Rate The Last Movie You Saw [Archive] - Page 328

Darth Pazuzu

05-13-24, 08:43 PM

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The Gunfighter (Henry King / 1950)
High Noon (Fred Zinnemann / 1952)
Forty Guns (Samuel Fuller / 1957)
Lonely Are the Brave (David Miller / 1962)
Buck and the Preacher (Sidney Poitier / 1972)

I borrowed all of these movies through the inter-library loan system a number of months back and loved all of them. I eventually bought them and they're all part of my collection now.

The Gunfighter - A thoughtful, moody tragedy that belies its title, which suggests something perhaps a tad more rowdy and rambunctious than it is. Poor Jimmy Ringo (an atypically mustachioed Gregory Peck) just can't seem to catch a break. He's desperately trying to stay out of trouble and leave his days of infamy and being an outlaw behind him, but everywhere he goes he can't avoid running into some little snot-nose punk who tries to challenge him and prove that Jimmy Ringo's not all he's cracked up to be. Alas, they live just long enough to regret that move. This 1950 movie is, in a way, sort of a precursor to Fred Zinnemann's High Noon in that a good chunk of it sort of takes place in real time and employs a literal ticking clock to create tension within the audience. For most of the movie, Jimmy Ringo takes refuge inside a saloon in the town where his estranged wife lives as a schoolteacher raising their son. He wants to get in touch with her and meet the boy he left behind, but he's also aware the three brothers of a young man he's recently slain in self-defense are on his trail and will catch up with him any time.

High Noon - The classic '52 Western starring Gary Cooper as the put-upon Marshal Will Kane, who is marrying Grace Kelly and wishes to retire his badge, but must first deal with the dangerous Frank Miller, an outlaw he had helped to put away and who has now just been sprung from prison and is due to arrive in Hadleyville on the noon train where he will be met by three associates. Kane is outnumbered and outgunned, for he cannot rely on the good people of Hadleyville, who for varying reasons of their own opt to stay out of the fight. This newly released 4K UHD edition from Kino Lorber is an absolutely gorgeous black-and-white transfer, and I would recommend it even to those already possessing the Olive Blu-ray. A major hit during its day but also a flashpoint of the American culture wars of the '50s, its screenwriter Carl Foreman having been called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee and being blacklisted shortly afterward. Many people of a more conservative disposition found its downbeat and pessimistic vision of America to be extremely distasteful. Among them was John Wayne, who together with director Howard Hawks created an answer film of sorts with 1959's Rio Bravo, which isn't so much the antithesis of High Noon as it is a temperamentally different take on a similar premise, but one which wisely leaves politics at the theater door and serves as an equally brilliant companion piece to Zinnemann's classic. Definitely a win-win situation for fans of Western cinema. So once again, art leaves politics in the dust!

Forty Guns - Just as Rio Bravo is a sort of alternative take and companion to High Noon, Samuel Fuller's Forty Guns has sort of a similar relationship to Nicholas Ray's Johnny Guitar. Both movies have powerful female leads, in the case of Ray's film Joan Crawford as the gunslinging saloon owner Vienna, in Fuller's film Barbara Stanwyck as high riding woman with a whip Jessica Drummond, a wealthy landowner who runs Cochise County with an iron fist and a posse of forty riders (giving the film its title). Both films are very stylized in different ways, and both have something of a melodramatic - I daresay even slightly operatic - streak. In this film Stanwyck meets her match in Barry Sullivan's Griff Bonnell, a former gunfighter working for the Attorney General who, along with his two brothers Wes (Gene Barry) and Chico (Robert Dix), are out to arrest a man who works as one of Stanwyck's guns for mail robbery. (Kind of a banal sort of crime, no?) But the real trouble comes from her no-good, out-of-control juvenile delinquent brother Brockie (John Ericson), who Sullivan's character must face down twice: Once at the beginning, and once at the climax. There's quite a bit of the real-life Earps in the characters of the Bonnell brothers, certainly quite a bit of Wyatt in Griff. There are also a few story elements here that seem influenced by the incidents which took place in the real-life Tombstone, Arizona.

Lonely Are the Brave - Stars Kirk Douglas in one of his personal favorite film roles, that of modern-day cowboy John W. Burns, who lives in the year 1962 but is a man out of time, rejecting modern society and technology and not even carrying an ID card. This movie is in fact a very direct, present-tense articulation of a theme which underlies most Westerns, that of the cowboy or gunfighter being a man out of time, gradually being displaced and phased out by the events of history. Finding out that a long-time friend of his named Paul Bondi (Michael Kane) has been jailed for aiding illegal immigrants, Douglas's character rashly concocts a plan to get himself arrested so he can get in touch with Bondi and then break the two of them out again, a plan which doesn't quite come off the way he expected. The bulk of the latter half of the film consists of an extended chase sequence where the now wanted fugitive Burns and his horse Whiskey are being pursued through treacherous mountains by the forces of law and order, represented by the sympathetic Sheriff Morey Johnson (Walter Matthau), who is actually secretly rooting for him to escape into Mexico. Douglas is very affecting in the lead role, and his scenes with Gena Rowlands as Bondi's wife Jerry are just wonderful.

Buck and the Preacher - The directorial debut of actor Sidney Poitier, who also stars as the first title character, this movie is one of the first films to deal seriously with the subject of African-Americans in the Old West. Poitier plays a wagon master named Buck who is attempting to deliver emancipated slaves from Louisiana to the unsettled territories of Kansas. His job is made much more difficult by a marauding gang of Southern nightriders and bounty hunters - led by a sinister man named Deshay (Cameron Mitchell) - who attempt to sabotage their progress by destroying their supplies and stealing their money, all in an attempt to turn the people back around so they can work again as field hands for the financially ailing South. Buck is aided in his efforts by the shady, scruffy, Bible-wielding Preacher (Harry Belafonte) and is eventually accompanied by his wife Ruth (the great Ruby Dee). Along the way, Buck must negotiate safe passage for the wagon train with the Native American tribes of the area, and eventually Buck and the Preacher attempt to pull off a bank heist in order to replace the people's stolen money. A very valuable history lesson, revisionist in the best possible way, and a highly entertaining one to boot! And I can't say enough about Harry Belafonte's rascally, charismatic performance as the roguish Preacher. I mean, the man is barely recognizable as the calypso superstar who gave the world Day-O (The Banana Boat Song). He manages to completely disappear into the role, partially by growing his hair out and primarily by darkening his teeth. (Everyone of course remembers Belafonte's pearly-whites.)

All of these are highly recommended! :D

GulfportDoc

05-13-24, 08:48 PM

Dalíland (2022)

Starring Ben Kingsley and Barbara Sukowa

Beautifully filmed, magnificent costumes, Ben Kingsley and Barbara Sukowa are superb as always. Interesting and informative perspective on the artist's latest decades. A must see film for all that know who is Salvador Dalí.

rating_4
80/100
I've been a big Dali fan for 60 years. Am also a Kingsley fan. Thanks for the tip!

~Doc

Darth Pazuzu

05-13-24, 09:59 PM

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April 30, 2024

CHALLENGERS (Luca Guadagnino / 2024)

May 7, 2024

THE FALL GUY (David Leitch / 2024)

So it's April 30, 2024, you're at the local multiplex, and you're faced with a bit of a dilemma: The two most interesting-looking films to catch your attention that day are Abigail and Challengers. Not wanting to see two movies this particular day, you have a choice to make: Do you watch the horror movie about a vampire ballerina? Or do you watch the latest film from the director of the remake of Suspiria? :lol: :lol: Having heard and read good things about Challengers, I made my choice and I have to say I've no cause whatsoever to regret it in the least! ;)

I really don't have that much to say about either of the theatrical features I've seen in the past two weeks. So I'll be brief:

Luca Guadagnino's Challengers is a really cool, fun and sexy film about a very complex and emotionally fraught love triangle between young tennis players (Zendaya, Josh O'Connor, Mike Faist). I loved almost everything about the movie, in particular the non-linear storytelling style which cuts back and forth in time. The movie becomes very gripping and emotionally involving at points when you least expect it, and it possesses a rather bracing maturity and complexity about it which is unusual in most relationship movies involving or catering to younger viewers (or at least mainstream movies). The only thing I actually disliked about it was the annoying tendency of Trent Reznor's electronic soundtrack to crescendo during the more intense, emotionally climactic scenes. (Number one, I would prefer to hear the dialogue unimpeded, and number two... Nine Inch Nails was never my favorite band of the '90s.)

I really have to say this: Between Matthew Vaughn's Argylle with Bryce Dallas Howard and Sam Rockwell from a few months back and now the new The Fall Guy with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt... I think I'm pretty much "meta'd out" at this point! By which I mean this hybrid sub-genre of romantic comedy/action thriller which mixes up reality and fiction. (I've seriously got a hunch that the close proximity of these two films means it's one of those The Abyss / Leviathan / Deepstar Six type of situations which crops up all too frequently.) Don't get me wrong, The Fall Guy was certainly entertaining at points and had a number of amusing lines. And it's certainly a pleasant, undemanding little diversion for Gosling and Blunt after making cinematic history with the so-called "Barbenheimer" phenomenon. But this whole "meta" trip is getting way too clever by half for my taste. (This is the main reason why I don't consider The Matrix Resurrections to be quite the equal of the earlier trilogy.) Seriously, people, let's try to get a little more creative instead of just being clever. (Remember the meeting scene on the plane from Fight Club? "How's that working out for you?" "What's that?" "Being clever." "Great." "Keep it up, then.")

Fabulous

05-14-24, 02:14 AM

The Proposal (2009)

2

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Jeff

05-14-24, 03:02 AM

The Man Who Laughs (1928) 5/5

This begins my official watching of my collection, not having had a clear idea of how to do it before, the key is not to plan on how but just do it, i am mentioning films midstream, as i watch them, as i can more easily formulate any thoughts about them. The lush visuals in this silent masterpiece is what makes it a cut above some other silents, the set designs, clothes, actors all have a visual distinctiveness that other silent films don't, i think specifically about a film like Fritz Lang's Spies, as having a sparse minimal look to it. In that film the subtitles are hard to read when there's German intertitles.

I am writing little reviews for each film now both here and on Letterboxd, i changed my name to CinemaLoon, a blase name choice i agree, but better than a dumb wonky one like i changed it from. There is no other sites i do anything on, so forgive me for any extracurricular thoughts i may have, for example i'm getting a spiritual do over at the hands of the great Puritan writers, Owen, Flavel etc. Silent films represent another world, and time, i relish each second of it, and i don't want to do drugs anymore, cinema must be the drug.

The style also, seeing a person through a wheel sort of thing, through the spokes, things like that are wonderful, direction. A good alternative music accompaniment is Grouper, a super dreamy nostalgic music artist, wistful and melancholy.

https://youtu.be/sCOgvAIL3_U?si=gVNF7_PcI0FOPRXY

Jeff

05-14-24, 05:01 AM

A Page of Madness (1925) 3/5

I wish i could like this more, the opening has a wonderful Salome vibe, but when the editing goes rapid and all that, it's like i'm too old for it, a younger me would have eaten it up gladly. On LB it says 1926, but Flicker Alley says a year earlier, when there's a difference i'll always take the physical release date over LB, for example look up the date they give The Golem, hahaha (mad laughter) Well anyway, it's a film i'm glad to own, and a very intriguing play of light and shadow, just too quick and deliberately different for my tastes, it would be 5/5 if it was more contemplative.

edit -- my mistake there's another Golem, but still LB gets it wrong many times, as i go through my collection i'll make known their many unforgiveable date sins.

The crux of the reason why i can't love it is that it's not serious enough, at least it doesn't seem serious, the way i think the subject matter should be, the camera tricks and editing flair is imo overdone and trivializes the torment of mental disease, making it lean towards the exploitation realm, which i feel this film should have been more firmly situated above that realm artistically. If the strangeness would be done less would've made it more effective, like in monster films to show it just a little bit.

Suggested musical accompaniment

https://youtu.be/dRmA0CdsjRw?si=catmw4GmS4osUOHA

Mr Minio

05-14-24, 06:35 AM

The crux of the reason why i can't love it is that it's not serious enough, at least it doesn't seem serious, the way i think the subject matter should be, the camera tricks and editing flair is imo overdone and trivializes the torment of mental disease, making it lean towards the exploitation realm, which i feel this film should have been more firmly situated above that realm artistically. If the strangeness would be done less would've made it more effective, like in monster films to show it just a little bit. None of this is true. :(

Suggested musical accompaniment Please watch silents with the original musical accompaniment. Ideally, silents shouldn't be watched with contemporary music, especially music that was made using instruments/techniques that weren't available when the film was released.

Jeff

05-14-24, 06:44 AM

None of this is true. :(

Please watch silents with the original musical accompaniment. Ideally, silents shouldn't be watched with contemporary music, especially music that was made using instruments/techniques that weren't available when the film was released.

I like doing things the wrong way, it reflects how wrong i am inside.

Mr Minio

05-14-24, 06:58 AM

I like doing things the wrong way, it reflects how wrong i am inside. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54oqYyy_r_Q

Jeff

05-14-24, 07:05 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54oqYyy_r_Q

:D Gonna do Pandora's Box with Elvis now, Alban Berg would be too orthodox!!

FilmBuff

05-14-24, 11:36 AM

Please watch silents with the original musical accompaniment. Ideally, silents shouldn't be watched with contemporary music, especially music that was made using instruments/techniques that weren't available when the film was released.

I can practically hear the pearl-clutching from here... :D

Mr Minio

05-14-24, 12:01 PM

I can practically hear the pearl-clutching from here... :D

Huh?

Gideon58

05-14-24, 12:41 PM

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1st Rewatch...This overheated fact-based melodrama is about a hothead who drifts from professional boxing to acting to, in an attempt to win the heart of a seriously religious girl, decides to become a priest. Mark Wahlberg's over the top performance really hurts this one, not to mention the fact that this guy's desire to become a priest is initially rooted in the desire to get this girl into bed. Not to mention the fact that we never really see Stu experience a true religious calling, making everything that happens here ring hollow. Mel Gibson and Jackie Weaver are excellent as Stu's parents.2.5

Gideon58

05-14-24, 12:47 PM

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3rd Rewatch...Lin-Manuel Miranda's pulse-pounding score and John M Chu's energetic direction help to bring Miranda's first Broadway triumph to the screen. The story revolving around several Washington Heights residents taking different approaches to making their dreams come true is a bit hard to follow at time, but this film comes totally alive during the incredible musical numbers that come fast and furious and feature some of the best choreography I've seen. That number in the giant public pool "96000", never gets old. This film never got the recognition it deserved. 4.5

Gideon58

05-14-24, 03:43 PM

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3.5

Darth Pazuzu

05-14-24, 05:59 PM

Today is Tuesday, the day when you can get into your local Marcus Theater for $7 and change.

And I've decided I'm not going today. :(

I know, I had made a promise to myself last year that I would go see a new movie at the local theater every Tuesday. But as of right now I'm feeling seriously burnt out on mainstream Hollywood. Most of the movies which are playing right now I've seen already, and you can check out my reviews for them on this thread. The ones I haven't seen are Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and Tarot, and I honestly can't work up any serious degree of enthusiasm about them. Alas, I missed Abigail, and I strongly suspect I'm none the worse for that. After the FX-laden eye-candy overdose monster-mash that was Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and the too-clever-by-half "meta" action/rom-com hijinks of The Fall Guy, I feel like I seriously need a break, lest I become totally dispirited. Granted, my recent moviegoing experiences haven't been a total loss: Civil War I found to be intelligent, intense and thought-provoking, with an ending that I have to assume is meant to be deliberately disturbing (by my own reckoning, a good thing), and Challengers is a youth-oriented, sports-centered relationship movie that doesn't insult the intelligence of its audience. Beyond that, however, it's been really hit-and-miss, and most of the "hits" have been modest and not exactly mind-blowing. Yeah, it's good to see the characters from your favorite franchises in all-new adventures, but I'd be lying if I said that Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire would have any kind of long-term resonance for me comparable to the classic '84 original.

Not to mention the fact that there are, like, 20 minutes' worth of trailers to get through before the movie starts, to the point where I have seen the previews for most of the upcoming attractions five or so times, to the point where it feels like I've actually seen those movies already! (And in some cases, I might just as well have! :lol:) And I am getting seriously sick and tired of looking at Greg Marcus' obnoxiously ingratiating, glad-handing face every time one of his "humorous" announcements or quasi-skits comes on between the trailers and the film! (God, I am sooooooo sick of that guy :mad:)

So at this point, I feel it is imperative for me to withdraw from the big screen for a while. Whether it's for another week or so, or another month, or for however long, I honestly couldn't say. If I check online and see that there's something interesting playing, I'll definitely check it out. (I'm definitely going to see Kevin Costner's new Horizon: An American Saga when it comes out, no question.)

But as of right now, I think I just need a rest...

BTW, I just ordered a copy of John Sturges' Bad Day at Black Rock from 1955. I'd borrowed the DVD through inter-library loan a couple months back and decided I would put the Warner Brothers Archive Blu-ray edition on my must-buy list. I guess most of my greatest cinematic sustenance these days lies in the past!

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GulfportDoc

05-14-24, 08:27 PM

...

But as of right now, I think I just need a rest...

BTW, I just ordered a copy of John Sturges' Bad Day at Black Rock from 1955. I'd borrowed the DVD through inter-library loan a couple months back and decided I would put the Warner Brothers Archive Blu-ray edition on my must-buy list. I guess most of my greatest cinematic sustenance these days lies in the past!

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Enjoyed reading your comments, and I agree about contemporary cinema.

As an 11 year old kid, I saw Bad Day At Black Rock when it came out, and it absolutely blew me away. Westerns were really in their heyday then, but this was a contemporary "western" like no other, although it had a similar feel to a combo of High Noon and Shane.

It has a dream cast of Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, and Anne Francis.

But what grabbed me was the near noir mystery of it, which keeps us guessing until well into the picture. And I thought nothing was cooler than Spencer Tracy playing a one-armed middle aged guy who dispatched attackers with ease using karate with one hand!

It was a very catchy story for it's day, in beautiful color, shot with a very impressive wide screen CinemaScope, which was still very new in 1955. I think I'd previously seen it only in The Robe (1953) and The High and the Mighty (1954).

It was one of the best pictures that year, and to this day remains as a unique film.

Nephilim

05-14-24, 08:58 PM

When Evil Lurks (Cuando acecha la maldad), from 2023. It was overall praised and while the first 30 minutes or so are really well executed and keep you on the edge of your seat, the rest is all over the place, it was a mess.

6.50 out 10 for me.

