Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Cast a Dark Shadow - 1955 Brit noir directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Dirk Bogarde as Edward "Teddy" Bare. He's a gigolo/fortune hunter of sorts who's been married to older, well off Monica (Mona Washbourne) for a year. But it's obvious that he's biding his time and spending her money while he works on getting her will rewritten. When she announces that she is indeed getting it amended Teddy assumes that she's writing him out. This drives him to stage an "accident" but he soon finds out she was instead leaving him her entire fortune and all he'll end up with is their home. In the meantime Monica's attorney Phillip Mortimer (Robert Flemyng) suspects him of murder but can't prove it.

Teddy soon has to go in search of his next meal ticket and meets widowed Freda Jeffries (Margaret Lockwood), a former barmaid who married a richer older man. The shrewd, no-nonsense Freda spots Teddy for the opportunist that he is but he convinces her that he has also been left financially set for life. She agrees to wed him with the understanding that both contribute equally to the marriage. It doesn't take long for her to see through his schemes but being such a pragmatist and having developed feelings for him she sets new ground rules. Teddy chafes at his "kept" status and upon making the acquaintance of well to do newcomer Charlotte Young (Kay Walsh) sees a possible way around his predicament. She's looking to purchase an estate to open an equestrian school and, having worked as a realtor, Teddy starts showing her several properties.

This is right around the time where the plot has slowed down and there is a definite lull in the proceedings. But then there's a completely unexpected development that's enough to give anyone whiplash. Maybe some people could have seen it coming but I didn't. It kind of woke me out of my torpor and, since I hadn't bothered to check out the runtime, I figured we were still knee deep in the second act. Nope.

The cast is efficient in that British drawing room mystery kind of way and Bogarde does a fine job as the textbook wolf in (threadbare) sheep's clothing. But it's Lockwood's performance as the fearless, straight-talking Freda that dominates the film. Which is a shame because the movie's failure at the box office was largely blamed on her and led to a two decade absence from the big screen. It's not the perfect noir but I think some might consider it a neglected gem.

75/100

You win the “describe noir like it’s a bad thing” award.

By Studio and or Graphic Artist - Can be obtained from film's distributor., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65009691

Let Him Go - (2020)

In a good revenge tale you have small people who have been humiliated, wronged and left in the dust. The perpetrators are usually untouchable, and the odds so stacked against our struggling heroes that a knot begins to form in your stomach when the two enemies are pitted against each other. Kevin Costner and Diane Lane are so likeable in this that I felt that knot as they find themselves in a dangerous position - they're trying to rescue their grandson (and ex-daughter-in-law) from the clutches of a maniacal family in North Dakota. Nicely understated, all the performers hit their mark in a film that looks and sounds really good. One I really enjoyed.

7/10

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The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

Continuing on with my Rohmer marathon:

A Summer's Tale (1996, Éric Rohmer)


Absolutely wonderful. Everything you expect from a Rohmer film is here: the beguiling, love-is-in-the-air atmosphere, the breezy, serene beauty of French scenery, the introspective, (self-)analytical dialogue, the oddly non-physical, abstract characters who serve more as "models", vessels for the philosophical and literary ideas of the director, and the choices and dilemmas these characters are faced with. Remember the beautiful Amanda Langlet, Pauline in Pauline at the Beach? You can find her here as well, playing Margot, one of the three girls the protagonist spends the entire film trying to choose between. There are some sweet moments in the film, like the opening 'arrival' sequence, the scene where they sing a song on the boat... I loved the ending too - the parting on the ramp, Margot turning around and leaving, the final shot of the departing ferry with Gaspard on it. As often with Rohmer, outwardly so simple but yet I can't stop thinking about it - it's hard to explain.

I liked "The Lives of Others", and if you did as well, you might LOVE this movie like I did.. It's a more natural, domestic version. Banned for 20 years, and finally released in 1990.

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They don’t get it like us, man. We were born in the dark, they merely adapted to it.

They think we’re in the shadows. We are the shadows.

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

I just finished watching Turning Red on Disney+. Directed by Domee Shi, this animated comedy is about a 13 year old Chinese-Canadian girl whose body is changing in exciting and scary ways. That's right...she turns into a giant red panda whenever she gets too excited! Turning Red is cute, funny and has some hilarious moments. I really enjoyed the story and the characters. Turning Red is my favourite film of the year so far and I rate it a .

Boy Erased
7/10.
Eye-opening movie about conversion therapy of gay youth in America. Excellent cast.

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Boldly going.

The Town (2010) ++ I am pretty d@mn impressed by this fully developed, gripping heist film that balances its dramatic, emotional scenes exceedingly well with the high-calibered violence that never ventures into the truly outlandish. A tricky endeavor in this modern cinematic blockbuster age of impossible stunts.

Ben Affleck, it seems, has risen from the easy target of scorn into a serious filmmaker, and this is one of those films that has turned the tide, in my opinion. That says something since I was happily on aboard the Scorn Wagon previously.
Using The Departed (2006), Heat (1995), Mystic River (2003), and The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) as influences on this film, Affleck adheres to their standard for real tension and drama with well-rounded characters on all fronts.
I remained engrossed throughout, finding myself more and more impressed with how well Affleck kept everything so well maintained in a cohesive, realistic, and gripping drama with characters you connect with.

