Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

Lou (Anna Foerster, 2022) 5/10

A suicidal old woman (Allison Janney) with a mysterious past teams up with her tenant (Jurnee Smollett) next door to track the man who has kidnapped the younger woman's daughter. Not helping things is the storm that blows in. Action-packed thriller has a cynical Janney in full on kick-ass mode and while the film has a couple of good action set pieces it overall smells of stale deja vu. The spectacular Vancouver location - a thick wooded forest that segues into a raging ocean - is a major plus.

Jogi (Ali Abbas Zafar, 2022) 8/10

Gripping film looks at the horrific aftermath of Operation Blue Star in 1984. The Indian government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, beseiged and attacked the Golden Temple in Amritsar - the holiest shrine of Sikhism - in order to capture and kill Sikh separatists holed up inside. In retaliation the PM was assassinated by her two Sikh bodyguards which led to a bloodbath in Delhi and many parts of the country as Hindus attacked Sikh neighborhoods and killed innocent men, women and children. The screenplay here is a plea for religious tolerance - a direct look towards Nazi-like elements within the current Indian government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Three college friends of different faiths unite when Delhi is set ablaze. Jogi (Diljit Dosanjh), a Sikh, tries to save his family and neighbors from slaughter with the help of his friends - a Hindu cop (Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub) and a Muslim friend. In sharp contrast is an Indian politician (Kumud Mishra) who hires goons to wipe out Sikhs, especially ones who are political rivals, so that he can win a seat in the upcoming election. It is also indicated in the screenplay that direct orders are conveyed from the top brass in the government to police stations to ensure that Sikhs are massacred. The suspense-filled first half of the film has the trio help escape a number of Sikh families by hiding them in a truck and driving cross country into the Punjab province. The second half devolves into an emotional melodrama involving Jogi recalling a doomed romance from his past, bitter revenge by an old Hindu friend who is now a cop out to catch him, and the cruel machinations of the evil politician who plans to burn every member of Jogi's family. The scenes of violence against the Sikhs are vividly recreated as men and women are set ablaze and their homes burnt. Diljit Dosangh is superb as the happy-go-lucky young man who finds the world around him and his family crumbling. One of many memorable moments in the film is where Jogi removes his turban and cuts his long hair staring at his reflection in a pool of water as tears stream down his cheeks.

A Thursday (Behzad Kambata, 2022) 8/10

Charming much-loved playschool teacher (Yami Gautam) suddenly and cold-bloodedly takes 16 children hostage and comes up with outrageous demands involving a huge sum of money and a face-to-face meeting with the Prime Minister of India (Dimple Kapadia). Trying desperately to save the children and deal with the frantic parents and the media are a cop (Atul Kulkarni) and his former lover and present pregnant boss (Neha Dhupia). When a child is killed on camera the investigation uncovers a very old connection between the cop and the woman leading to an exposé involving a troubling social issue involving women in India. Melodramatic thriller has an important subject to deal with and is gripping throughout. Strong performances by all three leads along with a memorable climax involving Dimple Kapadia who, giving off an aura of Indira Gandhi, is quietly superb. Wonderful background score underlines the suspense filled plot.

Ek Villain Returns (Mohit Suri, 2022) 1/10

Shoddy film involves lots of inane posturing by Arjun Kapoor, stiff acting by John Abraham, excessive pouting (and skimpy outfits) by Disha Patani & Tara Sutaria and lots of frantic action set pieces. Stale plot is absurd and the cast should be ashamed of themselves for being associated with such crap.

Sir Arne's Treasure (1919) - 8.5/10 - Three Scottish mercenaries are being held in a Swedish prison. After they escape, they end up murdering Sir Arne and all those with him, except for one young woman. They steal his treasure and start looking to book passage back to Scotland. Things get more complicated when the surviving woman and one of the mercenaries fall for each other later in the winter. I thought this was well acted and also well shot.

Häxan (1922) - 8.5/10 - This "documentary" on witchcraft during the middle ages has plenty of humor and is also interesting in the way it ties the witchcraft of the past to present day issues.

