Rate The Last Movie You Saw

The Invitation (2022)

I was so ready to like this. I will tolerate quite a lot of hokeyness for a fun vampire or zombie movie. But this was about an hour of build up, which mostly consisted of lame YA-romance movie dialogue and even lamer jump scares before it actually got around to being a vampire movie. Then it was moderately fun for about 15 minutes. But overall, just not fun enough. There are a few nods to Dracula, like setting it in Whitby (where not a single person has a Yorkshire accent) and giving a few characters Dracula names, and I think I caught a reference to The Hunger as well, but that was something they could have really run with but didn't quite.

One problem with this film is that it seemed to think it was Get Out, but it just wasn't anywhere near as clever. There was no attempt at subtlety, ambiguity or any kind of moral conflict. Everything about the story is obvious, and yet on several occasions it employs explanatory flashbacks to things we've already seen, just in case we can't put two and two together. It also couldn't settle on a point of view, which irked me.

Overall, disappointing. And my expectations were fairly low.

I think it doesn't help that House of Games was fresh enough in my memory to make this film---with a very similar plot of the naive person getting suckered into an elaborate con---look pretty amateur by comparison.

I thought that it was way too painfully obvious that (MAJOR SPOILERS!)

And like I said in my original review, it was frustrating to have a main character who didn't grow or change at all.

I had no problem with any of the actors, but the story itself was just too dopey.

I haven't seen this film in probably 20+ years, but I do remember liking it quite a bit. Barely remember anything about it, though, so this is an empty post... take from that what you may I should probably rewatch it.

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The Big Combo, 1955

Lieutenant Diamond (Cornel Wilde) is obsessed with taking down the sadistic gangster Mr. Brown (Richard Conte). Diamond has a girlfriend named Rita (Helene Stanton) but is fascinated with Brown's depressed girlfriend, Susan (Jean Wallace). As tensions between the cops and crooks rise, both sides become more desperate.

There's nothing better than going into a film with mid-level expectations and getting something much more complex and interesting than what you were anticipating. This stylish, expressive noir really wowed me.

It's always a good sign when I struggle to pick a single image to include at the top of a review. The Big Combo was full of so many great images, many of them skewing borderline abstract. I couldn't find a picture of it, but there's an early scene where Brown's two henchmen Mingo (Earl Holliman) and Fante (a shockingly young Lee Van Cleef) catch Susan who is trying to run away. As they corner her, the background behind her is strangely blank, as if she's dropped into some sort of colorless void. The film also makes use of some classic noir visual tropes, like the starkness of jail cell bars cutting across characters' faces. It gives the film a dangerous-yet-dreamy edge, and a sense that anything could happen int his space.

What really made this film different than a lot of 40s/50s crime films for me was the incredible amount of character development that it squeezes into its 90 minutes. Obviously there is the rivalry between Diamond and Brown. But there's also the simmering, spiteful relationship between Susan and Brown. From the very start of the film--which literally begins with Susan sprinting away from an event she was attending with Brown--it seems as if Susan is trying to get Brown to get rid of her, whatever that means. Susan attempts suicide early in the film, and every scene thereafter between her and Brown feels like she's trying to weaponize how dangerous he is, basically daring him to do something to her.

Further, there's the uncomfortable relationship between Brown and another underling, a man named McClure (Brian Donlevy). McClure used to be Brown's superior, and Brown never misses an opportunity to rub it in and point out that McClure didn't have the ruthlessness to take the top spot. McClure uses an electronic earpiece, something that is frequently used as a plot point, including a sequence in which the gang tortures Diamond without leaving him with any visible physical damage.

There's also a really interesting, charged dynamic between Mingo and Fante. I'm not saying that it's necessarily a queer energy, but there are a lot of exchanged glances and unspoken communication that gives their scenes together a vibe that goes beyond just being hired guns. Van Cleef is a great visual fit for his character, with his angular features giving Fante a feral look. The actors really elevate their characters and make it worth it spending time with them.

Finally, I appreciated the version of the noir detective that we get in this film. Diamond is determined, but also very human. He is dogged by his own sense of failure and frustration, and when his investigation begins to endanger those around him, the cracks really begin to show. In one scene, Diamond (probably correctly) berates himself for the irreversible damage he's done to someone else, and breaks down in tears. It was really neat seeing a character with all the trappings of the typical noir lead, but instead of being stoic and clipped, he actually has emotions! It makes the troubled romance between him and Susan really interesting, because they are both coming from a place of despair centered on the same antagonist.

From a historical point of view, it's fascinating to note that when Susan tries to kill herself, she's arrested! She is threatened with jail time for having attempted suicide, and it took me way too long to figure that out. (I was like "Did they arrest her for being at the club? Why is he talking about jail?").

Yeah, really good.

