Rate The Last Movie You Saw

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Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

Hyper Sapien: People from Another Star (Peter R. Hunt, 1986)
5/10
Star Pilot (Pietro Francisci, 1966)
+ 4.5/10
Chasing Comets (Jason Perini, 2018)
5/10
The Legend of Hei (Mtjj, 2019)
6.5/10

Spirits and humans have shared the Earth for a long time but it's becoming more obvious and dangerous.
Los Tallos Amargos (Fernando Ayala, 1956)
6.5/10
Star Knight (Fernando Colomo, 1985)
+ 4.5/10
Deep Space (Fred Olen Ray, 1988)
5/10
Fear Street: Part Three - 1666 (Leigh Janiak, 2021)
6/10

The origins and conclusion of the witch saga that covers 5 1/2 hours over three films.
Night Feeders (Jet Eller, 2006)
5/10
Battle Beyond the Sun (Francis Ford Coppola edit, 1959)
4/10
A Fork in the Road (Jim Kouf, 2010)
6/10
Space Jam: A New Legacy (Malcolm D. Lee, 2021)
5/10

Looney Tunes are back to help another NBA star, this time LeBron James, against more wacko aliens..
R100 (Hitoshi Matsumoto, 2013)
5.5/10
Touch (Aleksandra Szczepanowska, 2020)
5/10
She (Avi Nesher, 1984)
4/10
Arab Blues (Manele Labidi, 2019)
6/10

Psychotherapist Golshifteh Farahani returns home to Tunis from Paris to start her business which results in good and bad things.
The Woodsman (Christian Cisneros, 2012)
5/10
Rocket Attack U.S.A. (Barry Mahon, 1961)
+ 3.5/10
Playing Men (Matjaz Ivanisin, 2017)
6/10
McCartney 3,2,1 (Zachary Heinzerling, 2021)
7/10

Record producer Rick Rubin and Paul McCartney discuss the origins and making of his songs.
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City That Never Sleeps (1953)

A must-see classic film noir, this remarkable film occupies the nether world of not-quite-“A” quality for pictures of that style.

It’s unique because the emblematic narrator is in this instance the city itself! The “Chicago” narration was by Chill Wills.We don’t “wake up in a city that never sleeps”, as in Lisa Minnelli’s singing from the Scorcese film, New York, New York (1977). Here the action takes place in the 1953 sleepless city, Chicago. And Chicago’s cityscapes and back alleys are prominentlyon display in John L. Russell’s wonderfully noir cinematography. Able direction is accomplished by John H. Auer (Hell’s Half Acre).

The story
of a weary married cop who falls for a crooked attorney’s wife holds us in suspense, although it was a little grey in the middle, chiefly because too many cinematic possibilities were introduced, but then not pursued, making the narrative seem uneven.

But what more could one ask for in a
noir with William Talman (D.A. Hamilton Burger in the Perry Mason series), Marie Windsor (the hypnotic quintessential femme fatale), the stylish Gig Young, and the lovely hard working Mala Powers? There were very nice turns by the veteran sneerer Edward Arnold, and the grandfatherly Chill Wills.

Noir expert, Eddie Muller --the “Czar of Noir”-- has City That Never Sleeps ranked at #25 on his list of favorite noirs. That seems like the perfect place to me.

Doc’s rating: 7/10



matt72582's Avatar
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Los tallos amargos - 7/10
I have a sense of relief that I finally watched a decent movie, despite the fact I'm pretty noired out. I record almost every movie on TCM I haven't seen. Solid noir from Argentina. If you don't have TCM, you can watch with the link below.





Ride the Pink Horse (1947)

This one doesn't get a fraction of the attention and praise it deserves. Great noir. Textbook.



LA CAGE AUX FOLLES
(1978, Molinaro)
A film from the 1970s



"Forgive me, but you're just a bitter old bitch. You've lost your sex appeal, you're grotesque, and everyone laughs at you. Yet here I am, still at your side, because you make me laugh. So you know what I'm going to do? Sell my plot in Lombardy and lie by you here in the s-hit in Foissy so we can go on laughing."

La Cage aux Folles follows the lives of Renato and Albin, who've been together for 20 years. Through ups and downs, loyalties and infidelities, they've stuck together, living together, while managing the titular nightclub. But their lives are shaken when Renato's young son, Laurent (Rémi Laurent) announces he's getting married. The thing is that his fiancée is the daughter of an important and ultra-conservative politician, and they want to meet them.

In order to pretend a more "normal" life to his future in-laws, Laurent convinces his father to pretend he's not gay, remodel their apartment, but also to get rid of the more "flamboyant" Albin for the time of the visit. This sparks the above exchange after Albin dejectedly decides to leave.

