mark f's Movie Tab III

Diamond Demon (Dave O’Brien, 1947)
Great Day (Lance Comfort, 1945)
When the Bough Breaks (Ji Dan, 2012)
Genghis Khan (Henry Levin, 1965) -

Tamujin (Omar Sharif) tries to unite the warring Mongol tribes.
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (Michael O’Herlihy, 1968)
Rosie, Oh (Andy Koeger & Apple Xenoa, 2016)
Old Shep (Harold Bucquet, 1936) +
The Journey of Natty Gann (Jeremy Kagan, 1985) -

During the Great Depression, teenage Natty Gann (Meredith Salenger) searches for her father with hobo John Cusack and her pet wolf.
Spreadin' the Jam (Charles Walters, 1945) -
Cupcake Bob (Olivia Accardo, 2015)
Frank Serpico (Antonino D'Ambrosio, 2017)
The Bear That Couldn't Sleep (Rudolf Ising, 1939) -

The Bear locks himself in for winter, but things go bad.
Razorback (Russell Mulcahy, 1984)
Lover for a Day (Philippe Garrel, 2017)
Opening Day (Roy Rowland, 1938)
I Eats My Spinach (Dave Fleischer, 1933)
Popeye creates things very quickly, usually out of something alive.
This Is Tomorrow (Ralph Steiner & Willard Van Dyke, 1943)
The Lift (Robert Zemeckis, 1972)
Forgotten Treasure (Sammy Lee, 1943)
The Man Who Invented Christmas (Bharat Nalluri, 2017) +

While trying to write and publish his Christmas Ghost Story in record time, Charles Dickens (Dan Stevens) consults with his imaginary lead character Scrooge (Christopher Plummer).
The Grand Bounce (Jacques Tourneur, 1937) -
New Shoes (Sammy Lee, 1936) -
Don’t Lie (Edward L. Cahn, 1942) -
Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert (David Leveaux & Alex Rudzinski, 2018)

Jesus (John Legend) sings about the indifference and immaturity of his apostles in the Garden of Gethsemene.

Hollywood – The Second Step (Felix E. Feist, 1936) +
The Piano (Jane Campion, 1993)
Saturday Morning (Robert F. McGowan & Tom McNamara, 1922)
Karamay (Xu Xin, 2010)

In 1994, over 300 people – mostly school children – were killed in a fire that also destroyed their parents’ lives. Here they reminisce about their children and their hatred for the bureaucrats who got out alive and the corruption of the state and city Communist Party. Needless to say, the film is banned in China to this very day.
Fire Fighters (Robert F. McGowan & Tom McNamara, 1922) -
The Cobbler (Tom McNamara, 1923)
The Heartbreak Kid (Elaine May, 1972) -
Olivier, Olivier (Agnieska Holland, 1992)

A family’s 6-year-old son disappears but turns up nine years later – the family, especially the mom, seems happy about it, but the daughter (Marina Golovine) doesn’t believe the new guy (Grégoire Colin) is really him.
Sleepless in Seattle (Nora Ephron, 1993) -
Little Miss Pinkerton (Herbert Glazer, 1943) +
A Pleasant Journey (Tom McNamara, 1923)
Bound (Wachowskis, 1996)

Lesbian ex-con Gina Gershon is seduced into sex and a robbery of $2 million of mob money by the girlfriend (Jennifer Tilly) of money launderer Joe Pantoliano.
Boys Don’t Cry (Kimberly Peirce, 1999)
Goodbye Again (Michael Curtiz, 1933)
I Called Him Morgan (Kasper Collin, 2017) -
Europa Europa (Agnieska Holland, 1990)

German Jew Marco Hefschneider moves with his family to Poland, hides out in a Soviet orphanage and then becomes a Hitler Youth while trying to protect his circumcision from prying eyes.
A New Leaf (Elaine May, 1971)
The Amazing Mr. Nordill (Joe Newman, 1947) +
Awakenings (Penny Marshall, 1990)
Trophy (Shaul Schwarz & Christina Clusiau, 2017)

In South Africa, big-game hunters – mostly American - can hunt anything and bring home the trophy if they pay enough money [at least during most of the 2010s.]

