Rate The Last Movie You Saw

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Yes!
Was this the first time you'd seen it?
And yeah, this is how I will always remember Alec Guinness despite many excellent performances (including The Ladykillers, Tunes Of Glory, and of course, Kind Hearts and Coronets), even though Obi-Wan will always be at the forefront in all our minds.
Yes, it was a first time viewing.

This is one of those movies that got turned around in my head and I thought I knew what it was about but totally didn't. (Maybe I was confusing it with The African Queen?). Anyway, it was a very pleasant surprise and I imagine it was pretty stunning on the big screen.





Dogs Don't Wear Pants, 2019

An interesting theme has emerged in three of the last films I've watched (this one, Veronika Decides to Die, and The Earrings of Madame de . . . .): someone learning to feel deeply, no matter how much it hurts.

Years after his wife drowned (accidentally? on purpose?), heart surgeon Juha is living an outwardly fine but muted life, caring for a daughter on the edge of young adulthood. Intrigued by an intense, chance encounter with a dominatrix, Mona, Juha employs her to take him deeper into a coping mechanism--oxygen deprivation--that he's been unsuccessfully using to self-medicate.

The idea of BDSM as therapy is by no means a new idea. What I found most powerful about this portrayal of such a dynamic was (1) the clear presentation of how and why Juha benefits from his sessions with Mona and (2) the attention given to Mona's character and how her relationship with Juha impacts her.

This film is definitely not for the faint of heart. The main reason that I was able to watch it was because the sequences of more graphic gore were very easy to spot coming. I did fast forward one sequence because I knew I couldn't handle it. (For those wondering if they would want to also skip the sequences, there are two parts in the film that were a bit too much for me:
WARNING: spoilers below
in one sequence, the main character pulls out one of his nails. I held my hand up to block the top 90% of the screen so I could still read the subtitles. Later in the film, Mona uses pliers to remove one of Juha's teeth. This is the sequence that I skipped and it lasts for a looooooong time
).

But the film isn't just after shock value. It's clear that all of the people we see exploring this world of kink are getting something out of it. There is a clear sense of empathy underneath all of the action, which keeps it from just feeling like a freakshow where we gawp at all the kinksters. The pain inflicted on Juha becomes a bridge that allows him to get in touch with his pain, but at the same time the film doesn't lose sight of the cost to Mona (who works days as a physical therapist) of inflicting that pain.

My only real complaint with the film is that it doesn't take enough time to establish Mona's professional ethical obligations before moving into a space that is inappropriate. Asphyxiation is expert level kink play, but the film acts as if choking a person into unconsciousness is just a rote day-to-day event. Both Mona and Juha go to a dangerous place with their relationship, and I wish that the film had taken a bit more time to establish Mona's "normal".

A trope that the film admirably avoids is making Mona a kink version of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Not only by acknowledging the complexities of her own emotions, but by making Juha the driver of his own journey. In pursuing his emotions, Juha endangers his job, his health, and his relationship with his daughter. This isn't just the case of a tight-laced businessman discovering that he needs to follow his dreams with the help of a free-spirited woman. Juha's liberation comes at a cost, and it's not the kind of journey that ends with everything tied up in a neat bow.

It wasn't an easy watch, but it's a deeply human film that makes room for the inner lives of all of its characters.

I've been trying to get hold of a copy of this for ages. Where did you watch it?



I've been trying to get hold of a copy of this for ages. Where did you watch it?
For reasons I don't 100% understand, it is on Shudder. From what I can tell you could also rent it from Amazon for $3.99.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

Girl (Chad Faust, 2020)
+ 5/10
27 Missing Kisses (Nana Djordjadze, 2000)
6/10
1 Night in San Diego (Penelope Lawson, 2020)
5/10
The Kite (Randa Chahal Sabag, 2003)
6/10

Wedding in Lebanon/Israel exposes patriarchal hypocrisy.
Overseas (Sung-a Yoon, 2019)
6/10
This Is the Sea (Mary McGuckian, 1997)
6/10
Happiest Season (Clea DuVall, 2020)
6/10
Catching Up (Bill Crossland, 2019)
- 6.5/10