Maybe some of my complaints might seem silly, since the film is obviously aiming more for the comedy and the slapstick, but moments like the above exchange let out a more emotional angle to the story that I wish would've been embraced more. As it is, I'll lie here so I can go on laughing.

Grade:



Full review on my Movie Loot
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San Andreas, 2015 (C-)

A series of big earthquakes hit California. Because this is an American disaster movie, this event not only causes untold destruction, but also rescues the main characters from their awkward divorce, as it does every time.

So the movie's not good as a general movie, or a disaster movie. It's pretty gosh darn ugly. The CGI is awful for a movie that can afford Dwayne Johnson and open with a girl listening to a Taylor Swift song. The fact that this is nearly all green-screened is nearly impossible to ignore, especially when they go for that fancy one-shot scene, where it's obvious the actress has nothing to do, and they get like 2 other actors on the actual set, while all the extras filmed their scenes elsewhere.

A good number of ships are close-ups when they shouldn't be. We don't even get a frickin scenic shot of the collapse of the Hoover Dam. We see it from the point of view of a guy. Ugh.

The kids were pretty stock as well.





They All Come Out - The fact that this was supposedly Jacques Tourneur's American directorial debut was good enough for me. But it turned out to have a very documentary type of vibe. At the time Tourneur was working at MGM cranking out shorts and documentaries when studio head Louis B. Mayer took a liking to his project on prison reform and asked Tourneur to expand it to a feature length film using as much of the existing footage as he could.

This stars Rita Johnson as Kitty Carson, a member of Reno Madigan's (Bernard Nedell) hold up gang. She makes the acquaintance of Joe Cameron (Tom Neal), an unemployed mechanic, and eventually recruits him into the gang. During their first bank robbery together Kitty is shot and wounded and Joe risks his life to go back for her. After leaving her to get treated the rest of the gang is eventually hunted down, as is Kitty. That's when the story takes kind of an odd turn. The focus turns to the prison reform system and the authorities are somewhat improbably shown to be an altruistic and saintly bunch. I don't know if this is actually how things operated back then but it goes against every hard boiled crime drama I've seen from that era. The difference between this movie and something like I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is like night and day. Anyway, the rest of the members of Reno's gang take full advantage of the rehabilatative process and everything seems to work out well for them.

Even though this is basically a propagandist love letter to the federal prison system Tourneur still shows flashes of brilliance and keeps things moving at an efficient clip. Watch it for the sheer novelty of witnessing a future heavyweight's nascent beginnings.






A Slight Case of Murder - I thought I was familiar with Edward G. Robinson's lighter hearted efforts and I thought they began and ended with Larceny, Inc. (with maybe Brother Orchid thrown in as well). But then along comes this hilarious offering from 1938, directed by Lloyd Bacon and adapted from his play to the screen by Damon Runyon.

Robinson plays Remy Marco, a former successful bootlegger who made his illicit fortune selling beer during prohibition. Once the Volstead Act is repealed Marco is determined to go legit and keep his brewery open. After a few months his busines is in serious trouble when no one will buy his product. As it turns out Remy's beer is terrible and since he himself has never tasted it and none of his crew will tell him the truth, he's in danger of losing everything when the bank threatens to finally call in his note to the tune of 462,000 dollars.

One crazy weekend at his summer home in Saratoga Springs will see everything come to a head. It involves Marco, his wife Nora (Ruth Donnelly) and Mike, Lefty and Gip, his loyal crew of colorful hoods played by comedic veterans Allen Jenkins, Edward Brophy and Harold Huber. There's also his daughter Mary (Jane Bryan) recently returned from Europe with her new fiancee Dick Whitewood (Willard Parker) who just happens to be a State Trooper recruit. Also in the mix is a larcenous orphan, Douglas Fairbanks Rosenbloom (played by Bobby Jordan, one of the Dead End Kids) and a rival gang who have some unfinished business with Remy. Add Dick's wealthy, disapproving father Mr. Whitewood (Paul Harvey) to the mix and toss in a large gathering of the Marco's sketchy and inebriated friends and you end up with a pleasant surprise of a screwball comedy. Highly recommended.




I just finished watching I Daniel Blake (2016). Directed by Ken Loach, the film stars Dave Johns as a carpenter who after a heart attack has to fight to try and get employment and support allowance. Going in to the film, I wasn't sure if I would like it. I had only seen one film from the director before (Kes) and hated it. I was concerned the film sounded like it would be too much of a downer and would be hard to enjoy. I am very pleased to report that I loved this film! Dave Johns is fantastic and brings a lot of depth and humanity to the role. I think he should have been nominated for an Oscar for his performance. Hayley Squires is also very good as a single mom that Blake befriends. I also really liked young Briana Shann's performance as one of her kids. I thought the screenplay was very well written and done in an honest, believable way that avoided clichés. I Daniel Blake is a compelling and interesting film that tackles an important subject matter in a way that is heartfelt, compassionate and still manages to be an entertaining film. Good call whoever suggested this for me. I am glad I saw it. This one rates a high
.



