Rate The Last Movie You Saw

The New Gods: Nezha Reborn aka Xin shen bang: Ne Zha chong sheng (2021) Found this on Netflix after watching the (prequel??) Ne Zha, also on Netflix earlier this year. In fact, I rewatched the first one beforehand to refresh myself with the story set in medieval China or Taiwan. Not sure, which, honestly. For this continuing saga in a dystopian world centuries later where the souls of the Dragon King and Ne Zha (The Chaos Demon King) have fought and killed one another over and over again throughout reincarnation after reincarnation to have them battle, yet, once more.
This also seems to be an enticing gateway into a new series: The New Gods that definitely piqued my interest.
Between these two, the first had a more playful tone whose darker aspects took secondary. Here, it is switched and the dark, grittier aspect takes center stage. The playful tones are used as more of a balancing tool.
Still, the connection with family values remains as well as the theme of Ne Zha fighting Destiny and being more than what he is dictated to remain a primary premise throughout.

Extremely fast-paced and highly Action-oriented, there were a few times I paused to soak in all the details of the animation involved.
While not mind-blowing per se, or heavily addictive, it IS, VERY enjoyable as a solid popcorn-munching venture.








Across the Universe (2007) + I have wanted to see this for quite some time and wanted to even more with the 2000s Countdown coming up being very much a Beatles fan since early childhood. And this has SO MUCH for a fanboy to enjoy. Both in the obvious and the subtle/hidden for not only the Beatles but the chaotic times of the late sixties, to a few nods to fellow musicians. Julie Taymor's Titus continually "haunts" me in all kinds of wondrous ways and that visual wizardry is given full release as she mixes and recreates the hallucinogenic wanderings of The Beatles and that time period. Using mostly debut performances for most of the cast along with some very cool cameos from such folks as Joe Cocker, Bono, Eddie Izzard, Salma Hayek () and others, Taymor creates a fun, enjoyable video montage of Beatles music as the parameters for her story of a young Liverpudlian (Jim Sturges with a pleasing resemblance to a young Paul McCartney) and the troubled love affair he shares with an American girl (Evan Rachel Wood) from a rich family.
Strangely, while the pacing was ideal it somehow felt "long" in the viewing. But that is entirely on me.
The dance sequences, the adaptions made to the singing styles, and the segues show the love and passion Julie Taymor had for the subject matter. And I have a very strong feeling I would feel that love and passion increase with any and all future revisits to this film.

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Fort Massacre, 1958

Sergeant Vinson (Joel McCrea) leads a group of cavalry soldiers deep into Apache territory, frequently choosing a course of action that leads them into conflict with the Native Americans. Deluded by his hatred of the Apache, a result of their slaughter of his wife and sons--Vinson takes increasingly dangerous risks, with only one of his officers, Travis (John Russell) willing to push back. When the cavalry takes an old Piute man and his granddaughter hostage, things take a dark turn.

This is, for the most part, a serviceable western, but it's not much more than that.

One the positive side, the actions scenes are relatively well-staged. I also liked the increasing desperation of the men as they realize that Vinson's vendetta is much more important to him than their lives. Bound by the "yes sir" dynamic of the military, Vinson's decisions are always just reasonable enough until the point where they turn deadly. McCrea gives a strong performance as the unhinged Vinson. Russell also does a good job as a man who is troubled by what is happening, but not quite willing to put his foot down.

On the downside, the film tends to waffle a bit about exactly what it's criticizing when it comes to Vinson: is it his bigotry against all native people, even the harmless man and his granddaughter, or is it his willingness to endanger the men under his command? Characters continue to say that he's a "great man", but, like, is he though? He racks up quite the body count--including the cold-blooded murder of a young native man who is unarmed. But the film and its characters for the most part seem willing to hand-wave a lot of that away. It all comes out a bit muddled.

Then there's the treatment of the native characters, in both performance and writing. The Piute granddaughter is played by Susan Cabot, and it's just one of the most cringe, egregious uses of "red-face" I can think of. The makeup's color is bizarre, and Cabot's distinctly European features make for a rough contrast even with the other white actors playing Native Americans. The native characters touch on every stereotype in the book: alcoholic, eating dogs, flirtatious with the men, and so on. At the same time, the characters are meant to be sympathetic, and once again this element of the film comes off muddled.

Not without some good points, but also nothing special.

26th Hall of Fame (REWATCH)

Sweet Smell of Success (1957) -

Film noirs usually don't dip into favorite territory for me and this film wasn't an exception to that, but I do enjoy it quite a bit and it held up well when I rewatched it.

Interestingly enough though, it barely qualifies as a noir. Noir isn't an easily defined genre and a number of definitions of the term exist, but an integral plot point which remains consistent throughout the genre is that the film in question needs to involve a clear and identifiable crime. While some of the characters in this film have corrupt morals, they operate within the law throughout much of the film and a major crime isn't introduced until about an hour or so in. It's in this way, by refusing to define a major crime till the final act, that Sweet Smell of Success redefines the rules of the genre.

I think noirs are reliant on the quality of their dialogue more than all other genres and Sweet Smell of Success doesn't disappoint on that front. In terms of classic noirs, it doesn't quite have my favorite dialogue (I'd give that designation to Out of the Past), but it still comes with plenty to enjoy. The script is packed with a handful of well-placed and biting remarks which add stakes to the less dramatic moments in the first couple acts, ensuring that you remain engaged all throughout the film. I appreciated the dialogue when I first watched this film and I found more to like about the script with my second viewing.

Tony Curtis does a great job as Sidney Falco, a press agent determined to break apart the romance between Steve and Susan. He's willing to do anything to accomplish the task, including spreading lies about Steve and betraying his friends. Burt Lancaster does a similarly great job as J.J. Hunsecker, a major media kingpin who's unscrupulous, vindictive, and just as bad as Falco, if not worse. Steve and Susan act as contrasts to the two of them as they're both good people, albeit powerless against them. The conflict amongst the four of them resides on a fairly low stakes level of intensity in the first couple acts before spiraling out of control in the final act. By way of the complex characters and the aforementioned dialogue, I think the film attempts to add stakes to the first couple acts, but this choice didn't always work for me. Pretending that the first couple acts had higher stakes than they actually did was (occasionally) disconcerting. This blend eventually came together though in the final act.

Overall, I'm glad I got to rewatch this film as my memory of it from a few years ago was pretty poor. Again, I wouldn't say this film dips into favorite territory for me, but I did enjoy it quite a bit and I can see myself watching it again down the road.

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These Three, 1936

Karen (Merle Oberon) and Martha (Miriam Hopkins) transform a downtrodden property that Karen inherited into a girls' boarding school. Both become smitten with a local doctor named Joe (Joel McCrea), but Karen ends up dating him seriously and Martha hides her feelings for her friend's sake. But when a vindictive student named Mary (Bonita Granville) gets angry at having been disciplined by the teachers, she makes up a scandalous story about sexual impropriety between Joe, Karen, and Martha.

Maybe it's just because my work makes me more sensitive to the idea of teachers being falsely accused of inappropriate behavior, but this film was a real downer for me!

One thing that I will say that I appreciated--even if it stressed me out!--was the portrayal of the way that gossip, even without evidence, can permanently stain someone's reputation. What happens in the film is literally a case of "he said, she said." When the child says that she overheard sounds, Karen, Martha, and Joe can't really do anything except deny it.

The film also did a really (again, stressfully!) good job of showing the way that even children can bully and manipulate each other. Mary takes advantage of a more naive student named Rosalie (Marcia Mae Jones), who she essentially blackmails into going along with her lies. None of the adults are able to see that Rosalie's stress is about Mary, not about what is happening with the adults.

The film isn't entirely a misery slog, though. The final act leads to a degree of closure, though I would hardly call it a happy ending. It's actually kind of a "realistic" look at the way that some things simply cannot be undone. The damage that is done to the reputations of Karen, Martha, and Joe cannot be fixed, and the three of them must learn to cope with that and move on.