Bill Crossland, a teacher with muscular dystrophy, seeks a relationship and physical intimacy.
The Odd Couple: Together Again (Robert Klane, 1993)
6/10
Talking to God (Maya Batash, 2020)
6/10
Strive (Robert Rippberger, 2019)
6/10
Playhouse (Fionn Watts & Toby Watts, 2020)
6/10

Is a Scottish castle haunted? These three teenagers choose to find out.
Lovers Rock (Steve McQueen, 2020)
6/10
The Man in the Woods (Noah Buschel, 2020)
6/10
The Skin of the Wolf (Samu Fuentes, 2017)
6/10
Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies (Danny Wolf, 2020)
7/10

130 years of nudity in the movies.
Murder at the Vanities (Mitchell Leisen, 1934)
6/10
The Cheat (George Abbott, 1931)
5/10
Search for Beauty (Erle C. Kenton, 1934)
6/10
Nimic (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2019)
6/10

Matt Dillon and his precursor show up at the same place,



Voces (2020)
aka Don’t Listen

A better than expected Spanish Netflix horror. There's nothing new or overly innovative, but it does its thing rather well. Sort of a mix of Insidious (which I hated, by the way, and didn't even finish) and Amityville Horror with some modern Hereditary-like grief and loss as a spice. Not sure if that post-credit scene is needed, though.
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The Howling – This is director Joe Dante’s first (Piranha doesn’t count IMO) straight up horror film and he makes the most of it. He packs so much into the 90 minute runtime that you’ll probably need to view it several times just to catch all the references and inside jokes and cameos. It’s been years since I watched this and I remembered John Carradine being in it but completely forgot another of my favorite character actors, Slim Pickens, was as well. Not to mention Dick Miller and co-writer of the screenplay, John Sayles, in an uncredited bit as a morgue attendant. Forrest J. Ackerman and Roger Corman are also along for the ride in blink-and-you’ll-miss-them appearances. Television reporter Karen White (Dee Wallace) is foolishly sent out on a dangerous assignment to meet up with a serial killer. He’s been corresponding with her and when she shows up at an adult film store she is almost killed and is traumatized to the point of retrograde amnesia. A therapist (Patrick MacNee) recommends that she visit a remote mountain retreat in order to heal and to try and recall her experience in the bookstore. Once there she and her husband Bill (Christopher Stone) meet the oddball residents and things quickly go downhill from there. The makeup effects are topnotch for the era, having been started by Rick Baker before he left to work on An American Werewolf in London. This is a must see for horror aficionados and for fans of clever, irreverent, and self referential films. 80/100

WARNING: "" spoilers below
Oh and I especially like the ending with Dee Wallace turning into what can only be described as an adorable Pekingese. Also, this movie is responsible for one of my best movie going moments. I went to a midnight showing of sorts with a decent sized crowd in attendance and right at the beginning there's a scene where Dee Wallace is at a phone booth where she's supposed to get a call from psycho killer Eddie Quist instructing her where to meet him. She opens the door and there's a jump cut to a smiley face sticker. Right then some clever guy in the audience lets go with a loud scream and the whole theater cracks up.

Haven't seen this film in probably 30 years, but I remember being creeped out by the special effects. Need to revisit it, see how well it holds for me.
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Saboteur -


This is an engaging and often comedic "innocent man on the run" thriller that Hitchcock did so well.* This time, it's a mechanic, Barry Kane (Robert Cummings), who treks from California to New York to nab the actual culprit of an attack on the aircraft factory where he works.* It has everything you know and love in movies like this one such as a reluctant blonde companion, Pat (Priscilla Lane), encounters with bystanders who you're not sure are friends or foes, set pieces you cannot believe take place in a studio, etc.* It's also quite funny and clever thanks to touches like road signs and book titles that telegraph the plot to a scene that references Bride of Frankenstein of all things.* Cummings is not Jimmy Stewart or Cary Grant - then again, who is - and it's also no North by Northwest or The 39 Steps.* It still does what it does very well, and its final set piece, which like North by Northwest also features a famous American landmark, is as tense as Hitchcock gets.* Oh, and keep an eye out for Norman Lloyd - who as of 2020 is thankfully still with us - in his debut role.
Hitchcock did such a good job with these spy thrillers. I mean, even if few of them are really memorable or groundbreaking, he had the formula so down to a T that all of them are incredibly fun.



