Mannequin (1937) - 7.5/10 - Joan Crawford stars as a woman named Jessie who wants to escape from the slum where she has lived her whole life. She sees her mother toiling away for an ungrateful and lazy father and doesn't want the same life for herself. She marries a man that she thinks will get her away from that life, but it turns out that he is a cheap chiseler who lives off of her earnings and from scheme to scheme. Enter wealthy John L. Hennessey (Spencer Tracy) who is in love with her, even though she is already married. Jessie's husband sees this as an opportunity to get some of Hennessey's wealth for himself, but his plans go awry. I thought that Crawford was very good in this film. The plot itself isn't anything special, but Crawford sells it pretty well. Spencer Tracy isn't bad, but he's mainly there in support of Crawford who is the definite star of the film. Alan Curtis is decent as the chiseling husband, but his character seems to be pretty much of the one note variety.
Bullfighter and the Lady (1951) - 8/10 - American Johnny Regan becomes interested in bullfighting while attending a bullfight in Mexico, though he is really more interested in the attractive young woman that he sees there. He approaches Mexico's most loved bullfighter who agrees to train Johnny as a bullfighter. The movie uses real bullfighters in supporting roles and while I am no fan of bullfighting, the movie itself is pretty entertaining. It's a good drama and shows respect for the profession and for Mexico. UCLA restored the movie to the 124 minute length that the director intended rather than the 87 minute cut version that was actually released so that it would be under 90 minutes.
Guest Wife (1945) - 7.5/10 - Claudette Colbert stars as Mary Price, a woman who lives in a small town in Ohio with her husband Chris (Dick Foran), a banker. The two are about to embark on a second honeymoon when Chris's best friend Joe (Don Ameche) shows up. Joe is a popular journalist, but is in a bind since he told his boss that he is married and has to show up in New York with her to meet the boss. He 'borrows' Mary in what is supposed to be a quick session where she pretends to be his wife and then gets on with her honeymoon with Chris. Things do not go according to plan. I thought that Colbert and Ameche were both very good here. The movie has a number of predictable mixups, but it is still pretty funny and an entertaining hour and a half.
The Young in Heart (1938) - 7/10 - A family of con artists are getting too well known and are down on their luck. They befriend a lonely old woman on a train and are welcomed into her home. Their initial hope is to become her heirs when she passes away, but their feelings and behavior change as a result of their stay in her home and they come to love the old woman. This was Janet Gaynor's last starring role before she retired from the film industry, making only one other film nearly 20 years later. It's a decent film, though not anything really special.
Fourteen Hours (1951) - 7.5/10 - A young man (Richard Basehart) walks out on to the ledge of a 15th floor hotel room in New York City contemplating suicide. A traffic cop named Dunnigan (Paul Douglas) on the ground sees him and calls it in before rushing up to try and talk to the man and help him. The rest of the police and emergency team show up and send Dunnigan on his way, but the young man only wants to talk to Dunnigan so they bring him back. The young man's parents and girlfriend are located and have their opportunity to talk to him. We also get some time with a few of the people on the ground who spend the day watching his ordeal, but the stars of the show are Basehart and Douglas who each do an excellent job in their roles. This is a pretty decent film and is based on an article describing a similar situation in Manhattan in 1938.
The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938) - 5/10 - Bob Hope (in his feature length debut) serves as the emcee of a radio program aboard the SS Gigantic which is involved in a transatlantic race from New York to Cherburg with the SS Colossal. Hope's character starts out in jail for not paying alimony to his three ex-wives. WC Fields plays a couple of roles in the film as brothers whose company own the SS Gigantic. There are a number of entertainment acts in the film, but I didn't really find most of them to be very interesting. The movie is kind of a clunker, though it does have a few interesting scenes. Dorothy Lamour wasn't bad in the film. Martha Raye shows up to lighten things up a bit with her comedy.
Rhythm on the River (1940) - 7.5/10 - Bing Crosby stars as Bob Sommers, a man who ghostwrites songs a popular songwriter named Oliver Courtney (Basil Rathbone). Courtney also hires a woman named Cherry Lane (Mary Martin) to write the lyrics for his songs. Sommers and Lane run into each other a number of times and Lane doesn't like Sommers very much at first. Eventually, they fall in love with each other and form their own songwriting duo, but have trouble selling their songs since they are so similar to the ones they wrote for Courtney. Crosby and Martin are pretty good in the film and the music is decent. Rathbone is okay, but Oscar Levant is kind of wasted in his small role.
Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
The Island at the Top of the World (1974) - 6/10 - This is a fairly lame adventure movie that takes place in 1907. A wealthy British aristocrat finances a dirigible and hires an archeologist to accompany him on an expedition to the Arctic to search for his son who has been missing for two years. The special effects with the balloon flying aren't very convincing, though some of the other effects are better. There are a few interesting bits, but it is mostly pretty dull.
The Caddy (1953) - 7/10 - Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis are a popular comedy team and a journalist is trying to get an interview with them about how their career started. The story goes back to when Harvey Miller, Jr. (Lewis) is younger. Miller is the son of a golf champion and he is good at the game itself, but can't play in front of a crowd. Years later, he meets Joe Anthony, the brother of the woman Harvey is going to marry. The family needs money for a restaurant so Harvey gets the idea that Joe can play in the tournament with Harvey giving him tips and serving as his caddy. Many hijinx ensue. This is the first Martin/Lewis film that I've seen and I found Lewis's squeaky voice pretty annoying at first, but I got used to it. The movie had plenty of humor and was a decent comedy.
The Fight for Life (1940) - 6/10 - This movie seems to alternate between being a drama and a teaching film. O'Donnell is a medical intern at a maternity hospital who gets disturbed when he says a seemingly healthy woman die after giving birth. He transfers to a clinic that specializes in bringing obstetric care to poor women in the slums of Chicago. This gives O'Donnell plenty of practical experience and affords him the opportunity to learn under a skilled doctor. The movie has a good soundtrack which earned it an Academy Award nomination. It is an interesting film that i liked, even though it doesn't quite work all the time.
The Caddy (1953) - 7/10 - Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis are a popular comedy team and a journalist is trying to get an interview with them about how their career started. The story goes back to when Harvey Miller, Jr. (Lewis) is younger. Miller is the son of a golf champion and he is good at the game itself, but can't play in front of a crowd. Years later, he meets Joe Anthony, the brother of the woman Harvey is going to marry. The family needs money for a restaurant so Harvey gets the idea that Joe can play in the tournament with Harvey giving him tips and serving as his caddy. Many hijinx ensue. This is the first Martin/Lewis film that I've seen and I found Lewis's squeaky voice pretty annoying at first, but I got used to it. The movie had plenty of humor and was a decent comedy.
