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By Universal Pictures - http://www.allposters.com/-sp/The-Sp..._i5136971_.htm, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36820561

The Spoilers - (1942)

This follows a Hollywood formula religiously, but I can't push The Spoilers aside to be forgotten about because it has moments that stand out, good and bad. One of those includes John Wayne in blackface, sharing a godawful moment with Marietta Canty - one you have to see to believe. On a positive note the final battle between Wayne's Roy Glennister and Randolph Scott's Alex McNamara goes to ridiculous lengths, lasts a long time and ends up with half of the town destroyed. Marlene Dietrich shows up in a see-through blouse, and there is enough sexual double entendre talk to last 17 Mae West films. All of this makes this tale about prospectors being cheated out of their finds by slimy judges and lawmen interesting, and worth watching - especially for fans of Wayne or Dietrich (and was of extra interest for me because Richard Barthelmess features in a rare post-A Modern Hero role.)

6/10


By IMP Awards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59422414

If Beale Street Could Talk - (2018)

Second time watching this - a window into a world that shouldn't exist as it does. There's some nice visual poetry, which adds to what has been adapted from James Baldwin's novel. I was happy to see that it didn't sell out.

7/10


By The poster art can or could be obtained from the distributor., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55237222

The Wife - (2017)

My second time watching this as well. I was kind of spellbound by it in it's last stretch - I love Jonathan Pryce and Glenn Close in this, who really managed to snag two great roles and do their best with them. I could see myself watching it yet again in the future - it's just so well written and to the point, while looking and sounding perfect for the story it's telling.

7.5/10
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I think I've only seen two films of his: this and Winchester 73, where he briefly plays a Native American. I've heard Seconds is pretty good, but I'm not sure if that has to do more with the plot than with his performance.
I don't know if you've watched Bend of the River with Jimmy Stewart and Arthur Kennedy. It's an Anthony Mann Western and Hudson has a small but semi-significant role in that as a gambler. He stood out to me as a likable character with a redemptive arc of sorts.



I don't know if you've watched Bend of the River with Jimmy Stewart and Arthur Kennedy. It's an Anthony Mann Western and Hudson has a small but semi-significant role in that as a gambler. He stood out to me as a likable character with a redemptive arc of sorts.
Never seen it, but I'll add it to the watchlist.
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That one's been on the watchlist since forever Need to prioritize it.
You should. It's one of those sprawling epics. Only set in Texas and it actually addresses some of the prejudices Hispanics were subject to. Unheard of in a 1956 film and especially one with a big budget and a heavyweight cast. They're all so good in this. Hudson, Taylor, Dean, Dennis Hopper, Carroll Baker, Chill Wills, Sal Mineo, Earl Holliman.



I've heard Seconds is pretty good, but I'm not sure if that has to do more with the plot than with his performance.
I think the movie gains quite a bit from his casting and the fact that he was closeted at the time, which colours the proceedings interesting. His Douglas Sirk films have a similar dynamic, so would suggest checking those out as well.



Just For the Hell of It (1968) Directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis. A gang of young punks cause mayhem and destruction. I enjoyed this in a trashy, nasty sort of way. The plot is pretty thin, but it was still sufficiently entertaining. Bonus points for putting the baby in the garbage can.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

Snow Monster (Huang He, 2019)
5.5/10
Squish! (Tulapop Saenjaroen, 2021)
5/10
Woman Wanted (George B. Seitz, 1935)
5.5/10
Enthiran (Bazin Bs & S. Shankar, 2010)
6.5/10

A doctor (Rajinikanth) creates a robot in his own image but learns that he can't control his actions, including hitting on his wife (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan).
Public Toilet Africa (Kofi Ofosu-Yeboah, 2021)
5/10
Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (Chris Bailey, Mark Koetsier & Rob Minkoff, 2022)
6/10
The Nan Movie (Catherine Tate, 2022)
5/10
I Am Groot (Kirsten Lepore, 2022)
6.5/10 5 shorts

Groot (Vin Diesel) may be a Party Animal or an immature selfish little punk.
The Forgiven (John Michael McDonagh, 2022)
6/10
Santaman (Bret Stern, 2022)
5/10
Carter (Jeong Byeong-Gil, 2022)
6/10
Thirteen Lives (Ron Howard, 2022)
6.5/10

During the Thailand cave incident a few years back, three of the "awesome foursome" British cave divers, Chris Jewell (Tom Bateman), John Volanthen (Colin Farrell) and Richard Stanton (Viggo Mortensen), prepare to get the kids out.
Jane by Charlotte (Charlotte Gainsbourg, 2021)
6/10
13 Minutes (Lindsay Gossling, 2021)
5/10
Secret Headquarters (Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman, 2022)
6/10
Elvis (Baz Luhrmann, 2022)
6.5/10

The life story of Elvis Presley (Austin Butler) told mostly through the eyes of his egocentric manager Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks). Entertaining but frantic and overlong.
One More Time with Feeling (Andrew Dominik, 2016)
+ 6.5/10
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Andy Suriano & Ant Ward, 2022)
6/10
We Burn Like This (Alana Waksman, 2021)
5/10
Day Shift (J.J. Perry, 2022)
6/10

Los Angeles pool cleaner Jamie Foxx is really a vampire hunter and gets some help near the end from legendary Big John Elliott (Snoop Dogg).
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Day Shift -


I just love how it's like "okay now what if Bright was good"
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It's a good film. I've always felt R. Hudson to be a lightweight actor who never seemed really sincere, but here he was very good.
Loved this movie...totally agree that it was the first display of some real acting skills from Rock Hudson. He was quite good in this.



Victim of The Night
Oh, his specific character was a horrible human being. But I think that the movie did a good job of having several guys who were pretty awful in their own ways without it seeming like that was the point or message of the narrative.
I agree, I didn't feel like the movie was trying to make any kind of statement.
There are some pretty awful men out there, women too, people, but a woman like Gloria could easily get mixed up with shitty men. I thought the movie was pretty deft overall, to tell you the truth, and I think the fact that it never occurred to me that there was a way to see it as "all men are bad" or anything is just a part of that. They told the story they wanted to tell and they told it well.



Victim of The Night

By Universal Pictures - http://www.allposters.com/-sp/The-Sp..._i5136971_.htm, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36820561

The Spoilers - (1942)

This follows a Hollywood formula religiously, but I can't push The Spoilers aside to be forgotten about because it has moments that stand out, good and bad. One of those includes John Wayne in blackface, sharing a godawful moment with Marietta Canty - one you have to see to believe. On a positive note the final battle between Wayne's Roy Glennister and Randolph Scott's Alex McNamara goes to ridiculous lengths, lasts a long time and ends up with half of the town destroyed. Marlene Dietrich shows up in a see-through blouse, and there is enough sexual double entendre talk to last 17 Mae West films. All of this makes this tale about prospectors being cheated out of their finds by slimy judges and lawmen interesting, and worth watching - especially for fans of Wayne or Dietrich (and was of extra interest for me because Richard Barthelmess features in a rare post-A Modern Hero role.)

6/10
Randolph Scott! *takes off hat*



Victim of The Night

The truth is that no amount of nostalgia, love for ELO, or respect for the dead can forgive how truly awful this movie is.
It may very well be the worst movie I have ever seen. In fact, it is so bad that I leapfrogged it ahead of a backlog of write-ups I need to do, just because it is so very specially bad.
I described it thusly to my friend, Trout, first as I was watching it last night and then following up this morning:

Me: "I think I’ve finally figured out what’s wrong with Xanadu."
Trout: "That it’s a piece of hot steaming shit? Dude, I figured that out a long long time ago. I could have saved you the time."
*fast-forward to this morning...
Trout: "I’m sorry. That was unnecessarily nasty."
Me: "No, you're not wrong.
When I first texted, I was gonna say that the director should have been taken out back and shot against the wall. But then I realized that you’d need to take the cinematographer with him. And then I realized that the writer(s) might actually be even more nefarious criminals (assuming they were paid for this, they robbed somebody blind). And then I figured the lead actor, Michael Beck, would have to be left lifeless (like his “performance”) in an alleyway or ditch in like The Bronx or Kansas. And yet, that it’s a shame you can’t remake a film like this."
Me (again): "The level of incompetence involved is staggering. I mean, it’s incompetence. It’s not a bad idea or studio meddling or too low of a budget or whatever, it is gross incompetence. If I performed my doctorly duties this way I would be found guilty of both malpractice and professional incompetence and I suspect my license would be reviewed and possibly revoked."
Me: "For example, the song 'Magic' from the soundtrack actually was a No.1 hit, yet in the film, a musical, it is not performed but plays in the background while people (incompetently) talk over it. In another scene, the climactic scene, Olivia Newton John performs the soundtrack’s second biggest hit... mostly while facing away from the camera, ostensibly wowed by tight-rope walkers (three feet off the ground) and mediocre roller-skaters, often in wide shots to try to show the whole (incompetent) spectacle that’s on display, while she is like the size of a pencil on the screen and could actually be someone else in a blonde wig. During the climactic musical number which she is singing. I was dumbfounded. There is no filmmaking competence. Never seen anything like it. They simply don't know where to put the camera. They don't know where the camera should be pointed. They don't know how the actors should be blocked. They don't know how the shot should be lit. They don't know how long the shot should last. They don't know how to deliver what is actually in the scene to the audience. A complete lack of competence. It becomes clear why the Razzies were founded specifically because of this film."
Me: I love a lot of "bad" movies. But the makers of Xanadu simply could not have done worse. They had Olivia Newton-John, Gene Kelly, and Jeff Lynne writing songs and scoring the film with ELO performing it all, and they, the filmmakers, let all those people down with a simple and true lack of actual, minimal competence. Xanadu is a not a "bad" movie. It's just a bad movie.
Trout: "You're not wrong."



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
Enthiran (Bazin Bs & S. Shankar, 2010)
6.5/10
I have a feeling this is the best film ever made and we both just can't fully get it. BOOM BOOM ROBO DA ROBO DA ROBO DA ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM ROBO DA ROBO DA ROBO DA!!
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Elvis
(2022)


The chief takeaway from this picture is the phenomenal performance of Austin Butler as Elvis Presley. It’s hard to imagine how anyone could have done a better job. His uncanny resemblance to Elvis, his stage mannerisms, his subtle expressions, dancing, and overall sex appeal were as if Elvis were reborn. Butler even did his own singing when portraying the younger Elvis, although Elvis’ voice was at least partially dubbed in when Butler’s older Elvis sang.

What trivialized the film were its gaudy and exaggerated depictions of Elvis’ early life in Tupelo, Mississippi, and his visits to the center of blues in Memphis, Beale Street. Although the featured blues singers sang well, their speakeasy type settings and performances were presented with a magnified sleaze to the point of parody. In street and crowd scenes its as if the film rocketed to a whiz bang musical extravaganza ala West Side Story, with larger than life coordinated crowd scenes presented in a near psychedelic Technicolor fashion. By telling a tale that itself is larger than life, presenting that story in an over the top staging canceled out the impact of it. Elvis’ meteoric rise to fame would have been better represented if the producers would have toned down his early influences and career start.

I was 14 when Heartbreak Hotel hit the radio airwaves with a bang. Younger audiences were immediately taken in. By the time Hound Dog soon followed, we were completely hooked. It was only later that I learned that his early version of That’s All Right recorded at Sam Phillip’s Sun Studio in Memphis had been immediately played on the air at a local radio station. The response was instant and immense, with many phone calls inquiring who the young singer was, and which high school did he attend (so as to learn whether the singer was black or white). That was the event that started Elvis’ rise to fame. He subsequently used that song in his appearances on the Louisiana Hayride on radio, then TV. If one listens to that early Sun Studio recording (available on YouTube), Presley’s bluesy and evocative vocal styling is galvanizing and completely fresh.

Reports of Elvis made much of Presley’s manager, Col. Tom Parker (Tom Hanks) and that the story was told from his point of view. But for an early scene, and one near the end featuring Parker on his death bed, the story ala Parker never really registered. As a matter of fact it’s a mystery trying to understand what they were trying to do with Parker. Hanks did a creditable performance, but we’re left to understand how Parker really viewed his relationship with Elvis. Hanks used an accent, presumably to connote Parker’s Dutch heritage, but the accent was merely generically foreign sounding without much reference to Dutch, which was often sing-song in nature. But in fact Parker’s real speaking voice was not foreign sounding at all. It was more of a mid Atlantic American accent. Certainly there are any number of actors who might have been better cast than Hanks, but presumably Warner Bros. wanted to have a hefty name in the production to commercially add to audience attraction.

The film did truthfully feature some of Presley’s highlights and a few lowlights, but there were several scenes and story lines that were fabricated. For example Presley and Parker never visited a house of mirrors or rode on a Ferris wheel for serious conversation, nor did Presley ever fire Parker on stage during a show at the International Hotel. And some of the interesting incidents in his life were left out. I think the producers fell into the trap that many Hollywood biopics have done: They believe that to make the story important or attractive, it must be presented in a distorted extravagant manner, over emphasizing certain facets in order to drive home its worth.

The quality of the music, both featured and incidental, was of a high quality, which one would expect in a music biopic. Executive music producer Elliott Wheeler helmed an impressive array of songs and performances, while arranging those choices and providing incidental music. Next to Butler’s performance, Wheeler’s work was one of the most important portions of the movie.