Fabulous

05-15-24, 01:21 AM

The Zone of Interest (2023)

4.5

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Jeff

05-15-24, 02:03 AM

Sparrows (1926) 3/5

I write this 24 minutes into it, the introductory intertitle spoils things by saying the kids didn't have shoes till the last scene, sort of run of the mill, not nearly as special as Stella Maris which was my only other Mary Pickford film so far. How the Bible is misquoted must be the inspiration of Samuel Jackson in Pulp Fiction. The film played a role in securing child rights, as this depicts the appalling conditions on these farms where parents sold their kids so they could be essentially slaves. Religious overtones are abundant, it limped so that Night of the Hunter could fly.

Good news it gets better when the color tinting and plot kicks in, so this is a strong 3 rating, that could be 3.5, but i want to be sparing with my fractions.

John W Constantine

05-15-24, 02:05 AM

I don't watch movies anymore

0/10

Jeff

05-15-24, 02:09 AM

I don't watch movies anymore

0/10

What year was that made in? ;)

John W Constantine

05-15-24, 02:14 AM

What year was that made in? ;)

2024

Stirchley

05-15-24, 01:36 PM

Stirchley

05-15-24, 01:39 PM

98923

Really liked this movie - Giamatti made it for me - but the first half was definitely better than the second half.

98924

Kinda nutty, but I plowed through.

FilmBuff

05-15-24, 02:09 PM

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Poolman
3

Poolman belongs right up there with L.A Story as one of the most offbeat and idiosyncratic comedies ever made about Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, Chris Pine doesn't have the same kind of cultural presence that Steve Martin already did when he made his take on L.A. life, which means that Poolman will barely play in theaters but, hopefully, could eventually become a bit of a cult hit down the road.
The pure plot mechanics aren't enough to describe the experience of watching the movie, but let's just say that it involves a poolman and would-be private investigator getting involved with some shady types in L.A. politics. References to Polanski's Chinatown are almost too many to keep count.
What can I say? The movie clearly won't work for everyone, but if you're in the right wavelength, it can be a lot of fun.
The rather adorable cast also includes Annette Bening, Danny DeVito, John Ortiz, DeWanda Wise, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Stephen Tobolowsky.

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Babes
1.5

A comedy that's all about the ups and downs of pregnancy isn't necessarily a bad idea. But the makers of Babes forgot that a comedy is supposed to be funny, for starters.
The movie struggles with that basic concept for most of its running time, and a few chuckles here and there aren't enough to sustain it. Perhaps most bizarrely, it features Oliver Platt and Sandra Bernhard in small parts - if they didn't appear in this movie, it would be easy to assume they had already retired from acting (and this one shouldn't really be counted, I guess)

Fabulous

05-15-24, 05:20 PM

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

3

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FromBeyond

05-15-24, 08:43 PM

Brian And Charles (2022)

This was rather cute. In rural Wales an oddball and lonely inventer named Brian finds a mannequins head in a "fly tip" and decides to make a robot whom likes the name Charles. Filmed in mockumentary style this is low budget with heart and very funny.

Charles: You built my body

Brian: I built his body

Charles: And my tummy is a washing machine

Brian: And his tummy is a washing machine

Torgo

05-15-24, 09:26 PM

Swordsman and Enchantress - 4

https://i.imgur.com/WvFia7J.jpeg

Read the full review and more in my Hong Kong thread (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=65747&nocache=86921715819117).

Fabulous

05-15-24, 10:31 PM

The Danish Girl (2015)

3

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PHOENIX74

05-16-24, 04:05 AM

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By IMP Awards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59544265

Bird Box - (2018)

Browsing the horror section of Netflix last night brought me to Bird Box - a post-apocalyptic feature starring Sandra Bullock which is a little bit of A Quiet Place mixed with The Road, The Happening, The Mist and the rest of the genre. You get a little bit of Jacki Weaver and John Malkovich - both playing random civilians stuck in a house while the outside world is shuttered away, for there's some phenomenon which can't be seen, lest you become infected with a mind disease which has you kill yourself. These "entities" we never see, but they force characters to walk about blindfolded, and make travel cumbersome. You can make as much noise as you like though - although there are loonies who are sight-immune - you don't want to attract those. The film, part "how the world ended" and part "Malorie (Bullock) and two kids searching for sanctuary", is pretty much stock standard post-apocalypse stuff. I'm always attracted to these movies, but rarely satisfied. This one was okay, but nothing I'd really rave about.

6/10

Fabulous

05-16-24, 04:37 AM

Control (2007)

4.5

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LChimp

05-16-24, 09:58 AM

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Crimes of The Future - (Cronenbleargh, 2022)

A master of his craft. A must see for any fan of the director.

Gideon58

05-16-24, 01:02 PM

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1st Rewatch...It's predictable and the screenplay is a bit syrupy, but this look at Eddie Edwards, the first British ski jumper to participate in the 1988 Olympics in Calgary worth a look, thanks primarily to dazzling performance by a pre-Rocketman Taron Egerton in the title role. Egerton disappears inside this role of a simple-minded but singularly determined young athlete who wants to be an Olympic jumper and finds help from an alcoholic former jumper (Hugh Jackman). The film aggravates at times because it seems like everybody in the movie is fighting Eddie in one way or another and the moment before Eddie makes his final jump and hears all the voices in his head ridiculing him is corny as hell, but Egerton definitely makes this film worth watching. 3.5

Gideon58

05-16-24, 01:11 PM

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3rd Rewatch...The brilliant comic turns by Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller in the starring roles somehow manage to keep this slightly over the top comedy entertaining. Stiller plays Greg Focker, a nurse who accompanies his girlfriend (Teri Polo) to her sister's wedding in Oyster Bay, where he becomes engaged in an instant battle of wills with his girlfriend's dad (guess who), who is an ex CIA agent. The screenplay piles way too much on Greg to the point of stretching credibility, but there's no way they would do all this to the guy, who so doesn't deserve any of it and not snatch him out of it. I also have to mention during this rewatch how much I enjoyed Blythe Danner's rich performance in a thankless role as De Niro's wife and Polo's mom. She brings so much more to the character than in the script. Such a gifted actress. 3.5

mrblond

05-16-24, 01:14 PM

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My rating too 3.5
70/100
I've seen it couple of times. It is indeed a cute film. Taron Egerton is really a good actor. He became a favourite of ours thanks to this movie. Then, we've liked him again in Rocketman (2019) and Tetris (2023).

Gideon58

05-16-24, 01:16 PM

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7th Rewatch...The 1980 Oscar winner for Best Picture about an affluent Chicago family ripped apart by the death of their elder son is still the deeply moving experience it was over 40 years ago. Timothy Hutton won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his riveting performance as the tortured Conrad. And, yes, I'll say it again, I think I'm the only person on the planet who thinks Mary Tyler Moore should have won the Best Actress Oscar for her icy Beth Jarrod. Robert Redford's meticulous directorial debut also won him an Oscar and that final scene where Donald Sutherland's Calvin explains to Beth why he is crying destroys me every time watch it. 4.5

Gideon58

05-16-24, 01:17 PM

My rating too 3.5
70/100
I've seen it couple of times. It is indeed a cute film. Taron Egerton is really a good actor. He became a favourite of ours thanks to this movie. Then, we've liked him again in Rocketman (2019) and Tetris (2023).

I thought he was amazing in Rocketman and robbed of an Oscar nomination.

mrblond

05-16-24, 01:38 PM

Allaby

05-16-24, 01:48 PM

Woke (2023) Watched on Tubi. The acting in this is pretty bad. There is an interesting idea at the core of the film, but it is not fully explored and is poorly developed. It feels like a group of friends pooled their money together and made a movie on the weekend. That could have made for a fun or entertaining movie, but it really doesn't work here. The film is relatively short, but feels longer than it is. Skip this one. 1.5

FilmBuff

05-16-24, 02:13 PM

Woke (2023) Watched on Tubi.

Did you go broke? :p

Allaby

05-16-24, 02:23 PM

Did you go broke? :p

No, but it might have broken my intelligence with how bad it was.

Gideon58

05-16-24, 04:03 PM

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1.5

Fabulous

05-16-24, 04:10 PM

Morning Glory (2010)

3

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Jeff

05-16-24, 07:51 PM

Day of Wrath – 1943 – 5/5 – a solid favorite, how it emulates a slow hypnotic way of behaving is highly inspirational.

The Devil – 1972 – 4/5 – a lot less controversial than i thought it’d be, actually watched it with dad, and he only moaned “oh brother” a couple times when there was some nudity.

To Have and Have Not – 1944 –4/5 – why don’t i watch more classic Hollywood??!! This was a comfort viewing, especially after the previous one.

Skinner’s Dress Suit – 1926 – 5/5 – this just hit the spot, with my gummies i was a little baby, and this film was my maternal nipple.

Osaka Elegy – 1936 – 5/5 – i like very much the structure of the oldies, how scenes were laid out, and i even started here to not have a smoke break for the entire film!!

Humanity and Paper Balloons – 1937 -- 3/5 – i’m to blame for not appreciating this as much as i should, surely will revisit it at a later time.

Once Upon a Time There Was a Country – 1996 – 5/5 – absolutely amazing enlargement of an already astounding film (Underground), will be finishing it in the words of Eric Clapton “after midnight.”

GulfportDoc

05-16-24, 08:35 PM

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Daliland (2022)

Starring the great Ben Kingsley (Salvador Dali) and the accomplished Barbara Sukowa (Gala, Dali’s wife), this loosely biographical movie about the internationally famous Spanish surrealist painter in the 1970s (when Dali was in his late 60s/early 70s) is a bit like a crispy rice cracker: lots of crunch, but very little to savor.

Kingsley is one of the greatest actors of the past 60 years, and it is he who makes the film worth a watch. His wide range, and ability to portray nuance lures the viewer into his web to where we mostly forget we are watching an actor portraying Dali. Likewise, with her German accent (Gala was Russian), Sukowa paints a convincing portrait of Dali’s wife, as much as we resent her character for being overbearing.

The crux of the story is that Dali is in New York City for a gallery show. His NYC representative is obliged to provide an assistant for the Dalis, and he ends up choosing a wet behind the ears young man who is a low level employee. That employee (Christopher Briney) is soon drawn into Dali’s inner circle. The story is told from his point of view. Unfortunately Briney was miscast, and was perhaps too inexperienced to handle such an important role. For that matter the role of Dali might have been ever so slightly miscast, notwithstanding Kingsley’s major league effort.

The picture put me in mind of My Favorite Year (1982), where a young assistant is tasked with keeping the aged swashbuckler star (Peter O’Toole) in line and sober, although My Favorite Year was a comedy. Come to think of it Daliland might have been better written as a comedy.

The direction by Mary Harron was lackluster and uninspired. Her husband, John C. Walsh, wrote the script; and while certain events portrayed in the movie actually happened, the picture was largely fiction. With a life such as Dali’s, with a little more thought, a factual script would likely have been more impressive. The cinematography was very good, framing many of the scenes as fine art paintings. One gripe: Dali’s mustache was almost always worn by him with the long ends pointed straight up. In the picture it was always portrayed as curled, almost like in a barbershop quartet. Straightening the mustache tips wouldn’t have cost anything...

I’ve been a life long admirer of Dali’s paintings, so I appreciate MrBlond’s recommendation for the movie. For those of you who are Dali fans, if you’re ever in Florida, one of the two great Salvador Dali museums is in St. Petersburg. It’s an overwhelming exhibit.

Film rating: 5/10

Fabulous

05-16-24, 08:38 PM

The Idea of You (2024)

1.5

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Marco

05-17-24, 10:41 AM

Darkness of Man (2024)

First film I've turned off for ages. Beyond bad - avoid.

Gideon58

05-17-24, 11:23 AM

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Payback, 1999

After a daring heist, Porter (Mel Gibson) is left for dead by his partners, friend Val (Gregg Henry) and his own wife, Lynn (Deborah Unger). After laying low for a few months to recover, Porter returns to the city with revenge on his mind. He finds a willing accomplice in acquaintance Rosie (Maria Bello), but the odds are against him as Val is now in cahoots with big time criminals.

There was nothing to love or hate here, just hitting the expected beats and then end credits. Oh, here’s something to hate: the movie is pale blue and looks ugly in a very late-90s way.

2.5

I love this movie…have rarely enjoyed Gibson as much as I did.

Allaby

05-17-24, 12:05 PM

Killer Body Count (2024) Watched on Tubi. This is a fun and entertaining horror film with good performances. There were a couple plot or character elements that didn't completely work for me, but overall I enjoyed this. 3.5

Gideon58

05-17-24, 01:13 PM

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1st Rewatch...I absolutely love this exuberant animated musical about a Koala Bear named Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) who decides the solution to save his financially strapped theater by holding a singing contest. Primary contenders include Rosita (Reese Witherspoon), a married pig who is the mother of 25, but has always wanted to sing; Johnny (Taron Egerton) a gorilla trying to get from under the thumb of his criminal family; a white mouse named Mike (Seth MacFarlane) who thinks he's Frank Sinatra and has mobsters on his tail regarding gambling debts and an elephant named Mena (Tori Kelly) who apparently can only sing at home and freezes onstage in front of large groups of people. Think I enjoyed this one more than I did the first time. The auditions are the best...love the trio of frogs singing The Pointer Sisters' "Jump". Other highlights include Witherspoon and Nick Krull doing "Shake it Off", Egerton's "I'm Still Standing" and Kelly brining down the house with "Don't You Worry About a Thing." An absolute joy from beginning to end, and if you liked it, make sure you check out the sequel, which is just as good. 4

Stirchley

05-17-24, 01:17 PM

Stirchley

05-17-24, 01:22 PM

98944
98945
98946

Three excellent movies.

Gideon58

05-17-24, 01:25 PM

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2nd Rewatch...William Shakespeare blends with the 80's teen comedy to mixed effect in this teen comedy that finds its inspiration in Taming of the Shrew. The film follows the adventures of two very different guys (Andrew Keegan, Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who are in love with Bianca Strafford (Larisa Oleynik) the most popular girl in school, who is not allowed to date anyone until her older sister, Kat (Julia Stiles) starts dating someone. Unfortunately, Kat is a snooty b*tch who has no interest in any form of socialization. The guys then decide to pay a transfer student with a shady past named Patrick Verona (the late Heath Ledger) to date Kat. The screenplay is a little above the head of its intended demographic, filling the story with names and dialogue from Shrew that most teens probably wouldn't have caught anyway, but a few performances definitely hit the mark. Larry Miller had one his best roles as the girls' father. I didn't remember how good Oleynik is as Bianca and Gordon-Levitt is a charmer as well, but it is Ledger's dazzling lead performance as Patrick Verona that makes this film worth watching all by itself. 3.5

Marco

05-17-24, 01:27 PM

Immaculate (2024)
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Mish mash of The Omen with a healthy heaping of nunsploitation. TBH it's not great in my eyes but delivers a few scares. I'd not heard of Sydney Sweeney before but she does a good job here even if the dialogue leaves a lot to be desired.
2.5

Gideon58

05-17-24, 01:29 PM

Reese as a “married pig who is the mother of 25” has convinced me to put this movie in my watchlist, which would make it the first animated movie I have ever seen (at least I think so).

How have you gone through life haver NEVER seen an animated film? Never? Not one?

Stirchley

05-17-24, 01:36 PM

How have you gone through life haver NEVER seen an animated film? Never? Not one?

If I have, I have no recollection of the title. I think I did watch a Japanese one about 2 kids surviving Hiroshima or something like that & I liked it.

Your review has encouraged me to see the movie you reviewed so let’s not make a negative out of it. :)

FilmBuff

05-17-24, 01:45 PM

If I have, I have no recollection of the title.

What about Disney movies when you were a kid?

SpelingError

05-17-24, 01:48 PM

If I have, I have no recollection of the title. I think I did watch a Japanese one about 2 kids surviving Hiroshima or something like that & I liked it.
Barefoot Gen?

Stirchley

05-17-24, 02:57 PM

What about Disney movies when you were a kid?

Nope.

Barefoot Gen?

Found it: Grave of the Fireflies.

Fabulous

05-17-24, 04:31 PM

Stand Up Guys (2012)

2.5

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AngeliqueDeWill

05-17-24, 07:09 PM

Not the movie but...
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Tv Show
7,5/10

Fabulous

05-17-24, 07:36 PM

All Good Things (2010)

3

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WHITBISSELL!

05-17-24, 07:41 PM

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Beyond White Space - A 2018 joint American/Hungarian production. Moby Dick in space. There's really no one worth rooting for. Most of the characters are cyphers. Captain Richard Bentley is played by Holt McCallany who mostly played heavies in movies and TV and, despite playing the lead, the role isn't much different. The obsessed captain is looking to avenge his father who was killed by a mythical space dragon called Tien Leung. He's got his younger brother among the crew of six onboard the commercial fishing vessel Essex. There are space pirates called Boomers and creatures called clickers which are apparently a delicacy on future earth but which are also teeming with mind bending parasites. They of course work that into the third act which is not your typical ending but still manages to comes off as uninspired.

Decent visuals, costumes and set design but a subpar script, stick figure characters and a lackluster lead are ultimately too much to overcome. When it's over you'll be hard-pressed to feel much of anything.

50/100

Raven73

05-17-24, 08:08 PM

I don't watch movies anymore

0/10

But you're here.

Siddon

05-17-24, 08:38 PM

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The Promised Land (2023)rating_5

Denmark has another contender for best film of the year.

FilmBuff

05-17-24, 09:30 PM

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The Blue Angels
3

"Six go up, six come down" is said to be the most important mantra of the Blue Angels, the demonstration squadron of the U.S. Navy.

Surely, nobody wants to see a demonstration pilot have a deadly accident in the line of duty.

Started after WW2 as an exercise in public relations by the Navy, the Blue Angels perform in over 30 U.S. cities each year. The new IMAX documentary doesn't tell you how much this costs taxpayers, but a quick online search produced an estimate of about $40 million a year in taxpayers' money.

Whatever one's feelings about the U.S. armed forces, it's hard to deny that the Blue Angels might perhaps be the most successful project ever created by the U.S military - at least as far as PR efforts are concerned.

And, whether or not one feels that this is a good way to spend millions in taxpayers' dollars, one cannot deny the unbelievable feats accomplished by these brave pilots - at one point in their show, the multi-million dollar fighters are flying just 12 inches apart. They are expected to perform flawlessly despite operating under G-forces that quickly send most of the blood in their bodies to their feet.

While this isn't really the most amazing made-for-IMAX documentary ever, it's still a pretty good show, especially if you like watching navy pilots performing their best and most dazzling displays of flying prowess.

FilmBuff

05-17-24, 10:05 PM

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Back to Black
2

If Back to Black weren't based on the very real Amy Winehouse, the script would probably have been dismissed for being nothing more than a compendium of movie cliches about talented but flawed singers who died tragically young due to addiction or substance abuse.