Honestly, my only real issues with the film had to do with some of the more dated aspects of the film. It may have been normal at the time, but the school is run horribly. Setting aside the "teaching", which consists of a teacher half-listening as students stand one at a time to translate latin from a book, the children are not adequately supervised. I also wasn't crazy about some of the behavior from Joe. Again, I'm sure it would be considered "appropriate", but as a character he's kind of handsy? In one scene, he literally drags Karen into a car while she protests, and then bystanders seem genuinely concerned about her protests, he says she's a mental patient. It's supposed to be cute, I think, but I found it a bit gross. Later, after being brought to the school to examine Mary when she complains of being sick, he slaps her on the butt. I was like "Ugh, dude, no!".

I will also mention that Margaret Hamilton (ie the Wicked Witch of the West!) has a role as a housekeeper in Mary's grandmother's house, and is one of the only people who sees through Mary's deceptions from the beginning, though her warnings fall on deaf ears.

A good film with solid performances, though its portrayal of the lasting effects of gossip is an unsettling one.

By impawards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9969828

Remember the Titans - (2000)

Something that I'm probably the biggest sucker for are films where races come together after starting out divided and hateful, so to see the kids in Remember the Titans start out bigoted and end up loving each other - well, I hardly needed a winning touchdown after that. An added bonus is having the great Denzel Washington play the lead as a high school football coach who is tough but has nous, especially when it comes to starting out with a team divided. But that alone can't account for why I enjoyed this movie so much, because these films are a dime a dozen - and this felt like one of the best. Along with Washington, I have to credit the songs on the soundtrack, which are used liberally but always in the right way. A great young cast, including a young Ryan Gosling, also helps a lot - Gosling was one of the lesser lights in the film, but happens to be the one who rose to great prominence afterward. There was so much fist-pumping and enjoyment that I gave this film a '9' at the outset - it might come down after I calm down (I can see it fitting in with my 7s and 8s when I categorize it) but I'm still hyped so :

9/10


By "Copyright 1946 RKO Radio Pictures Inc." - Scan via Heritage Auctions., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/inde...curid=85715937

It's a Wonderful Life - (1946)

I've been wanting to tick this film off the list for a while - it always comes up and I always haven't seen it, constantly with that thought it'd be too saccharine for me. I continually had the feeling that Jimmy Stewart's character would be too much of a goodie-two-shoes for me to endure. So, I'm doing my best to open myself up where it comes to guardian angels and "gosh mister" type innocence so I can be part of the film-going crowd who always includes It's a Wonderful Life in 'best of' lists and the like. I actually agree with the sentiments the film is communicating to us - very much so - and for the most part I enjoyed it - even though there were moments when the "aw shucks" and "gee whizz" mixed with "every time a bell rings an angel gets it's wings" left me behind a bit. There's another viewing of this in my future I'm sure, where I fully shrug off how quaint a lot of the cute stuff is and see it in a more symbolic and artistic light. I'm slowly getting into it...

7/10

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I've liked Wes Anderson's movies, wanted to like this one, but I'm not quite sure. It's The French Dispatch, which consists of 4 stories with 4 casts, too many names to list. Now, do I like Anderson's movies...yes. In this case, I think he bit off more than he could chew, like no way to integrate these four stories into one cohesive movie.

A fictional Kansas old-school newspaper is publishing it's final issue since the publisher has had it. Arthur Howitzer has died. It moves to a sort of Mitteleuropa world, more French than anything else, not today, but not too long ago, with revolutions and prison riots and super-valuable paintings painted on a wall.

It all has the patented Anderson look, with its flat world where everything is constrained by right angles, but unlike some of his other movies, the four plot lines don't hold together all that well.

I liked it better than ANY other superhero movie and liked going downtown to see it on a rainy night but it is rather strange. Timothee Chalomet seems to have arrived, not just in Dune but also in The French Dispatch.

Watching Five Came Back, the documentary (on Netflix) about Hollywood directors who worked in different capacities in WW2 really reframed It's a Wonderful Life for me. I would genuinely highly recommend watching it before you rewatch It's a Wonderful Life.

Released in 1979, Alien follows the mining crew of the Nostromo. As they are en route to Earth, they are awaken by the ship's computer to investigate a distress signal from a nearby planet. As they investigate it, they unknowingly bring back a deadly alien creature aboard that starts eliminating them one by one.

The film managed to subvert numerous tropes about the role of women or the blending of sci-fi and horror. It made a star out of Sigourney Weaver, while paving the way for female action stars in years to come. Weaver's performance is a thing of beauty as she espouses confidence within her precarious situation, and strength within her weaknesses. I love the way we can see her hold her own and put her foot down against people like Dallas, Parker, or Ash.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

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Hmm, hadn't heard of this but I just added it to my watchlist.

Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) This film had a strong hill to climb for me due to my bias adoration for the 1953 version with Jose Ferrer. His style, sophistication, and aplomb set the bar at a dizzying height.

And yet,

Gerard Depardieu, in a far more bombastic venue, brought a level of gravitas that was his own. While still employing moments of whimsical as well as those delicate aches of a Romantic's poetic heart that is at the core of this infatuated lyrical genius with a "peninsula of a nose", equally ready to disperse rhyme or devastating swordplay, and of course, in the opening scene, both, at the drop of a hat.

As I've said, Ferrer's smooth delivery of "As I end my refrain; thrust home" is the epitome of swashbuckling bravado for me. So, in previous searches for a proper link, I watched Depardieu charge and attack like an enraged bear, growing skeptical. But, to deny one actor's interpretation above another's secured status of love and respect is, well, a f@ckin sin. So. . .

I watched. I experienced. I smiled. Though my heart did not break accordingly, it was uplifted and, at times, exhilarated.
Stepping away from the staged production of its predecessor into the use of real locations and a far grander use of battle, crowds, and more realistic-looking characters throughout, this may not, entirely, cause Ferrer fear of its grandiose position in my heart, it is, very much, within sights. Residing comfortably in a very favorable position all its own.

Yeah, it's a shame that it's almost like you can't make the REAL Starship Troopers (Heinlein's) into a film because the expectation that Starship Troopers is what Verhoeven's ridiculous film is undermines the possibility too much. Then again, maybe Heinlein's just isn't actiony enough for someone to make it into a movie anyway.

10/31 consists of five Halloween shorts directed by aspiring horror directors like Justin Seaman, Rocky Gray, Hunter Johnson, Zane Hershberger, Brett DeJager, and John William Holt. The topics go from an old woman haunting a bed and breakfast or a young couple trespassing on cursed gypsy land to a trio of kid tricksters stalking a family during a blizzard or a serial killer on the loose.

Overall, most of the shorts fall on the cheap-ish side. The performances across the board are very uneven, ranging from solid to simply atrocious. The direction in most of them shows potential, but it's still very amateurish. There were several jumpscares, some of them effective, and others just gimmicky. The special effects are very rubbery-looking, but kinda fun. As for the stories, some of them could've used more work and polish.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

Titane (2021)

Besides pretty good performance by Agathe Rousselle Titane feels like a parody of Cronenberg that basically misses all the beats. The story is just stupid, characters feel like jokes, the fire brigade looks like a leftover from Tom of Finland, and there isn't even the extremity one would expect from the French. One of the dullest movie experiences this year and a major disappointment (somehow I had managed to build some expectations for this, and I haven't even seen Raw).

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It gave me a whole different context with which to appreciate many films that I'd already seen. I had already seen (and felt kind of "meh" about) It's a Wonderful Life, but going in with the knowledge from the documentary and just the idea of where many of the creators' heads were (this was Stewart's first film after he returned from service) totally reframed it for me and I found it very moving.

And the documentary, on its own, is highly recommended for anyone. Not only the idea of how artists can be participants in the scope of war, but also for how their experiences altered their own outlooks. There's a clip of a documentary that one of the directors made interviewing men in a hospital with PTSD and it is harrowing, just seeing the despair and shame that these men feel for how they are reacting to horribly traumatizing events. It's also really sobering seeing some of the footage that was cut from newsreels, including an unforgettable, horribly vivid color sequence of some sailors sweeping blood and guts off of the deck of their ship after a battle.

I haven't seen It's a Wonderful Life since forever, but I remember liking it well enough. I should probably rewatch it and will definitely check this out too.

To my taste this has always been one of the best "feel good" films ever made. I've probably seen it 15-20 times over the years, mostly during Christmastime.