By May be found at the following website: MoviePosterDB.com, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6756464

A Room With a View - (1985)

Well, this was best film I watched yesterday - Merchant Ivory film A Room With a View, based on E. M. Forster's novel, set in 1907 and with a cast that made it incredibly enjoyable. Daniel Day Lewis, Judi Dench, Denholm Elliott, Julian Sands, Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith and Simon Callow. Love blossoms in Italy between Lucy Honeychurch (Bonham Carter) and George Emerson (Sands), but Lucy's chaperone throws a bucket of cold water over it (figuratively) and once home Lucy is engaged to the more classy but less manly Cecil Vyse (Day-Lewis) - that's the crux of things, but the various characters in the film are all extremely well fleshed out and influence events in an interesting and compelling way. It's captured wonderfully by the camera, and although this did win Oscars, it lost out on Best Picture to Platoon. I think all period films should be like A Room With a View, but James Ivory had to wait until 2018 to win himself an Oscar. He's still in the business in his 90s.

9/10


By May be found at the following website: IMPAwards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30991974

Mansfield Park - (1999)

This was good, but compared with other Jane Austen adaptations I've seen it seemed strangely deficient. Perhaps it had a smaller budget. I also read that there were considerable changes made from novel to screen - and there wasn't the bevy of distinguished and reliable actors playing all of the roles that I've come to expect. At the very least, it was an introduction to the story for me - and though it didn't impress me as much, I thought it okay and reasonable. One thing I don't like though, is when near-identical looking people are cast for many parts. Between the two sisters and Fanny Price (Frances O'Connor), I sometimes didn't know who was who, because those chosen for those parts looked so much like each other. That's a frustration of mine that crops up from time to time.

6/10


By "Copyright © 1957 by Paramount Pictures Corporation." - Scan via Heritage Auctions. Cropped from the original image., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/inde...curid=99299052

Funny Face - (1957)

Here we go again. Fred Astair was pushing 60 when Funny Face was made, and Audrey Hepburn was in her mid-20s - but it's perfectly okay when Astair grabs her and plants a huge kiss on her, because of course she doesn't mind - and he eventually forces himself on her enough to make her fall in love with him. Other than that, this was a nice musical - reminding me a lot of The Devil Wears Prada, with the head of a fashion magazine, Maggie Prescott (Kay Thompson, who is great in this) holding a lot of power. Astair's Dick Avery (Astair) is a photographer, and Audrey Hepburn's Jo Stockton is meant to be kind of unattractive at the start - but Hepburn can't pull unattractive off, no matter how they present her. There are great song and dance numbers in it - particularly with Prescott and Astaire - which is what it's all about.

7/10


By http://www.impawards.com/2005/constantine.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12727954

Constantine - (2005)

Based on DC Comics' Hellblazer series. When your 2005 CGI is very obviously computer graphics, and on top of that the demons aren't all that impressive or scary, you're pushing something pretty heavy uphill to get me to like your movie. On top of that, this follows a comic book movie formula which made me very much aware that I'd just watched a "movie" - uninspired in it's screenplay. If I was a real fan of Hellblazer, then perhaps I'd have spotted many clever references, and enjoyed this a lot more - but the only time I've come across it is when I saw the Constantine animated film. Peter Stormare as Satan was awesome, and there are the odd enjoyable moments - but overall I was unimpressed.

5/10

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8 Mile follows B-Rabbit (Eminem), a blue-collar worker in Detroit trying to make a name as a rapper. Having broken up with his girlfriend, he is forced to move back with his poor mom (Kim Basinger) and young sister at a trailer park north of 8 Mile Road while trying to maintain his musical aspirations. However, this clashes with his work at a car factory while also creating tension between warring groups in the local rap scene.

For an artist that is usually associated with violence and anger, it was interesting to see the restrain in his performance, as well as his willingness to portray the weaknesses in his character. Rabbit is insecure, frustrated, and stuck in a dead-end job, while also suffering numerous setbacks. He chokes in a rap battle, he's beat up, he's cheated on. But perhaps his strength lies in how he acknowledges his own weaknesses, which you can see in the verses I quoted above.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

Not sure if I've ever sat down and watched the whole movie through. I know all the beats and seen most of the scenes. Those rap battles are awesome especially the end one. Seems like Eminem could have had a decent acting career.

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I came here to do two things, drink some beer and kick some ass, looks like we are almost outta beer - Dazed and Confused

101 Favorite Movies (2019)

I've read the book and seen this film version, and I was honestly kind of underwhelmed with both. The book has a strange energy, and the film somehow manages to make it worse. Normally I like Austen's sense of humor and the way that she contrasts decent people who are flawed with people who are genuinely kind of bad people. Here it's all kind of muddled.

I did think that it was an interesting choice to have Tom come back and be depressed because of witnessing the abuses of the slave trade. But the film ultimately doesn't actually do anything with that thread of thought.

I think your score about matches what I would give it. Certainly on the lower tier of Austen adaptations just because it can't find a coherent tone. I did think that the actors were good.

He's really good. Not sure if he has done anything beyond this.

I can understand that. While I knew that it was the next Mamet and all, it had been a few years since I had seen Games. In the context of the time, it was just hard to see this kind of thing and so you had to appreciate it. It played at the "art-house" theater here on its release and that + Mamet + Ricky Jay may have elevated it in my 24 year-old brain.

Yeah, I'm a 30+ year fan of this one, having missed it in the theater, even though it was the hot film in the art-house circuit in my town and many others for a few years, I saw it about 3-4 years after its initial release and was really taken with it, as was my best friend at the time.
Strong, strong film. And HBC... sigh.

It wasn't bad, but definitely a lesser version of what Mamet can do.

It's also a case of a film where you notice a criticism you have and then the film repeats the thing that bothered you over and over and over.

Chess of the Wind (1976)

An Iranian drama about a family slowly rotted away by greed. It looks and feels like an Italian period piece (even some Giallo influences) but is deeply rooted in its local culture. It's bleak and open to different interpretations, I guess. Not the best film ever, but it deserved its post-revolution revival.

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The Devil's Men (1976)

It's odd how this can be so weak. It has a great cast, I like cult-themed horrors, and the Greek setting is beautiful. It even has an amazing end-credits song. It just doesn't make a lick of sense, and it fails to tap almost any of its potential.

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Escape (2012)

A Norwegian adventure film set in the 14th century. It's a very simple story that doesn't try to hide its small scope. There are some silly cliches and poor writing decisions, though. Still, an OK film and extremely kvlt and grim.

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Orphan (2009)

For some odd reason, I hadn't watched this before. It's, obviously, my kind of film. It's too long, and especially the first half has some severe pacing issues. It does improve quite a bit, though. Young Isabelle Fuhrman does perhaps the greatest evil child performance ever. She alone pushes the film to good in my books.

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Orphan: First Kill (2022)

I guess this one was difficult to write. The first film spoils the prequel, so some twists were needed. It suffers from "Hannibal Lecter syndrome" by pushing Leena's capabilities even further and trying to make her feel almost like a hero or at least a victim. Fuhrman's age is also an issue - it's fine in the beginning, but when she's trying to pass as Esther it just doesn't work. Still, an OK film, but I'm not sure if it was needed.

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Nope (2022)

I liked Us, but Nope failed on every level. Peele seems more obsessed with race than Spike Lee's ever been and less nuanced. The whole canvas-like alien feels like an afterthought on a political pamphlet. I don't understand where the $58M went because the effects are moderate at best, and for the most part, it's three people talking. I don't get the praise at all.

The Virtuoso (2021)

Watched this in the thought it was a "modern noir". It's low budget crap and I'm baffled as to why Anthony Hopkins got involved. Although I don't mind a voiceover, this one is like the pre-pubescent fantasies of a really disturbed kid. There's no twist either (unless you are blind drunk watching it). Bad.

I just finished watching Me Time on Netflix. Directed by John Hamburg, this comedy stars Kevin Hart as a devoted stay at home dad who reconnects with a wacky friend (Mark Wahlberg) for a wild weekend. Things spiral out of control and craziness ensues. I usually like Kevin Hart in most films, but I did not like him in this. Most of the characters in this comedy are unlikable, annoying, and unfunny. Me Time is predictable, pointlessly crass, and not very enjoyable or fun. There are a couple humorous moments, but a lot of garbage to sit through. Performances are not good. These actors have been better in other films and offer nothing new or interesting here. Me Time is a waste of the viewer's time. My rating is a .

Uh... what?

Third viewing -

SF = Z







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

Good points, very nice review. Here is a little commentary on the film by me:


The Big Combo (1955)

Directed by Joseph H. Lewis (Gun Crazy), and with an impressive if eclectic cast featuring Cornel Wilde, Richard Conte, Brian Donlevy, Jean Wallace, Robert Middleton, LeeVan Cleef, Earl Holliman, and Helen Walker, this is a great example of later film noir. In fact it could be said that John Alton’s excellent dark cinematography makes this one of the chief examples of noir.

The final scene with Wallace and Wilde in silhouette at a foggy airport must rank up there with classic noir frames, it’s impression as lasting as the iconic poster of Max Von Sydow standing outside the house in The Exorcist.

The plot, although with a nice twist, is rather tortured, and insures its “B” status, although it represents the highest level of that group. The dialogue is quirky, almost erratic, which tends to cover up the banality of the narrative.

Wilde does journeyman work with a role that is not given the chance to develop. But the character

parts are the most alluring here. The ladies all sizzle off the screen. Helen Stanton as the stripper was a doll. Her career was too short. And this was Helen Walker's final film.

Earl Holliman shined as the inept henchman (the following year he was to appear in George Stevens' Giant), and of course Van Cleef was at his most intimidating. Brian Donlevy played against type in his role as an intimidated consigliare to Conte's "Mr. Brown".

The picture is definitely worth a watch, especially for its noir elements, and the excellent cast.