Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Tools    





Victim of The Night
Yeah, I felt similarly about it; it felt like Wise was afraid to upset audiences by setting a Musical in a Nazi-encroached Austria, so he decided to overcompensate for that by making it really sugary and light on conflict, which is a shame, because the most engaging scene by far was the one where Mary and the Captain get into the confrontation about her "loose" care of the kids... but then the film immediately reversed that the next scene when he heard his children singing for the first time, and it's like a switch just got automatically flipped in his character, from "uptight" to "warm". I remember thinking "No, don't do that; you were finally getting interesting, movie!". Also, it was definitely a victim of Hollywood's "longer is better" mentality at the time, since there was absolutely no need for it to be almost three hours, since they could've easily told that story in no more than two (probably less than that, even); maybe if they hadn't sung almost every single song twice, they could've.


I think you summed up my feelings better than I did.
Also, I'd forgotten how freaking long it is. West Side Story's 2h 32m fly by for me while Sound's 2h 52m feel like a true test of my cinematic endurance.



Victim of The Night


Night Moves, 1975

As the magician detective at the heart of the story...

A very solid neo-noir.

Ha!

Also, one thing I loved about this movie is the chess game and how it plays into the theme of the film.
WARNING: "thematic and story spoilers" spoilers below
Harry keeps playing the same game of chess over and over again, one in which the player on the black side missed the opportunity to win the game and ended up losing. Harry's response to this is to keep playing the same game over and over even though the outcome is always a loss because the opportunity to win was somehow overlooked.
When the film ends and Harry is wounded and possibly dying on a boat that can only go in circles, we see the theme of the chess-game finally realized in the film.



Satan's Slave (1976)

I accidentally started to rewatch this (I didn't remember, there was a movie with this title other than the Indonesian one). After the first scene, I knew I had seen this, and a little later, I remembered clearly. It's still a sleazy cult film with lots of nudity and violence that's more akin to Italian horror than the British. It's still nothing too great, but I upped my rating from two years back by half a star.
__________________



You have snared my attention with this. I feel I must now find a way to watch at least one of this person's films.
Arrow Video released a bunch of his films on Blu-ray a few years ago. I think there might have even been a box set.



Sweet Alabama (2017)

Neat little noir in small town America, John Bernthal is engaging as the injured former rodeo rider now hotel owner and caught up in dark forces.





Re-watch though I couldn’t remember a single scene.

Elizabeth Olsen totally carried this movie. Could not believe in Sarah Paulson & Hugh Dancy as a married couple. Dancy struggled with his rôle as though unsure who he was playing.

Fun to see Julia Garner in a small rôle.

Not a bad movie by any means.
__________________
I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.



You have snared my attention with this. I feel I must now find a way to watch at least one of this person's films.

In addition to the Arrow blu-ray, I think I've seen their stuff on iTunes. When I looked a few years ago. The Beast wasn't on iTunes (not surprising), but the Dr Jekyll and Miss Hyde one was (a little surprising).



In addition to the Arrow blu-ray, I think I've seen their stuff on iTunes. When I looked a few years ago. The Beast wasn't on iTunes (not surprising), but the Dr Jekyll and Miss Hyde one was (a little surprising).
Looks like Love Rites is on Tubi as well. Maybe not the best starting point (Jekyll probably is easier to get into thanks to the horror elements), but I enjoyed it.



THE FALLING
(2014, Morley)



"It's real to all of us. Something's seriously wrong. Why is everyone ignoring us?"

The Falling follows two friends, Abbie and Lydia (Florence Pugh and Maisie Williams), at a strict English girls' school. The two have developed what others see as an unhealthy relationship. When tragedy hits the two friends, Lydia and some of her friends start suffering from frequent fainting episodes that seem to confuse and agitate other members of the school, as well as the strict faculty.

The thing is that the story is all over the place. There's the "unhealthy" relationship between Abbie and Lydia, then the mysterious fainting episodes, and its effect among the classmates and the school overall. There's also some family issues at Lydia's house that are just brushed over during the first half, only to take full prominence in the second half. Finally, there is an incestuous relationship that I fail to see why it was necessary, but there it is.

Still, it's a surprise that the end result still ends up being relatively competent. Morley's script might be an issue, but her direction and the cinematography from Agnes Godard are pretty great. Also, all of the performances, but especially Pugh and Williams, are great. I still don't think the film had to jump through all the hoops it did to get where it ended at, but it might be worth a watch for fans of Pugh or Williams.

Grade:



Full review on my Movie Loot
__________________
Check out my podcast: The Movie Loot!



You have snared my attention with this. I feel I must now find a way to watch at least one of this person's films.
Same here.



Ha!

Also, one thing I loved about this movie is the chess game and how it plays into the theme of the film.
WARNING: "thematic and story spoilers" spoilers below
Harry keeps playing the same game of chess over and over again, one in which the player on the black side missed the opportunity to win the game and ended up losing. Harry's response to this is to keep playing the same game over and over even though the outcome is always a loss because the opportunity to win was somehow overlooked.
When the film ends and Harry is wounded and possibly dying on a boat that can only go in circles, we see the theme of the chess-game finally realized in the film.
I think that the chess sequence not only sets up an important notion for the characters, but almost how the audience will react. Paula says that the chess player must have been upset afterward. Harry replies that he is upset about it, and he wasn't even alive when it happened. I think that mirrors the way that we watch this film and see several points where it's like "No! Don't do THAT!".




Elizabeth Olsen totally carried this movie. Could not believe in Sarah Paulson & Hugh Dancy as a married couple. Dancy struggled with his rôle as though unsure who he was playing.
Something that I think explains a bit of the issue with Dancy's character is that, if I remember correctly,
WARNING: spoilers below
they couldn't decide if he was going to be a creep and actually sleep with her, or if he was an okay guy who wasn't a predator, and they ended up filming a lot of sequences that could work either way. I believe there was actually a scene written (and possibly filmed) where he does have sex with her, but then they changed their minds. I think that the character feels very much pulled in those different directions. Is he yet another abuser who is going to take advantage of this young woman for sexual purposes? Is he just a dude who is frustrated with his wacky sister-in-law?



Something that I think explains a bit of the issue with Dancy's character is that, if I remember correctly,
WARNING: spoilers below
they couldn't decide if he was going to be a creep and actually sleep with her, or if he was an okay guy who wasn't a predator, and they ended up filming a lot of sequences that could work either way. I believe there was actually a scene written (and possibly filmed) where he does have sex with her, but then they changed their minds. I think that the character feels very much pulled in those different directions. Is he yet another abuser who is going to take advantage of this young woman for sexual purposes? Is he just a dude who is frustrated with his wacky sister-in-law?
That does clear things up. Thanks so much.

They both took a boat ride & he was ogling her the entire time as he tried to teach her how to drive a boat. I was surprised that she made it back to shore without having to fend off his advances. Poor Hugh, no wonder he seemed unsure of his rôle.



CringeFest's Avatar
Duplicate Account (locked)
1/10 Enemy of the State (1998)


This has everything i hate about the ocean movies and ****ty conspiracy theories. Too many points of disconnect in the plot develpment (ie., hard to understand what's really going on), and over-reliance on cinematography. The newer manchurian candidate is a lot better in terms of political espionage.







Cult of the Cobra - Modest 1955 horror from Universal International. Six Air Force buddies decide to go the tourist route for their final days in an unspecified Asian country at the end of WWII and meet up with a snake charmer who offers to sneak them into a secret cult ceremony for 100 dollars. The "Lamians" are supposed to worship a woman who can turn herself into a cobra and vice versa. When they're inevitably found out due to the staggering dumbassery of one of the group, the cult's high priest puts a curse upon them. They will be hunted down and killed one by one by the vengeful snake goddess. Flash forward an unspecified amount of time and the remaining members are all living in NYC. A mysterious and exotic (by 50's standards) woman moves in across the hall from two of them and shortly after the bodies start piling up.

50's sci-fi staple Faith Domergue plays Lisa, the femme fatale and the objects of her attentions are played by a gallery of actors who went on to star in their own TV shows. Richard Long (The Big Valley), Marshall Thompson (Daktari), Jack Kelly (Maverick), David Jansen (The Fugitive) and William Reynolds (The F.B.I.) play the living-on-borrowed-time members of the group. It's not a classic by any means but it is a good enough horror entry and worthy of a watch on a cold rainy day. I'd put it in the same class as something like The Mole People or The Wasp Woman. Comfort food.




That does clear things up. Thanks so much.

They both took a boat ride & he was ogling her the entire time as he tried to teach her how to drive a boat. I was surprised that she made it back to shore without having to fend off his advances. Poor Hugh, no wonder he seemed unsure of his rôle.
The boat sequence in particular was a moment where I was like "Wait, what is going on with this guy?!"

At first I thought that the point was that she was having trouble perceiving his behavior toward her because she'd been so warped by the cult. But then there was a scene with him (maybe watching her out a window or something) where she's not aware of it and I was like, okay, maybe the mixed messages aren't intentional!





McCabe & Mrs. Miller, 1971

In a small, barely developed mining town, a man named McCabe (Warren Beatty) rolls into town and through sheer force of magnetism, determination, and deadly reputation, begins to organize the town into something significant. Before long, brothel madame Mrs. Miller (Julie Christie) arrives and persuades McCabe to front her the cost of opening a high-quality brothel in which they will share the profits. But the town's success attracts a few interested buyers, and they may not be willing to take no for an answer.

I guess the theme of this week's movie watching is 70s film subverting genre expectations. First with Night Moves taking on the detective/noir genre, and now with McCabe and Mrs. Miller upending the Western.

I can see why this film is held in such high regard. From a filmmaking point of view, I have no complaints. I think that what makes it so easy to admire is the fact that it doesn't seem to care all that much what you think about the main characters. It is content to show you their lives and their choices and let you draw your own conclusions. While there are secondary characters who fall more easily into the "good person/bad person" extremes, the two leads are admirably complex.

The film does a great job of conveying how dangerous--and arbitrarily cruel--the semi-tamed west could be. Everyone, in their own way, lives on the edge. It makes intuitive sense the way that the character jockey for control or at times choose to escape as with Mrs. Miller and her opium addiction. The details of the setting--especially seeing the characters' breath--really captures the harsh environment in which they find themselves. It all creates an effect where any moment of silence or calm or gentleness seems like some sort of miracle.

I thought that Beatty and Christie did a great job in their roles, and that the supporting cast were also strong. Everyone in the film brings a sort of grim acceptance to their scenes.

I thought that the soundtrack choices were interesting. At times I wondered if they weren't too modern, but I also have to admit that thematically and tonally they really fit the film and its events.

There's a certain fatalism to the film that did make me antsy at times. I think that it's intentional, so this isn't a flaw, per se. But that restlessness made it hard to stick with the film at points.

Overall an excellent piece of the Western canon. Chalk up another "deservedly classic".








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





McCabe & Mrs. Miller, 1971

I thought that the soundtrack choices were interesting. At times I wondered if they weren't too modern, but I also have to admit that thematically and tonally they really fit the film and its events.
I thought the Cohen tunes worked perfectly for it, personally, and really added a lot to the overall haunting vibe of the movie: