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

[gunnar]

Mercy Island (1941) - 4/10 - A man takes his wife and a friend out on a fishing trip in the Florida Keys. He's kind of pigheaded and controlling and these traits get a bit worse after he is knocked unconscious when the boat runs ashore on an island and loses its propeller. He thinks that his wife is cheating on him with his friend and also becomes obsessed about the man they find living on the island. I thought the movie was watchable, but is also kind of shallow in terms of plot.

Women in War (1940) - 7/10 - A young British socialite named Pam joins the Auxiliary Forces as a nurse and is sent to the front lines in France. The matron is pretty strict, but Pam doesn't know that the matron is the mother that divorced her father 20 years earlier. There is a romance and the danger of war and I thought it was a pretty good movie overall. Peter Cushing has a small role in the film.

Hitchhike to Happiness (1945) - 6.5/10 - Dale Evans stars as a radio star named Alice Chase who returns home to New York for the first time in many years. She decides to go visit places she used to frequent and see what her old friends are up to, though they know her be her old name, not her stage name. She falls for a struggling songwriter who doesn't know her other identity. There's plenty of humor and music and I thought that it was a fun show.

[Reza]

The Devil Makes Three (Andrew Marton, 1952) 7/10

One of many films that used post-WWII European locations as part of the plot thus giving the audience a tour of many devastated cities on the brink of reconstruction. Here we get glimpses of Munich, Salzburg, a number of villages and, in the film's exciting action-packed finale, there are fascinating interior views of the famous Berghof in Obersalzberg - Hitler's personal home - which was in ruins after being bombed by Allied airplanes. Scenes have been shot in the entry hall with the vaulted ceilings and in the conference room with the giant picture window. An American pilot (Gene Kelly) returns to Munich after the War to look up the family who sheltered him from the Nazis after he was forced to bail out of his plane. He finds that the old couple died during a bombing raid and their daughter (Pier Angeli) now works as a hostess in a seedy nightclub. When he starts falling in love with the bitter and angry girl he is informed by officials that she is part of a smuggling ring headed by Neo-Nazis. Kelly got his fame singing and dancing in the MGM musicals but he was also a good actor as he proved in the occasional dramas he appeared in for the studio. Pier Angeli is pretty but stiff at the start of her Hollywood career. The mostly on-location filming gives the film an authentic feel and the story, although fictitious, is based on actual events where the U.S. Army hunted for gold smuggled out of Germany by former Nazi officials.

Living in a Big Way (Gregory La Cava, 1947) 5/10

La Cava's last film is a lightweight and at times rather corny musical that marked the return of star Gene Kelly back to Hollywood after the War. The premise - G.I. (Gene Kelly) marries girl (Marie "the Body" McDonald) after a whirlwind romance, ships off overseas and upon his return three years later finds his wife is an insufferable snob who no longer wants him as her husband. Needless to say he still wants her and tries to get her back through any means possible. Helping, abetting and causing all manner of chaos around them are the obnoxious bride's nouveau riche father (delightful Charles Winninger), her greedy but feather-brained mother (funny Spring Byington), the wily but friendly grandmother (Jean Adair), the blunt and very sly butler (Clint Sundberg) and a pretty young widow (Phyllis Thaxter). Kelly gets three dance numbers (a dog, statue and kids are involved) devised by him and Stanley Donen. While Kelly is his usual energetic self the film as a whole seems very lacklustre with a lot of the gags regurgitated from other comedies and musicals.

The Sleeping City (George Sherman, 1950) 6/10

Semi-documentary style film noir dispenses the genre's stylized look and instead goes for realism which was in vogue at the time. The story is set inside Bellvue hospital in New York with a plot centered around a homicide and dope smuggling. The producers of the film were forced by the mayor of New York to shoot a prologue assuring the public that events in the film were fictitious so as not to damage the reputation of the city's oldest hospital. When an intern is found with a bullet in his head the cops plant a detective (Richard Conte) inside the hospital to investigate the mysterious killing. He becomes involved with a nurse (Coleen Gray) and also becomes friendly with the chatty elevator operator (Richard Raber). When his roommate (Alex Nicol) is found dead of a suspected suicide he decides to act quickly on his suspicions in order to try and stop the killer from striking again. Grim, talky thriller moves at a very slow pace before finally picking up at the end. Conte, one of Hollywood's most underrated actors, is excellent as is the film's moody cinematography which gives the film an edgy feel.

The Sniper (Edward Dmytryk, 1952) 7/10

Psychologically scarred man (Arthur Franz), recently out of a mental ward in prison, goes on a rampage and starts killing young brunettes with a high powered rifle. Meanwhile a cop (Adolphe Menjou) and a psychiatrist (Richard Kiley) lead a frantic manhunt across San Francisco to try and capture the killer. Edward and Edna Anhalt's story - nominated for an Academy Award - is a desperate plea to the government to understand and bring help to people suffering from mental illness. Marie Windsor offers a vivid cameo as one of the victims. This starkly shot film, produced by Stanley Kramer, memorably uses familiar San Francisco street locations. The film marked the return of Dmytryk as a director after his blacklist and prison sentence for contempt of Congress when he refused to name names of his communist associates to the House Un-American Activities Committee. As "punishment" for his communist associations he was assigned to direct Adolphe Menjou, a fervent anti-communist and supporter of HUAC in Hollywood. The two got on well despite their political differences.

[Reza]

Those Who Wish Me Dead (Taylor Sheridan, 2021)

A guilt-ridden firefighter (Angelina Jolie) - three kids died in a raging forest fire on her beat - finds herself fighting to save the life of a child (Finn Little) who is being chased by two assassins (Aiden Gillen & Nicholas Hoult) who killed his father. She needs to put her sharp survival skills to use and stop the killers. Rather pedestrian, by-the-numbers thriller, moves at a fast pace and seems to be a project designed to ease Jolie back into movies after a hiatus as a director. She shows flashes of her old self but mostly coasts through the film looking bored. Also jarring is to see work done on her face which makes her resemble a waxwork. Medina Senghore is kick-ass as the pregnant wife of a cop who manages to turn the tables on the two assassins. Once upon a time the token black supporting actress in the cast would have had to suffer the indignity of rape and/or death at the hands of the white killers but with Hollywood now working to right such matters Senghore's character is shown in bold heroic mode which was a very pleasant surprise. Lots of loud action moments courtesy of a raging forest fire and a stunning display of lightning from the sky. There is a brief appearance by Tyler Perry as a hood. The film's spectacular location, meant to be Montana, was actually shot in New Mexico.

Friends: The Reunion (Ben Winston, 2021) 8/10

I haven't seen all the seasons of the show but have seen enough episodes to know what a personal impact it had on fans around the world. The iconic title song, the incredible chemistry between the six actors (who all became stars) and their comic timing made the show such a hit. Most of all it had a great deal to say about the true meaning of friendship. This reunion show brings back the actors and its good to see that all of them not only have fond memories about the show but have a great deal of affection for each other as they chat, reminisce and answer questions by fans in the audience. Three of the stars are remarkably well preserved while two have put on weight and one has tweaked her face. But they all still remain as lovable as they were on the show. A fun reunion full of laughs and tears.

Rebus / Appointment in Beirut (Nino Zanchin, 1968) 2/10

Eurospy film is typical of all the corny spy thrillers that came in the wake of James Bond. It has all the trappings of the swinging sixties - an exotic location (Beirut, much before it became a battlefield, gets a look-in), numerous blonde babes lounging around or doing the belly dance, two international stars; one invariably with a waning career graph who is coupled with a hot starlet. Ann-Margret is the starlet during the early phase of her career when her face still had an original look to it. A down on his luck, alcoholic croupier (Laurence Harvey), forever getting fired from his jobs, is approached by a mysterious man and asked to join a casino in a Beirut hotel. His real assignment is to try and capture an international gang of crooks who are planning to rob the casino during a fixed game at the roulette table. While dodging assorted people and an annoying cop (Alberto De Mendoza) he falls for a singer (Ann-Margret who sings two songs) at the hotel who may or may not have the hots for the leader of the gang of theives (Ivan Desny). Fast-paced but silly film has a touch of oomph courtesy of the starlet - Ann-Margret does her go-go girl routine wearing skimpy outfits while the camera lovingly goes into extreme closeup of her gyrating hips and ass. There is also a funny cameo by silent German movie star, Camilla Horn, playing a talkative and very annoying American tourist. Tiresome film should be avoided like the plague.

Die rote Jacke / The Red Jacket (Florian Baxmeyer, 2002) 10/10

A child's red sports jacket takes on a tragic dimension but also ends up signalling hope as a fairy-tale ending is in store for it. Almost without dialogue and relying totally on its shattering visuals the story paints a picture about death, the ugliness of war and a glimmer of hope which transcends all that has taken place before. A soccer loving German boy dies in a traffic accident and his grieving father later dumps the red jacket he was wearing into a trash can. The jacket is picked by garbage collectors and finds its way to a factory of used clothes, laundered and packed along with other articles of clothing and shipped off to war-torn Sarajevo. A young kid steals the red jacket from a truck and treks home only to find his house bombed, his parents killed and surrounded by soldiers who shoot him too. Left for dead he is found by German soldiers who evacuate him, along with their wounded colleague, to Germany. He wakes up in hospital, wears the red jacket and quietly sneaks out of the building. Almost run over by a car the driver comforts him and seeing a name and address printed on the inside of the jacket returns him to the man who lost his son - the original owner of the jacket. The jacket comes full circle as it moves from a scene of tragedy to one of hope and new beginnings. Powerful short film - a co-production between Germany, Serbia and Croatia - was nominated for an Academy Award. A must-see.

Under Suspicion (Stephen Hopkins, 2000) 7/10

Tense, claustrophobic psychological police procedural is based on the French film Garde à vue (1981) and on the British novel "Brainwash", written by John Wainwright. The location in this remake shifts to Puerto Rico (with its colorful San Sebastian Street Festival as a backdrop) from the one in the first film which was set mainly in a police precinct in Paris. A rich tax attorney (Gene Hackman), about to give an important speech at a fundraiser, is called for a quick talk at the police station by the police Captain (Morgan Freeman) who is also his longtime friend. The cops - sitting in on the meeting is also a hot-headed detective (Thomas Jane) - want to verify a few further facts related to the attorney's discovery of a teenage girl's dead body the day before. The questioning drags on as the man keeps changing his story making it more and more obvious of his guilt. When the cops mention that his car was noticed at the scene of a similar crime a few days before - both girls were raped and strangled and then placed on the side with their hair carefully combed and each body laid to rest on its side - he comes up with a vague alibi which in turn leads the cops to announce more unsavory details about him including a troubled relationship with his much younger trophy wife (Monica Bellucci). When she allows the cops to search their mansion some unsettling discoveries are made which appear to put the final nail in his coffin. The final twist in the story diverges slightly from the french film which changes the impact of this one. Both leads are superb as they play a game of cat and mouse with each other while Bellucci is mostly silent throughout as she is viewed by the camera and seen as a beautiful object. Rapid fire editing with flashbacks add to the suspense as the scenes where the crime took place are at times juxtaposed onto the scenes set inside the precinct with the accused and the cop both shown together when the crimes were taking place. Strangely the film got very limited release despite it being shown at the Cannes film festival. Pity about the end which chose not to follow the devastating route taken by the earlier french version where Romy Schneider, in the part played here by Bellucci, is magnificent.

Behind the Mask (Brian Desmond Hurst, 1958) 6/10

Rare but undistinguished British hospital drama has the distinction of being 21-year old Vanessa Redgrave's film debut - she would not appear in another film for 8 years when she returned with a bang and luckily never left. A promising young surgeon (Tony Britton) gets the chance to work under the aegis of a distinguished senior surgeon (Sir Michael Redgrave) and is engaged to his daughter (Vanessa Redgrave - very tall, very slim and very glamorous). His trials and tribulations at the hospital along with his interactions with other doctors (Carl Möhner, Niall MacGinnis) form the basis of the story. Minor film is not without interest although its only claim to fame is to see a very young Vanessa play on screen for the only time with her father.

The Lion in Winter (Anthony Harvey, 1968) 10/10

Harvey's film, adapted for the screen by James Goldman from his own play, is about a family getting together at Christmas and squabbling amongst themselves. But this is no ordinary family as it delves back into 12th century British history and dissects the poisonous relationships between King Henry II (Peter O'Toole), his wife Queen Eleanor (Katharine Hepburn) and their three sons - Richard (Anthony Hopkins in one of his first big screen appearances), Geoffrey (John Castle) and John (Nigel Terry). Also invited into the fray are the young King Phillip II of France (Timothy Dalton) - the son of Eleanor's ex-husband (King Louis VII) by his third wife and a former lover of Richard - and Alais (Jane Merrow) - daughter of Eleanor's ex-husband by his second wife, Phillip's half sister betrothed to Richard but mistress to Henry. A convoluted set of relationships which, during the gathering, explodes into a potpourri of scheming, lying and manipulation as each character tries to safeguard their position. Although the play's title refers to the King it is the Queen who gets the best lines and Katharine Hepburn gleefully runs with it parrying with everyone around, a perpetual smile on her face, as she knocks off the witty dialogue and at the same time letting slip her vulnerability which she mostly keeps masked. Her main battle is with her husband, who has had her imprisoned for the last ten years but has allowed her out of prison during the holiday season to discuss passing on the realm to one of their sons. She favours the brave soldier, Richard, while he favours the snivelling younger son John who he knows is an incapable coward. Geoffrey, the middle son, is like his mother - a cold, calculating schemer devoid of love from both his parents and willing to sell everyone around him to stay alive. This is one of O'Toole's most famous roles - second only to his "Lawrence" - which he had already played before on screen in "Becket" set during the earlier part of the King's reign. Despite all their animosity towards each other the Royal couple deep down still love each other but have reached a stage in their lives when all the schemings and betrayals through the years have usurped the true love each had for the other. It's now come down to the matter of trying to survive through all the games being played around them. Harvey superbly handles his cast and successfully opens up the play with many scenes set in the open countryside, on the river, on hilltops and on the beach. Mostly the drama takes place inside the imposing walls of the dank, dark filthy castle. Hepburn won her much deserved third Oscar for her brilliant interpretation as did Goldman for the screenplay adaptation of his play and John Barry for his lovely score. The film, Harvey, O'Toole and the costume design were all nominated. A magnificent film and a must-see.

[Reza]

Halston (Daniel Minahan, 2021) 8/10

The rags to riches story about the boy from Indiana who climbed the rungs of success first as a much sought after milliner - he designed Jackie Kennedy's famous pillbox hat which she wore to the Presidential inauguration in 1961 - and later as a higly inventive designer of fashion wear that included clothes, often made out of simple flowy fabric, eyewear, handbags, perfumes, lingerie and even luggage and bedding. He was a man who defined an era of excess which was synonymous with glamour, luxury, sleaze, driving ambition and rough trade sexual encounters. Ewan McGregor takes the role and runs with it capturing the designer's smallest of gestures - fey, not camp - his egocentric arrogant nature and his spectacular fall due to a spiraling addiction to coke. This 5-part miniseries superbly captures the period - the 1960s through the 1980s - with outstanding production design, costumes and the pulsating disco music during the era of New York's famed discoteque Studio 54 frequented by Halston and his coterie - his muse Liza Minnelli (Krysta Rodriguez), the Italian fashion model, jewelry designer and philanthropist Elsa Peretti (Rebecca Dayan), the fashion illustrator Joe Eula (David Pittu) and Venezuelan born American artist window dresser and partner Victor Hugo (Gian Franco Rodriguez). With the exception of Minnelli, who remained his friend, he eventually cruelly berated and dismissed the rest. His flamboyant lifestyle finally hits rock bottom due to his crumbling financial empire, his out of control coke and spending habits, his propensity towards delusions of grandeur about himself and testing positive for HIV which proved to be the final nail in his coffin. McGregor deserves an Emmy award for his amazing performance.

Madame Curie (Mervyn LeRoy, 1943) 7/10

MGM offered the role first to Greta Garbo who refused the part. The film was a prestige production and obvious Oscar bait as we've now come to know this term. With the enormous success of the previous year's "Mrs. Miniver" - 6 Oscars including one for Greer Garson - it was obvious that the role would go to the actress opposite Walter Pidgeon in what would become their third of nine screen teamings. A screen biography about a female physicist who discovered radium does not sound like a very alluring topic but the highly fictionalized screenplay (adapted from the biography by Ève Curie about her mother) here makes it seem suspenseful - the scenes leading up to the discovery with soaring music on the soundtrack - and also corny and hilarious with Garson, eyes glistening, breathlessly intoning, "Pierre we've discovered a new element, an active element". It's the magic of the movies, helped greatly by the genius of Joseph Ruttenberg's exquisite camerawork zooming in on Garson's face as she plays the scene making it all believable. This lovely actress, with her perfect diction, had a great soothing quality on the silver screen and she is presented here in an almost etherial manner. Her natural arched quality allowed her to play great ladies on screen and she does full justice to the role even if the presentation comes off rather old fashioned and at times rather tedious. The generic plot - a studious Polish girl (Greer Garson) studying science in 1890s Paris is introduced to another studious scientist (a stoic but often amusing Walter Pidgeon). Both hit it off and get married. Then she discovers an element in a rock which they name "radium" and just as they both become world-famous there is a tragedy in their lives. The film glosses over almost her entire later career including her second Nobel prize for Chemistry - her first was won with her husband for Physics which gets a brief mention. The studios stable of character actors are well cast here as well - both Henry Travers and Dame May Whitty (also with the same leads in "Mrs. Miniver") play his no-nonsense but supportive parents, and in very early roles Robert Walker, Van Johnson and little Margaret O'Brien as the Curie's precocious daughter. Both Garson and Pidgeon were nominated for Oscars, as was the film itself, the production design, cinematography, score and sound design.

The Valley of Decision (Tay Garnett, 1945) 5/10

From a time when Hollywood studios optioned plays and novels as projects for their leading ladies under contract. Greer Garson is not only badly miscast as a maid but also much too old to be newcomer Gregory Peck's love interest in this adaptation of the bestselling novel by Marcia Davenport. A soap opera about the Irish daughter of a former steelworker (Lionel Barrymore chewing the scenery) who goes into service for a rich family who own the Pittsburgh steel factory where years before her perpetually angry old father lost both his legs in an accident. She catches the eye of the older son (Gregory Peck) - who feels compassion for the underpaid and overworked staff at the mill - is admired by the master (Donald Crisp) and his wife (Gladys Cooper in a rare tender-hearted role), is a stern nanny to their man-crazy daughter (Marsha Hunt) and weary of the bitchy rich childhood sweetheart (Jessica Tandy) of the young and handsome son. The upstairs-downstairs love affair is strictly frowned upon by the parents due to their class difference while a strike at the steel mill causes all manner of anger and confusion. The sprawling story has manufacturing and labour issues at the steel mill tediously getting in the way of the romance. The film gets the full MGM treatment with Garson getting the maximum number of closeups courtesy of Joseph Ruttenberg's camera. Peck is very good but the film's best performance comes from Hunt who starts off as entitled and rich and evolves into entitled and struggling, while forming a warm bond with the maid which proves vital for the family's future. Garson was inexplicably nominated for an Oscar - her sixth - as was the film's music score.

[Reza]

The Woman in the Window (Joe Wright, 2021) 4/10

The film, based on the bestselling novel by A.J. Finn, has a strong whiff of Hitchcock's "Rear Window" but relies too much on red herrings and references to far superior noir thrillers. A pill-popping child psychologist (Amy Adams) stays confined inside her huge derelict Manhattan townhouse due to her agoraphobia. She appears to have suffered some trauma because she has weekly sessions at home with her shrink (Tracy Letts who also adapted the screenplay). Most of her time is spent in an alcoholic stupor while spying on her neighbors through her windows. A family altercation in the house across makes her suspect that a teenager is being physically harmed by his father (Gary Oldman). She befriends the child when he visits with a gift and also meets his mother (Julianne Moore) who one day spends the evening with her. When she later sees the woman brutally being stabbed in her own house across the street she has a hard time convincing the cop (Brian Tyree Henry) that the husband is the murderer. When the man comes to her house with his wife (Jennifer Jason Leigh) proving she is alive and well her wild tale of murder and violence gets shot down by everyone and she has to apologise to them for her mistake. However, she later finds proof of the dead woman's existence just when she discovers someone has broken into her home and is moving in for the kill. Old fashioned thriller tries hard to maintain suspence using assorted hoary tricks in the book - tilted camera angles, screeching music, loud storms, and assorted false alarms - all of which fail to pump life into the stale premise. The entire cast seem to be having a campy time emoting in a story that was pretty outdated fifty years ago.

Buffalo Bill (William A. Wellman, 1944) 7/10

Fox studio, famous for its colourful musicals, came up with a some-what fictionalized screen biography of "Buffalo Bill" Cody (Joel McCrea) also in spectacular colour. Soldier, bison hunter, showman, he spent many years as a scout during the Indian wars brokering peace between the white man and the Indian tribes and for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1872 - later rescinded under a new law days before his death in 1917 (although it was restrored decades later in 1988). There is romance when he rescues and later marries the beautiful daughter (Maureen O'Hara) of a U.S. senator (Moroni Olsen). His claim to fame really began when he started performing in shows that displayed cowboy themes and episodes from the frontier and Indian Wars. Rousing action-packed, pro-Indian, adventure film has an excellent central performance by McCrea, a fiery O'Hara always so memorable in technicolor, Thomas Mitchell as the wily reporter who writes about the cowboy and his life and above all Leon Shamroy's cinematography. Pretty Linda Darnell (in brown face) plays a squaw who teaches white children in school - fed up with the white man's racist attitude she goes back to her tribe and participates in a thrilling battle scene. Anthony Quinn plays an Indian chief and is still typecast by white racist Hollywood as an Indian despite being Cecil B. De Mille's son-in-law and having spent almost 10 years as an actor in the movies. Despite an Oscar 10 years later it wasn't until Federico Fellini cast him in "La Strada" in 1954 that he became a formidable leading man in both international and Hollywood films.

Waltzes From Vienna (Alfred Hitchcock, 1934) 7/10

Hitchcock took on this project at a low ebb during his early career. He had no work so took on the adaptation of the famous Vienna based London stage hit minus its songs. The film was part of the cycle of operetta films made in Britain during the 1930s. Based on the lives of Johann Strauss - both father (Edmund Gwenn) and son (Esmond Knight) - with an emphasis on their personal conflict over music. Intertwined is the love triangle between the younger Strauss and the two women in his life - the baker's daughter (Jessie Matthews) and the married Countess (Fay Compton) who inspires him to write the "Blue Danube" which brings him into conflict with his father who claims the waltz has no musical merit. The film was an ideal romantic musical vehicle for the charming musical star Jessie Matthews although her part here is rather thankless - Hitchcock disliked Matthews and since his wife Alma Revill had a hand in the screenplay it is quite possible that the leading lady's part was downplayed. Despite Hitchcock's later assessement of this film as one of his lesser works he, at the time, was very involved in the project where he cut every image in the film to conform to the rhythm of the music. Although he never again worked on another musical its influence clearly appears in the Royal Albert Hall sequence in his two versions of "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and in the ballet performance in "Torn Curtain" where he used this film to explore the potential of the waltz which was, in the later films, used as a musical device that carried sinister meaning or accompanied dangerous situations. This film also set the stage for Julien Duvivier’s Strauss biopic The Great Waltz (1938). Old fashioned film with some witty touches and the glorious music of Strauss.

[gunnar]

The Orange Years: The Nickelodeon Story (2020) - 8/10 - I was a Nickelodeon kid starting around 1982 with You Can't Do That On Television. I also loved The Adventures of Pete and Pete which came about a decade later. There were other shows that I watched and enjoyed, but those are the two that stick out the most for me. This movie covers about the first 20 years of the kids television station Nickelodeon. There are a number of shows covered here that I am familiar with, but didn't watch such as Rugrats, Doug, and Ren & Stimpy, but I thought the movie was pretty interesting even during those parts, but I am probably a bit biased due to my enjoyment of the station primarily during the 1980s.

[gunnar]

Go Into Your Dance (1935) - 5/10 - Al Jolson stars as a popular Broadway singer with a habit of leaving successful shows to go on trips to gamble or engage in other vices. The various Broadway clubs finally have enough and refuse to do business with him anymore. He is tracked down in Mexico by his sister (Glenda Farrell) who enlists a friend (Ruby Keeler) to try and get him back on track and into the business again. The main attraction to the film is Jolson's singing and (to a lesser extent) Keeler's dancing. The movie isn't anything special, but the songs are okay and the overall story is adequate, if a bit uninspired.

Fiesta (1947) - 6.5/10 - Mario (Ricardo Montalban) has been raised since birth to succeed his father, Don Antonio, as a great bullfighter. However, Mario is much more interested in music and only goes along with the bullfighting for love of his father. Mario's twin sister Maria (Esther Williams) tends to get less attention from her father, but she has some interest in being a bullfighter herself. The movie itself isn't incredibly original, but I still found it to be pretty entertaining and there is good music and some dancing as well (including with Cyd Charisse).

[Reza]

Cavalcade (Frank Lloyd, 1933) 6/10

Noël Coward's hit West End play was brought to the screen by Hollywood and won the Academy Award for best picture. The play never opened on Broadway due to the high production cost involved so the film version was highly anticipated by audiences unable to see the stage production and the film was a huge boxoffice success with its cast of thousands. Old fashioned historical - it covers the lives of an upper-crust British family, and their staff downstairs, from the end of the Boer War to WWI and to the Great Depression - which came back into nostalgic fashion via television where it inspired first "Upstairs Downstairs" and many decades later "Downton Abbey". Coward's contradictory theme of "Britain at War" is simultaneously a celebration of its jingoistic colonial policies along with an underlying anti-war sentiment. Stagy production - Coward insisted that the play's Drury Lane theater production prevailed on film - relies on shrill sentiment, some broad performances and enough melodrama to populate ten films. The story is related in a series of vignettes as we follow the triumphs and disappointments of the Marryot’s (Clive Brooks and Diana Wynward) and their servants - the butler (Herbert Mundin) and his wife the maid (Una O'Connor). The men go off to the Boer War, Queen Victoria dies, the two sons grow up - one son (Frank Lawton) gets married to his childhood playmate (Margaret Lindsay) and the other (John Warburton) falls for a successful nightclub jazz singer and skirt dancer (Isabel Jeans) who just happens to be the old butler/maid's daughter - the butler leaves the service and becomes the owner of a pub and takes to drink, the sinking of the ship Titanic becomes a personal tragedy for the family as does later WWI. Through it all the Marryot's rally on with stiff upper lips. The film is peppered throughout with popular songs of the period - “Take Me Back to Yorkshire”, “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” and the rollicking jazz number “The 20th-Century Blues”. The film remains stuck in a time capsule and lacks irony and wit which distinguised the two tv serials which were inspired by it. In addition to its Oscar win for best picture it also won for Lloyd's direction and its opulent production design. Wynward, as the prim matriarch playing to the gallery, was rewarded with a nomination for her lead performance.

10:30 P.M. Summer (Jules Dassin, 1966) 4/10

Dassin's adaptation of Marguerite Duras' novel, "Dix heures et demie du soir en été", takes its cue from the european art-house films of the early 1960s. With Dassin's wife, Melina Mercouri, offering a no holds barred, completely over-the-top performance, the film resonates at an extremely high but relentlessly boring decible. It is clear that Dassin had no control over Mercouri and she seems to be acting all by herself without any consideration for her co-stars who actually look appalled by her antics. A group of tourists - a man (Peter Finch), his alcoholic wife (Melina Mercouri), their young daughter and his mistress (Romy Schneider) - are on a road trip traveling through Spain. They arrive at a small town during a thunderstorm at night where a young man has just murdered his wife and her lover. In the darkness the alcoholic woman goes looking for the murderer whom she shelters from the police and secretly drives out of town leaving him in a field just as dawn is breaking. Later she takes her companions to the spot where they discover he has committed suicide. In an alcoholic haze she sees her husband make love to his mistress and mumbles that she wanted to include the dead man in a sexual foursome. It is unclear if she is hallucinating or if she is actually seeing all that sex play out. Batshit crazy film is highly atmospheric with lovely shots of the Spanish countryside. Pity it makes no sense although it tries to make points about a troubled marriage on the verge of collapse. The ending, followed by a raucous booze-fueled night at a flamenco bar with lots of hand clapping and dancing, clearly evokes Antonioni's L'avventura. Needless to say the film was a huge flop.

Mio figlio Nerone / Nero's Weekend / Nero's Mistress (Steno, 1956) 6/10

This is almost like Monty Python taking over the life of Roman Emperor Nero and presenting it as farce. Rome is made to burn because the people rejected the Emperor's singing. Nero (Alberto Sordi), a petulant child-like emperor, is away from Rome on holiday where he is spending time practicing his singing with a chorus of an owl, a pig and a rabbit. He is planning a great show with himself as the star attraction on stage. Also with him is his tutor Seneca (Vittorio De Sica), the philosopher, and his latest love conquest, the alluring and very ambitious Poppaea (Brigitte Bardot). This cozy revelry is disturbed with the sudden arrival of his imperious mother, the former Empress Agrippina (Gloria Swanson). She finds the troops lazing around and her son making a fool of himself and decides he must attack and conquer Britain. Instead the son retaliates by trying various ways to have his interfering mother killed. It was very odd but inspired of the producers to cast Swanson. She is every inch of the notorious woman history has recorded and plays her part with tongue firmly in cheek and is a delicious counterpart to the cowardly buffoonery of Alberto Sordi who shamelessly mugs throughout. The film has great production values - opulent sets and costumes and stunning cinematography by Mario Bava. A lifetime of assassination attempts on Agrippina are condensed into the week-long visit of the dowager empress as the various attempts on her life - poisoned drinks, a marble cascading falling on her bed and a sinking boat - fail and the wily woman keeps coming back from near death experiences. She counteracts by trying to get her son away from the clutches of his new lover along with attempts to kill him with poisonous serpents. Bardot, then on the verge of international stardom, plays the bitchy opportunist who won't let the mad emperor's cunning mother get the best of her. Amusing if silly film benefits greatly from Swanson's delightfully witty performance.

Natural Enemy (Douglas Jackson, 1996) 3/10

Smooth talking sociopath (William McNamara) ingratiates himself into the lives of a businessman (Donald Sutherland) and his wife (Lesley Ann Warren) and plays havoc. Typical psycho-from-hell scenario where every character is dumb and fail to see the writing on the wall while dead bodies rain down one by one. Sweet-faced McNamara has a field day doffing his victims - he is very pissed off and looking for his mother who gave him up at birth which resulted in several nasties happening to him at the hands of a series of adopted parents while growing up. Needless to say he responded in kind to those adults. Sutherland, in slumming mode, goes through the paces for his pay check here while Warren whimpers and cries annoyingly as she turns sleuth much to her eventual detriment. One of those awful films you can't help sitting through right up to its predictable end.

Zack Snyder's Justice League (Zack Snyder, 2021) 7/10

A 4-hour extended cut of Snyder's 2017 film is surprisingly not a chore to sit through although just to make sure I watched it over two days. Never saw the shorter version or if I did then I have amnesia. When Earth is threatened by a dark lord from a distant planet, Batman (Ben Affleck) gathers together the Justice League - Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), The Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) - to confront the evil force. When the going gets very tough they revive a dead Clark Kent who, as Superman (Henry Cavill), proves useful in the fight against the reptilian Steppenwolf (voiced by Ciarán Hinds). An all-star supporting cast make appearances playing Alfred the butler (Jeremy Irons), Lois Lane (Amy Adams), Martha Kent (Diane Lane), Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen), Commissioner Gordon (J. K. Simmons), Mera (Amber Heard), Lex Luthor (Jessie Eisenmann), Joker (Jared Leto) and in blink or you'll miss cameos by Willem Dafoe, David Thewlis and Robin Wright. All this and the voices of Kevin Costner and Russell Crowe. The Flash and Cyborg are introduced with lengthy back stories which are some of the more interesting moments in the film. The film's last hour is predictably spent amidst a very nousy and cheesy visual effects laden battle.

Elizabeth (Shekhar Kapur, 1998) 8/10

Shekhar Kapur brings to Elizabethan England the dramatic colours of medeival India - royal blues, fiery reds, burnished orange and saffron yellows - as vividly seen via the gorgeous costumes. The film has striking architecture with characters seen walking through dramatic corridors with huge arched pillars as the camera ominously weaves through shadows. History gets more than slightly tweaked as passions run high with treachery around every corner in this story of Elizabeth I (Cate Blanchett) who comes to the throne at age 25. On the verge of being condemned to death by her half-sister Mary Tudor (Kathy Burke) she eventually finds herself on the throne. The young queen learns on the job as she comes into contact with various characters who played their part in making her the woman and queen she became. She is encouraged to marry the Duc de Anjou (Vincent Cassell) but rejects him when she discovers he is a crossdresser. She loves the married Robert Dudley (Joseph Fiennes) and also has on her side William Cecil (Sir Richard Attenborough) as her chief advisor and the sinister Sir Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush) as her spymaster. After two assassination attempts Sir Francis helps to get rid of her adversaries. When the Pope (Sir John Gielgud) sends a priest (Daniel Craig) with a message that implicates the treasonous Duke of Norfolk (Christopher Eccleston) he has the priest tortured and roasted at the stake and the Duke and other conspirators are beheaded. The cunning Mary of Guise (Fanny Ardant), who is plotting to invade England, is poisoned. The film ends with Elizabeth declaring herself married to England and asscends the throne as "the Virgin Queen". A lot of the events in the screenplay are made up for dramatic effect and their timeline is fiddled and rearranged. At the center of it all is the quietly magnificent performance by Cate Blanchett who became a huge star. The film, Blanchett, the production design, costumes, score and cinematography were all nominated for Oscars. It won for its makeup design.

[Reza]

Le train / The Last Train (Pierre Granier-Deferre, 1973) 9/10

Granier-Deferre's film, based on the novel by Georges Simenon, is a doomed romance set on a train just as the German occupation of France was beginning in 1940. The narrative is interspersed with actual newsreels depicting the plight of the country and its people. Refugees across the country began to flee using any form of vehicle they could find with their household and personal belongings stacked on cars, trucks, carts and on trains. The Germans responded by dropping bombs on towns, villages and the fleeing public. A short-sighted radio repairer (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and his pregnant wife and daughter board a train. They are separated with his family placed on a front carriage with other women, children and the elderly while he is assigned a cattle car at the end of the train. When the train carriages get separated he finds himself alone with an assortment of passengers in his carriage as the train weaves its way across war-torn France while being bombed and strafed by German aircrafts. He forms an alliance with an attractive widowed German jew (Romy Schneider) in the carriage which turns into a delicate romance as he passes her off as his wife in front of German officials. The relationship comes to an abrupt halt when he is reunited with his family and the woman quietly walks away. Some years later, back in his village, he is called to the police station to identify a captured resistance fighter calling herself his wife which leads to a defining moment that seals his doom. Not withstanding the rather dubious premise of a meek married man deciding to have a fling in a packed train carriage this is a gripping film perfectly capturing the chaos and terror of the time under the Nazi menace. Trintignant is superb and Schneider once again shows what a luminous presence she was in every film. The camera here often caresses her face in extreme closeup with Trintignant looking at her almost in awe. The widescreen cinematography perfectly captures the lovely french countryside and is accompanied by a rousing score by Philippe Sarde. One of the great romantic films with a shattering ending.

Le Miroir à deux faces / The Mirror Has Two Faces (André Cayatte, 1958) 8/10

Comic actor Bourvil does a complete about-face and goes dramatic in this film that years later became the basis for Barbra Streisand's "The Mirror Has Two Faces". A self centered, mother-fixated teacher (Bourvil) decides to get married. Through an advertisement he finds a plain middle-aged spinster (Michèle Morgan) and cons her into marrying him. She, suffering from low self esteem, agrees to the match and decides to make a go with the marriage. Their honeymoon in Venice is a total disaster followed by a subservient ten-year marriage looking after a boorish man, his mean-spirited mother (Sylvie) and their two children. When he gets hurt in a car accident his doctor (Gérard Oury), a plastic surgeon, not only fixes him up but also suggests he can transform his plain looking wife into a beauty by working on her face. He scoffs at the idea and ridicules his wife for showing an interest. When she goes behind his back and decides to go for the operation she comes out transformed into a beauty. While her insecure husband rejects her an old boyfriend (Ivan Desny) comes back into her life leading to a murder followed by a sacrifice. Compelling psychological melodrama about a crumbling marriage between an ill-matched couple is portrayed with compassion and a strong dose of selfish sadism on part of the man. Both stars give compelling performances along with Oury (who co-wrote the screenplay), equally good, as the slightly sinister doctor whose good deed results in the breakup of a marriage which was already on the verge of collapse. Morgan and Oury (who would go on to become a prolific film director) became a couple during the film's shoot and remained together until his death 48 years later.

A Casualty of War (Tom Clegg, 1989) 7/10

A series of spy thrillers, by writer Frederick Forsyth, shot for British television. At the center of all six films is a spymaster (Alan Howard) who sets the story in motion. President Gaddafi plans revenge on the United States (and Britain) for having attacked his private palace in which his infant daughter was killed. A former S.A.S. officer (David Threlfall), now retired and a writer of cynical thrillers making digs in his books at the establishment, is deputed to fly into Libya to make contact for a purchase of arms. British intelligence knows that the Libyan government is about to ship arms in a bid to attack the American Ambassador in London. The plot is similar to an Ian Fleming novel and the version of James Bond here not only gets roughed up but also finds time to have a quickie with an American tourist (Shelley Hack) in Cyprus. The action packed ending takes place on a ship on the high seas with an unexpected appearance by the tourist. A wry screenplay, an amusing Howard bordering on camp, smart heroics and an excellent performance by Threlfall make this seemingly perfunctory film quite watchable.

A Little Piece of Sunshine (James Cellan Jones, 1989) 5/10

Weak entry in the cycle of Frederick Forsyth thriller films made for tv. An island in the British West Indies is about to gain independence from Britain when the Governor is mysteriously shot dead. Meanwhile two dubious local candidates are running for election. One has nefarious links to Cuba and the other (Phillip Michael Thomas) has the Medellín cartel backing him. British intelligence (Alan Howard) sends a Scotland Yard detective (Larry Lamb) to investigate and he joins hands with an American cop (Chris Cooper) to try and solve the murder. Suspects also include a local priest and the former Governor's widow (Lauren Bacall), both of whom are against the island getting independence. Lots of low budget action scenes typical of all tv shows back then as this rather dreary story goes on and on. The saving graces are the on location filming in the Bahamas and lovely Lauren Bacall as the witty and enigmatic widow who appears to know more than she wants to disclose.

Prince of Jutland / Royal Deceit (Gabriel Axel, 1994) 5/10

An adaptation of a Danish legend which Shakespeare took as an inspiration for his play "Hamlet". Axel's sparse medeival setting - simple wooden structures and bland garments - bring authenticity to the story which an outstanding cast brings to life. Axel's 3-hour version is now rarely found and this cut version leaves gaps in the story's continuity. Prince Amied (Christian Bale) feigns madness when he witnesses the hanging of his father, the King (Tom Wilkinson), at the hands of his Uncle (Gabriel Byrne) and his henchmen. When his Uncle takes the crown and weds the widowed Queen (Helen Mirren) the young man quietly vows revenge. To get rid of him his Uncle forcibly sends him to the court of the English King (Brian Cox). In England he marries the King's daughter (Kate Beckinsale), gathers an army and returns to get his revenge on his Uncle, rescue his mother and gain back his rightful crown. The story is the same as Shakespeare's play minus all the pomp. Most of the cast give deadpan performances with the exception of the radiant Helen Mirren who plays the Queen with true spirit. With barely a budget the battle scenes are shot in closeup with very few actors on screen. Luckily there is enough intrigue, deceit and murder in the plot to make it engaging. However, due to the reduced running time transitions are too sudden, and both the character and the narrative development often lurch forward before returning to a reasonable pace.

[gunnar]

Anomalisa (2015) - 6/10 - An author named Michael Stone visits Cincinnati to give a speech about customer experience. Michael is lonely and thinks of everyone he meets as being the same, until he meets a woman named Lisa. The movie uses stop motion animation in a fairly realistic style. It is a highly acclaimed film, but one that I didn't really get into that much, though it was okay.

Persepolis (2007) - 8.5/10 - Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical comic books are adapted here in this excellent film. It shows part of her childhood in Iran around the time the Shah was overthrown. Her parents and uncle suffered some repression under the Shah, but also suffered under the new Islamic government. Marjane was attracted to western music and civilization and had trouble fitting in the tightly controlled society in Iran. The film follows her to school in Europe and then back to Iran and into the early stages of her adult life as she continues to chafe at the restrictions in place in Iran. It is very well done.

Ferdinand (2017) - 7.5/10 - The story of the bull who doesn't want to hurt anybody is updated and stretched out here and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's a fun film.

I'm no caught up on the Animated Feature category of Academy Award nominated films.

[gunnar]

Song of the Sea (2014) - 8.5/10 - Ben's mother disappeared shortly after his sister Saoirse was born. Years later, Saoirse still doesn't talk and when she shows an affinity for the sea, her father sends both kids to live with their grandmother. Ben accompanies his sister on a quest to return home and free a variety of fairy creatures. This is another Irish/Celtic tale from the director of Wolfwalkers and The Secret of the Kells. It was very good.

The Secret of the Kells (2009) - 7.5/10 - The Book of Kells is an impressive 9th Century illustrated book containing the Gospels. This movie tells the story of how it may have been completed with a young boy and a master illuminator with the peril of Vikings sacking the abbey. It was pretty good, though I enjoyed Wolfwalkers and Song of the Sea a lot more.

Ernest & Celestine (2012) - 8.5/10 - A little girl mouse named Celestine lives in an underground mouse community where the common wisdom is that bears are scary and that a mouse can't be friends with a bear. The bear community above ground has similar feeling about mice. Celestine dreams of being friends with a bear and gets her chance when she meets a hungry street performing bear named Ernest. I thought the film was charming and entertaining.

Boy & the World (2013) - 5/10 - We see the world through the eyes of a young boy in Brazil whose father has left home and gone to the big city. The film lacks dialogue, but has interesting art. The story didn't really make up for the art, though, and I found the overall product somewhat dull.

Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015) - 7.5/10 - The sheep at Mossy Bottom are tired of the daily routine and decide that they'd like a day off. Things are going smoothly until the farmer is accidentally sent to the big city and the dog and the sheep head off in pursuit. It was a fun movie and a bit better than Farmageddon.

[Reza]

Incompreso / Misunderstood (Luigi Comencini, 1966) 8/10

Moving film based on the 1869 story by Florence Montgomery. This Italian movie adaptation of a very British story is set in present day Florence and revolves around a British diplomat and his two young sons. The actor playing the father is British - Anthony Quayle - but all his dialogue is dubbed into Italian which I found incredibly jarring. Quayle, an instantly recognizable Brit actor, also playing a Brit character but speaking in Italian. Found it weird each time Quayle appeared on screen. Anyway the famous story is about the effect of a parent's death on the children. The father (Anthony Qyayle) is more worried about his younger son (Simone Giannozzi) and wishes to protect him from the news. The plot hinges on the father's misunderstanding about the older son's (Stefano Colagrande) feelings whom he assumes is stronger and more able to bear the shock of his mother's death. He is wrong and the son tries desperately to win his father's affection and his time which the parent is not able to reciprocate. Then an accident occurs which takes the plot into a realm where peace is finally achieved between father and son but at a very heavy cost that involves the use of several boxes of tissues. The two delightful children never made another film after this one but give absolutely amazing performances perfectly in sync with their roles as siblings. Both were awarded special David awards as was Comencini for his sensitive direction. Extremely moving film is about the importance of understanding each other. If one learns to do that relationships flow much more easily and often without conflict. The film was remade in Hollywood with Gene Hackman and Henry Thomas.

6 donne per l'assassino / Blood and Black Lace (Mario Bava, 1964) 10/10

Stylish and riveting, highly influential Italian horror film started the gialo genre. The screenplay mixes elements from contemporary West German murder mystery films (inspired by the novels of Edward Wallace and known as "krimis") with lurid eroticism and violence present in popular Italian pulp novels of the time. In search of a diary a person wearing a stocking on his face kills a series of young beautiful models belonging to a fashion house. The film owes much of its success to its striking colour design and the voyeuristic and misogynistic pleasure it takes in depicting the murders. The victims are seen being drowned, suffocated, battered against a tree, strangled, slapped and kicked repeatedly, eyes being gouged with metal instruments and a face being torturously scalded against a red hot stove. Low budget film, with an international cast (Cameron Mitchell, Eva Bartok), was not a success at the time but its reputation grew over the years with many directors (Scorsese, Almodóvar, Tarantino) being highly influenced by it.

Il gatto / The Cat (Luigi Comencini, 1977) 9/10

Wicked black comedy takes great delight at taking vicious swipes at the petite bourgeoisie. A man (Ugo Tognazzi) and his sister (Mariangela Melato), joint owners of a derelict condominium, absolutely loathe each other ever since inheriting the property from their late father. They live together in one apartment constantly at each others' throats. Their plan is to evict all the tenants and sell the property to builders who have signed a contract with them for big bucks to build a modern building. The problem is none of the tenants want to leave with most of them delaying payment of their rent or not paying at all. When their feline mascot suddenly dies - the cat gets several delightful scenes with the camera following it through the building as it scavenges the various apartments for food - a plan is set in motion by the siblings where he ends up lasciviously pursuing the local slut and she awkwardly tries to seduce a priest. Along the way several scandals are unearthed amongst the tenants - prostitutes, drug traffickers, a high state official who is homosexual and being blackmailed by the mafia. Meanwhile the disgruntled police chief (Michel Galabru) is assigned the task of finding out which tenant shot the cat. Raucous comedy has a delightful score by Ennio Morricone, outstanding production design by Dante Ferretti and superb comic performances by both Tognazzi and Melato (who won the David). Sergio Leone produced the film. Great fun.

The Counselor (Ridley Scott, 2013) 5/10

It seems that if you fornicate (wanted to avoid using the "F" word here) with a Ferrari there are strong chances that your acting career comes to a standstill. That's what appears to have happened to Cameron Diaz who maybe shouldn't have fallen prey to Ridley Scott's direction of that notorious scene. That's just one of the highlights in this story about drug cartels on the Mexican border between El Paso and Juárez as assorted nefarious but sexy characters go about doing their thing. There's the respected lawyer known simply as the "Counselor" (Michael Fassbender), in love with a drop-dead gorgeous woman (Pénelope Cruz) with an interest in pouting and moaning, who through sheer greed likes to flirt with danger which involves showing a stupid interest in the cocaine trade. His introduction to that world is a charming drug lord (Javier Bardem) who is entwined in a relationship with a vicious woman (Cameron Diaz) who has an overactive sexual appetite. He also meets with the drug lord's business associate (Brad Pitt) who explains the high stakes involved in the drug trade which unfortunately can also prove to be fatal. The film's pièce de résistance is an execution device called "the bolito" which gradually strangles and decapitates victims and for good measure the film also comes up with another killing device which involves a wire stretched across a road that is not too kind to anyone driving across at a high speed. A double cross leads to a terrible misunderstanding which changes the lives of everyone. The literate screenplay, by Pulitzer prize-winning writer Cormac McCarthy, is mostly all talk with smatterings of sex and shocking violence shot against vivid imagery by Dariusz Wolski. Scott's movie is as much of a tip of the hat to sleazy B movies as Oliver Stone's "Savages". The only difference is that while Stone managed to inject an element of glee into the proceedings Scott here merely bores you.

[Reza]

L'anatra all'arancia / Duck in Orange Sauce (Luciano Salce, 1975) 8/10

Silly but hilarious sex farce is based on the play by William Douglas-Home and Marc-Gilbert Sauvajon. The story initially and quite deceptively runs counter to the usual Italian reaction of a husband to his wife's infidelity but soon the plot finds itself in familiar territory. A lecherous businessman (Ugo Tognazzi) suspects his lovely wife (Monica Vitti) of being unfaithful. When she confesses that she is in love with a frenchman (John Richardson) and plans to go away with him her husband calmly accepts the situation. He convinces his wife's lover to join them for the weekend at their palatial country home and also invites his tall sexy secretary (Barbara Bouchet) to join the party. It is to be a weekend where they are all supposed to act mature and modern, get to know each other before the lovers elope to Madrid. Things don't quite go according to plan as the presence of the voluptuous secretary causes the wife to go into a jealous rage while her lover gets turned on by the nubile woman. Watching from the sidelines is the sly husband who has cooked up this wild scheme just to win back his wife. The plot, with its obvious clichés, is familiar but its the superb comic timing of both Tognazzi and Vitti that keeps things moving at breakneck pace. Bouchet is a spectacular sight with, but most often without, her clothes which caused the television censors in Portugal to condemn the film because of the nudity - there are extended farcical scenes involving naked bottoms and wasps. The film's title refers to the culinary dish, Duck à l'orange, which is served during a scene at dinnertime which almosts sets off an orgy. The stars both won David awards for their frantic and delightful performances.

A Family Thanksgiving (Neill Fearnley, 2010) 4/10

Corny Hallmark drama lifts its plot from various other films. Tough lawyer (Daphne Zuniga), on the verge of becoming a partner in the firm, runs foul of a mysterious woman (Faye Dunaway) who wills her into a more balanced way of life - as a wife and mom to two kids. Zuniga, one of numerous pretty faces who arrived on the scene during the 1980s, does a charming take on the hapless (and helpless) wife/mommy character but it quickly begins to grate on one's nerves. There are moments from Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" which here just seem too tired.

La califfa (Alberto Bevilacqua, 1970) 4/10

Overwrought account of a strike by organized labour in protest of lousy working conditions. A young widow (Romy Schneider), whose husband has been killed by the police during the strike, stands up to the factory manager (Ugo Tognazzi) who himself was once an ordinary worker. Typical late sixties zeitgeist bordering on hysteria as the woman's defiant militant stance against the boss gradually turns to a mutual understanding with the hope of some sort of peaceful resolution. Schneider, in full-on "Magnani" mode with flashing eyes, gets to also expose her body in sex scenes (I assume these were with her late husband in flashbacks) that border on the gratuitous. Tognazzi effectively plays the deep-down guilt ridden boss and was rewarded with a David award. None of the scenes between the two stars work as the director isolates them from the surroundings and presents their conversations as if they are stuck in some science fiction afterlife. Messy film has a lovely score by Ennio Morricone.

[Reza]

Voyages à travers le cinéma français / Journeys Through French Cinema (Bertrand Tavernier, 2017) 10/10

Fascinating trip through French cinema by way of Tavernier's recollections. This is the three hour plus documentary - later expanded into 10 episodes which covered the topic in more depth. We get to view clips from many of the great classics with a running commentary on directors Marcel Carnè, Jean Delannoy, Julien Duvivier, Jean Renoir, Jacques Becker, and the importantnce in these films of actors Jean Gabin, Arletty, Danielle Darrieux, Louis Jouvet, Michel Simon and many, many more. Tavernier, early on in his career, assisted Jean-Pierre Melville and he describes hilarious moments on set as the director fought with Belmondo and later with Lino Ventura (during the often conflicted shoot of "Army of Shadows") - saying it was a miracle how well the latter film turned out considering both Melville and Ventura only spoke to each other through a third person on set. This absorbing documentary is a journey not unlike the one taken by Martin Scorsese through his documentary, "My Voyage to Italy", on Italian cinema. A must-see for any cinephile.

Le doulos (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1962) 10/10

Gripping film is Melville's second foray into the gangster milieu and makes full use of his fascination for the genre's Hollywood counterparts. The striking mise-en-scene, costumes - men in trenchcoats and fedoras with whiskey or bourbon as their choice of drink - and the dazzling camerawork by Nicolas Hayer perfectly come together and create a marvelous tribute to the classic American crime films of the 1940s and 1950s. The tough, often melancholic characters alone make it uniquely french - there is no element of macho bravado but there lurks under the surface a mixture of honesty, treachery and extreme sadism. In the film's superb opening an ex-con (Serge Regianni) is seen walking with a fatalistic expression on his face with the camera following him through the shadows. He has planned a robbery but first stops to meet up with a fence (René Lefèvre) who he kills in cold blood and robs him of cash and jewellery. Was it a revenge killing? The convoluted plot answers that question but at a later stage as the plot weaves in and out of flasbacks leading up to a twist ending that is not what we may have thought we were being led to. Needless to say it is not a very happy end but one which fits like a perfect glove. Along the way we meet the crook's friend (Jean-Paul Belmondo), suspected of being a snitch (or "doulos"), who helps him with tools for the planned robbery but is secretly also in touch with a cop (Jean Desailly). There are women on the periphery - assorted girlfriends and snitches - some of who are at the receiving end of savage beatings - the film's quotient for violence is on the extreme side and involves many shootouts although Melville's screenplay is dialogue heavy. Cynical film is easily one of Melville's best as it delves into loyalty, friendship and bitter destiny.

Death at a Funeral (Frank Oz, 2007) 5/10

A family gathers for the funeral of the patriarch but chaos ensues. Assorted family secrets are revealed, jealousy between brothers (Michael Macfadyen & Rupert Graves) and infidelity raises its ugly head, the widow (Jane Asher) gets hysterical, drugs are consumed, scatalogical humour (Peter Vaughn on a toilet) is added on for extra laughs with Peter Dinklage front and center involved. He is also in the American remake which not only has an African-American cast but is also much more funny. This one is merely fitfully amusing.

The Confession (David Jones, 1999) 6/10

A story with a moral dilemma at its center. A devout Jewish man (Ben Kingsley) kills three hospital staff in cold blood after they refused to come to the help of his ill son who died as a result of the negligence. A slick, hotshot and slimy lawyer (Alec Baldwin) is hired to defend him. Always a winner in court, and aspiring to become a D.A., he doesn't care about the crimes committed by his clients as long as he gets them off the hook. However, this time his client pleads guilty and wants to be punished for breaking God's sacred law. The law firm wants the case to be resolved quickly and the man to be freed on the technicality of temporary insanity. There is a deadlock and the defence lawyer's conscience is awakened after his encounter with his client - a moral man trapped in an immoral world. Both leads are very good although one needs to take Kingsley's saintly act with a pinch of salt. Amy Irving, as the accused man's neglected but understanding wife, is quietly effective. The supporting cast - Anne Twomey, Richard Jenkins, Kevin Pollak - are all fine as assorted lawyers on the periphery of this talky courtroom drama.

The Hoodlum Saint (Norman Taurog, 1946) 4/10

A journalist (William Powell) returns from the battlefields of WWI to find his old job at the newspaper gone. He wows to make it to the top through hook or by crook and gets right up there until the Wall Street crash brings him down again. Along the way he falls in love with girls from the right side (Esther Williams) and wrong side (Angela Lansbury) of the town. Sentimental film with touches of Capra corn and dollops of religiosity far outweigh and drown the overall effect the charming Powell has on the film. An impressive supporting cast - James Gleason, Lewis Stone, Rags Ragland, Frank McHugh, Slim Summerville, Henry O'Neill - provide snap in the comic moments.

The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Lee Daniels, 2021) 7/10

Jazz singer Billie Holiday (Andra Day) led a short but highly packed life which was certainly no joyride. Being black also didn't help matters especially if you happened to be a citizen of the United States. The film moves through various highs and lows of the tragic singer's life. At the center of the disjointed screenplay, and its emotional core, is Holiday's song "Strange Fruit", a not so subtle reference to the horror of watching a lynching and the trauma behind it. Singing the song in defiance brings her into conflict with the government who loathed the song because it called attention to racism in America and resulted in constant persecution by the FBI who harrassed and arrested her on drug charges. Heroin was her sad choice of drug and along with the bad mixture of booze and abusive men eventually contributed to her downfall. Daniels' film haphazardly flits from incident to incident and keeps jumping back and forth giving us glimpses of the woman. His choice of editing is bizarre often cutting away from characters who are under focus. Andra Day gives a stunning performance full of deep anguish and is not afraid to show her character's low points in glaring closeup which also highlight her glowing face when she is on stage. The film comes alive during the songs which Day delivers with slinky sensuality perfectly capturing Holiday's tremulous voice. The film's stunning costumes lift each character and make them stand out from the background particularly Day who is often seen in vibrant colours.

Lady Sings the Blues (Sidney J. Furoe, 1972) 6/10

The first movie biographical drama about the African American jazz and swing music singer, Billie Holiday, who was nicknamed "Lady Day". This is a highly fictionalized version of her life - it does, however, cover the childhood rape, her stint as a prostitute, her trauma witnessing a lynching (most probably also fictional) which later segued into the controversy involving the song, "Strange Fruit", and her heroin addiction. The screenplay takes liberties with the men in her life and we get two stock but charming characters who shoulder her through various tragedies - her first friend, the "Piano Man" (Richard Pryor), at the club where she gets her first gig and a slick handsome businessman (Billy Dee Williams) who becomes her constant saviour and lover. The film's casting of Holiday was a spectacular coup when pop star Diana Ross was chosen to play the part. While the film advertisements screamed "Diana Ross IS Billie Holiday", the actual fact is that she does not resemble the singer. While she manages to bring some semblance of reality while singing the famous songs she is physically wrong in the part and fails to depict the singer's tough persona or tremulous singing voice. However, as an actress Ross handles all the dramatic scenes like a pro and goes through the harrowing moments with great gusto although towards the end the writers tend to go overboard with repititious scenes requiring Ross to cry, snatch at her hair and babble on hysterically. The recent film remake of the singer's life has Andra Day playing Holiday and she not only fits the part physically, sings superbly but also gives a much more nuanced performance. Diana Ross, the screenplay, the production and costume design and the song score were all nominated for Academy Awards. For the remake Andra Day has won the Golden Globe and has also been nominated for an Academy Award for her performance.

[Reza]

Boss Level (Joe Carnahan, 2021) 6/10

Time loop shenanigans on the day a retired Special Forces officer (Frank Grillo) dies. After daily variations of escaping death by a machette, getting shot at by a man from a hovering helicopter and assorted assassins - the screenplay ensures diversity in the ethnicity of the killers with a dwarf thrown in for good measure - he manages to figure out that his ex-wife (Naomi Watts) has something to do with his dilemma. She is a scientist and works for a security firm headed by a magalomaniac (Mel Gibson) and has invented some kind of time machine that could bring about the end of the world. Or some such nonsense. The film moves at a frantic pace like a video game and the silly plot sort of works thanks to Grillo who seems to be having a total blast crashing cars and gleefully doffing off assassins. Along the way this man who spent his life being an asshole manages to straighten his life in his quest to get back his wife and son. Watts has an underwritten part and surprisingly Gibson is subdued as the villain of the piece. Michelle Yeoh has a brief part as an expert sword wielder. I now want to see what else Grillo has done.

Et mourir de plaisir / Blood and Roses (Roger Vadim, 1960) 6/10

Uneven adaptation of Sheridan Le Fanu's gothic novella "Carmilla", which Vadim updates to the present. The main character is a prototypical example of the lesbian vampire, expressing romantic desires toward the protagonist, and played in this version by Vadim's second wife Annette Stroyberg in full nubile mode. The film is rather chaste in its depiction of sex which is surprising considering Vadim is at the helm and he was not known to hold back especially going by his earlier film, "....And God Created Woman", with his first wife Brigitte Bardot. Stroyberg is presented almost like a copy of Bardot - the same blonde bouffant hairdo and dressed in outfits that accentuate her voluptuous figure. He also repeats a scene from the Bardot film showing Stroyberg in bed with her breast partially uncovered. Carmilla (Annette Stroyberg) is perturbed when her cousin, an Italian Count (Mel Ferrer), announces his engagement with her childhood friend (Elsa Martinelli). She has incestuous feelings for her cousin, which he briefly reciprocates, and also a strong sexual desire for her friend. During a lavish fireworks display at the engagement party - shot on location outside Rome in the grounds of Hadrian's Villa - a hidden mine explodes revealing the burial place of a centuries old female vampire. The depressed Carmilla, in a trance, finds the coffin and soon the villagers begin to find brutally murdered bodies of women and girls with fang marks on their necks. Vadim's screenplay throughout keeps the plot ambiguous leaving it to the audience's imagination whether the killings are the work of a vampire or a psychologically inflicted woman. While comparatively tame in its depiction of horror and sex the film was a major influence on a lot of Euro-horror films and gialos (one can see similarities to the films of Mario Bava) that followed later during the decade. The film is stunningly shot in widescreen colour by the great Claude Renoir who also films a spectacular dream sequence in stark black and white. In comparison the later Hammer horror films and the ones churned out by Roger Corman in the United States seem conventional and old fashioned. Lowkey, arty film may not be well known today but it has several striking moments which overcome the often bland acting by the three leads.

Maigret tend un piège / Maigret Sets a Trap (Jean Delannoy, 1958) 8/10

The genius of Jean Gabin's minimal acting style was such that he could easily move between playing crooks and cops with equal ease. After a long career playing vicious or gentlemen crooks he memorably took on the role of Belgian writer George Simenon's fictional French police detective, Commissaire Jules Maigret of the Paris Brigade Criminelle, in three films. Delannoy directs the police procedural in a straightforward gritty style. Someone is viciously targeting women in the historic but shabby district of Marais and stabbing them to death. An annonymous caller specially asks for "Monsieur" Maigret (Jean Gabin) to take an interest in the case which until then was being investigated by another cop. Maigret is irritated at the audacity of the suspected murderer for calling in at the police station and requesting that he take on the case. Helped by his assisstant (Lino Ventura) he immediately dismisses the butcher as being the prime suspect because deep down he feels the killer is still at large. Soon he comes up with a number of new suspects - an elderly bitter and bitchy concierge (Lucienne Bogaert), her twitchy artist son (Jean Desailly) and his adulterous wife (Annie Girardot). He sets up decoys and fake suspects to try and flush out the murderer as the cat-and-mouse investigation is carried out through the grey Paris labyrinth. The role was instrumental in reviving the career of Gabin as it's immense success allowed his career as a leading man to go a further two decades. Both Gabin and Desailly were nominated by Bafta for their lead roles in the film.

Maigret et l'affaire Saint-Fiacre / Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case (Jean Delannoy, 1959) 6/10

Maigret (Jean Gabin) is summoned by a widowed Countess (Valentine Tessier) to a countryside estate in Provence where he spent his childhood when his late father was her late husband's manager. She has received a death threat and his visit is not only to help her out but also take a trip down memory lane. He is surprised to see the old lady having money problems thanks to her leech-like playboy son (Michel Auclair) and other villagers - her secretary, a manager, the local priest, a banker, her staff and her doctor - all preying on her one way or the other. The following day she dies in church during mass of an apparent heart attack but Maigret thinks it could be murder. The screenplay takes on the mantle of an Agatha Christie mystery with Maigret investigating like Hercule Poirot - the denouement has him gathering all the suspects at the dining table where he reveals who murdered the old lady. Gabin is quietly introspective throughout - his best scene is with Tessier as they both sit and reminisce about the distant past. Leisurely paced film is in sharp contrast to the gritty realism of Gabin's first Maigret film which was set in the city.

Maigret voit rouge / Maigret Sees Red (Gilles Grangier, 1963) 4/10

When a pedestrian is mysteriously shot outside a bar Inspector Maigret (Jean Gabin) finds himself involved with American gangsters and the FBI. Gabin's last in the trio of films he made as the eponymous cop created by writer George Simenon. It is also very slow and the plot extremely boring. Gabin sails through it with his usual charm and the film has early appearances by Michel Constantine as a gangster, Marcel Bozzuffi as an over-efficient cop and lovely Françoise Fabian as a moll. The main theme involves a one-upmanship between the French and the Americans and Maigret ensures he comes out on top.