The Phantom of Paris (John S. Robertson, 1931) -
The Silent Call (John Bushelman, 1961)
The Littlest Diplomat (Bobby Connolly, 1937) -
Ma (Celia Rowlson-Hall, 2015)

A modern version of the Virgin Mary (Celia Rowlson-Hall) as she wordlessly wanders through the American Southwest desert.
Bright Lights aka Adventures in Africa (Michael Curtiz, 1930) -
China Passage (Edward Killy, 1937) +
Servant of the People: The Story of the Constitution of the United States (Edward Cahn, 1937) +
The Human Surge (Eduardo Williams, 2017)

Youth from three countries – Argentina, Mozambique and the Philippines – have no connections to their jobs, but they’re connected to each other by the internet and ennui.
Hit-and-Run Driver (Edward Cahn, 1935)
Passing Summer (Angela Schanelec, 2001)
Tale of a Trotter (No Director Listed, 1956) -
The Night of the Strangler (Joy N. Rouck, Jr., 1972) +

Dangerous things are happening between New Orleans brothers, hippieish Micky Dolenz and superracist James Ralston, over their sister’s love for a black man.
Family Album (No Director Listed, 1932)
Little ‘tinker (Tex Avery, 1948)
Safe at Home! (Walter Doniger, 1962)
Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno (Serge Bromberg & Ruxandra Medrea Annonie, 2009)

Documentary about the unfinished experimental film by master French director Henri-Georges Clouzot (The Wages of Fear, Diabolique) who spent lots of time and money experimenting on visual representations of depression and Romy Schnetder and Serge Reggiani were set to star.
Black Oxfords (Del Lord, 1924)
Such Is Life (Alfred J. Goulding, 1924) +
Change of Heart (John G. Blystone, 1934) -
Eadweard Muybridge, Zoopraxographer (Thom Andersen, 1975) -

Besides being known for his motion studies of animals/people and his early use of a projection system, Muybridge was a world-famous nature photographer [here at Yosemite] and also suffered a stagecoach accident to his head and pleaded insanity during his murder trial.

It Happened in Flatbush (Ray McCarey, 1942) +
The Red House (Delmer Daves, 1947)
Kisses for Breakfast (Lewis Seiler, 1941) +
You Were Never Really Here (Lynn Ramsay, 2017) -

Joaquin Phoenix is more of a destruction worker than a construction one, but if nobody’s there does it matter?
The Matrimonial Bed (Michael Curtiz, 1930) +
Wild Elephinks (Dave Fleischer, 1933)
Night and Day (Hong Sang-soo, 2009)
Paris Is Burning (Jennie Livingston, 1990)

Venus Xtravaganza striking back while she still can.
Hench (Ani Simon-Kennedy, 2016)
Marseille (Angela Schanelec, 2004)
Like Crazy (Drake Doremus, 2011)
All the Money in the World (Ridley Scott, 2017)

Best of luck to the hooded John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer), the kidnapped grandson of the richest man (Christopher Plummer) in the world, who’s also extremely cold and cheap.
The Rookie (George O’Hanlon, 1959)
The Big Swallow aka A Photographic Contortion (James Williamson, 1901)
The Law West of Tombstone (Glenn Tryon, 1938)
Hostiles (Scott Cooper, 2017) -

Captain Christian Bale has grown sick and tired of violently dealing with the natives he doesn’t understand and who don’t understand him either.
Drag-A-Long Droopy (Tex Avery, 1954)
Toward the Unknown (Mervyn LeRoy, 1956)
Nocturne indien (Alain Corneau, 1989) +
Score: A Film Music Documentary (Matt Schrader, 2017) -

John Williams conducts his Star Wars to the film for the first time.

Mystery Street (John Sturges, 1950) +
The In-Laws (Arthur Hiller, 1979)
Husbands (John Cassavetes, 1970)
Thelma (Joakim Trier, 2017)

Brought up in a strict religious household, college student Thelma (Eili Harboe) imagines the Serpent possessing her when she has sexual feelings for another young woman (Kaya Wilkins).
Shanty Tramp (José Prieto [Joseph P. Mawra], 1967)
Mr. Belvedere Goes to College (Elliott Nugent, 1949)
The Woman’s Balcony (Emil Ben-Shimon, 2016)
I Kill Giants (Anders Walter, 2017)

New middle-school student Rory Jackson from England befriends antisocial Madison Wolfe who spends most of her time battling “real” giants and her empathetic school counselor Zoe Saldana.
Morning Glory (Roger Michell, 2010) +
Roxanne, Roxanne (Michael Larnell, 2018)
Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (Bernard Girard, 1966)
The Big Heat (Fritz Lang, 1953)