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~Mr Minio

By https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9179096/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64202293

Minamata - (2020)

This is a hard one to rate - there's two great stories here, the first is W. Eugene Smith's personal story (he was a photojournalist for Life magazine, psychologically scarred from what he went through in the Second World War) and then there is the story of the town of Minamata in Japan. Smith went there in 1971 to cover the mercury poisoning scandal which Japanese corporation Chisso was desperately trying to cover up. The physical effects of the poisoning were devastating on the general populace, and the indifference of Chisso's CEO is absolutely chilling. Smith got to meet the people and photograph much of the suffering in what came to be a famous story in the early 70s. A lot of how much you end up appreciating this movie will depend on how you feel about Johnny Depp playing W. Eugene Smith, which has a flow-on effect since Smith shares a kind of twin-focus and is part of the story. Me personally, I could only see Johnny Depp, which took me out of the story - if Smith had of been played by an unknown actor, I might have rated Minamata as much as 8/10.

Johnny Depp's an actor who I feel has had a lot of overexposure, and that played a large part in how much I enjoyed this film - but check out the trailer below. This isn't such a bad movie - and it's worth seeing. In the end, I was so interested in it's subject I found myself wishing I was watching a documentary rather than this story about Smith's coverage of it. It's ironic that they say "Depp disappears into the role", because I felt the opposite of that. I'm not at all saying that his acting in this is bad - it's quite good - it's just the fact that he's such prolific player we've seen so much of in so many different roles, and I'm a little worn down by seeing him churn out so many performances, even while his star was on the wane.

6.5/10




By A24 Films, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60292326

The Last Black Man in San Francisco - (2019)

Interesting film about one man's passion for the house he grew up in, and his determination to possess it, despite having no means to do so. This man, Jimmie Fails, and his friend Mont Allen (Jonathan Majors) work on upkeeping the place, without the permission of it's current owners and people who inhabit it, which makes for some strange situations. When the current owner dies and the house goes through estate proceedings, Jimmie and Mont decide to break in and squat there in the hopes the property can somehow become theirs. The film flows along in an eccentric way, with various unusual characters creating their unique kind of San Francisco, and this makes the film interesting enough to sustain our attention during a sluggish first half.

The friendship Jimmie and Mont share is also a highlight - they're two gentle souls existing within an African-American community that is trying to project toughness amidst sociological struggle. Mont is something of an artist and writer, and cares so much for his friend that it will be up to him to give Jimmie some other kind of sense of identity when heartaches and disaster occur. Jonathan Majors does an amazing job of projecting how much he cares for his friend, just through facial expressions and body language. The other great character, of course, is San Francisco itself.

7.5/10

A Simple Favour (2018)

Why not? Do you have some weird bias against movies based on pivotal historical events, or something?

Sure, but it can get repetitive if various works of media keeps portraying his suicide in similar manners. I mean, I get why filmmakers keep directing it that way, since all of us already know what happened in that bunker (hopefully), so there's no need to focus on the obvious, and I know they're not trying to intentionally give Adolf some sort of dignity in death that he denied the victims of the Holocaust, but I definitely think there's a way you could portray it in a more direct way, without accidentally evoking sympathy for him. I mean, unless you were making some sort of sick, pro-Nazi propaganda movie (which Downfall most certainly isn't), there's no way to depict Hitler as a sympathetic figure overall, so I think depicting him killing himself to avoid capture would naturally only play up his cowardice in context, and show how afraid he was of facing justice for all the war crimes he commited, especially if you do stuff like show him whimpering at the sound of Soviet shelling in the distance, you know? Just a thought.

"Dune" - (2021)

Thought it was much better than the Lynch version. I say that because of never having made it through the original. 7/10



" Free Guy" - (2021)

Decent plot for a film. Kind of reminds me of "Last Action Hero" in its delivery. Also stars Ryan Reynolds, who puts out a great Ryan Reynolds effort. 7/10

I guess. I mean, maybe it's just me, but I don't tend to watch a lot of films that feature Hitler as a character.

Downfall may be the first film portrayal I've seen of his death. And I think that the film was taking care not to step outside of the bounds of what was known or could reasonably be inferred. As soon as you show Hitler sobbing and clutching a teddy bear as he reluctantly pulls the trigger, you enter the realm of fantasy.

Pretty much. Films should only be allowed to focus on certain events. History has no place in film, am I right?

In all sincerity, I hadn't seen the film mentioned on any lists I go to for recommendations, so since all I knew about the film was its length and its meme scene, it didn't attract my attention. It's on my watchlist now though.

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IMDb
Letterboxd

Exactly my story. Now I have interest.

I for years had actually thought Downfall was a television miniseries from Germany. I had some interest, but I'm usually really slow at getting to TV shows I should watch, and a lot slips by me in the process.


As soon as I realized it was an actual movie about five or six years ago, I got myself a copy. But wasn't really aware of how much it was respected until about a year or two ago. Once all of these factors came into play, I watched it within a month and thought it was easily one of my favorite movies from this millennium.