There are hundreds of back stories about the picture. For one, the film was shot in 100 degree heat right in the middle of an L.A. summer. The cast told horror stories about being bundled up in winter coats and such during a heat wave. The set was also extremely lavish, with a 300 yard main street specially constructed for the film. And the pool they used for the dance which has an electronically separating floor opening up, is still being used at Beverly Hills H.S.!

I get a kick out of Gloria Grahame as Violet Bick in one of her first roles as a flirt who lays in on pretty heavy to Jimmy Stewart.

Come to think of it, I may have to watch it again this year!

I love It's a Wonderful Life, it's one of only two movies that I own on BluRay. I really wanted to see this in a fully restored version, that's why I bought it. I'll probably watch again around Christmas. It might be the movie that made Gloria's acting career possible. She does make the most of her screen time.

Who saw her die? (1972)

This is a nice recipe of intrigue and hard-nosedness by the father (George Lazenby - who is great) in the Italian style. It's a fairly simple tale but Lazenby gets the viewer involved in the disappearance of his daughter and his quest to find out the truth. Nomatter how hurtful or destroying that is. Giallo, and very good for it.

The Guns of Navarone, 1961

A fleet of ships is on route to rescue a few thousand trapped British soldiers during WW2. The problem? Two large, long-range guns controlled by the Nazis threaten to destroy the rescue party. Enter Captain Mallory (Gregory Peck), who ends up leading a small assortment of men, including explosives expert Miller (David Niven), on a secret mission to destroy the guns by any means necessary. Part of the squad includes a man named Stavros (Anthony Quinn), who blames Mallory for a past tragedy and promises to kill him at the end of the mission.

Nominated for Best Picture in the year of its release, this film is one of those epic-yet-intimate stories that sucks you in on both the grand and minute scale.

What the film does so well through its entire run is thread together external threats with internal conflicts. The men are technically working as spies, not uniformed and rarely in touch with their contacts back in the military. To be captured by the enemy would mean not only the failure of the mission, but also execution for espionage.

In the external category, the men face not only the hostile Nazi forces, but also simply the logistical difficulties of navigating a relentless storm, scaling a nearly-vertical cliffside, and making their way through different towns and landscapes undetected.

Internally, the men deal with the challenge of having differing opinions as to how to accomplish their mission and what lengths they will go to in order to do so. When one of the men suffers an injury, the moral and practical aspects of the group are put under immediate strain: do they hamper themselves by carrying their fallen teammate, leave him behind to be cared for (in theory!) by the enemy, or end his suffering with a well-placed bullet. There are also conflicts between Mallory and Miller, sparring over the acceptable price to pay for success.

Generally speaking, I really liked the performances from all of the leads and the secondary characters. The action sequences are filmed on a grand scale, and the stakes feel very real. Finally, I appreciated the portrayal of people struggling with what it means to be a good person in the middle of a large-scale international conflict. One character will sincerely ask if their mission is worth a certain person's life. Left unspoken is the fact that thousands of other lives may depend on that mission. Personal loyalties and larger, national loyalties frequently clash.

I also appreciated the introduction of a resistance fighter named Maria (Irene Papas) and another young woman, Anna (Gia Scala) who has supposedly gone mute after being tortured by the Nazis. In one fell swoop, these two characters serve as a reminder that women (mothers, sisters, and daughters) were also a part of the war, and further that civilians were entwined in the conflict whether they liked it or not. Multiple times, the film shows us that in such a conflict, there is no such thing as sitting on the sidelines for most people. Of course, the film can't introduce a female character without introducing a romance, but whatever. They were solid characters and added that civilian-fighter aspect to the film.

I really didn't have many issues with this film. My one chief complaint would probably be that (trying to stay spoiler free, here!) at one point there is a really serious decision to be made, and the film sort of let the characters off the hook a bit. There's something a bit iffy about raising a serious moral question, and then allowing it to be resolved without forcing the characters to make an uncomfortable choice.

Really worth seeking out if you've not seen it before. It is on the longer side (2.5 hours) and I did feel myself losing steam a bit in the last 20 minutes or so. I sort of wish I'd watched it in two parts.