The Golden Chance (1915) - 8/10 - Mary is the daughter of a respectable judge, but she made a bad decision and married a petty thief with a penchant for alcohol. She takes a day job as a seamstress to try and help make ends meet and her employer hires her to woo a potential client and they really fall for each other. The film could have been fleshed out a bit more, but I thought it was well acted and pretty entertaining as is.

Soy Cuba (1964) - 8/10 - The film takes place around the time of the Cuban Revolution in the late 1950s. Sure it's propaganda, but it's well made propaganda

I Came By (Babak Anvari, 2022) 6/10

Not quite Hitchcock although this film too subverts expectations like in "Psycho" where we wonder who the film's hero will be. Two friends - the hysterical tantrum-throwing juvenile (George MacKay) and his mature accomplice (Percelle Ascott) - enjoy breaking into rich peoples' homes and painting their wall with the graffiti "I Came By". When the latter's girlfriend gets pregnant he decides to stick to the straight and narrow. Angry at the world, his life and concerned mother (Kelly Macdonald) the former breaks into the house of a retired judge (Hugh Bonneville) and discovers something sinister in the basement. Bonneville, cast against type, plays the psycho-from-hell with "daddy issues" who because of his position in society gets a clean chit from the police despite attempts by the boy and his mother to implicate him for his nefarious deeds. The giddy hand-held camera is a nuisance one has to overcome along with the often flacid pacing - one is surprised to discover that the events take place over years instead of a few short days. Bonneville is the whole show here and nails the part with his facial tics displaying a haughty malevolence.

The Sin of Nora Moran (Phil Goldstone, 1933) 6/10

Pre-code melodrama about a woman condemned to die by the electric chair for a murder she did not commit is also a plea against capital punishment. Nothing new here in terms of plot but the screenplay breathes life through the presentation. Via flashbacks upon flashbacks her tragic story is related by various characters - mistreated woman (Zita Johann) works in a circus from where she becomes a chorus girl who falls in love with a married man (Paul Cavanagh). Blissful moments don't last as she is arrested for murder and refuses to defend herself - she is to be rescued from her planned sacrifice which sadly does not happen. Obscure little film made headlines more for its spectacular art-deco poster designed by the Peruvian artist Alberto Vargas, who was working in the United States and later became known for his images of the "Vargas Girls".

Cuttputlli (Ranjit M. Tewari, 2022) 6/10

Second recent psychological thriller from Bollywood (the other is "Hit: The First Case"), a remake of a South Indian film, that received scathing reviews. The truth is that both films are fairly riveting but are let down at the end. This one stumbles a bit setting up the protagonist - an aspiring filmmaker with an obsession about serial killers who becomes a cop (Akshay Kumar). And lo and behold finds himself in the midst of a spate of killings. Young school girls are being abducted and gruesomely murdered and the killer leaves a doll's severed head with its face cut up in a box at the girl's house. At first nobody believes the cop about his serial killer theories but after the third dead body a desperate search begins. There are red herrings galore. The film works during the scenes of the police procedural with Akshay giving an intense performance. The romantic interlude with a school teacher (Rakul Preet Singh) comes in the way of the plot - there is even a song thrown into the fray - although her child is a clear hint that it will be an intended victim at the end. Weirdly the film comes to an almost abrupt end as the motive of the killer is explained as if in fast forward followed by the chase and fight sequence shot completely in the dark. It's hard to see who is doing what and to whom. What a strange way to shoot the last 15 minutes of the film - almost as if the filmmakers were trying to hide something. The film's entire outdoor sequences were filmed in the Indian state of Uttarakhand - in the hill stations of Mussoorie and Dehradun - but weirdly almost all the closeups of the homes and schools were shot in Derbyshire, Luton, Chesterfield in England.

Prey (Dan Trachtenberg, 2022) 8/10

Fifth installment and a prequel to the "Predator" franchise set 300 years ago amongst the Comanche tribe. Instead of Schwarzenegger and other beefcakes that followed in the sequels we have a young Comanche girl (Amber Midthunder) who ends up protecting her tribe against a vicious humanoid alien dropped on earth by a spaceship. It is also a coming-of-age story of a young warrior who not only has to prove herself to the males in her tribe but ends up battling for her life with both the alien and the the voyageurs - French-Canadian fur trappers - who are gradually slaughtering the bison. As with all the other films in the franchise its the action sequences that remain memorable. Superbly shot film should be seen on the biggest screen possible as the warrior faces bone crunching mayhem - chopped body parts galore - at the hands of the relentless alien as the screenplay slowly builds up tension before the exciting battle at the end. Midthunder makes a kick-ass heroine.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015) - 8.5/10 - Greg is an awkward high school senior who tries to avoid attention and secretly makes movies with his only friend, Earl. Greg's mother forces him to spend time with a classmate named Rachel who has recently been diagnosed with cancer. They become friends and this friendship becomes the focus for the rest of his senior year. The movie is kind of quirky and both fun and sad at times. I liked the three leads and the supporting cast.

When the Clouds Roll By (1919) - 8/10 - Douglas Fairbanks plays a superstitious New Yorker who becomes the victim of a manipulative and crazy psychiatrist. He also meets a young woman that he falls in love with during this time. There is some inventive imagery in the dream sequences and plenty of humor in an entertaining film.

Male and Female (1919) - 8/10 - A wealthy family is shipwrecked on an island in the Pacific with their butler and a maid. However, they soon learn that they can't boss the butler around so easily under these conditions. Gloria Swanson plays a spoiled daughter who undergoes a big change during their stay on the island. I liked this one quite a bit.

Pyaasa (1957) - 8.5/10 - Vijay is a poet who has had no success getting his poems published and his brothers even sell some of them as waste paper. He is very poor and struggling. Things turn around somewhat when he becomes acquainted with a kind prostitute who has read his poems. It's a nice romance/drama and the singing of the poems works well within the context of the film.

The Child of Paris / L'enfant de Paris (1913) - 9/10 - Marie-Laure's father is a French army captain. When he goes missing and her mother dies, the little girl ends up in a boarding school where she has a tough time. She runs away and ends up in the hands of Parisian criminals. These criminals see her as a payday when the father returns to France. I thought this was very well acted with a good story and was filmed very well. It seems like a film ahead of its time.

The Dragon Painter (1919) - 8/10 - A famous painter is looking for a successor, but is having no luck in that regard. Finally, a worthy successor is found in the form of a man living in the mountains who seems half crazy, but paints beautifully. His inspiration is his lost fiancee who has been turned into a dragon and has been sleeping under the earth for 1000 years. The exterior shots are beautiful and I liked the sets as well. I also thought the acting and story were good.

Tih Minh (1918) - 8.5/10 - This spy serial looks great after its recent restoration. I found it very entertaining with its action and intrigue along with shootouts, kidnappings, hypnosis, and much more. Placide was my favorite character with his occasional comic relief along with his ingenuity.

I also watched the Fatty Arbuckle/Buster Keaton shorts. Most were fairly mediocre with a few good gags/stunts mixed in. My favorites were Back Stage, Coney Island, and The Garage.

Action of the Tiger (Terence Young, 1957) 4/10

French heiress (Martine Carol) seeks help from a seedy soldier of fortune (Van Johnson) to take her to communist Albania to rescue her brother who is a political prisoner. Silly B-film has the duo ending up trekking through the countryside (film was shot in Spain) with a half dozen refugee kids as they are pursued by local goons. Sean Connery appears briefly as a drunk lothario who forces himself onto Carol. Van Johnson has a pained expression throughout probably knowing he was stuck in a lousy film. Gustavo Rojo plays Carol's blind brother while Helen Haye is feisty as a sympathetic matron who helps in the escape.

The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright (Murray Grigor, 1983) 9/10

Fascinating austere look at a genius and his architectural marvels along with glimpses of his life. Narrated by his granddaughter - the Oscar-winning actress Anne Baxter.

The Deerslayer (Kurt Neumann, 1957) 4/10

The classic James Fenimore Cooper book gets a sort of B-movie adaptation with this film. Frontiersman Deerslayer (Lex Barker) and his Mohican blood brother Chingachgook (Carlos Rivas) discover that a Huron war party is getting ready for battle. They run across a trader (Forrest Tucker) who tells them he is delivering goods to an old man (Jay C. Flippen) who lives on a boat in the middle of the lake with his two very different looking daughters - one dark skinned (Rita Moreno) and the fair one (Cathy O'Donnell) who loves the trader. Various skirmishes take place between them and the Indians who attack. The secret of why the Indians are on a warpath lies with the old man who is harboring a secret. By-the-numbers, low budget Western moves fairly swiftly but the screenplay omits some of the darker aspects of the novel with a number of changes. Barker is wooden throughout.

The Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives (Uttam Domale, 2022) - Season 2 7/10

Or lifestyles of the rich and famous.....in India. Ofcourse its totally frivolous and silly and manages to avoid every part of Bombay - "Mumbai" sounds very downmarket - that the great movie star Nargis saw and abhorred as shown in the films of Satyajit Ray. So we don't get any glimpse of poverty....no chawls, no starving people living in shanty towns within the metropolis of Bombay. The constant bitchy chatter between these four Bollywood wives - married to four B-grade actors; although one lady got divorced in between seasons - begins to grate until one of them says something outrageously wicked. Its a guilty pleasure watch (I binged) although this time around I found many of the brief shots of the city fascinating - the filmmakers shoot Bombay in a way that it looks like Singapore, New York, KL - all jazzed up images making the city, its bars, hotels and restaurants look as if the majority of the Bombay inhabitants resemble the title folks and their friends and colleagues as we get to see them mingle with a very savvy Gauri Khan (one episode is totally devoted to promote her furniture business), the singer Baadshah, Karan Johar (in every episode), Manish Malhotra, Neena Gupta, Malaika Arora, Shweta Bachchan, Jackie Shroff, Arjun Kapoor, Farah Khan and two of the upcoming star kids - Ananya Panday & Shanaya Kapoor. The best bit - episode 8 - has Ranveer Singh and is a riot. It was fun looking at the architecture of the buildings in Bombay, the interior design of the star homes, the furniture, the crockery and glasses and some of the outrageous outfits the rich wear. There is also a travelogue through Rajasthan as the foursome take a holiday and we get a convenient advertisement of a resort and India's flaura and fauna. The series also discusses "important" life-changes like menopause, facial tweeks with botox and fillers, friendship issues and rivalries, career, divorce and the need to reinvent oneself. How much of the show is improvised and how much is scripted is anybody's guess but the four leading ladies sure know how to shed tears on cue. The screenplay is certainly no Shakespeare as one lady, after getting an orgasmic rise in the presence of Ranveer Singh, intones "It was a blitz of these teenage hormones which were in a graveyard in my body for quite some time and they fucking emerged and blew up and....yeah". But yeah, it was a fun watch.

Hit: The First Case (Sailesh Kolanu, 2022) 8/10

Riveting whodunit follows a homicide cop (Rajkumar Rao), suffering from accute PTSD, who while investigating the case of a missing person almost cracks up under stress. He is forcibly sent on vacation but during his absence from the force a girl goes missing which is closely followed by the mysterious disappearance of his colleague and girlfriend (Sanya Malhotra) as well. He returns to investigate the two cases with his faithful partner. The taut screenplay keeps you guessing right till the end but the denouement seems tacked on and does not flow seamlessly. Rao is superb and has great chemistry with Malhotra and there are good performances by Shilpa Shukla as a suspect and Dalip Tahil as the Inspector of Police.

La loi / La legge / The Law / Where the Hot Wind Blows (Jules Dassin, 1959) 6/10

With Gina Lollobrigida it was always going to be about the bosom and her hips and how she uses them to pull the wool over the eyes of randy men. Ofcourse there was more to her than just that but those traits were what audiences enjoyed through most of her films during the 1950s and 1960s. She leads an all-star cast here for blacklisted director Jules Dassin - from Roger Vailland’s Goncourt Award winning novel - set in a small Italian town in the South. A sexy teenage maid (Gina Lollobrigida - who is nowhere near her teen years) works for the crusty local padrone (Pierre Brasseur). All the men in town are transfixed with her heaving bosom but she has eyes only for a poor engineer (Marcello Mastroianni), recently arrived to drain the malaria-ridden local swamp. The town hood (Yves Montand) also has his eyes on her while the frustrated wife (Melina Mercouri) of the local judge covets the hood's young son. Steamy cast gets to camp it up, sing boistrous songs, play a sadistic local game - "the law" - which shows who's the boss, while Gina plays cat-and-mouse as Montand attempts to rape her - a sharp knife deflects and wounds. It's all rather exhausting by the end, gorgeously shot by Otello Martelli, and you leave with only images of Gina dancing in your head. Surprisingly Melina Mercouri (Dassin's lover) gets overshadowed by Lolobrigida although she gets to play her big moment at the end.

By the Law (1926) - 8/10 - Five people are searching for gold in the Yukon. However, one of them is made to do a lot of the dirty work while also getting picked on by the rest. Then one day he snaps.

Destiny (1921) - 8/10 - Death takes away a woman's fiance and gives her three chances to win the fiance back from his grasp. Visually it is pretty well done.

He Who Gets Slapped (1924) - 8.5/10 - Lon Chaney is excellent as a man whose accomplishments and woman are stolen from him by his mentor. In his sorrow, he becomes a clown that specializes in getting slapped by other clowns in order to make the crowd laugh. He becomes fond of a new member of the circus (Norma Shearer), but the man who betrayed him sets his sights on her as well.

Show People (1928) - 8/10 - Marion Davies stars as a woman who becomes a star in comedy pictures, but really wants to do drama. When she gets her chance, she forgets the good times she had and essentially becomes a whole new person. Davies is pretty funny here, though I liked the first half with the comedy segments more than the second half, though she is good in both. William Haines co-stars as the actor who got her into the comedy pictures. There are lots of cameos, including Charlie Chaplin, King Vidor, and even Marion Davies.

Stachka / Strike (1925) - 8/10 - Workers at a Russian factory in 1903 decide to go on strike. Things seem to be going their way at first and they issue a number of demands to the bosses. However, the bosses have ideas of their own. There are some really nice shots here and good uses of crowd scenes.

Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) - 8.5/10 - Louise Brooks stars as a young woman named Thymian who is raped by her father's assistant. When she refuses to marry the man, her father sends her off to a strict reform school for wayward girls. Life there is unpleasant, but she is able to escape with a friend. Brooks does a fine job in her role. Thymian undergoes a series of unpleasant experiences, but is able to grow from the naive young woman that she started as into a mature and generous person as she gains more control over her life.

Lucky Star (1929) - 8.5/10 - Janet Gaynor stars as Mary, a teenage farm girl who writes to Tim (Charles Farrell), a man in her town who gets drafted and sent to fight in WWI. He returns home without the use of his legs and she visits him regularly with the two falling for each other. Mary's mother prefers a slick talking former sergeant to a 'cripple'. Gaynor and Farrell are each really good and I liked this one about as much as 7th Heaven.

The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) - 8/10 - The earliest surviving animated feature uses a silhouette technique that is pretty cool and effective. The film itself is a mix of stories from Arabian Nights combined into a story that is pretty good.

The Phantom Carriage (1921) - 8/10 - There is a legend that if a great sinner dies late on New Year's Eve, they will be responsible for driving Death's chariot to collect the souls of the dead for the next year. David Holm is one such sinner and we learn much of his story through flashback on New Year's Eve. There are some nice camera tricks here, but also a fairly involved and entertaining story.

The Man Who Laughs (1928) - 8/10 - In 1690, a young boy has his face permanently disfigured into a smile because of an order from the king. He is later abandoned by those who did the deed and is raised by a man with a small traveling circus act. The boy becomes a well known clown when he grows up, though has plenty of sadness due to how people react to his looks. Conrad Veidt is very good as Gwynplaine and I can definitely see how his likeness was an inspiration for the Joker.

J'Accuse (1919) - 8.5/10 - Jean loves his neighbor Edith. Edith happens to be married to Francois and she cares for both men. When the world war starts, the two men join the army with Francois ending up a sergeant and Jean a lieutenant in the same unit. The two men are antagonistic toward each other at first and I liked how the relationship between the two men developed over time. The film shows some fighting, but is more about the relationship between the two men and Edith along with showing some of the suffering that happens during wartime. Romuald Joubé was particularly good as Jean and Abel Gance did a very nice job directing the film.

Pillow to Post (Vincent Sherman, 1945) 5/10

Screwball fluff has a traveling salesgirl (Ida Lupino) forced to pretend she is married to an Army lieutenant (William Prince) so she can stay in an army apartment during the wartime housing shortage. Lupino's only comic role has her butting head with the officer in typical frantic screwball style as they try and pull the wool over the eyes of the base commander (Sydney Greenstreet). Silly film has a few laughs with its highlight being a nightclub sequence with Dorothy Dandridge singing "Watcha Say?" and accompanied by Louis Armstrong and his orchestra.

Blood Red Sky (Peter Thorwarth, 2021) 7/10

At first there were terrorists on a plane. Even snakes found themselves on a plane in a campy B-movie once upon a time. Here we have vampires AND terrorists creating havoc on a plane. A widow, who appears to suffer from leukemia, and her young son board a plane to New York where she hopes to get treatment from a doctor. The plane is hijacked by a group of men and via flashbacks the truth about the widow is unleashed leading to a bloodbath. Exciting entry in the vampire genre has gory scenes galore with multiple stabbings - in the eye and on the body - shootings, biting, and lots of gushing blood. Is there also a message buried under all that blood? Frankly nobody cares as long as the screenplay ticks off each familiar beat in the genre while taking the audience on a rollercoaster ride through hell.

Gandhi (Richard Attenborough, 1982) 8/10

Sweeping epic was a passion project of Attenborough which he finally brought to the screen to great critical acclaim after a 20-year struggle. The film - especially "exotic" India - became quite a juggernaut at the time with almost back-to-back big and small screen projects about the country all of which were highly acclaimed - Merchant-Ivory's "Heat and Dust", "The Jewel in the Crown", "The Far Pavillions" and David Lean's "A Passage to India". This film took on the scope of a David Lean film as it portrayed the life of "a little brown man in a loin cloth" - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi - an Indian lawyer, an anti-colonial nationalist and a political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule. In subsequent years this film lost a great deal of favour in the West - but then history today is often ignored or looked at from a weird perspective by today's generation without understanding the nuances experienced by people in the past. However, nobody could deny the brilliance of the central performance by newcomer Ben Kingsley who became an instant star with his superb portrayal. The screenplay has a strong tendency to shine a few too many saintly lights on the title character - he was far from a saint in real life although in some quarters he is put high up on a spotless pedestal, but there is no denying how his movement for civil rights and freedom inspired similar calls all across the world. The film's extreme length is also cause for concern today - the endless shots of a train moving cross country are actually quite moving as it shows the vast countryside and its people who lay trapped for centuries by the British and who were soon going to witness changes brought forth by a collective team of leaders with Gandhi at the forefront. Ravi Shankar's lovely score movingly accompanies many of the montage sequences in the film. Kingsley is surrounded by a superb cast of international actors who appear in small but extremely vivid parts - from India there is Amrish Puri, Roshan Seth, Om Puri, Rohini Hattangady (who won the Bafta award playing Gandhi's activist wife), Saeed Jaffrey, Alyque Padamsee, Sheeram Lagoo, Supriya Pathak, Neena Gupta, Alok Nath, Mohan Agashe, Jalal Agha, K.K. Raina, Nana Palsikar, Pankaj Kapur, Dalip Tahil, Tom Alter - and from Hollywood and around the world, Martin Sheen, Candice Bergen (as Margaret Bourke White), Edward Fox (as General Dyer of the infamous Jallianwala Bagh massacre), Trevor Howard, Sir John Gielgud, Sir John Mills, Ian Charleson, Geraldine James, Ian Bannen, Sir John Clements, Richard Griffiths, Sir Nigel Hawthorne, Sir Michael Hordern, South African playwright-actor Athol Fugard, Winston Ntshona and Daniel Day-Lewis as a street hood. Hollywood showered the film with 8 Academy Awards (at the expense of Steven Spielberg who was in contention for E.T.) - for Best Picture, Kingsley, Attenborough, Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Production design and Costumes while the film's sound design, score and make-up were nominated.