That's why it's a shame that this biopic feels like exactly that. it has the feelings of a by-the-book repeat of almost every scene that you've ever seen in any movie about singers like her. It also doesn't help that the movie practically condones the awful way she was treated by some of the men in her life (the director has regrettably tried to justify it by claiming it's just showing how Amy saw these men).

In any case, unless you caught the one-time-only Dolby Cinema showing earlier in the week, the movie's best assets will not even sound particularly impressive in most movie theaters.

This one ranks right up there with Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody as far as disappointing biopics about gifted singers who succumbed to their addictions.

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IF
2

2024 has been a dreary year for movies about imaginary friends, and John Krasinski's IF is a particularly awful disappointment in light of the talent involved.

Let's just say the movie might suffice for very young kids and particularly undemanding viewers. I think it will fall flat for most other moviegoers; the premise feels very much half-baked and even the usually energetic Ryan Reynolds feels like he's just not into it.

The movie doesn't even bother trying to get its parallel reality straight; one minute it's saying that the imaginary friends of kids who've grown up need to find other young children to "adopt" them, another minute it seems to be saying that they are better off reconnecting with their grown-up creators. Also, it makes sense that most grown-ups can't see the imaginary friends, so how can these "IFs" (some of whom are very big) take up a large amount of space when walking in crowded sidewalks?

Don't bother trying to make any sense of it - it's clear the filmmakers didn't, and neither should we.

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Wildcat (2024)
3

This biopic of writer Flannery O'Connor is one of the most engaging indie films of the year, and one can only hope its appeal will help it find an audience even with viewers who aren't familiar with O'Connor's writing.

Ethan Hawke directed his daughter Maya in the lead role, with Laura Linney playing O'Connor's mother. In addition to playing Flannery and her mother, Maya and Linney also have multiple roles as characters in her stories and novels.

The movie isn't shy about portraying race relations in certain parts of the U.S. in the 50s and 60s; the movie brutally depicts the kind of racism that someone like O'Connor was exposed to (it seems to have made a very deep impression on her).

The phenomenal cast includes Vincent D'Onofrio, Steve Zahn, Alessandro Nivola and Liam Neeson (playing - what else? - an Irish priest).

Fabulous

05-17-24, 11:36 PM

The Reader (2008)

3.5

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WHITBISSELL!

05-18-24, 01:33 AM

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Gorgo - 1961 scifi giant creature feature starring Bill Travers as Captain Joe Ryan. He's in charge of a salvage ship working off the coast of Ireland. An undersea volcano erupts, damages and nearly capsizes his boat and he and his first officer Sam Slade (William Sylvester) row ashore to a nearby fishing village in search of fresh water. Two of the local divers disappear and when one floats to the surface he's described as having died of fright. A giant lizard looking thing with glowing red eyes also surfaces and is eventually repelled with fire.

Ryan and Slade capture it and instead of donating it to the University of Dublin for scientific research they sell it to a circus in London. More people die and it starts weighing on Slades conscience. He and the orphaned village boy they adopted can't convince Captain Ryan that the creature belongs back home in the sea. That is until they learn that the 40 foot tall creature is actually an infant and his Godzilla-sized parent/legal guardian shows up looking for it. Big momma proceeds to lay a hurt on London that would do Tokyo proud. It's a quick 78 minutes long and a fun watch.

65/100

Fabulous

05-18-24, 02:50 AM

The Merry Widow (1925)

3.5

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Jeff

05-18-24, 03:28 AM

The Bank Dick -- 1940 -- 3/5 -- it was ok, some giggles, was disappointed i didn't hear the line Tony Soprano said in connection to it "Did you warble my little glen?"

The Shield of Honor -- 1927 -- 4/5 -- enjoyable cop flick where they use airplanes.

some Chaplin at Keystone shorts from 1914, all unrateable imo, but with all silent era films they are thee thing for me.

Little Geezer -- 1932 -- 4/5 -- a neat spoof of gangster flicks starring children.

Broadway Love -- 1918 -- 3/5 -- from the Pioneers Early Women Filmmakers set, a lot of the films are veritably unwatchable in that Bill Morrison Decasia sense, but this was preserved pretty nicely. A little on the sordid side, and SJW's will find some faults with it, but also it stars the man with a thousand faces with the face his momma gave him.

Jeff

05-18-24, 06:58 AM

The Eagle -- 1925 -- 4/5 -- the best Rudolph Valentino i've seen yet, where it just so happens that he treats women respectfully for a change.

Metropolis -- 1927 -- 5/5 -- i'm getting used to the VHS quality of the parts added to make it "complete", some fantastic imagery here going down snazzy with the gummies.

FilmBuff

05-18-24, 10:48 AM

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Reality
3.5

With Sydney Sweeney now being Hollywood's latest 'it' girl, it felt like a good time to revisit this absorbing dramatization from HBO films about real-life whistleblower Reality Winner.

Sweeney is in top form at her most unadorned and raw, in a sensational performance that fully conveys the weight of receiving a visit from the FBI after having gone over the edge with information that the laws say she should have kept to herself - but didn't.

AngeliqueDeWill

05-18-24, 11:29 AM

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7,5/10

In comparison with movies of the same years 8,5/10

Allaby

05-18-24, 12:48 PM

Dobro pozhalovat, ili Postoronnim vkhod vospreshchen (English title: Welcome, or No Trespassing, 1964) Watched this today on Criterion Channel. This was an enjoyable and charming comedy with a cast of cute and likeable kids. It's very different in tone and style from the very intense and hard hitting war film from the same director, Come and See. 4

Jeff

05-18-24, 01:58 PM

Pitfall -- 1962 -- 3/5 -- didn't hit home like it did long ago when i 1st seen it.

Taste of Cherry -- 1997 -- 5/5 -- nice and slow, a great sense of place, and time, in a dusty golden hue. The protagonist however is less sympathetic when i 1st saw it, he's like intrusive this time. Will finish it in the dark, but it is a good one if you can't see it except in a sun bathed room.

Gideon58

05-18-24, 02:15 PM

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2.5

Allaby

05-18-24, 04:06 PM

IF (2024) There are some wonderful, beautiful moments here but not everything completely works. It felt a little uneven like something was missing at times, but I love the idea and I appreciate what they were going for. Ryan Reynolds and John Krasinski are effective in their roles. Cailey Fleming anchors the film with a lovely performance and Alan Kim makes a memorable impact with limited screen time. The ifs are colourful and fun characters. This is a pretty good film that feels like it could have been something even more. 3.5

Fabulous

05-18-24, 05:39 PM

The Boy Friend (1971)

3

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WHITBISSELL!

05-18-24, 07:04 PM

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The Earth Dies Screaming - 1964 scifi/horror directed by Terence Fisher who helmed quite a few Hammer productions. The films opens with countless people dropping dead right in the middle of their day. Cars crash, planes plummet to the ground. Next you cut to a lone Range Rover driving into a seemingly deserted village. Inside is test pilot Jeff Nolan (Willard Parker). He settles in at a local hotel before being interrupted by Quinn Taggart (Dennis Price) and Peggy Hatton (Virginia Field). They also are part of the few survivors of what is apparently a country wide phenomenon.

Others soon join them. Edgar Otis (Thorley Walters) and Violet Courtland (Vanda Godsell) were at a company party at a chemical laboratory. Young couple Mel Brenard (David Spenser) and his very pregnant wife Lorna (Anna Palk) are the last to wander through. Through simple deduction the group figures out that it was some sort of gas attack since they all shared the same backstory of having been in hermetically sealed or oxygen rich environments. The rest of the mystery is quickly filled in when strangely costumed individuals show up in the village who turn out to be robotic shock troops.

The group understandably goes into survival mode with weapons gathered, guards posted and plans made for an inevitable evacuation to a better fortified position. There are casualties of course plus wild cards with one of the group being sketchy AF and showing himself not to be trusted. In fact there's nothing that hasn't been seen already in just about any post apocalyptic movie. But the clean uncluttered look of the black and white cinematography and the British accents are almost like comfort food. Maybe these sorts of movies are right up my alley because, despite not much happening, I really enjoyed this.

75/100

FilmBuff

05-18-24, 07:49 PM

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The Last Frenzy (末路狂花钱)
3.5

Rina Wu's The Last Frenzy (末路狂花钱) sure brings back memories of Alfonso Cuarón's directorial debut, Sólo con tu pareja.

Both movies center on young, rather aimless single men for whom an apparent misdiagnosis causes them to reevaluate their life priorities and what they hoped to get out of life... but that's where the similarities end.

Jia Bing plays Jia You Wei, for whom the sudden diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumor makes him want to spend the time he thinks he's got left with his closest buddies from his school days.

His goal is to spend his remaining days and money with them and try to make their wildest wishes come true... which may sound easier than it really is.

This movie was a huge hit in China, and it's not hard to see why; the film is wild in many unexpected ways and quite moving in others.

Miss Vicky

05-18-24, 10:21 PM

98949

Sundown: The Vampire In Retreat (Anthony Hickox, 1989)
Imdb (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098412/?ref_=nm_flmg_t_120_act)

At some point between Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, Bruce Campbell appeared in this weird ass horror comedy vampire Western - alongside vaguely familiar faces like David Carradine, M. Emmett Walsh, and Maxwell Caulfield. But even as a Bruce Campbell fan, I don't think I'd ever heard of this movie until I received the Bluray for my recent birthday.

Like many of Campbell's lesser known movies, this is a mess. The acting is mostly terrible, the effects are pretty equally so, the story is lacking, and at about an hour and 45 minutes it's a bit overlong for what it offers, but I can't say I was ever bored with it.

It probably deserves a 2 or 2.5, but as a Campbell fan I'm feeling generous.

3

PHOENIX74

05-19-24, 01:25 AM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/36/Haunt2019Poster.jpg
By Momentum Pictures - http://www.impawards.com/2019/haunt.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61776568

Haunt - (2019)

It's Halloween, and a bunch of teenagers decide to visit a haunted house attraction - one of those set-ups that seem to be popular these days, where actors do ghoulish stuff and plastic skeletons pop out from behind cupboards. Boo! But as the scares increase in intensity, the kids start to realise that all is not quite right with this particular place - and when they start to go missing, and get injured, the fear factor ramps up and panic sets in. This was pretty effective, and the tension is ratcheted up with an absolutely flawless rhythm and pace. Better yet, the reveals work well - this is a ghoulish horror movie I can really believe in. One of the better new horror movies out there.

7/10

https://i.postimg.cc/QCTLNbFr/chome.jpg
By Peppercorn-Wormser Film Enterprises (Harry Saltzman, distributor) - Source, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45785246

Chimes at Midnight - (1966)

The legendary Orson Welles brings the legendary Shakespeare character Sir John Falstaff to life in this spectacularly filmed and edited War of the Roses-period classic. You might not understand much of the lyrical conversation, but the Battle of Shrewsbury scenes are astonishing and there's much for a cinephile to stare at in awe here. Mystifying, but truly great. Review here (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2461080#post2461080), on my watchlist thread.

7.5/10

https://i.postimg.cc/qB32n5CH/phantom.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=13064311

The Phantom Carriage - (1921)

Victor Sjöström (Professor Isak Borg in Ingmar Bergman's Wild Strawberries) writes, directs and stars in this very old Swedish film that stands as one of the classics of early cinema. Every New Year a person who dies at midnight is tasked with driving a phantom carriage, and hopeless drunk David Holm (Sjöström), having just died, finds himself not only facing his destiny, but also that of his poor suffering wife and children. Fascinating glimpse into a cinema and horror genre with very different conventions. Review here (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2461426#post2461426), on my watchlist thread.

8/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c6/A_Visitor_to_a_Museum.jpg
By Official film poster - https://www.kinopoisk.ru/picture/1290402/#, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51920847

A Visitor to a Museum - (1989)

After environmental disasters have pushed humanity to the verge of extinction, a lone traveler searches for an abandoned city but finds himself waylaid at a hotel where a religious cult attracts the "deranged" and people spend time mindlessly ogling television. This is a very dark film that takes grit to see your way through - but it's worth it. Review here (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2461613#post2461613), on my watchlist thread.

8/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d2/Ruinsposter.jpg
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15891502

The Ruins - (2008)

Four American tourists along with a German backpacker find the Mayan ruins they're searching for, and uncover a secret so horrifying that they're forbidden to leave - leading to a desperate effort to survive. There's some neat horror and gore here, but the characters are paper-thin and there's not much to this average horror movie. Review here (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2461774#post2461774), on my watchlist thread.

5/10

Nausicaä

05-19-24, 01:51 AM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f3/Poor_Things_poster.jpg/220px-Poor_Things_poster.jpg

3

SF = Zzzz

[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

honeykid

05-19-24, 10:06 AM

Miami Vice (2006) - 2 Erm... And the point of that was? I knew I was better off not wasting my time. But, after 18 years, I finally decided to try. It's not awful, it's just pointless.

Allaby

05-19-24, 08:57 PM

Opposite Day (2009) An accident causes parents and kids to switch personalities and roles in a town. Parents have to go to school, while the kids are suddenly lawyers, police, and executives. If you have a childlike sense of humour and go with the premise, this is a lot of fun. The kids are cute and there are some funny moments. I enjoyed seeing the kids acting like police and the girls dressed up acting like high powered businesswomen. It's silly and wacky, but I dug it. 3.5

KeyserCorleone

05-19-24, 11:31 PM

Dune Part Two

I liked the first one well enough, but I felt it was a bit slow in its second half. Everything that was being built up in the first one was improved on in the second one, especially where the mythology of the Fremen are concerned. Their mystique never broke the spirit or vibe of the film, but steered into sci-fantasy territory pretty heavily, essentially becoming a clever combo of Lawrence of Arabia and Star Wars, the former of which I correctly guessed influenced this novel. The story worked well with the universe itself, and even had sand cinematography beating Lawrence of Arabia. However, it needed more character development for the villains. Nevertheless, excellent movie.

rating_5

FilmBuff

05-19-24, 11:41 PM

https://static1.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/the-strangers-chapter-1-film-poster.jpg

The Strangers: Chapter 1
1.5

Is The Strangers: Chapter 1 a prequel, a reboot, or a sequel?

That's a trick question, of course, because it essentially serves as a feature-length trailer for The Strangers: Chapter 2 and The Strangers: Chapter 3, both of which have already been filmed and will be released theatrically over the next year or so.

But, yeah, at least the first film in the new trilogy doesn't really offer anything that we haven't seen before, as it follows the two previous films so closely that you probably know the story beats by heart already.

However, Renny Harlin, who directed the entire new trilogy, has promised that the next two movies will go in a "new direction" or something like that. Whether you consider that a promise or a threat is up to you.

https://www.saltypopcorn.co.uk/film-images/the-garfield-movie.jpg

The Garfield Movie
1

This time around, Garfield isn't the laziest one around - it's whomever wrote this sloppy, extraordinarily lazy, unfunny and unimaginative film that even little kids may find boring.

The movie is not just a lazy mess, it's also one that fundamentally misunderstands what made Garfield funny in the first place, and has sort of reimagined him as some kind of a feline action star - yes, your ears aren't deceiving you when you hear the themes of both Top Gun and Mission: Impossible during Garfield's antics here.

Everybody who ever read the cartoon strip knows Garfield's isn't a feline Tom Cruise - he's more of a Zach Galifianakis type.

To no one's surprise, the movie is more committed to product placement - everything from a Catflix streaming service to (of course!) Sony laptops, since this is a Sony movie - than to original storytelling or compelling characters.

And to make manners worse, there's even a hint of misogyny due to the fact that both of the main villains are (of course!) women.

Honestly, any of the old comic strips offer more entertainment value than this sorry excuse for a movie.

Fabulous

05-20-24, 12:21 AM

The World (2004)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/d8UEgP7Y76DoPjgai7sDgqd6ZSq.jpg

Jeff

05-20-24, 02:29 AM

The Hidden Fortress -- 1958 -- 4/5 -- will need to see it on disc, but it was pretty good on the Criterion Channel, probably not gonna renew my subscription there, streaming is not the thing for me.

Vengeance is Mine -- 1984 -- ?/5 -- didn't finish it yet, but i like it a lot, it's very much my kind of time capsule, Brooke Adams is a joy to watch. It's extremely serious in a normal way, like if Stephen Spielberg was trying his darndest to be like Bresson.

The Shakedown -- 1929 -- 4/5 -- love all the early Universal silents from Eureka, this was very homey, the orphan making faces with the mobster or whoever that shady character was had me feeling "this is the perfect era of filmmaking".

Regarding streaming and my preference for the disc, my plate is full as it is, true there would be loads of gems seen on my dinky lil computer, but it's not overall worth it for me, i will be buying what i watch on DVD and Blu-ray, will never upgrade to UHD, my present focus is silent films from the silent era, and then other focuses will be Film Noir (it's a pity i didn't collect those Indicator Columbia Noir sets, they're pretty pricey now), and basically boutique label stuff with an auteur focus, with the odd mega popular thing like The Lord of the Rings extended versions.

Mr Minio

05-20-24, 03:47 AM

Miami Vice (2006) - 2 Erm... And the point of that was? I knew I was better off not wasting my time. But, after 18 years, I finally decided to try. It's not awful, it's just pointless. Yeah, it's bad. Li Gong almost saves it, though. :love:

https://c.tenor.com/5Cj2Bgr9NC0AAAAC/miami-vice-gong-li.gif

Jeff

05-20-24, 05:55 AM

Flunky, Work Hard -- 1931 -- 3/5 -- embarking on a Naruse fest, and i may have found the ideal way to stream, sitting in bed, optimal for neck with tilting down instead of up for the tv. This is a charming short silent, which is thematically linked with The Shakedown, as both dealing with a kid and fighting. I just find it hard to be wowed by a film while streaming it, but that might change, i did in the past be wowed through this way of watching films.

chawhee

05-20-24, 08:53 AM

Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
https://photo.cultjer.com/img/cache/width/600/ug_photo/2020_01/15609020200108165301.jpg
3.5
I liked this slightly better on a rewatch. I really like all of the actors involved, and the storyline is heartfelt. The ending is still a bit too abrupt though.

matt72582

05-20-24, 09:21 AM

Fallen Leaves (2023)

Directed by Aki Kaurismäki

Foreign language Golden Globe nominee, we've impatiently waited for this Kaurismäki film for months and finally we've got it. Very good and very depressing movie about the loneliness of the smashed people in the contemporary society.
The theme has a lot of common with the other foreign lang hit of the year: Perfect Days.

rating_4+
82/100
https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=98933

Probably my favorite living director (along with Loach, Leigh) but only found a version with no subtitles but thinking to watch it anyway, since I have been waiting for over a year for this.

matt72582

05-20-24, 09:27 AM

Jeff

05-20-24, 09:40 AM

Excellent movies, and on YouTube for free

https://youtu.be/lNVA6LusW5M

That looks better than my Criterion DVD, thanks!! Youtube often has inferior visual quality, but that's good.

