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Yeah, I felt similarly about it; it was solid-ish on the whole, but Alex Garland seems to have a knack as a director for making movies with intriguing premises/concepts, but then failing to develop and go far enough with them, leaving certain ideas under-cooked, and Ex Machina wasn't an exception (although Annihilation did do for me as a sensory experience, at least).
Rate The Last Movie You Saw
This Is Not a Test (Fredric Gadette, 1962) 6-/10
Paul McCartney: Live at the Cavern Club (Geoff Wonfor, 1999) 6.5/10
The Yesterday Machine (Russ Marker, 1965) + 4.5/10
Misha and the Wolves (Sam Hobkinson, 2021) 6.5/10
Bizarre investigative doc about a Holocaust survivor who may have faked her life story.
Infinitum: Subject Unknown (Matthew Butler-Hart, 2021) 5.5/10
Menarca (Lillah Halla, 2020) 6/10
Notorious Nick (Aaron Leong, 2021) 5.5/10
Final Account (Luke Holland, 2020) 6.5/10
Interviews of aging Germans who participated in or were aware of the Nazis' carrying-out of the Holocaust still show plenty of denial.
First Date (Manuel Crosby & Darren Knapp, 2021) 6-/10
Ice Planet (Winrich Kolbe, 2001) + 4.5/10
Charming the Hearts of Men AKA Ladies Day (S.E. DeRose, 2021) 6/10
Shershaah (Vishnuvardhan, 2021) 6.5/10
Patriotic Indian action war movie about the mountainous Kargil War in 1999. This shows Sidharth Malhotra as hero Capt. Vikram Batra.
The Maid (Lee Thongkham, 2020) 6/10
Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain (Morgan Neville, 2021) 6.5/10
Rising Wolf AKA Ascendant (Antaine Furlong, 2021) + 4.5/10
The Tiger of Eschnapur (Fritz Lang, 1959) 6/10
First half of Lang's epic about love, desire and revenge in India - here with Debra Paget and Paul Hubschmid. Has many surprising scenes which influenced Indiana Jones movies.
The Indian Tomb (Fritz Lang, 1959) 6/10
Habit (Janell Shirtcliff, 2021) - 5/10
Untold: Malice at the Palace (Floyd Russ, 2021) 6.5/10
The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (Fritz Lang, 1960) 6/10
_630_354_90.jpg)
Dr. Mabuse (Wolfgang Preiss) is still at his nefarious ways in 1960 Germany.
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Last edited by mark f; 08-20-21 at 12:09 PM.
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Let Him Go (2020)
This is an absorbing and smoldering suspense film, especially slanted to the over 50 demographic, which nevertheless has a rather jarring and overdone third act.
Kevin Costner and Diane Lane play grandparents whose daughter-in-law, widowed by the accidental death of their son (her husband), surreptitiously leaves the area with the grandson and a brand new no-account husband to live near his family in North Dakota. The grandmother has accidentally seen the new husband strike both the daughter-in-law and the grandson. So later when the couple and grandson end up moving in the middle of the night, the grandmother suddenly feels the urge to rescue the grandson. The movie is the story of the grandparent’s journey to find the daughter and grandson, and at least bring the boy back under their wing.
It’s chiefly Lane’s movie, albeit with first rate acting from a veteran cast (Costner, Lane, Lesley Manville, Jeffrey Donovan), and although Lane gives a fine performance, she seemed slightly miscast as a country grandma. Costner was pitch perfect as a retired sheriff who is drawn into his wife’s consuming obsession with getting control of the grandson. Lesley Manville did a nice turn as the Ma Barker type new grandmother of the boy. Her ferocity was a little over the top, and one wonders why she was suddenly so interested in the boy.
And therein lies the rub. It seemed to be a mental defect that Lane’s character would feel that she must wrest back control of her grandson, as if it were her right, especially irrespective of whether the mom came back with the package. Naturally the two grandmas quickly squared off, with the Manville character willing to go to extremes, including mutilation and gun play. But yet the outcome involved a calamity against grandpa (Costner); whereas story wise it would have better befallen grandma, since she was the one who drove the entire obsessive plan.
The film will especially appeal to women, given that the chief story characters are women, and that the subject sits squarely in the family relationships camp. But all around it’s a pretty solid film. The writing was a little startling as the story built, but the direction was fine as was the spare music score. The title is a little misleading.