Classic but ridiculous noir with some striking violence, the best involving mobster Lee Marvin disfiguring the face of his girlfriend Gloria Grahame over his jealousy of police detective Glenn Ford.
Fish Tail aka Rabo de Peixe (Joaquin Pinto & Nuno Leonel, 2015)
The Real Robin Hood (M. David Melvin, 2010)
Death Curse of Tartu (William Grefé, 1966)
Dead Man’s Letters (Konstantin Lopushanskiy, 1986)

A mistaken rocket launch causes nuclear devastation and radiation poisoning to the survivors who debate the situation, among them a Nobel Prize winner (Rolan Bykov.)
The Wild Rebels (William Grefé, 1967)
Anne Frank’s Holocaust (Erik Nelson, 2015)
Hitler’s Last Year (David Korn-Brzoza, 2015)
Behemoth (Zhao Liang, 2016)

Desolation and destruction of human and physical resources in China have reached an unbelievable level and nobody can even explain it although this filmmaker does his best.

Always a Bride (Ralph Smart, 1953)
Entre Nos (Gloria La Morte & Paola Mendoza, 2009) +
I Love My Wife But! (David Barclay, 1947)
The Late George Apley (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1947) +

Two highbrow [some might call them stuffed-shirt] Boston cousins (Ronald Colman & Richard Haydn) make comments about people outside their circle
Still Standing (Paola Mendoza, 2006)
Afternoon (Angela Schanelec, 2007)
War of the Arrows (Kim Han-min, 2011)
BPM ([180] Beats Per Minute) (Robin Campillo, 2017)

At an early 1990s French ACT UP protest, HIV-positive Nahuel Pérez Biscayart and HIV-negative Arnaud Valois begin to express their feelings for each other.
Okay for Sound (No Director Listed, 1947) +
Starting Over (Alan J. Pakula, 1979)
I Married a Woman (Hal Kanter, 1958) +
The Nothing Factory (Pedro Pinho, 2017)

Argentinian employees lose their jobs, discuss political ways economics is changing and how they may be able to get them back and even sing and dance about their prospects.
Red Sonja (Richard Fleischer, 1985)
Hercules (Lewis Coates [Luigi Cozzi], 1983)
The Bear and the Bean (Preston Blair & Michael Lah, 1948) +
Life With Father (Michael Curtiz, 1947)

When Mother Irene Dunne reminds Father William Powell that he’s never been baptized, he wants nothing to do with it [This a happier moment.]
The Game Plan (Andy Fickman, 2007) -
Boys Beware (Sid Davis, 1961)
Red River Robin Hood (Lesley Selander, 1942) -
Sock-a-Bye, Baby (Dave Fleischer, 1934) -

Popeye kills hundreds of people, starting with Harpo Marx, just to try to keep Baby from crying.

Viceroy's House (Gurinder Chadna, 2017)
Do-Re-Mi-Boom! (Walter Wright, 1915) +
The Father of My Children (Mia Hansen-Løve, 2009)
A Song Is Born (Howard Hawks, 1948)

Musicologist Danny Kaye and moll Virginia Mayo utilize several jazz greats, including Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, Tommy Dorsey and Mel Powell to teach “square” professor Benny Goodman about improvisation. Remake of Hawks’ Ball of Fire.
Man of the People (Edwin L. Marin, 1937) +
Musical Merry-Go-Round #4 (Jack Scholl, 1948)
Cuadecuc Vampir (Pere Portabello, 1971)
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (Jake Kasdan, 2017)

Players Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillen, Jack Black and Kevin Hart are trapped in the video game world of Jumanji.
The Bible: In the Beginning... (John Huston, 1966)
Mental Poise (Roy Rowland, 1938)
The Merry Widow (Erich von Stroheim, 1925)
Lost and Beautiful (Pietro Marcello, 2015) +

A calf with the ability to talk to humans is aided by classical character Pulcinella (Sergio Vitolo) who tries to keep him protected from those who want to slaughter and eat him. A sort of reworking of Au Hazard Balthazar.
Important Business (Will Jason, 1944)
Kim (Victor Saville, 1950)
6 Balloons (Marja-Lewis Ryan, 2018)
Let Joy Reign Supreme (Bertrand Tavernier, 1975)

In early-18th-century France, the affable-but-hedonistic Regent (Philippe Noiret), a hot-to-trot courtier (Christine Pascal) and a corrupt priest (Jean Rochefort) greatly affect the Revolution to come.
Love Nest (Joseph Newman, 1951)
So You Want an Apartment (Richard Bare, 1948)
Gothika (Matthieu Kassovitz, 2003) +
Two Guys from Milwaukee (David Butler, 1946)

The highlight of the movie – with Bacall and Bogart.

