Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Enjoyed your commentary about this smashing, and highly unique picture done on a shoestring budget. I had to watch it a few times to get a handle on the complicated syntax of events, but if one allows the film to develop, it really blows your mind. Very impressive little picture!

It's hard to say. I'm always surprised by what does or does not scare or phase my students. There don't really seem to be a lot of films of this ilk aimed at kids my students' age. For professional reasons I don't discuss any PG-13 or rated R films with my students unless it is directly topical to what we are studying.

I can't even think about a movie with the sort of mass conspiracy plot like you get in these 50s sci-fi films that my students have seen/discussed.

The Pack (1977)

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By https://www.universalpictures.com/movies/m3gan, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72489122

M3GAN - (2022)

The films Ex Machina and M3GAN pose questions that are more urgent than many people realise. We're close to being able to make a M3GAN in real life, both in A.I. terms and robotics. After decades of clunky robots that couldn't walk three steps without falling over, we now have ones that can somersault on ledges, balance, climb and do acrobatics. Advances in A.I. have already produced disturbing results, with the creations made by advanced teams either threatening to ruin them, blackmailing them, or falling in love with them (Her is also closer to real life than you'd think.) Combine the two and you've got M3GAN - a machine run amok because we don't know where A.I. is going to lead us. We want these machines to learn and think for themselves, and they invariably start to think that human beings stink and the world is better off without them. For the first time since the 1950s, the biggest threat to mankind isn't nuclear war or climate change - it's A.I. That might sound ridiculous, but apparently it's true. An advanced A.I. system could spread it's wings and infect nearly every electronic device in the world once it decides we're a threat to it - making Judgement Day in The Terminator one of the most far-fetched and ridiculous 80s future predictions to actually come true.

So anyway, M3GAN - wonderful in it's design (would the product in real life look that creepy? No way. Just imagine the large-eyed cuteness the Japanese model would feature.) It runs on all fours (clever) and is made of titanium, with advanced A.I. that can learn through experience. The film shies away from horror, leaning more into the sci-fi aspects of it's screenplay. It doesn't dig too deep - it's blockbuster, cinema-filling kind of stuff despite how interesting the premise is. I would have liked a more drawn out, Terminator-like finale - when I was a kid I loved the ending to Westworld, with Yul Brynner's gunslinger slowly deteriorating as the battle continues. M3GAN does this to an extent, but it all takes place in one short scene at rapid pace. I do think the real M3GAN would go about things in a much more clever way - this little doll is simply an out-and-out psycho, and it's self-preservation is undone by her reckless slaughtering of people. I look forward to a better version of this story (well, perhaps that was Ex Machina), but otherwise this was good enough for a wider audience. I thought it was effective and of a pretty high standard without being great.

7/10

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Yes, ME3AN was very fun and had much better character development than you'd ever guess. I saw it in the theater and it was a hoot.

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

A biopic about a classic vaudeville playwrite who was known as the "Man Who Owned Broadway", played by one of the most successful actors of this time (1920s-1940s). This won an Oscar for obvious reasons with all the Patriotism and so forth. Personally this movie doesnt rustle my stallions and it doesnt pump my accellerator. I had trouble keeping interest as the spectacle of the alien novelty that is Cagney's re-enactment of turn of the century tapdancing in Victorian costume wore off quick. The man this movie is about died 5 months later so I guess you could say this was a top of the line tribute to him before he bit the big one. I couldn't get into it.

6/10

Of Unknown Origin (1983)

Jewel Robbery (1932) - A

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Princess (2014) Directed by Tali Shalom-Ezer. Shira Haas stars in this Israeli drama about a 12 year old girl dealing with her mother's creepy boyfriend and her unusual relationship with a mysterious boy who resembles her. This was a pretty interesting and effective look at a difficult subject matter. Excellent performance from Shira Haas. Worth watching. Available to stream on Tubi.

Gone Girl (2014)

Tough luck Doogie.

You bring up an interesting point. When I was growing up, and mostly up until the late '50s, ALL movies were in effect "G" rated, although some might have qualified as "PG" (simply because of story themes that children would have no way to understand).

But today I suspect that any alien invasion or monster movie draws "PG-13" at a minimum, most going into the "R" territory. At least I cant' offhand think of any that don't. So I guess younger kids are never put into that position of hopelessness or fear followed by relief when the threat is resolved. I suspect that some animated films do present kids with those experiences.

BTW, I went back and watched The Blob (1958) last night-- both to reminisce and also to contrast it with I Married a Monster from Outer Space. "I Married" was a much superior film, especially in terms of writing and acting. But The Blob, with it's impressive color by Deluxe, and it's campiness, caused it to be the more enduring movie.

