Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Tools    







Tonight, it’s out to a real movie and it’s Old, the latest from M. Night Shyamalan. A family goes on a tropical vacation, and gets away from the resort scene by taking a side trip to a remote beach. They’re dropped off there. There’s nothing there but sand, rocks and water. That would kill it for me right there since I like busy beach resorts, junk food, boardwalks and tacky seaside restaurants. You will NOT see me on this island. Sadly, this family should have stayed on the boardwalk too, because, once you’re there, you start to age at a horrendous rate, something like a year per hour. Even with sunblock you will be prune-faced by the end of the day.

In addition, something doesn’t want you to leave and the boat that was to pick you up later in the day doesn’t show. The kids grow up and Mom and Dad are getting old. Others have been there before, leaving behind their stuff. If that isn’t bad enough, they are being watched from a distance by persons unknown.

As we know, M Night sometimes likes trick endings. This is one of them. Look it up on Wikipedia if you really want to know before you go, because it's kind of a stretch. Everything about the movie is meticulously crafted, the acting is excellent, as is the setting and cinematography, but I could not escape the feeling that, as well done as it is, the plot line was more like a Twilight Zone episode, not a full length movie. I will probably continue to see Night’s movies as long as he makes them, but I have to temper my expectations. It’s good, worth a ticket but I was hoping for a more transcendent conclusion to all that build-up.






Suspicion - This is a perfectly solid Alfred Hitchcock entry up until the closing minutes. From what I've read RKO studios
WARNING: spoilers below
forced the Hollywood happy ending on the director and basically ended up negating the entirety of the film. I'm not sure of their exact motivation but up until that point
Cary Grant's Johnnie Aysgarth is an unsympathetic creep and a borderline sociopath IMO. An inveterate liar and conman who thinks nothing of embezzling or stealing outright to bankroll a lifestyle that he has neither earned nor deserves. Into this life comes shy and reserved Lina McLaidlaw (Joan Fontaine in an Oscar winning performance). She is immediately smitten with the brash and handsome Johnnie and it isn't long before they're married. It doesn't take much longer for her to realize that her new husband is a ne'er do well, financing his extravagant spending by borrowing heavily from friends and acquaintances. Lina however, in a destructive cycle of denial, forgives his character flaws whenever he shows signs of changing or trots out another convenient lie. The arrival of Johnnie's old friend Beaky Thwaite (Nigel Bruce) serves to reveal more of Johnnie's darker side. Hitchcock does his usual masterful job of not only keeping the story moving but of keeping the audience in the dark and on their heels. We can see the guy is no good but to what degree? Is he capable of murder? The red herrings and supposedly plausible explanations don't do enough to convince the audience otherwise nor were they apparently meant to. And that's why
WARNING: spoilers below
the incongruous 180 degree ending came off as so jarring. There have been suggestions that the ending is yet another of Hitchcock's red herrings and that Johnnie will simply kill Lina at another time but the final shot of the couple driving away and back to their home is pretty much straightforward and includes no foreshadowing. So I'm more apt to buy into the idea of studio interference than I am any calculated head games.






Suspicion - This is a perfectly solid Alfred Hitchcock entry up until the closing minutes. From what I've read RKO studios
WARNING: spoilers below
forced the Hollywood happy ending on the director and basically ended up negating the entirety of the film. I'm not sure of their exact motivation but up until that point
Cary Grant's Johnnie Aysgarth is an unsympathetic creep and a borderline sociopath IMO. An inveterate liar and conman who thinks nothing of embezzling or stealing outright to bankroll a lifestyle that he has neither earned nor deserves. Into this life comes shy and reserved Lina McLaidlaw (Joan Fontaine in an Oscar winning performance). She is immediately smitten with the brash and handsome Johnnie and it isn't long before they're married. It doesn't take much longer for her to realize that her new husband is a ne'er do well, financing his extravagant spending by borrowing heavily from friends and acquaintances. Lina however, in a destructive cycle of denial, forgives his character flaws whenever he shows signs of changing or trots out another convenient lie. The arrival of Johnnie's old friend Beaky Thwaite (Nigel Bruce) serves to reveal more of Johnnie's darker side. Hitchcock does his usual masterful job of not only keeping the story moving but of keeping the audience in the dark and on their heels. We can see the guy is no good but to what degree? Is he capable of murder? The red herrings and supposedly plausible explanations don't do enough to convince the audience otherwise nor were they apparently meant to. And that's why
WARNING: spoilers below
the incongruous 180 degree ending came off as so jarring. There have been suggestions that the ending is yet another of Hitchcock's red herrings and that Johnnie will simply kill Lina at another time but the final shot of the couple driving away and back to their home is pretty much straightforward and includes no foreshadowing. So I'm more apt to buy into the idea of studio interference than I am any calculated head games.

This is more or less my take on it, although I think I shaved that 0.5 off my rating. It is indeed a very solid film until that moment. This is what I wrote back in 2010.

WARNING: spoilers below

Alfred Hitchcock succeeded in drawing me into the main character's (Lina, played marvelously by Joan Fontaine) suspicions. [spoilers] As the plot progresses, I was sure something was up with her irresponsible husband Johnny (Cary Grant). But when the ending came, I even felt cheated. I really wanted to punch Johnny in the face through most of the film; and Lina too, for always tolerating him. All in all, an absorbing film, but the ending left me kinda "meh". I really was expecting more out of everything. Still, the performances from Fontaine and Grant were pretty darn good.


I haven't seen it since, though.
__________________
Check out my podcast: The Movie Loot!



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

The Boss Baby: Family Business (Tom McGrath, 2021)
6/10
Ainbo (Richard Claus & Jose Zelada, 2021)
+ 5/10
Finding You (Brian Baugh, 2021)
6/10
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (Will Gluck, 2021)
6/10

Peter Rabbit and the gang understand us better than we do.
Claudette's Star (Ayo Akingbade, 2019)
5/10
Tig Notaro: Drawn (Greg Franklin, 2021)
6.5/10
The Hawk (David Hayman, 1993)
+ 5/10
The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (Patrick Hughes, 2021)
6/10 116m version

The Hitman's Wife (Salma Hayek) has one of her quieter moments.
Jolt (Tanya Wexler, 2021)
5.5/10
Jungle Run (Noah Luke, 2021)
4/10
Sweat (Magnus von Horn, 2020)
6/10
Stuntman (Kurt Mattila, 2018)
6.5/10

Stuntman Eddie Braun attempts to fly a rocket across the Snake River, like his inspiration, Evel Knievel, attempted.
Blood Red Sky (Peter Thorwarth, 2021)
6/10
Milkwater (Morgan Ingari, 2020)
5.5/10
Here Today (Billy Crystal, 2021)
6/10
Zola (Janicza Bravo, 2020)
6/10

Stefani (Riley Keough) and Zola (Taylour Paige) have an eventful, sex-filled trip to Florida, even if much of it seems like a cartoon.
Cause for Alarm! (Tay Garnett, 1951)
5/10
Dreambuilders (Kim Hagen Jensen & Tonni Zinck, 2020)
6/10
Renegade Girl (William Berke, 1946)
5/10
Mama Weed (Jean-Paul Salomé, 2020)
6/10

Isabelle Huppert is a translator working for the police who finds a way to make some big bucks from a drug case she's involved with..
__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page



This is more or less my take on it, although I think I shaved that 0.5 off my rating. It is indeed a very solid film until that moment. This is what I wrote back in 2010.

WARNING: spoilers below

Alfred Hitchcock succeeded in drawing me into the main character's (Lina, played marvelously by Joan Fontaine) suspicions. [spoilers] As the plot progresses, I was sure something was up with her irresponsible husband Johnny (Cary Grant). But when the ending came, I even felt cheated. I really wanted to punch Johnny in the face through most of the film; and Lina too, for always tolerating him. All in all, an absorbing film, but the ending left me kinda "meh". I really was expecting more out of everything. Still, the performances from Fontaine and Grant were pretty darn good.