FilmBuff

05-20-24, 10:01 AM

It's great to find a hard-to-find movie on YouTube - except when it's a foreign language movie and it doesn't have subtitles... like Tran Anh Hung's Cyclo.

Jeff

05-20-24, 10:25 AM

Record of a Tenement Gentleman -- 1947 -- 5/5 -- getting into the streaming groove now, no one crafted a story like Ozu, what a first seems pretty simplistic becomes profoundly moving.

Torgo

05-20-24, 11:48 AM

The Legend of Billie Jean - 3

According to a top tune of 1985, "we don't need another hero." What this movie presupposes is...maybe we do? It's easy to see why the impoverished and exploited youth whom Billie (Helen Slater) and her friends represent want someone to speak for and stand up for them. It's also easy to see why Billie's unfortunate experience with bully dad Mr. Pyatt (Bradford) forced that mantle upon her. From the obvious to his distrust of young people to having no moral center when it comes to making a buck, he's a worthy villain of his time. None of this may seem like material that is suitable for a funny and action-packed road movie, but it pulls it off pretty well and without diluting its message.

While I like a lot of the "kids rule and parents drool" entertainment of the '80s and '90s, I agree with other reviewers that this movie has more substance as to where this divide originated. It also deserves credit for letting our heroes retaliate like young people would, what with their marbles, toy guns, video cameras, etc., and in ways grownups do not and/or choose not to understand. On top of that, these scenes are so fun and inspiring - the mall chase in particular - with the soundtrack making you want to listen to Rebel Yell and Invincible over and over again after the movie is over. There's also Keith Gordon's horror-loving, aspiring movie maker Lloyd, which lesser movies like this one would relegate to weirdo status, but it makes him three-dimensional and gives him a chance with the girl!

As entertaining and inspiring as I found this movie, it's good, but not quite great. A bit more subtlety would have helped it, especially in terms of how it portrays adults. Except for Peter Coyote's sympathetic police officer, they're pretty much all bad and painted in broad strokes. I also feel there could have been a scene or two where Billie shares her thoughts about her newfound fame and responsibility. As much as I credit her for leveraging them to seek justice and help those in trouble, especially in the scene where she and her fans confront an abusive father, the lack of such revelations puts her at a distance. I still consider this a very pleasant '80s cult movie discovery, and this is coming from someone who has seen pretty much all of them.

Mr Minio

05-20-24, 12:16 PM

It's great to find a hard-to-find movie on YouTube - except when it's a foreign language movie and it doesn't have subtitles... like Tran Anh Hung's Cyclo.

No subs or terrible quality when better quality is available elsewhere. Watching films on YouTube should be the last resort.

Gideon58

05-20-24, 12:23 PM

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BY2NmM2M2MWItNjdlMC00ZWI3LTkwODUtZDNkYWZjYjgzZjY3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.j pg

1st Rewatch...Silly bordering on offensive lampoon of the growing up in the hood movies of the 1990's like Boyz in the Hood, Menace II Society, Poetic Justice, and Dead Presidents that is becoming hopelessly dated as the years pass and filled with offensive black stereotypes that I didn't find all that funny the first time I watched it and even less so this time. Shawn Wayans manages to maintain his dignity as Ash Tray, but his brother Marlon once again redefines excruciating as his BFF Loc Dog. For hardcore fans of the Wayan Brothers only. Lowering my original rating. 2

Gideon58

05-20-24, 12:36 PM

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYWU0MjgzOGYtZGNmMC00ODAwLTk0NzUtNDdjMTYwMTlkMTQ2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTUzMDUzNTI3._V1_.jpg

3nd Rewatch...This is the first movie I ever reviewed on this site and this is my first rewatch since doing so. This 1987 instant classic still holds up. Chris Columbus wrote this distaff re-imagining of Ferris Bueller's Day Off stars Elisabeth Shue, in the performance of her career as Chris Parker, a vivacious high school student who lives in a Chicago suburb. After being stood up by her scummy boyfriend, she agrees to accept a job babysitting for Brad (who has a mad crush on her), his little sister, Sara, and Brad's BFF Daryl. As soon as the parents leave, Chris gets a phone call from her BFF Brenda who is stranded at the bus station in downtown Chicago and asks Chris if she can come pick her up. Chris has no choice but to pack the kids in the station wagon and head downtown, but en route, they get a flat tire, which kicks off the wildest nightmare of babysitting you can imagine, which includes an encounter with an armed gang on a subway, some dangerous mobsters who are after a PLAYBOY magazine that Daryl confiscated, a respite at a college frat party, and scaling the outside of the building where Brad and Sara's parents are partying. You have to swallow a whole lot here, the story is overprotective of Chris and her charges and really shouldn't have gotten out of this alive, but Chris is so loveable and so serious about her job there is no way we can accept anything happening to them. And, of course, that scene in the blues club is worth the price of admission all by itself. NOTE: Daryl is played by Anthony Rapp, the actor who years later would accuse Kevin Spacey of sexually assaulting him at a party, right around the age he was when he made this film. 4

Gideon58

05-20-24, 12:52 PM

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOGZmMDM1NTQtMzc0Yi00ODRiLWJjYjQtMGRmYWRlOTY2ODMxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.j pg

1st Rewatch....Director Terry Gilliam triumphed with this gut-wrenching, heart-pounding tale of guilt, love, remorse, forgiveness, and redemption that had this reviewer's stomach tied in knots and fighting tears. Oscar winner Jeff Bridges plays Jack, a radio shock job, whose verbal abuse of a caller into his show, causes the guy to go into a nightclub with a rifle and murder seven people. The story flashes forward three years where we find Jack has quit is radio job, is drinking like a fish, and is living with a needy woman named Anne who owns a video rental store. One night, a drunken Jack is on the verge of throwing himself off a bridge when he is attacked by a couple of bored muggers but is rescued by Perry (Oscar winner Robin Williams), a mentally shredded homeless man who it is revealed was married to one of the people who was shot in that nightclub. Jack decides he cannot move on with his life until he makes it up to Perry somehow, but it turns out to be a lot more difficult than giving the guy $70. This movie rips my guts out because as much as we feel for Jack, he is doing all the right things for all the wrong reasons, not to mention the fact we're never really sure if it's not too late to help Perry, especially through Jack trying to help Perry get with the woman (Amanda Plummer) he thinks he's in love with even though she's a stranger. Love that scene in the train station where she walks by him for the first time and all of people in the station grab partners and start waltzing...Gilliam blends magical and nightmarish fantasy sequences into the story. The demons in Perry's head are truly disturbing at time. The story is given an added richness with the Anne character, whose love for Jack touches on obsession, even though it's obvious from their first scene together that Jack doesn't love her. Bridges is brutally unhinged as Jack and Robin Williams' frightening and heartbreaking Perry earned him a Lead Actor Oscar nomination. Mercedes Ruehl won the Oscar for Best Supporting for her desperately needy Anne and Plummer is her usually loopy self. A riveting and disturbing motion picture that destroyed me. Upping my original rating. 4.5

FilmBuff

05-20-24, 12:53 PM

Watching films on YouTube should be the last resort.

This is why my example was a movie that: a) isn't streaming legally anywhere, and b) is OOP on DVD, with used copies going for up to $100

Gideon58

05-20-24, 01:03 PM

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZDk2YTQxZjUtYzJkYi00MTk4LTk4NDAtZmQ3ZGQwMDQxY2ZjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1_.jpg

3rd Rewatch...Despite Oscar winning director Oliver Stone behind the camera and an incredible all-star cast in front of it, this allegedly hard-hitting look at the world of professional football through the orbit of a fictional team called the Florida Sharks, fails to completely engage the viewer due to a severely overstuffed screenplay that tries to cover way too much territory, requiring a scorecard of the viewer to keep up. Among the mini-dramas revealed are the hard drinking head coach (Al Pacino) butting heads with the new general manager (Cameron Diaz); the veteran quarterback (Dennis Quaid) in denial about his mortality as an athlete and his wife (Lauren Holly) who's not having it; the third string QB (Jamie Foxx) who finally gets off the bench and puts the team back in the thick of it but lets his success go to his head; a morally bankrupt team doctor (James Woods) who has been putting team needs above the actual medical needs of the players and a pair of defensive players (LL Cool J, Lawrence Taylor), who are willing to risk their lives in order to get the stats they heed for endorsement deals. Any one of these stories would have made a great movie all by itself, but when Stone throws them all together, including more I didn't even mention, it's just overkill. Pacino's character is just Tony Montana without the cocaine and Diaz is miscast. Somehow, Jamie Foxx digs out of the muck and delivers a star-making performance as Willie Beamen that makes this movie sitting through. 3

Gideon58

05-20-24, 01:15 PM

[QUOTE=FilmBuff;2461590]https://pics.filmaffinity.com/back_to_black-400102930-large.jpg

Back to Black
2

If Back to Black weren't based on the very real Amy Winehouse, the script would probably have been dismissed for being nothing more than a compendium of movie cliches about talented but flawed singers who died tragically young due to addiction or substance abuse.

That's why it's a shame that this biopic feels like exactly that. it has the feelings of a by-the-book repeat of almost every scene that you've ever seen in any movie about singers like her. It also doesn't help that the movie practically condones the awful way she was treated by some of the men in her life (the director has regrettably tried to justify it by claiming it's just showing how Amy saw these men).

In any case, unless you caught the one-time-only Dolby Cinema showing earlier in the week, the movie's best assets will not even sound particularly impressive in most movie theaters.

This one ranks right up there with Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody as far as disappointing biopics about gifted singers who succumbed to their addictions.

It can't be any worse than the documentary which I watched last weekend and found to be a crashing bore.

Stirchley

05-20-24, 01:17 PM

Re-watch of an excellent movie. Both leads excellent, but Rory Kinnear was beyond. Great actor. Guessing AgrippinaX has seen this?

98958

Good French movie. How an actor embedded in this real French school as a teacher has me dumbfounded but it worked. Boy, who thought middle school American kids were wild. :eek:

98959

Tycoon

05-20-24, 01:20 PM

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTMwZTVmODQtOTdmMS00NWNmLWJlMGQtN2IzYjA5ZGExMmE5XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTUzMDUzNTI3._V1_QL75_UX190_CR0, 0,190,281_.jpg

Didn't see this movie until yet. It's rather fine but could be better. The ending is like Mike Nichols didn't know what to do though.

7/10

Mr Minio

05-20-24, 01:32 PM

This is why my example was a movie that: a) isn't streaming legally anywhere, and b) is OOP on DVD, with used copies going for up to $100

Absolutely. Just pointing out that poor YouTube rips of films that are easily available somewhere else in a much better quality/release are a common phenomenon.

But yeah, if the keyword is legally, this can indeed be an issue.

Deschain

05-20-24, 01:37 PM

FilmBuff

05-20-24, 01:39 PM

Absolutely. Just pointing out that poor YouTube rips of films that are easily available somewhere else in a much better quality/release are a common phenomenon.

But yeah, if the keyword is legally, this can indeed be an issue.

The copyright holder can get it taken down real fast if they report it. It's amazing that so many movies of dubious origin go unreported. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Mr Minio

05-20-24, 01:48 PM

The copyright holder can get it taken down real fast if they report it. It's amazing that so many movies of dubious origin go unreported. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Yep, I don't mind not/reporting them. But I wish people would watch each film in the best version they can find. It's quite demotivating to see people who could easily access, say, a Bluray rip of a film, resort to watching a poor VHS rip on YouTube instead. Now, there's a whole different conversation about a specific group of films that look better on VHS than on Bluray, but that group isn't that big.

There are whole channels that upload films to YouTube in poor quality. They're just a waste. Most of those films are available in 1080p restored versions.

Gideon58

05-20-24, 01:49 PM

I only saw this once as a kid but I remember enjoying it, you got me wanting to rewatch it. It also features a young Vincent D’Onofrio has “Thor.”

D'Onofrio actually looks very hot in this movie.

Marco

05-20-24, 02:10 PM

The Black Dahlia (2006)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/57/Black_dahlia_ver264.jpg
Tepid telling of the story of the unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short. All the components are there for a good watch but the bland script and the fact Josh Hartnett doesn't really have star value means it turns out to be just a decent watch.
2

FilmBuff

05-20-24, 02:14 PM

The Blue Dahlia > The Black Dahlia :p

AgrippinaX

05-20-24, 02:53 PM

Re-watch of an excellent movie. Both leads excellent, but Rory Kinnear was beyond. Great actor. Guessing AgrippinaX has seen this?

98958

I have indeed. Buckley is always great, and Rory Kinnear was indeed spectacular. I think the concept could use some refining/development, but they both kept it engaging enough.

I quite like Garland — even his latest offering had something to it, I thought.

Stirchley

05-20-24, 03:12 PM

I have indeed. Buckley is always great, and Rory Kinnear was indeed spectacular. I think the concept could use some refining/development, but they both kept it engaging enough.

I quite like Garland — even his latest offering had something to it, I thought.

What was his latest?

AgrippinaX

05-20-24, 04:00 PM

What was his latest?

Civil War. Strange movie. I worked with and around journalists for years, and can understand what fascinated him there, but it didn’t quite come off imo.

Stirchley

05-20-24, 05:47 PM

Civil War. Strange movie. I worked with and around journalists for years, and can understand what fascinated him there, but it didn’t quite come off imo.

I have it in a watchlist. So far the thing that most interests me is the cast.

Darth Pazuzu

05-20-24, 05:50 PM

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81ZON1W2FiL._AC_UY218_.jpg

Bad Day at Black Rock (John Sturges / 1955)

I really must say that, although I love The Magnificent Seven and I thought Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and Hour of the Gun were decent versions of the Wyatt Earp / Tombstone saga, I have to say that Bad Day at Black Rock is my favorite John Sturges film (so far). Something of a "neo-Western," it's also a very taut and involving crime thriller with a group of very well-written and well-conceived characters. Spencer Tracy portrays John J. Macreedy, a one-armed World War II vet who's taken the streamliner train to a small, isolated town in the middle of nowhere to look for a Japanese man named Komoko. What he finds, however, is a town full of shifty, mistrustful people who respond adversely to his presence. There is a sheriff (Dean Jagger), but he proves to be somewhat useless. Sometime John Wayne sidekick Walter Brennan gives one of his best performances - "teeth in" - as the local doctor, who is struggling with his conscience and is one of the few people determined to aid Macreedy in unearthing something terrible that happened four years before. The unofficial leader of the town is Reno Smith (Robert Ryan), and he's backed up by two threatening sidekicks, Coley (Ernest Borgnine) and Hector (Lee Marvin). Macreedy isn't looking for trouble, and is in fact here on one last errand before - in his words - "retiring from the human race." But the suspicious actions and behavior of Black Rock's citizens put his antennae up and make him energized and determined to find out just what's going on and what happened to Komoko.

The movie is very much a character-driven piece, and almost has the feel of a stage play. But that doesn't mean it skimps on action setpieces. There is a car chase in the desert, and at one point the one-armed Tracy is forced into a physical confrontation with Borgnine's character at the local bar, where he proceeds to quite satisfactorily wipe the floor with him! And the final nighttime showdown between Tracy's Macreedy and Ryan's Reno is quite suspenseful, with Macreedy being forced to drain fuel from his car in order to make a Molotov cocktail. The supporting cast of course is familiar to anyone who's familiar with the Western genre. In addition to Marvin, Borgnine and Brennan, we've also got Dean Jagger and John Ericson. I'm also a really big fan of Samuel Fuller's Forty Guns, and Jagger and Ericson both have supporting roles in that one. One might say that the characters they both play here are slightly more redeemable incarnations of the characters they play in Fuller's film. The film also owes a great deal to other similar serious, character-driven Westerns of the '50s such as The Gunfighter and High Noon

One of these days, I'm also going to check out Sturges' Last Train from Gun Hill. Believe it or not, I've also never seen The Great Escape, either! :)

AgrippinaX

05-20-24, 06:03 PM

I have it in a watchlist. So far the thing that most interests me is the cast.

The cast is pretty interesting and they somehow vibe together. Haven’t seen Dunst in anything worthwhile since Melancholia.

wositelec

05-21-24, 01:45 AM

Prawo i pięść / Law and Fist (1964)

At the end of World War Two, Polish people move to the western lands vacated by Germans. But some ruthless profiteers pose as government representatives and intend to make off with loot from a deserted town they took over. One honest man stands up against them because he believes these goods belong to the people.

https://www.poster.pl/posters/swierzy_waldemar_prawo_i_piesc_lit.jpg

TDH1878

05-21-24, 02:41 AM

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
4

https://film-grab.com/wp-content/uploads/photo-gallery/Dawn_of_the_Planet_of_the_Apes_037.jpg?bwg=1602069916

Jeff

05-21-24, 03:05 AM

The Calgary Stampede -- 1925 -- 3/5 -- just yer garden variety western, leading man's real name was Hoot, and i was born in Calgary, so for me it's a real hoot. This guy wants to marry a lady, but her father don't like his Irish name so they argue and another guy shoots the dad through the window and escapes, so the Irishman is blamed. Tested out the commentary and there's interesting info on mass bison slaughter to kick things off.

Fabulous

05-21-24, 04:07 AM

Unknown Pleasures (2002)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/Ar7cxNrItYmqPRDcBKeeoTsHhhN.jpg

PHOENIX74

05-21-24, 05:13 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/xTnrqKNJ/notorious.jpg
By "Copyright 1946 RKO Radio Pictures Inc." - Scan via Heritage Auctions. Cropped from the original image., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=87339746

Notorious - (1946)

A nice easy to follow spy thriller and love story rolled into one - featuring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman as government agent T. R. Devlin and an American daughter of a convicted Nazi spy, Alicia Huberman, respectively. There are many classic Hitchcock moments of suspense - drawn out for as long as cinematically possible - and tricky moments. Huberman must infiltrate a group of ex-Nazis in Brazil by seducing Alexander Sebastian (an Oscar-nominated Claude Rains) - but that's complicated by the fact that Devlin and Huberman have fallen in love with each other. There's talent all-round in every department here, making Notorious a very crisp, smart and dazzlingly-paced spy movie which gallops along from start to finish. Huberman isn't a very nice character at first, but as we get to know her our sympathies flow her way to a greater and greater degree - especially seeing as she's risking her life and sacrificing her love for a cause she's being forced into. The way Grant sours over the whole situation shows what an effective dramatic actor he could be. Rains is terrific as the bamboozled mama's boy who really thinks Huberman loves him.