Doc’s rating: 6/10
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KRUTY 1918
WINTER OF THE BRAVES
(2018, Shaparev)
A film from Ukraine
WINTER OF THE BRAVES
(2018, Shaparev)
A film from Ukraine
"Now, brother, you know the price of freedom. It does not happen without blood."
Winter of the Braves (or Kruty 1918) follows the events of the Battle of Kruty in the middle of the Ukrainian-Soviet War. The battle put a small unit of 300-400 soldiers, most of them volunteer students, against a Bolshevik force of thousands, as Ukraine fought for independence and freedom. But much like the character in the above quote said, this freedom does not come without blood.
The film is, for the most part, competently shot and directed. However, some of the fight sequences are poorly choreographed and it's not easy to tell who's who or what's what. Plus, I'm not sure if it was my screen, but during some night scenes, it was really hard to see what was going on.
Grade:
Full review on my Movie Loot
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JASON GOES TO HELL
THE FINAL FRIDAY
(1993, Marcus)
Friday the 13th Freebie
THE FINAL FRIDAY
(1993, Marcus)
Friday the 13th Freebie
"Say, Doc! What's the verdict? Is Jason gonna be gettin' up and walkin' around any time soon?"
"We really nailed that fu¢ker."
"We really nailed that fu¢ker."
Jason Goes to Hell is the ninth entry in the Friday the 13th franchise; a franchise that had proclaimed in 1984 that Part 4 was "the final chapter". By the 1990s, with horror and slasher interest waning, producers were looking for ways to either revitalize the franchise or end it for good, so that Jason wouldn't be gettin' up and walkin' around any time soon.
I'll start by saying that the premise of Jason's soul transferring, although interesting and a bold attempt to do something different, feels at odds with the usual mythology that has been with the franchise from the beginning. Sure, this is not a franchise that's been known for sticking to a strict continuity, but still... since Part 1, Jason has been drowned, stabbed, hacked all over his body, poked, burned, and drowned again and again... and his soul had never thought of transferring to another body. So you understand why that feels pulled out of a hat.
Grade:
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Klute - 1971 Alan Pakula neo noir starring Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland. Fonda plays a high priced NYC call girl (I guess $50 to $100 was considered high priced back then). Sutherland plays a private investigator from Pennsylvania who's a friend of the family of Tom Gruneman, a chemical company executive that goes missing. After six months have gone by and the police are unable to make any headway he's hired by the family and by Tom's boss Peter Cable (Charles Cioffi) to look into it. Their only lead is a salacious letter found in Tom's files and addressed to a NYC prostitute and part time actress and model, Bree Daniels (Fonda).
WARNING: spoilers below
Klute surreptitiously moves into Daniels' building and after tapping her phone he approaches her and tries to ask questions. She rebuffs him at first but after playing her the recordings he's made of her talking with potential clients she tells him she doesn't recognize Gruneman from a photograph Klute shows her. All she remembers is getting beat up by a client two years prior but that the man was older and not Gruneman. She also tells him that she was referred to the abusive client by a resentful colleague named Jane McKenna. Eventually she agrees to take Klute to see her former pimp Frank Ligourin (Roy Scheider) to see if he can remember anything about that day. Ligourin tells them that McKenna has committed suicide and that the only other person who might know anything is Arlyn Page, another call girl, but that she has since become a drug addict and has disappeared. Klute's ongoing investigation draws the couple closer and they start a romantic relationship of sorts.
The plot is dark and moody and the early 70's NYC setting suitably gritty and credible. But what really helps the story gel are
WARNING: spoilers below
the periodic sessions sprinkled throughout between Bree and her psychiatrist. It allows for an invaluable look inside the mind and motivations of the Daniels character. Her conflicted feelings on her life and the self-determination that it affords her versus her complete lack of emotional connection to any other human being. It's a complex character and a consummate performance by Fonda, one which won her a Best Actress Oscar. Sutherland isn't given as much to do and his character is not so much a cipher as there for support. I did kind of have Cioffi figured as the bad guy from the get go only because he had subsequently played the role so many other times but it was more a guess than anything. But they did tip their hand in that regard early on.
Good movie and one of those films that's on your radar for years and years that you never quite get around to. I'm glad I finally did while also completing Pakula's paranoia trilogy.
