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LOL. And did what exactly?
Didn't close the factories, like the one in that film by heavy taxing chinese steel or the enterprises that did business abroad.

I mean, I disagree with 98-99% of his politics, this being one, but the guy promised those people there jobs back and they are getting them back, and it wasn't easy, it took balls. He made promises and it's probably one of the only politicians (not one) alive that actually did what he promised.






Really enjoyed this. A young girl and her little brother get stranded in the outback and have to figure a way out. Fortunately they run into a young man on his walkabout who helps them out a bit. That's the plot but there's more to it than that. Very good looking movie, solid acting (even the young boy) but it could be a tougher watch for some due to a few hunting scenes and some skinny dipping scenes. Rated GP or G but this is no Disney pic.




Dark Waters (2019, Todd Haynes)

Gripping based-on-true-events story depicting corporate attorney Robert Bilott's (Mark Ruffalo) uphill legal battle against chemical giant DuPont over water poisoning in West Virginia. Definitely worth a watch.




Little Women (2019)

Little Women (2019) proves that anyone given enough money can make a movie, but with this movie Greta Gerwig can't direct her way out of a wet bag. I haven't seen Lady Bird which seems to have gotten good reviews, but Greta's attempt at re-envisioning the classic tale of Little Women falls flat on it's bustle.

I get that directors often have an egotistical need to shoot a remake differently than was done before. But in doing so they need to keep the art in the cinema and not just do the latest trendy thing because they don't have any real inspiration.

Point blank, Little Women (2019) was amateurishly made and all of the faults lay with the director. Sure non-linear story telling has become popular and when done by a skilled director it can add layers of time passage to a film. But Greta's hackjob flashbacks ruins the continuity of this lovely tale of four sisters coming of age during the Civil War era. The flashbacks are jarring and seemed to be edited into the film without nary an eye for film flow...At the different stages of their lives the characters still look the same, literally they never seem to change. That too is a directorial mistake as it becomes hard then to differentiate between the different time frames. If I wasn't already familiar with the story, I couldn't have followed what was going on. As it was I still got lost as to what time frame the film was currently flashing back too. And I'm still not sure which one was Beth. The Beth character had little story development which weakened that part of the story, she was almost an non entity. Actually most of the characters felt hollow and ill defined.

Yet another directorial flaw is how abruptly each scene starts and ends. There's no brief set up so that the scene can be placed into perspective...and when the scene is over it just ends without a moment of reflection. This depletes the pathos that this story so richly provides.

If all that isn't enough gone wrong, the director has the actresses rattling off their lines in rapid fire, so much so that when the four girls are together and talking, it sounds flat and artificial and the vernacular sounds of the modern day.

All of my complaints are coming from someone who loves the Little Women story, especially the 1994 version directed by Gillian Armstrong. This last version directed by Greta Gerwig makes Ed Wood Jr. look like a genius.

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_____ is the most important thing in my life…
I guess the Florence Pugh magic didn't wash over you?



After the wedding (2019)



Rather melodramatic remake of the already melodramatic Danish original (but that had Mads Mikkelsen in it). Solid enough.






Born to Kill (1947)

Third or fourth re-watch, the notorious noir starring Claire Trevor, Lawrence Tierney, and one of my favorites, Elisha Cook, Jr., is never boring, and is surprising in its brutal nature for its time. It's expertly directed by the legendary Robert Wise.

When Tierney and Trevor meet, the sparks and raw lust fly. Tierney eventually muscles in on Trevor's wealthy sister looking for easy street, but his prior murders catch up with him.

A real life tough guy, brawler and drinker, Tierney brings to the role a menacing charisma that few in Hollywood could match. Trevor takes on the complicated role of the woman torn between lust and security. Walter Slezak does a turn as a sleazy detective who's aiming at big time money, and who manages to both solve the crime but remain alive. And Elisha Cook, Jr. is memorable as Tierney's faithful friend and protector.

This is an important noir classic, and has been beautifully preserved.

Doc's rating: 7/10



I guess the Florence Pugh magic didn't wash over you?
I kept imagining her as a younger version of Janeane Garofalo. She was too old looking to play Amy the youngest. And the actress who played Meg the oldest, looked like she was 15.




Born to Kill (1947)

Third or fourth re-watch, the notorious noir starring Claire Trevor, Lawrence Tierney, and one of my favorites, Elisha Cook, Jr., is never boring, and is surprising in its brutal nature for its time. It's expertly directed by the legendary Robert Wise.

When Tierney and Trevor meet, the sparks and raw lust fly. Tierney eventually muscles in on Trevor's wealthy sister looking for easy street, but his prior murders catch up with him.

A real life tough guy, brawler and drinker, Tierney brings to the role a menacing charisma that few in Hollywood could match. Trevor takes on the complicated role of the woman torn between lust and security. Walter Slezak does a turn as a sleazy detective who's aiming at big time money, and who manages to both solve the crime but remain alive. And Elisha Cook, Jr. is memorable as Tierney's faithful friend and protector.

This is an important noir classic, and has been beautifully preserved.

Doc's rating: 7/10
I see you're doing some advanced homework for our next Film Noir HoF



I see you're doing some advanced homework for our next Film Noir HoF
Ready when you are, Captain..

Noir
is my favorite style (mostly '40s & '50s), so whenever you fire 'er up, we'll jump in with both feet.



How the West was Won (1962)




I wasn't planning on watching this but it was on TCM so I said what the hell. It's about 2hrs and 45min and I didn't think it was good enough to justify the time. It has some good scenes and the cast has to be one of the best ever. I see it as average.




Little Women (2019)

Little Women (2019) proves that anyone given enough money can make a movie, but with this movie Greta Gerwig can't direct her way out of a wet bag. I haven't seen Lady Bird which seems to have gotten good reviews, but Greta's attempt at re-envisioning the classic tale of Little Women falls flat on it's bustle.

...

Yeah, but the important thing is that Gerwig was "empowered", isn't it?...




Yeah, but the important thing is that Gerwig was "empowered", isn't it?...
I didn't see the Oscars but I remember reading some post about all of that. I'm not sure how Gerwig was suppose to empower anyone, as the story was written by Louisa May Alcott.




I crudeli (1967)
aka The Hellbenders, The Cruel Ones

Another Corbucci within a couple of days. It's maybe a tiny bit better than the previous but still far from The Great Silence. It's apparently a film Tarantino likes and it's not hard to believe that. It's like a mix of traditional western and spaghetti with very Corbucci-like (hilariously) tragic ending.


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Verotika (2019)

Yeah, um? I don't think I've ever seen this inept filmmaking before. How is it even possible to act so badly? Stories consist mostly of filler scenes that are clumsily edited together (wtf are those fades to black between every single scene change). It looks like a hybrid between a telenovela and a cheap porn film with some horror tropes thrown into the mix. Recommended if you want to see a really bad film.

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