This one doesn't get a fraction of the attention and praise it deserves. Great noir. Textbook.
Yessir, Robert Montgomery has quite a bit of stuff from the 40's that I consider top notch. He's one of the actors from this time that grabs my attention.



I forgot the opening line.

By Studio and or Graphic Artist - From the film's distributor., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58755482

Jonathan - (2018) - (aka : Duplicate)

Another one with Baby Driver's Ansel Elgort (watched him in The Goldfinch recently.) In this he plays Jonathan and John, two divergent personalities which exist in the same body. Through an advance in medical technology, they find that they can share half a day each, from 7am to 7pm and vice versa. They communicate with each other by recording what has happened during their day, and what they've done, how they're going etc. There's a lengthy list of rules of what not to do, lest the whole thing fall apart. One of those is a romantic relationship - but when John starts secretly dating a girl and falls in love with her it creates a conflict which threatens to destroy Jonathan/John completely.

The film is okay, but doesn't hit the heights some other 'split personality' films do - though most of those films use it to create plot twists. "They were both the same person? " In this we know just about from the get-go that these two 'brothers' are the same person. The main thrust of this film being the internal conflict, and the unfairness - one can't commit suicide without taking the other with him. Love appears to be an impossible dream for both of them.

5/10



I just finished watching I Daniel Blake (2016). Directed by Ken Loach, the film stars Dave Johns as a carpenter who after a heart attack has to fight to try and get employment and support allowance. Going in to the film, I wasn't sure if I would like it. I had only seen one film from the director before (Kes) and hated it. I was concerned the film sounded like it would be too much of a downer and would be hard to enjoy. I am very pleased to report that I loved this film! Dave Johns is fantastic and brings a lot of depth and humanity to the role. I think he should have been nominated for an Oscar for his performance. Hayley Squires is also very good as a single mom that Blake befriends. I also really liked young Briana Shann's performance as one of her kids. I thought the screenplay was very well written and done in an honest, believable way that avoided clichés. I Daniel Blake is a compelling and interesting film that tackles an important subject matter in a way that is heartfelt, compassionate and still manages to be an entertaining film. Good call whoever suggested this for me. I am glad I saw it. This one rates a high
.
I've never seen a bad Ken Loach film. 'Sorry we missed you' is quite similar to I, Daniel Blake, as is most of his filmography. 'Raining Stones' is another good one.



Vivarium (2019)

What a strange movie. Couple goes to view a started home and ends up trapped on the estate and having to look after a being/child that ages in a dramatic fashion. Nothing wrong with the performances at all and the cuckoo symbolism was pretty neat. It really ran out of direction at the 1/2 way point and went for a studiedly obscure climax. Not bad not great.



Lensman (1984)


Old japanese animated adaptation of the Lensman novels. It does feel like a remake of the original Star Wars (1977) in many ways. I first watched this movie when I was 6 years old and I rewatched it now I remember many scenes.



I just finished watching I Daniel Blake (2016).
I also liked this.

Vivarium (2019)
Delightfully weird.
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I watched The Swimmer (1968) for the first time. Burt Lancaster is fantastic as a man who decides to swim in his neighbor's pools on his way home. But all is not as it seems and there is more to his story than originally appears. A must see film.



I watched The Swimmer (1968) for the first time. Burt Lancaster is fantastic as a man who decides to swim in his neighbor's pools on his way home. But all is not as it seems and there is more to his story than originally appears. A must see film.
Gosh, I really liked that one too when I seen it for the first time in the Movie Roulette, Cricket chose it for me.



Gosh, I really liked that one too when I seen it for the first time in the Movie Roulette, Cricket chose it for me.
Familiar with Cheever’s original story, but always avoided Lancaster movies. Isn’t it dated & clunky?



Familiar with Cheever’s original story, but always avoided Lancaster movies. Isn’t it dated & clunky?
I don't know what you mean exactly by clunky? As far as 'dated' that doesn't apply to movies as far as I'm concerned.



I don't know what you mean exactly by clunky? As far as 'dated' that doesn't apply to movies as far as I'm concerned.
Clunky - old-fashioned.



Familiar with Cheever’s original story, but always avoided Lancaster movies. Isn’t it dated & clunky?
No, I wouldn't consider it dated or clunky at all. It's a really well made film with substance, smart and entertaining.