Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

[Reza]

Behold My Wife! (Mitchell Liesen, 1934) 6/10

Sylvia Sidney is charming as a blue-eyed Apache Indian who ends up married to rich playboy (Gene Raymond) who uses the unsuspecting woman to spite his parents (H.B. Warner & Laura Hope Crews) who had inadvertently driven the woman he loved to suicide. Liesen mixes up comedy, a social message (the interracial marriage) and romance and creates a neat little melodrama with a wonderful cast - Monroe Owsley plays a louse and Ann Sheridan appears in an early role. Laura Hope Crews is hilarious doing her fainting spell act and wailing for her smelling salts.

[Reza]

They Were Sisters (Arthur Crabtree, 1945) 5/10

Gainsborough melodrama, set in the "present" for a change, was a huge hit. Not a bodice ripper but a rather maudlin tale about three sisters - Phyllis Calvert is the sensible childless one married to a decent man, Dulcie Gray is the meek, downtrodden one married to a brute (a typecast James Mason) and Anne Crawford is the flighty one. Pamela Kellino (married to star Mason) plays his daughter and their scenes together appear creepily incestuous. Tedious film is nevertheless a good showcase for the three female stars.

[Reza]

The Audience (Stephen Daldry, 2013) 9/10

Every Tuesday at 6.30 pm the Queen of the United Kingdom, Elizabeth II (Helen Mirren), has a private audience with her Prime Minister to discuss on going matters of State along with assorted personal chatter. Matters discussed during these meetings have never been made public so this is an imagining of what may have or could have taken place. This is a broadcast of Peter Morgan's play (a huge success in the West End and on Broadway for which Dame Helen Mirren won the Olivier and the Tony) and filmed with a live audience on a sparse set consisting of two chairs. The vignettes are presented between the period 1952 and the present but not in sequence as she meets her various Prime Ministers over the years - John Major (Paul Ritter), Winston Churchill (Edward Fox), Harold Wilson (Richard McCabe), Gordon Brown (Nathaniel Parker), Sir Anthony Eden (Michael Elwyn), Margaret Thatcher (Haydn Gwynne) and David Cameron (Rufus Wright). The familiar personas of the Queen and the Prime Ministers is sharply brought to life through the witty writing and superb performances. Historically fascinating account (even if the meetings are created through the imagining of the playwright) allows us to closely view moments of candid intimacy between her Majesty and her Prime Ministers along with many ordinary moments set during various historical periods of strife and drama. This collaboration between star Mirren and Peter Morgan is in many ways an even more richer experience than their previous outing with the same character in "The Queen". Remarkably intelligent, humourous and intimate this captures moments of great tenderness (the Queen confronted by her young self on stage as she contemplates her position) and tension during periods of political strife. Mirren is radiant throughout creating a very human yet familiar character as viewed through the Queen's very familiar avatar. The costumes are a huge help in creating this image - her sensible but brightly coloured dresses, the tweeds (worn during an audience at Balmoral - the corgis make an appearance too) and her resplendent formal gown with tiara perched sturdily on her head all of which help to create the woman. Daldry's understated direction allows the writing and the performances to shine without resorting to any unnecessary theatrics.

[Reza]

Yalghaar (Hassan Waqas Rana, 2017) 1/10

The war on terror with the Army taking on terrorists looked ambitious on paper but this mega budget film is a disaster of epic proportions. It is badly directed, scripted and acted and takes Pakistani cinema to an incredibly low point. Shaan Shahid, who has suddenly aged rather badly, still has screen presence as the leader of a group of Army personnel but the amateurish acting by the rest of the cast destroys whatever credibility the screenplay is trying to achieve. The film is even worse than the similarly themed "Waar" which was produced by this director. It is a monotonous waste of time. Skip this one and go eat cheesecake instead. At least the guilt of eating that is time well spent.

[Reza]

The White Princess (Jamie Payne & Alex Kalyminios, 2017) 8/10

A direct sequel to "The White Queen", based on the historical book by Phillipa Gregory, leading up to the events at the close of the War of the Roses after the death of King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth. The events come to a head with the complicated and treacherous plotting of two formidable old women - the Dowager Queen Elizabeth (Essie Davis) who plans to put her son, Henry Tudor (Jacob Collins-Levy), on the throne of England and Margaret Beaufort (Michelle Fairlee) who plans for her eldest daughter Elizabeth (Jodie Comer) to become the bride of Henry thus uniting the houses of Lancaster and York to avoid further bloodshed. Henry Tudor takes the throne of England as King Henry VII which started the Tudor dynasty. The marriage of Henry and Elizabeth takes place amidst a lot of intrigue which is often very bloody. The screenplay plays havoc with the actual historical events for dramatic purposes. In reality the marriage between the two proved very compatable, happy and peaceful yet here it remains full of tension with plots within plots by various factions trying to usurp the King from the throne to bring an end to the Tudors as the Duchess of Burgundy (Joanne Whalley) takes on the English army in order to put a surving prince (the Queen's young brother) from the House of York on the throne. Henry VII and Elizabeth of York were the parents of the future King Henry VIII who would become famous for his 6 wives and his break from the Vatican making himself head of the Church of England and fathering two formidable future Queens of England, Mary and Elizabeth I. This 8 part miniseries is sumptuously filmed with enough sex, blood and pageantry to populate 10 films. Worth watching from the historical perspective even though the facts have been tampered with.

[Reza]

Dangal (Nitesh Tiwari, 2016) 9/10

Rousing and heartwarming film set in the world of female wrestling. A former wrestler (Aamir Khan), from a small village in India, is forced to give up the sport after winning at the national level. His dream is for his son to win at the International level which was something he could not reach. Much to his disappointment he is blessed with four daughters instead and he decides to train the older two in the sport. The marvelous screenplay captures the sport in superb detail as the two children are trained rigorously despite societal pressures from all around. This is star Aamir Khan's "Raging Bull" - he put on huge amounts of body weight to play the pot bellied middleaged father who relentlessly aims for his daughter to reach the top. Former child actor Fatima Sana Shaikh is superb as the feisty young girl who is a whizz as the champion wrestler matching wits with her loving but old fashioned father. The exhilarating tournament sequences are superbly shot and edited. The film was a massive success at the boxoffice and won well deserved Filmfare awards for Best Picture, Aamir Khan for his lead performance and for Tiwari's astute direction. A crowd pleaser and a must-see.

[Reza]

Tubelight (Kabir Khan, 2017) 3/10

Jingoistic propaganda piece that takes back Hindi cinema several decades. It must be extremely difficult to be a movie superstar in India during these times AND be a Muslim in a country populated predominantly by Hindus and having to face the fanatic political junta. The three "Khan" superstars - Aamir, Shah Rukh and Salman - all face this dilemma on a daily basis. To appease the "authorities" the public gets to see films of this ilk where the star (in this case Salman) grovels in a role designed to play to the gallery of patriotism. The other two stars have long been married to ladies of the Hindu faith but Salman offscreen remains an overaged bachelor who needs security under the blanket of such a shameless propaganda piece. Never known for his acting skills he has managed to sustain a very long and fruitful career through sheer star presence. Here he tackles the part of a "simple minded" character - with seeds of Sean Penn in "I Am Sam" & Dustin Hoffman in "Rainman" - who has grown up under the protection of his younger brother (Sohail Khan - the star's own younger brother in a project produced by the star and their Muslim mother). When the younger brother is drafted into the army and is reported missing in action the older, child-like, brother wills him back in a plot so saccharine that one is scared of developing diabetes. Shah Rukh Khan appears in a cameo playing an absurd magical character who performs for the village kids on stage. His presence in the film is a signal that the two stars' offscreen estrangement is finally over and they are back to being buddies after a well publicised quarrel years before when Shah Rukh as producer fired Salman from a film project when the latter misbehaved on set with his girlfriend at the time - Aishwarya Rai - and leading lady of the project. Om Puri appears in his last screen role (for some reason made up to look like Colonel Sanders of KFC fame) shot just before his untimely death. They are all ill-served by this project which, to be fair, has to it's credit superb cinematography and lovely location work in Manali, Kashmir and Ladhak. Skip this one unless you are a fan of Salman Khan and even then please beware before you step into this film.