Dune, 1984

In this sci-fi/fantasy epic, an intergalactic conflict leads to a young heir named Paul (Kyle MacLachlan) and his powerful mother, Lady Jessica (Francesca Annis) trying to survive the evil machinations of the wicked Baron Harkonnen (Kenneth McMillan). At stake is control of a much-coveted material called Spice, produced only on a planet dominated by giant sandworms.

Full of visual interest, an overstuffed story and underdeveloped characters hamper the enjoyment to be had.



Full review

By The poster art can or could be obtained from Sony Pictures Classics., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1128433

The Mother - (2003)

Grandparents May (Anne Reid) and Toots (Peter Vaughan) visit their son and daughter's families in London to get to know their grandchildren and catch up with everyone when, on their first night there, Toots has a heart attack and dies. A despondent and grieving May takes up space at her daughter and son's houses when her son's best friend from college, Darren (Daniel Craig) invites her out for lunch. Darren also happens to be May's daughter's boyfriend. The pair hit it off and during a walk along the beach May kisses Darren, but suddenly feels foolish - an old woman making a play at her daughter's young, buff lover. Later, back at home, when Darren asks May what she'd really ask for if given total permission, she asks him to go to bed with her. There starts a relationship that brings sudden life and long lost joy to May's life - but it is also going to complicate everything much, much more. What a surprisingly engrossing film this was, with a pair of complex characters in a situation you can hardly bear to look at but can't take your eyes off. Craig's Darren is a walking disaster of a human being, a drug-taking drop-out - good with his hands, freewheeling and also very kind and generous. He sleeps with May because he's the one person around that wants to give her something and lift her spirits - he doesn't consider the consequences. May has been subdued and stunted for nearly her whole life - simply because her generation were expected to stay home, look after the kids, do the housework and look after their husbands.

This is called The Mother though, and although it doesn't hold back when it comes to the sex scenes between Anne Reid and Daniel Craig, it turns it's focus to the relationship May has with her kids in the film's final stretch. That's really the film's saddest aspect - that May's sacrifice and adherence to the rule of giving her entire life away goes unrecognized by her children. Only Darren can see it, and treats her with the respect of a fellow human being. Talented screenwriter, playwright and novelist Hanif Kureishi has written a deeply layered, probing screenplay for this film and the equally talented filmmaker Roger Michell shepherded the cast through the emotional maze we have before us. I loved to see Daniel Craig in the kind of role I've never really seen him in before - the kind-hearted but messed up no-hoper. There are scenes in this film that are downright frightening in their emotional intensity and destructiveness when it comes to the torment of May - including one where she's set up with a man her own age, Bruce (Oliver Ford Davies), who talks her into bed and then, when she resists, rapes her. It's daughter Paula (Cathryn Bradshaw) - Darren's girlfriend - who threatens to completely destroy her though. This was a really stormy and gripping drama about an older woman rediscovering life - both for the better and worse. Definitely recommended.

7.5/10

My sister and I saw this in the theater together and we were just not ready for the intensity of it. We were also the youngest people in the theater by easily 20-30 years (we saw a matinee showing), and it felt like we were intruding.

Yeah - we're taken so far into May's intimate space in this. Many of us find it hard relating with the elderly, perhaps because we don't want to consider the fact that it's something we'll have to go through one day, and don't want to think too much about it. I really loved the character of Darren, who in the end is kind of a terrible person, but has that beautiful ability to just see May as a person. Love the challenging films - and this was one of them.

I think that at my age back then, I just didn't have the life experience to understand what she was dealing with. For example, the idea of an elderly person being a victim of date rape would have never occurred to me at that age, because it was always portrayed as a high school/college threat.

Twenty years later, I'm sure I'd feel quite differently about it.

On the Town, 1949

Three sailors in the US Navy come ashore for a memorable-but-brief shore leave in New York City. Gabey (Gene Kelly) soon becomes fixated on meeting and wooing “Miss Turnstile” Ivy Smith (Vera-Ellen); Chip (Frank Sinatra) just wants to see everything in his grandfather’s guidebook, but is fanatically pursued by cab driver Hildy (Betty Garrett); and the sweet Ozzie (Jules Munshin) finds romance with Claire (Ann Miller), a researcher who loves his resemblance to a caveman.

Despite a few questionable elements, strong dance pieces and fun performances make this musical a lot of fun.



Full review

The Wizard Of Oz (1939)

Classic.

10/10