7.5/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/51/Knight_and_day_09.jpg
By IMP Awards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25509925

Knight and Day - (2010)

Here we have Tom Cruise as Roy Miller - a deadly, but decidedly goofy, spy - and Cameron Diaz as June Havens, the lady who just happens to cross paths with him and becomes embroiled in an action adventure involving some kind of super battery invented by Simon Feck (Paul Dano). It's a Cruise film, so that action has to be pumped up to the MAX and the whole cast look like they've been snorting cocaine throughout the shoot. "High energy" I think it's called - a few jokes and already the next action scene is upon us, with terrific destruction, explosions, and Cruise, nearly 50 at this stage, acting like he's 28. At least Diaz, though 10 years younger, is somewhat age-appropriate. It's A-lister stuff, but very commercial and lacking in gravitas. Oh, and is it okay to drug ladies without their knowledge? I thought that was wrong. The movie tries to make that okay by giving Diaz a chance to drug Cruise - but I'm not sure that makes it okay. That aspect to Knight and Day was a little suspect...

6/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/75/Thedevils1971poster.png
By IMP Awards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26777773

The Devils - (1971)

Absolutely superb film about Father Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed) - a real life French person of note who was burned at the stake when Sister Jeanne des Anges (Vanessa Redgrave) accused him of witchcraft. It was all sex and politics - which, when mixed with religion, is always explosive. Reviewed here (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2461884#post2461884), in my watchlist thread.

9/10

TDH1878

05-21-24, 05:23 AM

War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
4

https://film-grab.com/wp-content/uploads/photo-gallery/War_for_the_Planet_of_the_Apes_010.jpg?bwg=1602758978

matt72582

05-21-24, 08:20 AM

Prawo i pięść / Law and Fist (1964)

https://www.poster.pl/posters/swierzy_waldemar_prawo_i_piesc_lit.jpg

I don't speak the language, but for those who do (or whatever), here's a very clear version

https://youtu.be/PbvyMkxv80Q

Gideon58

05-21-24, 01:22 PM

Knight and Day - (2010)

Here we have Tom Cruise as Roy Miller - a deadly, but decidedly goofy, spy - and Cameron Diaz as June Havens, the lady who just happens to cross paths with him and becomes embroiled in an action adventure involving some kind of super battery invented by Simon Feck (Paul Dano). It's a Cruise film, so that action has to be pumped up to the MAX and the whole cast look like they've been snorting cocaine throughout the shoot. "High energy" I think it's called - a few jokes and already the next action scene is upon us, with terrific destruction, explosions, and Cruise, nearly 50 at this stage, acting like he's 28. At least Diaz, though 10 years younger, is somewhat age-appropriate. It's A-lister stuff, but very commercial and lacking in gravitas. Oh, and is it okay to drug ladies without their knowledge? I thought that was wrong. The movie tries to make that okay by giving Diaz a chance to drug Cruise - but I'm not sure that makes it okay. That aspect to Knight and Day was a little suspect...

6/10

This movie was terrible...JMO

Gideon58

05-21-24, 01:27 PM

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTQxMjI1Nzc0M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMTc0Mzg2Mg@@._V1_.jpg

1st Rewatch...Was hoping this movie might improve upon a second viewing but it wasn't to be. Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell play a couple who want to attend a couples seminar that is located at a beautiful tropical island resort, but they can't afford it by themselves, so they invite three other couples to chip on the trip, making them believe it is just going to be a vacation. Other than absolutely gorgeous scenery, there's very little here to latch onto in this slightly smarmy sex comedy that gets more tiresome as it progresses. Jon Favreau and Jean Reno provide sporadic laughs, but this movie isn't much more than a very pretty picture postcard. 2

Gideon58

05-21-24, 01:36 PM

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81qOYSmKt7L._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg

1st Rewatch....From the "Been There Done That" school of filmmaking comes this formulaic road trip comedy that attempts originality by making the protagonists female. Four black BFF's who named themselves "the Flosse Posse" back in the day reunite after a couple of decades to attend the Essence Festival in New Orleans. Ryan (Regina Hall) is now an Oprah-type media mogul; Sasha (Queen Latifah) is a gossip blogger; Dina (Tiffany Haddish) is an unemployed party girl. and Lisa (Jada Pinkett Smith) is a divorced single mom who has centered her entire life around her kids. This big budget comedy offers nothing we haven't seen before. Hall and the Queen manage to maintain their dignity, but Haddish's Dina is one of the most annoying movie characters I've seen in the last decade or so and Pinkett Smith is just miscast. Of course, all the male characters are properly objectified or complete morons, but it doesn't help disguise what a tedious movie this is. 2

Gideon58

05-21-24, 03:45 PM

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZDkyNjE0NzMtNTgxYS00MDE4LWI0OWYtZGNmNDcxNjRhMTY3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMDM2NDM2MQ@@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.j pg

4

Jeff

05-21-24, 11:04 PM

What Happened to Jones -- 1926 -- 4/5 -- my 2nd Reginald Denny, while not as good imo as Skinner's Dress Suit it's still quite lovely.

Poker Faces -- 1926 -- 4/5 -- pretty neat, getting a better feel of the roaring 20's playing field. Watching while dad snores away.

PHOENIX74

05-21-24, 11:08 PM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a7/Frackman_poster.jpg
By May be found at the following website: [1], film copyrighted., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46499698

Frackman - (2015)

Here's an issue which affects Australia and the United States in equal measure - mining gas from coal seams by use of fracking, along with other measures. Starts off with gas companies and politicians - both with money foremost on their minds, which makes them willing to destroy sensitive ecological areas and pristine land for a buck. Because of the power these companies wield, backed by the people who run your country, landowners had no choice but to allow gas mining on their land, which in short order would be completely destroyed. The drinking water becomes poison, gas leaks are everywhere, the wildlife is dead, the soil can't sustain any growth, the noise for residents is unbearable - basically the place is no longer habitable, and despite the owners of the land not having a choice or being at fault, the value of their property has suddenly dropped to $0. How unfair is that? Tens of thousands of oil wells have been sunk in Queensland alone, with plans for tens of thousands more - for they fail after a while, and a new well must be sunk. It's horrifying stuff, and the sheer destruction of precious habitats, including to the fishing industry on the shores where these gas companies export, is possibly the biggest scandal in history once we start reckoning with what's happened. We don't hear enough about this - our future is being sold and poisoned, and future generations are about to be granted a sickly, dead planet. We need renewable, non-gas dependent energy now.

7/10

WHITBISSELL!

05-22-24, 01:07 AM

Rewatched this and don't have much to add so I'll just quote my November 2021 review. The only thing I did take note of was that these people were egregiously dumb. They repeatedly did things that left you asking, "Why in God's name would you do that?" But hey, '50's scifi. https://ilarge.lisimg.com/image/22998069/800full-it%21-the-terror-from-beyond-space-screenshot.jpg

https://78.media.tumblr.com/dfdc6fd4b824f0f5be63523f4e39aa34/tumblr_p6j6hmwXRr1rgmfmpo2_400.gif

It! The Terror from Beyond Space - Low budget 1958 B&W scifi/horror. It stars Marshall Thompson as Col. Edward Carruthers, the commander of Challenge 141, the first manned expedition to Mars. That ship crash landed and a second mission has been sent to look for survivors. Carruthers turns out to be the sole survivor of the 10 man crew. He tells his rescuers that an unidentified creature had killed the rest of his crew during a Martian sandstorm. They don't believe him of course and make plans to get him back to Earth to face a court martial and execution. One of the crew leaves a bay door open long enough while disposing of debris for an unwanted hitchhiker to make it's way aboard.

This is low budget but not egregiously so. The so called "ship" is exclusively shown to be traveling in a vertical position (accompanied by wacky sound effects). That's probably due to how the set was built with each level separated by hatches. Plus I'm sure the budget didn't allow for weightlessness. This ties in directly to the plot though, with the survivors not only having to retreat to sequential levels but also adding to the claustrophobic feel.

It's a short one, clocking in at 69 minutes, but the story doesn't feel rushed. I didn't recognize any of the other cast outside of character actor Dabbs Greer. There are two female scientists on board, one a doctor and the other a geologist. Their first time onscreen however has them serving coffee to the male crew members like intergalactic waitresses. Outside of dated clunkers like that it does a reasonably good job with the thriller aspect of it's story. The remaining survivors throw everything they have at the creature which it mostly shrugs off. You, on the other hand, have to shrug off the fact that many of their attempts would have most assuredly led to hull integrity being compromised followed by catastrophic implosion. But then accuracy should never enter the equation when watching this kind of movie. It's actually not bad.

75/100

FilmBuff

05-22-24, 01:13 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/y8z6JwzX/IMG-1138.jpg

The Beach Boys (IMAX showing)
2.5

For most of my life, it would have seemed unfathomable that there would have been intense rivalry between The Beach Boys and The Beatles. I had come to know about these bands long after their heyday, when their reputations were quite firm and the difference in their styles cemented for posterity.

But, as it turns out, not only was there a bitter rivalry between the two boy bands, they also inarguably influenced each other significantly, and this documentary lays out the case of how this happened.

It's a shame that the documentary wasn't directed by someone with more, well, experience as a documentarian, because the end result, for all of the immense access it evidently enjoyed, is a mixed bag.

There is noticeably a lack of balance between the "inner view" of what was going on inside the band and the "outside view", best represented by Janelle Monáe, who explains how The Beach Boys influenced her musically. The documentary could have benefitted from more interviews like that one.

Also, there is a palpable desire to get quickly past all of the "uncomfortable" stuff - the family disputes, the sale of their catalog behind their backs by the Wilson brothers' father, and also the tangential connection with the Charles Manson murders. The stuff is not ignored, but it certainly isn't something that is explored extensively.

By the time "Kokomo" came out in the 80s, I barely knew a thing about who The Beach Boys were, or that they were making a comeback after a rather long time.

Now that I know more about them, the giddy cheerfulness of most of their better-known songs seems a lot more ironic.

Guaporense

05-22-24, 02:41 AM

Princess Mononoke (1997)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8c/Princess_Mononoke_Japanese_poster.png

It has been ten years since the last time I watched this masterpiece. However, rewatching it, I noticed that I still remembered its plot almost perfectly.

Almost every frame of this movie is bursting with beauty and earnest emotional power as it is clearly noticeable that Miyazaki was literally trying to make the best animated scene ever made for every 30 seconds of the movie. :eek: Certainly its among Miazaki's best movies, it is clearly an all time favorite of mine. Indeed, it's a near-perfect action epic, easily one of the best anime movies ever made. In fact, it's one that is almost impossible to surpass in its passion and beauty: it's the animation equivalent of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel.

Jeff

05-22-24, 03:50 AM

The Love of Jeanne Ney -- 1927 -- 4/5 -- didn't like the story too much, but the visuals were sumptuously depressing. I hope to see Joyless Street sometime on Blu-ray.

Fabulous

05-22-24, 03:57 AM

Factory Girl (2006)

3

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/m2riFhDS9W5icqoDnLuAKnBi6WE.jpg

chawhee

05-22-24, 09:12 AM

Christine (2016)
https://www.dcfilmdom.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Christine-Movie-Trailer-2016-718x400.jpg
3.5
Someone on this site mentioned this one awhile back, and I made sure to try and eventually watch it. It certainly captured the era well, as it's hard to believe this movie was made in 2016. I was uncomfortable watching this one, as Christine is such a different person than I am, but its a compelling film. One of the themes certainly rings true today in terms of bad news sells more than good news (several parts of this even reminded me of Nightcrawler a bit)

Mr Minio

05-22-24, 09:58 AM

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZDkyNjE0NzMtNTgxYS00MDE4LWI0OWYtZGNmNDcxNjRhMTY3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMDM2NDM2MQ@@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.j pg

4

crumbsroom no rant this time? :p

crumbsroom

05-22-24, 12:00 PM

crumbsroom no rant this time? :p

Why would I care if someone likes a movies I don't?

Mr Minio

05-22-24, 12:06 PM

Why would I care if someone likes a movies I don't?

You were quite vocal about this film before. I thought you enjoyed discussing this stuff with people.

Thief

05-22-24, 12:13 PM

BRAVE
(2012, Andrews and Chapman)

https://i.imgur.com/ORkc6O6.png

"Fate be changed, look inside. Mend the bond torn by pride."

Brave follows the defiant Princess Merida (Kelly Macdonald) as she is about to be betrothed to the son of one of her father's allies. Refusing to go on with the custom and confronted by her strict mother (Emma Thompson), Merida flees into the forest where a witch gives her a spell to "change" her mother. However, the resulting "change" ends up being more than she could bear, forcing her to "mend the bond" with the queen to save the kingdom, but more important, their family.

This is a film that has eluded me for some reason. However, a couple of months ago, I saw and enjoyed the Pixar short film The Legend of Mor'du not even knowing it was tied to this. When I found out I, decided to finally check it out and I was pleasantly surprised. Released a couple of years after Tangled, it seems to follow a similar template in terms of having a female lead, where the main conflict is more internal and emotional/psychological, and the "antagonist" is actually secondary to the overall story. Here, the main issue is in the strained relationship between Merida and Elinor.

Grade: 4

Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2462213#post2462213)

Gideon58

05-22-24, 12:29 PM

https://www.mhsmarquee.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/pitch-perfect-2.jpeg

1st Rewatch...Elizabeth Banks made her directorial debut with this unnecessary sequel that makes Cocaine Bear look like Gone with the Wind. Full disclosure, I had issues with the first film because, as someone who did a lot of acapella choral singing in high school, felt that the film oversimplified the art of acapella singing and if you watch either film, it's pretty clear that, technically, these singers are not really performing acapella. It's made even worse in this film which features a scene where two different choirs participate in a "battle", where the two choirs make up acapella arrangements on the spot, which is absolutely impossible. The only real laughs in the film come from Banks and John Michaels as the commentators/judges. 1.5

Gideon58

05-22-24, 12:40 PM

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/o3oAAOSwRr5Zp5nw/s-l1600.jpg

4th Rewatch...This was my fourth and final watch of this film, which I have decided to classify, along with Forrester Gump, as a film that gets a little dumber with each rewatch. This is the story of a group of terrorists who manage to hijack the presidential airliner in order to get the President (Harrison Ford) to authorize the release of a dangerous political prisoner. First of all, as Vice President Katherine Bennett (Glenn Close) says when she first learns what happens, "It can't be that easy", referring to the murder of six foreign press corp members and fabricating fake passports, ID, fingerprints, etc. It makes me wonder exactly how safe our government is keeping us. Or how that rogue secret service agent (Xander Berkley) planned all of this without anyone catching onto what he was doing. I've always been troubled by the way Marshall hid in the bowels of the plane and listed over the intercom while poor Melanie Mitchell was murdered. How that plane stayed in the air after the entire tail was blown off, but conveniently crashed into the ocean, dissolving in a million pieces with Berkley aboard. Despite all of this, somehow Ford's earnest performance as the President and Gary Oldman's bone-chilling turn as the head terrorist do keep the viewer invested up to a point. 3

Gideon58

05-22-24, 12:50 PM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Imitation_of_Life_1959_poster.jpg

5th Rewatch...Lana Turner had one of her best roles and a box office smash with this melodrama that was a 1959 remake of a 1934 drama based on a novel by Fannie Hurst, that raised eyebrows due to its racial themes. Turner is a widowed mom who wants to be an actress who takes in a kind-hearted black woman, also a widowed mom, and allows the woman to be her maid while she doggedly pursues a career as a Broadway actress. As she finds the fame she has craved for so long, she puts her daughter on the back burner. Meanwhile, her maid's light-skinned daughter finds nothing but trouble as she attempts to pass for white. Producer Ross Hunter and director Douglas Sirk, the kings of 1950's melodrama, were in their element here and made most of this quite credible. There are some dated elements and some slightly over the top moments that still produce unintentional giggles from this reviewer, but this solid entertainment for the most part. Turner, draped in a stunning Edith Head wardrobe, commands the screen and Juanita Moore's enchanting performance as Annie, Turner's maid, earned her a supporting actress nomination. Susan Kohner also earned a supporting actress nomination for her performance as Annie's daughter, Sarah Jane, though I'm not sure why. Studio heads were reluctant to give Turner this role because it was right after her daughter went on trial for stabbing Turner's mobster boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato. They reached an agreement when Turner agreed to a cut of her normal salary and take a share of the profits instead. 3.5

Thief

05-22-24, 12:51 PM

CARLO
(2004, Roskam)

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

"Let's be honest; if it's just luck that something happens, what follows is no longer luck but merely a simple consequence. True or not true?"

Carlo, the short film, follows the titular character (Hans Knaepen), a simple guy that works in a slaughterhouse who, because of a stroke of bad luck, finds himself in the middle of a case of mistaken identity with some criminals. What follows is no longer luck, but the simple consequences of this mistake and him trying to get out of it.

Grade: 4

Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2462221#post2462221)

Stirchley

05-22-24, 01:35 PM

Factory Girl (2006)

3

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/m2riFhDS9W5icqoDnLuAKnBi6WE.jpg

I should take a look at this.

Christine (2016)
https://www.dcfilmdom.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Christine-Movie-Trailer-2016-718x400.jpg
3.5
Someone on this site mentioned this one awhile back, and I made sure to try and eventually watch it. It certainly captured the era well, as it's hard to believe this movie was made in 2016. I was uncomfortable watching this one, as Christine is such a different person than I am, but its a compelling film. One of the themes certainly rings true today in terms of bad news sells more than good news (several parts of this even reminded me of Nightcrawler a bit)

Huge fan of Rebecca Hall. Twice enjoyed this movie.

Stirchley

05-22-24, 01:37 PM

98966

Sad sweet movie. Two leads vey good.

98967

Odd little movie apparently greatly improvised which makes it more interesting. Well-acted.

crumbsroom

05-22-24, 02:32 PM

You were quite vocal about this film before. I thought you enjoyed discussing this stuff with people.

I discuss and disagree with people's arguments for why they do or don't like something. Not whether or not they simply like or dislike it, because I don't care about that. A distinction I made pretty clearly in my thread, where I was explaining why I thought it was shit.

matt72582

05-22-24, 02:42 PM

No End - 7.5/10
Always something that tickles my brain in Kieślowski's movies.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/98/Noend.jpg

Gideon58

05-22-24, 04:08 PM

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BM2EzZmFmMmItODY3Zi00NjdjLWE0MTYtZWQ3MGIyM2M4YjZhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMzg2MzE2OTE@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.j pg

4.5

Thief

05-22-24, 05:18 PM

RED-HEADED WOMAN
(1932, Conway)

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

"Sally, I made up my mind a long time ago, I'm not gonna spend my whole life on the wrong side of the railroad tracks."

