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

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gunnar
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

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mlrg wrote: Nowadays bullfighting has almost dissapeared and it is different from the spanish tradition. First of the bull is never killed in the arena and in Portugal there is a tradition where a group of men meet the bull head. This is called "pega de caras" which means, under literal translation "grab him by the face". :D
They showed that quite a bit. Groups of men standing around waiting their turn to try and grab the bull's head. They also had a preliminary entertainment where a man timed it so that he dove over the bull as he charged and then rolled safely to a standing position on the other side. It definitely takes a certain type of bravery (or foolishness :) ) to meet the bull head on like that.
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

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gunnar wrote:Portugal (1957) - 6/10 - Disney's People and Places travels to Portugal and looks at the people and geography. We visit a group of people collecting grapes and making wine to be shipped off. Next, we visit people who harvest cork and make things out of it. Finally, the rest of the film is devoted to bulls and bullfighting, though it appears to be a bit different than it is in Spain with groups of men meeting the bull head on without trying for a killing shot with a sword. It wasn't a great travelogue, but it was okay.
Well, Portugal in 1957 was a very very different country that it is today. The country was under a dictatorship between 1926 and 1974. Just to give you an example only 50% of the population older than 35 knew how to read and write during the 50´s.

Nowadays bullfighting has almost dissapeared and it is different from the spanish tradition. First of the bull is never killed in the arena and in Portugal there is a tradition where a group of men meet the bull head. This is called "pega de caras" which means, under literal translation "grab him by the face". :D
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

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Portugal (1957) - 6/10 - Disney's People and Places travels to Portugal and looks at the people and geography. We visit a group of people collecting grapes and making wine to be shipped off. Next, we visit people who harvest cork and make things out of it. Finally, the rest of the film is devoted to bulls and bullfighting, though it appears to be a bit different than it is in Spain with groups of men meeting the bull head on without trying for a killing shot with a sword. It wasn't a great travelogue, but it was okay.

The Spirit of America (1963) - 7.5/10 - This documentary is about the design, construction, and testing of a car to break the land speed record along with the actual attempts on the record. There was a lot of information about the work that went into it and I thought it was a nice documentary. They made the attempts at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

The Children of Soong Ching Ling (1984) - 7.5/10 - This documentary talks about the activities that Soong Ching Ling, widow of Sun Yat-sen, pursued from the 1940s until her death in 1981. She was concerned about the welfare of children and promoted better healthcare, vaccinations, more teachers, and a cultured outlook. The film examines a number of the changes in China from the late 1940s, including the huge increase in population and the one child policy that had been implemented to curb the population growth. It is a pretty good film, though the ties to Soong Ching Ling are not really explored very deeply.

On Hope (1994) - 7.5/10 - Annette O'Toole plays Hope, a well dressed and mannered suburban woman who is married, but childless. She literally runs into a woman named Wendy (Mercedes Ruehl) at a supermarket who is her opposite in many ways - lively, outgoing, etc.- and discovers that they live on the same street. They quickly become best friends and are almost inseparable. It is a pretty good short film.

Switzerland (1955) - 8/10 - This Disney People and Places short starts with aerial shots oft he Swiss Alps and of several major cities in Switzerland. We get a bit of insight into a traditional wedding ceremony before a fair amount of time is spent in a remote mountain village that would not be out of place in the 18th or 19th centuries. The villagers go about their daily work and during the winter, celebrate Christmas and other holidays. The film concludes with a look at (then) modern Swiss activities, including skiing, bobsledding, and mountain climbing. Overall, it was a nice travelogue with the village life being the most interesting part.
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

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Reminiscence (Lisa Joy, 2021) 7/10

Interesting neo-noir science fiction thriller set in a flooded Miami with the sea risen due to climate change. The setting echoes Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" with surreal footage of Miami resembling Venice. The protagonist is no detective but is very much in the mode of Phillip Marlowe along with being the narrator. A war veteran who, with his partner (Thandie Newton), runs a machine that allows people to see their own memories. When a young woman (Rebecca Ferguson) walks into his office to explore her memory to look for lost keys his initial obsession with her turns to eventual love. When she suddenly disappears he begins searching for her only to discover a world full of deception, lies, drug traffickers, kidnapping and murder. Fast paced mystery is a reminder of much better films ("The Maltese Falcon", "The Godfather", "Chinatown") but Jackman, Newton and especially Ferguson, as the complicated femme fatale, are all very good and the film is well crafted and far from boring.

The Green Knight (David Lowery, 2021) 9/10

The star of this film is the breathtaking Irish scenery followed by the sumptuous production values which David Lowery, in his adaptation of the anonymous poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", splendidly brings to epic life. This film has to be experienced on the big screen in order to experience its visual splendor - the production design, costumes and cinematography are truly outstanding as they help to create this world of medeival fantasy. Lowery's screenplay is a slowburn with events taking place as if in slow motion which allows the viewer to be seduced and hypnotized. Gawain (Dev Patel), the nephew of King Arthur (Sean Harris), takes on the mysterious Green Knight's challenge - any man brave enough to land a blow on him will win his green axe but in return must travel to the Green Chapel a year later and receive an equal blow. Gawain lands his blow and severs the Green Knight's head. To fulfil his promise he undertakes the long journey fraught with many difficulties to render his part of the bargain. Dazzling revisionist take on the Arthurian legend explores masculinity, religion, heroism, fear, temptation, sex and betrayal. Patel easily dominates the film with his moving performance and gets able support by Sarita Chaudhury, Joel Edgerton, Alicia Vikander and Barry Keoghan playing vivid supporting roles.This is one of the year's best films and probably needs to be seen at least twice to experience its full impact.

F9 (Justin Linn, 2021) 4/10

Cool is seeing Dame Helen Mirren sitting next to Vin Diesel in a zooming car as she applies brakes and accelerates wearing zebra-striped ankle boots. Cool is seeing the black Tweedle Dee (Tyrese Gibson) & Tweedle Dum (Ludacris) trade quips and fly through space in their own vehicle. This film never stops being cool. From the usual suspects led by Vin - the coolest - to his estranged Bro (played as young and old by Finn Cole & John Cena), the villain of this episode, to chic and nasty Charlize Theron and Mr Nobody (Kurt Russell) and his black shades to the post credits sequence with Jason Statham. Everyone is on ultra-cool mode. In between there are car crashes ad nauseum and the realization that this franchise is getting to be a big bore. Can't wait for episode 10 though.

Il dolce corpo di Deborah / The Sweet Body of Deborah (Romolo Guerrieri, 1968) 3/10

"Baby Doll" grows up. This was the start of Hollywood star Carroll Baker's ten-year foray into the world of Italian gialos and horror films. An American woman (Carroll Baker) honeymoons with her french husband (Jean Sorel) in Geneva but they are disturbed by an old friend of his who accuses him of murdering his former fiancée. Soon after they start receiving mysterious telephone calls with the same accusation, the piano in their house plays a familiar tune that disturbs the husband and a strange man not only breaks into the house but comes on to her as well. Frightened out of her wits she starts popping tranquilizers. Badly directed and dubbed film has as its saving grace lovely Baker either dressed provocatively in fetishistic clothing or seen
in discreetly shot nude scenes in the shower and in bed. The two stars make a very hot looking pair although Baker seems to have forgotten all the acting she learned in Hollywood. Both stars give stiff performances with even their sex scenes acted very indifferently as they roll around on the bed unconvincingly. These scenes are simply there to titilate and an excuse to explore Baker's body. Oh yes there is also a twist ending but by then one is relieved this boring film is over.

