for once, but 2020 was one of the best years I've ever seen for Best Picture nominees.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8f/Ascension_poster.jpg
By http://www.impawards.com/2021/ascension.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68954896

Ascension - (2021)

This documentary looks at the workers inside China's great industrialized machinery, taking a fly-on-the-wall approach, without any narration. You feel like an invisible person walking around factory floors, and after a while you realise this is the right approach. The most interesting part is a look at the place where sophisticated, realistic sex dolls are being put together, with workers there treating what at first seems a really abnormal situation the same as if they were constructing ash trays. Workers are put through very rigorous training regimes, and are industrious ants compared to people in the West, although they have many of the same complaints, interests and personalities. This was interesting, but not for everybody. Oscar nominated for Best Documentary Feature.

6/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dc/Fear_Street%2C_Part_Two_-_1978_teaser_poster.png
By IMP Awards / tv Movie Poster Gallery / Fear Street Poster (#4 of 4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67714026

Fear Street Part Two: 1978 - (2021)

I have to be honest - the monsters I was looking forward to seeing didn't appear until the very last minute of this Fear Street middle chapter, but if I had to choose either a character-driven slasher film or basically a Halloween Kills murder-athon with no story to it I'd choose the former, which is what we got. In this one, the C. Berman from the end of the 1994 episode takes us back to the events of 1978, where a witches lair is found, along with the formula for killing the witch (unite the witches body with her severed hand), and the witches hand. But the body (found in Part 1) was nowhere to be found. This sets up a last chapter, but in the meanwhile Berman's sister, a young Nick Goode who was sheriff in the first film and various slasher-fodder characters have actual lives, and complex interactions, which is what most empty slasher films lack but so desperately need. When characters in the first Fear Street die, you feel it keenly, because they're fleshed out characters we've come to know. The same goes here, amongst a film which tries to revive the spirit of Friday the 13th, but can't help but being far superior to that film. 1978 felt suspiciously like 2021 except with no mobile phones (references to Stephen King were nice) and I didn't get my monsters, but this was a pretty good entry into a fairly empty genre that counts Halloween as a truly great film but little else.

7/10

[PHOENIX74]

You make some interesting points, and I agree with them. However, personally I though DLU was a big fat turkey. Here is my commentary from last year:

Don’t Look Up (2021)

This is one of those shockingly bad films that comes along once in awhile which is packed with big name actors who, despite their best efforts, could not rescue it. It’s difficult to believe that writer/director Adam McKay was the same man who directed and co-wrote The Big Short (2015), which was a very well done film. Perhaps his co-writer on that project, Charles Randolph, might have made something of this turkey had he been employed.

Right out of the chute the premise of the picture was shaky, and had been done before in several iterations. To try to make an end-of-the-world black comedy humorous would be a very tall order no matter who were the writers. In this case it was the cinematic equivalent of a loud belch at a funeral.

Two scientists (Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence) discover and determine that a large comet will collide with the Earth in 6 month’s time, the impact of which will destroy the planet. The pair eventually are able to take this news to the President of the U.S. (Meryl Streep), and her son and chief of staff (Jonah Hill). They at first pooh-pooh the idea, but then later see it as a move to increase their re-election chances. In addition, a Steve Jobs/Elon Musk type character (Mark Rylance) latches onto the circumstance as a way to make trillions by bombing the comet and mining its large trove of rare earth metals.

Along the way we meet two news anchors, ala the Today show, one of which (Cate Blanchett) inexplicably falls for the nerdy looking DiCaprio. The other scientist (Lawrence) flees home to Illinois where she has a relationship with a stoner (Timothee Chalamet). We’ll spare you the ending, but it’s as consistently bad as the rest of the film.

The picture was not without some good acting. DiCaprio let out all the stops when screaming to the TV audience that this would be the end of the world. Mark Rylance did a very effective and creepy portrayal of a megalomaniacal CEO whose sole intention was to increase his power and wealth. Some of the other actors did their best, but it’s not possible to breath life into a dead script.

Despite the fact that the title –Don’t Look Up—was a signal that this was to be a comedy, it was 15 minutes into the movie before there was evidence of it. As the story dragged on, hammering away with one leaden satiric or comedic misfire after another, the task soon became to try to last through a little longer believing that surely the film would improve. It didn’t. By the time the credits and two epilogues wound through at a tedious 138 minutes we’d become numbed but yet flabbergasted that this picture was made at all. If one didn’t know better one could imagine that this was a satire about a cast of social justice types who have attempted to make a satire. At least that would have been novel.

Doc’s rating: 2/10

I remembered your review, and I was almost expecting that I'd either love or hate Don't Look Up - so I was kind of surprised that neither was the case for me. Actually, I agree with a lot of your comments as well. DiCaprio and Mark Rylance were the only two actors that brought their A-game, and subsequently played the only two characters that I really enjoyed. I thought the humour didn't hit a mark I'd call hilarious, and that there was way too much posturing and inane point-making. But, I did find it at least amusing, and as DiCaprio's Dr. Mindy dominated the film got something out of it. Weirdly, I thought the end-of-the-World premise more horrifying here than it is in some serious films about the subject. Conversely, there's one disaster film packed with stars that was meant to be serious and that I think is absolutely hilarious :

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6d/The_Swarm.jpg

[Captain Terror]

Given my love of Spider Baby, I probably need to see this.
I'm a fan. Freddie Francis directs :up:

[SpelingError]

Wait, when did you go to a Yellowbeard av?

There's a pirate theme for the 28th Hall of Fame, so a few of us changed our pfps to reflect that.

[Fabulous]

Freaks (2018)

3

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/7HNPNdNNvTQmDATWDmcRJVrv0B2.jpg

[mrblond]

Tangerines (2013)

Dir.: Zaza Urushadze


https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91jhZHy8FTL._AC_SY550_.jpg


This is superb. It's a tale of an Estonian man who stays in war torn Georgia while his family goes back to their homeland. Based in 1992. The man continues to try and set up a business selling tangerines, but gets visited by 2 factions of the warring sides which spirals into a whole new situation - and to say anymore would spoil the film. But the ending is earth shatteringly beautiful.

9/10






I'm glad the knowledge of this movie is spread.
It is a Superb film, just an example how good cinema can be made with a handful of funds.

I've seen it twice and it is probably time for the third watch.

[Wooley]

I liked Spider Baby a bit more. I kinda get why the two seem to be mentioned together, though. My complaint about the lack of obnoxiousness is also shared by both movies (even though Girly isn't as family-friendly as Spider Baby).

When you say "obnoxiousness" like what in Spider Baby would have been "more obnoxious"?

[Wooley]

Conversely, there's one disaster film packed with stars that was meant to be serious and that I think is absolutely hilarious :

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6d/The_Swarm.jpg

A classic, to be sure.
When I was growing up, all these low-budget Eco-horrors were always the thing. Empire Of The Ants in the theater, baby!

[Captain Terror]

My favorite part of The Swarm is when they decide to light the Gulf of Mexico on fire in order to stop the bees. Solid plan there.

[Marco]

The Hard Eight (1996)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dc/Hardeight.jpg
Kinda wants to look hard-boiled but isn't really drama. Good enough story that has most of PTAs traits that will flower in his later films. Two main problem only, Clementine....just ridiculous. And Jimmy's trust in Sydney when he has already outed him as a bad-ass.

3

[mrblond]

The Hard Eight (1996)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dc/Hardeight.jpg


I saw it about six months ago. Very good debut for P. T. Anderson.
Philip Baker Hall is superb as always.

4.0

[WHITBISSELL!]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/7b6d8485a4b07dd39a839f6140583ad4/tumblr_ph9wstFctd1rhrsf1o3_540.jpg
https://64.media.tumblr.com/033103694d2789a5463b3ab526351fae/4512ef668bca5de9-10/s500x750/2039d4b968c43474466d469ab7b14e2987b6e30d.gifv


The Lives of a Bengal Lancer - 1935 narrative directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Gary Cooper. He plays Lt. Alan McGregor, a British cavalryman with the 41st Bengal Lancers, stationed in the Northwest Indian province of Bengal. As the films opens he is sent to meet two replacements for fellow soldiers killed in action, Lieutenant John Forsythe (Franchot Tone) and Lieutenant Donald Stone (Richard Cromwell). Donald is fresh out of military school and the son of the unit's commander, Colonel Tom Stone (Guy Standing). He assumes that his father has requested for him to serve his first ever tour under him but is crestfallen when he learns otherwise.

His father has a lifetime of military service behind him and knows full well that he cannot show favoritism towards anyone. Having his own issues with Colonel Stone, McGregor takes the inexperienced young officer under his wing. Forsythe, in the meantime, takes delight in teasing McGregor on his "mother hen" tendencies and the two develop a bit of a rivalry.

While all this is happening a local chieftain, Mohammed Khan (Douglas Dumbrille), is working to foment an uprising against their British overlords. He works behind the scenes to get his hands on a large shipment of ammunition and weapons. There's plenty of machinations on both sides, with each knowing the others intentions but both short on details. Spies are employed, plans are put into place and steps are taken. The chess moves and gambits result in a final confrontation featuring the usual derring-do, heroism and sacrifice. This earns a place in the pantheon of roguish, adventure yarns like Gunga Din, Beau Geste and The Man Who Would Be King.

90/100

[Allaby]

The Fallout (2021) This was really powerful, heartbreaking and beautiful. Jenna Ortega is fantastic here and the rest of the cast are very good too. Exceptionally well directed by Megan Park. 4.5.

[Gideon58]

https://www.freshers-live.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/All-the-Old-Knives-2022-Subtitles-English-srt_11zon.jpg



2.5

[gbgoodies]

Very nice commentary! If you haven't seen it, The High and the Mighty (1954) was the granddaddy of airplane disaster films, and I think you'd like it.


It starred John Wayne, Robert Stack, Claire Trevor, and a handful of other names. I loved the film when it came out, although it's pretty tame today. It did have a very popular theme song with a very catchy whistling motif. I still whistle it today once in awhile!


Thanks for the recommendation. I haven't seen that movie. I added it to my watchlist, (but it will have to wait until after I finish my list for the comedy countdown).