Red-Headed Woman follows Lil (Jean Harlow), a young woman that is willing to do anything to climb the corporate ladder. This includes seducing her married wealthy boss, his wealthier father, a well-known tycoon and client of the company, and his driver. Will all this be enough to get her on the "right" side of the tracks?

This was yet another film I saw as I was preparing for a podcast episode on Pre-Code films and this was certainly a pretty solid example of what Pre-Code is. You gotta love a film that presents a lead character that is reprehensible and not likable, and still sticks with her all the way. Lil is indeed unlikable, has no scruples, and her moral compass is out of whack, if non-existent; and still I found myself fascinated by her character.

Grade: 3.5

Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2462286#post2462286)

hacxx

05-22-24, 05:32 PM

2 out of 5. Some random free iptv channel movies. Mostly old us movies and series...

Pm me for link

Thief

05-22-24, 06:03 PM

Fabulous

05-23-24, 01:19 AM

May December (2023)

3

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/97MOhHIgU6ZdLcB9DrAhx3WAqrU.jpg

stillmellow

05-23-24, 03:09 AM

If (2024)

Pretty dull and uninspired, I'm afraid. The character design of the Ifs is good, and it does manage to tug on a few heartstrings by the end, but overall it's a direct to TV sort of plot, with tired ideas borrowed from better movies (mostly by Pixar). All its best jokes are in the trailer.

Its most novel feature is its willingness to just be a standalone movie. No signs of any plans for sequels or metaverses. That's a rarity in kids movies these days.

Ryan Reynolds looked like he was trying to somehow mentally "will" himself out of the movie.

Meh

PHOENIX74

05-23-24, 05:32 AM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a4/They_Got_Me_Covered_FilmPoster.jpeg
By The cover art can be obtained from Movieposterdb.com., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34899234

They Got Me Covered - (1943)

One of the lesser Bob Hope comedies - most of the jokes are real groaners, and some made me feel bad for the cast. I watched Hope in My Favorite Brunette (1947), and I thought he was great in that. Maybe it was because Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour were being loaned out from Paramount to Samuel Goldwyn Productions. A dud director and screenwriters could pretty much spoil things. The story wasn't bad though - war-time espionage, which considering that the war was actually still raging is funny to consider. This has "formula" written all over it, with worn out gags - the actors try their best but mediocre writing and paint-by-numbers set-ups can only do so much. Hope plays Robert Kittredge - a journalist after a big scoop after getting into a mess by predicting that Germany would not attack Russia. Interesting but not funny enough.

5/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b1/November_%282017_film%29.jpg
By IMDB - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6164502/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55168829

November - (2017)

Absolutely crazy Estonian film involving greedy 19th Century peasants, werewolves, ghosts, and inanimate objects that have souls and talk. I loved it! Full review here (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2462163#post2462163), in my watchlist thread.

8/10

https://i.postimg.cc/135ckZtr/ternal-road.jpg
By Nordisk Film - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4173170/mediaviewer/rm4033556992, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56858061

The Eternal Road - (2017)

One Finnish man's struggle after he is kidnapped and ends up in the Soviet Union, forced to spy on American Finnish immigrants trying to realise a worker's paradise. It's a very nice looking real-life cinematic homage to those who lost their lives to Stalin's purges, but the main character is a bit of a bore, and his struggle sometimes feels half-hearted. Full review here (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2462392#post2462392), in my watchlist thread.

6/10

Thief

05-23-24, 11:39 AM

MIKEY AND NICKY
(1976, May)

https://i.imgur.com/Q1edJgq.jpg

"I think that's the reason we're such good friends. Because we remember each other from when we were kids. Things that happened when we were kids that no one knows about but us. It's in our heads."

That angle is part of what's simmering in Elaine May's drama Mikey and Nicky. The film follows the titular characters (Peter Falk and John Cassavetes), two childhood friends and small-time mobsters that have to reconcile who they were with who they are now. When Nicky has a contract put on him for stealing money, he asks Mikey for help, which puts to the test how much of a friend are they and how much was in their heads.

Because, again, the burden of the film is on the lead's shoulders as they're on screen 95% of the time, and they carry it marvelously. The way that Falk and Cassavetes build this chemistry that makes you believe they're childhood friends, while also imbuing this tension about the true motivations of each of them is stellar. Mikey is a bit pitiful and pathetic, but is he a true friend or is he looking for some payback? Nicky is erratic and ultimately an a$$hole, but at the end of the day, is his paranoia unfounded?

Grade: 4

Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2462422#post2462422)

Torgo

05-23-24, 11:56 AM

Deathtrap - 4

This is a funny and witty thriller with more twists than fusilli that proves that nothing is more dangerous than repeated failure. Does having a string of flops make one psychotic? Sidney Bruhl (Caine) and Max Bialystock from The Producers must mean it does, but what's important is that the movie provides a satisfying insider's perspective into its impact beyond the box office. Caine succeeds at making Bruhl's resulting desperation, misery and bloodlust from his continued lack of a hit palpable, as does Dyan Cannon's anxiety-ridden wife for how she indicates the consequences of standing by such a man. The revelation here, though - at least for me since I've only seen him in Superman - is Reeve's aspiring playwright and would-be Bruhl protege. He's so good at making you wonder if he's the learner or the master, not to mention at providing many laughs in the process. Again, "twist" is the name of the game here, and I don't mean the Shyamalan variety. They're constant yet never tiresome, and as soon as I thought I could predict the next one, I was proven wrong.

If my review seems vague and incomplete so far, it's mostly because I don't want to spoil anything. I'll at least add without hopefully doing so that "meta" is thrown around so much lately that the word has nearly lost all meaning, but in this case, the descriptor fits and then some. Now that I've surely infuriated you with all these vagaries, I'll conclude by saying that the movie thrills, chills and made me laugh many times, which says a lot considering it mostly consists of three people in a room. Oh, and the movie earns points for being daring for its era, but once again, I won't reveal in what way.

LChimp

05-23-24, 11:58 AM

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/6f/69/00/6f690089947a98659643e2ce8f5f0200.png

Godzilla X Kong - The New Empire - (2024)

No joke, this movie gets crazier and crazier every ten minutes. The ending is Transformers levels of destruction and stuff flying all over the place.

Allaby

05-23-24, 12:01 PM

Devil Girl From Mars (1954) Watched on Tubi. This is not as entertaining as it should be, but there are a couple fun moments. I liked the design of the spaceship and the robot. The alien woman is the best character and the film should have focused more on her. The other characters are boring. Despite the film's flaws, I would still go to Mars if a sexy alien lady asked me to. 2.5

Gideon58

05-23-24, 12:22 PM

https://pieandchaimagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Revenge-of-the-Nerds-art.jpg

Umpteenth Rewatch....This raunchy cult classic college hijinks comedy is still just as funny as it was 40 years ago. This movie still makes me laugh out. Love a pre-Roseanne John Goodman as the football coach and Curtis Armstrong as Booger, who steal every scene they're in. 3.5

FilmBuff

05-23-24, 01:26 PM

https://www.tribute.ca/news/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Uncut-Gems.jpg

Uncut Gems (IMAX presentation)
3

I was really bummed about watching Uncut Gems in a tiny theater screen back in December 2019 - to me, it felt like the movie deserved better. But with a bunch of big-budget franchise movies crowding out the bigger, better screens, it was pretty much out of the question.

Thank goodness, A24 is re-releasing some of their biggest hits in IMAX showings across North America, and this felt like the perfect opportunity to catch Uncut Gems the way I wish I could have watched it back in 2019 - in the biggest IMAX around.

This is exactly how moviegoers should have been able to watch it when it first opened in theaters, but they were all too busy buying tickets for the umpteenth Star Wars.

A movie that takes place in the big city deserves to be seen on the biggest screen.

For those who are interested in the A24 IMAX re-releases, the next one on the schedule is the Director's Cut of Midsommar, which runs almost 3 hours. It will be shown in IMAX in mid-June.

matt72582

05-23-24, 02:34 PM

MIKEY AND NICKY
(1976, May)

https://i.imgur.com/Q1edJgq.jpg

That angle is part of what's simmering in Elaine May's drama Mikey and Nicky. The film follows the titular characters (Peter Falk and John Cassavetes), two childhood friends and small-time mobsters that have to reconcile who they were with who they are now. When Nicky has a contract put on him for stealing money, he asks Mikey for help, which puts to the test how much of a friend are they and how much was in their heads.

Because, again, the burden of the film is on the lead's shoulders as they're on screen 95% of the time, and they carry it marvelously. The way that Falk and Cassavetes build this chemistry that makes you believe they're childhood friends, while also imbuing this tension about the true motivations of each of them is stellar. Mikey is a bit pitiful and pathetic, but is he a true friend or is he looking for some payback? Nicky is erratic and ultimately an a$$hole, but at the end of the day, is his paranoia unfounded?

Grade: rating_4

Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2462422#post2462422)

Glad you saw this! It's one of a handful I mention, mostly because it's a 10/10 but not very popular.. One of a few movies where I actually found humorous, as tragic as it is.. A lot of this was improvised, especially the cemetery scene, which I saw yesterday, ironically enough. I had them on my "Watch Later" and saw it was recommended (behind the scenes stuff).

If anyone wants to check it out, it's free - see it before it's taken down!

https://youtu.be/ztGLuzbCGzA

Thief

05-23-24, 03:02 PM

Glad you saw this! It's one of a handful I mention, mostly because it's a 10/10 but not very popular.. One of a few movies where I actually found humorous, as tragic as it is.. A lot of this was improvised, especially the cemetery scene, which I saw yesterday, ironically enough. I had them on my "Watch Later" and saw it was recommended (behind the scenes stuff).

If anyone wants to check it out, it's free - see it before it's taken down!

https://youtu.be/ztGLuzbCGzA

Yeah, I see potential for my rating to go up on this. Only time will tell.

Gideon58

05-23-24, 03:32 PM

Gideon58

05-23-24, 04:44 PM

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BODNkNTRmNTktYzU2ZS00YmI5LTgwZmYtYjUyNWQwYTUyNWExXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMDc5ODIzMw@@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.j pg

3

matt72582

05-23-24, 04:57 PM

Blind Chance - 7/10
I saw "Run Lola Run" 20 years ago, and think I'd like it more if I had seen this first although I don't find it that fascinating anymore, unlike the aforementioned at a time I hadn't seen so many "experimental" movies..... And speaking of the subject matter and censorship, this movie was delayed, but I actually wanted to mention another movie one might see, but inspired by a better (but not as popular) movie, like "Ucho" (The Ear) is to a movie like "The Lives of Others" - with it's overblown nudity and love scenes, hedonism, and other little mainstream shit that got on my nerves, or maybe it's the disparity in popularity. Ala "Le Chat" (being a better, more natural version) to "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" or a movie like "The Doll" (1962) inspiring 'Lars' and "Her'.

https://youtu.be/GA5TAK96DCk

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f5/Blind_Chance.jpg

matt72582

05-23-24, 06:26 PM

Yeah, I see potential for my rating to go up on this. Only time will tell.

Have you seen any Cassavetes directed movies? Most are on YouTube for Free! For me, they are ALWAYS better on the 2nd or 3rd tries, because John never spoon-feeds the audience and has a lot of things going (physically, emotionally, verbally, etc) and I tend to always catch more and thus appreciate more.. I feel the same with Robert Altman.

FilmBuff

05-23-24, 06:43 PM

Shhhhhhh!!! Don't let Minio hear that you're suggesting people watch movies on YouTube!!! :p

matt72582

05-23-24, 07:36 PM

I've been in a movie slump for the past handful years, but it's always a YouTube movie that gets me out of it. The rest were thanks to TCM.
But some people insist on paying.

https://youtu.be/Z5_N7R1U9eA

Dead2009

05-23-24, 09:22 PM

The Garfield Movie - 10/10

Best animated movie of the year so far.

Thief

05-23-24, 09:25 PM

Have you seen any Cassavetes directed movies? Most are on YouTube for Free! For me, they are ALWAYS better on the 2nd or 3rd tries, because John never spoon-feeds the audience and has a lot of things going (physically, emotionally, verbally, etc) and I tend to always catch more and thus appreciate more.. I feel the same with Robert Altman.

Cassavetes is a bit of a blind spot for me, but I did dip my toes last year with his debut film: Shadows. I thought it was pretty solid.

Now as an actor, I've seen him in this and Rosemary's Baby, which is a favorite.

PHOENIX74

05-24-24, 12:33 AM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/99/Escape_Room_%282019_poster%29.png
By CineMaterial, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59777985

Escape Room - (2019)

A bunch of young people, all sole survivors of some kind or another, are invited to an escape room challenge where the rooms themselves are especially deadly. This leans more towards the cleverness of the puzzles rather than Saw-like gruesomeness, which, considering some of the rooms, was definitely in the offing. I was on the edge of my seat a couple of times, but I should have felt more tense - I thought the film made many of the contestants a little too unlikeable, with a couple being outright jerks. I was cheering for nobody in this - but I liked the ideas behind some of the rooms.

5/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/10/Petite_Maman_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=67543050

Petite Maman - (2021)

When her grandmother dies, eight-year-old Nelly (Joséphine Sanz) feels lost and alone, until she meets young Marion (Gabrielle Sanz), who feels strangely familiar, and with whom she'll build an amazing friendship. This is a sweet, surreal, emotionally fulfilling movie. Full review here (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2462557#post2462557), in my watchlist thread.

8/10

Fabulous

05-24-24, 02:44 AM

No End (1985)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/xjcQI6O8xZCFtLVjp2IckYgDqV6.jpg

matt72582

05-24-24, 07:17 AM

Cassavetes is a bit of a blind spot for me, but I did dip my toes last year with his debut film: Shadows. I thought it was pretty solid.

Now as an actor, I've seen him in this and Rosemary's Baby, which is a favorite.

My favorite is "A Woman Under The Influence". Hope you check it out!
https://youtu.be/y5arx-SIwTs

There's also this great interview (after)
https://youtu.be/opwB2gVRuEs

WrinkledMind

05-24-24, 07:43 AM

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSKhCHZ3D3HQGGAiDhN3-TOE5PWRDrNHVrB7YHoVGmWxiEWckFqn344eYTE&s=10

In the Land of Saints & Sinners

A Liam Neeson film from last year that is unlike a modern Neeson film. Almost felt like an Irish Taylor Sheridan movie instead.

Less of a thriller & more of a drama/character study. The rest of the cast, which includes a former GOT favourite, is brilliant, as well & I would include the beautiful scenery of Ireland in that.

I would highly recommend this movie.

Thief

05-24-24, 10:35 AM

My favorite is "A Woman Under The Influence". Hope you check it out!
https://youtu.be/y5arx-SIwTs

Yeah, that and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie are kinda the big ones that most people recommend. I will definitely get to them at some point. Thanks.

matt72582

05-24-24, 11:32 AM

Yeah, that and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie are kinda the big ones that most people recommend. I will definitely get to them at some point. Thanks.

Interesting.. "Killing" is usually one people complain about, and probably the only movie I don't like of his... The few big studio movies he made were good. "A Child Is Waiting" is a 10/10, and a great role for Judy Garland, but Kramer had final cut, but still great. Another movie Burt Lancaster chose wisely (he picked MANY great ones). The best movie I saw about music (especially the integrity vs. business aspect) is "Too Late Blues".

WHITBISSELL!

05-24-24, 11:35 AM

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLmCGm3J3OoUusodSScIneGl8_UuGpLWj-75gaGNx72Zt8AbVLTfLLQdetHbTQb-7NFib570Jnph7gsUmbJeCZkfuCApTuk2zgIc-UmAp1OiHpU8E38dmibvHIBnVkAHiwGZXYvnbIj2D3/s400/tumblr_n7u9fuIHaY1rge9zro1_500.gif
https://66.media.tumblr.com/119293e8ee97938470035256fdbe20bd/tumblr_n7u9fuIHaY1rge9zro2_500.gif
Terror in the Midnight Sun - This 1959 Swedish-American production was known by many names, Invasion of the Animal People, Rymdinvasion i Lappland (Space Invasion of Lapland) in it's native Sweden and Terror in the Midnight Sun internationally. It started out in Swedish cinemas before having the rights quickly sold to an American producer who copiously re-edited it and released it in the states in 1962. Unfortunately it so muddled what little story there was that the end result is a leaden, jumbled mess. A supposed meteor lands in the wilds of northern Sweden near the Arctic Circle. There are enough anomalous aspects to the meteor crash that it attracts the attention of geologist Dr. Vance Wilson (Robert Burton). His niece Diane (Barbara Wilson) is an Olympic skater which leads to a somewhat prolonged skating routine which basically serves to eat up screentime. There's a distressingly large quantity of those space filler moments. She's romanced by her uncle's young colleague Erik Engström (Sten Gester) and when they aren't skiing in travelogue length stretches they're shown dining and drinking and dancing. In real time. You wil be sorely tempted to make use of the fast forward button on your remote.

Something finally happens to advance the story when a herd of reindeer are found slaughtered near the meteor crash site. A 20 foot tall Yeti looking beast shows up and it's unclear whether of not some bulbous headed figure inside the meteor is controlling it. People randomly do stuff and everyone, aliens included, behaves inexplicably while the heroine (who has stowed away) makes a general nuisance of herself while also being menaced by the monster. There's an incongruous love ballad theme song titled Midnight Sun Lament and a gratuitous shower scene with a flash of T&A (which I didn't think was allowed in 1959). But there's also Laplanders in what I can only assume are colorful native costumes (It's a B&W movie) speaking Laplander (again assuming since it sounds like they're making it up on the spot). There's also shots of them gathered around campfires telling ghost stories (yet another assumption) and singing and dancing. And yes, I was deeply disappointed that they never mentioned how much a Lapp dance cost. It all adds up to a peculiar and fundamentally mediocre exercise in WTF?

30/100

Gideon58

05-24-24, 12:56 PM

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNDFlNDAzOWYtMjBmMS00NDQ5LWE2M2MtYjY5ZGU4ZDAxNzIzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTMxMTY0OTQ@._V1_.jpg

1st Rewatch...The atmospheric direction of James Bridges and the effortless charisma of John Travolta are the anchors of this compelling look at the relationship between a young oilfield worker named Bud and an effervescent barfly named Sissy, who become engaged on their second date. It's the canvas that Bridges creates for this movie that makes it special. This is the movie that made country and western music, a mechanical bull, and being a cowboy, sexy. 3.5

Stirchley

05-24-24, 01:02 PM

Good movie.