Let Him Go (2020)
This is an absorbing and smoldering suspense film, especially slanted to the over 50 demographic, which nevertheless has a rather jarring and overdone third act.
Kevin Costner and Diane Lane play grandparents whose daughter-in-law, widowed by the accidental death of their son (her husband), surreptitiously leaves the area with the grandson and a brand new no-account husband to live near his family in North Dakota. The grandmother has accidentally seen the new husband strike both the daughter-in-law and the grandson. So later when the couple and grandson end up moving in the middle of the night, the grandmother suddenly feels the urge to rescue the grandson. The movie is the story of the grandparent’s journey to find the daughter and grandson, and at least bring the boy back under their wing.
It’s chiefly Lane’s movie, albeit with first rate acting from a veteran cast (Costner, Lane, Lesley Manville, Jeffrey Donovan), and although Lane gives a fine performance, she seemed slightly miscast as a country grandma. Costner was pitch perfect as a retired sheriff who is drawn into his wife’s consuming obsession with getting control of the grandson. Lesley Manville did a nice turn as the Ma Barker type new grandmother of the boy. Her ferocity was a little over the top, and one wonders why she was suddenly so interested in the boy.
And therein lies the rub. It seemed to be a mental defect that Lane’s character would feel that she must wrest back control of her grandson, as if it were her right, especially irrespective of whether the mom came back with the package. Naturally the two grandmas quickly squared off, with the Manville character willing to go to extremes, including mutilation and gun play. But yet the outcome involved a calamity against grandpa (Costner); whereas story wise it would have better befallen grandma, since she was the one who drove the entire obsessive plan.
The film will especially appeal to women, given that the chief story characters are women, and that the subject sits squarely in the family relationships camp. But all around it’s a pretty solid film. The writing was a little startling as the story built, but the direction was fine as was the spare music score. The title is a little misleading.
Doc’s rating: 6/10
By http://www.impawards.com/1988/dangerous_liaisons.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1645501
Dangerous Liaisons - (1988)
A best picture nominee that I avoided for quite some time, but finally decided I'd get something out of it. The John Malkovich and Glenn Close characters are cruel, and play with people's lives for sport and retribution. That can be difficult, for the story is told from their point of view - and you can never be sure who will come out winners or losers (unless you've read the novel or seen the play.)
WARNING: spoilers below
I particularly enjoyed the comeuppance both characters get. I know most films end with the 'good guys' coming out winners, but in this film it really felt things could go either way.
7/10
By May be found at the following website: MoviePosterDB.com, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24376977
Elizabeth and Elizabeth The Golden Age - (1998) and (2007)
I went through both films, special features included - then decided to skip mentioning them here because I'm time-poor at the moment. But there's been a rant building for some time :
I read up on both films, and there is a lot of chatter about factual mistakes in both films. But I don't think Shekhar Kapur and the writers were aiming for a 100% factual account of Elizabeth's reign. They were making movies - ones with a narrative and metaphors that encapsulate certain themes. If you want to know precise facts about Elizabeth's reign, then get out your history books, because these films weren't meant to be history lessons. They're films. Events are compressed - characters shifted to where they need to be in order to tell a story. Kapur wanted to make a film about absolute power, divinity, destiny and transcendence. I think when people complain that this or that isn't 100% factually correct then they miss the point a little bit.
I rated Elizabeth 8/10 and Elizabeth The Golden Age 6/10
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Kuroneko (Kaneto Shindo, 1968)
Soon after being brutally raped and murdered by a troop of samurai, Yone and Sige (mother and daughter in law) are visited by a curious black cat. They return as ghosts and haunt the grates of Rajomon, getting their revenge by luring and seducing and then killing lone samurai in a way that is decidedly cat-like. A samurai is hired to take care of these two demons, but this samurai also happens to be their returning husband and son.
I can really appreciate a film that tells it's story by truly utilizing the medium it is on. Kuroneko does this. It's a solid story with some solid performances, but the true star of the show is the cinematography and production design. Specifically the home of the ghosts Yone and Sigue. With the first few samurai victims the home is idyllic, but once the husband/son arrives home the home is quickly invaded by a bamboo grove. In puffs of smoke and chilling moonlight bamboo suddenly comes through the floorboards, and the house seemingly splits apart, but then becomes whole again just as quickly. We are seeing reality coming through and breaking the ghostly illusion, and it's incredibly effective with this films masterful lighting and set design.
Kuroneko was surprisingly disturbing. The opening rape wasn't exactly graphic by todays standards, but the way the entire troop of samurai took part in it in a way that was so incredibly cold and emotionless... Soulless and just mindlessly shoveling rice down their throats each waiting their turn... It stuck with me. It was barbaric and disgusting, and it certainly made the revenge sweet. At first. What was interesting about this film's story was that it didn't really have a massive pay off, and I'm not saying that as a criticism. As we learn more about the circumstances regarding the two ghosts we are left with a bit of a melancholic taste in our mouths. The common peasants, the hapless women... these people had a pretty **** lives during the endless wars of this samurai era, and I think the hopelessness of this film's revenge reflects that.
In the end we get a pretty damn good piece of horror. Uneven, but hauntingly beautiful.
Soon after being brutally raped and murdered by a troop of samurai, Yone and Sige (mother and daughter in law) are visited by a curious black cat. They return as ghosts and haunt the grates of Rajomon, getting their revenge by luring and seducing and then killing lone samurai in a way that is decidedly cat-like. A samurai is hired to take care of these two demons, but this samurai also happens to be their returning husband and son.
I can really appreciate a film that tells it's story by truly utilizing the medium it is on. Kuroneko does this. It's a solid story with some solid performances, but the true star of the show is the cinematography and production design. Specifically the home of the ghosts Yone and Sigue. With the first few samurai victims the home is idyllic, but once the husband/son arrives home the home is quickly invaded by a bamboo grove. In puffs of smoke and chilling moonlight bamboo suddenly comes through the floorboards, and the house seemingly splits apart, but then becomes whole again just as quickly. We are seeing reality coming through and breaking the ghostly illusion, and it's incredibly effective with this films masterful lighting and set design.
Kuroneko was surprisingly disturbing. The opening rape wasn't exactly graphic by todays standards, but the way the entire troop of samurai took part in it in a way that was so incredibly cold and emotionless... Soulless and just mindlessly shoveling rice down their throats each waiting their turn... It stuck with me. It was barbaric and disgusting, and it certainly made the revenge sweet. At first. What was interesting about this film's story was that it didn't really have a massive pay off, and I'm not saying that as a criticism. As we learn more about the circumstances regarding the two ghosts we are left with a bit of a melancholic taste in our mouths. The common peasants, the hapless women... these people had a pretty **** lives during the endless wars of this samurai era, and I think the hopelessness of this film's revenge reflects that.
In the end we get a pretty damn good piece of horror. Uneven, but hauntingly beautiful.
Across to Singapore -
This silent nautical tale about a love triangle between Priscilla (Joan Crawford) and the youngest and eldest Shore brothers - aptly named since they're sailors - does have things going for it. First and foremost is Ernest Torrence's scenery-chewing performance as older brother Mark, whose appearance and boisterous manner recall Gerard Depardieu at his hammiest. I also enjoyed the scenes on the brothers' ship, which are as exciting as they are realistic, not to mention a step above all the other scenes, which are not of poor quality yet suggest that this is a low budget production. As for Crawford, it's a mostly passive role and she doesn't have much to do, but she makes her scenes count. Then again, her role is a testament to much women's rights have changed not only since the movie's 19th century setting, but also in the last 90 years because Priscilla doesn't seem to have much of a say in the brothers' battle for her affections. In spite of all this, it's a pretty standard romantic adventure with a story that might as well be in dozens of dime store novels. Again, there are good things in it worth calling out and I'm happy to have seen another silent movie since I haven't seen many, but it's not one worth going out of your way to see.
This silent nautical tale about a love triangle between Priscilla (Joan Crawford) and the youngest and eldest Shore brothers - aptly named since they're sailors - does have things going for it. First and foremost is Ernest Torrence's scenery-chewing performance as older brother Mark, whose appearance and boisterous manner recall Gerard Depardieu at his hammiest. I also enjoyed the scenes on the brothers' ship, which are as exciting as they are realistic, not to mention a step above all the other scenes, which are not of poor quality yet suggest that this is a low budget production. As for Crawford, it's a mostly passive role and she doesn't have much to do, but she makes her scenes count. Then again, her role is a testament to much women's rights have changed not only since the movie's 19th century setting, but also in the last 90 years because Priscilla doesn't seem to have much of a say in the brothers' battle for her affections. In spite of all this, it's a pretty standard romantic adventure with a story that might as well be in dozens of dime store novels. Again, there are good things in it worth calling out and I'm happy to have seen another silent movie since I haven't seen many, but it's not one worth going out of your way to see.
Last edited by Torgo; 08-19-21 at 01:18 PM.
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10/10
I had a lot of fun watching this one, for some reason michael douglas is always some rich ******* in movies, probably cuz he's good at it, lol. Very similar to the vintage "Dial M for Murder".
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Favorite Movies
Kuroneko (Kaneto Shindo, 1968)
Soon after being brutally raped and murdered by a troop of samurai, Yone and Sige (mother and daughter in law) are visited by a curious black cat. They return as ghosts and haunt the grates of Rajomon, getting their revenge by luring and seducing and then killing lone samurai in a way that is decidedly cat-like. A samurai is hired to take care of these two demons, but this samurai also happens to be their returning husband and son.
I can really appreciate a film that tells it's story by truly utilizing the medium it is on. Kuroneko does this. It's a solid story with some solid performances, but the true star of the show is the cinematography and production design. Specifically the home of the ghosts Yone and Sigue. With the first few samurai victims the home is idyllic, but once the husband/son arrives home the home is quickly invaded by a bamboo grove. In puffs of smoke and chilling moonlight bamboo suddenly comes through the floorboards, and the house seemingly splits apart, but then becomes whole again just as quickly. We are seeing reality coming through and breaking the ghostly illusion, and it's incredibly effective with this films masterful lighting and set design.
Kuroneko was surprisingly disturbing. The opening rape wasn't exactly graphic by todays standards, but the way the entire troop of samurai took part in it in a way that was so incredibly cold and emotionless... Soulless and just mindlessly shoveling rice down their throats each waiting their turn... It stuck with me. It was barbaric and disgusting, and it certainly made the revenge sweet. At first. What was interesting about this film's story was that it didn't really have a massive pay off, and I'm not saying that as a criticism. As we learn more about the circumstances regarding the two ghosts we are left with a bit of a melancholic taste in our mouths. The common peasants, the hapless women... these people had a pretty **** lives during the endless wars of this samurai era, and I think the hopelessness of this film's revenge reflects that.
In the end we get a pretty damn good piece of horror. Uneven, but hauntingly beautiful.
Soon after being brutally raped and murdered by a troop of samurai, Yone and Sige (mother and daughter in law) are visited by a curious black cat. They return as ghosts and haunt the grates of Rajomon, getting their revenge by luring and seducing and then killing lone samurai in a way that is decidedly cat-like. A samurai is hired to take care of these two demons, but this samurai also happens to be their returning husband and son.
I can really appreciate a film that tells it's story by truly utilizing the medium it is on. Kuroneko does this. It's a solid story with some solid performances, but the true star of the show is the cinematography and production design. Specifically the home of the ghosts Yone and Sigue. With the first few samurai victims the home is idyllic, but once the husband/son arrives home the home is quickly invaded by a bamboo grove. In puffs of smoke and chilling moonlight bamboo suddenly comes through the floorboards, and the house seemingly splits apart, but then becomes whole again just as quickly. We are seeing reality coming through and breaking the ghostly illusion, and it's incredibly effective with this films masterful lighting and set design.
Kuroneko was surprisingly disturbing. The opening rape wasn't exactly graphic by todays standards, but the way the entire troop of samurai took part in it in a way that was so incredibly cold and emotionless... Soulless and just mindlessly shoveling rice down their throats each waiting their turn... It stuck with me. It was barbaric and disgusting, and it certainly made the revenge sweet. At first. What was interesting about this film's story was that it didn't really have a massive pay off, and I'm not saying that as a criticism. As we learn more about the circumstances regarding the two ghosts we are left with a bit of a melancholic taste in our mouths. The common peasants, the hapless women... these people had a pretty **** lives during the endless wars of this samurai era, and I think the hopelessness of this film's revenge reflects that.
In the end we get a pretty damn good piece of horror. Uneven, but hauntingly beautiful.
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I remember really liking how this one made the ghost's movements seem supernatural.*
