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I didn't like it much the first time, but after seeing it multiple times on cable, it's grown on me, and I'd go out on a limb and say I now love it as much as Batman '89.
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I didn't like it much the first time, but after seeing it multiple times on cable, it's grown on me, and I'd go out on a limb and say I now love it as much as Batman '89.
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Matrimonio all'Italiana (Marriage Italian Style), Vittorio De Sica.
Good movie which becomes a very good movie thanks to Mastroianni and Sophia Loren. He is his usual handsome self, but had an "easy" role, compared to Loren's one. She starts off a little awkward as a 16 years old (she was 30 at the time of filming after all!), but the way she grows along with her character is stunning. It would have been a good idea, in my opinion, if the movie had cut ten or fifteen minutes from the last act and devoted them to show us more about Filumena's transition from her young, naive self, to a grown up woman with a frustrating life.
I am not quite sure I liked the ending (but the scene where the whole family has pictures taken of them is brilliant), but at that point I was rooting too much for Filumena to hope for anything different to happen.
7.5/10
Fun unrelated fact: last year at the ceremony of the italian equivalent of the Academy Awards, Sophia Loren was the guest of honor. The host of the night, a subpar comedian, welcomed her saying something on the lines of "even after all these years, you are still a nice piece of ass".
Sophia Loren wasn't pleased.
Good movie which becomes a very good movie thanks to Mastroianni and Sophia Loren. He is his usual handsome self, but had an "easy" role, compared to Loren's one. She starts off a little awkward as a 16 years old (she was 30 at the time of filming after all!), but the way she grows along with her character is stunning. It would have been a good idea, in my opinion, if the movie had cut ten or fifteen minutes from the last act and devoted them to show us more about Filumena's transition from her young, naive self, to a grown up woman with a frustrating life.
I am not quite sure I liked the ending (but the scene where the whole family has pictures taken of them is brilliant), but at that point I was rooting too much for Filumena to hope for anything different to happen.
7.5/10
Fun unrelated fact: last year at the ceremony of the italian equivalent of the Academy Awards, Sophia Loren was the guest of honor. The host of the night, a subpar comedian, welcomed her saying something on the lines of "even after all these years, you are still a nice piece of ass".
Sophia Loren wasn't pleased.
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Cinema Italiano.
Cinema Italiano.
Dark of the Sun (1968)
Rough-and-tumble action adventure starring Rod Taylor, Jim Brown, and Yvette Mimieux. Taylor and Brown are mercenaries in the African Congo who accept a job to travel by train through rough territory to pick up stranded civilians. The man who hires them also wants them to pick up $50 million dollars of uncut diamonds kept in a safe in the town where the civilians are waiting. There is great political unrest among the guerillas and they are a looming threat to the civilians, so Taylor must hire muscle that he hates in the form of a "former" Nazi commander who is of course a vile scumbag. We learn this quickly when the Nazi murders two African children because "they would have given them up" to the bad guys. Taylor is not pleased to say the least.
In due time, practically everyone knows about the diamonds, so it's a battle against time, the guerillas and the hired Nazi. Nothing goes as planned and there are lots of deaths. It's really very good. Taylor is great as usual, as is Brown. Mimieux is mainly eye candy, and André Morell is very good in a small role as one of the civilians who knows more about the diamonds that he's telling. Kenneth More is super as a drunken doctor along for the ride. Peter Carsten is good as the Nazi Henlein, but it seems obvious that he's been dubbed which detracts from the effect of his character a little, but only a bit. In the end, it's a fine adventure for actions fans.
Wonder Boys (2000)
Excellent comedy-drama starring Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand, Robert Downey Jr., Katie Holmes, Rip Torn, Jane Adams, and Richard Thomas. Curtis Hanson directs with skill all of the actors, with everybody getting their moment in the sun. Douglas plays a novelist/teacher at a Pennsylvania college who is having an affair with McDormand who happens to be the chancellor of the college. She's also pregnant by him. Her husband, played by Thomas, is the head of the English department and therefore Douglas' boss, which certainly is a problem for Douglas. He's having somewhat of a mid-life crisis, having turned out one successful novel years before and struggling with the new one he's working on. His publisher, played by Downey Jr. is coming to town to pressure him, He has a brilliant student in Maguire, who is very morose and whom Douglas takes under his wing to try to bring him out of his funk. Douglas and Maguire play off each other greatly and add Downey to the mix and it shouldn't miss and it doesn't. Holmes is a student of Douglas who has a crush on him, Torn is a successful novelist in town for "Book Fest" as a guest speaker whom Douglas finds a bore, Adams has a nice role as a waitress at a local bar, and Thomas is largely wasted as McDormand's husband who, of course has no clue about his wife's infidelity. There is great dialogue in the movie, excellent acting, a few unexpected twists, and an all-around good time to be had.
Zombie (1979)
Also known as Zombi 2 and Zombie Flesh Eaters. Whatever you want to call it, this is a fun zombie flick that entertained the heck out of me. I remember going to the drive-in when this was released but being on the other side of the twin screen drive-in. I kept turning around because I could hear screams coming from the cars on the other side. I looked just in time to see a woman dragged into a wooden splinter which punctures her eyeball. Ooh, I had to see this! Well, last night was the first time I've seen it all the way through. The eyeball scene is just one of several famous scenes from this movie, another one of which is an underwater zombie attacking a shark. Greatness!
Oh yes, the plot. A woman and a reporter hire a boat to go to an island in the Antilles, where the woman's father has gone and not returned. The boat captain takes his girlfriend along for the ride and the four soon arrive, meet the island's doctor, played by Richard Johnson. It's not long before the dead start to make their return and there is gore galore. Sure, with a meager budget, there are mistakes. For example, when a church is overrun with zombies, the heroes throw Molotov cocktails at the ghouls and fire explodes, but every time they throw another, the previous fire is not there. But these little things can be easily forgiven because of the great effect of the zombies just being everywhere and coming out of nowhere to bite a person you may have grown close to. I'm glad I finally saw this movie. I watched it on my computer wearing headphones. It was in HD and the audio was super: Every bite and blood gush were particularly effective. Great fun!
Rough-and-tumble action adventure starring Rod Taylor, Jim Brown, and Yvette Mimieux. Taylor and Brown are mercenaries in the African Congo who accept a job to travel by train through rough territory to pick up stranded civilians. The man who hires them also wants them to pick up $50 million dollars of uncut diamonds kept in a safe in the town where the civilians are waiting. There is great political unrest among the guerillas and they are a looming threat to the civilians, so Taylor must hire muscle that he hates in the form of a "former" Nazi commander who is of course a vile scumbag. We learn this quickly when the Nazi murders two African children because "they would have given them up" to the bad guys. Taylor is not pleased to say the least.
In due time, practically everyone knows about the diamonds, so it's a battle against time, the guerillas and the hired Nazi. Nothing goes as planned and there are lots of deaths. It's really very good. Taylor is great as usual, as is Brown. Mimieux is mainly eye candy, and André Morell is very good in a small role as one of the civilians who knows more about the diamonds that he's telling. Kenneth More is super as a drunken doctor along for the ride. Peter Carsten is good as the Nazi Henlein, but it seems obvious that he's been dubbed which detracts from the effect of his character a little, but only a bit. In the end, it's a fine adventure for actions fans.
Wonder Boys (2000)
Excellent comedy-drama starring Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand, Robert Downey Jr., Katie Holmes, Rip Torn, Jane Adams, and Richard Thomas. Curtis Hanson directs with skill all of the actors, with everybody getting their moment in the sun. Douglas plays a novelist/teacher at a Pennsylvania college who is having an affair with McDormand who happens to be the chancellor of the college. She's also pregnant by him. Her husband, played by Thomas, is the head of the English department and therefore Douglas' boss, which certainly is a problem for Douglas. He's having somewhat of a mid-life crisis, having turned out one successful novel years before and struggling with the new one he's working on. His publisher, played by Downey Jr. is coming to town to pressure him, He has a brilliant student in Maguire, who is very morose and whom Douglas takes under his wing to try to bring him out of his funk. Douglas and Maguire play off each other greatly and add Downey to the mix and it shouldn't miss and it doesn't. Holmes is a student of Douglas who has a crush on him, Torn is a successful novelist in town for "Book Fest" as a guest speaker whom Douglas finds a bore, Adams has a nice role as a waitress at a local bar, and Thomas is largely wasted as McDormand's husband who, of course has no clue about his wife's infidelity. There is great dialogue in the movie, excellent acting, a few unexpected twists, and an all-around good time to be had.
Zombie (1979)
Also known as Zombi 2 and Zombie Flesh Eaters. Whatever you want to call it, this is a fun zombie flick that entertained the heck out of me. I remember going to the drive-in when this was released but being on the other side of the twin screen drive-in. I kept turning around because I could hear screams coming from the cars on the other side. I looked just in time to see a woman dragged into a wooden splinter which punctures her eyeball. Ooh, I had to see this! Well, last night was the first time I've seen it all the way through. The eyeball scene is just one of several famous scenes from this movie, another one of which is an underwater zombie attacking a shark. Greatness!
Oh yes, the plot. A woman and a reporter hire a boat to go to an island in the Antilles, where the woman's father has gone and not returned. The boat captain takes his girlfriend along for the ride and the four soon arrive, meet the island's doctor, played by Richard Johnson. It's not long before the dead start to make their return and there is gore galore. Sure, with a meager budget, there are mistakes. For example, when a church is overrun with zombies, the heroes throw Molotov cocktails at the ghouls and fire explodes, but every time they throw another, the previous fire is not there. But these little things can be easily forgiven because of the great effect of the zombies just being everywhere and coming out of nowhere to bite a person you may have grown close to. I'm glad I finally saw this movie. I watched it on my computer wearing headphones. It was in HD and the audio was super: Every bite and blood gush were particularly effective. Great fun!
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"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."
"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."
Last edited by dadgumblah; 09-16-15 at 05:27 AM.
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The Kids are Alright (Jeff Stein, 1979)
Nothing much to criticize here. Just a great documentary about one of my favorite bands of all time, luckily it had a lot of good Keith Moon action in it, but at the same time focused on other rarely discussed controversies about the band. Will be high on my docs list.
Nothing much to criticize here. Just a great documentary about one of my favorite bands of all time, luckily it had a lot of good Keith Moon action in it, but at the same time focused on other rarely discussed controversies about the band. Will be high on my docs list.
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I didn't like it much the first time, but after seeing it multiple times on cable, it's grown on me, and I'd go out on a limb and say I now love it as much as Batman '89.
The Drop (2014)
Bob is a bartender at a seedy Brooklyn watering hole that's run by his cousin Marv, who used to own it until Chechen mobsters took it over years earlier. The bar is one of many, that on any given night, could be a drop bar where a whole lot of money can be dropped off until pick up time. Of course, where there's dirty money, there's problems. Early in the movie while walking home from work, Bob finds a beaten baby pitbull in a garbage can where Nadia lives. Bob starts a relationship with the dog and Nadia, but that's complicated due to the presence of Eric, the shady and dangerous ex of Nadia, and the dog's former owner.
Tom Hardy is one of my favorite actors working today, and he's fantastic as the bartender. His character is a fascinating one; you're not quite sure what his past is, and he's so reserved that you're never really sure how bright he is. James Gandolfini in his last performance is also great as cousin Marv, a guy who used to be someone until new muscle took over. Noomi Rapace is good as Nadia and Matthias Schoenaerts is a great find as her ex. The screenplay was written by Dennis Lahane of Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone fame. The director is Michael R Roskam.
This movie expertly and slowly builds tension right from the beginning. You're never quite sure where it's going, and it just uses good old fashioned storytelling and acting to get the job done. Unlike most major releases, there's no special effects, fancy editing, or an attention grabbing soundtrack. It's a bleak film in which the characters lead dead-end lives, and it captures the essence of the setting perfectly. The Drop was a big surprise for me.
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The Drop was a big surprise for me.
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Catwoman
Not as awful as I've heard. Yes it was quite cheesy at times but it also had a couple of great cinematography shots and some interesting vfx.
Not as awful as I've heard. Yes it was quite cheesy at times but it also had a couple of great cinematography shots and some interesting vfx.
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A mixture of dark comedy and love story made all the more effective by the amazing performances of Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. A true classic.
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The Naked Spur (1953)
From the top 100 Westerns list, but a lot of these 50's Westerns that I've seen lately seem like a dime a dozen. This was not an exception, but it's got a good pace, good cast, it looks good, and it has a nice finale. For me, it was at least above average.
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Spring Breakers, Harmony Korine.
Melies, Griffith, Chaplin, Godard, Fellini, Mallick. All moved by the one, great, inevitable question any film director faces. Is abundancy of exposed female skin enough to make a good movie?
The answer is no. It doesn't hurt, but the answer is still no.
BUT.
Is abundancy of exposed female skin AND a beyond perfect use of a Britney Spears song enough to make a good movie?
The answer is still no, but it really helps.
It's Korine, after all, of course this movie is all over the place. This guy is super interesting and has some amazing ideas. The problem is that his amazing ideas are like chocolate chips on a cookie made of average or plain bad ideas.
Again, the scene with Britney Spears's song is easily the best piece of filmography of the last 30 years or so (seriously, you try and top gangster James Franco playing that song on a white piano surrounded by half naked girls wearing pink ski masks with a unicorn logo and waving shotghuns. You can't, can you?). On the other hand, the whole Faith part? Ugh. I get that Korine wanted to show sin and temptation in the form of sexy girls and alcohol, but he fails miserably.
The infamous gun BJ scene is ridicolous, I think in a good way but I am not sure yet, and James Franco is, as always, a person I would want as my best buddy.
Way too many slow motion party scenes.
Way too many parts that are dragged for too long.
But I will always support Korine, and I bet you guys 10 bucks that one day he will come out with a masterpiece.
6.5/10
Melies, Griffith, Chaplin, Godard, Fellini, Mallick. All moved by the one, great, inevitable question any film director faces. Is abundancy of exposed female skin enough to make a good movie?
The answer is no. It doesn't hurt, but the answer is still no.
BUT.
Is abundancy of exposed female skin AND a beyond perfect use of a Britney Spears song enough to make a good movie?
The answer is still no, but it really helps.
It's Korine, after all, of course this movie is all over the place. This guy is super interesting and has some amazing ideas. The problem is that his amazing ideas are like chocolate chips on a cookie made of average or plain bad ideas.
Again, the scene with Britney Spears's song is easily the best piece of filmography of the last 30 years or so (seriously, you try and top gangster James Franco playing that song on a white piano surrounded by half naked girls wearing pink ski masks with a unicorn logo and waving shotghuns. You can't, can you?). On the other hand, the whole Faith part? Ugh. I get that Korine wanted to show sin and temptation in the form of sexy girls and alcohol, but he fails miserably.
The infamous gun BJ scene is ridicolous, I think in a good way but I am not sure yet, and James Franco is, as always, a person I would want as my best buddy.
Way too many slow motion party scenes.
Way too many parts that are dragged for too long.
But I will always support Korine, and I bet you guys 10 bucks that one day he will come out with a masterpiece.
6.5/10
Again, the scene with Britney Spears's song is easily the best piece of filmography of the last 30 years or so
Whaaaat?
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"Anything less than immortality is a complete waste of time."
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