Gideon58

05-24-24, 01:07 PM

https://www.barbie-themovie.com/images/share.jpg

2nd Rewatch...Even if she never makes another movie, Greta Gerwig has carved herself a niche in cinematic history for being the creative force behind what was, arguably, the most talked about movie of 2023. The mystique of the famous doll that almost every little girl in the 1960's grew up with is explored in this ridiculously imaginative story that finds Barnie questioning her Utopian existence in Barbie World and learns that the only way to fix things is to travel to the real world and find the little girl who played with her. Ken, feeling rudderless without his girlfriend, accompanies Barbie to the real world and ends up on his own journey of self-discovery. The movie is a musically enhanced feminist statement and battle of the sexes rolled up in one dazzling package that is a feast for the eyes and ears. The film received nine Oscar nominations and only won for Best Song, but a part of me still believes Gerwig and Noah Baumbach were robbed of the adapted screenplay for the most original thing we saw onscreen last year. Margot Robbie is enchanting in the title role and Ryan Gosling brought a vulnerable element to the sexy with his Ken that it earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The film features several spot-on musical sequences, including the homo-erotic "I'm Just Ken". it seems that most people either really loved this movie or really hated it, but I'm loving it more with each re-watch. 4

Tugg

05-24-24, 01:47 PM

Cold Meat (2023-2024) 3.5
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTZmMzQ0NDQtMDE4Mi00OWIxLTg2MDMtNzQ2ZmYwMWQ5YmM1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNDg3MTQxOTg@._V1_SX300.jpg
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) 3.5
https://i0.wp.com/thedigitaltheater.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Furiosa-ss.png?resize=740%2C308&ssl=1

Thief

05-24-24, 03:42 PM

Interesting.. "Killing" is usually one people complain about, and probably the only movie I don't like of his... The few big studio movies he made were good. "A Child Is Waiting" is a 10/10, and a great role for Judy Garland, but Kramer had final cut, but still great. Another movie Burt Lancaster chose wisely (he picked MANY great ones). The best movie I saw about music (especially the integrity vs. business aspect) is "Too Late Blues".

Yeah, Killing might be divisive, but it does get a lot of praise. I mean, it made it into one of the recent countdowns here, so there's that.

matt72582

05-24-24, 04:32 PM

Yeah, Killing might be divisive, but it does get a lot of praise. I mean, it made it into one of the recent countdowns here, so there's that.

Which countdown?

Thief

05-24-24, 04:35 PM

Which countdown?

This countdown (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2443235#post2443235). The Killing of a Chinese Bookie placed at #60-something.

Thief

05-24-24, 05:31 PM

CHILD'S PLAY
(1988, Holland)

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

"We're friends 'til the end! Remember?"

"Hi, I'm Chucky, and I'm your friend till the end. Hidey-ho!"

Child's Play is a film that I've seen several times. This first entry follows the attempts of Chucky to get back into a human body, which turns out has to be Andy. But in the process, bodies start piling up, bringing Det. Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon) to investigate and try to figure out who is actually behind the killings.

What Child's Play does offer is a pretty effective atmosphere, a lean pace, some nice kills, and a great villain. Much like Freddy, Chucky would turn into a bit of a joke in future sequels, but despite the seemingly silly premise of a killer doll, here he is genuinely scary in moments. Dourif does a great voice work, but kudos also to Vincent for a pretty solid performance, especially for a 6-year old kid.

Grade: 3

Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2462721#post2462721)

Gideon58

05-24-24, 05:59 PM

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjA5ZjA3ZjMtMzg2ZC00ZDc4LTk3MTctYTE1ZTUzZDIzMjQyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTM1NjM2ODg1._V1_.jpg

3

Miss Vicky

05-24-24, 10:33 PM

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
(George Miller, 2024)

Saw it this afternoon and...

It was disappointing. Don't get me wrong, it was fun. But it wasn't what I wanted. It felt too normal. The crazy cars weren't crazy enough. The crazy characters weren't crazy enough. The costumes were just more of the same from Fury Road yet somehow not as good. The new characters mostly fell flat too. Hemsworth's character was amusing, but not especially memorable. And Furiosa's love interest/mentor was likeable but we didn't get enough of him for me to be invested in him and when he met his end I didn't really feel anything.

It just didn't feel like a Mad Max movie and that had nothing to do with the absence of Max himself. I don't watch Mad Max movies for Max. I watch them for the craziness. It just viewed more like a Mad Max inspired movie than the genuine article to me. Perhaps it'll grow on me, but for now it was just...

https://www.angelfire.com/music6/walteregan/2010s/mediocre.gif

3

FilmBuff

05-24-24, 10:46 PM

https://posterspy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/FURIOSA-a-mad-max-saga.jpg

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
2

Sometimes, brevity is better.

Somebody should remind George Miller.

Fabulous

05-24-24, 11:07 PM

Blind Chance (1987)

4

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/eTSRN1Bwce60rpAORwkKbPRDT6V.jpg

Nausicaä

05-25-24, 02:42 AM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b5/Elisa_%26_Marcela.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

Fabulous

05-25-24, 03:30 AM

The Dressmaker (2015)

4

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/6nRxYC7612rPPyVaFvd3TREsDe3.jpg

WHITBISSELL!

05-25-24, 02:09 PM

https://media3.giphy.com/media/HYASq22g53E9v3fQAz/200.gifhttps://media2.giphy.com/media/hVXzkzvTu5neSKc8hi/200w.gif?cid=6c09b952tczqrnjztfs4c9odp66u7unjduoowyaqx93gcwml&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=200w.gif&ct=g

https://media2.giphy.com/media/HNh7jYBug3yYszc62p/200w.webp

Invaders from Mars- The 1953 original directed by William Cameron Menzies and not the Tobe Hooper 1986 remake. Young astronomy buff David McLean (Jimmy Hunt) is awakened one night by a strange noise and sees what he thinks is a flying saucer land behind a hill near his house. When his aerospace engineer father George (Leif Erickson) goes to investigate he disappears and David's mother calls the police. He eventually shows up but has completely changed with the once affectionate father surly and hostile towards David. The two officers also go missing and when David sees his young friend Kathy Wilson fall out of sight in the sand pit on that same hill he goes to tell her mother. Kathy shows back up but is also acting strangely. It turns out all the families being affected work in some capacity at a top secret missile base.

With more and more people exhibiting strange behavior David eventually calls up local astronomer Dr. Stuart Kelston (Arthur Franz). He doesn't so much believe the young man's account but decides to err on the side of caution and contacts health-department physician Dr. Patricia Blake (Helena Carter). She talks to David where he is being held at the police station and her suspicions are aroused when both his parents show up acting oddly. Soon enough Dr. Kelston has called in his contacts in the armed forces. Turns out the military has come up with what sounds like a rudimentary version of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). There are also contingency plans in place to defend against a hypothetical hostile response. Morris Ankrum once again plays an army officer, Col. Fielding, and he's also all in on the apparent threat after his immediate superior disappears.

A lot (if not all) of the plot is predicated on David not only knowing the right people in positions of authority but also having said people ready and willing to give him the benefit of doubt. Most of these details have the ready-made rationale of Cold War paranoia so it's not a major sticking point. If you're also willing to give that plot point the benefit of doubt then this will all go down smoothly and you'll enjoy this for what it is. A decent enough scifi offering despite some admittedly low budget yet still creative FX, the liberal use of stock footage and some laughably bad costumes for the alien's goon squads of "Mu-tants".

75/100

Allaby

05-25-24, 03:54 PM

The Garfield Movie (2024) Much of the main story doesn't work here. Garfield on a high stakes adventure involving a villainous cat and a plot to steal milk doesn't fit with Garfield. The best parts of the film are the beginning scenes and the ending. There are a few laughs here and a couple cute moments, especially Garfield as a little kitten. Needed more of Jon and less of Vic and Jinx. Flaws and all, I still love the character of Garfield. 3

FilmBuff

05-25-24, 09:11 PM

https://www.princesscinemas.com/files/princesscinemas/movie-posters/hitman.jpeg

Hit Man (2024)
4.5

Hit Man is a killer movie (pun fully intended).

If you have a serious interest in getting the most out of this movie, try to know as little as possible about it before watching it.

I'll just say it's about a perfectly nice guy (Glen Powell) living in New Orleans who isn't really a hit man, but who, for certain reasons, has to pretend to be a hit man. Then he meets an attractive woman (Adria Arjona) and things get... complicated.

To say more would be to spoil the fun.

Also, somewhere in an alternate reality, there is a version of this movie that was made in the 1980s with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in the Powell and Arjona roles, and with Matt Dillon in the part played here by Austin Amelio (a truly delightful turn, by the way). That version could have been directed by Danny DeVito and photographed by Stephen Burum, and would be possibly even better than this one.

Hit Man is playing in select cities right now ahead of a June 7th premiere on Netflix. But if you really want to enjoy this movie, definitely watch it at the cinema, it's a total delight to share this one with an appreciative audience.

PHOENIX74

05-26-24, 01:32 AM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/46/A_Night_to_Remember_%28film_poster%29.jpg
By British Pictures, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3151288

A Night to Remember - (1958)

I'd seen A Night to Remember a bazillion times before, but never the colourized version, which got my interest. When you see something so many times, it's hard to objectively judge it, but the fact that it goes down so easy every time (pun definitely not intended) probably proves it's worth. For 1958 (and a British production) it's so impressive that the tragedy was so accurately portrayed, without feeling like there was any kind of obstruction. I love Walter Lord's book as well - I've read that more than once. A fascinating event, regardless of the fact that there was an awful loss of life that included women and children, despite attempts to put them first. Great score and casting, and first rate movie all-round. Seeing it in colour for the first time was a lot of fun, but I think I prefer the black and white version.

8/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/ba/Gargi_Film_Poster.jpg
By Gautham Ramachandran - Sai Pallavi Official Twitter Account, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71247487

Gargi - (2022)

Gargi (Sai Pallavi) has a father who's arrested on suspicion of participating in the gang rape of a young child, and she must struggle against people who consider him guilty before he's had the chance to prove his innocence. This is a tense drama which moves at a brisk pace, with it's central protagonist forced to fight misogyny, a corrupt justice system and the media. Full review here (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2462770#post2462770), in my watchlist thread.

6/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1d/Love_Exposure.png
By https://www.movieposterdb.com/ai-no-mukidashi-i1128075, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73814128

Love Exposure - (2008)

Crazy 4 hour Japanese film which includes religion, parenting, perversion, sin, cults, love, erections, family and upskirt photography all mixed together in a crazed swirl, with characters trying to reach each other, but being blinded by their own preconceptions and the influence of others. Great movie. Full review here (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2462913#post2462913), in my watchlist thread.

9/10

WHITBISSELL!

05-26-24, 03:32 AM

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https://damnedhumbuggery.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/984d8-scratchy-toe-nail.gif

Phantasm: Ravager - From 2016, this is the fifth and by some accounts the final Phantasm entry in the sporadically filmed series. It's also the first one not directed by Don Coscarelli. I think they were trying to wrap it up somehow especially after Angus Scrimm (The Tall Man) passed away shortly after filming wrapped. The star is once again Reggie Bannister playing former ice cream vendor and now demon slayer Reggie B. He's still looking for his friend Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) who's been missing since the events of Phantasm IV: Oblivion. Mike eventually shows up but in an unexpected way. There are numerous red herrings, illusory dreams within dreams and alternate realities. So much so that the viewer will probably be left flummoxed. I do think that leaving it open to individual interpretation was their stated goal though. But then the conclusion does reunite the three protagonists from the first movie along with a character from Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead. Are they setting up additional entries even though all three characters are getting a little long in the tooth? And the antagonist that held the whole thing together is no longer available. If it was indeed a swan song it was of course a melancholy farewell but also a nice callback for fans of the franchise.

65/100

LChimp

05-26-24, 10:27 AM

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81ye5OFHhnL.jpg

Napoleon - (Ridley Scott, 2023)

Good, not great.

SpelingError

05-26-24, 05:00 PM

Marie Antoinette (2006) ‐ 4

On a surface level, this is a hard film to recommend since it makes a handful of questionable choices which most other historical dramas would get dismissed for, whether you're referring to the severe lack of historical context towards the state of France throughout Antoinette's reign or the mix of a contemporary and classical soundtrack. Heck, I was considering dismissing the film myself partway into it, but the further I got, the clearer it became that these directorial choices fit the film very well. Coppola displays Antoinette as living in a bubble from the outside world. Thrown into a position which demands a high responsibility at such a young age, given little guidance on what to do, and ignoring the advice of those around her, she ultimately chooses to isolate herself from politics and is insular of her duties. Therefore, just as Antoinette exists in a bubble as to what's occurring around her, we do as well. Whatever historical insight we're given is brushed aside in service of numerous lavish parties and personal drama. Of course, this tone is disrupted in the final 20 minutes once reality begins to intrude more significantly (in all fairness, I don't think there was any way around that), but one gets the impression that Antoinette wasn't mature and experienced enough to fully understand the consequences of her behavior and what led her to her fate by the ending. As for the contemporary soundtrack, it took me longer to gel with it. I generally find that does more harm than good to period dramas and breaks the illusion of the film taking place in the past. In the case of this film, however, while its undoubtedly malapropos for the 16th century setting and while I initially scoffed at it, its awkward contrast added to Antoinette's desire to exist out of time and the aforementioned bubble she separated herself from the outside world with. Though sure, it might've been better to either stick with contemporary or classical soundtracks all the way through instead of dabbling in both territories. Still, while I imagine this film won't be to everyone's tastes, I enjoyed it quite a bit and felt its unconventional choices worked quite well.

Miss Vicky

05-26-24, 05:19 PM

https://www.angelfire.com/music6/walteregan/2010s/furymuzzle.gif
Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015)
(Rewatch)

Yep, still awesome.

5

Fabulous

05-26-24, 11:28 PM

The Beekeeper (2024)

2

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/tL8fzn7JaBzRJKsE1W6GrVxmMQj.jpg

Jeff

05-27-24, 12:46 AM

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea -- 1916 -- 3/5 -- i didn't like the underwater footage, but some parts were special like when Captain Nemo explains his origins, beautiful symmetrical imagery, i followed it quickly with Un chien andalou, to do an immediate comparison, i love that crazy little experiment. 5/5 ... Now before getting some shut eye gonna wrap it up with some Essanay Comedies of Charlie Chaplin.

Darnnaynn

05-27-24, 10:24 AM

Xmen 3 7/10

Marco

05-27-24, 10:55 AM

Personal Best (1982)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/40/PersonalBest1982.jpg
Mariel Hemingway and Patrice Donnelly star here as two USA athletes competing to get into the team for the (ultimately boycotted) Moscow Olympics. Hemingway's part is of a rough diamond and Donnelly's to mentor and tutor under the tutelage of Scott Glenn's rather bitter coach. The treatment of the lesbian relationship that flourishes is sensitive considering this was 1982 and both leads (Donnelly being an actual athlete) acquit themselves very well. It's dated but I really enjoyed this, probably the sauna scenes were a bit unnecessary but they do give it a real feel.
3.5

Marco

05-27-24, 11:34 AM

One of my guests in the podcast brought up this film a couple of months ago. Need to check it out.

May have been me. It's a compelling film depicting the many factors that conspired to push Lubbuck over the edge, personal and professional. I also agree about "blood sells" on news, why I watch films all the time :p

Allaby

05-27-24, 12:05 PM

Damn Yankees (1958) Watched on Tubi. Fun performances and some good songs are the highlight of this classic musical. The only issue is the pacing is a little off and the film ends up feeling a little longer than it is. 3.5

Stirchley

05-27-24, 01:13 PM

98991

Re-watch. Liked it much better this time.

98992

Enjoyable movie.

98993

Love this movie. Seen it twice.

FilmBuff

05-27-24, 01:55 PM

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The Stone Tape
4

More than 50 years after its premiere on the BBC, this made-for-TV film remains a pretty awesome example of good sci-fi/horror made on a relatively low budget.

Written by Nigel Kneale (The Quartermass Experiment), it reportedly premiered on the BBC on Christmas Day, 1972 - and we're very fortunate that the BBC didn't throw it away, like it did so many other of its shows from the 60s and 70s.

There's plenty of hocus-pocus mumbo-jumbo in the screenplay, but it's basically about a group of scientists trying to determine if ancient stones can hold "memories" of people who died nearby (you can guess the answer!)

This is ideally a movie best watched late at night, and preferably by yourself.

https://www.ville-leslilas.fr/tgc/media/full/4507898.jpg

L'Origine du mal
3.5

Corny but still delightful, L'Origine du mal is the kind of movie that, unfortunately, barely even gets a theatrical release in the US these days.

I don't want to give too much away, but like Richard Linklater's recent Hit Man, it deals - broadly speaking - with the malleability of one's persona - are we who the world sees us as, or are we only what we know ourselves to be?

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e0548c35a754606e68bcf1c/e09973a3-52be-4bb3-a901-2538abd33fea/SHERE+HITE+16x9_03_Twitter-Facebook.jpg

The Disappearance of Shere Hite
4.5

If you don't know who Share Hite was, then you definitely should watch the documentary. If you know all about her and are understandably upset at the way she was treated by the primitive society of her time, then you will definitely love this lovely documentary about her life and passions.

https://images.angelstudios.com/image/upload/f_webp,c_fill,g_faces/v1709757922/SIGHT_-_Keyart_-_DIGITAL_-_16x9.webp

Sight
1.5

If you have the gift of sight, don't waste it on this narratively clumsy and nauseatingly manipulative biopic about an eye surgeon.

Stirchley

05-27-24, 03:03 PM

Shere Hite documentary interesting.

FilmBuff

05-27-24, 03:09 PM

Shere Hite documentary interesting.

You should watch it!

Stirchley

05-27-24, 03:20 PM

You should watch it!

Duh. Already did.

Darth Pazuzu

05-27-24, 06:13 PM

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81TAtWk7mKL._AC_UY218_.jpg

Young Guns (Christopher Cain / 1988)

I'm actually old enough to remember seeing the teaser trailer for this movie when it first came out. Mind you, I didn't get to actually see the movie during its theatrical run, and for that matter I can't even remember what movie I did see when I first saw the teaser. I eventually saw the movie on VHS sometime in the '90s (although again we're talking about the faded mists of memory and I can't give the precise year). Back then, I wasn't particularly big on the Western genre (although that's certainly changed now), but I actually thought the movie was pretty good. Not great, mind you, but I certainly found it entertaining and action-packed enough. Shortly thereafter, I saw the 1990 sequel on VHS as well.