Elvis was a highly anticipated film. While it had its missteps, it is a review of one of American history’s most important popular legends-- a man who remains the best selling solo music artist of all time. His vocal ability allowed him to sing in many styles: rock, ballad, country, gospel and others. And his importance to culture in the mid Twentieth Century is inestimable. This film is a worthwhile view of Elvis Presley’s legend and legacy.

Doc’s rating: 7/10







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





You've Got Mail, 1998

Kathleen (Meg Ryan) owns and operates an independent children's bookstore in New York City. Joe (Tom Hanks) is in the middle of opening a corporate, Borders-like book superstore just around the corner. Obvious animosity develops between the two, but they are unaware that they are corresponding online with each other via AOL forums. As their online relationship grows, their real-world dynamics become more and more contentious.

This is a remake of The Shop Around the Corner, updated to the internet age. While the cast is stacked with very charming talent, some the dynamics of the story end up making the romance kind of icky.

Ryan and Hanks are both proven romantic-comedy talents, including their work in Sleepless in Seattle. They both bring plenty of charm to their roles, especially Hanks, who must still come off as likable even though he is driving Ryan's character out of business. They are supported by a whole slew of secondary characters, like Greg Kinnear's goober of an intellectual poseur, who is dating Kathleen, or Parker Posey as Joe's girlfriend. Even much smaller roles are filled by talents like Dave Chapelle, Steve Zahn, and Jean Stapleton.

But the plot. The plot. Oof.

There's a plot point in both the original film and this adaptation (MILD SPOILERS) that about a third of the way or halfway through the film, Joe learns that Kathleen is his secret correspondent. In both versions, the male lead leverages this one-sided knowledge to feel out the relationship and generally mess with his love interest. It's not hard to see how this is problematic and kind of gross.

But in the original film, the characters were co-workers in the same store, with the female lead being remarkable for her salesmanship. So there was a power imbalance, but other elements somewhat balanced it out.

In this film, though, Joe's store is literally destroying Kathleen's work, something that not only brings her great joy, but is also the thing that she most connects with to her dead mother. At two hours long, this adds up to about an hour of Joe manipulating, humiliating, and otherwise playing mind games with Kathleen as her business goes under. There's a grace period right after he finds out who she is where you think, yeah, he needs to buy some time to figure out how to navigate this. But an hour of run time?! And to then have Joe basically start pitting himself against . . . himself and forcing Kathleen to choose just feels cruel. But because the movie needs us to be okay with this, Kathleen is perpetually apologizing to Joe when she's angry, and then so grateful for his attentions.

The cast is great, and deliver their lines with aplomb. But all the charm in the world can't save an overall premise that is pretty yucky if you think about it for more than two minutes.




Prey (2022)




My favorite thing about the original Predator is it's cast of badasses with different personalities. I've never even really cared about the Arnold vs Predator battle. That put this new movie at a disadvantage going in for me, but the results were still positive. The girl and the rest of the cast are fine, they just don't stand out. It's a good looking flick that keeps a strong pace and has plenty of action. I enjoyed it.



29th Hall of Fame

Vengeance is Mine (1979) -


This is kind of film I struggle to write much about as it left me quite emotionally cold. It's clearly a biography of sorts for the killer, but for much of it, I felt pretty disconnected from him. In spite of covering multiple events from his life (his early years growing up, the murders he committed near the start of the film, befriending a lawyer, his arrest for fraud, his marriage with Kazuko, and his relationship with Haru), the film had a somewhat aloof sense as it moved through these sequences. For instance, opening with the killer's capture, backtracking to a drawn out scene of two of his murders, and flashing back to his capture seemed like a weird choice of an introduction. Similarly, the scenes of him as a child left me particularly cold. The conflict with his wife and his relationship with Haru were among the better parts of the film, but even they felt double their runtime and left me distant as well. Maybe if the film focused more on the latter two sub-plots and less on the other parts I mentioned, I'd be more into the film. For what it's worth though, I found Haru's mother to be the most memorable character in this. Also, the acting is pretty good, the washed out color palette fits the bleak vibes of the film really well, and the final scene, while I'm not sure what it was going for, is pretty fun (I would've liked more scenes like that). Also, the film is technically well-made, so I wouldn't say it's a bad film or anything. Just one which left a lot to be desired. So yeah, all I can say is that it was a well-made and well-directed film which left me cold. I might check out some more of Imamura's films in the future to see if I respond better to them though.
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