Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Mother! (2017)

The Lost Daughter (2021)




A very fine debut from Maggie Gyllenhall. Olivia Colman is excellent as always as a professor who goes on a working holiday to a Greek island, but feelings of remorse and guilt are stirred as she encounters a large family that she interacts with. Jessie Buckley also lights up every flashback scene she is in. Very well written (again by Gyllenhall) with layers and metaphors everywhere.

Dracula AD 1972
Hammer brings Dracula into the 20th century. Camp, over the top, but good fun.

I am a big Gyllenhaal fan and when I read in the NYT that she was doing this I was intrigued.
Now I'm looking forward to it.

Yeah, I didn't mind this one at all.

Took a while to get going, but it turned into a decent movie. Nicolas Cage very good. Rockwell trying to steal every scene as per usual.

__________________
I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (Alex Cheung, 1983)
Madcap Shaw Brothers comedy that's an absolute blast for like 2/3s of the film. Just snappy, fun and unpredictable for the most part before it loses a bit of steam on an unfortunately transphobic scene that also happens to be the only part of the film I'd describe as drawn-out and dull. There's still good bits after and even in that scene but the momentum loss was pretty substantial. Still a good time overall and if you want a wacky sci-fi romance musical comedy I'd recommend it.

Look Back in Anger, 1959

Jimmy Porter (Richard Burton) runs a market stall selling sweets with his best friend--and roommate--, Cliff (Gary Raymond). Jimmy is a tangle of anger and resentment, especially when it comes to his perception of the abuses of those in authority (like the market manager Hurst (Donald Pleasence)) or higher socio-economic status. Jimmy takes most of his anger out on his wife, the mild-mannered Alison (Mary Ure), who comes from an upper-middle-class family. The arrival of Alison's friend, Helena (Claire Bloom) causes the tensions in the household to explode.

There are movies that you know are getting things "right," but aren't all that fun to watch, and this film is definitely in that category for me. I'm still mulling over what I think of the last act and the intentions of the writing.

The roiling emotional center of the film is the abusive relationship between Jimmy and Alison, and boy is it a doozy! Jimmy's treatment of Alison is nakedly contemptuous. Every word she says, every physical move she makes, is a reason for him to berate her. His abuse is verbal, emotional, and even physical. The film begins with Jimmy getting angry and pushing an ironing board over on Alison, who is burned badly enough in the process that she has to seek medical attention. Jimmy hurls so much venom at Alison, and she just passively takes it. It is incredibly hard to watch, even more so because Cliff---who otherwise seems like a nice guy---just watches it happen with barely a raised eyebrow.

Where I struggled was in the film's framing of Jimmy as sympathetic. Again, I find the dynamics of his character very believable, but so frustrating at the same time! He stands up for an Indian market stall owner (SP Kapoor) who is unfairly targeted by Hurst and other market workers. He also spends time with an older woman named Mrs Tanner (Edith Evans) who is his friend and who suffers a serious stroke. But for someone who is so sensitive to unfairness, it never seems to occur to Jimmy that he is being unfair to Alison, essentially making her a scapegoat for any misstep by anyone he perceives as being authority or wealthy.

What bothers me is not how Jimmy thinks, but rather that the film seems to agree with him. In a particularly vicious moment, Jimmy tells Alison that he hopes she has a baby and that it dies. (He does not know at this moment that Alison is actually pregnant). The idea that Alison "needs" to experience tragedy and suffering is supported by the way that Jimmy and Alison work through their fractured relationship at the end of the film.

What it comes down to for me is that Jimmy is a classic abuser, and I got itchy whenever the film tried to frame him as otherwise. I mean, his behavior is literally textbook---alternating kindness and cruelty to keep Alison in a constant state of fragility, attempting to isolate her from her peers, using public humiliation and physical threats to control her, etc---and fit a lot of the experiences of the women in the documentary I watched about domestic abuse last year. He's clearly suffered some trauma of his own, but it begins to feel like the movie is making excuses for him. To me it just feels like another iteration of an abusive dude being reframed as "complex" and "tortured" while distancing from the impact he's having on those around him.

An unpleasant, compelling portrait of an abusive relationship with strong performances, but a bit muddled in terms of its message.

Conflict (1945)

A decent noir starring the king of Warner Brothers, Humphrey Bogart. Based on a story by the great Robert Siodmak and Alfred Neumann, it also stars Sydney Greenstreet, and the lovely Alexis Smith, with a thankless but effective part by Rose Hobart.

Here Bogie falls in love with his wife's sister and decides to bump off wifey to be with the sister. Doesn't work out too well.

It's interesting that, of the 5 pictures Bogart and Greenstreet made together, this is the only one where Bogart plays the bad guy, and Greenstreet a relatively normal character.

Bogart does some nice acting in this one, although the ending was too pat and silly. The Code, you know...

Available on YouTube.

Doc's rating: 6/10

__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

I also think the fact that it is significantly lighter in tone, with a sad-sack clownish character at its centre, makes people less likely to take it seriously. Because of all this, I think it is a perfect companion piece for the other two. And, frankly, I think I might prefer it to Blue (yes, sacrilege, I know...but whatever)


It's also the only one I've watched twice.

Herself (2020)

The big, main story wasn't that interesting but the first three stories in the book, the ones about a scarecrow, a big toe and a bad zit, weren't that bad. Offered a few scares and a couple jumps. I'd watch it again come October.

I wouldn't take it over Blue but I think, taken on its own, its a pretty terrific film.

Out of John Badham's 1983 films, this is a less effective indictment of the military industrial complex than Wargames, as it seems a bit too in love with that superpowered helicopter for its satirical points to really land. On the other hand, it's a pretty sweet helicopter.


As it is, both movies are pretty enjoyable.

__________________

I see this stars Cherie Chung, who I enjoyed in Winners and Sinners and Prince Charming, so I will add to the watchlist.

I finally just watched (and greatly enjoyed) The Power Of The Dog, and one thing I really liked is how it was was structured, consistently anchored by Phil at the center, but also constantly shifting perspective to his relationships to the people around him one-by-one, whether it be him and George at first, him and Rose in the middle, or him and Peter towards the end, taking good time to focus on and explore the effects his persona has on them individually (and the effects they have on HIM) as each act of the film proceeds, rather than choosing to rush that all along like an inferior director may have done; good, good stuff, yo.

By The poster art can or could be obtained from Canal+., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1155502

La Haine - (1995)

The above quote in La Haine is really referring to the fall of society, and how some people might comfort themselves with the thought that things aren't really that bad for them right this moment, so perhaps the surrounding noise doesn't matter. Of course, the lesson is that although you might be getting by during a period of decay, it's the end result that will make that attitude seem silly. In France, three kids on the verge of adulthood find a gun, which gives them the bravado to spend a night in Paris with somewhat sobering results. Mathieu Kassovitz composes some great static shots, and others with much kinetic energy, as Vinz (an early role for Vincent Cassel,) Hubert and Saïd betray their tender years with child-like attempts to be bigger than what they are in a world which is offering them absolutely no hope at all of going anywhere. I've seen this film imitated many times before actually seeing it. What it lacks in it's script it makes up for in pure energy, rage, and visual lyricism. Overall, I thought it was very powerful and direct.

8/10

Foreign Language Countdown films seen : 65/100

__________________

Rewatch. I think I enjoyed it more this time around than the first view. This movie is awesome

__________________
There has been an awekening.... have you felt it?

Dick Johnson is Dead

The Green Knight

__________________
"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews