Rate The Last Movie You Saw

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Zaytoun - (2012)

I'd have been better off watching a bad movie last night. Zaytoun is average, pedestrian and unoriginal - another odd couple pairing in extreme circumstances that The Defiant Ones pulled off so well. Yoni (Stephen Dorff) is an Israeli pilot who has had to bail out over Beirut during the 1982 Lebanon War, and is captured by the PLO. He escapes with the grudging help of Fahed (Abdallah El Akal), a young Palestinian refugee whose father has been killed in the conflict - but as the pair deal with situation after situation a bond develops, and they grow close. I usually like films like this, but along with being a little irked by how ordinary it was I also learned that Israeli censors absolutely destroyed the screenplay in an overzealous attempt to have their side portrayed in the best light possible. I tell you, if you're so sensitive to phosphorus and cluster bombing along with indiscriminate destruction you should either not do it, or live with it - but trying to pretend it never happened doesn't sit well with me. In the end a film that was meant to make me feel warm and fuzzy made me feel cold and not the least bit fuzzy at all.

4/10

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The Driver (1978)

Directed by Walter Hill
Starring Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern and Isabelle Adjani



94/100

I saw the adverts that it will be on the TV this Saturday evening and immediately planned the view.
Probably my tenth watch of the movie, half of them during the school time when it was in the movie theaters every year and we've enjoyed it every time.
A real classic. One of the best works in a truly US genre. I can even say a real American contribution to the art of cinema. Dream cast, amazing cinematography and stylish screenplay. All this masterly directed by Walter Hill.

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"Population don't imitate art, population imitate bad television." W.A.
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What's your opinion of the other Eliza Hittman films (It Felt Like Love, Beach Rats)?

El - 7.5/10
When it comes to surrealism, Bunuel is the only guy I go to.... And it's on YouTube for free.

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Pork Chop Hill (1959)

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[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

Zero Contact (2022)

This movie is actually a non-fungible token and was filmed using Zoom cameras during lockdown in the pandemic. At times you can't help but feel like you're attending an acting class in the actors studio, but it isnt that bad. You'd think this would fill some time on the Sci-Fi channel and maybe you'd lay on the couch and stare at the TV while drooling.

52/100

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Maria Full of Grace - (2004)

Full of impressive realism and taut dramatic tension, Maria Full of Grace tells us a story of one woman's transformation from flower plantation worker to Columbian drug mule in a brutal and faithful fashion. This is a film that had me up out of my seat and pacing, and at several instances I had to implore main character Maria Álvarez (Catalina Sandino Moreno) to simply be smart. This is a lady that makes quite a few bad decisions and some terrible life choices - but in the end it's the economic reality of living day to day in Columbia that sends many along this path. Maria constantly courts disaster, and through her ordeal we get to learn all the varied ways Columbian drug smugglers use mules to slip drugs through into the U.S. and the various ways these runs can go bad - but most of all this is about Maria's emotional journey, and the various horrors she submits to for a life-changing paycheck. A real surprise for me, and very much a recommendation for those who haven't seen it.

8/10


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The Wild Geese - (1978)

Combination war film and action movie, The Wild Geese continued the tradition of The Guns of Navarone and other adventure-filled film star vehicles. Here we have a squad of geriatric mercenaries with Roger Moore, Richard Burton, Richard Harris and Hardy Krüger banding together to rescue Julius Limbani, fictitious president of a Southern African nation. We get to see an expert military operation that runs flawlessly, and then an improvised disaster as the four men and their 49 hired guns are double-crossed by the wealthy magnate who hired them. I've always thought this film was fun - especially with those four heavyweights together in one movie. The messaging is a bit mixed and garbled, and Krüger's racist character undergoes a change of heart that's both touching and a little ridiculous, so you have to forgive it it's foibles to really enjoy it. You can't deny though that it's well made, and as a whole works really well.

7/10


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Splash - (1984)

Studio comedies were a staple of the 1980s, and Ron Howard cut his directing teeth on a few of these popular yet empty vehicles. They don't age well either. I don't think I'd ever seen Splash before, or if I had I probably saw it when it came out, nearly 40 years ago, so you can forgive me if I remembered none of it. Not much of it was worth remembering, apart from an early look at Eugene Levy. I don't think Tom Hanks had really grasped what he needed to do to be likeable either, and in this even his talent for comedy never stood a chance with a D.O.A. screenplay. Daryl Hannah is lovely and charms thoroughly though, and John Candy gives it everything, making me miss him still. A real mixed bag - I feel bad for saying negative things about it, but as a comedy it's simply so bereft of laughs.

5/10

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish- 9/10

Even the Disney fangirl in me has to admit that this movie was absolutely amazing.

The art style ! Oh my god I am obsessed with the artstyle. The storybook look was amazing. And the fight choreography was just top notch.

The characters were all charming and likable, even the villains.

And the writing was amazing. I don’t think there was a single line I didn’t laugh out loud at.

The story was good, it was both a rollicking good adventure and a deep look into Puss’ psychology.

