Thief's Monthly Movie Loot - 2021 Edition

Surprisingly, I already finished my challenge. I think this is the first time I finished more than one day ahead. However, I'm gonna try to sneak a couple extra watches/freebies before closing the month. I also need to post two reviews, but it's a tentative wrap so far.

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That line is from an aria called "La mamma morta", from the opera Andrea Chénier, where the lead character, a woman, tells of how during the French Revolution, a mob killed her mother and set fire to their house, leaving her alone. Attorney Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) recalls it with particular solemnity, which turns into outright pain as the aria goes on. You see, Andrew finds himself in a similar situation. The place where he was born, where he has lived, is figuratively "burning" with intolerance to the point where he feels abandoned, alone.

Philadelphia follows the events that led Andrew to this state, as he was inexplicably fired by his law firm. To aid him, he recruits fellow attorney Joe Miller (Denzel Washington) to help him prove that the dismissal was not only because of his AIDS diagnosis, but simply because he's gay.

This is probably the third or fourth time I see this film. I read a review from the late 2000s where I was a bit more enthusiastic, but make no mistake: this is still a very powerful film with two excellent performances in the lead. Washington is his usual cool, laid-back self, but excels when the moment calls for him to show fear, ignorance, and lack of understanding.

But oh my, how good is Tom Hanks in this. Yes, at the time it was a surprising turn from an actor that specialized in comedies and lighter fare. But seeing it now, already used to Hanks as a serious actor, I found his performance just as powerful as before, if not more. There are lots of moments of nuance and subtlety in his performance, but the way he peaks in the above quoted scene is magnificent.

The rest of the cast is just as solid, with Antonio Banderas delivering a performance that feels natural and charismatic in a relatively short screen time as Miguel, Andy's boyfriend. Jason Robards rounds out the main cast as Andy's boss. As usual, he's good, but his performance is a bit hampered by some clumsy dialogue and a script that antagonizes him too much. I feel that his character and his overall relationship with Andy could've been more dimensional, making the events of the trial more effective.

But those issues are not exclusive to Robards' character. The script has some moments where it tries to highlight the overall attitude towards homosexuals, but also to show Miller's own prejudices, inner struggles and subsequent growth. Unfortunately, they are clunkily executed in most cases, which ultimately hinders their effect.

It's surprising and sad that almost 30 years after its release, the situation for homosexuals and the whole LGBTQ+ community hasn't changed much. Let's hope that we can all extend our hands to them and help them feel not alone.

Grade:

Update

A film with the number 6 (Six, Sixth, etc.) in its title:
A film with a title that starts with the letters K or L:
L’Avventura
A film from the Criterion Collection whose number includes the #6 (i.e. 16, 506, 761):
A film from the 1960s:*
The Italian Job
A horror film:
Audition (finally!)
A film with the word "Summer" in its title:
A film about LGBTQ+ lifestyles (Pride Month):
Rent
A film with a repeated word in its title (Repeat Day, June 3):
A film from Sweden (National Day, June 6):
Show Me Love
A film with Peter Lorre (born June 26)

While I thought the

That's what Dr. Glen Thompson (Richard Crenna), a self-proclaimed polyglot, replies to Beck (Peter Weller) as they ponder about the possibilities and consequences of genetic alteration as they are being hunted by a deadly mutant creature. But the truth is that the quote is made up (at least the "confucius" part), a clear sign of the amount of effort that the screenwriters of this creature feature were willing to give to their script, which amounts to "perhilum" (very little, took me 20 seconds to Google that).

Leviathan follows an underwater mining crew led by Beck. When they stumble upon a Soviet shipwreck carrying the creature, they start being hunted and killed by it. The crew includes Dr. Thompson, wannabe astronaut Willie (Amanda Pays), and a bunch of other body bags for the creature to consume (most notably Daniel Stern and Ernie Hudson).

Like its "predecessor", DeepStar Six, which follows a similar story and similar beats, Leviathan is plagued by a certain laziness and lack of effort from its screenwriters. Which is surprising, cause one of them co-wrote Die Hard and the other one co-wrote Blade Runner. But here? they just don't seem to care and borrow a lot from The Thing and Alien, and a bit from Jaws and Aliens, usually to the point of eye-rolling obviousness.

The film does have some decent production values, and the performances are not awful, but there's a predictability and a sense of "been there, done that" to the whole story that pretty much hinders any thrill it might hold. That said, I would give it slight edge over DeepStar Six only because the initial conflicts between the crew, particularly Beck's insecurities as a leader, were more interesting... even if they do nothing with it afterwards.

Grade:

That's one of the movies that we showed during my brief run as a theater employee in '89. So I feel like I've seen it, even though it was in 1-minute increments as a I patrolled the auditorium.
My main memory of it is that 50% of the customers asked for tickets to "Levitation".

I didn't realize it was streaming for free. I'd like to see the entire thing beginning to end for once.

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Captain's Log
My Collection

Another horror film that I didn’t care much for. Released the same year as Deep Star Six, and The Abyss if memory serves.

Easy to guess which one is the better film. Although not as much as some might think.

I love The Abyss. It's probably my favorite film from 1989 and also my favorite Cameron film (the director's cut is the better version though).

EDIT: Do the Right Thing is actually my favorite film from 1989, so second favorite.

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IMDb
Letterboxd

Not much for me to say this go around.

Not seen any of Why Me?, Blue Miracle, The Prowler, Deepstar Six, Red Dot, Summer Camp, Leviathan or Ace In The Hole . Do hope to one day get around to the latter at some point though.

Unsure if I've ever seen Quicksand or Liar Liar, if I have they certainly left little impression which makes me err towards probably not (especially for the latter).

Both Brazil and Woman In The Dunes are both excellent though. I honestly don't remember too much about Philadelphia other than it was one of Hanks' better films.

I haven't seen The Abyss in probably 25 years, but I've been meaning to catch up with it. I remember liking it, though. Certainly more than these two duds.

Right after seeing Leviathan, which was directed by George P. Cosmatos (the man also responsible for films like Rambo, Cobra, and Tombstone), it seemed serendipitous that I got to follow it up with this film, which was written and directed by his son, Panos. Beyond the Black Rainbow was recommended by a good Internet friend and it couldn't be more different than what Panos' dad did.

Set in 1983, the film follows Dr. Barry Nyle (Michael Rogers), the director at a New Age research facility that's selling itself as a haven for those wanting to find true happiness. However, in reality what he's doing is experimenting on unsuspecting patients, primarily a young woman called Elena (Eva Allan), who seems to have some level of telekinetic powers.

Whereas something like Leviathan was completely devoid of originality, relying as a whole on ties in and references to other films, Beyond the Black Rainbow is a visually arresting showcase of uniquely weird circumstances. Not that they were meant to be compared, but coming from a father/son duo, I just found it interesting.

But anyway, Cosmatos makes an effort of conveying uneasiness, uncomfortability, dread, and mystery with pretty much every image. His clever use of colors and sterile aesthetics along with a very appropriate set design, a hypnotic 80s-synth score, and some odd, unique directorial choices certainly make this film one that will stick with you afterwards.

Rogers is excellent in the role, transmitting a mixture of contempt and disdain that devolves into levels of insecurity and insanity as the film progresses. Allan is also pretty good, although her role is more limited (she barely has a couple of lines), but still succeeds in conveying the fear and confusion of the character.

But as good as the performances are, this is a director's film and the visuals are definitely front and center. The shot framing, the economy in the production, and the sleekness of the sets contrast directly with the chaos that brews inside the facility and inside Nyle's mind. Certainly a must watch for anyone that enjoys a good "mindf**k" film.

Grade:

(Tempted to go as high as 4.5, but I will let it sit for a while)

Nice! I've felt like the only person that was enthusiastic about that one. Liked it more than Mandy but can't find anyone that agrees with me.
I'm fighting the urge to post about a dozen gifs from BtBR.

I definitely liked it more than Mandy, which I thought was mostly OK.

And yes, I also resisted the urge to intercalate a different screenshot from the film between every paragraph, but I decided to stick with the format. It's definitely visually impressive.

I responded to the abridged version of this in the RtLMYW thread but I'll say here that I was very disappointed by the film... in exactly the way I expected to be disappointed. It was obvious from the trailer it would be visually arresting and have a great atmosphere, but would there be a script that lived up to it.
There was not.
I agree that Rogers was perfect, though.

A measly 3 films this month

A film with a title that starts with the letters K or L:
Lawman Without a Gun (1978)
Did you know that back in the 1960s cops often made life really hard for black folks? And that the voting laws were designed to keep the black folks from improving their situation? That must have sucked. (sigh)
This is sort of based on a true story about an African-American man (Louis Gossett Jr) in a small town who successfully runs for sheriff against an incumbent that's held the spot for decades. Not a great film, but a depressing reminder of how little progress we've made 60 years later.


A film from the 1960s:
Castle of the Living Dead (1964)
This is included in my recently-acquired Christopher Lee box set. Noteworthy for being the screen debut of one Donald Sutherland, who plays dual roles. (a comic-relief soldier and an old hag). Directed by Warren Kiefer, who made such an impression on Sutherland that he named his son after him. (True story.)


A horror film:
Night Monster (1942)
Another recently-acquired BluRay, an oldie I'd never seen before.
A wealthy wheelchair-bound recluse invites to his home all of the doctors who've tried to cure his paralysis over the years. One by one the doctors are murdered, leading the viewer to ask "Who dunnit?"
My favorite line is when the guys says "Well, I'M in a wheelchair so we KNOW it wasn't me." Spoiler alert: It was totally him. Very subtle, movie.

In regards to Black Rainbow, I know Jinnistan and Mr Minio are both big fans of it.
Jinn had it his top 100 films from the last decade and Minio had it amongst his recent top 300 movies

I was doing really well for June up until about the 15th... and then we moved. So I've seen almost nothing in the last two weeks. If I can, I'll put down what I did get to a little later on.

Meanwhile, I loved Mandy but haven't seen Beyond the Black Rainbow. I'm keeping an eye out for it.

And it just showed up on Amazon Prime, so there you go.

Yeah, I think that's where I saw it.