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

[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

[Precious Doll]

It Comes at Night (2017) Trey Edward Shults 4/10
Tom of Finland (2017) Dome Karukoski 4/10
Sami Blood (2017) Amanda Kernell 5/10
Macadam Stories (2015) Samuel Benchetrit 4/10

Repeat viewings

Fat Girl (2001) Catherine Breillat 9/10
Lacombe, Lucien (1974) Louis Malle 8/10
Au Revoir les Enfants (1987) Louis Malle 10/10
A Countess from Hong Kong (1967) Charles Chaplin 5/10
An Englishman Abroad (1983) John Schlesinger 6/10

[Reza]

A Life at Stake (David Guilfoyle, 1955) 6/10

"B" grade noir is fascinating, nevertheless, to see Angela Lansbury in one of her numerous innocuous lead roles during the 1950s. She was just not cut out as a slinky leading lady type - here a femme fatale who plots with her elderly husband (Douglas Dumbrille) to do in the unsuspecting sap (Keith Andes) over a life insurance scam. The plot plods along but Lansbury makes it worth sitting through this rather trashy film.

[Reza]

I Wanted Wings (Mitchell Liesen, 1941) 4/10

Almost an advertisement for recruitment in the Army Air Corps as the plot follows the lives of three men from different backgrounds - a rich playboy (Ray Milland), a college jock (Wayne Morris) and a mechanic from the corn belt (William Holden) - who become friends while living the life of strict code as pilots during the war. It's all pretty routine although there are outstanding flight sequences with some stunningly shot plane crashes for which the special effects were nominated for an Oscar. Veronica Lake is memorable as a femme fatale who is involved in a love triangle with Milland and Holden.

[Reza]

Life (Daniel Espinosa, 2017) 6/10

Highly unoriginal retread of "Alien" as a crew on a Mars mission takes on soil samples containing an organism that grows at an alarming rate. The organism is amoeba-like with octopus tentacles, very angry and needs a living organism to feed off to survive. Its bait - the six crew members who get picked off one by one. It becomes a race to destroy it before it manages to return to earth with the ship and destroy mankind. Heroics provided by leads - Jake Gyllenhaal and Rebecca Ferguson. Third lead Ryan Reynolds, busy with another film at the same time, decided to take on a supporting role â la Janet Leigh. It's great fun in a typically cheesy way and worth watching for the "trick" ending.

[Reza]

Sphere (Barry Levinson, 1998) 4/10

Science fiction nonsense based on the Charles Crichton book is typically noisy with subpar effects with the actors talking a lot of scientific jargon making it all seem very important. It's not. And it's boring to boot. A giant spacecraft is found buried at the bottom of the Pacific ocean and a team of scientists - a psychologist (Dustin Hoffman), a mathematician (Samuel L. Jackson), a biochemist (Sharon Stone who was nominated as Worst Actress and for Worst Hairstyle for this) and an astrophysicist (Liev Schreiber) are taken down to check out the giant sphere found inside the craft. The sphere causes the team to manifest their worst fears which results in them trying to kill each other. Queen Latifah is around for a spectacular death scene as she is attacked by angry jellyfish. Like I said before the film is nonsense and a terrible bore. And it rightfully died at the boxoffice.

[Reza]

Fan (Maneesh Sharma, 2016) 8/10

The story of a man who could not bring himself to apologise results in a cat and mouse game between a rabid fan and the lookalike superstar actor whom he worships. The novelty of the film is that both characters are played by Shah Rukh Khan. As the creepy young fan the actor gets a facial transformation via CGI and a set of dentures but resembles the older actor. His obsession with the star makes him a small time success on stage in his neighborhood where he emulates the actor by dancing to his popular movie songs. The plot is set in motion when the fan decides to go visit the actor and finds himself in jail after a skirmish. Realising the short jail stint was at the behest of the actor he decides to seek revenge which involves a number of breathtaking chase sequences through the streets, waterfront and rooftops of Dubrovnik. These scenes are superbly edited and shot and form the backdrop of the plot which culminates back in Mumbai during a final confrontation. The star uses moments from his own well documented life to create the character of the fan bringing his life full circle through the character of the superstar. He also makes fun of himself as an actor for hire dancing at society weddings for a price and for which the actor faced a lot of criticism during his own career. An actor known for his pulpy romantic image this film is quite a challenge in that he acts on screen without relying on a female co-star and romantic songs. He manages to break free of that image with two intense, highly charged performances essaying dual roles which he was already familiar with although this time he shows maturity in his acting which was lacking before. It is heartening to see the actor taking chances with his career and coming up with something fresh albeit within the same familiar mileu.

[Reza]

Rang De Basanti / Paint Me Saffron (Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, 2006) 8/10

Heartrending story about patriotism and its meaning amongst youth in the modern world today. The story of Bhagat Singh and his followers during their fight against the British Raj is contrasted with the youth today in India during the making of a documentary about the freedom fighters. A young British woman (Alice Patten) anxious to bring that story to the screen visits India to look for amateur actors to bring life to her film. Her contact (Soha Ali Khan) in India introduces the filmmaker to a bunch of her college chums all of whom she persuades to participate in her project. They are a sorry bunch who gradually fit into the parts as they slowly understand the importance of the cause faced by the men and women who fought for freedom. The colorful youth consist of an ageing layabout student (Aamir Khan), a rich pampered young man (Siddharth) at odds with his industrialist father (Anupam Kher), a Muslim poet (Kunal Kapoor), the young innocent (Sharman Joshi) obsessed by girls and a fundamentalist Hindu (Atul Kulkarni) who find themselves banding together to create characters from the past - shown in sepia toned images fighting against the British - and realising the importance of being patriots through a horrific event in the present involving one of their friends who is an Air Force pilot (R. Madhavan). The film devolves into melodrama at the end joining the past and present in a bloody finale. The film manages to balance comedy, melodrama and tragedy thanks to the superb cast all of whom are at the top of their game. Superstar Aamir Khan blends into this ensemble piece never for once overshadowing his co-stars. The film also manages to be a travelogue of India showing its people in large cities and in villages. Special mention to two superb actors in small roles - Kirron Kher playing the Punjabi mother of Aamir Khan and former Bollywood leading lady Waheeda Rehman as the mother of the pilot who is elegantly emotional in her brief scenes. A must-see.