Belladonna of Sadness. (1973) Eiichi Yamamoto.
A woman makes a deal with the devil, after being treated poorly in her village.
Animated film. The music in this film is very good, and gives the film a special atmosphere.
IMO, this film is a must-see for everyone. Even if you don't think it's great, which I don't, the logistics of how it is made, and the time when it was released, should be enough for any film fan or cinephile to check it out at least once.





The Bridge on the River Kwai, 1957

This nearly three-hour long epic follows a group of WW2 prisoners of war who are forced to help construct a bridge while being held in a Japanese POW camp. For one of the officers in the camp (played by Alec Guiness), building the bridge becomes a point of pride and leads to a tragic clash with an Allied plan to destroy the bridge.

This film was great, really well acted, and the final 20 minutes made me incredibly anxious!

Guinness does a wonderful job portraying Colonel Nicholson, a man for whom military duty overlaps dangerously with personal ego. The film centers the humanity of the story through the use of several observer type characters: a doctor (James Donald) who cares for the sick and injured at the POW camp and an unnamed group of women who accompany the Allied soldiers on their mission. The heart of the film is a man named Shears, a pessimistic American soldier whose cynicism both helps and hinders him.

The film contains several breathtaking sequences, including a night-time parachute landing and a final sweeping shot that speaks volumes.

Loved this. Particularly how it balances the theme of purpose in life. I wrote a bit about it on Letterboxd, in case you're curious.



Hitchcock did such a good job with these spy thrillers. I mean, even if few of them are really memorable or groundbreaking, he had the formula so down to a T that all of them are incredibly fun.
It is one of the highlights in the Hitchcock Ultimate Collection, which I received as a birthday gift and is a must-own for any movie lover.
Unfortunately, I'm down to what I've heard are the dregs of his filmography such as Topaz, Torn Curtain and Family Plot. Hopefully, they're better than the reviews and feedback suggest.



Touch of Evil: Extended – It’s been so long since I first watched this that I’m not exactly sure what was added to this extended version. I remember that relatively short but brilliant tracking shot that opens the movie. It’s only around three and a half minutes but it is continuous and I liked the way director Orson Welles starts off with a couple getting into a car and then eventually dovetailing that into Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh walking along a street. They walk alongside the couple in the car and drift away and back but eventually the shot ends with both parties at a border crossing. It’s a great opening to the movie. Welles continues his virtuosity with crane shots and a POV with Heston behind the wheel of a convertible and zipping down narrow streets. He also employs judicious close-ups and lighting effects to accentuate his overarching themes of corruption and dissolution, in this case exemplified by his bordertown setting. The cast brings their “A” game and if you can look past Heston in brownface there are no weak links. Character actor Akim Tamaroff is especially good as Uncle Joe Grandi, the head of a crime family that’s trying to stop Heston’s Mexican narcotics officer Mike Vargas from testifying against his brother. Welles is the cornerstone of the plot as the ruthless and shady Police Captain Hank Quinlan. Marlene Dietrich and Dennis Weaver round out the principal cast of characters. Highly recommended. 95/100



Unfortunately, I'm down to what I've heard are the dregs of his filmography such as Topaz, Torn Curtain and Family Plot. Hopefully, they're better than the reviews and feedback suggest.
I had a chance to watch Torn Curtain but passed on it. And I liked Family Plot. As long as you go in not expecting peak Hitchcock then chances are you'll be suitably entertained.



It is one of the highlights in the Hitchcock Ultimate Collection, which I received as a birthday gift and is a must-own for any movie lover.
Unfortunately, I'm down to what I've heard are the dregs of his filmography such as Topaz, Torn Curtain and Family Plot. Hopefully, they're better than the reviews and feedback suggest.
Topaz and Torn Curtain each have strong performances and exquisite sequences of “pure cinema” as he would describe it and are at least on par with some of his earlier works.

