Rate The Last Movie You Saw

The Anderson Tapes -

This very enjoyable heist flick is one of those movies that make you ask, "what took me so long to see this?" First, there's the cast, which besides Sean Connery - in one of his best non-Bond performances, I might add - features Martin Balsam, a young Christopher Walken and even SNL legend Garrett Morris. It also nails all the best parts of movies like this one, especially the "getting the team together" and "scouting the location in disguise" scenes, and it proves that few directors film New York City better than Sidney Lumet. Speaking of, like his best movies, they take long, uncompromising looks at a societal ill, with this one's being the surveillance state. From the voyeuristic camera to the cutaways showing call centers to abandoned buildings with detectives with spy cameras and microphones at the ready, it makes it clear that privacy is...was...never mind, more of a commodity than we realize. Thankfully, Lumet and company manage to do this without diluting the tension and excitement of the big heist. I still found the finale to be a tad disappointing compared to ones in other heist movies I've seen, and I know that this movie is 50 years old, but it's still worth mentioning that the racism and the homophobia surrounding Balsam's character haven't aged well. It's still great fun and another feather in Lumet's cap, not to mention serves as a reminder that for better or worse - and even though the Internet was not a thing in 1971 - we had just as many reasons to be paranoid then as we do today.

The Descent (2005, Neil Marshall)

The first half — from the horrific car accident and the scene at the hospital (very well made!), to the beautiful natural locations, the actual descent into the cave and Sarah getting stuck - is pretty good because the suspense is there, and the cinematography is top notch. Unfortunately as soon as the ghostly Gollum-like creatures appear and start hunting the hapless adventure-seekers, the film takes a drastic turn downward (for me) and becomes a monotonous gore-fest. I didn't care much about the characters, some elements of the plot didn't make sense, and just overall the movie fails to inspire any real sense of dread. It's a pretty visceral experience, don't get me wrong, with lots of jump scares (some of them very good), screaming, running in the dark, gore spurting around, but not enough palpable horror atmosphere and psychology at play, if you ask me.

Not totally terrible and pretty entertaining at times but could've been so much better (just remove the totally unnecessary monsters for a start and work from there).

What a great film! One of my favorites.

The Eternals- Solid direction and cast with perhaps the worst script in Marvel history. As an ardent defender of the MCU, the one strength they’ve generally had is highlighting how fun their lead characters are. This one, despite its plethora of talented performances, just can’t seem to make them entertaining enough to overcome massive narrative deficiencies.

Eternals - Meh out of 10.


Very pretty. But it looked like the lighting guy didn't show up for half the movie. Weak script. Plus the deviant who had evolved into Ultron 2.0 turned out to be a throwaway plot device instead of an interesting villain.



The two post-credit scenes were awesome, though.

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Glad to have you here man (this is Popcorn Reviews as you can probably tell)!

How was the scene?

I can't, but thanks for letting me know.

Unnecessary but I don’t understand how it’s particularly noteworthy. The character gives humans little bits of tech to inspire them, so it’s not out of step for him to feel some responsibility.

Of all the films problems, that one and the Bollywood thing didn’t strike me as pressing.

4th Rewatch- This warm and often deeply movie melodrama contains what is, still, my favorite Harrison Ford performance. Ford plays a hotshot attorney whose life is changed forever when he goes to a store to buy a pack of cigarettes and gets shot in the head. As painful as it is to watch Henry's rehabilitation, it's even more painful to watch him get pushed back into is old life too soon and learning that he doesn't care for the person he was before he got shot. Under the gifted directorial hand of Mike Nichols, this film contains one vividly human scene after another...watch the scene where the physical therapist gives him a nasty breakfast to teach him how to speak or when his daughter teachers him how to read a four word sentence. Ford proved to be an actor of substance here, giving a sensitively layered performances that makes you love this character. Annette Bening impresses in one of her earliest and richest performances as his wife and Bill Nunn steals every scene he's in as Henry's physical therapist. This one will definitely ignite the tear ducts if caught in the right mood. A triumph for Ford and Nichols.

Powerful movie. Re-watch.



Not sure if I ever finished this movie, but, this time, I did. Enjoyable movie, but have never understood the acclaim.

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Ministry of Fear follows Stephen Neale (Ray Milland), a man just released from a mental asylum in the middle of World War II. After a seemingly innocent visit to a festival, he finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy, and pursued by Nazi agents trying to capture or kill him.

There were several incentives to watch this. First, it's a fairly notable film noir and we're in #Noirvember, of course; second, it's directed by Fritz Lang, who I've enjoyed watching so far; and third, it stars Ray Milland, who I thought was excellent in Dial M for Murder, and I've been meaning to watch more from.

As far as those three, the film delivers the intrigue and fun of a solid noir, with a good dose of twists to keep you guessing. Also, Lang's direction is pretty effective, if not as flashy as some of the other features I've seen from him. Finally, Milland is very good as Neale, transmitting the confusion of a regular man thrown into an unlikely scenario. He is joined by Marjorie Reynolds and Carl Esmond, as two siblings that help him.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

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I liked The Eagle quite a lot. I thought that the central relationship (between Tatum and Bell's characters) hovered in this really interesting place between friendship, competition, and even borderline romance. I was surprised at how interesting I found the plot and how good the action sequences were.

Thanks Takoma, got some leave coming up so fancying a film-fest!

VERY nice review, Stu. I like the way you describe the settings and the mood. Here's my commentary on this great film:

The Third Man (1949)

Producer Alex Korda had sent British novelist Graham Greene to Vienna after WWII to conceive and write a screenplay which would capture the wantonness and treacherous times in the post war-torn city. After much research Green developed a screenplay, The Third Man, the novelization of which was published following the film’s highly popular reception.

The opening monologue over depictive scenes of the war-changed city, and how it was divided up into policing sectors by the Allies, set the dynamic expectant mood. Holly Martins, an American pulp western writer, has been invited to come to Vienna by his old friend Harry Lime, who has promised Martins a job. Unfortunately upon arrival Martins learns that Lime has been killed in a pedestrian auto accident. Martins soon suspects that there has been some foul play after inquiring about the incident with some of Lime’s associates, physician, girlfriend, and the porter where Lime resided.

Lime suddenly appears in the flesh, and eventually meets with his old friend. The truth comes out about Lime’s nefarious deadly black market schemes which had resulted in many innocent deaths. A British Major Calloway convinces Martins to help snare Lime, who has agreed to meet again with Martins and Lime’s girlfriend Anna Schmidt. On his arrival Anna warns Lime who flees to the city’s mammoth sewer system. The police lead by the Calloway and Martins chase Lime, who is ultimately shot.

This film is as close to perfection as one could imagine. Everyone involved in the production was at their finest: co-producers Alex Korda and David O. Selznik, Director Carol Reed, cinematographer Robert Krasker, musician Anton Karas, every single actor in the cast, and the phenomenal editing by Oswald Hafenrichter.

Reed had brought with him both Krasker and Hafenrichter who had worked with him on Odd Man Out, and The Fallen Idol respectively. With these men Reed captured the deepest essence of noir darkness and design, never to be outdone in film to this day. Although Reed had three crews working simultaneously (one each for night, sewer system, and day shooting), it was the impressive night framing, glistening cobblestone streets, back alleys, ubiquitous rubble, and foreboding mood that he captured so palpably.

Each actor was perfect. When David O. Selznik agreed to join as co-producer he brought along Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles to fill the roles of Holly Martins and Harry Lime, originally written as British characters. Also under contract to him was the ravishing Alida Valli, who was being promoted by Selznik as the next Ingrid Bergman. Some of Germany’s finest actors were enlisted: Paul Hoerbiger, Ernst Deutsch, Erich Ponto, and the fiesty Hedwig Bleitreu as a landlady.

It’s hard to imagine the impact of this picture without the phenomenal score by zither artist Anton Karas. In a happy accident, Reed heard Karas play at a party, and was galvanized by the sound and its relevance to the story and mood of Reed’s picture. He practically hired Karas on the spot to fashion the sole music track, and brought him to London to overdub the music during a 6 week session-- the same amount of time used for the entire Viennese shoot. Never has a score represented the style of a film, and in this case the era of mid 20th Century Vienna, more exquisitely than did Karas’ stylings. It evokes the gamut of emotions from nostalgic, to haunting, to lively, to humorous. And its use was unique in film as being a single instrument without vocals. The only other score that comes close is David Shire’s eerie piano score for Coppola’s The Conversation.

The film includes two of the most famous scenes in movie history: Harry Lime’s electrifying first entrance into the film by suddenly shining a night time spotlight on Welles, framing him in a doorway displaying his sardonic and whimsical smile with hat askew; and possibly the most iconic ending in film history-- after Lime’s funeral, as Anna takes the long walk back to town on the autumn leaf strewn lane, she walks straight past Martins, who had been leaning on a wagon waiting to reconcile with her. Rebuffed, Martins lights a cigarette, then throws down the match in disgust. The screen goes to black.

Books and countless articles and lectures have been written about The Third Man. The British Film Institute selected it as the #1 film in their list of top 100 British films. In my view it’s one of the best films ever made.

