Rate The Last Movie You Saw

I enjoy Grease, but it is the last movie in the world I would be surprised over someone disliking. Like, it's an aggressively dopey movie, with such a goofy tone that (if one isn't on its wavelength) it could quickly veer off into irritating territory.

Right. And on the flip side, despite being pretty lukewarm on it, I can totally see why some people LOVE it.

It's not so much "I don't get it!" as it is "Yeah, I get it. Not for me, thanks."

Set in New York City, Shadows follows the lives of three black siblings: struggling jazz musicians Ben and Hugh, and their light-skinned, younger sister Lelia, and their relationships with several other characters. The focus of the story falls mostly on Lelia (Lelia Goldoni), who starts a relationship with Tony (Anthony Ray). But things get complicated when he meets her brothers and finds out she's black.

Shadows is an interesting experiment. Filmed in 1957, released in 1958, and reworked in 1959, it went through a metamorphosis of sorts. The film was devised and promoted as a mostly improvisational work, which might've resulted in the poor reception it had on its first release. Cassavetes then went back to the drawing board to rework the film. This tinkering is probably the source of my main issue, which has to do with the rather loose narrative.

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Full review on my Movie Loot

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That's what makes it great. It's unapologetically upbeat and all in.

This is one of my favorite films. It still holds up today. I saw this film in London while the band I was in was on tour from the States. It made me so homesick that I wanted to get on a plane and go back home! And I'll be forever grateful to Orson Welles for telling Bogdanovich that he must shoot the film in black and white.

Set in 1948, Driving Miss Daisy follows Daisy (Jessica Tandy), a widowed and retired schoolteacher that is forced by her son to take a chauffeur (Morgan Freeman) after a small car accident. Despite her initial reluctance and bigotry against Hoke, we see how their relationship grows and evolves through the course of 20 years.

My friend @ApexPredator said it best when he told me that it worked "best as a character study of two people who are missing something and find a connection that leads to friendship ... As a civil rights film, it's less effective.", and I like how accurate that is. Thankfully, the film has Tandy and Freeman to make that connection feel like something somewhat believable and pleasant, despite the shortcomings of the script.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

The Queen of Spades, 1949

Herman (Anton Walbrook) is a military officer who is always hesitant to play cards for fear of losing his money. He reads in a book about an elderly countess (Edith Evans) who traded her soul for the ability to win at cards. Determined to learn her secret, Herman sets about seducing her ward, Lizaveta (Yvonne Mitchell), so that he can have access to the countess's home. One of Herman's comrades, Andrei (Ronald Howard), realizes he doesn't intend to actually be with Lizaveta and tries to stop what's happening. But Herman is determined to learn the secret at any cost.

It's been years since a friend first recommended this film, and I was delighted to see it pop up on one of my services. This is a visually rich twist on the old devil's bargain/monkey paw situation.

Herman makes for a fascinating anti-hero. He's the kind of man who believes that he is essentially owed greatness and wealth by the world and carries around a sort of exasperation at not having been handed the things he wants. He is so certain that it is right and correct for him to have the information he needs that he never stops to question the unethical, hurtful things he does to get it.

I also really enjoyed the character of the countess. Here you have a woman who has supposedly been enmeshed in a devil's bargain for decades. At times she seems lost in time and place, greeting people only to realize that she actually knew their grandfather or great aunt. She is also deeply paranoid, disliking it if anyone comes up behind her. But is she actually the woman from the legend, or is she merely an elderly woman with a normal fear of death and the unknown?

Outside of the story itself, the visuals in this film are great. I couldn't find a still of it, but there's a moment when Herman approaches Lizaveta and though she's looking in a mirror, it's his face that fills the glass. The movie utilizes angles and close-ups to put us into the point of view of the different characters. I especially liked a scene--imagined from the book about people who lost their souls--in which the forfeited souls are portrayed as tiny figures under bell jars. It's very reminiscent of a similar scene from Bride of Frankenstein.

The curse/bargain itself is kept vague, and I think that this was a great choice. It keeps the film from getting bogged down in a question of how the "rules" work. It also means that we do not know exactly the price that the countess has paid for her gift at cards. When Herman tells her that he would gladly assume the price of her gift, he does not even know what he is agreeing to.

The film is mostly taken up with Herman's scheming. His plans finally start to gel in the last act, and the movie ends with a very memorable finale. While the overall arc of the film might be predictable, it's all tied up (sort of . . . ) in a very satisfying way.

Good stuff!

Now this I agree with.

It's like, hey ladies,

Facts.

Complaining about the age of the high school students and/or the "messages" of Grease is like complaining about the wires in Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas. I can see them just like you can, but where you see a weakness, I see a homespun charm.

I guess Grease works for me in a similar way. Sure, there are flaws. But I'm willing to overlook them for the fun parts and nostalgia.

It's a shame that you didn't like Grease more. I'll agree that it has some issues with the story, and especially the ages of the actors, but overall it's a lot of fun, it has some great songs, and it's a musical that I've seen many, many times. I think the good stuff far outweighs the minor issues.

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Cabin in the Woods (2011)

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Men (2022)

By NEON - IMP Awards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71522525

Triangle of Sadness - (2022)

Been looking forward to this film from Ruben Östlund and it really didn't let me down - there's been some great new films coming out these days and I'm happy about that - but this is something special. After Force Majeure and The Square I thought there might have been a let-down, but Triangle of Sadness is one of the best films I've ever seen about the rich - a perfect allegory for what's going on these days, and the insane attitudes of those who are wealthy. It has some truly knockout scenes, and some of the most inanely awful characters you're ever likely to come across. Around two-thirds take place on a yacht where the crew and servants have been instructed to say yes to absolutely anything the guests ask of them - which leads to all kind of lunacy. This film really deserved it's Palme d'Or, and is a film that illustrates our time in a really meaningful way. I don't like to give much away for those who are going to see the film - especially when it's this good. Highly recommended.

9/10

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@Wooley

If you want your reviews tagged for the system, please drop a popcorn rating into the posts.

Thanks!

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Shit, I forgot!

The ages of the actors things was a more minor complaint.

Really I felt like the story was thin and so were the characters. There were a lot of parts that I could tell were supposed to be a lot of fun (like the long montage of Danny doing the different PE events) that just didn't engage me.

It didn't work its magic on me, and so all those little nitpicks just started rearing their heads.

This was beautifully filmed. A gorgeous black and white movie. I was really looking for something from the 40's that I hadn't seen and was good. Thanks for the recommendation, Takoma.

I enjoyed this movie. It was exactly the kind of 70's cheese I was looking for. The ending was wild. I don't know if Madeline is saving Angela or she is just another dangerous person.