[quote="Reza"]Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (J.J. Abrams, 2019) 5/10
And lest there is an outcry by the American gay community we get to glimpse a lesbian couple locked in an embrace and kiss. All very correct and cosy but rather obvious.
/quote]
Seems audiences in Singapore won't get the opportunity to be outraged:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/d ... -singapore
It was such a blink and you miss it moment - my partner didn't see it. Must admit the most disturbing thing I found in the film was a man embracing a slug like creature. Now that is the stuff of nightmares!
Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
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Precious Doll
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (J.J. Abrams, 2019) 5/10
George Lucas' epic Sci-fi saga finally concludes with episode IX. It's been a long journey of 42 years for many of us who experienced all 9 films in real time - from 1977 to 2019. The middle section of the saga, filmed first, was the most grounded in terms of plot and characters of which the three most memorable were Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), his twin sister Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and the man she spars and falls in love with, Han Solo (Harrison Ford). It is thus fitting that all three actors make brief appearances here even though Solo died in the last episode and actress Carrie Fisher died in 2016. The plot continues with good and evil battling for supremacy as Kylo Ren (a glum Adam Driver) - grandson of Darth Vader and son of Solo and Leia - tries to lure the young Jedi - Rey (Daisy Ridley) - over to the dark side. The film's big revelation is Rey's ancestory and the return of a villain who was thought to be dead. The screenplay blandly goes through the motions with various chase sequences and a couple of spectacular set pieces (courtesy of CGI) all of which fail to excite. It's not a bad film per se. Just rather dull. It's as if everyone grew tired with the franchise, couldn't think of anything new so decided to conclude the story by playing it extremely safe in tying up all the loose ends with assorted goodbyes. And it wouldn't be a modern Hollywood film without a cast that is politically correct in its ethnicity. Black actors get their day in the sun with important roles - Billy Dee Williams' Lando Calrissian also makes a comeback - and we get to glimpse some Asian-Americans and Indian faces as well amongst the cast. And lest there is an outcry by the American gay community we get to glimpse a lesbian couple locked in an embrace and kiss. All very correct and cosy but rather obvious. Can't remember now if there were any jewish characters - oh yes, since it's science fiction religion gets no mention so the only jews around were part of the huge production team behind the cameras. So Disney has managed to please everyone except probably the fan boy contingent who appear to be up in arms in disappointment over this concluding episode. Daisy Ridley is a standout amongst the large cast as her character gets a complete arc and she is delightfully feisty throughout. A close second is Richard E. Grant's evil General Pryde - it's a small part but the actor manages to make every scene count with his witty performance. And now we wait and see which direction the franchise moves with planned spinoffs in the pipeline.
La donna del fiume / The River Girl (Mario Soldati, 1954) 8/10
Producer Dino De Laurentiis, who created a sensation by launching his wife Silvana Mangano in "Bitter Rice", goes for the same formula teaming up with Carlo Ponti to present Sophia Loren as a similar bombshell. This melodrama has it all - the Po Valley location, colour cinematography by Otello Martelli with his strategically placed camera focusing on the leading lady's famous attributes as she seduces the audience while dancing the Mambo or walking in thigh deep water harvesting cane. Catching the eye of a ne'er-do-well smuggler (Rik Battaglia) she falls for him and becomes his mistress while rejecting a local cop (Gerard Oury) who is in love with her. He callously dumps her when she tells him she is pregnant forcing her to take revenge which leads to a tragic conclusion. One of many early Italian films that reveal Sophia as not only a sensual delight but also a great dramatic actress. Based on a story by Alberto Moravia the screenplay has Pier Paolo Pasolini as one of the writers. Sophia sings the catchy number "Mambo Bacan" over the film's opening credits.
Dust (Marion Hänsel, 1985) 6/10
Slow, intense look at isolation and madness on a desolate South African farm. A neglected spinster (Jane Birkin) lives with her widowed old father (Trevor Howard) on a farm run by their black foreman. Craving her father's love and on the verge of a mental breakdown she starts hallucinating. When the old man rapes the foreman's young wife the horrified spinster shoots him. Hastily burying her father she is at the mercy of the foreman who then taunts and openly flirts with her. When she refuses to pay his salary he attacks and rapes her which she, in her catatonic state, imagines them making love. When the servants run off she frees all the sheep from the pen and finally finds serenity as madness fully descends on her. The film's last image is of hope even though it springs from within her twisted mind. Birkin's tour-de-force performance won her an acting prize at the Venice film festival. The film's bleak desert setting - Spain substituting for South Africa - goes a long way in creating the sense of impending doom and tragedy.
Section 375 (Ajay Bahl, 2019) 6/10
Tense and detailed police procedural courtroom drama centered around a victim of rape showing how the #metoo movement can be used to win a case which may not entail proper justice in the end. A Bollywood director (Rahul Bhatt) is accused of rape by a female member of the costume department (Meera Chopra). As the defence (Akshaye Khanna) and prosecuting (Richa Chadha) attorneys battle out in court the truth comes to light showing the fine line between the law and actual justice. The screenplay takes great pains to explain the different perspectives of the law - Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code which deals with rape.
Colewell (Tom Quinn, 2019) 6/10
Understated film has a superb central performance by Karen Allen who once upon a time accompanied Indiana Jones on his adventures. A small-town post master (Karen Allen) is told by the USPS that her office (which for years has been run from her house) is to be shut down and is given an option of moving to a bigger town to continue - a sure-fire sign of being forced to resign. She tries to protest, refusing to move and instead begs to stay at the old location. The screenplay, while making points about economic threats to Americans, is actually a deeply felt character study and a sad look at retirement, old age and the fears of being put out to pasture. Allen is absolutely sublime, acting with her expressive eyes, her body movements and interactions with the townfolk gradually revealing bits and pieces of her past life.
Papa Hemingway in Cuba (Bob Yari, 2015) 6/10
Fascinating look into the life of writer Ernest Hemingway during his Cuban period. Irascible, an alcoholic and bipolar, the writer is viewed through his friendship with a young journalist - Denne Bart Petitclerc (here called Ed Myers and played with wide-eyed puppy charm by Giovanni Ribisi). The film was actually shot in Hemingway's own house in Havana (now a museum) and around the city giving the film a strong feeling of authenticity. The Florida based journalist writes a fan letter to Hemingway (Adrian Sparks who is superb) and is invited to come stay with him and go fishing. Around them the Cuban revolution is in full swing with street killings by rebels allied with Fidel Castro. The journalist closely observes and absorbs, reporting not only the revolution for his newspaper but also forming a close association with the famous writer and his fourth wife Mary Hemingway (Joely Richardson who is extremely charming) - the toxcity in their marriage is presented as a constant mixture of love and battle as the long suffering woman tries to cajole her suicidal depressive husband. There is a wonderful moment as she gathers a group of his favorite cronies for a surprise birthday party while dressed up herself as Marlene Dietrich (singing "Lili Marleen") who was one of Papa's closest pals. Hounding by the FBI (for income tax evasion) and "higher ups" in the American government also add to the writer's problems. Episodic film is an exercise in the writer's downward spiral in bathetic sentimentality which seems like a contradiction to the virility on display in his books but is in keeping with the self destructive persona of an ill mind. It is also the first American film since 1959 to have been shot in Cuba.
The Man From Morocco (Mutz Greenbaum, 1945) 5/10
Studio-bound but atmospheric war film set during the Spanish Civil War. With the defeat of the Republicans a group of freedom fighters try to escape into France. Enroute the intrepid leader (Anton Walbrook) meets a local woman (Margaretta Scott) when the soldiers take refuge in a bombed out church. The group reach France to find it occupied by the Nazis and find themselves interned in a camp where the two lovers are eventually reunited. A sadistic french Captain, sympathetic to the Nazis, destroys his release papers and has him shipped off to Morocco. The rest of the film becomes a quest for revenge on the frenchman who is interested in the woman as well. Slow film has a tendency towards melodrama as most of the cast overacts.
Maskerade / Masquerade in Vienna (Willi Forst, 1934) 10/10
Forst's outstanding film about morality and love is set in Austria during the early twentieth century. The delightful plot involves a scandalous painting of a lady (Hilde Von Stolz) in which she has posed wearing a mask and just a handwarmer. The painting gets revealed to the public causing consternation for the famous painter (Anton Walbrook) as various men suspect their own wives and mistresses - (Von Stolz, Olga Tschechowa) - of being the nude subject. To appease the angry men the painter quickly makes up a fake name for the mysterious woman. When an actual person (Paula Wessely in her film debut) by that name turns up it causes even more problems as jealousy rears its ugly head. The film's real star is Franz Planer as he uses his gliding camera, weaving it around the cast during the elaborately staged waltz sequences. Superb production values and a wonderful cast make this one of the great classics of the silver screen and a must-see.
Night Was Our Friend (Michael Anderson, 1951) 3/10
Overwrought melodrama about a woman (Elizabeth Sellars) on trial for the murder of her husband (Michael Gough). While her husband was away for two years and presumed dead in a plane crash she falls in love with a doctor friend (John Howard). When he suddenly returns he has bouts of depression and moments of violence. When he is found dead by his mother (Marie Ney) of an overdose of prescription medication she suspects her daughter-in-law and reports her to the police. Gough overacts playing to the gallery but both Sellars and Ney are very good but cannot save this very silly murder mystery.
The Face Behind the Mask (Robert Florey, 1941) 6/10
A rare film with a lead role for the always superb Peter Lorre whose distinct voice made all his characters so memorable. This is one of his best parts playing an upbeat Hungarian immigrant in New York who, through a twist of fate, gets his face scarred by fire. Destitute depressed and bitter he is disuaded from suicide by a small-town crook and eventually rises to become the head of a gang of thieves. The love of a blind girl (Evelyn Keyes) brings him to his senses and he opts out from his life of crime. But his recent past catches up with him and following a tragedy he meticulously plans revenge. Early noir film is an extremely cynical and bleak look at the promise of the "American Dream". Low budget film - Lorre's scarred face is very briefly glimpsed after which he is seen wearing a mask - is elevated by the star's great performance as he goes through various moods from earnest and charming to chilling ruthlessness. Franz Planer's cinematography is memorable.
George Lucas' epic Sci-fi saga finally concludes with episode IX. It's been a long journey of 42 years for many of us who experienced all 9 films in real time - from 1977 to 2019. The middle section of the saga, filmed first, was the most grounded in terms of plot and characters of which the three most memorable were Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), his twin sister Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and the man she spars and falls in love with, Han Solo (Harrison Ford). It is thus fitting that all three actors make brief appearances here even though Solo died in the last episode and actress Carrie Fisher died in 2016. The plot continues with good and evil battling for supremacy as Kylo Ren (a glum Adam Driver) - grandson of Darth Vader and son of Solo and Leia - tries to lure the young Jedi - Rey (Daisy Ridley) - over to the dark side. The film's big revelation is Rey's ancestory and the return of a villain who was thought to be dead. The screenplay blandly goes through the motions with various chase sequences and a couple of spectacular set pieces (courtesy of CGI) all of which fail to excite. It's not a bad film per se. Just rather dull. It's as if everyone grew tired with the franchise, couldn't think of anything new so decided to conclude the story by playing it extremely safe in tying up all the loose ends with assorted goodbyes. And it wouldn't be a modern Hollywood film without a cast that is politically correct in its ethnicity. Black actors get their day in the sun with important roles - Billy Dee Williams' Lando Calrissian also makes a comeback - and we get to glimpse some Asian-Americans and Indian faces as well amongst the cast. And lest there is an outcry by the American gay community we get to glimpse a lesbian couple locked in an embrace and kiss. All very correct and cosy but rather obvious. Can't remember now if there were any jewish characters - oh yes, since it's science fiction religion gets no mention so the only jews around were part of the huge production team behind the cameras. So Disney has managed to please everyone except probably the fan boy contingent who appear to be up in arms in disappointment over this concluding episode. Daisy Ridley is a standout amongst the large cast as her character gets a complete arc and she is delightfully feisty throughout. A close second is Richard E. Grant's evil General Pryde - it's a small part but the actor manages to make every scene count with his witty performance. And now we wait and see which direction the franchise moves with planned spinoffs in the pipeline.
La donna del fiume / The River Girl (Mario Soldati, 1954) 8/10
Producer Dino De Laurentiis, who created a sensation by launching his wife Silvana Mangano in "Bitter Rice", goes for the same formula teaming up with Carlo Ponti to present Sophia Loren as a similar bombshell. This melodrama has it all - the Po Valley location, colour cinematography by Otello Martelli with his strategically placed camera focusing on the leading lady's famous attributes as she seduces the audience while dancing the Mambo or walking in thigh deep water harvesting cane. Catching the eye of a ne'er-do-well smuggler (Rik Battaglia) she falls for him and becomes his mistress while rejecting a local cop (Gerard Oury) who is in love with her. He callously dumps her when she tells him she is pregnant forcing her to take revenge which leads to a tragic conclusion. One of many early Italian films that reveal Sophia as not only a sensual delight but also a great dramatic actress. Based on a story by Alberto Moravia the screenplay has Pier Paolo Pasolini as one of the writers. Sophia sings the catchy number "Mambo Bacan" over the film's opening credits.
Dust (Marion Hänsel, 1985) 6/10
Slow, intense look at isolation and madness on a desolate South African farm. A neglected spinster (Jane Birkin) lives with her widowed old father (Trevor Howard) on a farm run by their black foreman. Craving her father's love and on the verge of a mental breakdown she starts hallucinating. When the old man rapes the foreman's young wife the horrified spinster shoots him. Hastily burying her father she is at the mercy of the foreman who then taunts and openly flirts with her. When she refuses to pay his salary he attacks and rapes her which she, in her catatonic state, imagines them making love. When the servants run off she frees all the sheep from the pen and finally finds serenity as madness fully descends on her. The film's last image is of hope even though it springs from within her twisted mind. Birkin's tour-de-force performance won her an acting prize at the Venice film festival. The film's bleak desert setting - Spain substituting for South Africa - goes a long way in creating the sense of impending doom and tragedy.
Section 375 (Ajay Bahl, 2019) 6/10
Tense and detailed police procedural courtroom drama centered around a victim of rape showing how the #metoo movement can be used to win a case which may not entail proper justice in the end. A Bollywood director (Rahul Bhatt) is accused of rape by a female member of the costume department (Meera Chopra). As the defence (Akshaye Khanna) and prosecuting (Richa Chadha) attorneys battle out in court the truth comes to light showing the fine line between the law and actual justice. The screenplay takes great pains to explain the different perspectives of the law - Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code which deals with rape.
Colewell (Tom Quinn, 2019) 6/10
Understated film has a superb central performance by Karen Allen who once upon a time accompanied Indiana Jones on his adventures. A small-town post master (Karen Allen) is told by the USPS that her office (which for years has been run from her house) is to be shut down and is given an option of moving to a bigger town to continue - a sure-fire sign of being forced to resign. She tries to protest, refusing to move and instead begs to stay at the old location. The screenplay, while making points about economic threats to Americans, is actually a deeply felt character study and a sad look at retirement, old age and the fears of being put out to pasture. Allen is absolutely sublime, acting with her expressive eyes, her body movements and interactions with the townfolk gradually revealing bits and pieces of her past life.
Papa Hemingway in Cuba (Bob Yari, 2015) 6/10
Fascinating look into the life of writer Ernest Hemingway during his Cuban period. Irascible, an alcoholic and bipolar, the writer is viewed through his friendship with a young journalist - Denne Bart Petitclerc (here called Ed Myers and played with wide-eyed puppy charm by Giovanni Ribisi). The film was actually shot in Hemingway's own house in Havana (now a museum) and around the city giving the film a strong feeling of authenticity. The Florida based journalist writes a fan letter to Hemingway (Adrian Sparks who is superb) and is invited to come stay with him and go fishing. Around them the Cuban revolution is in full swing with street killings by rebels allied with Fidel Castro. The journalist closely observes and absorbs, reporting not only the revolution for his newspaper but also forming a close association with the famous writer and his fourth wife Mary Hemingway (Joely Richardson who is extremely charming) - the toxcity in their marriage is presented as a constant mixture of love and battle as the long suffering woman tries to cajole her suicidal depressive husband. There is a wonderful moment as she gathers a group of his favorite cronies for a surprise birthday party while dressed up herself as Marlene Dietrich (singing "Lili Marleen") who was one of Papa's closest pals. Hounding by the FBI (for income tax evasion) and "higher ups" in the American government also add to the writer's problems. Episodic film is an exercise in the writer's downward spiral in bathetic sentimentality which seems like a contradiction to the virility on display in his books but is in keeping with the self destructive persona of an ill mind. It is also the first American film since 1959 to have been shot in Cuba.
The Man From Morocco (Mutz Greenbaum, 1945) 5/10
Studio-bound but atmospheric war film set during the Spanish Civil War. With the defeat of the Republicans a group of freedom fighters try to escape into France. Enroute the intrepid leader (Anton Walbrook) meets a local woman (Margaretta Scott) when the soldiers take refuge in a bombed out church. The group reach France to find it occupied by the Nazis and find themselves interned in a camp where the two lovers are eventually reunited. A sadistic french Captain, sympathetic to the Nazis, destroys his release papers and has him shipped off to Morocco. The rest of the film becomes a quest for revenge on the frenchman who is interested in the woman as well. Slow film has a tendency towards melodrama as most of the cast overacts.
Maskerade / Masquerade in Vienna (Willi Forst, 1934) 10/10
Forst's outstanding film about morality and love is set in Austria during the early twentieth century. The delightful plot involves a scandalous painting of a lady (Hilde Von Stolz) in which she has posed wearing a mask and just a handwarmer. The painting gets revealed to the public causing consternation for the famous painter (Anton Walbrook) as various men suspect their own wives and mistresses - (Von Stolz, Olga Tschechowa) - of being the nude subject. To appease the angry men the painter quickly makes up a fake name for the mysterious woman. When an actual person (Paula Wessely in her film debut) by that name turns up it causes even more problems as jealousy rears its ugly head. The film's real star is Franz Planer as he uses his gliding camera, weaving it around the cast during the elaborately staged waltz sequences. Superb production values and a wonderful cast make this one of the great classics of the silver screen and a must-see.
Night Was Our Friend (Michael Anderson, 1951) 3/10
Overwrought melodrama about a woman (Elizabeth Sellars) on trial for the murder of her husband (Michael Gough). While her husband was away for two years and presumed dead in a plane crash she falls in love with a doctor friend (John Howard). When he suddenly returns he has bouts of depression and moments of violence. When he is found dead by his mother (Marie Ney) of an overdose of prescription medication she suspects her daughter-in-law and reports her to the police. Gough overacts playing to the gallery but both Sellars and Ney are very good but cannot save this very silly murder mystery.
The Face Behind the Mask (Robert Florey, 1941) 6/10
A rare film with a lead role for the always superb Peter Lorre whose distinct voice made all his characters so memorable. This is one of his best parts playing an upbeat Hungarian immigrant in New York who, through a twist of fate, gets his face scarred by fire. Destitute depressed and bitter he is disuaded from suicide by a small-town crook and eventually rises to become the head of a gang of thieves. The love of a blind girl (Evelyn Keyes) brings him to his senses and he opts out from his life of crime. But his recent past catches up with him and following a tragedy he meticulously plans revenge. Early noir film is an extremely cynical and bleak look at the promise of the "American Dream". Low budget film - Lorre's scarred face is very briefly glimpsed after which he is seen wearing a mask - is elevated by the star's great performance as he goes through various moods from earnest and charming to chilling ruthlessness. Franz Planer's cinematography is memorable.
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Precious Doll
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Children of the Sea (2019) Ayumu Watanabe 4/10
Capri-Revolution (2018) Mario Martone 4/10
Them That Follow (2019) Britt Poulton & Dan Madison Savage 1/10
Game Night (2018) John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein 6/10
The Dozens (1981) Christine Dall & Randall Concrad 5/10
The Dark at the End of the Street (1981) Jan Egleson 5/10
Anna (2019) Luc Besson 5/10
Hannah (2018) Andrea Pallaoro 4/10
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) J. J. Abrams 5/10
The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019) Simon Curtis 7/10
Slow Dancing in the Big City (1978) John G. Avildsen 2/10
The Two Popes (2019) Fernando Meirelles 1/10
Bride For Sale (1949) William D. Russell 4/10
A Very Curious Girl (1969) Nelly Kaplan 7/10
Repeat viewings
The Seventh Victim (1943) Mark Robson 8/10
Danton (1983) Andrzej Wajda 7/10
A Tale of Springtime (1990) Eric Rohmer 8/10
Inside Moves (1980) Richard Donner 7/10
Capri-Revolution (2018) Mario Martone 4/10
Them That Follow (2019) Britt Poulton & Dan Madison Savage 1/10
Game Night (2018) John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein 6/10
The Dozens (1981) Christine Dall & Randall Concrad 5/10
The Dark at the End of the Street (1981) Jan Egleson 5/10
Anna (2019) Luc Besson 5/10
Hannah (2018) Andrea Pallaoro 4/10
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) J. J. Abrams 5/10
The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019) Simon Curtis 7/10
Slow Dancing in the Big City (1978) John G. Avildsen 2/10
The Two Popes (2019) Fernando Meirelles 1/10
Bride For Sale (1949) William D. Russell 4/10
A Very Curious Girl (1969) Nelly Kaplan 7/10
Repeat viewings
The Seventh Victim (1943) Mark Robson 8/10
Danton (1983) Andrzej Wajda 7/10
A Tale of Springtime (1990) Eric Rohmer 8/10
Inside Moves (1980) Richard Donner 7/10
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Big Magilla
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
I thought that The Story of Temple Drake was the most famous pre-Code film aside from the notorious Letty Lynton that had never been released on home video. We may finally see that one after the copyright on the play it was ruled to have stolen from (Dishonored Lady) expires in 2025.
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Precious Doll
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Haha. My bad. Funnily I'd never heard of the film until Criterion released it. Hopefully they will release some more pre-code gems.Big Magilla wrote:Hmmm. Is that about a temple they had built to honor Temple Drake?Precious Doll wrote:The Story of Drake Temple (1933) Stephen Roberts 7/10
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Big Magilla
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Hmmm. Is that about a temple they had built to honor Temple Drake?Precious Doll wrote:The Story of Drake Temple (1933) Stephen Roberts 7/10
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Precious Doll
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Stockholm (2019 Robert Budreau 2/10
Kairos (2019) Paul Barakat 5/10
Where's My Rob Cohn? (2019) Matt Tyrnauer 7/10
Aga (2018) Milko Lazarov 5/10
The Hamdmaid's Tale - Season 3 (2019) Various 6/10
The Kitchen (2019) Andrea Berloff 3/10
Coincoin and the Extra-Humans (2018) Bruno Dumont 6/10
The Story of Drake Temple (1933) Stephen Roberts 7/10
Santiago, Italia (2019) Nanni Moretti 6/10
Repeat viewings
The President's Lady (1953) Henry Levin 7/10
Spetters (1980) Paul Verhoeven 7/10
Kairos (2019) Paul Barakat 5/10
Where's My Rob Cohn? (2019) Matt Tyrnauer 7/10
Aga (2018) Milko Lazarov 5/10
The Hamdmaid's Tale - Season 3 (2019) Various 6/10
The Kitchen (2019) Andrea Berloff 3/10
Coincoin and the Extra-Humans (2018) Bruno Dumont 6/10
The Story of Drake Temple (1933) Stephen Roberts 7/10
Santiago, Italia (2019) Nanni Moretti 6/10
Repeat viewings
The President's Lady (1953) Henry Levin 7/10
Spetters (1980) Paul Verhoeven 7/10
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
The Host (Bong Joon Ho, 2006) 6/10
The creature - a mutant fish - has strong echoes of Godzilla, Alien and Jaws. It creates havoc as it runs rampage across Seoul after periodically jumping out of the Han river trampling humans and carrying off many to a secret lair in the sewers. A young school girl is carried off in its jaws. Regurgitated in the monster's bone-strewn lair, she calls her grieving father from her cell phone - triggering his and the rest of the family's wild attempts to find her. The girl's family remarkably resembles the poor family in the director's "Parasite" made many years later - Song Kang-ho plays the father in both films. The screenplay effortlessly balances both terror and comedy as the family makes it their mission to get the monster.
The King of Marvin Gardens (Bob Rafelson, 1972) 9/10
What a shock to see Jack Nicholson looking so young. One forgets he had the bloom of youth too once upon a time. This downbeat, often macabre but vivid film was one of many seminal masterpieces that defined American cinema during the 1970s. A bleak look at the downside of the American dream shot in ghostly Atlantic City with its grey beaches and large derelict hotels before it got its current glitzy makeover. Laszlo Kovac's evocative cinematography goes a long way in creating the eerie mood of this bittersweet story. A tale about two pathetic losers - a depressive late-night radio DJ (Jack Nicholson) visits his seedy, smooth talking (but full of shit) ex-con brother (Bruce Dern) in Atlantic City. Both don't see eye-to-eye but meet up to discuss yet another of the con's over baked quick-rich schemes, this time to invest in a hotel. He finds his brother shacked up with an aging beauty queen (Ellen Burstyn) and her step daughter (Julia Anne Robinson) and despite being scepticle about the plan he too gets intoxicated by his brother's big dreams as they roam the city, cavort with a local gangster (the delightful Scatman Crothers) and his hoods, walk on the beach - Burstyn has a memorable moment as she buries her makeup and false eyelashes in the sand and Rafelson has both Nicholson and Dern sitting, facing each other, on steeds on a beach which is a surreal but memorable image. The film has many offbeat moments - a number of streets are referenced from the board game Monopoly. Seeing Nicholson and Crothers here along with the huge empty old hotel foreshadows their later collaboration in "The Shining". The film ends with unexpected violence which is shocking but totally in keeping with the drift of the screenplay. Interesting to see both Nicholson and Burstyn here just before they would both become huge stars as the decade progressed. This was the second in the informal trilogy of films Rafelson made with Nicholson.
Poop Talk (Aaron N. Feldman, 2017) 6/10
A documentary that explores the taboo topic of something every person in the world does - Poop, Shit, Defecate. Famous stand-up comics discuss their own encounters with the "material", some very funny, as each explains what reactions their "shit" jokes have received from their stage audience. The funniest stories involve a midget's encounter in a dark toilet and one where a dog gets the blame for human poop on the floor. Everyone has shit-stories in their lives but many choose to keep them hidden in order to maintain this taboo's aura.
Partir / Leaving (Catherine Corsini, 2009) 8/10
A woman (Kristin Scott Thomas), stuck in a stifling marriage and bored with her idle bourgeois life, has an affair with a handyman (Sergi López) - an illegal Spanish immigrant - who is doing repair work on her house. When she confesses the affair to her supercilious doctor husband (Yvan Attal) and decides to leave him she finds total freedom but it comes at a terrible price. Shades of Madame Bovary and Lady Chatterly, the film also sharply echoes Scott Thomas' own life. The acrimonious breakup involves feelings of anger, revenge, violence, hurt children and devastation. The screenplay, steeped in raw realism, does not take sides with the wife, the husband or her lover, and carries a vague aura of uncertainty about the woman's feelings. One is never certain if she is actually in love or has taken such a drastic step out of lust. Elegant little film is held together by the extraordinary central performance by Kristin Scott Thomas.
L'air de Paris (Marcel Carné, 1954) 8/10
The magical trio, Marcel Carné, Jean Gabin and Arletty (who created the classic "Le jour se leve" 15-years before) return for this story about class difference, boxing and the disappointments marriage can bring through lost chances in life. It was also the last time the two great french stars worked together with a departure for her as she dispenses with her usual glamour and experiments with playing a shrill frump. As the wife of a washed up boxer (Jean Gabin) she is not afraid of voicing her life's disappointments especially her husband's inability to make something of himself. They both run a seedy little gym where he trains young boxers in the hope of creating a star in the ring. Finding promise in a young railroad worker (Roland Lesaffre) he decides to train him much to the anger of his wife who detests the young man saying he will amount to nothing. It starts off well but the young boxer proves irresponsible and drops his training to pursue a floozie (Marie Daems) from a different class to his. While no classic the film has many wonderful moments - the camera roaming through Paris, the comfort of playing a long-married couple between Gabin and Arletty as they bicker sitting in their cramped apartment, a tense and violent boxing sequence, striking cinematography and a wonderful score. This is yet another of Gabin's sublime performances winning him a prize at the Venice film festival.
Booksmart (Olivia Wilde, 2019) 2/10
Wtf are critics raving about this unfunny comedy? Are American high school teenagers actually like the grotesque caricatures as portrayed in this film? Two straight-A students - a loud fat one (Beanie Feldstein) and her best friend, a ditsy lesbian (Kaitlyn Dever), are total misfits in their class who have spent all their time in school being perfect students while looking down at their classmates for being party animals. A day before graduation they are horrified to learn that a number of the derelects are also on their way to Ivy League colleges. Both decide to let their hair down on their last night as high schoolers and cram in years of "fun" at a party hosted by one of the kool kids. After a series of mishaps getting to the party - none of which are remotely funny though the screenplay takes great pains to paint the situations as hilarious via corny jokes - the two finally land there and get to see each other in a true light. The film finally perks up a bit at the party because the screenplay stops trying so hard to be witty and fun. Then the downslide continues towards a predictable ending. Trite film that totally lacks originality as it rehashes bits and pieces from far better teen flicks. Absolute crap.
The Teckman Mystery (Wendy Toye, 1954) 6/10
Atmospheric Brit Cold War thriller with noir overtones has some lovely outdoor London location work with the cast filmed on actual streets and seen around at a number of prominent places. The central mystery is maintained right to the end. A writer (John Justin) is persuaded by his publisher to switch tracks and write instead a biography of a heroic pilot who died during a test flight. By coincidence he meets the dead man's sister (Margaret Leighton) with whom he develops a close relationship. While doing research on the pilot he discovers there are people not too happy with the idea. His home is ransacked, he finds a dead body and he is attacked and almost kidnapped. When another death takes place made to look like suicide he is told some shocking news by the police which he refuses to believe. Justin plays his role in a jaunty manner creating sparks with Leighton who may or may not be a femme fatale. Had never heard of this film and it was quite a pleasant surprise with a stalwart cast of supporting actors - Roland Culver, Michael Medvin, George Coulouris, Raymond Huntley, Duncan Lamont and Jane Wenham (who was Albert Finney's first wife).
The creature - a mutant fish - has strong echoes of Godzilla, Alien and Jaws. It creates havoc as it runs rampage across Seoul after periodically jumping out of the Han river trampling humans and carrying off many to a secret lair in the sewers. A young school girl is carried off in its jaws. Regurgitated in the monster's bone-strewn lair, she calls her grieving father from her cell phone - triggering his and the rest of the family's wild attempts to find her. The girl's family remarkably resembles the poor family in the director's "Parasite" made many years later - Song Kang-ho plays the father in both films. The screenplay effortlessly balances both terror and comedy as the family makes it their mission to get the monster.
The King of Marvin Gardens (Bob Rafelson, 1972) 9/10
What a shock to see Jack Nicholson looking so young. One forgets he had the bloom of youth too once upon a time. This downbeat, often macabre but vivid film was one of many seminal masterpieces that defined American cinema during the 1970s. A bleak look at the downside of the American dream shot in ghostly Atlantic City with its grey beaches and large derelict hotels before it got its current glitzy makeover. Laszlo Kovac's evocative cinematography goes a long way in creating the eerie mood of this bittersweet story. A tale about two pathetic losers - a depressive late-night radio DJ (Jack Nicholson) visits his seedy, smooth talking (but full of shit) ex-con brother (Bruce Dern) in Atlantic City. Both don't see eye-to-eye but meet up to discuss yet another of the con's over baked quick-rich schemes, this time to invest in a hotel. He finds his brother shacked up with an aging beauty queen (Ellen Burstyn) and her step daughter (Julia Anne Robinson) and despite being scepticle about the plan he too gets intoxicated by his brother's big dreams as they roam the city, cavort with a local gangster (the delightful Scatman Crothers) and his hoods, walk on the beach - Burstyn has a memorable moment as she buries her makeup and false eyelashes in the sand and Rafelson has both Nicholson and Dern sitting, facing each other, on steeds on a beach which is a surreal but memorable image. The film has many offbeat moments - a number of streets are referenced from the board game Monopoly. Seeing Nicholson and Crothers here along with the huge empty old hotel foreshadows their later collaboration in "The Shining". The film ends with unexpected violence which is shocking but totally in keeping with the drift of the screenplay. Interesting to see both Nicholson and Burstyn here just before they would both become huge stars as the decade progressed. This was the second in the informal trilogy of films Rafelson made with Nicholson.
Poop Talk (Aaron N. Feldman, 2017) 6/10
A documentary that explores the taboo topic of something every person in the world does - Poop, Shit, Defecate. Famous stand-up comics discuss their own encounters with the "material", some very funny, as each explains what reactions their "shit" jokes have received from their stage audience. The funniest stories involve a midget's encounter in a dark toilet and one where a dog gets the blame for human poop on the floor. Everyone has shit-stories in their lives but many choose to keep them hidden in order to maintain this taboo's aura.
Partir / Leaving (Catherine Corsini, 2009) 8/10
A woman (Kristin Scott Thomas), stuck in a stifling marriage and bored with her idle bourgeois life, has an affair with a handyman (Sergi López) - an illegal Spanish immigrant - who is doing repair work on her house. When she confesses the affair to her supercilious doctor husband (Yvan Attal) and decides to leave him she finds total freedom but it comes at a terrible price. Shades of Madame Bovary and Lady Chatterly, the film also sharply echoes Scott Thomas' own life. The acrimonious breakup involves feelings of anger, revenge, violence, hurt children and devastation. The screenplay, steeped in raw realism, does not take sides with the wife, the husband or her lover, and carries a vague aura of uncertainty about the woman's feelings. One is never certain if she is actually in love or has taken such a drastic step out of lust. Elegant little film is held together by the extraordinary central performance by Kristin Scott Thomas.
L'air de Paris (Marcel Carné, 1954) 8/10
The magical trio, Marcel Carné, Jean Gabin and Arletty (who created the classic "Le jour se leve" 15-years before) return for this story about class difference, boxing and the disappointments marriage can bring through lost chances in life. It was also the last time the two great french stars worked together with a departure for her as she dispenses with her usual glamour and experiments with playing a shrill frump. As the wife of a washed up boxer (Jean Gabin) she is not afraid of voicing her life's disappointments especially her husband's inability to make something of himself. They both run a seedy little gym where he trains young boxers in the hope of creating a star in the ring. Finding promise in a young railroad worker (Roland Lesaffre) he decides to train him much to the anger of his wife who detests the young man saying he will amount to nothing. It starts off well but the young boxer proves irresponsible and drops his training to pursue a floozie (Marie Daems) from a different class to his. While no classic the film has many wonderful moments - the camera roaming through Paris, the comfort of playing a long-married couple between Gabin and Arletty as they bicker sitting in their cramped apartment, a tense and violent boxing sequence, striking cinematography and a wonderful score. This is yet another of Gabin's sublime performances winning him a prize at the Venice film festival.
Booksmart (Olivia Wilde, 2019) 2/10
Wtf are critics raving about this unfunny comedy? Are American high school teenagers actually like the grotesque caricatures as portrayed in this film? Two straight-A students - a loud fat one (Beanie Feldstein) and her best friend, a ditsy lesbian (Kaitlyn Dever), are total misfits in their class who have spent all their time in school being perfect students while looking down at their classmates for being party animals. A day before graduation they are horrified to learn that a number of the derelects are also on their way to Ivy League colleges. Both decide to let their hair down on their last night as high schoolers and cram in years of "fun" at a party hosted by one of the kool kids. After a series of mishaps getting to the party - none of which are remotely funny though the screenplay takes great pains to paint the situations as hilarious via corny jokes - the two finally land there and get to see each other in a true light. The film finally perks up a bit at the party because the screenplay stops trying so hard to be witty and fun. Then the downslide continues towards a predictable ending. Trite film that totally lacks originality as it rehashes bits and pieces from far better teen flicks. Absolute crap.
The Teckman Mystery (Wendy Toye, 1954) 6/10
Atmospheric Brit Cold War thriller with noir overtones has some lovely outdoor London location work with the cast filmed on actual streets and seen around at a number of prominent places. The central mystery is maintained right to the end. A writer (John Justin) is persuaded by his publisher to switch tracks and write instead a biography of a heroic pilot who died during a test flight. By coincidence he meets the dead man's sister (Margaret Leighton) with whom he develops a close relationship. While doing research on the pilot he discovers there are people not too happy with the idea. His home is ransacked, he finds a dead body and he is attacked and almost kidnapped. When another death takes place made to look like suicide he is told some shocking news by the police which he refuses to believe. Justin plays his role in a jaunty manner creating sparks with Leighton who may or may not be a femme fatale. Had never heard of this film and it was quite a pleasant surprise with a stalwart cast of supporting actors - Roland Culver, Michael Medvin, George Coulouris, Raymond Huntley, Duncan Lamont and Jane Wenham (who was Albert Finney's first wife).
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Marriage Story (Noah Baumbach, 2019) 9/10
Lacerating sad look at a couple during the midst of a divorce and child custody battle that takes on a bitter edge full of anger, guilt, disappointment, fear and ultimately full scale venom. They say nobody wins in a case of divorce. Well they are wrong. Lawyers win. Big time. This story involves three specimens who position themselves to win at all cost as they matter-of-factly manipulate the couple who literally find themselves getting into the flow of battle baring their teeth at each other in the process. Representing the man are an endearingly sympathetic if ineffectual old fuddy duddy (an excellent Alan Alda) and a brutal shark-like predator (Ray Liotta also very good) while his wife has on her side a brassy, quick-on-her-feet attorney (Laura Dern). The divorcing couple are an on-the-rise, self-centered New York stage director (Adam Driver) and an actress (Scarlett Johansson) who left her career in films in L.A. and moved to New York after marriage to star in her husband's avant garde plays. After their son is born she finds she has subjugated herself totally to the whims of her selfish spouse neglecting her own career aspirations. Baumbach's superbly nuanced (and suprisingly very funny) screenplay, which has elements of his own bitter divorce from the actor Jennifer Jason Leigh, gives a balanced view of both sides allowing Driver and Johansson to give heartfelt performances perfectly capturing the bruising anguish of their failed relationship. Every actor surrounding the two leads is perfectly cast - Julie Hagerty as Johansson's ditsy mom, Merritt Wever as her quirky sister, Azhy Robertson as the vulnerable and confused son caught between the simmering fury of his parents and Laura Dern who is phenominal and easily walks off with the film with a very funny performance - her monologue about the difference between men and women using God, Mary and Jesus as metaphors is absolutely hilarious and spot-on - a performance that should easily win her a well deserved Oscar. A bittersweet, moving and poignant film is easily one of the year's best.
Gas-Oil (Gilles Grangier, 1955) 6/10
Slow drama that has a nostalgic sense of time and place - rural Central France with its country back roads. Gabin, strong and silent yet again, is a truck driver in debt - has to pay installments on his new vehicle - carries goods across the country, has a young girlfriend (Jeanne Moreau) who is a school teacher and is a well liked and respectable person in the small town he lives. On a dark rainy night, returning from his friend's house, he runs over a man lying in the middle of the road who turns out to be part of a gang of thieves. When the dead man's comrades turn up and start harrassing the driver about loot that is missing things take on a violent turn. Gabin and Moreau have great screen chemistry even if she looks young enough to be his daughter. The screenplay (by Michel Audiard who would go on to write many of Gabin's films) meanders along until the unexpexted jolt at the end which calls on action which strangely foreshadows Spielberg's "Duel".
Case 39 (Christian Alvart, 2009) 4/10
Harried social worker (Renée Zellweger), up to her neck handling 38 cases of child neglect and abuse, is handed yet another file to check out. A withdrawn young girl discloses that her parents want her to go to hell. Acting on her suspicion she, along with a cop (Ian McShane), break into the child's house and find her stuffed into a gas oven. As they get the child out they are both attacked by the parents. Later she gets custody of the child after the parents are locked up. Then the fun begins as the plot recycles the murderous kids from "The Bad Seed" and "The Omen" and we go into formulaic horror mode. The film sat on a shelf for three years before the studio decided to release it and was one of numerous that tanked Zellweger's very promising career - she has of course now made a spectacular comeback thanks to "Judy" for which she is the frontrunner to win the Oscar next year. Bradley Cooper is the child psychologist who has an encounter with a bunch of gross hornets that emerge from within his ears, nostrils and eyes. This delightful film experience was just before "The Hangover" put him on the map. Predictable horror film.
Lacerating sad look at a couple during the midst of a divorce and child custody battle that takes on a bitter edge full of anger, guilt, disappointment, fear and ultimately full scale venom. They say nobody wins in a case of divorce. Well they are wrong. Lawyers win. Big time. This story involves three specimens who position themselves to win at all cost as they matter-of-factly manipulate the couple who literally find themselves getting into the flow of battle baring their teeth at each other in the process. Representing the man are an endearingly sympathetic if ineffectual old fuddy duddy (an excellent Alan Alda) and a brutal shark-like predator (Ray Liotta also very good) while his wife has on her side a brassy, quick-on-her-feet attorney (Laura Dern). The divorcing couple are an on-the-rise, self-centered New York stage director (Adam Driver) and an actress (Scarlett Johansson) who left her career in films in L.A. and moved to New York after marriage to star in her husband's avant garde plays. After their son is born she finds she has subjugated herself totally to the whims of her selfish spouse neglecting her own career aspirations. Baumbach's superbly nuanced (and suprisingly very funny) screenplay, which has elements of his own bitter divorce from the actor Jennifer Jason Leigh, gives a balanced view of both sides allowing Driver and Johansson to give heartfelt performances perfectly capturing the bruising anguish of their failed relationship. Every actor surrounding the two leads is perfectly cast - Julie Hagerty as Johansson's ditsy mom, Merritt Wever as her quirky sister, Azhy Robertson as the vulnerable and confused son caught between the simmering fury of his parents and Laura Dern who is phenominal and easily walks off with the film with a very funny performance - her monologue about the difference between men and women using God, Mary and Jesus as metaphors is absolutely hilarious and spot-on - a performance that should easily win her a well deserved Oscar. A bittersweet, moving and poignant film is easily one of the year's best.
Gas-Oil (Gilles Grangier, 1955) 6/10
Slow drama that has a nostalgic sense of time and place - rural Central France with its country back roads. Gabin, strong and silent yet again, is a truck driver in debt - has to pay installments on his new vehicle - carries goods across the country, has a young girlfriend (Jeanne Moreau) who is a school teacher and is a well liked and respectable person in the small town he lives. On a dark rainy night, returning from his friend's house, he runs over a man lying in the middle of the road who turns out to be part of a gang of thieves. When the dead man's comrades turn up and start harrassing the driver about loot that is missing things take on a violent turn. Gabin and Moreau have great screen chemistry even if she looks young enough to be his daughter. The screenplay (by Michel Audiard who would go on to write many of Gabin's films) meanders along until the unexpexted jolt at the end which calls on action which strangely foreshadows Spielberg's "Duel".
Case 39 (Christian Alvart, 2009) 4/10
Harried social worker (Renée Zellweger), up to her neck handling 38 cases of child neglect and abuse, is handed yet another file to check out. A withdrawn young girl discloses that her parents want her to go to hell. Acting on her suspicion she, along with a cop (Ian McShane), break into the child's house and find her stuffed into a gas oven. As they get the child out they are both attacked by the parents. Later she gets custody of the child after the parents are locked up. Then the fun begins as the plot recycles the murderous kids from "The Bad Seed" and "The Omen" and we go into formulaic horror mode. The film sat on a shelf for three years before the studio decided to release it and was one of numerous that tanked Zellweger's very promising career - she has of course now made a spectacular comeback thanks to "Judy" for which she is the frontrunner to win the Oscar next year. Bradley Cooper is the child psychologist who has an encounter with a bunch of gross hornets that emerge from within his ears, nostrils and eyes. This delightful film experience was just before "The Hangover" put him on the map. Predictable horror film.
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
A Womb of Their Own (2017) Cyn Lubow 4/10
Knives Out (2019) Rian Johnson 5/10
Frozen II (2019) Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee 4/10
Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life (2018) Tomer Heymann
The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open (2019) Kathleen Hepburn & Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers 4/10
The Good Liar (2019) Bill Condon 4/10
Finding Farideh (2018) Kourosh Ataee & Azadeh Moussavi 6/10
Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator (2019) Eva Orner 1/10
Marriage Story (2019) Noah Baumbach 7/10
The Swallows of Kabul (2019) Zabou Breitman & Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec 6/10
I Lost My Body (2019) Jeremy Clapin 4/10
Repeat viewing
The Nightingale (2019) Jennifer Kent 10/10
Knives Out (2019) Rian Johnson 5/10
Frozen II (2019) Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee 4/10
Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life (2018) Tomer Heymann
The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open (2019) Kathleen Hepburn & Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers 4/10
The Good Liar (2019) Bill Condon 4/10
Finding Farideh (2018) Kourosh Ataee & Azadeh Moussavi 6/10
Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator (2019) Eva Orner 1/10
Marriage Story (2019) Noah Baumbach 7/10
The Swallows of Kabul (2019) Zabou Breitman & Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec 6/10
I Lost My Body (2019) Jeremy Clapin 4/10
Repeat viewing
The Nightingale (2019) Jennifer Kent 10/10
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
A Rainy Day in New York (Woody Allen, 2019) 6/10
Allen's last two films got the A-class treatment befitting a director of his stature - in 2016 his film "Cafe Society" opened the Cannes film festival and in 2017 "Wonder Wheel" was the closing attraction at the New York film festival. His latest has virtually been banned in the United States over the rabid #metoo atmosphere prevailing on his home turf. The hypocricy of it all is appalling considering the alleged accusation against him goes back decades during which he was regularly feted by the film community and won for him yet another Oscar in the interim as well. This is strictly mid-tier Allen as he regurgitates moments from far better films from his past but manages to score points with digs at privilege across generations and especially cuts sharp jibes at journalists who create rumours which the public believe as the gospel truth - shades of his own dilemma. The setting is his beloved New York amongst the elite "white" class he prefers to mingle with on screen. As with most of his plots the main focus is on a nerdy individual - a Manhattan-raised, floppy haired student (Timothée Chalamet), dressed in tweeds, who is at odds with his extremely rich family. When his ditsy, movie buff girlfriend (Elle Fanning), also rich but from (crass) Arizona, gets the opportunity to interview a famous film director they both take a weekend break from college and go to Manhattan. He plans to show her his city, the museums and his beloved Carlyle Hotel with its famous jazz piano bar but they end up spending time apart. She gets to interview the disturbed director (Liev Schreiber) and hob nob with the screenwriter (Jude Law) - whose wife (Rebecca Hall) is two timing him - and an amorous Latin movie star (Diego Luna). All three older men come onto her which she enjoys - a plot point over which American critics have expressed squeamish horror. Meanwhile the nerd ends up wandering the streets, hooks up with an old girlfriend's younger sister (Selena Gomez) and takes a prostitute as his date to a snooty soirée at his parents' home. As with most of Allen's films this too is a travelogue of instantly recognizable New York City spots - Soho, the Upper West Side, a carriage ride through Central Park, Minetta Street, MOMA, assorted hotels (the Pierre, the Plaza Athéne, the Albert and the Carlyle - a detailed view of the Bemelmans Bar and its yellow walls with the artist's famous murals and its hideously patterned red carpet), the Kauffman-Astoria studio and the Delacorte Clock in Central Park. The film is bathed in a glowing light courtesy of Vittorio Storaro's camera with most outdoor scenes shot through perpetual rain. The film's highlight is a devastatingly ascerbic monologue by Cherry Jones as she tells her son a few home truths about her past instantly gaining his admiration. This is by no means a classic but a film that has many moments to cherish by a director who loves movies and has had the grace to continue making movies despite the odds stacked against him.
Rambo: Last Blood (Adrian Grunberg, 2019) 3/10
Sylvester Stallone, in his continued (and feeble) efforts to jump start his waning Hollywood career, keeps turning back to the two stalwarts, his alter egos - "Rocky Balboa" and "John Rambo" as he keeps churning out sequel after sequel. Here we get "Rambo" one last time. Or so Stallone says. After his "adventures" in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Burma the former vet now leads a calm retired life on a ranch in Arizona with horses, his young ward and her grandmother (Adriana Barraza). When the young girl goes looking for her wayward dad in Mexico she is captured by sex traffickers, drugged, maimed and raped. He manages to rescue her with the help of a journalist (Paz Vega) but her death sets up the revenge angle Rambo craves so desperately. This film is just an excuse for the star to dispense with all the sleazy guys - they come in droves looking for him on his ranch - and boy does he dispense them through all manner of violent ways. A booby trapped underground tunnel below his ranch is the nice and cozy Vietnam-like hideaway that is used to play cat and mouse with the Mexicans. Going by their sleaze factor no wonder President Trump wants to put up a wall and keep them out of America. I can just picture the Prez licking his chops as our good ole all-American hero beheads, stabs, shoots and blows up all the bad Mexicans. And the best is saved for the baddest of the bad - stuck to a wooden wall covered by arrows followed by stabbing him with a huge knife and putting his fist inside his chest to pull out his beating heart. So much anger. Unfucking believable. Crappy film has a certain appeal if you like blood and death. Lots of it.
Tendre poulet / Dear Detective (Philippe de Broca, 1977) 8/10
Charming froth is a whimsical comedy-thriller with two middle-aged people rekindling their love in the midst of a spate of murders. Former classmates and lovers - a greek professor (Philippe Noiret) and a police inspector (Annie Girardot) - meet again quite unexpectedly when she crashes her car into his bicycle. Love blooms again but a serial killer is on the loose stabbing philandering politicians. Both Noiret and Giradot are delightful and de Broca shoots the film in frantic style with the camera and the cast in constant motion.
Le tonnerre de Dieu / The Thunder of God (Denys de La Patellière, 1965) 6/10
The grand old man of french cinema - Jean Gabin - was still going strong during the 1960s playing leads. The gimmick casting here had Gabin paired on screen with the then hot screen couple from the "Angélique" series of films. An irascible alcoholic misanthrope (Jean Gabin) lives on his vast country estate with his wife (Lili Palmer) and his brood of dogs to whom he is completely devoted. In a bar he takes a shine to a prostitute (Michèle Mercier) holding a terrier and takes her home. When her angry pimp (Robert Hossein) arrives and demands she returns, the old man and his wife defend her when they are all threatened. As with most of the star's films from this period the screenplays allow him to shine playing a bombastic vivid larger than life character. Palmer, in a small part, quietly compliments him as the resigned wife living with a ticking time bomb. Mercier, a sex symbol in the Bardot mode, adds oomph while Hossein adds a strong touch of testosterone to the proceedings. This was the second collaboration of Gabin with director de La Patellière and they would go on to make six films.
Allen's last two films got the A-class treatment befitting a director of his stature - in 2016 his film "Cafe Society" opened the Cannes film festival and in 2017 "Wonder Wheel" was the closing attraction at the New York film festival. His latest has virtually been banned in the United States over the rabid #metoo atmosphere prevailing on his home turf. The hypocricy of it all is appalling considering the alleged accusation against him goes back decades during which he was regularly feted by the film community and won for him yet another Oscar in the interim as well. This is strictly mid-tier Allen as he regurgitates moments from far better films from his past but manages to score points with digs at privilege across generations and especially cuts sharp jibes at journalists who create rumours which the public believe as the gospel truth - shades of his own dilemma. The setting is his beloved New York amongst the elite "white" class he prefers to mingle with on screen. As with most of his plots the main focus is on a nerdy individual - a Manhattan-raised, floppy haired student (Timothée Chalamet), dressed in tweeds, who is at odds with his extremely rich family. When his ditsy, movie buff girlfriend (Elle Fanning), also rich but from (crass) Arizona, gets the opportunity to interview a famous film director they both take a weekend break from college and go to Manhattan. He plans to show her his city, the museums and his beloved Carlyle Hotel with its famous jazz piano bar but they end up spending time apart. She gets to interview the disturbed director (Liev Schreiber) and hob nob with the screenwriter (Jude Law) - whose wife (Rebecca Hall) is two timing him - and an amorous Latin movie star (Diego Luna). All three older men come onto her which she enjoys - a plot point over which American critics have expressed squeamish horror. Meanwhile the nerd ends up wandering the streets, hooks up with an old girlfriend's younger sister (Selena Gomez) and takes a prostitute as his date to a snooty soirée at his parents' home. As with most of Allen's films this too is a travelogue of instantly recognizable New York City spots - Soho, the Upper West Side, a carriage ride through Central Park, Minetta Street, MOMA, assorted hotels (the Pierre, the Plaza Athéne, the Albert and the Carlyle - a detailed view of the Bemelmans Bar and its yellow walls with the artist's famous murals and its hideously patterned red carpet), the Kauffman-Astoria studio and the Delacorte Clock in Central Park. The film is bathed in a glowing light courtesy of Vittorio Storaro's camera with most outdoor scenes shot through perpetual rain. The film's highlight is a devastatingly ascerbic monologue by Cherry Jones as she tells her son a few home truths about her past instantly gaining his admiration. This is by no means a classic but a film that has many moments to cherish by a director who loves movies and has had the grace to continue making movies despite the odds stacked against him.
Rambo: Last Blood (Adrian Grunberg, 2019) 3/10
Sylvester Stallone, in his continued (and feeble) efforts to jump start his waning Hollywood career, keeps turning back to the two stalwarts, his alter egos - "Rocky Balboa" and "John Rambo" as he keeps churning out sequel after sequel. Here we get "Rambo" one last time. Or so Stallone says. After his "adventures" in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Burma the former vet now leads a calm retired life on a ranch in Arizona with horses, his young ward and her grandmother (Adriana Barraza). When the young girl goes looking for her wayward dad in Mexico she is captured by sex traffickers, drugged, maimed and raped. He manages to rescue her with the help of a journalist (Paz Vega) but her death sets up the revenge angle Rambo craves so desperately. This film is just an excuse for the star to dispense with all the sleazy guys - they come in droves looking for him on his ranch - and boy does he dispense them through all manner of violent ways. A booby trapped underground tunnel below his ranch is the nice and cozy Vietnam-like hideaway that is used to play cat and mouse with the Mexicans. Going by their sleaze factor no wonder President Trump wants to put up a wall and keep them out of America. I can just picture the Prez licking his chops as our good ole all-American hero beheads, stabs, shoots and blows up all the bad Mexicans. And the best is saved for the baddest of the bad - stuck to a wooden wall covered by arrows followed by stabbing him with a huge knife and putting his fist inside his chest to pull out his beating heart. So much anger. Unfucking believable. Crappy film has a certain appeal if you like blood and death. Lots of it.
Tendre poulet / Dear Detective (Philippe de Broca, 1977) 8/10
Charming froth is a whimsical comedy-thriller with two middle-aged people rekindling their love in the midst of a spate of murders. Former classmates and lovers - a greek professor (Philippe Noiret) and a police inspector (Annie Girardot) - meet again quite unexpectedly when she crashes her car into his bicycle. Love blooms again but a serial killer is on the loose stabbing philandering politicians. Both Noiret and Giradot are delightful and de Broca shoots the film in frantic style with the camera and the cast in constant motion.
Le tonnerre de Dieu / The Thunder of God (Denys de La Patellière, 1965) 6/10
The grand old man of french cinema - Jean Gabin - was still going strong during the 1960s playing leads. The gimmick casting here had Gabin paired on screen with the then hot screen couple from the "Angélique" series of films. An irascible alcoholic misanthrope (Jean Gabin) lives on his vast country estate with his wife (Lili Palmer) and his brood of dogs to whom he is completely devoted. In a bar he takes a shine to a prostitute (Michèle Mercier) holding a terrier and takes her home. When her angry pimp (Robert Hossein) arrives and demands she returns, the old man and his wife defend her when they are all threatened. As with most of the star's films from this period the screenplays allow him to shine playing a bombastic vivid larger than life character. Palmer, in a small part, quietly compliments him as the resigned wife living with a ticking time bomb. Mercier, a sex symbol in the Bardot mode, adds oomph while Hossein adds a strong touch of testosterone to the proceedings. This was the second collaboration of Gabin with director de La Patellière and they would go on to make six films.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Knives Out (Rian Johnson, 2019) 2/10
A boring throwback to the all-star whodunit, this overlong comedy thriller is an ordeal to sit through. An homage to Agatha Christie and the boardgame (and movie) "Clue", the plot has the obligatory dead body in a lavish gothic manor surrounded by a group of suspects and a quirky detective solving the murder â la Hercule Poirot. A famous writer (Christopher Plummer) of mystery novels is found with his throat slit soon after he celebrates his 85th birthday surrounded by his kids (Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon), the kid in-laws (Don Johnson, Riki Lindhome, Toni Collette), grand kids (Chris Evans, Jaeden Martell, Katherine Langford), an old granny, the housekeeper and the old man's nurse/companion (Ana De Armas). The mysterious detective (Daniel Craig) on the case is a throwback to Columbo (prying and annoying) and Poirot (the accent - here southern which Craig hideously massacres) who gets to reveal, via flashbacks, the solution to the mystery which starts off as a suicide but turns into a murder case as the story progresses but at a snail's pace. The long drawn reveal by the detective seems far too pat with every plot hole conveniently falling into place. The screenplay also fails to provide any serious motivation for all the characters - barring two - of wanting to murder the old man, thus woefully underusing many of the actors and in particular the two (has-been) stars - Curtis and Johnson. The script also plays it safe. Instead of taking on a more vicious tone it unfortunately sticks to what is now an American comedy staple of not wishing to offend anyone. Going by the almost unanimous praise received by critics it is especially disappointing to find zero substance in this film. The cast is clearly having a ball playing these despicable characters but the "fun" barely translates on screen for the viewer. The pace drags and the silly antics begin to grate very quickly. The only interesting aspect of the film is that one now looks forward to seeing Ana De Armas (in total drab mode here) transform into her natural sexy self as the next Bond girl in Craig's last outing as James Bond. One wonders what the actor will do post-Bond because going by his hideous performance here his screen career may well be over like a couple of past Bonds - George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton. Avoid this film like the plague and go watch instead some of the early Christie all-star adaptations, the film "Clue" or Neil Simon's delightful parody " Murder By Death".
War (Siddharth Anand, 2019) 7/10
Slick Bollywood thriller takes its cue from Hollywood especially the films of Tom Cruise and comes up with outlandish, thrilling action set pieces. A rookie agent (Tiger Shroff) is assigned to go after his mentor (Hrithik Roshan) who has gone rogue. Notwithstanding the often bizzare plot twists - this is pure masala entertainment after all - the film provides an ample dose of adrenalin rush starting with the casting of the two leads. Star Roshan, who was mentored years before by superstar Jackie Shroff on the set of "Yaadein" in 2001, insisted on casting his son Tiger Shroff as his co-lead. The young actor, one of the current breed of buffed up action stars, proves his worth especially during the opening fight sequence set in a room full of adversaries which he decimates. It may be a great entrance for the young actor but it cannot top the one for Hrithik Roshan who is seen at first in silhouette and then gets the full star treatment emerging from a helicopter as he walks in slow-mo towards the camera with his hair blowing perfectly courtesy of wind machines placed out of range. The "Top Gun" levels of homoeroticism is clearly intended as Tiger Shroff watches his mentor in awe as he walks towards him. The convoluted plot (with a heavy dose of "Face/Off") throws in corny and melodramatic patriotic dialogue - the Indian flag gets a look-in flapping in the wind just above Roshan's scarred but designer-chisled face - a sub-plot about a mother (Soni Razdan), a doomed love affair (sexy Vaani Kapoor who scores in her brief scenes - posing in a bikini on the sea front, matching steps with Roshan on the dance floor (to the song "Ke Ghungroo Toot Gaye") and playing a crucial dramatic scene) - and to keep the sentimental quotient in check the plot also throws in a cute child. They forgot to put in a pet dog but otherwise every Bollywood cliché can be easily ticked off. The film scores with its many action CGI-infused set pieces - death defying stunts on an airborne plane, chases on foot and on motorbikes and hand-to-hand combat. Since both stars are superb dancers they get to match steps to a remix of the classic song "Jai Jai Shivshankar" during a Holi song sequence. The song is used in tribute to Roshan's grandfather, J. Om Prakash, who in 1974 shot this song on Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz in his classic film "Aap Ki Kasam". Adding to the film's exotic scenic appeal are the use of its superb locations - Bogota, Lapland, Lisbon, Venice, Stockholm, Zurich, Mumbai, Miami, Tblisi, Cali and Ljubljana. Not a perfect film but its great fun.
A boring throwback to the all-star whodunit, this overlong comedy thriller is an ordeal to sit through. An homage to Agatha Christie and the boardgame (and movie) "Clue", the plot has the obligatory dead body in a lavish gothic manor surrounded by a group of suspects and a quirky detective solving the murder â la Hercule Poirot. A famous writer (Christopher Plummer) of mystery novels is found with his throat slit soon after he celebrates his 85th birthday surrounded by his kids (Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon), the kid in-laws (Don Johnson, Riki Lindhome, Toni Collette), grand kids (Chris Evans, Jaeden Martell, Katherine Langford), an old granny, the housekeeper and the old man's nurse/companion (Ana De Armas). The mysterious detective (Daniel Craig) on the case is a throwback to Columbo (prying and annoying) and Poirot (the accent - here southern which Craig hideously massacres) who gets to reveal, via flashbacks, the solution to the mystery which starts off as a suicide but turns into a murder case as the story progresses but at a snail's pace. The long drawn reveal by the detective seems far too pat with every plot hole conveniently falling into place. The screenplay also fails to provide any serious motivation for all the characters - barring two - of wanting to murder the old man, thus woefully underusing many of the actors and in particular the two (has-been) stars - Curtis and Johnson. The script also plays it safe. Instead of taking on a more vicious tone it unfortunately sticks to what is now an American comedy staple of not wishing to offend anyone. Going by the almost unanimous praise received by critics it is especially disappointing to find zero substance in this film. The cast is clearly having a ball playing these despicable characters but the "fun" barely translates on screen for the viewer. The pace drags and the silly antics begin to grate very quickly. The only interesting aspect of the film is that one now looks forward to seeing Ana De Armas (in total drab mode here) transform into her natural sexy self as the next Bond girl in Craig's last outing as James Bond. One wonders what the actor will do post-Bond because going by his hideous performance here his screen career may well be over like a couple of past Bonds - George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton. Avoid this film like the plague and go watch instead some of the early Christie all-star adaptations, the film "Clue" or Neil Simon's delightful parody " Murder By Death".
War (Siddharth Anand, 2019) 7/10
Slick Bollywood thriller takes its cue from Hollywood especially the films of Tom Cruise and comes up with outlandish, thrilling action set pieces. A rookie agent (Tiger Shroff) is assigned to go after his mentor (Hrithik Roshan) who has gone rogue. Notwithstanding the often bizzare plot twists - this is pure masala entertainment after all - the film provides an ample dose of adrenalin rush starting with the casting of the two leads. Star Roshan, who was mentored years before by superstar Jackie Shroff on the set of "Yaadein" in 2001, insisted on casting his son Tiger Shroff as his co-lead. The young actor, one of the current breed of buffed up action stars, proves his worth especially during the opening fight sequence set in a room full of adversaries which he decimates. It may be a great entrance for the young actor but it cannot top the one for Hrithik Roshan who is seen at first in silhouette and then gets the full star treatment emerging from a helicopter as he walks in slow-mo towards the camera with his hair blowing perfectly courtesy of wind machines placed out of range. The "Top Gun" levels of homoeroticism is clearly intended as Tiger Shroff watches his mentor in awe as he walks towards him. The convoluted plot (with a heavy dose of "Face/Off") throws in corny and melodramatic patriotic dialogue - the Indian flag gets a look-in flapping in the wind just above Roshan's scarred but designer-chisled face - a sub-plot about a mother (Soni Razdan), a doomed love affair (sexy Vaani Kapoor who scores in her brief scenes - posing in a bikini on the sea front, matching steps with Roshan on the dance floor (to the song "Ke Ghungroo Toot Gaye") and playing a crucial dramatic scene) - and to keep the sentimental quotient in check the plot also throws in a cute child. They forgot to put in a pet dog but otherwise every Bollywood cliché can be easily ticked off. The film scores with its many action CGI-infused set pieces - death defying stunts on an airborne plane, chases on foot and on motorbikes and hand-to-hand combat. Since both stars are superb dancers they get to match steps to a remix of the classic song "Jai Jai Shivshankar" during a Holi song sequence. The song is used in tribute to Roshan's grandfather, J. Om Prakash, who in 1974 shot this song on Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz in his classic film "Aap Ki Kasam". Adding to the film's exotic scenic appeal are the use of its superb locations - Bogota, Lapland, Lisbon, Venice, Stockholm, Zurich, Mumbai, Miami, Tblisi, Cali and Ljubljana. Not a perfect film but its great fun.
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Precious Doll
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
A Girl Missing (2019) Koji Fukada 7/10
The Report (2019) Scott Z. Burns 6/10
Judy & Punch (2019) Mirrah Foulkes 5/10
American Woman (2019) Jake Scott 6/10
Kursk (2018) Thomas Vinterberg 4/10
The Irishman (2019) Martin Scorsese 7/10
Mrs Lowry and Son (2019) Adrian Noble 5/10
Zoe (2018) Drake Doremus 5/10
Atlantics (2019) Mati Diop 2/10
The Emperor's Naked Army (1987) Kazuo Hara 6/10
Genese (2019) Philippe Lesage 7/10
Repeat viewings
Six of a Kind (1934) Leo McCarey 7/10
Olivia (1951) Jacqueline Audry 8/10
The Report (2019) Scott Z. Burns 6/10
Judy & Punch (2019) Mirrah Foulkes 5/10
American Woman (2019) Jake Scott 6/10
Kursk (2018) Thomas Vinterberg 4/10
The Irishman (2019) Martin Scorsese 7/10
Mrs Lowry and Son (2019) Adrian Noble 5/10
Zoe (2018) Drake Doremus 5/10
Atlantics (2019) Mati Diop 2/10
The Emperor's Naked Army (1987) Kazuo Hara 6/10
Genese (2019) Philippe Lesage 7/10
Repeat viewings
Six of a Kind (1934) Leo McCarey 7/10
Olivia (1951) Jacqueline Audry 8/10
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Big Magilla
- Site Admin
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- Location: Jersey Shore
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Oops! Sorry for that!
Who's next? Brenda Blethyn? Imelda Staunton?
Who's next? Brenda Blethyn? Imelda Staunton?
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Magilla she was made a dame in 2016.Big Magilla wrote:Nope, at least not yet anyway.Reza wrote
Dame Penelope Wilton
Penelope Wilton does have some interesting connections, though. She is the niece of Bill Travers and the ex-wife of both Daniel Massey (who divorced her to marry her sister) and Ian Holm.