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The Cruel Sea 1953 Charles Frend

2h 6min | Drama | War
Writers: Nicholas Monsarrat, Eric Ambler
Cast: Jack Hawkins, Donald Sinden, John Stratto, Virginia McKenna

A classic World War II naval 'battle of the Atlantic' film, based on the best selling novel by former naval officer Nicholas Monsarrat. The Cruel Sea portrays a long period of battle between the Royal Navy and German U-Boats and the effects it had on personal life during this period.

The film features some impressive dramatic storytelling, but it's the British realism that sets this film apart from the many films about this particular chapter of WWII. With masterful performances by Jack Hawkins and Donald Sinden bringing character and a personal touch to the story.

One of the best WWII naval battle films I've seen so far. Solid on all fronts, it's on the BFI's Top 100 British Films list and made two of my own lists; top War films and top 1950’s films. Recommended for viewers who enjoyed films like Das Boat and Master and Commander.




Sword Of Sherwood Forest (Terence Fisher, 1960)

Probably should also be listed as a comedy purely for the fight choreography





Whispers, 1990

This movie sits at a pretty dismal 4.4/10 IMDb rating, but I thought it was decent!

A writer named Hilary is attacked on night in her home by a man named Bruno. He seems intent on raping and killing her, but she is able to wound him and he flees. There are two detectives assigned to her case, one of whom believes her, but the other thinks she is making up the attack for attention or because she wants to ruin the guy's life. Hilary recognizes her attacker as a man she interviewed once many states away, but when the sheriff in his hometown gives him an alibi, the police leave. Soon after, Hilary is attacked in her home again, this time managing to seriously injure him and she later identifies his body in the morgue. So it's over, right? Wrong.

This movie is not great, but it did manage to surprise me a few times. It's one of those movies where you're not sure if what's happening is meant to be real, or if there might be supernatural elements at play.

Also, I have to give it credit for some genuinely interesting and unsettling imagery at points. The actor who plays Bruno manages to pull off a pretty disturbing creepy/sexual vibe, and for me it never crossed over into something cheesy. There was also some really solid foreshadowing that I appreciated once certain things were revealed.

On the down side, the film is a bit disjoint feeling at times, a remnant of being adapted from a novel. It's also a bit cavalier about some heavy topics (like incest, child sexual assault, child abuse, etc), and it's kind of alienating. The film is not framed as a comedy by any means, so the moments of "comedy" stood out in a bad way.

I was also a bit baffled to see that in a scene that was supposed to involve gross, scary bugs, the production used Bess Beetles. If you've never met a Bess beetle, they are these super gentle forest beetles that feed on decomposing wood. Seeing them being flicked around and treated like they were gross was kind of sad. Like a movie where someone is supposed to fight off a scary sea monster and instead they show someone punching a dolphin.

Nothing special, but an entertaining 90 minutes.




Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

In My Room (Mati Diop, 2020)
6/10
Killer Fish (Antonio Margheriti, 1979)
4/10
Big Time (Chris Blum, 1988)
6.5 /10
Mulan (Barry Cook & Tony Bancroft 1998)
+ 7.5/10

Mushu (Eddie Murphy) can be intimidating if you don't see him up close.
In the Empty City (Maria João Ganga, 2004)
6/10
Seven Years in May (Affonso Uchoa, 2019)
.6.5/10
Fade to Black (Patrick Paulson & Michael John Warren, 2004)
6/10
Other Music (Puloma Basu & Rob Hatch-Miller, 2009)
7/10

Hip, happening record store in Manhattan shutters its doors.
Measure for Measure (Paul Ireland, 2019)
6/10
Le navire Night (Marguerite Duras, 1979)
5/10
The Honeymoon Phase (Phillip G. Carroll Jr., 2019)
6/10
El camino (Ana Mariscal, 1963)
6.5/10

Coming-of age comedy/drama set in Spain is a sort of cross between La Strada and The 400 Blows.
The 2nd (Brian Skiba, 2020)
5/10
In the Life of Music (Sok Visal, 2018)
+ 6/10
Cuties (Maïmouna Doucouré, 2020)
5/10
My Octopus Teacher (Pippa Ehrlich & James Reed, 2020)
7/10

Intense, unimaginable and beautiful relationship in the South African kelp forest between filmmaker Craig Foster and a friendly, intelligent octopus.
The Witness (James D. Solomon, 2015)
+ 6.5/10
Atlantic Rim AKA From the Sea (Jared Cohn, 2016)
4/10
In My Room (Ulrich Köhler, 2018)
- 6.5/10
Saving Brinton (Tommy Haines & Andrew Sherburne, 2017)
7/10

Beautiful film (again) about the joys of teaching and living life to the fullest. Here Michael Zahs preparss to project a long-lost Georges Méliès film on his Iowa barn.
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matt72582's Avatar
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A Man Escaped 1956
The best Bresson I've seen yet. The best escape movie I've seen yet.






One of my favorite Bresson (w/ Pickpocket)... Have you seen "Le Trou"? I can't decide which one I like more.. Both amazing movies.



One of my favorite Bresson (w/ Pickpocket)... Have you seen "Le Trou"? I can't decide which one I like more.. Both amazing movies.
Haven't seen it but it does look fantastic, I've stuck it on my watchlist.



the samoan lawyer's Avatar
Unregistered User
Huge spoilers ahead:

WARNING: "Spoilers for Im thinking of Ending it...." spoilers below
If you listen very closely, a vehicle engine starts up (and shakes some snow off the branch of the tree) and then we hear it drive away. It's very subtle. But I just wonder if this is Kauffman offering us a tiny bit of hope, or a hint that a last minute change of heart was had by the main protagonist. It's there for a reason. I guess only Kauffman knows for sure, it might just be to mess with our heads of course.

You could be right. I like it being left open like that.
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Definitely a marmite movie.
LOL. Never heard this expression before.
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If one can get through the first 10 minutes (glacially slow), this is an excellent movie. Very impressive that Affleck produced, wrote, directed & took the lead part in this movie.

A very simple dystopian storyline, but one that I’ve never come across before.

The young girl who played his child is a really good actor.

One or two implausibilities in the story, but I really enjoyed the movie.



The Last Dragon (Michael Schultz, 1985)
+ (*yes the '+' is a shallow one)
Would never set the world ablaze but is oddly entertaining in its own way at times



Definitely a marmite movie. I quite enjoyed it, because it at least tried to be a bit novel. I think I read that the Director's son tried to make a sequel.
I also liked it, but it feels like something that would work better as a stage play.

I love that it was able to keep a straight face, especially during the
WARNING: spoilers below
"Oh, yeah, I was Jesus."
reveal.



Gattaca (1997)

Very atmospheric film. Good human side and also dark humour. Check me out loving supposed Sci-fi




Ava (2020)

Horribly generic spy/assassin film. The script and characters are boring, the action is poorly done, the acting ranges from terrible (Common, Davis) to average (Chastain) and the whole feels like a crappy tv production. And please, don't cast Chastain in action roles again - she's a decent actor but totally unconvincing in her fight scenes. Rubbish.
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