Family Plot is an odd outlier in that it feels more akin to The Trouble With Harry, in that quirky comedy crime film that seemingly predicts what the Coen bros would perfect a couple decades later. It’s the least ambitious or polished but I still like it.

“Dregs” is something Hitchcock doesn’t have.



Touch of Evil: Extended – It’s been so long since I first watched this that I’m not exactly sure what was added to this extended version. I remember that relatively short but brilliant tracking shot that opens the movie. It’s only around three and a half minutes but it is continuous and I liked the way director Orson Welles starts off with a couple getting into a car and then eventually dovetailing that into Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh walking along a street. They walk alongside the couple in the car and drift away and back but eventually the shot ends with both parties at a border crossing. It’s a great opening to the movie. Welles continues his virtuosity with crane shots and a POV with Heston behind the wheel of a convertible and zipping down narrow streets. He also employs judicious close-ups and lighting effects to accentuate his overarching themes of corruption and dissolution, in this case exemplified by his bordertown setting. The cast brings their “A” game and if you can look past Heston in brownface there are no weak links. Character actor Akim Tamaroff is especially good as Uncle Joe Grandi, the head of a crime family that’s trying to stop Heston’s Mexican narcotics officer Mike Vargas from testifying against his brother. Welles is the cornerstone of the plot as the ruthless and shady Police Captain Hank Quinlan. Marlene Dietrich and Dennis Weaver round out the principal cast of characters. Highly recommended. 95/100
That's one of my favorites. Glad you also loved it! And I agree that the cinematography is one of the film's main highlights.
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Topaz and Torn Curtain each have strong performances and exquisite sequences of “pure cinema” as he would describe it and are at least on par with some of his earlier works.

Family Plot is an odd outlier in that it feels more akin to The Trouble With Harry, in that quirky comedy crime film that seemingly predicts what the Coen bros would perfect a couple decades later. It’s the least ambitious or polished but I still like it.

“Dregs” is something Hitchcock doesn’t have.
So glad to hear all of this. I was treating them like the candy at the bottom of the Halloween bowl. I mean, how bad could Torn Curtain be if Paul Newman and Julie Andrews are in it?



So glad to hear all of this. I was treating them like the candy at the bottom of the Halloween bowl. I mean, how bad could Torn Curtain be if Paul Newman and Julie Andrews are in it?
I feel like contemporary criticism was based upon Hitchcock still making them fairly classically styled in comparison to the New Waves hitting the world. Modern criticism seems to stem from them not being Vertigo or Rear Window quality.

But if you’re someone that has dove into his filmography, I can’t imagine not finding a lot to like about them. There’s a sequence in Torn Curtain that could go toe-to-toe with just about any Hitch sequence and some of the imagery in Topaz is just gorgeous. Had he cast bigger names in the latter, I think it would be considered a much stronger effort.



It is one of the highlights in the Hitchcock Ultimate Collection, which I received as a birthday gift and is a must-own for any movie lover.
Unfortunately, I'm down to what I've heard are the dregs of his filmography such as Topaz, Torn Curtain and Family Plot. Hopefully, they're better than the reviews and feedback suggest.
I still have about a dozen or two to complete his filmography, so I also haven't seen Topaz or Torn Curtain. However, I did think that Family Plot was a lot of fun. Very light and breezy, plus some great camera work from Hitchcock, as expected.



It is one of the highlights in the Hitchcock Ultimate Collection, which I received as a birthday gift and is a must-own for any movie lover.
Unfortunately, I'm down to what I've heard are the dregs of his filmography such as Topaz, Torn Curtain and Family Plot. Hopefully, they're better than the reviews and feedback suggest.
I'm checking out info on that "collection" and see it has a bunch of discs, but can't find a list of what films it includes. Can you share a list?

EDIT: Nevermind. Just found a picture of the back cover. That's a fine bunch of films

Psycho
The Birds
Vertigo
Rear Window
North by Northwest
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Marnie
Saboteur
Shadow of a Doubt
Rope
The Trouble with Harry
Torn Curtain
Topaz

Frenzy
Family Plot


I haven't seen the ones in bold, but most of the rest are top-notch. I did see the original TMWKTM, with Peter Lorre, and that's a pretty good one too.