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

[Reza]

Appointment With Death (Michael Winner, 1988) 5/10
Thirteen at Dinner (Lou Antonio, 1985) 5/10
Les scélérats / The Wretches (Robert Hossein, 1960) 3/10
Bedevilled (Mitchell Leisen, 1955) 4/10
Voici le temps des assassins... / Deadlier Than the Male (Julien Duvivier, 1956) 8/10
The Captive City (Robert Wise, 1952) 6/10


Chair de poule / Highway Pick-Up (Julien Duvivier, 1963) 9/10

James Hadley Chase's pulp novel, "Come Easy-Go Easy", liberally took several points from James Cain's "The Postman Always Rings Twice" which allows Duvivier ample space to create a dark film noir about the extent to which humans will fall while twisted by greed. Two close friends crack a client's safe but the robbery is bungled when they are discovered. They make a run for it but one (Robert Hossein) is shot and injured by the guard while his friend (Jean Sorel) escapes. After a stint in hospital he manages to escape from the cops while on the way to prison and finds refuge with a kindly old man (Georges Wilson) at his isolated mountain-top gas station where he lives with his much younger wife (Catherine Rouvel). He is asked to stay and help at the café. The woman discovers the man's secret and blackmails and seduces him into opening her husband's safe which contains a huge sum of money. Caught once again while opening the safe the old man is killed during a skirmish with his wife. They bury the body and are planning what to do next when his friend arrives. The relentlessly exciting but downbeat plot leads to a fiery conclusion which involves another seduction, a second murder, followed by a shocking betrayal and an ironic finalé. Hossein, who would become famous for directing and often starring in similar pulp thrillers, is solid as the crook with a conscience. Rouvel is perfect as the icy and selfish femme fatale with no redeeming qualities. Sorel, with his pretty-boy looks, is a revelation as possibly the most immoral character of them all. As in most of his films Duvivier once again exposes the blackness of the human soul as his characters descend into depravity with utter abandon.

The Ice Harvest (Harold Ramis, 2005) 1/10

Hideously unfunny black comedy is badly directed with the entire cast floundering as they get to mouth words from the lousy screenplay written by Robert Benton. A Mob lawyer (John Cusack) and a sleazy pornographer (Billy Bob Thornton) steal money from their boss (Randy Quaid) but discover they can't make a run for it as all the streets are icy during Christmas Eve. Trying to avoid the Mob they run into assorted folks with disastrous results - a double-crossing sexy woman (Connie Nielsen) who runs a strip joint and a drunk friend (Oliver Platt). A promising start devolves into unnecessay subplots with jokes that fall totally flat. And somebody please shoot the very annoying Oliver Platt.

Night Train (John Lynch, 1998) 6/10

Quirky, low-key romance between an ex-con (John Hurt) and a spinster (Brenda Belthyn). He is on the run from crooks he swindled money from and moves into a rooming house belonging to an old lady (Pauline Flanagan) who likes to keep a firm hold on her middle-aged daughter. He likes trains and sets up a miniature set of the Orient Express in his room with tracks running round fields and into and over miniature mountains. When the crooks close in on him he asks the woman to run off with him and they end up on the real Orient Express. This is not quite "Brief Encounter" but the film sort of pays homage to Noel Coward's play with an added bizarre subplot about a cross-dressing neigbour who steals women's clothes off people's laundry lines, dresses up with a wig and makeup. Both Hurt and Blethyn are understated as lonely individuals trying to run away from their past.

Shanghai (Mikael Håfström, 2010) 3/10

Convoluted plot has an American spy (John Cusack) arrive in Shanghai to solve the mystery of a friend's murder on the eve of both the Japanese invasion of Shanghai and the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is 1941 and everyone is pretty antsy - the Chinese, the Japanese, the Nazis - with streets dangerous, violent shootouts in night clubs and the city a simmering pot of immoral barbarity. He is soon involved with the wife (Famke Potente) of a Nazi, falls in love with the sexy wife (Gong Li) of an influential crime lord (Chow Yun-Fat). He also befriends the local Police Captain (Ken Watanabe) who is involved with an opium addict (Rinko Kikuchi) who was the lover of the murdered man. Troubled production was denied a shooting schedule by the Chinese so the production moved to Thailand where spectacular sets were built to resemble the streets of Shanghai. Exotic looking film is let down by the screenplay which lacks tension and crams in far too much plot all of which is presented in a haphazard way. Watanabe, Gong Li and Chow Yun-Fat all go through the motion of playing charismatic characters in a bored and listless manner and Cusack proves yet again that he lacks a leading-man sensibility.

Against All Odds (Taylor Hackford, 1984) 7/10

Glossy, sexy reimagining - it's not really a remake - of the 1947 film noir "Out of the Past". The roles played in the classic by Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer and Kirk Douglas are now embodied by Jeff Bridges, Rachel Ward and James Woods. A gangster (James Woods) hires his friend (Jeff Bridges), a professional football player, to go in search of his girlfriend (Rachel Ward) who has run off. He finds her down in Mexico, they fall in love, she runs off again followed by him being framed for a couple of murders. The film has many memorable moments and characters - a nail-biting car chase between a Porsche 911SC and a Ferrari 308 on Sunset Blvd, the hot and sweaty sexual encounter between Bridges and Ward inside the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza, the femme fatale from the original film, Jane Greer, as Ward's tough-as-nails mother, Richard Widmark as a crooked lawyer and a couple of great songs on the soundtrack - Kid Creole & the Coconuts performing live their hit "My Male Curiosity" and the smash hit Oscar nominated title song by Phil Collins. Pity about the rather murky ending and an overall plot that seems to be paging the shady real estate deals from "Chinatown" but in a rather tired sort of way. Ward is memorable as the sexually charged femme fatale and her pairing opposite a young Bridges creates sparks. The film's spectacular Mexican locations play a great part in creating mood.

Et si on vivait tous ensemble? / And If We All Lived Together? (Stéphane Robelin, 2011) 7/10

This charming, if slight film, explores the theme of ageing and how to live a life of dignity and safety as age eventually descends on everyone. Five old friends have spent a lifetime in and out of each others' lives and have now reached an age which is not kind. Jean (Guy Bedos), an activist and revolutionary long past his active years with impotency part of his life now, lives with his wife Anne (Geraldine Chaplin) in a large luxurious home. Their close friends are Albert (Pierre Richard), suffering from Alzheimers, and his gregarious wife Jeanne (Jane Fonda), who refuses to take any treatment for the cancer she has kept hidden from everyone. Claude (Claude Rich) is a randy widower who suffers a heart attack while on his way to a prostitute. His illness is the catalyst that brings all the friends together and they decide that they should live together under one roof instead of waiting to be put into a home for the elderly. With the help of a young research student (Daniel Brühl) they form a commune and soon long hidden secrets are revealed. The lovely veteran cast - all very famous stars - work together with great affection. This was Fonda's first french film in 40 years and she seamlessly fits into the ensemble while Chaplin, a Brit, was already comfortable acting in the language after over 50 years of starring in Spanish and French films. Nothing much really happens but it's a joy to see these great actors doing what another septuagenarian lot of great stars did in "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" as they face transitions in their lives with varied levels of acceptance.

Rules of Engagement (William Friedkin, 2000) 5/10

When the U.S. embassy in Yemen is under sniper attack the Ambassador (Sir Ben Kingsley) and his wife (Anne Archer) are evacuated by marines. When three marines are killed the Commanding Officer (Samuel L. Jackson) orders his troops to fire on the crowds below killing over 80 unarmed civilians including women and children. To deflect negative public opinion over the massacre the U.S. National Security Advisor (Bruce Greenwood) puts the blame on the Commander and pushes for a court martial choosing an over zealous prosecutor (Guy Pearce) to do him in. For his defence the accused requests his friend, a retired marine Colonel (Tommy Lee Jones), whose life he had saved years before in Vietnam. The hysterical court case includes perjury on part of the Ambassador and the deliberate hiding of important video evidence in order to make a scapegoat of the accused. Not withstanding the potholes in the screenplay the film allows both Jones and Jackson to give sincere and forceful performances although all the characters lack depth as the script does not explore their motivations - both Greenwood and Pearce are stuck with playing stock villains with no shading. The film is strictly mainstream entertainment and can be enjoyed on that level but it could have been something great with just a few more tweaks to the screenplay.

Douce violence / Sweet Ecstacy (Max Pécas, 1962) 5/10

Aimless young man gets into bad company - a group of hedonistic rich boys and girls - and has great fun but not without suffering first at their hands in between attempts of trying to seduce the hot babe (Elke Sommer) in their midst. European exploitation film, coming in the wake of Fellini's "La Dolce Vita", springs Elke Sommer in full bitch mode and hot to trot but not willing to give her love. She is the star attraction dancing in tight capris, rolling on the beach in a skimpy bikini, making out topless - a scene quite daring for 1962 - and all tied-up with a rope as part of an initiation joke that turns into a nightmare when the yacht they are on catches fire. Sommer, who would become a star soon after, is clearly being presented here as a clone of Bardot. The flimsy plot is just an excuse to oogle the sexy actress along with plenty of sexual titilation, cheap thrills and violence. The exceptional soundtrack has two great songs by Johnny Hallyday with one written by Charles Aznavour.

La chamade (Alain Cavalier, 1968) 5/10

Cavalier's film, based on the novel by Françoise Sagan, charts the conflicting emotions of a beautiful young woman (Catherine Deneuve) who is blissfully unaware of her shallow existence. Mistress of a much older man (Michel Piccoli) who passionately indulges her, she spends her time very comfortably but without much purpose. When she suddenly falls in love with a man her own age she decides to dump her rich lover and move in with her poor one (Roger Van Hool). Life changes as she has to suddenly open her eyes to the world around her. For a while she sustains her lifestyle by selling her jewels but has to eventually find work. Then she gets pregnant and bored with her new lover. Her former lover pays for an abortion and takes her back, no questions asked. Deneuve is absolutely ravishing, dressed in chic Yves Saint Laurent outfits, but her character is so vapid and self-absorbed that it's difficult to care what happens to her. She acts subservient to both men - one who indulges her no end while the other tries to change her - and one is left wondering if she loves either. It is never made clear what attracts Deneuve to Van Hool who comes off equally vapid. Even sex between them lacks heat. Piccoli is superb and his scenes with Deneuve are full of warmth and the only reason to see this rather dull film.

The Phantom President (Norman Taurog, 1932) 6/10

The original "Yankee Doodle Dandy", George M. Cohan, makes his sound film debut in this musical-comedy playing a double role. This pre-code comedy, with a faux-pas or two, would cause a coronary amongst all the politically correct souls out there today. A Presidential candidate (George M. Cohan) is deemed to have too dull a personality with no sex appeal. His close friends are all in agreement about this. Even the vivacious woman (Claudette Colbert) he loves refuses to marry him. Enter a traveling medicine man / stage performer (also played by George M. Cohan) with a nutty partner (Jimmy Durante) in tow. They perform the tunes of Rogers and Hart - offscreen Cohan was most contemptuous of the songwriters calling them Gilbert & Sullivan - as Cohan performs one number in blackface. Since Al Jolson had recently made a huge success of that the producers probably decided to have a go once again. It is decided that the gregarious charlatan lookalike should be put forward as the candidate for office and if he wins the actual one with the drab personality could then move into the White House. Durante has a couple of hilarious moments but as always overstays his welcome. Cohan has great chemistry with Colbert although he was a pain on and off the set. Funny political satire with a rare chance to see the actual Cohan dance on screen - which James Cagney did so memorably a decade later when he played Cohan on screen.

Blood and Money (John Barr, 2020) 4/10

A former marine and war veteran (Tom Berenger) spends his days hunting deer in an icy wilderness. He is a recovering alcoholic whose daughter died in a car accident while he was driving drunk and is now dying of an ailment as he keeps coughing blood. While on a hunt he inadvertently shoots a woman in the woods and next to her is a bag filled with a million dollars. The film becomes a cat-and-mouse game between him and the victim's four partners who stole the money from a casino. He leads them on a deadly chase through the woods. Berenger was once upon a time a promising leading man during the 1980s but never managed to sustain the highs of that decade. He is still active but in B-grade films like this one and the series of "Sniper" films which he keeps churning out. The film's moral message on greed gives it a slight whiff of the Coen's "Fargo" but the screenplay veers off into stale territory in a plot already done to death in many films before this one.

Swashbuckler (James Goldstone, 1976) 6/10

The pirate film, once a highly successful boxoffice staple from the 1930s through to the 1950s, dwindled during the 1960s and completely petered out in the 1970s. The unexpected success of Richard Lester's Musketeer films resurrected once more the pirate genre although it was to be a one-off moment. The production goes all out bringing forth all the familiar tropes starting with a magnificent ship, the obligatory one-legged pirate, men swinging aboard with swords in their teeth, duels to the death, treasure chests and the evil Governor (Peter Boyle) of Jamaica who imprisons an honest nobleman and evicts his fiery daughter (Geneviève Bujold). She seeks help from a pirate (Robert Shaw) who comes to the town's rescue. While Shaw is certainly no Errol Flynn he makes a go of the part and is actually quite good without being hammy. He creates sparks with lovely Bujold and the highlight is their duel with a sword. Raucous, old-fashioned yarn almost manages to recapture the vim and vigor of the Flynn and Burt Lancaster screen adventures. The action scenes are beautifully shot by Phillip Lathrop accompanied by a lively score by John Addison. Giving excellent support to the two leads are James Earl Jones and Anjelica Huston in one of her early film appearances. The film was not a success but is actually quite a worthy successor to the classics of the genre from Hollywood's golden period.

Shadows in the Sun (Brad Mirman, 2005) 7/10

This film has every cliché under the sun about eccentric writers living in seclusion in sun-dappled rural Italy. And it also has a clichéd romantic subplot. And I thought it was wonderful but then I could even watch ants crawl across the screen as long as they were doing their walking in gorgeous Italy. A callow young book editor (Joshua Jackson) is sent by his boss on a goose chase to Tuscany to try and get a once-great writer (Harvey Keitel) to start writing again and sign with his agency. The problem is that the writer uses his eccentricity and the death of his wife as a facade to hide behind because he is scared of failure. With the young man in town the writer gradually learns to not only open up but teach the uptight young man a thing or two about not being afraid and to follow his heart. They bond. And the younger man finds romance with the writer's lovely daughter (Claire Forlani). Keitel is a hoot whether berating the young man, sunbathing in the nude, getting jailed, crying while sitting at his typewriter or just being an irascible asshole. Forlani is a real looker with her flowing hair and red lips. And the Italian countryside is to die for with equally eccentric local characters - Giancarlo Giannini is a delight as a priest who likes playing gin rummy with the writer. The tiny rural village somewhere near Siena, with its yellow stone cottages and golden sunsets across rolling fields, takes on the role of a character. A simple story about love and life with great heart.

Take Care of My Little Girl (Jean Negulesco, 1951) 5/10

Colorful but rather silly sorority shenanigans with an appealing cast of female stars all too old to be in college. The screenplay scores points for putting forth a serious message about snobbery, hazing and shallowness which sororities hold onto proudly. The rest of the plot has a pretty freshman (Jeanne Crain) being chased by two young men - a steady student on the GI bill (Dale Robertson) and a pretty-boy fraternity snob (Jeffrey Hunter). Jean Peters is the snooty bitch on campus while other students are played by Mitzi Gaynor, Helen Westcott and Natalie Schafer. Glossy Technicolor Fox production was conceived as a vehicle for the studio's younger stars with the Epstein brothers' screenplay throwing in social criticism.

Les bien-aimés / Beloved (Christophe Honoré, 2011) 7/10

The film takes its cue from Jacques Demy as the characters keep breaking out into song. A charming tale about love, sex, laughter and tragedy that goes on way too long. A woman (Ludvine Sagnier) doesn't mind resorting to a little prostitution on the side to make extra bucks. She meets the man of her dreams - a Czech communist - during a trick, marries him but refuses to go back with him to his country. She gets a divorce, gives birth to his daughter and gets married again. Then her ex-husband returns and she wants him back. Time-spanning film has french movie diva Catherine Deneve play the character during the present with her grown-up daughter played by Chiara Mastroianni. The characters all sing their heart out and wander in and out of different time periods running into their younger or older selves in the past and future. Both Deneuve and Mastroianni - mother-daughter in real life - create sparks in their scenes together. Deneuve is a sensual delight as the audaciously romantic woman who has lived life to the fullest and with her own daring rules and has no regrets about her younger self. Miloś Forman plays her ex-husband. The production and costume design maintains a timeless look throughout even though the story's timeline moves through four decades.

Where There's Life (Sidney Lanfield, 1947) 4/10

The American son (Bob Hope) of a European monarch has to be brought across when the old man is shot. A general (Signe Hasso) is sent to bring him while a terrorist (George Coulouris) and his goons are out to kill him. Typical Hope comedy with the star doing his cowardly shtick and romancing Hasso who does an impersonation of Greta Garbo's "Ninotchka". Frantic farce is silly but moves at breakneck pace with a funny William Bendix as a harrassed cop.

Katyń (Andrzej Wajda, 2007) 5/10

The film depicts the Katyń massacre which was a series of mass executions of Polish officers and intelligentsia carried out by the Soviet Union in 1940. The massacre is named after the Katyn Forest where some of the mass graves were first discovered. The Soviet government suppressed the facts blaming the Germans for carrying out the executions and it was only in 1989 with the fall of communism in Poland that the facts were revealed and acknowledged by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990. In the film the events of Katyń are revealed through the eyes of the women, the mothers, wives and daughters of the men executed. The story was particularly a personal one for director Wajda whose father was one of those killed. The story follows his incarceration after being taken prisoner by the Soviet Army. He keeps a diary recording everything he sees. His wife and daughter live with his father, a professor, who is deported and later killed in a camp. When news arrives that thousands of soldiers perished at Katyń, his wife (Maja Ostaszewska) holds hope when his name is not amongst the dead. When his diary is later discovered his death is confirmed. However, it was a bitter moment for the Polish people as they were kept in the dark about the Soviet's involvement. Wajda recreates the massacre at the film's end and actual Polish and German newsreels showing the soldiers being shot in the head are also shown. For such a dramatic event in history the film is surprisingly uninvolving lacking in drama until the shocking scenes at the end. It is a haunting finale in what is otherwise a dull drama. The film, with superb production design and extraordinary cinematography by Pawel Edelman, was nominated for an Oscar in the foreign film category.

The Human Stain (Robert Benton, 2003) 6/10

Hopkins is badly miscast but despite that this adaptation of Phillip Roth's acclaimed novel, with elements of greek tragedy, makes for good drama. It explores issues of identity and self-invention in America making strong points about racism that remains rampant even today. A tragic chain of events is set in motion when a Classics Professor (Anthony Hopkins) at a New England college is fired from his job when in class uses the word "spooks". He used the word to mean "ghosts" but is accused of using the word as a racial slur and dismissed. In actual fact the man is black but has passed himself off through most of his adult life as a white-jew, even to his own wife and kids. The reason behind his dismissal also underlines how political correctness can often be twisted by today's generation who seem to have forgotten to view things in context. Losing his job and his wife - who dies of a heart attack - he later forms a friendship with a reclusive writer (Gary Sinise) and starts an affair with an illiterate janitor (Nicole Kidman) who is much younger than him and who is estranged from her psychotic husband (Ed Harris). Hopkins' miscasting becomes glaringly evident during the flashback scenes to his youth where his character is played by Wentworth Miller. The two actors come to the role from completely different planes. The film soars during the scenes between Hopkins and Kidman - two lonely people having gone through much despair in lives coming together and finding solace and sexual comfort together even if it is for a brief moment.

Twilight (Robert Benton, 1998) 8/10

Benton's screenplay retreads tropes from far better neo-noirs but the amazing cast gathered here makes it all seem fresh. The story's leisurely pace works to the film's advantage and moves in perfect rhythm to the aged star and the co-stars he banters with. After bringing back the runaway daughter (Reese Witherspoon) of an actor (Gene Hackman), an ex-cop turned private detective (Paul Newman) moves in with him and his femme fatale actress wife (Susan Darandon) on whom he has a crush. He is allowed to stay on their large estate as one of the family. Two years later the actor, now dying of cancer, asks him to run an errand by delivering an envelope of money to an address. He is attacked by a man (M. Emmett Walsh) who has been shot in the stomach and finds himself in over his head in an old case that involves murder and blackmail. He comes across other characters also involved in the mystery - two blackmailers (Liev Schreiber & Margo Martindale) and three other cops from his past, an old flame (Stockard Channing), a buddy (the charming James Garner) and his former inept partner (Giancarlo Espisito). Newman, at age 73, is still as charismatic as ever as he moves through this Raymond Chandler territory tossing off quips with his co-stars. Piotr Sobocinski's muted cinematography adds to the atmosphere. The film uses the old art deco Hollywood home of 1930s star Dolores Del Rio and her husband Cedric Gibbons as one of the main locations. The film also has an astonishing nude scene featuring Reese Witherspoon in one of her very early films. A very underrated film.

Romeo Akbar Walter (Robbie Grewal, 2019) 2/10

A slow-burn. VERY slow. A spy yarn trying to take on the mantle of a John Le Carre thriller is supposedly based on true events and set just before the Indo-Pak conflict of 1971. An actor (John Abraham) is hired and trained by RAW to go into Pakistan to try and get information about their preparedness for war. Jackie Shroff is the George Smiley-like spymaster. Monotonous film just goes on and on with only the final scenes between the captured spy and his Pakistani torturer (Sikander Kher) that hold interest. Yet another jingoistic chest thumper from Bollywood and equally boring as the similarly themed Raazi (2018). Based partially on events in the life of RAW undercover agent Ravindra Kaushik who died in jail in Pakistan. According to his family the Indian government refused to recognise him and made no effort to help him.

Uri: The Surgical Strike (Aditya Dhar, 2019) 6/10

If nothing else the silly enmity between India and Pakistan over Kashmir has provided Bollywood with enough material to constantly delve into the war genre. With active government and Armed Forces involvement in these productions it also provides a shout-out to patriotism. The plot is a dramatised account of the retaliation to the 2016 Uri attack, following Major Vihaan Singh Shergill (Vicky Kaushal) of the Indian Army, who plays a leading role in the events. Superbly produced film has top notch editing, visual effects, cinematography and sound design and uses its screenplay to provide the main protagonist a jingoistic reason and "josh" - his mother suffers from Alzheimers and his brother-in-law, a Major, dies when a terrorist's grenade blows up - to lead the retaliation. This one-sided narrative has ISI behind the terrorist attacks alternating between fact and fiction with well staged combat sequences. Mercifully there are not too many chest thumping moments as in J. P. Dutta's war films in the past, which for a very long time became de rigueur in every Bollywood war-themed film. Kaushal carries the film with steely determination (he was rewarded with a Filmfare award nomination and the National award) and the film deservedly won many awards in the technical categories.

The Last Days on Mars (Ruairi Robinson, 2013) 6/10

A regurgitation of the old "Jaws", "Alien" & "Ten Little Indians" formula set on Mars. On the last day of a 6-month mission on Mars one crew member discovers a mysterious live bacteria. Before he can contain it he falls into a pit and dies. It's only a matter of time before the bacteria infects the crew members one by one as they turn into zombies and start attacking each other. Who will survive to reach the strip where the spaceship sent from earth to bring them back lands? Space horror-thriller is not without interest even though this particular genre has gone through its fair share of similar stories. The eclectic cast - Liev Schreiber, Elias Koteas, Romola Garai, Olivia Williams - may not be A-list but they give it their all with some good suspenseful moments. The spectaular Wadi Rum in Jordan subs for Mars.

My Life So Far (Hugh Hudson, 1999) 7/10

Set during the 1920s this charming look at a year in the life of the Pettigrew family, living in their family estate Kiloran House in Scotland, is seen through the eyes of the precocious 10-year old son. The plot is a series of vignettes about the various family members - the eccentric and pious father (Colin Firth) who is obsessed with inventions, his lovely wife (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonia), the imperious but loving grandmother (Rosemary Harris), her son (Malcolm McDowell) and his much younger french fiancé (Irène Jacob). Plodding but sincere drama is held together by the ensemble cast and glorious views of the Scottish countryside. Firth is seen in a typically laid-back star turn and young actor Robert Norman is an absolute delight getting into all sorts of mischief including being inquisitive about "prostitution", "lesbians" and "fellatio", words he has picked up from a book in the library. In contrast to his father's interest in the music of Beethoven the child secretly enjoys listening to jazz which his father has described as the "devil's music". Old fashioned film is adapted from the memoirs of Sir Denis Forman, a British television executive, about his random childhood memories.

Black Water: Abyss (Andrew Trauckie, 2020) 2/10

Take a bunch of humans, put them in a confined space and at the mercy of a set of jaws. Age-old formula is utterly wasted in this rehash of a genre which is usually always great fun to sit through. Five friends decide to explore an underground cave but get trapped when water starts rising after a storm. It also happens to be home to a vicious and very hungry crocodile. Most of the film is shot in darkness with only torch lights showing glimpses of the reptile as it goes in for the kill. Only the last scene is played out in bright sunlight as the survivors once again face sudden danger. Dull characters, a lack of tension and a very low budget makes this a slog to sit through.

Summerland (Jessica Swale, 2020) 6/10

A reclusive researcher (Gemma Arterton), living in the Kent countryside - glorious rolling grass fields running off white cliffs - is suddenly asked to take in a young boy (Lucas Bond), an evacuee from bombed out London. The War is on but in far off London, and the crotchety writer is not at all pleased at the prospect of a young boy intruding into her private space. They first clash and then bond as expected and we get to know why the lady is constantly in a cranky mood. Memory flashbacks to the 1920s reveal a failed love affair with a bohemian lifeforce (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), initially full of passion (although very tamely shot), which they are forced to abandon. This part of the plot - a white woman in a lesbian relationship with a black woman - seems tacked on in order to appease the PC brigade. It's now de rigueur to include a gay and a race element into plots. Cliché-laden story is well cast - both Arterton and Bond are very good, and in brief roles there is excellent support by Tom Courtenay (as a school master), Siân Phillips and Penelope Wilton who plays the older version of the Arterton character during the 1970s. The ending comes with a pleasing twist.

Made in Italy (James D'Arcy, 2020) 4/10

Lovely Tuscan locations sadly do not compensate for a listless plot revolving around an estranged father and son both grieving for the dead woman they both loved. Having a real life father-son actor duo play the characters also does not elevate the material. A bohemian artist (Liam Neeson), lost without his wife who died in a car crash, travels with his estranged son (Micheál Richardson) from London to Italy in order to sell a dilapidated countryside villa in Tuscany. As they make repairs to the crumbling estate they try to come to terms with their loss and reconnect. The central idea is clearly a reference to the death of actress Natasha Richardson, Neeson's wife and Micheál Richardson's mother. The son, going through a bitter divorce, befriends a young divorced single mother (Valeria Bilello) who not only playfully flirts with both men but is also a great cook - her risotto is to die for. Predictable film runs its course without any surprises. A tart-tongued Lindsay Duncan, in a blonde pageboy wig, makes a welcome brief appearance as a realtor trying to help them sell the villa. Mawkish tale of grief and healing. Luckily Tuscany, in all its sun-dappled glory, is a sight for sore eyes.

[Precious Doll]

Raggedy Man (1981) Jack Fisk 10/10

Remember how Eric Roberts, after King of the Gypsies and then this, was touted as being the next big leading man? He’s had an astounding number of credits but largely fell off the radar after Runaway Train in 1985, for which he received his sole Academy Award nomination. I seem to remember that he was derailed by a cocaine problem.

Yeah. Such a shame because he was so talented. There was also Star 80 and The Pope of Greenwich Village. He has popped up over the years in the odd blockbuster (The Dark Knight - inspired casting) and the indie sleeper hit It's My Party (1996) but I've never even heard of most of the stuff he has made the last couple of decades.

I'm overcome with a touch of melancholy when I watch early Eric Roberts film for what we have missed out on.

[danfrank]

Raggedy Man (1981) Jack Fisk 10/10

Remember how Eric Roberts, after King of the Gypsies and then this, was touted as being the next big leading man? He’s had an astounding number of credits but largely fell off the radar after Runaway Train in 1985, for which he received his sole Academy Award nomination. I seem to remember that he was derailed by a cocaine problem.

[Precious Doll]

A Woman's Revenge (2012) Rita Azevedo Gomes 4/10
Dog Lady (2016) Laura Citarella & Veronica Llinas 6/10
Just 6.5 (2019) Saeed Routsayi 4/10
An Easy Girl (2019) Rebecca Zlotowski 5/10
Occidental (2019) Neil Beloufa 4/10
Wonders in the Suburbs (2020) Jeanne Balibar 4/10
Sicilia (1999) Daniele Huillet & Jean-Marie Staub 5/10
The Kingmaker (2019) Lauren Greenfield 6/10
The Bird (2012) Yves Caumon 4/10

Repeat viewings

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) Sergio Leone 9/10
Town Bloody Hall (1979) Chris Hegedus & D.A. Pennebaker 8/10
The Tenant (1976) Roman Polanski 8/10
The Queen (1968) Frank Simon 7/10
Homicidal (1961) William Castle 8/10
Raggedy Man (1981) Jack Fisk 10/10
North Sea Hijack (1980) Andrew V. McLaglen 6/10

[Precious Doll]

Vitalina Varela (2019) Pedro Costa 6/10
Wet Season (2019) Anthony Chen 7/10
The Hater (2020) Jan Komasa 8/10
Atlantis (2019) Valentyn Vasyanovych 4/10
Hiroshima (1953) Hideo Sekigawa 7/10
Servants (2020) Ivan Ostrochovsky 5/10
The Painted Bird (2019) Vaclav Marhoul 8/10
Peninsula aka Train to Busan 2 (2020) Sang-ho Yeon 2/10
Exit (2020) Visar Morina 4/10
The Phynx (1970) Lee H. Katzin 7/10
Ordinary Love (2019) Lisa Barros D'Sa & Glenn Leyburn 4/10
Cuck (2019) Rob Lambert 3/10
La Llorona (2019) Jayro Bustamante 7/10
Papicha (2019) Mounia Meddour Gens 4/10

[Reza]

5 Against the House (Phil Karlson, 1955) 7/10

Sultry Kim Novak, in her first lead role after three minor parts, is a major highlight in this noir crime caper film. After a night of fun at a casino four army vets are told by a cop that its impossible to rob the place. The brainy one (Kerwin Matthews) comes up with a fool-proof plan to rob the casino but only as a prank to prove that it can be done. The geek (Alvy Moore) and the brawn (Brian Keith) both agree to participate but they need a fourth so they casually include the straight-arrow pal (Guy Madison) who brings along his cabaret-singer girlfriend (Kim Novak). One of the early films to take a look at the psychological toll taken on vets by the war as the brawny pal, who has a hair-trigger temper - the result of suffering combat fatigue - suddenly decides that the robbery is not going to be merely a prank and pulls a gun on his pals to go through with the heist in order to keep the stolen money. Keith is very good as the emotionally scarred vet and Karlson's taut direction keeps the plot moving swiftly despite the talky script. Novak, with her soft voice and sexy tight outfits, is memorable throughout. She became a huge star with her next film ("Picnic") and her "stiff" acting style, for which she was often criticised then, actually works to her advantage when her films are viewed today. She is still around at age 87 - paging the Academy to give her an honorary Oscar.

Ashes of Time (Kar-Wai Wong, 1994) 4/10

This has to be to be one of the most confusing films of all time. I had no idea what was going on from start to finish.....and this was while I was simultaneously reading a summary of the story on Wikipedia. Couldn't keep a track of who's who amongst the actors - everyone from the Hong Kong film industry seems to be in it - Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung ("Little Tony"), Jacky Cheung, Tony Leung Ka Fai ("Big Tony"), Maggie Cheung and Brigitte Lin. Stunning imagery, courtesy of Christopher Doyle's camera, captures spectacular sweeping desert vistas and sword fights. Pity couldn't understand what it was all about.

Fallen Angels (Kar-Wai Wong, 1995) 5/10

Two unconnected stories are shot like a music video - but without the song - in an almost hyperkinetic frenzy. The director is clearly impressed by latter-day Godard as he resorts to quick cutting, slow motion, hand-held shaky camera, wide-angle lenses, fast motion, black and white shots and flashing neon signs, all of which almost made me cross-eyed. The film's two plots are just an excuse to have characters parade around through assorted rooms, across crowded streets and on trains in Hong Kong. The first story involves a hitman and his female "partner" who supplies him with names of people he has to kill while she scrubs his apartment dressed in a mini-skirt and fish net stockings and orgasmically writhes on his bed with a cigarette in her hand. There is also a prostitute in a blonde wig who wanders in and out of the plot with whom the hitman has an affair much to the chagrin of his "partner" who in her infatuation puts out a hit on him. The second story involves a crazy delinquent who escapes prison and forms a friendship with a young girl who cries on his shoulder about her lover who ran off with a blonde woman. Flashy, absurd film is not a complete right-off and manages to hold interest although it's an exhausting ride all the way to the end. The film resembles the director's Chungking Express (1994) in tone and was in fact meant initially to be part of that film.

My Voyage to Italy (Martin Scorsese, 1999) 8/10

Scorsese traces his Italian roots and discusses his love and fascination with movies and in particular Italian cinema. He looks at many classic films, particularly covering the Italian neorealism
period. There is a detailed emphasis on the films of Roberto Rossellini. Other directors mentioned include Vittorio de Sica,
Luchino Visconti, Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni. Scorsese critiques their important films in great detail as the scenes play out on the screen and we hear his voice on the soundtrack.

The Ship That Died of Shame (Basil Dearden, 1955) 6/10

Three WWII vets (Richard Attenborough, George Baker, Bill Owen) buy back their small gunboat after the war and use their faithful ship to smuggle minor contraband items across the English channel. When they start smuggling more and more sinister items the ship decides to teach them a lesson as the three men get way over their heads with greed. Attenborough has a flashy role as a cocky crook. Based on a novel by Nicholas Monsarrat, the film was an attempt by Ealing to create a noir while showing the stress and steain servicemen went through while trying to adjust to life after the strain of war. Exciting scenes set on the high seas which were probably all shot in a tank in the studio. There are small but vivid roles for Bernard Lee and lovely Virginia McKenna.

[Reza]

Il generale della Rovere (Roberto Rossellini, 1959) 10/10

Rossellini once again explores his countrymen's reactions to the German occupation of Italy during the War. And he again does so by superbly recreating war-torn Italy - this story is set in Genoa - with its bombed-out cityscapes and cramped interiors of homes and prisons, often interspersing real newsreel images which give the film a haunting quality. The story revolves around a petty crook (Vittorio De Sica), always immaculately dressed, who has a distinguished aura about him. It is to De Sica's credit that he makes the character sympathetic allowing the audience to understand why such people did what they did during the War. Survival was the name of the game and it was easy to play both sides if one could. He has a gambling habit and to feed into it swindles his neighbours by giving them false promises about saving family members caught by the Gestapo. He keeps losing at the gambling table and tries to stay one step ahead by conning innocent men and women into giving him more and more money. He is not averse to stealing from one mistress (the ravishing Giovanna Ralli) but is sensitive enough to spare another (Sandra Milo) who genuinely loves him. When he is finally caught after trying to swindle a rich woman (Anne Vernon), his captor - the local German officer (Hannes Messemer) - who is amused by his antics decides to make a bargain with him. Impersonate a dead Italian General who was inadvertently killed by the Germans and go into prison to try and ferret out a Resistance leader from amongst a group of men caught and imprisoned. Will the conman take the bait of a cash settlement and eventual freedom or will he transform from being a collaborator into a hero of the anti-national socialist resistance? Stunning film hinges on the performance of the great De Sica who gives a marvelously nuanced performance. The film won the Golden Lion prize at the Venice film festival and was nominated for an Oscar for its screenplay. One of many classic films to come out of Italy and a must-see.

Wolfen (Michael Wadleigh, 1981) 5/10

After seeing numerous closeup shots of naked dead bodies in this film I realised that all these shots were censored and cut out on VHS when I first saw this film in 1982. A mystery crime-horror story seemed pretty derivative back then as it came after a couple of similarly themed slasher films about werewolves. Watched it again to see what made Albert Finney take on this film - apparently he was first choice of the director and Dustin Hoffman, who desperately wanted the part, was turned down. There appears to be a re-evaluation of this film over the years with its theme of decaying urban areas and Indians and wolves exchanging souls. Well the plot was mumbo jumbo then, just as it remains now, but it does manage to initially create a creepy mood by using an in-camera effect to portray the subjective point of view of a wolf. Former NYPD Captain (Albert Finney) is brought back to investigate the brutal murders of a high profile magnate, his wife and bodyguard. Helping him solve the mystery are a criminal psychologist (Diane Venora) and a coroner (Gregory Hines) who discovers that no weapon was used to kill the victims and in fact jagged teeth were used to rip the bodies apart. The discovery points to werewolves and Native Indians of which one (Edward James Olmos) gets naked, acts like a wolf and stalks the cop. Bordering on camp the film ends rather abruptly although with more spectacular violence and a decapitation. If blood and gore move you then do watch this. Otherwise avoid unless, like me, you are a fan of the star and remain wondering why on earth he took on this film. Also interesting to see Venora, Hines and Olmos so early on in their careers.

Missing Ten Days / Ten Days in Paris (Tim Whelan, 1940) 6/10

Frantic comedy spy-thriller tries to emulate Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes" with screwball elements thrown in but comes up short. An English playboy (Rex Harrison) is shot in the head and gets involved in a farcical plot trying to find why he was attacked - the head wound is superficial. Adding to the nutty plot is a blonde babe (Kaaren Verne) and a bunch of spies - led by Leo Genn - who plan to sabotage a train by planting a bomb. Harrison has a lot of fun with the part as he banters with the blonde, plays "William Tell" with a hood and chases the train during the exciting finale.

Monpti (Helmut Käutner, 1957) 9/10

Bittersweet romance between a destitute Hungarian artist (Horst Buccholz) and a rich Parisian girl (Romy Schneider) which eventually reveals their sweet relationship to be based on lies. Ironic tale is narrated on screen by Käutner himself (playing a bistro customer) as he contrasts their friendship and affair with that of a superficial romance between an older couple. Tragedy ensues when the two stories literally collide. Buccholz and Schneider, then Germany's biggest young stars, are dazzling together as they bicker, make love and dream of a life together. The cinematographer, Heinz Pehlke, uses different techniques to convey the mood of the film, including using a concealed camera to capture the sights and sounds of stunning Paris with an emphasis on the Luxembourg gardens in the Latin Quarter as one of its main locations. Sad yet exhilarating film is one of Käutner's most memorable films.

Mädchenjahre einer Königin / The Story of Vickie (Ernst Marischka, 1954) 8/10

A year before Romy Schneider became a star playing Empress Elisabeth of Austria in the famous "Sissi" trilogy, she played the young Queen Victoria in this historical film. The first half follows history - Vickie (Romy Schneider) becomes Queen of England at the young age of 18, tries to break free from her domineering mother (Christl Mardayn) who is under the influence of a wily lover, grows closer to her companion, the Baroness Lehzen (Magda Schneider), and gets tutored in diplomacy by her loyal Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne (Karl Ludwig Diehl), who also tries to find a suitable husband for her. The film's second half evolves into a charming fairy tale with Victoria falling head over heels in love with a handsome German man (Adrian Hoven) she meets at a tavern in Dover while traveling incognito to France. Kitschy fluff is just as irresistible and charming as the "Sissi" films with Schneider an absolutely radiant presence. Sumptuously produced film with lovely sets and costumes which were duplicated by the same team in the trilogy which also had the added pleasure of many scenes shot on lovely Austrian locations. The film is shot in stunning colour by Bruno Mondi.

Flaming Feather (Ray Enright, 1952) 6/10

A mysterious outlaw in cahoots with Indians causes mayhem for Arizona settlers. A rugged rancher (Sterling Hayden) comes to the rescue aided and abetted by two pretty women (Barbara Rush & Arleen Whelen). An exciting shootout takes place during the finale which is set up on the Montezuma Castle Pueblo cliff dwellings in Arizona. Colorful western holds interest but is no classic.

China Sky (Ray Enright, 1945) 7/10

Pearl Buck's story, like many of the China-themed films out of Hollywood before and during the War, treats its characters as typical self-efacing subservient types with caucasians playing orientals. This low budget film was no different but it was RKO studio's attempt to portray through the plot America's friendship for China during its occupation under Japan. What makes the film work is the central conflict of two love triangles amidst the war. An American missionary doctor (Randolph Scott) and a female counterpart (Ruth Warrick) both work in a hill-top country hospital he has built for a Chinese village. After a trip abroad he returns with a socialite wife (Ellen Drew) who immediately clashes with her husband's assistance who she rightly suspects of being secretly in love with him. This bitter love triangle is played out against constant Japanese aerial bombings while a disgruntled Japanese-Korean doctor (Phillip Ahn) secretly tries to help a captured Japanese Colonel (Richard Loo) after discovering that the Chinese nurse (Carol Thurston) he loves has fallen for the local insurgent leader (Anthony Quinn). Scott, taking a break from Westerns, plays the heroic doctor although its lovely Warrick who shines as the dedicated doctor secretly in love. Her scenes opposite a perpetually jealous Ellen Drew provide more sparks than the numerous battle scenes. Quinn, who played every manner of nationality during the first two decades of his career, is again typecast but manages to bring fiery shades to the part. Both Quinn and Thurston, courtesy of the Hollywood makeup department, make convincing Chinese characters who also surprisingly speak without putting on a pidgin sing-song lilt which Hollywood liked to indulge its ethnic characters with at the time. Interesting little film with enough melodrama to overcome its clichés.

Era notte a Roma / Blackout in Rome (Roberto Rossellini, 1960) 6/10

Rossellini returns to the war genre, many years after the classic films Roma città aperta (1945), Paisan (1946) and his most recent one Il generale Della Rovere (1959), with this rather plodding if atmospheric film. Three escaped allied prisoners - an American (Peter Baldwin), an Englishman (Leo Genn) and a Russian (Sergey Bondarchuk) - hide from the fascists and go in search of their displaced units. A beautiful young woman (Giovanna Ralli), impersonating a nun but actually a spirited black marketeer, comes to their rescue and hides them in her attic at a great cost to her life. The film is shot like the director's early neorealist films using real sets and naturalistic techniques to lend the film an almost documentary feel. A lot of the film also borrows from wartime melodramas of Hollywood and Britain with sinister villains and dramatic moments of espionage. The screenplay also makes points on how Italians took their time to resist the fascists. Unfortunately the pace of the film is deadly as it goes on and on. Giovanna Ralli is a superb presence - fiery, vivacious and forceful - like a young Anna Magnani.

Adventure in Iraq (D. Ross Lederman, 1943) 4/10

Campy programmer is a remake of the old George Arliss chestnut, "The Green Goddess". Three Americans (John Loder, Ruth Ford, Warren Douglas) are forced to land their plane in Iraq and find themselves prisoners of a British-educated Sheik (Paul Cavanagh). The story, based on a play, this time round is set in an Arabian Nights setting with Cavanagh alternating between wearing a turban, flowing robes and a dinner jacket. Since the film was made during WWII a pro-Nazi angle is thrown into the plot with Anti-British and Anti-Arab sentiments running through it making this the only Hollywood production not shown outside America. Rather tired plot is kept lively by Cavanagh's crisp delivery.

Halls of Montezuma (Lewis Milestone, 1951) 6/10

One of numerous anti-War films by Milestone showing the terrible toll war takes on soldiers as fatigue, fear and disillusionment takes over. A battalion of weary U.S. marines land on a Japanese-held island in the Pacific. Their mission is to take the Japanese prisoners in order to interrogate them into revealing their strategic position from where rockets are being launched. The marines are a close-knit group having served together at Guadalcanal but the war is now taking a toll on them all. A tough Colonel (Richard Boone) spearheads the mission and the men are led by a Lieutenant (Richard Widmark) suffering from psychological migranes. Gritty film uses actual film of combat footage from the Pacific War which is integrated into the film. The cast is rounded up by many actors who were at the start of their careers and would go on to become stars of varying degrees - Jack Palance, Robert Wagner, Jack Webb, Neville Brand, Karl Malden and Martin Milner. The film, later used as a recruitment for marines, is less about war and more a study of the psychological effects battle has on the human spirit.

When Willie Comes Marching Home (John Ford, 1950) 8/10

This Americana with a comic bent is Ford's unjustly neglected mini-masterpiece. Willie (Dan Dailey) is the first man from small-town Virginia to enlist when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. Unfortunately he gets a home posting as a shooting instructor much to the consternation of his town, including his irritated dad (the hilarious William Demarest), who had initially given him a huge send-off thinking he is going to war. Two years of begging for overseas combat and by chance he finds himself on a plane heading for Europe. As luck would have it the crew bails over England while he is asleep and when he finally bails out it's over German-occupied France and into the hands of a group of Resistance fighters headed by gorgeous Corinne Calvet in a low-cut dress. The film suddenly switches gears to an intense WWII drama with the discovery of a German rocket, close calls with soldiers, a dramatic escape in an inebriated state all the way home but not before he unexpectedly finds himself made a war hero after all. Very funny story was nominated for an Oscar with Dailey - who also gets to sing - simply marvelous in a slapstick role. Ford shot the European sequence on Santa Catalina island.

The Trouble With Women (Sidney Lanfield, 1947) 3/10

Weak combo of Hawks' "Bringing Up Baby" and "His Girl Friday". A wily newspaper editor (Brian Donlevy) springs his star reporter (Teresa Wright) onto a befuddled professor (Ray Milland) who has written psychology textbooks with controversial views about women. The silly plot alternates between two settings - a newspaper office and a university classroom - and has Wright arguing with Milland over his views about wife beating and his recently written book called "The Subjugation of Women". Terrible film - not only because of the sexist plot - sat on a shelf in the studio for two years before being finally released. This film proves that frantic acting, as in the two Hawks film it superficially resembles, does not always result in a comedy classic. Wright comes off better than Milland who seems uncomfortable with the screwball elements of the plot.

Count the Hours! (Don Siegel, 1953) 6/10

A lawyer (Macdonald Carey) races against time to save a man (John Craven) from the gallows. Disturbed to see his wife (Teresa Wright) being browbeaten by the cops he confesses to the murders to get them off her back. When the actual murderer arrives on the scene it proves difficult for the lawyer to find proof. Neat little suspense film is one of Don Siegel's earlier films.

[Precious Doll]

I’m glad to see you liked Moffie, Precious. I’m looking forward to seeing it whenever I can find it!

It's out on Blu Ray in the UK - though the disc is Region B locked. I actually suspect it will turn up locally at the September Gay & Lesbian film festival in September here. Because the festival is so popular they have two every year: February & September. I didn't go to anything at the February festival as I was pre-occupied the unfolding pandemic and am now kicking myself for missing Monsoon.

[danfrank]

I’m glad to see you liked Moffie, Precious. I’m looking forward to seeing it whenever I can find it!

[Precious Doll]

The Bare Necessity (2019) Erwan Le Duc 4/10
Hunted (1952) Charles Crichton 6/10
Fragile as the World (2001) Rita Azevedo Gomes 4/10
While at War (2019) Alejandro Amenabar 6/10
Deerskin (2019) Quentin Dupieux 4/10
Mrs. Fang (2017) Bing Wang 5/10
The Postcard Killings (2020) Danis Tanovic 2/10
State Funeral (2019) Sergey Loznitsa 6/10
Moffie (2020) Oliver Hermanus 8/10

Repeat viewings

Strait-Jacket (1964) William Castle 4/10
Viva Maria ! (1965) Louis Malle 6/10
13 Frightened Girls (1963) William Castle 6/10
The Virgin Suicides (1999) Sofia Coppola 8/10
Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) Robert Aldrich 6/10

[Precious Doll]

The Turning (2020) Floria Sigismondi 1/10
Perfect Nanny (2019) Lucie Borleteau 7/10
The Mad Fox (1962) Tomu Uchida 7/10
Litigante (2019) Franco Lolli 6/10
23 Walks (2020) Paul Morrison 4/10
Resistance (2020) Jonathan Jakubowicz 2/10

Repeat viewings

Daisies (1966) Vera Chytilova 7/10
The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978) Ermanno Olmi 8/10
Murder, He Says (1945) George Marshall 7/10
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) Celine Sciamma 9/10
Motorpsycho (1965) Russ Meyer 6/10
Mahanagar (The Big City) (1963) Satyajit Ray 10/10
Up! (1976) Russ Meyer 6/10
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983) Nagisa Oshima 7/10
Poor Cow (1967) Ken Loach 7/10
A Man For All Seasons (1966) Fred Zinnemann 7/10

[Sabin]

Buffalooed (Tanya Wexler) - 4.5/10

I'm being Santa Claus with this review because I REALLY think the script deserved a little better. Or maybe just the idea. I'd bet any amount of money this pitch started as "What if Wolf of Wall Street but a lady and debt collectors?" But the world of debt collectors is rather unexplored territory and I'm a fan of late-stage capitalism hustle films. Just better than this one. Brian Sacca's script is a professional machine in good and bad ways. It is Blake Snyder to its core, always working double and triple-time to ramp up the stakes, set up everything, pay everything off, and keep moving that nobody comes across as more than one-dimensional. And the threats feel very cartoonish. That said, I really think this script could've been made into a better film if the director didn't over-direct every scene and if someone besides Zoey Deutsch was cast in the lead role. Wexler cranks every scene up to a ten and favors broad caricatures over human interaction, while Deutsch just isn't quite up to the challenges of carrying a feature like this. Peg is a funny character but she never tries to find anything human. But the script just covers so much ground that there are worse ways to spend a Friday night.

Also, Buffalo never really comes into view as a location and the final minutes are a total wash. Again: I'm just a sucker for films about broke manic hustlers.

[Reza]

Black Horse Canyon (Jesse Hibbs, 1954) 5/10

[Reza]

Train of Events (Basil Dearden, 1949) 6/10

[Reza]

The Outpost (Rod Lurie, 2020) 9/10

Riveting combat film pits a small group of U.S. soldiers against hundreds of Talibans during a pitched battle in North-Eastern Afghanistan. "The Battle of Kamdesh" turned out to be the bloodiest engagement of the Afghan War in 2009 and the American soldiers who fought became the most decorated units of that 19-year conflict. Boxed in at the bottom of three steep mountains, just 14 miles from the Pakistani border, was an American army outpost built originally to engage the locals in community development projects. The outpost was under constant sniper threat so when the officials decided to close it down, the Talibans went on a rampage in a coordinated attack. Gripping film shows the young soldiers going about their daily routine with gallow humour, comraderie and interacting with local Afghan elders during the first hour of the film while occasionally warding off sniper attacks. The second hour puts the audience feet first into a pitched battle with bullets zipping fast and furious as the body count rises. A mostly unknown cast is led by a few familiar faces - Orlando Bloom and a bunch of star kids with famous surnames, Scott Eastwood, Milo Gibson, James Jagger, Will Attenborough, Scott Alda Coffey - playing the brave soldiers fighting for their lives. The extremely realistic combat scenes are a marvel of choreography, sharp editing, long camera takes (following one character in battle, then another) and exceptional sound design. The battle is very much in the same vein as in "Zulu" and during "Custer's Last Stand", with soldiers making a brave stand against impossible odds. Intense film is easily one of the year's best and must be seen on the biggest screen available during this Covid menace.

La signora senza camelie/ The Lady Without Camelias (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1953) 8/10

Fascinating look at the Italian film industry during the 1950s. The screenplay takes us on a no holds barred view through the corridors of Cinecitta, the famous film studio in Rome, in this tale of a young girl (Lucia Bosè) who is plucked from being a sales girl and made into a star when her film is a hit. Antonioni, in his second film and working again with Bosè (he had initially offered the part to Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren), paints an unflattering portrait of the harsh realities of the film industry and what it was like for women working in that medium. With her second film she is expected to perform more risqué scenes by her director (Gino Cervi) with an eye towards the boxoffice, which she does, but then gets waylaid into marriage with a producer (Andrea Checchi) who decides he doesn't like his wife being a sex symbol. So begins the starlet's fall - her subsequent film based on pure Joan of Arc (a nod to Rossellini & Bergman) flops, she is estranged from her controlling husband, has an affair with a diplomat (Ivan Desny) who is insincere and only wants to chalk her up as yet another notch on his sexcapade list and finally going back to the kind of cinema she started with in order to help her bankrupt husband. The film's final scene among extras as she smiles through tears becomes her greatest acting performance realizing the futility and unhappiness of her life but pretending all is well. Antonioni's obsession with using architecture as a metaphor for bleakness is seen here so early in his career - the huge fake studio sets Bosè is photographed against and later seen dwarfed in the interior of her house, a nouveau riche monstrosity, that her husband has built. Through this melodrama the director paints a scathing picture about suffering, loss and cruelty.

Le mani sulla città / Hands Over the City (Francesco Rosi, 1963) 8/10

Rosi's scathing view of political corruption through illegal land deals still remains a topical subject in many parts of the world. The screenplay takes a semi documentary approach about a corrupt land developer (a dubbed but perfectly cast Rod Steiger) who uses his clout to purchase farm land on the outskirts of Naples at a throwaway price in order to construct apartment blocks. When part of an adjoining building collapses due to construction going on next door, the fallout for the tragedy becomes an obsession for the builder to somehow escape and put the blame elsewhere. Most of the film revolves around government bureaucracy - also in his pocket - shifting the onus of the blame around. Superbly photographed film is any eye-opening depiction about corruption and nepotism during post war reconstruction.

Hangman's Knot (Roy Huggins, 1952) 6/10

Underrated post Civil War-era western with an excellent cast. A Confederate officer (Randolph Scott) and his officers tasked with stealing a gold shipment from Union soldiers suceed. They are unaware that the war is over so stealing the gold has made them outlaws in the eyes of the law. They are pursued by a posse and find themselves at their mercy while holed up at an isolated way station. The motley group inside consists of a Yankee woman (Donna Reed), a psychotic gunslinger (Lee Marvin), a pacifist (Claude Jarman Jr.), a gambler (Richard Denning) and a grieving mother (Jeanette Nolan). All the characters have various issues and in conflict with one another. Despite the claustrophobic setting the film still manages a number of action set pieces.

Unleashed (Louis Leterrier, 2005) 6/10

The film is stolen by the two veteran actors in the cast - Bob Hoskins as a cockney mobster with more lives than a cat and Morgan Freeman as a blind piano tuner with a kind heart and a sassy tongue. A man (Jet Li), raised as a vicious killing machine, is used by his vicious master (Bob Hoskins) to beat, maim and kill during illegal no-holds-barred brawls to earn money. He is treated like a dog with a metal collar around his neck. Savagery and sentimentality, a decidedly odd concoction via the pen of Luc Besson, results in a film where martial arts star Jet Li gets to "act". We do get the obligatory scenes of mayhem where Li takes on 30 men and beats them to a pulp via carefully choreographed fight sequences. However, a chance encounter with a blind man (Morgan Freeman) and piano music snaps his mind taking him towards a direction that causes the mobster's shit to hit the fan. Running away he takes shelter with the blind man and his daughter and discovers his own origin and the fate of his mother. A final confrontation remains as he has to settle scores with the mad beast who raised him. Action packed film packs a punch but the fun is in seeing the hilarious Hoskins having a ball with his role as he gets to be way over the top with deliciously funny lines. Freeman, for whom the role was written, is a contrasting foil and the gentle voice of reason that helps to tame the rabid dog in Jet Li.

The Great Waltz (Julien Duvivier, 1938) 8/10

Lavish MGM musical is a completely over-the-top, highly fictionalised screen biography of composer Johann Strauss. The screenplay focuses on the love triangle between Strauss (Fernand Gravet), his saintly, long-suffering wife (Luise Rainer) and the diva opera star (Miliza Korjus who was nominated for an Oscar) who makes him famous while singing to his music. The two ladies are in sharp contrast to each other and hilariously so. Rainer, fresh after winning two back-to-back Oscars - her first win was for a celebrated scene in "The Great Ziegfeld" where she talks to her womanizing husband on the phone pretending to be jolly while fighting back tears. She repeats that moment here as she confronts her husband and his mistress with a big smile on her face as she encourages him to go on tour with the diva following which she dramatically collapses in tears. Korjus, who was sort of like the European version of Mae West, plays her part with a perpetual smirk on her face as she twists the composer to her bidding. The scenes where Strauss composes his famous music is pure camp - while riding with his mistress in a horse drawn buggy through the Vienna Woods the sounds of the horses, the carriage and the birds (and with help from the coachman) make him dream up the famous waltz "Tales From the Vienna Woods" and a visit to the Danube river conjures up his memorable "Blue Danube" waltz. Sumptuous production, with deliriously shot waltz sequences, won an Oscar for Joseph Ruttenberg's swirling cinematography and a nomination for editing. Oscar Hammerstein II provided the lyrics to Strauss' music which Korjus sings. This was her only film as an actress as rumour had it that reigning opera queen at MGM, Jeanette MacDonald, made it perfectly clear to the bosses that there was no room for her at the studio while she was in residence.

The Outriders (Roy Rowland, 1950) 4/10

Despite the interesting cast this is a shockingly mediocre western from the MGM stable. Confederate soldiers (Joel McCrea, Barry Sullivan, James Whitmore) escape from a Union prison and latch onto a wagon train run by an aristocratic Mexican (Ramon Novarro). They have their eyes on the gold shipment being carried and on a young widow (Arlene Dahl). Plodding pace is somewhat redeemed by a great sequence during a perilous river crossing.

Les liens de sang / Blood Relatives (Claude Chabrol, 1978) 3/10

Dull thriller shot in Montreal by Chabrol in English. A young girl is savagely murdered in the presence of her cousin who is also attacked but manages to escape. When interrogated by the detective (Donald Sutherland) on the case she describes in detail the attack along with the description of the killer. A few days later she changes her story and accuses her own brother of being the murderer. The plot veers off into bizzare tangents involving the girl's sordid family - a dubbed Stéphane Audran plays the alcoholic mother - which involves incest discovered through a diary which the detective reads as flashbacks reveal the life of the dead girl. Based on one of Ed McBain's "87th Precinct" detective novels the film is shot in a flat television style and only during the end there is suspense when Chabrol goes for the jugular recreating the murder sequence shown only in darkness at the start. Sutherland sleep walks through the film while Donald Pleasence has one inexplicable scene as a child molester. David Hemmings also pops up as a randy old man with the hots for the young teenager. Skip this boring film.

Cheyenne (Raoul Walsh, 1947) 6/10

Fast-moving Western with an interesting cast, surprisingly risqué dialogue, sly charm and a noirish screenplay dripping with cynicism. A gambler (Dennis Morgan) is blackmailed by a detective (Barton MacLane) to go in search of a stagecoach robber who is known as the "poet". He decides to impersonate the "poet" and runs into a prim lady (Jane Wyman) with a number of tricks up her sleeve, a dance-hall girl (Janis Paige), a group of disgruntled robbers led by their leader - the Sundance Kid (Arthur Kennedy), a cowardly lawman (Alan Hale) and a smooth-talking bank officer (Bruce Bennett). Morgan and Wyman create sparks with their sexually charged banter which was quite unusual for a film set in this particular genre. Walsh stages an impressive ambush sequence between Morgan and Kennedy's gang creating suspense through sharp editing and framing. Max Steiner's bombastic score is out of place as it completely overwhelms the many action packed chase sequences.

I Believe in You (Basil Dearden, 1952) 6/10

One of Dearden's early social film is almost like a documentary about teenage delinquents and the social officers required to monitor their lives. The film is a fascinating look at the unglamourous side of Britain, still reeling after the War, as the upper-middle-class British Probation Service tries to solve the problems of the lower class Britons often without having ever set foot in the East End. The story revolves around a retired civil servant's (Cecil Parker) attempt at social work as he gets involved in the lives of three teenagers - a sensitive boy (Harry Fowler) abused by his father, a young vicious thug (Laurence Harvey) and a wild party-girl (Joan Collins) who gets involved with both boys. Celia Johnson (nominated for a Bafta award) is the no-nonsense career social worker. The screenplay emphasises Britain's class division where accent, clothes and speech determined one's future. The main leads are well supported by many familiar character actors, a number of whom would go on to become famous names in leading roles - Sidney James, Katie Johnson, Brenda de Banzie. Both Harvey and Collins (only 19 in her film debut) make a strong impression.

The End of the Affair (Edward Dmytryk, 1955) 5/10

The first screen adaptation of Graham Greene's novel comes off rather prim, typical of the films in Hollywood during the conservative 1950s. The story concentrates more on the inner conflict of the characters instead of lust and sex which the 1999 British remake unashamedly explored. The plot hinges on an unbelieving woman's sudden realization that God may exist after a shattering event makes her pray for her lover's life. The love affair between a self-centered, jealous American writer (Van Johnson) and the bored and occasionally promiscuous wife (Deborah Kerr) of a civil servant (Peter Cushing) plays out with the two leads displaying no passion - Johnson seems like a spoilt wilful boy while Kerr acts too arch and stagy. Cushing and John Mills - as the detective hired to follow the wayward wife - are more interesting than the two main characters. The story's bleak and maudlin Catholic guilt angle bogs the plot down. This version is faithful to the book's ending which was dramatically changed by Neil Jordan in his adaptation of the remake. That ending was criticised by many critics but I think it works because both Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore play out their affair at such a melodramatic fever pitch that the changes to the book's ending works perfectly. Guilt, Catholic or otherwise, seems more forceful when played to the gallery instead of quietly whining about it with hands folded praying to God for forgiveness which is how Kerr plays her scenes in complete contrast to Moore. In any case I could never imagine the lady-like Kerr as an adulterous wife and this is despite her roll in the surf with Burt Lancaster in "From Here to Eternity". Glad the remake got Graham Greene's story right.

The End of the Affair (Neil Jordan, 1999) 8/10

Exquisite adaptation of Graham Greene's novel is set in London during and after the Second World War. A story about obsession, jealousy and Catholic guilt revolving around a love triangle between a civil servant (Stephen Rea), his bored and lonely wife (Julianne Moore) and the writer (Ralph Fiennes) with whom she falls passionately in love. Fiennes and Moore create sexual sparks as their affair takes on a melodramatic turn during one split-second event that forever changes their lives. Moore gives a luminous performance as a woman at war with herself, torn between loyalty to God and desire for her lover. Fiennes basically repeats his role from "The English Patient", brooding, steely-eyed and in lust for another man's wife. Moore was nominated for an Oscar as was Roger Pratt's cinematography which perfectly captures a grim, rainy and depressing London along with delicately lit interiors which makes the three stars seem ethereal. Special mention to Ian Hart who plays a private detective who uses his profession to nervously nurture his interest in voyeurism.