Rate The Last Movie You Saw

People have been beheaded for less.

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Ambulance (2022)

Heist movie, pretty trite. I prefer films (of this ilk) where you keep guessing. This was really boringly average. Apart from the relationship between brothers (never really expanded on) and a few action scenes, typical Michael Bay popcorn.

The Blue Angel, 1930

A professor named Rath (Emil Jannings) tries busting his students for bad behavior, which leads him to an irresistible nightclub singer named Lola Lola (Marlene Dietrich). As Rath becomes more and more obsessed with Lola, he makes decisions that will have ruinous impact on his life.

This is one of those films I've been vaguely aware of for years, especially with its reputation for launching Dietrich into the spotlight. Overall I enjoyed it, though it was far sadder and harder to watch than I expected.

It is incredibly easy to see why this film did wonders for Dietrich. It showcases her particular brand of effortless sexuality and the way that she so often seems like she's in on a joke and maybe you're the punchline. Jannings is also good as the hapless Rath, who isn't exactly at the top of the heap before he meets Lola. Movies about sexual obsession depend on the relationship between the desirability of one party and the culpability of the other. In this film, both halves of the equation make sense.

I do wish that I'd managed to watch a better copy. The version I saw had particularly sketchy audio. I don't hold that against the film itself, but it did take some of the edge off of the sequences in the nightclub.

rewatched

The Forgotten Battle (2020)

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The Third Wife - (2018)

Child brides, polygamy and privilege in this Vietnamese film, which is set during the 19th Century, take us into the bedroom to give us a very uncomfortable look at what would be considered sheer madness and sick debauchery in this time and Western culture. You could say "well, if it works..." but it really doesn't. The end results are often suicide, death in childbirth and misery for anyone unlucky to be born female. May is 14 years-old and has just been married to a middle-aged wealthy landowner who already has 2 wives. Her sexual initiation is steeped in ritual (which includes an egg yolk) and the bloody sheet is hung up on the front porch for all to see. May hopes to give her new husband a son, and she falls pregnant not long after her first period - which she has not even had yet when she married. His son to a different wife is getting married to a girl who appears to be a child of around 12, but he is in love with another, and can't bear to sleep with her - his refusal to do so on his wedding night will cause severe repercussions...for her! Among all the rituals, belief and misogyny, there's a mysterious beauty surrounding the people in this film - but there is also unnecessary misery because of those very things - a misery which will end up giving the results they do at the film's conclusion. This film has been re-edited, given a new soundtrack and re-released in black and white as Between Shadow and Soul, which sounds kind of awesome, so I might check that out.

7/10


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Moon Rock for Monday - (2020)

Cheap and h̶a̶r̶m̶l̶e̶s̶s̶ harmful Australian road movie, which has Nicholas Hope show up as a "Moon Man" for a few minutes to alleviate our boredom. He charges people money to take them out into the middle of nowhere, and leave them there (because it feels like being stranded on the moon, I guess.) The rest (ie - "plot") isn't even worth mentioning. Except for the "throw your medication away, it's only making you sicker" attitude, which in the case of most people is actually inadvisable.

4/10

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It did get bad reviews, and it is bad. This is coming from someone who usually likes Woody Allen movies, both those from his earlier era and the more recent ones. Most of the cast seem to just be checking off "appear in a Woody Allen film" from their bucket list. None of them fit the roles they've been given, except perhaps Diego Luna.

Tricheurs - 7.5/10

If it was any other director, I might have hesitated with this. It's nice to have a "New Wave" or "experimental" director with themes/plots that are usually redundant.... And within minutes, I was hooked in, in part because I might have found a possible "good luck charm" (probably not). Real good movie.



It was just on TCM.. Must have been part of some Gambling Marathon, because "California Split" and "The Gambler" were on - both good movies, but this was better.

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The Quarry - Shea Whigham and Michael Shannon. Those are two names that always make me sit up and pay attention. Either one of them is enough to at least get me interested in checking out a movie. But when you combine them like in Boardwalk Empire or Take Shelter it's impossible to resist. This film unfortunately has a weak script but Shannon and Whigham attempt and largely succeed in elevating it to more than just an average mystery thriller.

When I first started watching this I assumed the title referred to a quarry as in prey. Something (or someone) being pursued by a hunter or predator. Maybe it's meant to have a double meaning but since the film is pretty much straightforward I kind of doubt it. It's a slow moving and character driven film with a weak third act. But like I said, Shannon and Whigham turn in their usual outstanding performances. It's up to you to decide whether or not that's enough to make this a worthwhile use of your time.

80/100

Jawbreaker (Darren Stein, 1999)
incredibly evil film.

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

Sugar & Spice (Francine McDougall, 2001)
i really wanted to like this. some good moments early on and some choice lines but really doesn't live up to the premise and is also weirdly homophobic for no discernible reason.

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Those Who Wish Me Dead - (2021)

Seen this Taylor Sheridan film reviewed a few times here, with verdicts being from average to poor - and I was hoping that would mean my expectations would be lowered and I'd really enjoy it. As it was, I found it to be fairly average myself, even though it did have some good moments of suspense and action. Angelina Jolie was horribly miscast, that much is true (and Sheridan demanded her.) The usual theme for him - that of "the hunt" - is there, but there's not much else. An average, very competent thriller that lacks new ideas, and it's simple formula will mean it won't stay in your memory for very long.

6/10


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Crossing the Line - (2006)

Fascinating documentary about the 4 U.S. servicemen who crossed the border from South Korea to North Korea to defect during the 1960s - believing that they'd be treated like kings in the hermit kingdom. They were for a time, but eventually the poor conditions in the country had them arriving at the Soviet embassy pleading for passage to the Soviet Union. Embassy officials promptly told the North Korean authorities - and these 4 Americans underwent "re-education". One remained as of 2006, and the documentary interviews him. Obviously he extolls the virtues of the regime and country, but there's sadness in his voice when he tells us he's happy living "a simple life". During their time there, they were recruited for the North Korean film industry, always playing the parts of "evil Americans" in North Korean films - becoming huge celebrities within the country. Two died during the 1980s, and another had escaped by the early 2000s. I'd never heard of this before (they all reminded me a lot of Lee Harvey Oswald and his defection to the Soviet Union in the 1950s) so it was really interesting.

7/10

I guess I have a bit of a backlog now thanks to the crazy week that I’ve been having.

Fatal Attraction (1987) — People love to complain abojt the death of the mid-budget studio movie for adult audiences (and I certainly sympathize, don’t get me wrong), but these have never been my kind of movies: slickly-produced, modestly-interesting and narratively incredibly safe. Some definitely rise above the rest, but, on the whole, I vastly prefer the stark arthouse / opulent tentpole divide of the current era to milquetoast thrillers and middlebrow dramas (although it is not nearly as stable of a business model to base an entire industry on). Fatal Attraction, probably the best of the 1980s sexual thrillers, is pretty much the quintessential one of these movies. And while certainly enjoyable enough on balance, it really is only ever just okay. Extremely dated sexual politics, some expectedly reflexive nipponophobia and some very awkward-looking sex scenes (such as mounting Glenn Close in a sink full of dirty dishes) keep this movie pretty middling overall.

Chronicle of a Summer (1961) — A potentially compelling documentary about the state of mid-century France told by extrapolating on one very simple question — “are you happy?” — it never quite manages to rise to how interesting its subject is. A few of the subjects it follows prove to be quite interesting, and while handsomely shot, the long stretches given over to silent, vérité tracking shots doesn’t quite make up the difference. Academically interesting, but not exactly narratively compelling.

Umberto D. (1952) — with its emphasis on real-world settings, non-professional actors and frequently improvised scripts, Italian Neo-Realism often presents a rather dry viewing experience. Despite being one of the quintessential directors in this mode, however, I’ve always liked what I’ve seen of Vittorio de Sica, who seems to have had a stronger sense of his characters and stories than many of his contemporaries. Playing out like a cross between de Sica’s Bicycle Thieves and dos Santos’s Barren Lives (or, if you prefer, like a proto-Wendy and Lucy), I found this simple story of an increasingly desperate man trying to keep a roof over his head (against the machinations of his antagonistic landlady) and his dog out of harm’s way to be incredibly moving.

The Lives of Others (2006) — Not quite the The Conversation-alike that I had assumed it to be going in, this story of domestic spying is a sometimes-compelling voyeuristic drama that occassionally feels a bit too similar to the mid-budgeted CIA thrillers from the same time period. It’s an interesting and well-crafted enough piece of filmmaking in the end, but doesn’t quite excel at anything the way I was expecting it to.

Dragon Wars (2007) — Despite its innumerable shortcomings as a film (ranging from its perplexed-looking cast to the incredibly jumbled script to even the most basic understanding of its US setting), I had a lot of fun with this, over-the-top, spectacle-driven, modern fantasy / creature feature epic from South Korea. The last 20 or so minutes genuinely constitutes one of the craziest action climaxes I’ve ever seen, which includes aerial dogfights with fire-breathing dragons, dinosaur-mounted knights cutting into soldiers, canon-mounted frog-monsters squaring off against modern tanks and a kaiju-sized snake constricted a skyscraper while fighting army helicopters. It was a bit much getting there (including multiple, needlessly nested backstories to lay the narrative groundwork for that kickass climax), but worth it in the end.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) — A personal favorite of mine, which beneficially doubles as a crash-course in the workings of the US legislative branch. Capra’s Rockwellian idealism and Jimmy Stuart’s bumbling, childlike optimism are perfectly suited to a story of the harsh realities of corruption and dishearteningly pragmatic political machinations. This time around, the DC tour when Mr. Smith finally arrives in Washington was pleasantly similar to a recent favorite of mine (Born Yesterday) and the fillibuster stretch at the end is, as ever, a real winner.

The Lighthouse - I lost my study guide so I'll give you the Cliff Notes version. Popeye and Bluto drop acid, trip balls and we get to watch. But seriously this is too dense a film to corral in a paltry few sentences so I won't even try. Suffice it to say that it's a two man show. Literally. Outside of what I'm going to assume is an allegorical mermaid character the only two people onscreen are costars Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson. They play Thomas Wake and Ephraim Winslow respectively.

Wake is the actual "wickie" or lighthouse keeper and Winslow is a one-time lumberjack wanting to make a fresh start. But Wake keeps a covetous almost maniacal grip on "the light" and refuses to let Winslow anywhere near it, at the same time assigning him all manner of menial, back breaking tasks. Their month long stint on the remote island finally at an end, the two men look forward to being relieved. But a violent storm strands them and things quickly unravel. Which is putting it much too mildly.

I'm not sure how one is supposed to react to the story. I think most people will come out of it a little twitchy and maybe stupefied. I also think that was director Robert Eggers intent. But then you can also appreciate the acting clinic put on by Dafoe and Pattinson. And the dialogue. And the cinematography. And the sublime sound design. This is definitely something you can recommend. But maybe with a caveat?

90/100

Really liked this one as well.

I remember running across this totally by chance and somehow being completely drawn in. It's that kind of flick. Guilty pleasure indeed.

Marie Antoinette (2006)

Chronicle (2012, Josh Trank)

I've seen parts of this before but never the whole thing until now. This is a pretty decent 'found-footage' type sci-fi flick about a group of teenagers gaining superpowers. The 'found footage' approach with lots of handheld camerawork actually works to the film's benefit, giving it a more believable look and vibe.