Antoine et Colette (François Truffaut, 1962) 10/10

Truffaut's short film was part of the anthology "L'amour à vingt ans" / "Love at Twenty" which continues the story of Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) first seen as a rebel in his early teens in "Les quatre cents coups" / "The 400 Blows". Here he is in his late teens and infatuated with Colette (Marie-France Pisier) who he first notices at a concert. After stalking her for some days he manages to forge a friendship but no matter how hard he tries to convince her of his love she only treats him like a pal while dating other men. This autobiographical film was based on an incident in Truffaut's own life - an infatuation with a girl he met at a cinema - and perfectly captures the pain of first love and the disappointment attached to love that is unrequited. Léaud and Pisier are both delightful and their relationship is a familiar reminder to many of us who have been through similar youthful angst.

Home From the Hill (Vincente Minnelli, 1960) 9/10

Sprawling but splendid melodrama is one of Minnelli's best films and also has one of Mitchum's most memorable performances. A saga about a rich but broken Texas family harbouring bitter secrets and resentments. A womanizing land baron (Robert Mitchum) lives under one roof with his angry and bitter wife (Eleanor Parker) and teenage son (George Hamilton) who is unaware of his parents' marital issues. She turned away from her husband upon discovering that he had a bastard son (George Peppard) who he raised and kept as a faithful employee although never acknowledging him as his son. He tries to wrest away his younger son from his wife's influence and gets him interested in manly pursuits like hunting to which he happily responds. The two young boys are close friends and spend time together with the younger one showing an interest in a neighbor's daughter (Luana Patten). When he discover's the truth about his parents' marriage and father's illegitimate son the family structure crumbles further leading to murder and a final catharsis. Mitchum, Parker, Hamilton, Peppard and Patten are all superb and there are memorable bits by Everett Sloane as Patten's father and Constance Ford as the town tramp with whom Mitchum finds occasional comfort. The screenplay by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr., based on the novel by William Humphrey, expertly juggles the complex relationships between each character which Minnelli presents in an old fashioned grandiose way. Subtlety be damned this is exactly how Bollywood movies about families operate in full on operatic mode. And who could have imagined that Minnelli could shoot an action sequence - the boar hunt - with so much suspense. Milton Krasner's colour cinematography is a major plus and the constant camera movement - following the actors up and down staircases and through the forest - is one of Minnelli's trademarks. The colour red - Minnelli's signature colour at MGM - is seen to dramatic effect throughout the film in particular the walls of Mitchum's study where a lot of the film's scenes are set. While the film is overlong it moves at a very fast pace.
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

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Kangaroo Court (1994) - 6/10 - Two white police officers pull over a black man driving in Watts. They pull him out of the car to arrest him for no apparent reason as a crowd gathers. One of the officers pulls his gun, but things don't go as he expects as the crowd turns on him and knocks him out. He awakes to find himself being put on trial by gang members for the murder of a neighborhood boy. Gregory Hines plays an attorney who is brought in to represent him in this kangaroo court. The idea of the story feels pretty relevant today, but I thought that the acting was kind of over the top and overall the film is just okay and felt stagy. Sean Astin directed this short film.

Down on the Waterfront (1993) - 7.5/10 - Jason Alexander and Jonathan Penner are film producers who have been making short subject films. They meet with a union official from the Longshoreman's Union (played by Ed Asner) who wants them to create a feature length film to improve their image. The film starts with part of a fake documentary that I thought was fun and would have been cool to see the whole thing. The rest of the film is pretty much just the three men talking in a park, but it is still entertaining.

Frances Steloff: Memoirs of a Bookseller (1987) - 8/10 - Frances Steloff opened the Gotham Book Mart in 1920 and it became a literary fixture in New York City for the next 80+ years. She pushed boundaries, fought against censorship, and promoted many writers over the years. She finally sold the store when she war around 80 years of age, but continued working there for over 20 more years until her death at 101. When this documentary was released, she was 99, but you certainly couldn't tell based on how active she was. She reminisces some about the history of the store and also about her own past and I enjoyed the film quite a bit.

Samoa (1956) - 8/10 - This Disney People and Places film shows the people in a village in Samoa as they go about their daily lives. We see them fishing, gathering coconuts, cooking, doing chores, having a council of elders, erecting a new building, singing and dancing, and more. It's actually a fairly pleasant way to spend a half hour. I'm sure that life there wasn't always so happy and free spirited, but it looked pretty nice here.
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The Cockleshell Heroes (José Ferrer, 1955) 4/10

WWII film about the planting of mines on German enemy craft in the harbour at Bordeaux in occupied France. A band of Royal Marines, using kayaks, stealthily manoeuvre their way next to the ships to plant bombs. They are led by a newly appointed officer (José Ferrer doing double duty) and a disgruntled career officer (Trevor Howard). One of many WWII themed true stories that came out of British studios with familiar character actors surrounding the stars. This one takes its sweet time getting to the action with the first two thirds running time dealing with the boot training camp with a number of corny comic moments thrown in to pad up the film. All disageements between the stiff upper lip officers are sorted just in time for the heroics. Routine predictable film is quite a bore and a chore to sit through.

Your Witness (Robert Montgomery, 1950) 6/10

Montgomery directs this murder-mystery and perfectly captures the nuances of British village life - the small town inhabitants, the pub and life at the Country Manor. A New York attorney (Robert Montgomery) is summoned by the wife of an old wartime comrade who is on trial for murder. The screenplay, by Hitchcock collaborator Joan Harrison, touches amusingly on the differences between American and British traits - the intricacies of the British legal system and the differences between the British and American versions of the English language are put forth with subtle wit. As friend to the accused he tries to look for a female witness who happened to be present when the man was shot. Along the way he interacts with a slew of characters that run the gamut of British stereotypes - the incompetent police sergeant, the garrulous pub owner, Lord of the Manor (Leslie Banks) and a stuffy judge (Felix Aylmer). There is also a hint of a romance in this quaint little sleeper which was the actor-director's last big screen appearance.

The Thomas Crown Affair (John McTiernan, 1999) 7/10

I think I prefer the 1968 Norman Jewison version of this story with its dazzling multi-screen shots. Once so fashionable - a relic of the 1960s - it surprisingly still seems fresh and new. Then there is Faye Dunaway, in the bloom of youth, so very chic in those outlandish hats and brief mini-skirts - a fashionista who kept fashion swinging with each film she made. Don't get me wrong, I also think mature Rene Russo and her long legs is also quite stunning. She here has the same sassy attitude which fascinates her prey just as Steve McQueen found time to get fascinated by a game of chess with Dunaway. During a robbery at a museum a very rich Wall Street playboy (Pierce Brosnan) manages to swipe a Monet during the commotion. While the attempted robbery by four men is foiled he gets away with the painting. A cop (Denis Leary) teams up with an insurance agent (Rene Russo) to solve the mystery. While the cop is cautious in his investigation she goes straight for the jugular by ingratiating herself with the suspect and makes no bones about accusing him to his face. She also has sex with him which for the playboy is a new experience as he finds himself falling in love with her - in temperament both are similar - much to the amusement of his psychiatrist (Faye Dunaway). Along with Dunaway's cameo appearance we also get to hear the Oscar winning song "The Windmills of Your Mind". Slick film has great chemistry between the two hot stars and a lovely travelogue moment of picturesque Martinique.

The Flemish Farm (Jeffrey Dell, 1943) 7/10

WWII British propaganda film was shot during the war and used as a tool to build morale. Based on a true incident involving the officers of the Belgian Air Force who are asked to surrender to the invading Germans. Before doing so they bury their regimental flag on a farm after which a few officers manage to fly out safely. After spending time flying with the RAF one officer decides to secretly return to occupied Belgium to retrieve the flag. Low budget film has nail-biting suspense as the officer encounters various traps set by the Nazis. He also meets up with his old Commanding officer (Clive Brook), now retired but feeding information to the underground and about to sacrifice his life to save prisoners. Simple story of high ideals and patriotism packs quite a powerful punch with the flag taking on the symbol of hope.
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

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La donna del lago / The Lady of the Lake / The Possessed (Luigi Bazzoni & Franco Rossellini, 1965) 9/10

Haunting mood piece has strong elements of a gialo even though no murder takes place on screen. A lonely and depressed writer (Peter Baldwin) returns to an Italian resort town on a lake in the dead of winter. He checks into the same hotel and informs the owner (Salvo Randone) and his daughter (Valentina Cortese) that he wants to relax and work on his new book. However, he has returned to meet the hotel maid (Virna Lisi) whom he had a crush on. He is shocked to hear that she is dead and everyone in town avoids discussing her. Did she commit suicide or was she murdered? She ingested poison but her throat was also slashed. As he wanders around the empty streets his memories and dreams intermingle as he remembers stalking the sexy woman who he secretly watched while a man made love to her. The town photographer shows him a photograph in which the woman looks pregnant. The hotel owner's daughter-in-law (Pia Lindström) signals to him from her bedroom window as if wanting to tell him something but before he can meet her the police find her dead body in the lake. Just as he begins to put the pieces of the puzzle together he discovers two more dead bodies in the hotel. Atmospheric crime drama is superbly put together with its sound design, bleak cinematography and music score highlighting the mystery and sense of doom prevailing over the entire town. The film is based on one of Italy’s most notorious crimes, The Alleghe killings, and adapted from the book by acclaimed literary figure Giovanni Comisso.

Strangers in Love (Lothar Mendes, 1932) 4/10

Stiff pre-code comedy is thankfully just over an hour long. Twin brothers (Fredric March) - one good and the other nasty - are at loggerheads over their family property where the nasty one has usurped the entire inheritance. When he suddenly dies of a heart attack the good brother takes his place which causes comic complications. March is his usual mannered self by Kay Francis is delightful as the twins' childhood buddy and secretary to the nasty one who has also swindled her father. Stuart Erwin is the silly comic relief who is in on the switch. While March gets to play center stage its Francis who steals the film. This minor film came right after March won the Academy award for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

The Baron of Arizona (Samuel Fuller, 1950) 8/10

True story of master swindler, James Reavis (Vincent Price), who through an intricate series of forging land documents claimed title to the state of Arizona on behalf of his wife (Ellen Drew). His attempt to prove that his wife was the rightful owner of Arizona involved years of work forging documents in a monastery in Spain which housed original land grants issued by King Ferdinand VI. Price fits right into the role using his naturally oily demeanor and mellifluous voice to create yet another of his many memorable characters on screen. Fuller's low budget Western has a memorable plot made all the more bizarre because it was based on actual events. Lovely Ellen Drew is also very good as the spirited wife who stands steadfast by her crooked husband even though there are threats from lynch mobs and the hangman's noose. James Wong Howe's cinematography takes the film into noir territory.

Hurricane (Jan Troel, 1979) 5/10

A notorious flop in its day this remake of the John Ford classic from 1937 is based on the book by James Norman Hall and Charles Nordhoff. The critic Roger Ebert called it "a dull 90-minute romance followed by a dull 30-minute rainstorm." Well its not really all that bad although it does go on too long. The film's highlights are fascinating scenes depicting the native culture which is almost like a National Geographic documentary. This troubled production started off with producer Dino De Laurentiis firing director Roman Polanski when he got into trouble with the law after pleading guilty to the charge of unlawful sex with a minor. The location of Bora Bora proved too isolated so at a huge cost a hotel was built to house the film unit. The star-crossed romance at the center of the story is rather tepid with Mia Farrow badly miscast as the Governor's daughter who falls in love with a local native (Dayton Ka'ne) who becomes the high chief of the island. Farrow has zero chemistry with the inexperienced newcomer although he surprisingly comes off much better than his famous co-star who throughout looks like a deer caught in the headlights of an approaching car. Their affair causes her stern father (Jason Robards) to make it a personal vendetta against the young man who is imprisoned on a minor offence. She helps him escape from prison just as a hurricane hits the island causing death and destruction. Strong production values are a major plus with big names working behind the scenes - Danilo Donati as the costume and production designer, the stunning cinematography of the islands and the crystal clear sea by Sven Nykvist (who had an affair with Farrow during the long shoot) and Nino Rota's last completed score. Prominent actors appear as supporting characters - Max von Sydow as a doctor, Trevor Howard as a priest and Timothy Bottoms as Farrow's former boyfriend who she jilts for the native boy toy - although none of them have much to do except shout and flail once the storm begins. The spectacular storm sequence consists of repeated scenes of large waves crashing as the natives cower inside a church while the two lovers try to ride it out tied to a giant tree. As with every disaster film from the 1970s there is a peverse pleasure in seeing which of the stars perish.
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

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Loulou (Maurice Pialat, 1980) 9/10

A street thug (Gérard Depardieu), just out of jail, catches the eye of a bored middle-class housewife (Isabelle Huppert) at a disco who dumps her possessive husband (Guy Marchand) and moves in with him. He refuses to find a job prefering to live off her. When she gets pregnant she rents an apartment where her lover invites his criminal friends to hang out. She refuses to listen to her brother who warns her about him but is forced to reconsider when he takes her on a robbery spree and later sees his psychotic brother-in-law firing a gun during a family brunch. The movie established Depardieu's iconic image of the cocky layabout with sex on his brain. With a number of similar roles already under his belt his career took on an upward trajectory during the decade as he took on more and more diverse parts working for most of the top french directors. Likewise Huppert began the decade with acclaim for this film moving on to greater roles with important directors. The film, Huppert and Marchand were nominated for César awards. Iconic film still seems fresh due to its naturalistic dialogue, strong performances and Pialat's direction.