[Reza]

Before I Wake / Shadow of Fear (Albert S. Rogell, 1955) 7/10

This is similar in spirit to Daphne du Maurier's "My Cousin Rachel". A young woman (Mona Freeman) returns home from University abroad to live with her stepmother (Jean Kent) after both her parents died mysteriously. Convinced the stepmother was behind her death she has trouble convincing the townfolk, the police and a childhood friend (Maxwell Reed). Suspenseful film with an excellent Jean Kent as the malevolent woman who will stop at nothing to keep up the facade she has maintained in the community.

[Reza]

Wife, Husband and Friend (Gregory Ratoff, 1939) 6/10

Farce based on a James M. Cain novel has spoilt wife (Loretta Young), urged on by her mother (Helen Westley) and piano player (Cesar Romero) to sing opera. When she proves to have a lousy voice her husband (Warner Baxter) is convinced by a scheming singer (Binnie Barnes) to try opera singing and which to his surprise turns out to be a success. Typical 1930s comedy, very loud and frantic, with a wonderful group of the studio's character actors playing various eccentrics causing complications for the two often glamorous leads. These plots had a set pattern and were mostly a repeat of each other with minor tweaks in the screenplays.

[Reza]

Peau d'Âne / Donkey Skin (Jacques Demy, 1970) 7/10

A fairy godmother (Delphine Seyrig) helps a beautiful princess (Catherine Deneuve) disguise herself as a donkey so that she can avoid marrying a man (Jean Marais) she does not love. That man happens to be her own father. Thus begins Demy's charming musical faerie tale which reminds of Jean Cocteau's "La belle et la bête", "Cinderella" and Demy's own "Les parapluies de Cherbourg" with the stars of the former and latter films playing lead roles here. A dying queen (also played by Deneuve) of a mythical kingdom (the sets here are all in a blue colour scheme) gives permission to her husband, the king (Marais), to marry again provided the woman is even more beautiful than her. After searching high and low the king settles on marrying his own daughter who is even more beautiful than her mother. Quirky plot with songs, romance with a prince (Jacques Perrin) from a neighboring kingdom (where the sets have a red colour scheme) ruled by his parents, the king (Fernand Ledoux) and queen (Micheline Presle). Like all fairy tales the story is ripe with oddities - a woman who spits toads, a donkey that poops gold and precious gems, a helicopter that suddenly appears and buildings with low doorways forcing people to stoop. This is a bizarre fantasy presented with great visual flair. Something Disney should attempt although the main plot point of incest (which is treated very casually here) may prove too daunting for them.

[Reza]

The Man (Joseph Sargent, 1972) 7/10

A story many years ahead of its time - 45 years to be exact - is based on the 1964 Irving Wallce bestseller. The film was made for tv but rushed into cinemas initially because sponsors proved too queasy to take it on. When the President of the United States and the Speaker are killed in a freak accident and the dying Veep (Lew Ayres) refuses to accept the office the role falls to the "president pro tempore of the Senate", an academic (James Earl Jones), who happens to be black. His colour is the obvious "elephant in the room" which gets immediately challenged by various individuals - the weak willed Secretary of State (William Windom) and his politically ambitious wife (Barbara Rush in a great bitchy turn), a segregationist senator (Burgess Meredith) who makes moves to oust the President over an issue in South Africa and even his own radical daughter who calls him a "house nigger" for playing it safe. Jones gives a quietly commanding performance with an ending that brings an unthinkable future historical event into the present. The film plays it too safe and could have rocked the boat instead by showing more realism. However, its tv related budget, the political and cultural situation in the country and racism still simmering in the country prevented the film from making a greater impact. Well worth watching as a reference to President Obama's two terms in Office.

[Precious Doll]

Long Shot (1980) Maurice Hatton 4/10
Remembering the Man (2016) Nicholas Bird & Eleanor Sharpe 8/10
Lady Macbeth (2017) William Oldroyd 6/10
Daughters of the Dust (1991) Julie Dash 7/10
Blindfolded Eyes (1978) Carlos Saura 6/10
The Olive Tree (2016) Iciar Bollain 5/10
Oklahoma City (2017) Barak Goodman 6/10
The Student and Mister Henri (2015) Ivan Calberac 5/10

Repeat viewings

Oasis (2002) Chang-dong Lee 8/10
Mata Hari (1931) George Fitzmaurice 5/10
The Romantic Englishwoman (1975) Joseph Losey 8/10

[Precious Doll]

My Cousin Rachel (2017) Roger Michell 4/10
Una (2017) Benedict Andrews 2/10
The Sleeping-Car Murders (1965) Costa-Gavras 7/10
Us Two (1980) Claude Lelouch 1/10
The Rats (1955) Robert Siodmak 6/10
Stress is Three (1968) Carlos Saura 6/10

Repeat viewings

Sansho the Bailiff (1954) Kenji Mizoguchi 10/10
The Holy Girl (2004) Lucrecia Martel 8/10
Candy (1968) Richard Marquand 4/10
The 10th Victim (1965) Elio Petri 6/10
1984 (1984) Michael Radford 8/10