All American Drawback (Lloyd French, 1935)
Fallen (Gregory Hoblit, 1998) +
Pro Football (Ray McCarey, 1934) -
Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool (Paul McGuigan, 2017)

After a brief discussion about Saturday Night Fever, young Englishman Jamie Bell dances and falls in love with aging film star Gloria Grahame (Annette Bening).
The Half-Back of Notre Dame (Del Lord, 1924)
Orly (Angela Schanelec, 2010)
Throttle Pushers (Jules White, 1933)
L.627 (Bertrand Tavernier, 1992) +

Parisian narcotics detective Didier Bezace leads an unorthodox group of cops in a cross between The French Connection and Serpico.
The Incredible Stranger (Jack [Jacques] Tourneur, 1942)
Hollywood Mavericks (Florence Dauman & Dale Ann Stauber, 1990) +
Hello, It’s Me (Mark Jean, 2015)
Den of Thieves (Christian Gudegast, 2018) +

The leader (Pablo Schreiber) of a group of bank robbers takes on LA Sheriff’s detective Gerard Butler and his men. Besides using guns they fight with their tattoos.
Election Daze (Herbert Glazer, 1943)
Heroin(e) (Elaine McMillion Sheldon, 2017)
Mr. Blabbermouth! (Jack Wrangell, 1942)
The Appointments of Dennis Jennings (Dean Parisot, 1988)

Depressed waiter Steven Wright finds his world losing its grip on him, but he feels he can right it by killing his uncaring psychiatrist (Rowan Atkinson). Academy Award winner for Best Live Action Short.
Alone in the Dark (Jack Sholder, 1982)
Tarzan’s Desert Mystery (William Thiele, 1943) +
Let's You and Him Fight (Dave Fleischer, 1934)
Bright (David Ayer, 2017)

LAPD cop Will Smith has his orc partner Joel Edgerton offer him a burrito, but they have lots of history (albeit alternative-universe history) which contributes to the unease of their relationship.

A Word for the Greeks (James A. Fitzpatrick, 1951)
Blondie Takes a Vacation (Frank R. Strayer, 1939)
Teen Beach 2 (Jeffrey Hornaday, 2015)
Like Father, Like Son (Hirozaku Kore-eda, 2013) +

Just before their children enter kindergarten, two families learn that their boys were switched at birth. What do they do?
Black Mama White Mama (Eddie Romero, 1973)
Wedding Worries (Edward L. Cahn, 1941) -
The Daughter (Simon Stone, 2016) +
Holiday (George Cukor, 1938)

The fiancé (Cary Grant) of the sister of socialite Katharine Hepburn realixes he has more in common with the latter.
Savage Sisters (Eddie Romero, 1974)
Nobody Walks (Hirozaku Kore-eda, 2009)
The Arizona Cowboy (R.G. Springsteen, 1950)
Human Desire (Fritz Lang, 1954)

The wife (Gloria Grahame) of violent, jealous railroad supervisor Broderick Crawford has a fling with railroad engineer Glenn Ford which complicates matters. Remake of Renoir's The Human Beast
Unseen: The Lives of Looking (Dryden Goodwin, 2015) +
Fighting Frontier (Lambert Hillyer, 1943)
Hercules, Samson & Ulysses (Pietro Francisci, 1963)
The Colossus of Rhodes (Sergio Leone, 1961)

The enormous title creation protects the island of the king, but the people there want to end their slavery.
Bubbling Troubles (Edward L. Cahn, 1940)
Music Within (Steven Sawalich, 2007) +
Clash of the Titans (Desmond Davis, 1981)
The Slave (Sergio Corbucci, 1962)

25 years after Spartacus, the trusted centurion (Steve Reeves) of Julius Caesar is sent from Egypt to the east to keep an eye on Crassus but ends up captured by mercenaries.