Le Ruffian (José Giovanni, 1983) 6/10

Aldo (Lino Ventura), a rogue adventurer forever on the make, works in a gold mine high up in the Canadian Rockies. When bandits attack their outfit and kill all the workers he manages to survive and with the help of two shady First Nations men turns the tables on the bandits and retrieves the gold. They take the gold and drive away with the loot but suspicious of the two men he manages to leave them behind and drives off. He transfers the gold onto a pontoon, goes down river but gets caught in rapids and before the boat and the gold go down a waterfall he manages to swim ashore. The rest of the plot involves retrieving the gold from beneath the waterfall with help from close buddies. Unfortunately the film comes to a screeching halt as the screenplay spends far too much time introducing the friends - a close confidant who is paralyzed, his wife and his former lover, the Baroness (Claudia Cardinale). They all return to the waterfall with the two First Nation men and another suspicious character (Bernard Giraudeau) hot in pursuit. More than the derring do on display the film's major highlight is the spectacular British Colombia scenery and the Wapta Falls in Yoho National Park which forms the location of the film's exciting denouement. Ventura as always is a delightful presence while Cardinale adds colour and beauty to the proceedings.

La menace (Gérard Oury, 1961) 6/10

Lonely teenager (Marie-José Nat), living with her alcoholic uncle, longs to become part of a delinquint teenage gang. To impress them she buys a bike by borrowing money from the local chemist (Robert Hossein) who once tried to molest her in a cinema. When one of the girls in the gang is found murdered she accuses the chemist of the crime. Nobody believes her and the police relentlessly interrogates her and calls her a liar. The accused man's wife (Elsa Martinelli) persuades her to take back the accusation which she does. However, when she discovers incriminating evidence in the man's car the police refuse to believe her leading to a nerve wracking finalé. Minor but atmospheric french noir was one of Oury's early films and unlike his later output.

Malombra (Mario Soldati, 1942) 8/10

The spectacular Villa Pliniana, on Lake Como, forms the backdrop to this gothic melodrama based on the novel by Antonio Fogazzaro. The writer uses elements of ghostly folklore related to the palazzo which he heard during a visit. A noblewoman (Isa Miranda) arrives to live at a huge palazzo on a lake with her grim Uncle (Gualtiero Tumiati), a Count, under the condition that she cannot leave the house until she gets married. A ghostly legend about her grandfather's former wife, Cecilia, fascinates her after she discovers letters hidden inside a piano. The woman loved another man so her husband imprisoned her until she went mad with grief and died. Through her letters she urges the young woman to take revenge. Meanwhile the Count plans for his niece to marry one of his nephews. She, under the ghostly influence of Cecilia, loves another man (Andrea Checchi) who in turn is smitten with someone else. When the Count is found assaulted and near dead he manages to whisper the name of his attacker saying it was Cecilia. Brooding story spends far too much time on peripheral characters before the melodramatic violent conclusion. Miranda, like Garbo, is an icy mask-like ethereal presence throughout. In fact she is photographed during the romantic scenes with very similar closeup shots of her face like the Hollywood star. This atmospheric film has a strong sense of doom hanging over it not unlike Hitchcock's "Rebecca". The sumptuous interior scenes were all shot on a set at Cinecittà with exteriors all filmed on Lake Como and around the Villa Pliniana. This is one of the rare films to have been made during the Mussolini regime that completely dispenses with any fascist flag-waving.

Double Jeopardy (Bruce Beresford, 1999) 6/10

Ignore the potholes in the script and all the coincidences and you are still left with an ok thriller buoyed by Ashley Judd's lead performance. Man (Bruce Greenwood) frames his wife (Ashley Judd) for his own murder and disappears with their son and her best friend (Annabeth Gish). After a jail stint of six years she comes out fuming with the realization that her husband is still alive and learns that she can kill him and get away with murder under the "double jeopardy" law whereby a person cannot be tried twice for the same crime based on the same conduct. Despite being on screen throughout Judd gets second billing to Tommy Lee Jones who, in a much smaller part (along with a $10 million paycheck), plays her parole officer in pursuit of her. Greenwood, as the sleazy murderous husband, is very good. Judd, a very promising leading lady in Hollywood, fell prey to Harvey Weinstein around the time when she was just getting major parts in Hollywood films. For refusing to have sex with him he used his influence and almost destroyed her career. She very confidently carries this film on her slender shoulders and proves to be quite an action oriented leading lady.

Enemy of the State (Tony Scott, 1998) 7/10

Critics at the time felt Scott's flashy conspiracy thriller was cobbled together from a number of similarly themed films. Well Gene Hackman's glaring presence certainly conjures up images of "The Conversation" where he played a surveillance expert. More than that what actually stands out today is the form of surveillance the film details which then felt like a paranoid idea but which today is a reality. In many ways this fast paced film was quite ahead of its time. A lawyer (Will Smith), already in deep trouble with the Mob, finds himself chased by shady government agents who suspect he has a video recording of an assassination. A hotshot national security official (Jon Voight) has a congressman (Jason Robards) mudered which inadvertently gets recorded on camera. The disk, in due course, finds its way into the hands of the baffled lawyer who is unaware through most of the film why he is being chased or followed through satellite surveillance. Smith, playing it straight for the first time, is convincing in a dramatic role. He is surrounded by an ace group of actors in support - Regina King as his wife, Lisa Bonet as a former lover, Hackman as a mysterious surveillance expert who helps him and playing assorted agents and goons are Ian Hart, Jack Black, Gabriel Byrne, Loren Dean, Barry Pepper, Scott Caan and James Le Gross. The concept of surveillance is creepy to say the least but an unfortunate reality in the modern world today.

L.A. Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997) 8/10

Celebrated neo-noir is not on par with Roman Polanski's "Chinatown" but is pretty close. The film perfectly recreates 1950s Los Angeles and through a standard police procedural plot explores the power of corruption. The three main protagonists are all cops - one strait-laced (Guy Pearce), one brutal (Russell Crowe), and one sleazy (Kevin Spacey). The cases each is working on involve mass murder, blackmail, drugs and prostitution which they later discover is tied to their precinct's past. Kim Basinger won an Oscar for playing a Veronica Lake lookalike prostitute - a stock character which she manages to imbue with a great deal of sultriness although its during her quieter moments with both Crowe and Pearce that she shines. The three leads are all superb - especially Crowe and Pearce who were both then very new in Hollywood. The film deservedly won an Oscar for Curtis Hanson's screenplay (co-written with Brian Helgeland) which was adapted from the novel by James Ellroy. Unfortunately the film went up against the mighty "Titanic" so lost at the Oscars in the categories of Best Picture, production design, score, sound, editing, cinematography and Hanson's direction.

Beckett (Ferdinando Cito Filomarino, 2021) 6/10

A political thriller set in Greece but this doesn't hold a candle to the classic Costa-Gavras film Z (1969). It's a relentless chase thriller about an American tourist (John David Washington) who becomes the target of crooked cops after he is in a car accident that kills his girlfriend (Alicia Vikander). The man is riddled by guilt - he fell asleep at the wheel which caused the car crash - and is totally unaware why he is being chased and shot at. While at the accident site he vaguely remembers seeing a young red-haired boy (the kidnapped son of a liberal politician who has been kidnapped by a far-right organization) which appears to be the catalyst that has people trying to murder him. Thinly written thriller loses steam at the mid-point as scene after scene of him getting into one scrape after another begin to grate. It also does not help that Washington is so bland throughout. He seems to have inherited zero charisma from his famous dad Denzel. Vicky Krieps has a few scenes as an activist who helps him along the way while creepy American embassy officials try to kill him - too many Hollywood films now have a contrarian vision of the United States which is something to seriously think about. Not that one is surprised at all. Through it all I found the film interesting but strictly for its mountainous location work shot in Ioannina in North-Western Greece.

The Sentinel (Michael Winner, 1977) 8/10

One of the seminal trashy horror films of the 1970s is based on the book by Jeffrey Konvitz but unashamedly takes
plot points from much better films from the past - Freaks (1932), Rosemary's Baby (1968), The Exorcist (1973) and The Omen (1976). What it has going for it is a superb supporting cast playing campy bizarre characters. A neurotic New York fashion model (Cristina Raines), prone to slicing up her wrists, moves into a Brownstone apartment in Brooklyn in order to give herself some space from her longtime boyfriend (Chris Sarandon) who is constantly pestering her for marriage. Her neighbors are an assortment of odd people - a wizened old man (Burgess Meredith) with a pet cat and canary, a lesbian couple (Sylvia Miles and Beverly D'Angelo - with the latter involved in a gratuitous scene involving masturbation) and two weird fat ladies. One night she sees her dead father and stabs him only for the police to discover there is no body and the neighbors she claims to associate with are all long-dead murderers and a figment of her imagination. The two smirking cops (Eli Wallach and Christopher Walken) on the case think her shady boyfriend may be up to something while she is treated in hospital for her breakdown. Adding further colour to the proceedings are two priests (José Ferrer and Arthur Kennedy), a wacky professor (Martin Balsam), a shady realtor (Ava Gardner) and a blind priest (John Carradine) who sits staring out of a top floor apartment. The ending involves lots of blood, nudity, assorted deformed people and the gateway to hell. Never a dull moment from start to finish. Also making brief appearances are William Hickey, Jeff Goldblum, Tom Berenger, Jerry Orbach, Richard Dreyfuss and Deborah Raffin. Notwithstanding its low reputation this is actually quite a creepy and lurid horror film. Scary and campy in equal doses and well worth a look.
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The Postcard (La Carte Postale) (1998) - 8/10 - A young boy gets a postcard from his father from overseas so he decides to write a postcard back. However, the postcard arrived on the day of the father's funeral and it leads to a few complications. I thought this was a mildly amusing, but fairly entertaining short film. Some things are left unsaid, but are pretty obvious from what happens during the day of the funeral.

Birdnesters of Thailand (1991) - 7/10 - Men of a village in a remote area of Thailand use traditional methods passed down by their ancestors to take birdnests from high up on cliffs and in caves. The birdnests have value in Hong Kong and are sold to traders for money to keep their village going. The men have to climb up high or descend from vines to reach certain caves. They also use long bamboo shafts and have to be careful to check that they are sound. It was interesting, but more explanation of what the birdnests are used for would have been nice.

An Impression of John Steinbeck: Writer (1969) - 7/10 - Henry Fonda (as Steinbeck) narrated this short documentary that came out after Steinbeck died. It features a number of people who give their impressions of Steinbeck, including students, childhood friends, professors, and others. It uses quotes from Steinbeck and looks back at some of his motivations as a writer, examining some of the characters in his works and visiting places where he lived. It is far from a comprehensive biography, but fits the title of giving an impression of the man.

Pan (1962) - 9/10 - This Dutch film features a boy who starts out rowing his boat through the reeds in a lake to examine a bird's nest. He then takes to the water, swimming around and observing birds in mating rituals, taking care of their young, sitting on their eggs, and going about their business. He is attacked by a couple of birds for his actions during the film. He takes up his pan pipe and makes music to fit in with the birds, frogs, insects, and other wildlife around him. There is no dialogue in the film, but it is hardly needed. It's a charming and well made film.
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The Numbers Start with the River (1971) - 7/10 - A short film about small town life in Iowa with narration by older residents who have lived their whole lives there and plenty of scenes of life there, from working the farms to visiting a diner or a high school football game. It wasn't bad.

Kudzu (1977) - 8/10 - Kudzu is a creeping vine that was brought over from Japan in 1876. It became widespread in the South as a means to control erosion, but spreads fairly rapidly and a number of people see it as a nuisance. This somewhat humorous short features people who like Kudzu and those who would rather get rid of it, though it isn't always easy to do. Jimmy Carter even makes a few appearances here as he is asked about Kudzu. I thought this was a fairly entertaining film.

Passport to Nowhere (1947) - 7/10 - This film showed the plight of displaced people in Europe after the end of WWII. There were around 8 million of them in the areas controlled by the western Allies and there was still a lot of suffering long after the war since countries were not in a hurry to step up and help them. Eventually help did start to reach them as various organizations set up in Germany and elsewhere. There were many Jews, but also those of Protestant and Catholic faiths. There were also many orphans amongst the displaced. It was not a great situation, but it was a decent film.

Saint Matthew Passion (1966) - 5/10 - This Hungarian film features the J.S. Bach music as the soundtrack to a series of pictures which mostly feature the suffering of Jews at the hand of Nazis while other German citizens look on. The music was really good, but I don't think that their method of displaying the photos and the organization of the photos really worked very well. I think that they may have been trying to set up a corollary between the suffering of Jesus on the cross with the suffering of the Jewish people here, but they could have done a better job.

Red Grooms: Sunflower in a Hothouse (1986) - 8/10 - Red Grooms is an artist and he is profiled here. He works in a variety of mediums, including three dimensional pop up constructions, some of which move (such as a model subway car). He is shown visiting a variety of places in New York and sketching what he sees for future exhibits. We learn a bit about his history and early work and also get to see him working on a mural. I thought that the film was pretty interesting and his artwork was good. Some of his pop ups reminded me of the Spitting Images puppets in the "Land of Confusion" video from Genesis in terms of style.
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Water: Friend of Enemy (1943) - 7/10 - This animated short shows how to protect wells and springs from contamination that can bring disease. It was interesting, though somewhat basic.

Children at Work (Paisti ag obair) (1973) - 7/10 - This Irish short shows preschool age children building things with blocks, cups, legos, etc. The children also clean up their areas, practice buttoning clothes, and other activities where they imitate the adults to learn. It was mildly interesting, but too short.

Three Kisses (1955) - 7.5/10 - An Irish boy is pretty good at hurling and gets a chance to travel to Cork to try out for a top team there. When he plays well, he does his hometown proud. His focus is on hurling...and the neighbor girl that he happens to like. This is a lighthearted short film where we can gain a bit of knowledge about hurling and enjoy the action and humor as the boy narrates his tale.

Day of Battle (1943) - 7/10 - We get to see the lifecycle of an aircraft carrier as it is built with materials and work from a variety of states before it is finally launched into the sea. It goes into battle and we get to see quite a bit of combat footage from a variety of points of view. Finally, it is too badly damaged and is lost only to have another ship christened as the process begins anew.

High Stakes in the East (1942) - 8/10 - After the Allies lost Java to the Japanese, this film was made to show why Java was important and what had been lost. Java was a major supplier of salt, sugar, tin, petroleum, rubber, and a lot more. These materials are shown being collected and processed by the natives of Java. The film itself is pretty interesting for all the different materials and the work that is being done.

Oh Brother, My Brother (1979) - 7/10 - Ross and Carol Lowell filmed their two sons, Josh (7) and Evan (3) as they play together, fight, and behave as many brothers do. Josh narrates the film and you can see that they two boys enjoy each other's company, even when they get on the other one's nerves.
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Counterpoint (Ralph Nelson, 1967) 6/10

A clash of wills between an urbane Nazi General (Maximillian Schell) and a renowned American conductor (Charlton Heston) who is captured along with his orchestra by the German army in Belgium during WWII. Knowing they are all marked to die on the orders of a sadistic Colonel (Anton Differing) the conductor bides time by refusing to play a concert as demanded by the General who is a big fan. When death becomes inevitable (the piano player is shot dead) the obstinate conductor is persuaded by the cellist (Kathryn Hays), a former lover now married to the concert manager (Leslie Nielsen), to conduct the orchestra for the concert. Unusual war film is atmospheric (set in a medieval castle) and has wonderful music by Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Wagner and Beethoven. The last minute heroics allow star Heston to gnash his teeth and wield a machine gun. He is also the only one who gets to kiss a lady even if she now happens to be the wife of someone else. Schell, as always, steals the film with an engaging performance and there was never anyone better at playing the evil Nazi than Anton Differing who successfully used his aristocratic demeanor, blonde hair and piercing blue-eyes to fit right into that role. The irony of his typecasting was that he was in fact jewish and had escaped Nazi Germany in 1939.

Hôtel des Amériques (André Téchiné, 1981) 5/10

A heartbroken doctor (Catherine Deneuve), pining for her drowned lover, and an aimless drifter (Patrick Dewaere) meet on the streets of Biarritz and start a doomed affair. Highly stylized film, shot in gloomy tones by Bruno Bruno Nuytten, is an attempt to show a side of romance steeped in reality where relationships don't move according to plan. Deneuve here is shorn off her usual icy persona and seems like a real person - a woman stuck in the past, refusing to move on and attempting an affair which she knows is not going to go anywhere. She was nominated for a César award. Dewaere has such an impossibly dull character to play here - lethargic, not willing to change, prone to sudden temper tantrums - that its hard to drum up any sympathy for him. One wants Deneuve to snap out of it, give this man a boot and move on to greener pastures. She eventually does but not quite in this way. The town of a bustling touristy Biarritz is a character unto itself which Téchiné uses as a contrast to the stillness surrounding the two mismatched lovers. Life in town and in the seedy hotel where most of the story takes place moves at a fast pace while the lovers are oblivious to it and only trapped in their own gloom. This film started a fruitful collaboration between the director and Deneuve - seven films together so far.

The Fourth Angel (John Irvin, 2001) 4/10

This terrorist-themed film was a casuality of 9/11 when similar films tanked at the boxoffice and it went straight to video two years later. An interesting cast mostly flounders in a story about a vigilante killer - an oft-told story that brought Charles Bronson fame and since has been a recurring theme in the latter part of Liam Neeson's career. During a hijacking a magazine editor (Jeremy Irons) loses his wife and two daughters in the carnage that follows an attempt by the police to thwart the hijackers. He decides to take matters into his own hands when the killers are mysteriously freed and the British Government and the American Embassy in London provide no answers. He is aided and abetted by a group of people - his boss at the office (Timothy West), an FBI agent (Forest Whitaker), a snarky American embassy official (Jason Priestley) and a journalist friend (Charlotte Rampling) - as he one by one finds and shoots the hijackers. Irons is not only badly miscast but the plot (full of holes) gets more and more prepostrous as it goes along. Rampling, in her brief role, is sublime and the only one to give what amounts to a realistic performance.

Les égarés / Strayed (André Téchiné, 2003) 7/10

A widow (Emmanuelle Béart), her 13-year old son (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet) and young daughter escape Paris when the Germans march in. On the road they are attacked by straffing German airplanes and manage to escape into the woods with the help of a shaven-headed wiry teenager (Gaspard Ulliel). They find shelter in an abandoned house and gradually the war recedes into the background as the days go by while they lead an almost idyllic existence. The woman is at first suspicious of the moody teenager who manages to provide food by trapping rabbits and stealing chickens from nearby farms but gradually she warms to him and starts teaching him how to read and write. Techiné's film is not really about the war itself but concentrates instead on how death and destruction effects the characters as their relationships with each other undergo subtle changes. Béart gives a quietly understated performance as the lonely woman who has to stand strong for her two children and who is suddenly faced with a mixture of feelings for their saviour which starts with fear and distrust, moves towards acceptance and turns to erotic sexual longing. The two young boys played by Ulliel and Leprince-Ringuet are outstanding - the former manages to convey a ferrel quality along with hidden glimpses of compassion while the latter displays the angst of a typical teenager. Both actors were nominated for the César award as was Agnes Godard's lush cinematography capturing the beautiful french countryside in all its glory.

Barocco (André Téchiné, 1976) 9/10

Téchiné's thriller is placed in a world that seems to be the sets of old movies. The story is set somewhere in Northern Europe but the murky city recalls Fritz Lang's M (1931) and the doomed atmosphere reminds of Marcel Carne's Le Quai des brumes (1938). As the film progesses there are moments and dialogues that vividly bring to mind the films of Alfred Hitchcock in particular The Birds (1963), Marnie (1964) and especially Vertigo (1958). A washed up boxer (a blonde Gérard Depardieu) is bribed to implicate a politician in a homosexual affair. When the indignant man refuses his equally aimless girlfriend (Isabelle Adjani) persuades him to go through with the damaging interview so they can leave town with the huge amount of money. Things don't quite go according to plan as just when the lovers are about to leave on a train the politician's goons stop the boxer and bribe him not to go through with the interview. An assassin (a brunette Depardieu) shoots the boxer and falls in love with his girlfriend. Eventually she converts the murderer into her dead lover by dyeing his hair blonde. Highly stylized film has a number of memorable supporting characters aiding or abetting the two leads - the sleazy editor of the magazine (Jean-Claude Brialy) who was planning to publish the lie about the politician, the girl's best friend and roommate (Marie-France Pisier) who works as a prostitute, has a baby with her pimp (Claude Brasseur) and amusingly attempts to seduce the assassin when he comes looking for the girl. The film, Adjani, Téchiné, the editing, production design and sound all received César award nominations. Bruno Nuytten for his moody cinematography, Philippe Sarde for his score (reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann's scores for Hitchcock) and Marie-France Pisier all won César awards

Celle que vous croyez / Who You Think I Am (Safy Nebbou, 2019) 7/10

During sessions with a therapist (Nicole Garcia) a professor of french literature (Juliette Binoche) gradually reveals her life. A divorced mother of two teenage boys she was dumped by her husband (Charles Berling) who ran off with her niece. When her own callous much younger lover dumps her she creates a fake Facebook account (impersonating a much younger woman) and befriends her ex-lover's young roommate (François Civil) who becomes obsessed by her. Striking film plays around with the truth with the Binoche character gradually revealing moments of her life which may or may not be the truth. Based on the best selling book by Camille Laurens the screenplay also makes points about feminine ageing and the double standards involved in relationships. Binoche's character appears to be secure, well-paid and in a fulfilling job, yet she is fixated on the past - betrayal by her husband - and obsessed with what she perceives to be her waning looks and comes off looking like a sociopath once she starts stalking a younger man on Facebook. Binoche the actor, playing this part, is superb as she captures the various moods of her character with the highlight being an intensely erotic sexual encounter in a car which takes phone sex to another level.
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The Children's Storefront (1988) - 8/10 - This short film looks at a private, tuition free school in Harlem that worked with children from preschool through 8th grade, many from disadvantaged families who had trouble in regular schools. The teachers are very caring and try a variety of methods to help the children learn. The children also seem to form a bond with the teachers and do well in the program. It's a short film, but a good one.

Amazon Diary (1989) - 7.5/10 - The white men are cutting down parts of the Amazon rainforest and turning areas into mud in their search for gold. One tribe sends representatives to try to get them to respect the rainforest and learn new ways. The story is told through the eyes of one boy from the village. It is more of a glimpse at their life than anything else and lacks depth, but is still an entertaining short.

American Shoeshine (1976) - 8.5/10 - This film features interviews with a variety of shoeshine men from around Chicago and shows them in action. It is a pretty entertaining film and delves a bit into the art and history of the job.

Rooftops of New York (1961) - 8/10 - A doorman notices water coming down from the roof of his building and then the camera pans up to the roof and observes a lot of activity. Some women are sunbathing and reading, a couple of men are exercising, a man waters plants, a woman hangs up her laundry, and love is in the air for others. It is accompanied by a jazzy soundtrack and is a fun short film.

Shoeshine (1987) - 6/10 - This short is about a man (Jerry Stiller) on the Staten Island Ferry trying to drum up business and giving a shoeshine to a young man (Ben Stiller) resting on one of the benches. They have a conversation during the shoeshine. It was okay, though not in the same class as many other shorts that I've seen.
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Midnight in the Switchgrass (Randall Emmett, 2021) 6/10

Police procedural with a cop (Emile Hirsch) doggedly pursuing a serial killer (Lukas Haas) who has kidnapped, drugged and brutally murdered prostitutes and other young women. Joining up with the cop is an FBI agent (Megan Fox), also in pursuit of the killer, who acts as a decoy to try and flush out the killer. Willis has a small role (with smirk intact) as her partner who cannot take her brash manner of taking risks. Haas, the innocent kid from "Witness", is the deceptive killer who alternates being a loving husband and father to a young girl and a cool but psychotic murderer. Nothing new here as far the subject is concerned but its well acted especially by Megan Fox.

Ashanti (Richard Fleischer, 1979) 5/10

Not quite as schlocky as it's reputation but as an action-adventure film it comes up pretty short despite the huge budget and the starry cast. Set in Africa against a background of modern-day slave trading. WHO doctor (stunning Beverly Johnson - the first African-American model to appear on the cover of American Vogue) is kidnapped by a wily Arab slave trader (a hammy Peter Ustinov) and her desperate husband and fellow doctor (a very bored looking Michael Caine) tries to move heaven and earth to locate her. With everyone denying there is any slave trade he has to locate shady men who work underground as rescuers - a member of the Anti-Slavery League (Rex Harrison), a helicopter pilot and mercenary-for-hire (William Holden in a brief cameo) and an Arab (Kabir Bedi speaking with a clipped British accent) whose own wife and children were murdered by the same slave trader. A perilous journey on camels across the Sahara desert takes them to a Red Sea port where an Arab prince (Omar Sharif) has bid a high price for the exotic black woman. Absurd, often silly film is beautifully shot by the distinguished Italian cinematographer Aldo Tonti who captures the astonishing desert vistas. Caine called this "the most wretched film I ever made" although truth be told he made some that were far worse. Many familiar character actors appear briefly - Zia Mohyeddin and Winston Ntshona as the slave trader's guards, Johnny Sekka as a cop, Akosua Busia as a slave girl and Eric Pohlmann (the voice of Blofeld in two of the early Bond films) as another slave trader. A flamboyant Ustinov is the film's highlight and is very funny speaking with a mellifluous accent and under guise of courtly manners hiding every debauched deed whether its brutalizing the slaves on the journey, treating his guards like dirt or selling a young boy to his guard for use as his sex toy.

La Nuit de Varennes (Ettore Scola, 1982) 5/10

During the long day of June 22, 1791, France’s Louis XVI (Michel Piccoli) and his queen, Marie Antoinette (Eleonore Hirt), flee northeast from Paris to Varennes where that night they are captured and brought back. Scola's very talky, extremely tedious and overlong film makes the mistake of ignoring that dramatic event and instead concentrates on a group of disparate travelers on a coach which is following the one carrying the French monarch. On board are popular writer and pornographer, Nicolas Edamé Restif de la Bretonne (Jean-Louis Barrault), his friend the English-born American revolutionary pamphleteer Tom Paine (Harvey Keitel), the ageing and very tired erotic diarist Casanova (Marcello Mastroianni) and a trio of ladies - a Countess (Hanna Schygulla), a wealthy widow (Andréa Ferréol) and an operatic diva (Laura Betti). Philosophy and politics get discussed, wit is thrown about, the women try to get a rise out of an uninterested Casanova and the film keeps rambling on for over two hours. The cast is uniformly fine with Mastroianni fun as the fussy former star-fornicator who is now old and decrepit with assorted ailments and Schygulla is forceful as the Queen's loyal lady-in-waiting. Dante Ferretti's production design, the costumes by Gabriella Pescucci and the cinematography by Armando Nannuzzi are memorable. Making cameo appearances in bit parts are Jean-Claude Brialy, Daniel Gélin and Jean-Louis Trintignant.

Celui qui doit mourir / He Who Must Die (Jules Dassin, 1957) 10/10

Extremely powerful Christian allegory, adaptated from the novel "Christ Recrucified" by Nikos Kazantzakis, is set just after WWI in a small greek village on Crete which was occupied by the Turks. The greeks live in false harmony under the watchful eyes of the local Turk Lord (Grégoire Aslan), gregarious but cunning and debauched - he lives surrounded by Oriental splendour, enjoys the company of pretty boys while guzzling raki. The village holds a passion play once in seven years and the autocratic priest (Fernand Ledoux) chooses actors to play the parts from the local villagers. A merchant-peddler (René Lefèvre) who loves his donkey is given the part of the Apostle Peter, the son (Maurice Ronet) of the rich mayor (Gert Fröbe) gets to play the Apostle John, a wild passionate man (Roger Hanin) reluctantly accepts the role of Judas, the village prostitute (Melina Mercouri) is happy to play Mary Magdalene and a humble shepherd (Pierre Vaneck) is chosen to play Christ. When a priest (Jean Servais) from a neighboring devastated village arrives with a group of starved people the local priest enlists the Turks to keep them out. The actors in the play side with the outsiders and offer them help and soon the events begin to dangerously mirror the life of Christ as the priest's hate campaign leads to tragedy and a recrucifixion. Kazantzakis' story basically shows how the modern world would treat Jesus if he was to come down to earth once again. The Greek Orthodox Church excommunicated the author for daring to write this novel. The story held special appeal to Dassin as the witch hunt depicted in the story mirrored his own life when he was driven out of America during the absurd McCarthy trials. Atmospheric and highly emotional film is a potpourri of patriotism, Greek tragedy, Christian hypocricy and Communist solidarity. Superbly acted by a mostly french cast this was the first screen collaboration between Dassin and greek goddess Mercouri who would later become his wife. A must-see!

I Could Never Be Your Woman (Amy Heckerling, 2007) 1/10

Divorced 40-year old television producer (Michelle Pfeiffer) casts much younger actor (Paul Rudd) on her failing show and revives its ratings. She also falls in love with him but guilt over their age difference causes complications. Silly rom-com has an over-the-top Tracey Ullmann playing "Mother Nature" who annoyingly keeps popping up acting like a chorus. The only one who rises above this mess is 13-year old Saoirse Ronan, in her film debut, as Pfeiffer's sassy daughter who has love problems of her own. Heckerling has stuff to stay about female insecurity related to ageing but this is such a boring film and an absolute chore to sit through that you just don't care about anything on the screen.

Feast of Love (Robert Benton, 2007) 5/10

Ruminations on love mostly unrequited and unfulfilled. The film is a series of vignettes about a group of people whose love lives intertwine via the local coffee shop where an old professor (Morgan Freeman) acts as a chorus while watching the group meet, fall in love, break up, and hook up again with new partners. The owner of the coffee shop (Greg Kinnear) loses his wife (Selma Blair) to a lesbian, and then falls in love with a sexy estate agent (Radha Mitchell) who is having an affair with a married man who refuses to leave his wife. She finally dumps him, marries her new lover but then dumps him for her former lover. Meanwhile a young man working at the coffee shop juggles an abusive relationship with his father (Fred Ward) and an intense affair with a pretty young girl who has been told by a fortune-teller (Margo Martindale) that her lover will die young. So the two get married before the inevitable happens. This derivative soap opera plot hums along with its fine cast going through the motions. It's nice to see Jane Alexander on screen again (as Freeman's wife) who is bemused by her husband's interactions with all the different lovers he meets. This rather bland film occasionally perks up with startlingly explicit sex scenes with the actors exposing more than just their souls. Benton never made another film after this one.

Jungle Cruise (Jaume Collet-Serra, 2021) 5/10

Based on Walt Disney''s theme park attraction of the same name with a screenplay that also adds into the mix elements from "The African Queen" - dangerous rapids and a giant waterfall, Disney's own "In Search of the Castaways" and the Indy Jones films. Rollicking adventure film repeats for today's young generation what older generations have enjoyed since way back when through similarly themed films that have as its center a treasure hunt. In 1916 a plucky botanist (Emily Blunt), accompanied by her gay brother (Jack Whitehall), head for the jungles of Brazil in search of a mythical "tree of life" that is rumored to cure every illness. The map they hold is one drawn by Aguirre (Edgar Ramírez) who went in search for it centuries before and fell foul to its curse trapping him in ghost form in the jungle. A boistrous riverboat Captain (Dwayne Johnson) is their reluctant guide down the river. There is danger - scorpions, poisonous spiders and snakes, a very fake-looking CGI pet leopard, head hunters and a cartoonish German villain (Jessie Plemmons) in pursuit to get to the treasure first for the German army. The action set-pieces roll on one after the other in quick succession as the two leads playfully banter with surprisingly no romance in sight. Fun but in a very bland way.

Background (Daniel Bert, 1953) 6/10

The effects of divorce on a family. A long married bickering upper-class couple - a prominent barrister (Phillip Friend) and his lovely wife (Valerie Hobson) - decide to end their marriage after one too many quarrels. Both are extremely civil about the decision and are relieved and looking forward to their futures. He has a promising career to look forward to while she decides to get married to their friend (Norman Wooland) who has long carried a torch for her and hopes to settle on a farm in the countryside. However, their three children all react in very different ways. The eldest child (Janette Scott), a self-centered 14-year old girl is thrilled and excited by the divorce as it will allow her to spend her holidays on the farm and ride horses. The middle child (Jeremy Spenser) takes it very badly, is under the impression that another man has stolen away his mother, develops violent tendencies and beats up his older sister, burns a photo of her mother's future husband and attacks him with a gun. The youngest child (Mandy Miller) is confused and wonders who they will live with once the parents go their separate ways. A complex situation is suddenly resolved by the estranged couple who are shaken up by the reactions of their children. The simplistic denouement to a serious family issue is the film's major detriment but it's in keeping with the staid 1950s where the message doled out to the audience is one of positivity. Hobson is memorable as always while the three very popular child stars show great depth in their portrayals.

Piccadilly Incident (Herbert Wilcox, 1946) 8/10

Wilcox hit gold when he cast Michael Wilding opposite his wife Anna Neagle in this WWII British romantic drama. It was a massive hit and led to five more equally successful films establishing both actors as a memorable screen team. This oft-told tale had recently enjoyed success in the Hollywood film, "My Favorite Wife", wherein a lady thought dead returns to find her husband married to another woman. A Royal Marines officer (Michael Wilding) bumps into a Women's Royal Naval Service (Wren) officer (Anna Neagle) in the dark during an air raid in Piccadilly Square. They have a drink together, fall in love and on a sudden impulse get married. She is soon shipped off overseas on duty. During the evacuation of Singapore the ship she is on is sunk but she survives with five people and ends up on a deserted island. Meanwhile back home her husband is injured, returns home and discovers the fate of his wife who he thinks is dead. When she and her companions are finally rescued after two years she is shocked to find her husband remarried to an American Red Cross nurse. She runs away but later during a chance encounter with her husband tells him that her marriage to him meant nothing and she fell in love with another man on the island. A bomb explosion leads to a confession that brings this romantic melodrama to its weepy conclusion. Wilding, who was reluctantly cast in the film after both Rex Harrison and John Mills turned the part down, became a huge star with the success of the film - post WWII British audiences ate up the schmaltz and the film was one of the top box office attractions of the year. Neagle proves she could be a great dramatic star in addition to her regular image on screen as a song and dance girl - she does sing and dance here as well - and gets to emote in scenes where she looks glamorous as well as moments where her face is starkly devoid of makeup in the scenes set on the island. Coral Browne is memorable as Wilding's no-nonsense older sister. Old fashioned melodrama is a relic from the past although highly effective as one of the classic romantic films from the golden period of British cinema.
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gunnar
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

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A Shocking Accident (1982) - 7/10 - A nine year old boy at a boarding school gets the news that his father died while on a business trip to Italy. The boy imagines his father dying in an almost heroic manner, but discovers that he died when a pig fell on him from a fifth floor balcony. This 'shocking accident' follows him into adulthood and makes his life a bit difficult at times when people discover how his father died. It was humorous and a decent film.

1848 (1950) - 7/10 - This short film covers the French Revolution of 1848 using narration, songs of that era, and cartoons drawn by prominent artists of the day. The drawings were pretty interesting and the film was decent.

The True Story of the Civil War (1956) - 7.5/10 - This short film from Louis Stoumen uses narration mixed with photos and drawings created during the Civil War to give an overview of the course of the war. It lacks depth and is more of a highlights reel, but the narration is very good and the photographs are pretty effective. Overall, I think that it is a pretty good film.
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