Bay of Angels, 1963

Jean (Claude Mann) is a young man working as a bank clerk. When his co-worker Caron (Paul Guers) confides to Jean that he won a nice chunk of money gambling and then takes Jean along to a casino, Jean becomes smitten with gambling. Taking an impromptu trip to Nice, he meets gambling addict Jackie (Jeanne Moreau). The two hit it off, but their romance becomes strained when their luck at the tables takes a turn for the worse.

This was a sweet little drama romance, with the world of gambling and gambling addiction serving as an interesting backdrop for the budding romance.

One of the best touches to the film is the fact that Jean has actually "met" Jackie before they click in the casino---he saw her at a different casino early in the film, being ejected and then permanently banned. The path that Jackie represents is established from the get-go, and yet this knowledge does nothing to dissuade Jean from pursuing her or indulging in her lifestyle.

What makes this film interesting is Jackie's understanding of who she is. She is aware that she is an addict. At this point, she is immune to the indignities that her lifestyle sometimes requires--not having a place to stay, having to beg her husband for money (yes, she is a married woman), flirting with men in the casino in hopes of a few dollars. Jackie is intoxicated with how it feels to win, and she can't help but chase that high. Even when she's got a purse full of cash, she can't bring herself to call it a night.

Moreau is great as Jackie, a woman who is both worn down and alluring at the same time. She looks fully like a woman who is living a hard life, and yet her enthusiasm is incredibly attractive. When Jean correctly places a bet in a roulette game, he and Jackie share a moment of mutual excitement and triumph. She looks just old enough that you can tell she's been at this life for a long time, and yet young enough that she can still draw in a man twelve years her junior. Mann is a good contrast for her--someone fresh-faced who quickly begins to realize the patterns of her behavior, and who cannot break himself from what he sees is a destructive cycle.

The central romance serves as a cautionary tale about what happens when a relationship is dependent strongly on an external factor--in this case whether or not they have enough money to go to the casino. Their affection for each other feels real enough, and yet casino culture is always there over their shoulders.

I thought that the film's ending was interesting, and I appreciated that there was a degree of ambiguity to it. As with Lola, I sensed more of an interest in observing a relationship than commenting on it. And despite the sometimes frustrating decisions made by the main characters, the film always seemed to keep a degree of sympathy and affection for them.

26th Hall of Fame (REWATCH)

The Wizard of Oz (1939) -

I hadn't seen this film since I was a kid, so I was looking forward to rewatching it for this thread. I was curious whether I had outgrown it, but fortunately, I enjoyed it quite a lot. Even though it's a family film, it's packed with all kinds of unintentionally and intentionally scary set pieces. From the tornado, Miss Gulch's transformation into the witch, the introduction to the munchkins, the living trees, the introduction to the wizard, and the climax at the witches castle, it has a whole lot to offer. If you watch the film in the right state of mind, you'd find that it's a great balance of wonder and horror. I imagine that another viewing would get me to appreciate the scary parts even more, in fact. The film is also technically outstanding. While the tornado and the switch from sepia to color in the first act are the most famous technical set pieces, the film has plenty to offer in the Land of Oz as well. Yes, most of the backdrops in the film look obviously fake and the warmth of the poppy field scene had me wishing that more of the sets looked realistic, but the various towns, cities, and wooded areas in the film are richly detailed and have a massive level of craft. There's a lot to love about this film and, while I wouldn't call it a favorite yet, it may grow on me some more in the future.

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I love Regarding Henry. It seems to get lost in Harrison Ford's filmography behind the Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Blade Runner movies. I think it's one of his most underrated movies.

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Searching for Sugar Man - (2012)

There aren't any documentaries that make me feel as good as Searching for Sugar Man does. I have to admit, when I first saw it I found myself doubting it's veracity, because the story it tells is too perfect to naturally occur in any universe. For such a talented musician to go absolutely unnoticed everywhere in the world other than South Africa and Australia seems unfair and proves that Darwinism doesn't exist as far as popular music is concerned - and I have to admit I love the music. I think it's so good it's what made me doubt that Sixto Rodriguez actually made those albums - that it was some sort of hoax. I have to get my hands on those albums now to feel complete.

9/10


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The Kite Runner - (2007)

The Kite Runner paints Afghanistan as a nation that is being continually being raped, and it's hard to disagree. Through everything comes the story of two boys, betrayal, and a long road to an attempted redemption. The two boys who appear in the first half of this film are pretty remarkable young actors - I haven't seen performances like that from kids so young very often. They fly their kites and suffer the fate unlucky friends do - but what may have been mended is forever ripped apart by war and a nation so screwed up that it's one place I would never, ever, ever travel to. "There is a way to be good again," is a simple tagline, but resonates so much after you've seen this film.

7.5

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Uncle Frank (2020)