A couple of years back, I had become very interested in the films of Sam Peckinpah, and so of course I eventually saw 1973's Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, starring James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson in the respective title roles. That's actually one of my favorite Westerns of all time, and I thought Coburn was terrific in the role of Garrett. (But of course when is Coburn not terrific in anything? :D) However... while Kris Kristofferson was pretty good in the role of Billy, I thought Coburn definitely overshadowed him. Granted, that's not really Kristofferson's fault, because in that movie Billy's a rather sketchily drawn and motivated character next to Garrett. And while I certainly think that Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid is the far better movie overall, if you were to ask me who the definitive modern big-screen Billy the Kid is, I would be forced to answer - without reservation - Emilio Estevez in the two Young Guns pictures. Estevez is pure dynamite as Billy, blending righteous anger with sociopathic glee, and a sharp intelligence with feral unpredictability.

The actors portraying the other "guns" are a bit of a mixed bag. Kiefer Sutherland is very good as Doc Scurlock and so is Lou Diamond Phillips as the knife-throwing Chavez. Charlie Sheen, however, doesn't quite have the weight and gravity to pull off the role of foreman Dick Brewer. He tries his best to play him as a tough authority figure, but you don't fully buy it. The older supporting players generally come off the best. Jack Palance (as always) is fantastic as always portraying the villainous rancher Murphy, Terence Stamp is very good in the role of rival rancher and fatherly mentor figure Tunstall, and Brian Keith is an absolute hoot as the deadly Buckshot Roberts. ("All right, let's dance!")

And then... there's Dermot Mulroney. :eek: Of course, my abiding memory, the one thing that always stuck out in my mind about the teaser trailer was Mulroney's gob of tobacco spit. And lest one entertain the slightest hope that Mulroney's expectorations would be relatively moderate within the film itself... well, one should abandon that particular hope right away, because most of the time Mulroney's facial features are almost expressionistically distorted by his always having a wad in his mouth. No kidding, folks, I do not exaggerate when I say always, and I would venture to say that half of the shots that Mulroney's in, he's spitting it out somewhere. OK, maybe I'm exaggerating slightly, but if so it's not by much! Of course, Casey Siemaszko's Charlie gives Mulroney a run for his money, and they even seem to be in a slight competition sometimes, but if so he concedes to Mulroney pretty quickly. And unlike Mulroney's "Dirty Stephen," Siemaszko's Charlie cleans up a lot better. The only Western character I can think of whose chewing habit comes within even spitting (:p) distance of out-disgusting Mulroney is Clint Eastwood as the title character in The Outlaw Josey Wales from 1976. But in that case, unlike Mulroney's lack of restraint, it seems to be a well-tempered and moderated character beat. The other characters in that movie, in particular Chief Dan George's Lone Watie, can practically tell time by it! And particularly hilarious is the bit where Paula Trueman's Granny is nagging Josey for being a loafer and then fires him that look when it looks like he's about to spit on her floor. (Don't even think about it, you ill-mannered, uncouth Missouri bushwhacker! her eyes speak without saying a word.) And then Josey is forced to reluctantly swallow the juice with a grimace. :lol: Would that Young Guns director Christopher Cain had the good sense to rein in Mulroney's excesses to a similar degree!

Nowadays, I still think the movie's pretty darn good, warts and all. And the 4K remaster just looks fantastic. The 2-disc 4K/Blu-ray edition also has a commentary track featuring Phillips, Mulroney and Siemaszko taking a trip down memory lane, plus two trailers and two featurettes, one about the making of the movie itself and another giving a potted history lesson about Billy the Kid himself.

P.S. Just out of curiosity, aside from Pat Garrett and Bill the Kid and the two Young Guns pictures, what would you say that some of the best Billy the Kid pictures? (And I mean, besides Billy the Kid vs. Dracula? :lol:) I've certainly heard and read about Arthur Penn's The Left Handed Gun from 1958 starring Paul Newman (which I gather is somewhat heavy on psychological motivation), as well as Stan Dragoti's revisionist Dirty Little Billy from 1972 with Michael J. Pollard. But so far I have yet to see either picture. At this point in time, I'm certainly not as well-educated in the cinematic history of Billy the Kid as I am in the various cinematic incarnations of Wyatt Earp, Tombstone and the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Would anyone care to make any further recommendations? :)

P.P.S. Remember the peyote "trip" sequence? ("We're in the spirit world, a******!") Does this strike anybody else as sort of a precursor to the desert "trip" sequence which we'd see in Oliver Stone's The Doors three years later, in 1991? I don't know, perhaps Oliver had seen Young Guns and was inspired to do his own version? Given the professional and personal connection between Stone and Charlie Sheen, I'm guessing anything is possible! ;)

Darth Pazuzu

05-27-24, 07:32 PM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/27/Back_to_black_film_poster.jpeg/220px-Back_to_black_film_poster.jpeg

May 21, 2024

BACK TO BLACK (Sam Taylor-Johnson / 2024)

Have you ever noticed how music biopics tend to come in two's? Take Ray and Walk the Line in 2004 and 2005. Or Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman in 2018 and 2019. Earlier this year we had Bob Marley: One Love, and now we have this cinematic version of the Amy Winehouse story.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I must admit that Amy Winehouse came along a little bit after my time, and until her death I hadn't even really paid that much attention to her aside from the fact that she was a very happening young British musical artist in the early 2000's. (I seem to be saying this about a lot of things lately. Obviously a sign that I'm getting old. :p) I had of course heard the song Rehab, but at the time it wasn't really my thing and I took no further notice until her passing. I don't know, perhaps I'm missing something and I need to check some of her stuff out. One of these days, I suppose... ;)

As far as the movie is concerned, I was rather intrigued by the fact that screenwriter Matthew Greenhalgh had done the screenplay for the Ian Curtis / Joy Division biopic Control from 2007, which was directed by noted photographer Anton Corbijn. An eminent qualification, Greenhalgh obviously being a deft hand at writing about downward spirals in the music biz.

(A Completely and Totally Irrelevant Sidenote: Is writer Matthew Greenhalgh in any way related to noted British video director Howard Greenhalgh, whose work includes the clips for Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun and Suede's The Wild Ones, to name only two?)

I have to say that I really enjoyed Marisa Abela in the role of Amy. She gives a performance that balances brassy forthrightness with intense vulnerability. If this movie can be said to have an anchor, it's her. However, the movie ultimately fails to find the balance between dealing with Winehouse's songwriting and musical creativity on one hand, and dealing with the emotional stresses and problems that led to her alcoholism and drug abuse on the other. As with Oliver Stone's The Doors (1991), it's perhaps just a bit too much in a hurry to get to the downward spiral. Mind you, I'm still a big fan of Stone's film, as well as Val Kilmer's performance as Jim Morrison, but it simply goes to show that artistry and creativity are perhaps harder things to dramatize than hardship and self-destruction. I personally think that writer Greenhalgh got the balance right with the Ian Curtis story in Control, which doesn't make tragedy seem absolutely inevitable, but perhaps director Sam Taylor-Johnson is telegraphing the punches a little too much in this case. To be fair, Back to Black doesn't actually end with Winehouse's death, and we're only told about it on a postscript title before the end credits roll.

As far as the other performances go, Eddie Marsan is genuinely affecting as Amy's father Mitch. Lesley Manville is also wonderful in the role of Amy's grandmother "Nan" Cynthia, with whom she shares a taste in music and in '60s fashions. Jack O'Connell is perhaps a trifle drab in the role of Amy's troubled husband Blake, but he has one funny bit early on when he lip-syncs and performs along with the Shangri-Las' Leader of the Pack which is playing on a pub jukebox.

Overall... okay, but not one of the classic music biopics.

WHITBISSELL!

05-28-24, 12:15 AM

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Monster on the Campus - 1958 B&W low budget horror directed by Jack Arnold, who was also responsible for quite a few other noteworthy sci-fi/creature feature/horror films like The Incredible Shrinking Man, Tarantula, This Island Earth, Creature from the Black Lagoon and It Came from Outer Space.

This stars Arthur Franz (Invader from Mars) as college science professor Donald Blake. He takes delivery of a frozen coelecanth, a species of fish that's been around since prehistoric times with little to no evolution to mark it's time on earth. Problem being that it's been irradiated and has also partially thawed. The plot calls for Professor Blake to either be one of the clumsiest of eggheads or one of the most careless. A student's German Shepherd is the first indicator that the runoff from the unfrozen fish is highly suspect. After lapping at a puddle the dog grows saber tooth tiger type of fangs and behaves erratically violent. Nobody, least of all the supposedly highly trained scientist, notices this at first. It's only after he both cuts his hand on the coelecanth's teeth and accidentally plunges his hand in the murky runoff that he starts to feel ill.

I know this was set in the late 50's but you would think that even then they had semi-stringent guidelines in place to deal with dangerous lab specimens. Industrial grade, elbow length rubber gloves, an eyewash station, fire extinguishers. This whole movie is a middle finger at OSHA. Anyway he feels ill and begs off on a date with his fiance, the Dean's daughter. He accepts a ride home from a nurse who has the hots for him and bad things happen.The cops have to get involved and since the effects of the coelecanth infection are short lived it turns into more of a Jekyll and Hyde type of situation.

It's not a bad flick and you can stay engaged with the story and performances but the roughest and most disappointing part has to be the creature makeup. It looks like a Halloween mask. This wasn't the lowest of low budgets but if you're going to cheap out on something it should never be your featured creature. It's not a stake through the heart flaw though and in the end it's still a tolerable way to kill 87 minutes. Judging by the projects I mentioned, Jack Arnold does know his way around a worthwhile narrative.

65/100

Miss Vicky

05-28-24, 03:57 AM

http://www.angelfire.com/music6/walteregan/MoFoTop100/bambi.gif

Bambi
(James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, et al., 1942)

This has been a favorite of mine since I was little. It’s absolutely gorgeous and its story and characters are charming and timeless. I will also forever hold the opinion that Flower is the cutest animated character to ever exist. I do wish there was a little more to the story but that is only a very minor complaint.

On a sidenote, I’ve just seen that a “live action” version is in development and I am not happy about it.

4.5

Fabulous

05-28-24, 04:12 AM

BlacKkKlansman (2018)

3

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/gMVdhfQ7q9DFHhDkehrququjGPd.jpg

PHOENIX74

05-28-24, 06:20 AM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bf/Come_September_-_Film_Poster.jpg
By Derived from a digital capture (photo/scan) of the Film Poster/ VHS or DVD Cover (creator of this digital version is irrelevant as the copyright in all equivalent images is still held by the same party). Copyright held by the film company or the artist. Claimed as fair use regardless., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43170600

Come September - (1961)

I'm starting to get Rock Hudson's appeal during his heyday - he's something of the next generation's Cary Grant because he handles romantic comedy with so much ease. I really think his voice is terrific, and his facial expressions give him a lot of comedic range. I mean, Come September's screenplay is nothing special, but Hudson elevates it to such an extent that the movie gave me a good laugh, and definitely charmed me. He plays uber-wealthy Robert L. Talbot, who arrives at his palatial home on the Ligurian coast unexpectedly to find out his major domo Maurice Clavell (Walter Slezak) is operating it as a hotel. Talbot then has to deal with the young girls and young guys carousing around the place. The fabulous Gina Lollobrigida features as Rock Hudson's love interest, and Bobby Darin first dipped his toe into cinematic territory here. Funny and endearing.

7/10

https://i.postimg.cc/ZR9ZTdXH/the-secret.jpg
By [1], Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15329077

The Secret (2007)

This is based on a Japanese movie (1999 fantasy romance Himitsu), and is actually French (original title Si j'étais toi) - but the main thing you need to know is that David Duchovny (playing Dr. Ben Marris) has a wife, Hannah (Lili Taylor) and teenage daughter Samantha (Olivia Thirlby) who are in a car accident. His wife dies, and his daughter wakes up with his wife's mind. So, we spend the rest of the movie praying that David Duchovny doesn't have sex with his teenage daughter - praying, and it's horrifying because it nearly happens so often. Olivia Thirlby is great, but every time Duchovny and Thirlby share a romantic scene it's like fingernails scratching down a chalkboard and is cinematic madness of the highest order. There's so much going on with this one, both good and bad - and it's really hard to pin down what to rate it.

5/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/60/The_Empty_Man_Film_Poster.png
By 20th Century Studios - https://collider.com/the-empty-man-trailer-james-badge-dale/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65600890

The Empty Man - (2020)

Ambitious horror movie that mixes nihilist philosophy into it's cult-based, monster-oriented complex narrative. It becomes a little muddled and overstuffed, but was a good attempt. Full review here (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2463070#post2463070), in my watchlist thread.

6/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5e/HyperNormalisation.jpg
By https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p04b183c, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52066118

HyperNormalisation - (2016)

"They know we know they lie" - This Adam Curtis documentary tries to chart how we've got to where we are by sorting through historical events over the last 50 years, and the reaction political figures have had to them - and who has taken advantage. Covers world history over my lifetime, and sticks to facts to get it's point across, which makes it far better than any conspiracy-based conjecture. Full review here (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2463237#post2463237), in my watchlist thread.

8/10

Gideon58

05-28-24, 12:52 PM

98991

Re-watch. Liked it much better this time.

98992

Enjoyable movie.

98993

Love this movie. Seen it twice.

Was a little disappointed in Showing Up, but I loved Are You There God, haven't seen Lamb

Gideon58

05-28-24, 01:00 PM

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4th rewatch...Fans of films like Caddyshack and Revenge of the Nerds will enjoy this goofy and slightly smarmy comedy about a group of misfits who have enrolled in a Florida police academy and how the staff is trying to get them quit the program before completion, centered around one rogue candidate named Cary Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg) who has been court ordered into the Academy and must complete the program but is trying everything he can think of to get kicked out. This 1984 comedy still has plenty of laugh out loud scenes, more than I remembered. Guttenberg is a charmer and GW Bailey and George Gaynes also get their share of laughs as Captain Harris and Commandant Lassard, respectively. This film was such a smash it that it actually inspired six sequels, none of which I've seen. If memory serves, Guttenberg is only in the first four, but this one stll makes me laugh. 3.5

Gideon58

05-28-24, 01:08 PM

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Umpteenth Rewatch...This warm and funny family comedy still provides solid entertainment after over fifty years and a remake. This is a fact based story about a naval nurse named Helen North (Lucille Ball), who is the widowed mother of eight children who marries a semi-retired naval officer named Frank Beardsley (Henry Fonda), the widowed father of ten. Anyone who has ever watched an episode of The Brady Bunch will be familiar with the situations that can arise from such a premise, but it's made special here because we have two Hollywood legends in the lead roles who actually create a viable chemistry onscreen. Lucy does play it relatively straight here, though the Lucy we know and love gets to shine through in a couple of scenes like her struggling with a rogue slip and a false eyelash in a crowded bar and the fabulous drunk scene at Frank's house where her future stepsons have spiked her drink. Several future stars appear as North and Beardsley children, most notably Tim Matheson, playing Fonda's eldest. Love this movie. 4

Gideon58

05-28-24, 01:17 PM

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2nd Rewatch...The final feature film directed by comedy legend Garry Marshall gets a little dumber with each rewatch. Marshall has gathered an impressive all-star cast to tell multiple stories centered around Mother's Day that just aren't that interesting. Some problematic casting doesn't help either...Julia Roberts plays what is probably the most unlikable character she has ever played and I don't think Jennifer Aniston has ever been annoying as she is here playing a divorced mom who is spitting nails because her ex (Timothy Olyphant) has remarried a woman half his age. Loni Love is about as big a waste of screentime as Marlon Wayans was in the Scary Movie Franchise. The storyline about a pair of sisters (Kate Hudson, Sarah Chalke) and their bigoted mom (Margo Martindale) is borderline offensive. Only Jason Sedeikis manages to maintain his dignity as a widowed dad trying to move on after his wife was killed in the gulf war, but this is one very long ninety minutes. 2

Gideon58

05-28-24, 01:22 PM

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2nd Rewatch...Paul Rudd is all kinds of adorable in this quirky comedy about a sweet-natured goofball named Ned who has just been released from jail and proceeds to turn the lives of his three sisters (Elizabeth Banks, Emily Mortimer, Zooey Deschanel) upside down. Rudd lights up the screen here playing one of those characters who does all the wrong things for all the right reasons. He reminds me of Greg Focker in Meet the Parents the way he keeps getting crapped on throughout the movie and so does not deserve it. Steve Coogan, TJ Miller, and Kathryn Hahn steal their share of laughs, but Rudd owns this movie and never makes you regret it. 3.5

Gideon58

05-28-24, 01:27 PM

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2nd Rewatch...Spike Jonz' Oscar-winning screenplay and Joaquin Phoenix's enchanting performance are the anchors of the first real love story of the computer age. Phoenix plays a techno geek who falls in love with his computer's new operating system named Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johanssen). This movie gets better every time I watch it...highlights for me are the scene where Phoenix and his system have cyber sex for the first time or when he tries to sign in one morning and Samantha doesn't answer. The scene where he finds out that he is not the only human Samantha is working with is also a total heartbreaker. Phoenix was totally robbed of an Oscar nomination and has never been sexier onscreen. And yes, I'll say it...this is one of Scarlett Johanssen's best performances. 4.5

Allaby

05-28-24, 01:58 PM

Voyage of the Rock Aliens (1984) Watched on Tubi. I enjoyed this sci fi musical comedy. I liked the songs and there are some fun moments. 3.5

Gideon58

05-28-24, 02:02 PM

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4.5

FilmBuff

05-28-24, 02:07 PM

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Young Woman and the Sea
5

Young Woman and the Sea is the sort of thrilling, old-fashioned entertainment the Hollywood studios very rarely make anymore.

It should not be surprising to learn that this was originally intended to go straight to streaming, but enthusiastic scores from test screenings indicated that perhaps it deserved to get a theatrical release - and thank goodness it did!

The spirited biopic tells the story of Gertrude Ederle, a German-American swimming champion who became the first woman to swim across the English Channel, two years after competing in the 1924 Olympics.

The very fine cast includes Christopher Eccleston playing Jabez Wolffe, the real-life heel who allegedly sabotaged Ederle's first attempt to swim across the Channel. Let's just say makes a great, and very pathetic, villain here.

One of the great joys of the movie is the care with which the filmmakers have recreated the NYC of the 1910's and 1920's, where much of the film takes place before moving on to the old continent.

This may be one of the finest studio movies to receive a theatrical release in 2024; it probably won't make a lot of money or get a lot of year-end awards, but it is still a delight not to be missed.

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Atlas
1.5

The absolute worst AI program in the world could probably have written a much better screenplay than the one which is credited here to Leo Sardarian and Aron Eli Coleite.

It's a real shame, because otherwise the movie would have enough visual razzle-dazzle to make for a reasonable entertaining streaming feature.

With such a weak story, though, you may struggle to stay awake.