Maybe the movie wasn’t absolutely perfect. I guess they sort of glossed over the whole Kitty also not coming to the Church bit and I’m not sure there was enough explanation for Goldilocks’ motives… though I guess there was the storybook scene, but it was kind of subtle.

I hold that Puss in Boots and Turning Red were stronger than Pinocchio as movies, even if Pinocchio was the superior artistic achievement. Whether that meant it deserved the Oscar nod is up to what you think is more important in a movie.

Lucky Numbers (2000)

I really liked this one. Good comedy filled with many familiar faces. You should see it if you haven't. Without IMDb I wouldn't have known about it.

74/100

I really liked Beach Rats. My review at the time:


Not seen It felt like love though. Must find time to watch it.

This is an absolutely beautiful film. Director Anthony Shim has crafted a deeply personal movie about his youth, growing up in Canada, being raised by his mom, who was shamefully shunned by Korean society as she was a single mother, so had to emigrate.

The photography is very similar to Wong Kar Wai and Edward Yang in it's framing and depth of focus. The drama is so well written. The narrative is extremely moving - we see the young son 'David' grow up amid a host of challenges both at school and at home. His mother wants nothing but the best for him, but the challenges mount up for the pair of them.

Riceboy Sleeps seems to be part of a growing number of films that explore assimilation into overseas cultures and remembering 'home', that include the likes of Minari, Tigertail, Ms. Purple, The Farewell and Return to Seoul - but I think this might be the best of the lot.

8.5/10

Latest watches:
Amulet 2020 +
Direct Contact 2009 +
The Mustang 2019 +
Night Of The Prowler 1962 +
Who Killed The Cat? 1966
Red 2008
The Young Cannibals 2019 +
Super Storm 2011
Empire State 2013 +
The Phantom From 10,000 Leagues 1955
Lust For A Vampire 1971 +
Flight 1942 aka Flight World War II 2015 +

History is kinda basic, but the gore factor is cranked up to 11

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One of my favorite movies with my favorite theme of a woman’s journey both metaphorically & in reality.




Excellent movie that doesn’t have to be set in France. It could be in any developed country. I liked it so much as it has the theme I referenced above & I saw it twice.

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Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes -

This is a funny and clever Japanese movie about an aspiring musician, Kato, who discovers that his TV shows video messages that are two minutes into the future. The messages come from another TV in the downstairs cafe where he works. Shot with a mobile phone camera, the movie looks like it's filmed in one take, but I didn't discover this until I read the trivia afterwards. I was too wrapped up in the action to notice, which I think is a good thing.

Kato's coworkers and bandmates eventually make the same discovery, and I like that they cover the gamut of reactions to such a phenomenon, which range from disinterest to dangerously opportunistic. If you're considering the possibilities of this concept while reading this, chances are they're all in this movie. If you're also thinking about what a logistical can of worms it presents, I'll just say that the movie is one step ahead of you in that regard as well (no pun intended). What's more, all this manipulation of the space-time continuum has the benefit of being hilarious. I am totally okay with time travel movies that have extravagant special effects and big budgets; in fact, I could rewatch Twelve Monkeys or Back to the Future any day of the week. Regardless, there's something extra special about seeing one that's just as thoughtful that only has a small cast, two rooms and two TVs (oh, and a really long power cord. You'll see what I mean).

Don't Bother to Knock (1952)

Beyond the Time Barrier (1960)

Good story but the way its filmed and the unconvincing acting make it your typical mediocre sci-fi fare. The silent girl gets the award here. This was probably hastily thrown together like many 50s westerns and sci-fis.

55/100

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Saint Omer - (2022)

This was a troubling and thought-provoking French legal drama based on a real-life case - that of Fabienne Kabou, who purposely left her 15-month-old child to drown by a beach and was convicted of murder. It seems to be pretty open and shut - Laurence Coly (Guslagie Malanda) is on trial, and Rama (Kayije Kagame) is following the proceedings as she plans to write a book about the case - she's kind of like the director's surrogate. Both women are Senegalese, in a relationship with a white guy and have a troubling history with their mothers, so there's a kind of kinship between the two, who never actually meet. At first Coly simply seems unrepentant and lacking in remorse, but as layers are dug away we get to some kind of sense of how this woman got where she's ended up - starting with her supposed boyfriend, who is 30 years older than her and hides her from his daughter and family. Coly ends up being like some kind of stashed away plaything, and eventually she begins cutting herself off from the rest of the world. Every place Coly ends up, she has cultural baggage and is treated according to this, even after the murder with her defense counsel. Underneath the skin there's a crushed, damaged and dead soul within. The film's themes include motherhood, and what women carry within them that was part of their mother and will be part of their daughter, along with being judged by the standards of a different culture from which you were born into. It's all summed up wonderfully in the defense counsel's closing statement - which puts it far more eloquently than I could. She's done the wrong thing and should pay for her actions, but we should also strive to understand what has gone wrong - and better ourselves as well.

7.5/10