[Reza]

Action in Arabia (Léonide Moguy, 1944) 7/10

A clone of "Casablanca" in tone and atmosphere with a reporter (George Sanders) trying to find the murderer of a fellow reporter and uncovering a plot by the Nazis to unite the Arab tribes against the Allied Forces. I think the Nazis had a valid point and is far more encouraging than the issue today of one Allied Force (the United States) hell bent on ensuring the destruction of the Arab world by making them all fight against each other. Pure hokum has debonair Sanders (dressed in a white dinner-jacket â la James Bond) talk his way through this WWII propaganda piece full of shadowy intrigue.

[Reza]

Written on the Wind (Douglas Sirk, 1956) 9/10

Perversion has a certain fascination and Sirk takes it on with a tongue-in-cheek glee thumbing his nose at post-war American materialism. Wealth, alcoholism, nymphomania, incest, homosexuality, greed, avarice and impotence - all play a part in this heated melodrama which was clearly a precursor to the steamy tv shows of the 1980s like "Dallas" and "Dynasty". The director emphasises the artificiality of the project through the art direction - the intentional fake sets and shots of back projection - and the deliciously garish colours (Russell Metty's glorious cinematography with characters reflected in mirrors or framed in doorways) of the costumes (the chic designs of Bill Thomas), sets and cars. Everything in the film is in excess and is underlined as if by a bright red marker with the loud score by Frank Skinner emphasizing every dramatic moment on screen. The overheated plot concerns a love triangle between a rich alcoholic oilman (Robert Stack), his chic wife (Lauren Bacall) and his poor childhood best friend (Rock Hudson) who is secretly in love with the wife. The catalyst who causes grief for all concerned is the oilman's nymphomaniac sister (Dorothy Malone) who is in love with her brother's childhood friend. It's amusing to see how everyone is carrying a secret torch through either thinly veiled homosexuality, adultery or incest. Sirk also thumbs a nose at all the solemn (and similarly overheated) dramas by Tennessee Williams and William Inge during the 1950s which in his delightfully wicked way exposes the absurdity and exaggeration of middle class mores in America at the time. Hudson, who is clearly the star here, allows Robert Stack to steal scenes as the pathetically sad alcoholic for which he was nominated for an Oscar. Dorothy Malone has a great time as the slinky nymphomaniac - on the dance floor with Hudson or openly pining for him - and won an Oscar. Greatly influential film and one of Sirk's many classic melodramas from the 1950s. A must-see.

[Reza]

Les orgueilleux / The Proud and the Beautiful (Yves Allégret & Rafael E. Portas, 1953) 9/10

Atmospheric film set in a seedy Mexican town where the heat, dust, humidity, filth and noise prevades every frame. Yves Allegret's film about two lost souls finding redemption through a meningitis plague is heavy with religious symbolism with the cross playing a major role whether draped over dead bodies or being boiled in vinegar to kill germs. Martin Scorsese championed this film no doubt as a means to soothe his own religiosity which prevades his films as well. A woman (Michèle Morgan) who has lost her husband due to an epidemic, and stranded in a Mexican town, meets and finds the will to live again after meeting a drunken doctor (Gérard Philipe) who harbors a painful memory from his past. Not exactly a masterpiece but the presence of two huge stars playing at a fever pitch lifts this hot and squalid melodrama to great heights helped in great part by the cinematography of Alex Phillips who uses lights and shadows to shoot dramatic closeups of the two stars. The whole enterprise looks realistic and fake at the same time which probably led to directors like Truffaut condemning such films thus ushering in the New Wave. The sheer old fashioned romanticism is exactly what makes the story so moving and in contrast to old Hollywood films you can at least smell the squalor. A great classic of french cinema.