I haven't seen it since, though.
I don't think a rewatch should radically alter your take or your rating. I may have been a bit generous with mine but Hitchcock does do a fine job of it.
WARNING: spoilers below
And as far as I know the ending was out of his hands. But I have read that he had toyed with different ways of wrapping it up. Johnnie commits suicide or he enlists in the Air Corps and flies away heroically etc. RKO was however a looming presence throughout the films production and were obsessed with keeping Grant's image and marketability pristine.



Barb and Star go to Vista Del Mar

I didn’t love it but it was enjoyable and diverting enough. What I liked most about it was that the level of general silliness. I read someone say something along the lines that the flick is essentially a muppet movie without muppets. It’s apt.




The Foreigner (2017)

This was pretty good, plotting was strong and steady and both leads kept the momentum going well. Jackie Chan equips himself well as the taciturn man on a cause. Brosnan (whom I never rated) seems to be ageing well into more substantial roles.




The Foreigner (2017)

This was pretty good, plotting was strong and steady and both leads kept the momentum going well. Jackie Chan equips himself well as the taciturn man on a cause. Brosnan (whom I never rated) seems to be ageing well into more substantial roles.

I feel like this is the rare western Jackie Chan movie that actually uses his talents without having him do a watered down version of his Hong Kong stuff.



Blackboard Jungle 8/10
A great old school drama staring Glenn Ford and a young Sidney Poitier. This film also helped to propel the rock and roll revolution by including the classic rock song Rock Around the Clock.

Nobody 7/10
An enjoyable revenge flick starring Bob Odenkirk and the legendary Christopher Lloyd. A fun movie



Robin Hood (2010)

I wanted to like this, it's awful. With the actors on show, (von Sydow, Crowe, Blanchett) it's bereft. The dialogue is stilted and pretty embarrassing. The battle scenes are swift but considering this is Ridley Scott, utterly lightweight. A chore of a film. Soundtrack is also too intrusive.
Can't be bothered to do popcorns.
1 out of 5.



Suspicion ......And that's why the ... ending came off as so jarring. There have been suggestions that the ending is yet another of Hitchcock's red herrings and that Johnnie will simply ... So I'm more apt to buy into the idea of studio interference than I am any calculated head games.
Hitchcock said in the interview by Francois Truffaut that the ending had to be changed because in 1941 the public simply would not have accepted Cary Grant as a truly bad guy. Saying that the studio changed the ending was a ruse. But I agree that because of the drawing-back-from-the-precipice ending, so to speak, the film was somewhat weakened, and a little perplexing.

BTW it was enjoyable seeing Nigel Bruce in a slightly different role from what he famously played in all those Sherlock Holmes films with Basil Rathbone.



Guilty Parents (1934) on blu ray. Directed by Jack Townley and starring Jean Lacy, John St. Polis, and Robert Frazer. This obscure exploitation film is about a young woman arrested for murder and her lawyer's defense is that her mother didn't teach about her sex, causing her to turn to a life of crime and prostitution. It's not a great film and should have been sleazier/trashier and funnier. The acting is half way decent and there are some amusing moments. It's short and fairly fast paced. Not a terrible film, but I have seen better exploitation films.



Hitchcock said in the interview by Francois Truffaut that the ending had to be changed because in 1941 the public simply would not have accepted Cary Grant as a truly bad guy. Saying that the studio changed the ending was a ruse. But I agree that because of the drawing-back-from-the-precipice ending, so to speak, the film was somewhat weakened, and a little perplexing.

BTW it was enjoyable seeing Nigel Bruce in a slightly different role from what he famously played in all those Sherlock Holmes films with Basil Rathbone.
I can see that. You don't mess with the ticket buying public's expectations. And I really liked Bruce in this as well. The story needed a respite from all the drama and TBH it needed a truly sympathetic character.



I can see that. You don't mess with the ticket buying public's expectations. And I really liked Bruce in this as well. The story needed a respite from all the drama and TBH it needed a truly sympathetic character.
I thought that the ending to Suspicion was so bad. SO BAD. It's like an original bad twist ending.

I also thought that the ending really cemented Fontaine's character as the epitome of a doormat.



I’ll echo Suspicion being lackluster as it’s my least favorite Hitchcock. I still find things to like about it but it amounts to very little.