The Fight for Life (1940) - 6/10 - This movie seems to alternate between being a drama and a teaching film. O'Donnell is a medical intern at a maternity hospital who gets disturbed when he says a seemingly healthy woman die after giving birth. He transfers to a clinic that specializes in bringing obstetric care to poor women in the slums of Chicago. This gives O'Donnell plenty of practical experience and affords him the opportunity to learn under a skilled doctor. The movie has a good soundtrack which earned it an Academy Award nomination. It is an interesting film that i liked, even though it doesn't quite work all the time.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Pieces of a Woman (Kornél Mundruczó, 2020) 8/10
Mundruczó's sad haunting drama has echoes of John Cassavetes and Ingmar Bergman as his camera silently creeps up on the actors while they remain motionless and lost in their thoughts. A story about a woman's intense grief and her attempts to sort out the numbing tragedy that took the life of her newly born baby. The film's harrowing opening allows the audience to literally experience every moment of pain a woman (Vanessa Kirby) goes through while in the throes of childbirth. She is being helped through it by her loving construction-foreman partner (Shia LaBeouf) and a midwife at home as she goes through the painful process of delivering her baby. The camera observes and moves with them in an extraordinary long take as she is led from the lounge floor to the bathtub and onto the bed where she finally gives birth to a baby girl who dies soon after through lack of oxygen. Struck numb with grief she attempts to deal with her loss by carrying on with her daily life seemingly without any reaction. Her relationship with her distraught partner grows cold and she stands up to her opinionated and domineering mother (Ellen Burstyn) who insists she sues the midwife in court. Highly emotional film is graphic in its depiction of how tragedy can effect people in different ways. The film is buoyed by the extraordinary performances of both Kirby and Burstyn. The latter is devastating during a scene where she delivers an intense monologue while attempting to reach out to her angry daughter and tries to snap her out of her cold malaise. Gut-wrenching film has a tendency towards melodrama but the fine cast - LaBeouf is also very good - and a perceptive screenplay makes this well worth watching despite the depressing subject. Both Kirby and Burstyn are strong contendors to win Oscars for their sharply nuanced performances.
Mundruczó's sad haunting drama has echoes of John Cassavetes and Ingmar Bergman as his camera silently creeps up on the actors while they remain motionless and lost in their thoughts. A story about a woman's intense grief and her attempts to sort out the numbing tragedy that took the life of her newly born baby. The film's harrowing opening allows the audience to literally experience every moment of pain a woman (Vanessa Kirby) goes through while in the throes of childbirth. She is being helped through it by her loving construction-foreman partner (Shia LaBeouf) and a midwife at home as she goes through the painful process of delivering her baby. The camera observes and moves with them in an extraordinary long take as she is led from the lounge floor to the bathtub and onto the bed where she finally gives birth to a baby girl who dies soon after through lack of oxygen. Struck numb with grief she attempts to deal with her loss by carrying on with her daily life seemingly without any reaction. Her relationship with her distraught partner grows cold and she stands up to her opinionated and domineering mother (Ellen Burstyn) who insists she sues the midwife in court. Highly emotional film is graphic in its depiction of how tragedy can effect people in different ways. The film is buoyed by the extraordinary performances of both Kirby and Burstyn. The latter is devastating during a scene where she delivers an intense monologue while attempting to reach out to her angry daughter and tries to snap her out of her cold malaise. Gut-wrenching film has a tendency towards melodrama but the fine cast - LaBeouf is also very good - and a perceptive screenplay makes this well worth watching despite the depressing subject. Both Kirby and Burstyn are strong contendors to win Oscars for their sharply nuanced performances.
Last edited by Reza on Fri Jan 08, 2021 9:02 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
One Night in Miami... (Regina King, 2020) 5/10
Four black icons get together in a Miami motel room for a night of revelry to celebrate the triumph of one of them in the sports arena but end up with a lot of soul searching instead. Based on the play by Kemp Powers the film tries to open it up by showing at the start all four in their everyday vocations while struggling to overcome white cards stacked against them. However, the main act of the plot is basically set in one room as they discuss how they can use their celebrity status to punch up the Civil Rights Movement. It is 1964 and a swaggering Cassius Clay (Ed Goree) has just won a boxing bout against Sonny Liston and become the World Heavyweight Campion. He has been brought into the fold of Islam by Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Odir) just when the leader himself is thinking of leaving the Nation of Islam after being severely disillusioned by it's leader Elijah Muhammad. Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) has just come off a humiliating experience at the Copacabana where his singing is listlessly observed by the all-white crowd while NFL fullback Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), on the verge of a career shift towards Hollywood, hears fan adulation from a white neighbour (Beau Bridges) who also calmly shows his racist fangs. So the "imagined" evening (the four did met up in reality) in that room is quite supercharged as the four grapple with their fame and try to figure out their exact place and how each can bring about change during those troubled times. The screenplay also points towards the recent Black Lives Matter movement. Well acted and directed but the film does tend to drag quite a bit as the characters' relentless diatribe against "life" begins to grate on one's nerves.
The Guns of Navarone (J. Lee Thompson, 1961) 10/10
One of the great adventure films set during WWII with a group of Allied soldiers given an impossible mission to destroy two giant cannon guns on a Nazi occupied Greek island. Based on the novel by Alistair MacLean, the story is presented as an old fashioned thriller although one has to ignore the potholes in the plot and the simplistic view of the Nazis. The superb leads - suave Gregory Peck, a hammy Anthony Quinn and a witty David Niven - along with an equally wonderful supporting cast who play a knife-wielding engineer (Stanley Baker), the group's leader (Anthony Quayle), a Baby-faced killer (James Darren) and members of the resistance (Irene Papas & Gia Scala) - all of whom get memorable scenes that play to the gallery. The film has across-the-board wonderful production values with a memorable score by Dimitri Tiomkin and outstanding cinematography by the great Oswald Morris. Nominated for 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Thompson's direction and Carl Foreman's screenplay, the film won an Oscar for its special effects. A must-see.
Vincent, François, Paul et les autres (Claude Sautet, 1974) 8/10
The bourgeoisie once again come under close scrutiny in this mature drama by Claude Sautet. His screenplays almost always dealt with human melancholy with lives in crisis. His characters were often gregarious when in a group but deep down very lonely. Here we get to see three longtime friends go through various ups and downs in their lives as Sautet's camera captures them interacting with each other. Vincent (Yves Montand) is the most charming but he is facing bankruptcy, his much younger mistress (Ludmila Mikaël) leaves him, his wife (Stéphane Audran), whom he still loves, wants a divorce and his surrogate son (Gérard Depardieu), a young boxer with a pregnant girlfriend (Catherine Allégret), is in a flux about taking on an experienced boxer in the ring and facing a terrible beating. Paul (Serge Regianni) has a loyal wife (Antonella Lualdi) but is facing severe writer's block but hopes to write something while observing the young boxer. François (Michel Piccoli) has an unfaithful wife (Marie Dubois) and is a doctor who has lost his ideals and now works strictly for the money by treating the rich. All three men emotionally depend on each other in their time of crisis. Sautet keeps his great cast in a flurry of motion throughout as they desperately seek to resolve their various life issues. All three lead actors are superb with Depardieu, then at the start of his career, admirably holding his own opposite his much more famous and experienced co-stars.
Four black icons get together in a Miami motel room for a night of revelry to celebrate the triumph of one of them in the sports arena but end up with a lot of soul searching instead. Based on the play by Kemp Powers the film tries to open it up by showing at the start all four in their everyday vocations while struggling to overcome white cards stacked against them. However, the main act of the plot is basically set in one room as they discuss how they can use their celebrity status to punch up the Civil Rights Movement. It is 1964 and a swaggering Cassius Clay (Ed Goree) has just won a boxing bout against Sonny Liston and become the World Heavyweight Campion. He has been brought into the fold of Islam by Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Odir) just when the leader himself is thinking of leaving the Nation of Islam after being severely disillusioned by it's leader Elijah Muhammad. Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) has just come off a humiliating experience at the Copacabana where his singing is listlessly observed by the all-white crowd while NFL fullback Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), on the verge of a career shift towards Hollywood, hears fan adulation from a white neighbour (Beau Bridges) who also calmly shows his racist fangs. So the "imagined" evening (the four did met up in reality) in that room is quite supercharged as the four grapple with their fame and try to figure out their exact place and how each can bring about change during those troubled times. The screenplay also points towards the recent Black Lives Matter movement. Well acted and directed but the film does tend to drag quite a bit as the characters' relentless diatribe against "life" begins to grate on one's nerves.
The Guns of Navarone (J. Lee Thompson, 1961) 10/10
One of the great adventure films set during WWII with a group of Allied soldiers given an impossible mission to destroy two giant cannon guns on a Nazi occupied Greek island. Based on the novel by Alistair MacLean, the story is presented as an old fashioned thriller although one has to ignore the potholes in the plot and the simplistic view of the Nazis. The superb leads - suave Gregory Peck, a hammy Anthony Quinn and a witty David Niven - along with an equally wonderful supporting cast who play a knife-wielding engineer (Stanley Baker), the group's leader (Anthony Quayle), a Baby-faced killer (James Darren) and members of the resistance (Irene Papas & Gia Scala) - all of whom get memorable scenes that play to the gallery. The film has across-the-board wonderful production values with a memorable score by Dimitri Tiomkin and outstanding cinematography by the great Oswald Morris. Nominated for 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Thompson's direction and Carl Foreman's screenplay, the film won an Oscar for its special effects. A must-see.
Vincent, François, Paul et les autres (Claude Sautet, 1974) 8/10
The bourgeoisie once again come under close scrutiny in this mature drama by Claude Sautet. His screenplays almost always dealt with human melancholy with lives in crisis. His characters were often gregarious when in a group but deep down very lonely. Here we get to see three longtime friends go through various ups and downs in their lives as Sautet's camera captures them interacting with each other. Vincent (Yves Montand) is the most charming but he is facing bankruptcy, his much younger mistress (Ludmila Mikaël) leaves him, his wife (Stéphane Audran), whom he still loves, wants a divorce and his surrogate son (Gérard Depardieu), a young boxer with a pregnant girlfriend (Catherine Allégret), is in a flux about taking on an experienced boxer in the ring and facing a terrible beating. Paul (Serge Regianni) has a loyal wife (Antonella Lualdi) but is facing severe writer's block but hopes to write something while observing the young boxer. François (Michel Piccoli) has an unfaithful wife (Marie Dubois) and is a doctor who has lost his ideals and now works strictly for the money by treating the rich. All three men emotionally depend on each other in their time of crisis. Sautet keeps his great cast in a flurry of motion throughout as they desperately seek to resolve their various life issues. All three lead actors are superb with Depardieu, then at the start of his career, admirably holding his own opposite his much more famous and experienced co-stars.
Last edited by Reza on Fri Jan 08, 2021 9:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
The Deluge (1974) - 8.5/10 - This Polish epic is nearly 5 hours long, but it passes pretty quickly. It is essentially a romance/war film that centers on Colonel Andrzej Kmicic, a noble who is well respected as a soldier, but can also be pretty wild in his behavior, just like his men. The movie starts as he meets Olenka, a young noblewoman who is to wed Kmicic based on her grandfather's will. Kmicic's rough nature is established early with his eating habits and the debauchery that he and his men commit. Olenka is bothered by this and urges Kmicic to change his behavior. The Swedes invade the Poland/Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1655 and Kmicic is drawn into this fight, though he soon discovers that he may have committed himself to the wrong side. Sweden and Poland had a number of wars earlier in the 17th Century. The rulers of Sweden and Poland were related by blood and some of the Polish/Lithuanian nobles took the Swedish side. Kmicic's behavior and beliefs evolve over the course of the movie and he becomes more thoughtful and less crude. The battle scenes are very realistic and I think that this gives a good view of what life during that era may have been like, at least for nobles and soldiers. I've been reading a series of books that take place earlier in the 17th Century which include a Swedish invasion of Poland so I found the movie interesting for that reason as well. The movie may be long, but it is definitely worth viewing.
Ludwig (1973) - 7.5/10 - This biography of Ludwig II of Bavaria covers the time from his ascending to the throne in 1864 at age 18 through his death in 1886. Ludwig was a big fan of Richard Wagner and spent a lot of money supporting him. He also spent a lot of money building castles and didn't seem to have much interest in affairs of state. Ludwig seemed to love his cousin Elizabeth (later Empress of Austria) and was engaged to Elizabeth's younger sister, Sophie, but Ludwig also struggled with homosexual feelings which inhibited some of his social interactions. Ludwig's brother had mental issues and an inquest also questioned Ludwig's sanity and fitness for rule. The movie is about four hours long and does justice to the various strands and shows Ludwig becoming more unstable as time goes on. It was a good film.
Small Change (1976) - 8/10 - Francois Truffaut's film follows a number of children in Thiers, France during 1976. The two main kids are a boy named Patrick who lives with his wheelchair-bound father and his friend Julien who lives with abusive parents in a ramshackle home. Everyday experiences such as kids having their first kisses, sneaking into the movie theater, telling dirty jokes, getting a bad haircut, and so on are mixed in with a number of other experiences. There is a fair amount of time spent at school with their teachers as well. The film is charming and while much of the film is of the slice of life variety, it is pretty effective.
Ludwig (1973) - 7.5/10 - This biography of Ludwig II of Bavaria covers the time from his ascending to the throne in 1864 at age 18 through his death in 1886. Ludwig was a big fan of Richard Wagner and spent a lot of money supporting him. He also spent a lot of money building castles and didn't seem to have much interest in affairs of state. Ludwig seemed to love his cousin Elizabeth (later Empress of Austria) and was engaged to Elizabeth's younger sister, Sophie, but Ludwig also struggled with homosexual feelings which inhibited some of his social interactions. Ludwig's brother had mental issues and an inquest also questioned Ludwig's sanity and fitness for rule. The movie is about four hours long and does justice to the various strands and shows Ludwig becoming more unstable as time goes on. It was a good film.
Small Change (1976) - 8/10 - Francois Truffaut's film follows a number of children in Thiers, France during 1976. The two main kids are a boy named Patrick who lives with his wheelchair-bound father and his friend Julien who lives with abusive parents in a ramshackle home. Everyday experiences such as kids having their first kisses, sneaking into the movie theater, telling dirty jokes, getting a bad haircut, and so on are mixed in with a number of other experiences. There is a fair amount of time spent at school with their teachers as well. The film is charming and while much of the film is of the slice of life variety, it is pretty effective.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Children of Paradise (1945) - 10/10 - This French film features an excellent cast, great direction, a huge street set, and thousands of extras. The fact that it was filmed in Vichy France and completed after the Allies liberated France is amazing. The movie revolves around the Funambules theater and a number of men who fall in love with the beautiful Garance. Three of the men are actual historical figures - Frédérick Lemaître, a well respected actor - Baptiste Debureau, a popular mime who refined the modern version of Pierrot - François Lacenaire, a thief and murderer. The movie is in two parts with the second part taking place about seven years after the first part. The carnival and other street scenes were great and the acting was superb, including the supporting cast. I was especially impressed with the actor who portrayed Baptiste. The restored version of this is beautiful. The movie is highly recommended.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Minari (Lee Isaac Chung, 2020) 6/10
Highly acclaimed but rather overrated Korean drama is about a family trying to assimilate into a culture not their own. A stoic Korean-American (Steven Yuen), hell bent on trying to achieve the American dream, relocates his family during the 1980s from California to rural Arkansas. He moves them into a home on wheels on a piece of land he has purchased way out in the boondocks. He is distant from his wife (Yeri Han) who is appalled at the bare existence they have to face. They both continue working in the industrialized field of chicken farming where their job entails separating male and female chicks. In addition they plant Korean produce on their land. Their pre-teen daughter and young son (who has a heart condition) are more American than Korean in their outlook which comes to an amusing head when their old grandmother (an overrated Yuh-Jung Youn) arrives to live with them. A sly old lady who loves to cuss and watch Korean videos initially clashes with her grandson but they eventually form a bond. Nothing much happens in the film with the screenplay focusing more on their daily-life details and on the relationships between the characters including with an eccentric neighbour (Will Patton) with whom an eventual mutual understanding is reached. The film appears to have resonated strongly in the United States especially in wake of its continous clash between cultures and races. The positive message of the film seems to have awakened peoples' senses which in itself is shocking that it took so long to achieve in a country that had as its base many cultures and races coming together to inhabit the vast land.
Shadow in the Cloud (Roseanne Liang, 2020) 8/10
Sigourney Weaver....Charlize Theron....please step aside as there is a new kick-ass babe in town who even puts Vin Diesel, and especially Tom Cruise, to shame in the outlandish stunt department. Put your brain in neutral mode, and believe everything you see on screen as the real deal - hey, you did it endlessly while watching all the Marvel & DC crap - and get onto this roller coaster ride which is an insanely thrilling action-horror B-film. A WWII female pilot (Chloë Grace Moretz), with a bruised cheek and arm in sling, boards a B-17 Flying Fortress claiming to be on a special mission and guarding a highly classified leather case. The all-male crew of the plane harass her, subject her to vulgar and sexist jeers and dump her into the ball turret gunner's hatch on the underside of the plane where she remains locked alone through most of the journey. The shit hits the fan when a gremlin tries to break into her hatch just as Japanese planes also attack the plane. Liang uses the premise of Spielberg's "Twillight Zone" film and takes it onto another dimension as the crew is killed off by the gremlin and the bullets from the attacking planes. Moretz goes into intense battle mode against the bat-like gremlin and the trio of Japanese planes as she fights for her life while trying to reach the leather case which the gremlin has managed to get its hands on. The scene where she reaches for the case and tries to get into the main body of the aircraft as the ball turret hatch gets blown off by the enemy planes has to be seen to be believed. Using female empowerment as the screenplay's main ingredient the film takes great delight in showing us what the distaff sex can also achieve in action thrillers involving crazy greenscreen nonsense. In the midst of all the mayhem is the surprise of what that mysterious leather case holds which just happens to be yet another over-the-top moment this film has in store. Nerve-racking fun.
Une histoire simple / A Simple Story (Claude Sautet, 1978) 8/10
A middle-aged divorcée (Romy Schneider) has an abortion and breaks off with her abusive alcoholic lover (Claude Brasseur) and rekindles a relationship with her ex-husband (Bruno Cremar) who has a much younger mistress. Lovely film, shot almost like a memory piece, has at its center the glowing Romy Schneider who wafts through the film like a strong, yet etheral presence, interacting with close friends (Éva Darlan, Arlette Bonard), her mother (Madeleine Robinson) and the men in her life. Sautet deftly juggles his cast as they go through various mid-life crisis. Schneider won a César award for her lovely performance and this elegant film was nominated for an Academy Award.
Highly acclaimed but rather overrated Korean drama is about a family trying to assimilate into a culture not their own. A stoic Korean-American (Steven Yuen), hell bent on trying to achieve the American dream, relocates his family during the 1980s from California to rural Arkansas. He moves them into a home on wheels on a piece of land he has purchased way out in the boondocks. He is distant from his wife (Yeri Han) who is appalled at the bare existence they have to face. They both continue working in the industrialized field of chicken farming where their job entails separating male and female chicks. In addition they plant Korean produce on their land. Their pre-teen daughter and young son (who has a heart condition) are more American than Korean in their outlook which comes to an amusing head when their old grandmother (an overrated Yuh-Jung Youn) arrives to live with them. A sly old lady who loves to cuss and watch Korean videos initially clashes with her grandson but they eventually form a bond. Nothing much happens in the film with the screenplay focusing more on their daily-life details and on the relationships between the characters including with an eccentric neighbour (Will Patton) with whom an eventual mutual understanding is reached. The film appears to have resonated strongly in the United States especially in wake of its continous clash between cultures and races. The positive message of the film seems to have awakened peoples' senses which in itself is shocking that it took so long to achieve in a country that had as its base many cultures and races coming together to inhabit the vast land.
Shadow in the Cloud (Roseanne Liang, 2020) 8/10
Sigourney Weaver....Charlize Theron....please step aside as there is a new kick-ass babe in town who even puts Vin Diesel, and especially Tom Cruise, to shame in the outlandish stunt department. Put your brain in neutral mode, and believe everything you see on screen as the real deal - hey, you did it endlessly while watching all the Marvel & DC crap - and get onto this roller coaster ride which is an insanely thrilling action-horror B-film. A WWII female pilot (Chloë Grace Moretz), with a bruised cheek and arm in sling, boards a B-17 Flying Fortress claiming to be on a special mission and guarding a highly classified leather case. The all-male crew of the plane harass her, subject her to vulgar and sexist jeers and dump her into the ball turret gunner's hatch on the underside of the plane where she remains locked alone through most of the journey. The shit hits the fan when a gremlin tries to break into her hatch just as Japanese planes also attack the plane. Liang uses the premise of Spielberg's "Twillight Zone" film and takes it onto another dimension as the crew is killed off by the gremlin and the bullets from the attacking planes. Moretz goes into intense battle mode against the bat-like gremlin and the trio of Japanese planes as she fights for her life while trying to reach the leather case which the gremlin has managed to get its hands on. The scene where she reaches for the case and tries to get into the main body of the aircraft as the ball turret hatch gets blown off by the enemy planes has to be seen to be believed. Using female empowerment as the screenplay's main ingredient the film takes great delight in showing us what the distaff sex can also achieve in action thrillers involving crazy greenscreen nonsense. In the midst of all the mayhem is the surprise of what that mysterious leather case holds which just happens to be yet another over-the-top moment this film has in store. Nerve-racking fun.
Une histoire simple / A Simple Story (Claude Sautet, 1978) 8/10
A middle-aged divorcée (Romy Schneider) has an abortion and breaks off with her abusive alcoholic lover (Claude Brasseur) and rekindles a relationship with her ex-husband (Bruno Cremar) who has a much younger mistress. Lovely film, shot almost like a memory piece, has at its center the glowing Romy Schneider who wafts through the film like a strong, yet etheral presence, interacting with close friends (Éva Darlan, Arlette Bonard), her mother (Madeleine Robinson) and the men in her life. Sautet deftly juggles his cast as they go through various mid-life crisis. Schneider won a César award for her lovely performance and this elegant film was nominated for an Academy Award.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Frau im Mond (1929) - 8.5/10 - Fritz Lang directed this early science fiction film which is based on a novel written by his wife, Thea von Harbou. Thirty years earlier, a scientist predicted that gold was more common on the dark side of the moon than on Earth. He was laughed at by his peers, but is now approached by Wolf Helius, a man intent on building a space ship and traveling to the moon. The chief engineer for the project is engaged to the woman Wolf loves. Enter a villain who steals the plans and blackmails his way into joining the expedition. The special effects are somewhat primitive, but pretty effective for when they were made. The story is engaging and they get a fair amount of the science correct (not the part about an atmosphere on the dark side of the moon, obviously), including three stage rockets, building the rocket in a tall building and transporting it to the launch pad, and more. The restored version of this silent classic is over 2 hours and 40 minutes long and is definitely worth watching.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Darling Lili (1970) - 8/10 - Julie Andrews stars as Lili Smith, an English singer who is very popular with the troops during WWI. However, she is actually a spy for the Germans. She falls in love with Major Larrabee (Rock Hudson), a top American pilot. I enjoyed the film quite a bit. The singing was good and the action and comedy were good as well. There were a few decent flying scenes and the film has a nice supporting cast. Blake Edwards directed the film, but Paramount interfered quite a bit. I watched the director's cut that came out about 20 years later.
Because You're Mine (1952) - 6.5/10 - Mario Lanza stars as an accomplished opera singer who is drafted and is now a private in the army. It turns out that one of his sergeants is a fan of his and has a sister who sings. Lanza and the sister hit it off of course. Lanza is continuously getting special privileges due to his singing ability. This movie serves primarily as a vehicle for Lanza to sing and there are songs in abundance. The story itself is a bit weak, but is certainly watchable.
My Family (1995) - 7.5/10 - Edward James Olmos plays Paco, a writer who narrates the story of his family's history. His father, Jose, traveled from central Mexico to Los Angeles in 1926 to live with his great uncle after his parents died. After moving to Los Angeles, he fell in love and raised a family, though there were trials as well. Time skips ahead to the late 1950s where Paco's sister Irene is getting married and Paco's brother Chucho gets in trouble with the law. Time skips ahead another 20 years and focuses on Paco's younger brother Jimmy who is just getting out of prison. There are a lot of familiar names in the movie with Jimmy Smits, Jennifer Lopez, Esai Morales and others. I thought that it was a pretty good family drama.
Dodes'ka-den (1970) - 7.5/10 - The movie takes place in a small ramshackle community built around a trash heap. It starts with a mentally challenged young man who spends much of his day driving an imaginary trolley car along the paths through the area. He makes the sound dodeska-den while driving in imitation of the sound made by the wheels of the trolley car. Other residents include two alcoholics who are often swapping wives, a 16 year old girl who lives with her aunt and uncle, an elderly engraver who is kind and wise, a beggar and his young son who live in the shell of a rusted out car, and others. It was kind of a strange movie at first and took me a while to get into, but I think it is beautifully shot by Akira Kurosawa (his first color film) and gets more interesting as it goes along. The story of the beggar and his son is the most interesting of the interweaving tales, but they are all interesting in their own way.
Not as a Stranger (1955) - 5/10 - Robert Mitchum is miscast as Lucas Marsh, an arrogant, ambitious, and heartless, but talented medical student who is about to get kicked out of school for lack of funds. He decides to marry an older nurse (Olivia de Havilland) for her money so that he can continue his studies, even though he doesn't love her. His best friend is another medical student (Frank Sinatra). After graduating, Marsh becomes a doctor in a small town under the tutelage of an excellent, but aging doctor (Charles Bickford). Bickford is really good in the movie and de Havilland isn't bad, but the movie itself is pretty dull and neither Mitchum nor Sinatra are very convincing as medical students (they were each close to 40). Marsh is pretty unlikeable here, but Mitchum's acting sure didn't help things.
Because You're Mine (1952) - 6.5/10 - Mario Lanza stars as an accomplished opera singer who is drafted and is now a private in the army. It turns out that one of his sergeants is a fan of his and has a sister who sings. Lanza and the sister hit it off of course. Lanza is continuously getting special privileges due to his singing ability. This movie serves primarily as a vehicle for Lanza to sing and there are songs in abundance. The story itself is a bit weak, but is certainly watchable.
My Family (1995) - 7.5/10 - Edward James Olmos plays Paco, a writer who narrates the story of his family's history. His father, Jose, traveled from central Mexico to Los Angeles in 1926 to live with his great uncle after his parents died. After moving to Los Angeles, he fell in love and raised a family, though there were trials as well. Time skips ahead to the late 1950s where Paco's sister Irene is getting married and Paco's brother Chucho gets in trouble with the law. Time skips ahead another 20 years and focuses on Paco's younger brother Jimmy who is just getting out of prison. There are a lot of familiar names in the movie with Jimmy Smits, Jennifer Lopez, Esai Morales and others. I thought that it was a pretty good family drama.
Dodes'ka-den (1970) - 7.5/10 - The movie takes place in a small ramshackle community built around a trash heap. It starts with a mentally challenged young man who spends much of his day driving an imaginary trolley car along the paths through the area. He makes the sound dodeska-den while driving in imitation of the sound made by the wheels of the trolley car. Other residents include two alcoholics who are often swapping wives, a 16 year old girl who lives with her aunt and uncle, an elderly engraver who is kind and wise, a beggar and his young son who live in the shell of a rusted out car, and others. It was kind of a strange movie at first and took me a while to get into, but I think it is beautifully shot by Akira Kurosawa (his first color film) and gets more interesting as it goes along. The story of the beggar and his son is the most interesting of the interweaving tales, but they are all interesting in their own way.
Not as a Stranger (1955) - 5/10 - Robert Mitchum is miscast as Lucas Marsh, an arrogant, ambitious, and heartless, but talented medical student who is about to get kicked out of school for lack of funds. He decides to marry an older nurse (Olivia de Havilland) for her money so that he can continue his studies, even though he doesn't love her. His best friend is another medical student (Frank Sinatra). After graduating, Marsh becomes a doctor in a small town under the tutelage of an excellent, but aging doctor (Charles Bickford). Bickford is really good in the movie and de Havilland isn't bad, but the movie itself is pretty dull and neither Mitchum nor Sinatra are very convincing as medical students (they were each close to 40). Marsh is pretty unlikeable here, but Mitchum's acting sure didn't help things.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Nomadland (Chloé Zhao, 2020) 10/10
Chloé Zhao's extremely moving and lyrical film - almost like a documentary - is a loving ode to the nomadic way of life. A widow (Frances McDormand), with a strong independent personality, loses her job when the gypsum plant she works in shuts down. So she decides to sell her belongings, buy a van and go on the road across the country searching for work. Taking on small jobs in factories and small restaurants, cleaning toilets and sometimes finding a seasonal job at Amazon during the winter months she forges relationships along the way with other nomads. Zhao's perceptive and often hard-hitting screenplay touches on loneliness, the need for companionship, illness, despair and death, yet never once feels depressing. Friendships, however brief, are formed as she moves from place to place as the community at each location bond and look out for each other. McDormand's lovely performance is the strong backbone that drives the narrative. She is surrounded by a number of real-life nomads playing assorted roles with David Staithairn as another nomad who invites her to move in with him at his son's home. Joshua James Richards' stunning widescreen camerawork captures the often bleak but specatacular beauty of the American West (Nevada, South Dakota, Nebraska, Arizona and California) where the film was shot on location. Outstanding film is one of the year's best and won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell, 2020) 8/10
Fennell's film could easily fall in the psychotic-bitch-from-hell genre, but her protagonist is neither psychotic nor a bitch. Cassie (Carey Mulligan), a med-school dropout, is deeply troubled by something that happened in her past. She is a loner and spends most of her evenings cruising clubs, pretending to be drunk so "nice guys" can pick her up. She lets herself be lured to their homes and just when they are about to have their way with her she shows herself to be stone cold sober putting a wrench in their perceived promise of a sexual conquest. The film is a revenge fantasy - a strong one with an important message that brutally examines societal norms that allow "men to be men". A one-woman crusader takes up the cause to take revenge on the men who, during a drunken party years before, raped her inebriated friend and got away scott free. The young girl committed suicide and Cassie takes it upon herself to get retribution for her. Sweet-faced Mulligan, playing against type, uses her innocent persona to hide the terrible anguish she feels inside for what happened to her friend. Fennell's lacerating screenplay, in the guise of a revenge thriller, exposes patriarchal attitudes in society that doubt female victims yet are quick to forgive the "mistakes" of men. The film in many ways seems a lot like "Fatal Attraction" which also used an often hysterical and lurid plot to put forth a strong message about casual sex and how damaging it can sometimes be for the female sex. Entertaining film with a strong performance by Mulligan.
Chloé Zhao's extremely moving and lyrical film - almost like a documentary - is a loving ode to the nomadic way of life. A widow (Frances McDormand), with a strong independent personality, loses her job when the gypsum plant she works in shuts down. So she decides to sell her belongings, buy a van and go on the road across the country searching for work. Taking on small jobs in factories and small restaurants, cleaning toilets and sometimes finding a seasonal job at Amazon during the winter months she forges relationships along the way with other nomads. Zhao's perceptive and often hard-hitting screenplay touches on loneliness, the need for companionship, illness, despair and death, yet never once feels depressing. Friendships, however brief, are formed as she moves from place to place as the community at each location bond and look out for each other. McDormand's lovely performance is the strong backbone that drives the narrative. She is surrounded by a number of real-life nomads playing assorted roles with David Staithairn as another nomad who invites her to move in with him at his son's home. Joshua James Richards' stunning widescreen camerawork captures the often bleak but specatacular beauty of the American West (Nevada, South Dakota, Nebraska, Arizona and California) where the film was shot on location. Outstanding film is one of the year's best and won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell, 2020) 8/10
Fennell's film could easily fall in the psychotic-bitch-from-hell genre, but her protagonist is neither psychotic nor a bitch. Cassie (Carey Mulligan), a med-school dropout, is deeply troubled by something that happened in her past. She is a loner and spends most of her evenings cruising clubs, pretending to be drunk so "nice guys" can pick her up. She lets herself be lured to their homes and just when they are about to have their way with her she shows herself to be stone cold sober putting a wrench in their perceived promise of a sexual conquest. The film is a revenge fantasy - a strong one with an important message that brutally examines societal norms that allow "men to be men". A one-woman crusader takes up the cause to take revenge on the men who, during a drunken party years before, raped her inebriated friend and got away scott free. The young girl committed suicide and Cassie takes it upon herself to get retribution for her. Sweet-faced Mulligan, playing against type, uses her innocent persona to hide the terrible anguish she feels inside for what happened to her friend. Fennell's lacerating screenplay, in the guise of a revenge thriller, exposes patriarchal attitudes in society that doubt female victims yet are quick to forgive the "mistakes" of men. The film in many ways seems a lot like "Fatal Attraction" which also used an often hysterical and lurid plot to put forth a strong message about casual sex and how damaging it can sometimes be for the female sex. Entertaining film with a strong performance by Mulligan.
Last edited by Reza on Sat Jan 02, 2021 3:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
The Father (Florian Zeller, 2020) 10/10
Devastating look at dementia puts the audience in the same frame as a suffering patient who is gradually losing his mind. The screenplay, based on Zeller's play Le Pére, looks bluntly at aging and the ravages it can sometimes cause in a human being as well as the heartbreaking effect it has on close family members in contact with the patient. A proud Welshman (Anthony Hopkins), in total denial of his mental condition, gradually starts shifting into dementia. Angry and confused he rages at his daughter (Olivia Colman), her husband (Mark Gatiss), another visiting man (Rufus Sewell), an attractive nurse (Imogen Poots) and another caregiver (Olivia Williams) although none of these characters appear to be who they are as his mind tries desperately to recognise and understand his precarious situation. Zeller uses his camera and mise en scène to create, in subtle ways, a sense of confusion. Props in the apartment shift and there are slight changes which adds to the patient's confusion giving him the impression that he may not be in the apartment he thought he was. Hopkins gives a stunning performance as he tries to stay one step ahead of his mental condition, sometimes pretending he is not confused, only to fall into the trap his rapidly dwindling mind has set for him. He is matched every step of the way by the brilliant Olivia Colman as his concerned daughter. One of the year's best films and Hopkins, at the top of his game, deserves to win his second Oscar.
Devastating look at dementia puts the audience in the same frame as a suffering patient who is gradually losing his mind. The screenplay, based on Zeller's play Le Pére, looks bluntly at aging and the ravages it can sometimes cause in a human being as well as the heartbreaking effect it has on close family members in contact with the patient. A proud Welshman (Anthony Hopkins), in total denial of his mental condition, gradually starts shifting into dementia. Angry and confused he rages at his daughter (Olivia Colman), her husband (Mark Gatiss), another visiting man (Rufus Sewell), an attractive nurse (Imogen Poots) and another caregiver (Olivia Williams) although none of these characters appear to be who they are as his mind tries desperately to recognise and understand his precarious situation. Zeller uses his camera and mise en scène to create, in subtle ways, a sense of confusion. Props in the apartment shift and there are slight changes which adds to the patient's confusion giving him the impression that he may not be in the apartment he thought he was. Hopkins gives a stunning performance as he tries to stay one step ahead of his mental condition, sometimes pretending he is not confused, only to fall into the trap his rapidly dwindling mind has set for him. He is matched every step of the way by the brilliant Olivia Colman as his concerned daughter. One of the year's best films and Hopkins, at the top of his game, deserves to win his second Oscar.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Flame of Barbary Coast (1945) - 5/10 - John Wayne stars as Duke Fergus, a Montana cattleman who travels to San Francisco in 1905 to collect on a debt. He falls for a singer at a gambling establishment, but returns to Montana after losing all of his money. He decides to return to San Francisco and makes it big there. The movie was kind of lackluster and predictable, though I did like the earthquake scene.
The Hot Rock (1972) - 7/10 - Robert Redford stars as John Dortmunder, a man who is released from prison and almost immediately contacted by an old friend about a job to steal a precious gem from a museum exhibit. He gets involved in the caper and the group does a lot of prep work before pulling the job, though something goes wrong and one of them gets caught. After that, it is mostly attempts at recovering the fourth person and the gem. There are a lot of good scenes and it is an enjoyable enough film, though the performances at times seem a bit subdued, except for Zero Mostel who is pretty good as the father of one of the four men in on the job.
Bon Voyage! (1962) - 5/10 - Fred MacMurray stars as an annoying father of three from Terre Haute, Indiana who travels with his wife (Jane Wyman) and children (Tommy Kirk, Deborah Walley, and Kevin Corcoran) to Paris aboard the SS United States. The kids always seem to be getting into one thing after another with the youngest boy wandering off, the older boy chasing girls, and the daughter hanging out with a spoiled rich kid who just graduated from Yale. The mother is the least annoying member of the family. There are some good sights throughout the movie, but the plot is rather cliched and boring much of the time.
The Return of Martin Guerre (1982) - 8.5/10 - Martin Guerre was a French farmer in the 1500s. In the movie, he is an uninterested husband who has trouble performing with his wife. After a few years of marriage, he disappears one day. Many years later, Martin (Gérard Depardieu) returns home a changed man, much more gregarious than before. He had been a soldier for many years and had plenty of stories to tell. He is welcomed back by the villagers and things go well for a while until doubts are raised that he is actually an imposter. He is put on trial for identity theft and the villagers are about evenly split in believing he is the real Martin or a fake. I thought that the movie was very well acted and the sets and costuming seemed very realistic. I liked the Hollywood 'remake' Sommersby when it came out, but this is a lot better.
The Hot Rock (1972) - 7/10 - Robert Redford stars as John Dortmunder, a man who is released from prison and almost immediately contacted by an old friend about a job to steal a precious gem from a museum exhibit. He gets involved in the caper and the group does a lot of prep work before pulling the job, though something goes wrong and one of them gets caught. After that, it is mostly attempts at recovering the fourth person and the gem. There are a lot of good scenes and it is an enjoyable enough film, though the performances at times seem a bit subdued, except for Zero Mostel who is pretty good as the father of one of the four men in on the job.
Bon Voyage! (1962) - 5/10 - Fred MacMurray stars as an annoying father of three from Terre Haute, Indiana who travels with his wife (Jane Wyman) and children (Tommy Kirk, Deborah Walley, and Kevin Corcoran) to Paris aboard the SS United States. The kids always seem to be getting into one thing after another with the youngest boy wandering off, the older boy chasing girls, and the daughter hanging out with a spoiled rich kid who just graduated from Yale. The mother is the least annoying member of the family. There are some good sights throughout the movie, but the plot is rather cliched and boring much of the time.
The Return of Martin Guerre (1982) - 8.5/10 - Martin Guerre was a French farmer in the 1500s. In the movie, he is an uninterested husband who has trouble performing with his wife. After a few years of marriage, he disappears one day. Many years later, Martin (Gérard Depardieu) returns home a changed man, much more gregarious than before. He had been a soldier for many years and had plenty of stories to tell. He is welcomed back by the villagers and things go well for a while until doubts are raised that he is actually an imposter. He is put on trial for identity theft and the villagers are about evenly split in believing he is the real Martin or a fake. I thought that the movie was very well acted and the sets and costuming seemed very realistic. I liked the Hollywood 'remake' Sommersby when it came out, but this is a lot better.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Step Lively (1944) - 6.5/10 - This film is a musical version of the Broadway play "Room Service" which had been made into a movie six years earlier with the Marx Brothers, Lucille Ball and Ann Miller. This version stars Frank Sinatra as a playwright who arrives at the hotel room of producer Gordon Miller to try and find out what happened to the play and $1500 that he sent to Miller months before. Miller and his actors have been living on credit for some time at the hotel and have run up quite a bill. The manager wants to collect the money or kick them all out and Miller has to scramble to try and get his show opened. The parts with Miller (George Murphy) are pretty much always over the top, especially the ones with the hotel manager (Adolphe Menjou). There is also a romance between Sinatra's character and Miller's lead actress/singer (Gloria DeHaven). Overall, it was a decent film, though the farce felt kind of forced at times. The film mainly seems to be a way to let Sinatra and company perform.
Thank God It's Friday (1978) - 6/10 - It's Friday night and there is a dance contest at the local disco plus The Commodores are scheduled to make an appearance and play. The movie follows a number of the people who head to the disco, including two teenage girls looking to get in on the dance contest, a married couple celebrating their anniversary, an aspiring singer who wants to get an opportunity to sing (Donna Summer), and a number of others. The movie has a decent cast with Jeff Goldblum, Debra Winger, and Donna Summer probably the best known, but the story is kind of lame. The movie does have a nice soundtrack and gives a little bit of a look at the disco era at its height.
Thank God It's Friday (1978) - 6/10 - It's Friday night and there is a dance contest at the local disco plus The Commodores are scheduled to make an appearance and play. The movie follows a number of the people who head to the disco, including two teenage girls looking to get in on the dance contest, a married couple celebrating their anniversary, an aspiring singer who wants to get an opportunity to sing (Donna Summer), and a number of others. The movie has a decent cast with Jeff Goldblum, Debra Winger, and Donna Summer probably the best known, but the story is kind of lame. The movie does have a nice soundtrack and gives a little bit of a look at the disco era at its height.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Wonder Woman 1984 (Patty Jenkins, 2020) 2/10
The film's fantastic prologue, set on the legendary island of Themyscira, has the child Diana compete with adults in a daunting competition, an exhilarating sequence that unfortunately segues into America of 1984. The adult Diana, played by the beautiful but incredibly wooden Gal Gadot, is a demure archaeologist working for the Smithsonian museum who is also the mysterious "Wonder Woman" who comes to the rescue of people in distress using her golden lasso which she uses to fly through the air and capture criminals. The plot kicks in with the discovery of an ancient relic that has the power to grant wishes and soon a megalomaniac oil entrepreneur (Pedro Pascal) gets his hands on it and wishes to be turned into the stone. Aiding her against the madman is an equally wooden Chris Pine as her old airman lover who died in the first film but has been mysteriously raised again - wood knocking against wood - and appears in the body of an existing human. And then there is her klutzy, envious colleague (Kristen Wiig) who transforms into a super-sexy siren and the villain Cheetah. There are the usual CGI infested action sequences â la the other DC films, sadly none of which are exciting or interesting. This overwrought film was released simultaneously in cinemas and on HBO Max which, judging by it's pathetic content, seems like the old days when crappy films went straight to video without a cinema release. And did I mention that Gadot and Pine have zero screen chemistry? Oh yes, I did mention the knocking of wood. The film gets 2 points for the prologue sequence and for Gadot's white slinky dress. Skip this very boring film.
The film's fantastic prologue, set on the legendary island of Themyscira, has the child Diana compete with adults in a daunting competition, an exhilarating sequence that unfortunately segues into America of 1984. The adult Diana, played by the beautiful but incredibly wooden Gal Gadot, is a demure archaeologist working for the Smithsonian museum who is also the mysterious "Wonder Woman" who comes to the rescue of people in distress using her golden lasso which she uses to fly through the air and capture criminals. The plot kicks in with the discovery of an ancient relic that has the power to grant wishes and soon a megalomaniac oil entrepreneur (Pedro Pascal) gets his hands on it and wishes to be turned into the stone. Aiding her against the madman is an equally wooden Chris Pine as her old airman lover who died in the first film but has been mysteriously raised again - wood knocking against wood - and appears in the body of an existing human. And then there is her klutzy, envious colleague (Kristen Wiig) who transforms into a super-sexy siren and the villain Cheetah. There are the usual CGI infested action sequences â la the other DC films, sadly none of which are exciting or interesting. This overwrought film was released simultaneously in cinemas and on HBO Max which, judging by it's pathetic content, seems like the old days when crappy films went straight to video without a cinema release. And did I mention that Gadot and Pine have zero screen chemistry? Oh yes, I did mention the knocking of wood. The film gets 2 points for the prologue sequence and for Gadot's white slinky dress. Skip this very boring film.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Jacob the Liar (1975) - 8.5/10 - Jakob Heym lives in a Jewish ghetto in Poland near the end of WWII. He overhears a radio broadcast while in the local police station just before curfew that states that the Russians are in a city not very far from the ghetto. When he tells others the news, they don't believe him until he lies and says that he has a hidden radio. This leads to many complications as word spreads and people want more news. I thought that this East German Holocaust comedy/drama was very well done. People have increased hope as he tells them the news about the Russians, but false hope can only help to a point. I think this version is much better than the later Hollywood remake with Robin Williams.
The Young Girls of Wilko (1979) - 7/10 - Wiktor Ruben returns to his old hometown of Wilko for the funeral of a friend and decides to stay and visit his aunt and uncle for a while. He hadn't been back in 15 years since leaving to fight in the first world war. He also stops by the home where he tutored a family of girls, but finds that the one he was closest with is long dead and somewhat forgotten. He finds that the rest of the girls are now all grown up and have changed in many ways, not necessarily for the better. The movie is a bit slow at times, but is a decent film. The movie seems to be a bit of a meditation on the changes that time brings, especially if one revisits people or things from their youth.
The Young Girls of Wilko (1979) - 7/10 - Wiktor Ruben returns to his old hometown of Wilko for the funeral of a friend and decides to stay and visit his aunt and uncle for a while. He hadn't been back in 15 years since leaving to fight in the first world war. He also stops by the home where he tutored a family of girls, but finds that the one he was closest with is long dead and somewhat forgotten. He finds that the rest of the girls are now all grown up and have changed in many ways, not necessarily for the better. The movie is a bit slow at times, but is a decent film. The movie seems to be a bit of a meditation on the changes that time brings, especially if one revisits people or things from their youth.