[Reza]

Rebecca (Alfred Hitchcock, 1940) 10/10

"Last Night I dreamt I went to Manderley again….’’. The famous opening words of the novel and film – a tender gothic romance and a haunting ghost story - which transports the viewer back into time as the narrator conjures up the image of a stately mansion called ‘Manderley’’ on the Cornish coast. The narrator of the story is a young woman (Joan Fontaine), a paid companion to an American matron (a hilariously vulgar Florence Bates), whose first name is never mentioned. The story unfolds through her eyes as she describes her sudden meeting and marriage with Max De Winter (Laurence Olivier), owner of a great ancestral home, and a man haunted by something in his past. As his second wife she reluctantly settles into a life totally alien to her as she has to handle the day-to-day affairs of the house with its many servants of whom the most formidable is Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson), the personal maid of the deceased first mistress of the house. She also meets her in-laws (Nigel Bruce & Gladys Cooper) and Rebecca's over-familiar cousin (George Sanders). As she begins to settle down and win over her gruff husband a sinking feeling continues to nag at her. Gradually the shocking mystery of the past is revealed which involves Rebecca - the enigmatic, sophisticated and very beautiful first wife who had died under mysterious circumstances. Hitchcock’s first film in Hollywood and produced by David O’Selznick whose last film – Gone With the Wind – had been a huge success winning many Academy awards including Best Picture. Hitchcock carefully creates his trademark suspense by intentionally keeping the main character in the dark (he told Fontaine that everyone on set hated her including Olivier who had wanted Vivien Leigh to play the part) and since the audience is watching the plot unfold through her eyes the suspense is maintained till the end when all is revealed. The film’s success hinges on the performance of Joan Fontaine – until then an actress who had appeared in only minor films - who rises to the demands of a very difficult role. She perfectly captures the pathetic and shy quality of the character one who gradually begins to come out of her shell. She is extraordinary and matches the performances of her two distinguished co-stars, the simmering and aloof Laurence Olivier and the quietly menacing evil of Judith Anderson. George Barnes' brooding Oscar winning cinematography superbly creates the menacing atmosphere which is sustained right to the end while the hauntingly romantic score by Franz Waxman is also memorable. The film won the Oscar for Best Picture.

[Reza]

The Sword and the Rose (Ken Annakin, 1953) 7/10

Headstrong and spirited Mary Tudor (Glynis Johns) defies her brother King Henry VIII (James Robertson Justice) and pursues the dashing Captain of the Guards (Richard Todd) much to the chagrin of the villainous Duke of Buckingham (Michael Gough) who wants her hand in marriage. Historically inaccurate period romp is full of pageantry with equal doses of romance and treachery. Sumptuously produced by Disney and beautifully shot in technicolor by Geoffrey Unsworth.

[Reza]

Jeannie (Harold French, 1941) 9/10

A sensible Scottish spinster (Barbara Mullen) inherits money from her late miserly father and decides to visit Vienna to hear the "Blue Danube" in the origin of the tune's country. Charming romantic comedy has the young girl in a mix aided and abetted by an inventor-salesman (Michael Redgrave) and two spongers - a fake count (Albert Lieven) and a party girl (Kay Hammond) - both of whom think she is an heiress. Redgrave and Mullen make a delightful pair as the bemused man helping along the wide eyed innocent girl on her adventures. The Strauss waltz plays a hand in their inevitable romance. Great fun from start to finish helped in great part by the witty screenplay.

[Precious Doll]

The King's Choice (2016) Erik Poppe 5/10
Paris Can Wait (2017) Eleanor Coppola 1/10
A Ghost Story (2017) David Lowery 4/10
The Lost City of Z (2017) James Gray 7/10
The Levelling (2017) Hope Dickson Leach 4/10

Repeat viewings

Empire of the Sun (1987) Steven Spielberg 8/10
The Exterminator (1980) James Glickenhaus 4/10
A Quiet Passion (2016) Terence Davies 10/10
The Heartbreak Kid (1972) Elaine May 6/10
Faces (1968) John Cassavetes 7/10

[Precious Doll]

The Beguiled (2017) Sofia Coppola 4/10
Baby Driver (2017) Edgar Wright 4/10
Our Time Will Come (2017) Ann Hui 5/10
The Ticket (2017) Ido Fluk 3/10
Dunkirk (2017) Christopher Nolan 6/10

Repeat viewings

The Straight Story (1999) David Lynch 10/10
Cronos (1993) Guillermo del Toro 7/10
10 to Midnight (1983) J. Lee Thompson 6/10
Track of the Cat (1954) William Wellman 7/10
Porky's (1982) Bob Clark 4/10