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

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

Shamshera (Karan Malhotra, 2022) 3/10

When you run out of ideas in Bollywood you remake a South film or hark back to the 1970s to regurgitate an old chestnut. Here the dacoit genre gets a re-look but heavily enveloped in CGI. And what made Ranbir Kapoor delve into this action genre after staying away from the screen for four long years? Having built an excellent reputation by playing a spate of quirky or romantic characters in films here he seems to have fallen prey to "chilkaas" urging him on to play a larger than life action oriented character â la Amitabh Bachchan. While he gets the full-blown leading man treatment - gigantic closeups of his biceps, wild hair blowing in the wind, expert dancing and anguished and angry moments - the material is just too stale to accomodate his posturings. He also gets to play a double role - father & son - both dacoits. The time zone is during the British Raj where Shamshera (Ranbir Kapoor) and his band of merry men are tricked by a sadistic cop (Sanjay Dutt having a hoot of a time playing to the gallery) into getting caught and imprisoned. While trying to escape the dacoit is shot, captured and killed. But then the double role comes into play as 25-years later the dacoit's son - Balli (also RK) - goes into overdrive to do what his late dad could not accomplish. The face-off happens against both the Brits and the cop who started the ball rolling in the first place. The film has a strong whiff of "Thugs of Hindustan", also produced by Aditya Chopra - one would think he would have more sense considering that film laid a huge egg at the boxoffice. Pretty Vaani Kapoor plays the feisty love interest who has three dance numbers with Dacoit Jr., but does not have much to do otherwise. The screenplay is the type where it is not sure of its audience following the plot so repeated flashbacks are invoked to remind people what is happening on screen. When the filmmakers have zero knowledge about the kind of audience out there how can they expect their product to be accepted. This has been one of numerous huge Bollywood productions that have flopped miserably this year. Overlong film has outstanding production design and was shot on stunning Ladakh locations.

Out of the Blue (Neil LaBute, 2022) 5/10

It's rather disconcerting when the rhythm of the dialogue in a film noir moves at a snail's pace. One is on edge wanting to fast forward the actors' speech. Noir elements abound in this pulpy film - sexy woman (Diane Kruger), who we first see in a red swimsuit on a beach, charms a young librarian (Ray Nicholson), and then later meets up with him wearing large dark glasses hinting at marital violence. He recommends that she reads "The Postman Always Rings Twice" - quite appropriate because Ray Nicholson's dad - Jack - starred in a film version of that story, and a table plays just as important a role here as it did in Jack's. It would not be wrong to say, like father like son. In fact two tables get played on along with assorted other venues as murder plays on the mind of the illicit lovers. The plot moves in the obvious direction but then suddenly goes off the rail leading to a last minute twist. Pity it all moves so slowly and by now the sap who gets involved in such a plot must surely know where it is all leading to. But I suppose if he did then he wouldn't be a sap. Sadly nothing new here and what there is gets a by-the-numbers presentation. Hank Azaria, as a parole officer, livens things up with his foul mouth.

Introduced a friend of mine to Broadway Danny Rose last night. The way that Allen introduces Danny Rose is fantastic. Eight brisk minutes. Danny's character, strengths, and weaknesses are on display, we know we can laugh at Danny and with him, and then we're going to be told the Greatest Danny Rose story. As a writer, Allen makes it look effortlessly easy but it's actually a series of smart choices that tell us everything we need to buckle us in for the journey and familiarize Danny to us like an old friend within minutes. We know he's an idealistic loser. He's a legendarily unsuccessful talent manager. We know he's in for inevitable tragedy. I also love how it's a moral film about how to live your life. I'm not just talking about the clash between Danny's faith in a moral code to Tina's vision of a universe of chaos and free will (it never feels on equal footing) but when Danny learns that he inadvertently got a client beat up when he was just doing his best. There's something very moving about good people who learn they have to be a little better. And it's a heartbreaker when Lou drops him. It's ultimately a little too much of a lark, it walks a wobbly tightrope between pathos and silly, perfunctory plotting, but there are no good guys or bad guys, and it's increasingly the Woody Allen movie I'm most excited to introduce people. It gets such a fantastic reaction every time.

Increasingly one of my favorite Woody Allen line-readings comes in his introduction after introducing his glass-player: "... but for you, I'll give you the old price. (instant deadpan) Which is anything you want to give me. Anything at all."

Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962) - 8/10 - We get to see two hours in the life of a young singer who is awaiting the results of a test to see if she has cancer. Many of her friends don't take her concerns seriously. It's beautifully shot and we get to see a number of places in Paris as she travels around the city.

À Nos Amours (1983) - 8/10 - Sandrine Bonnaire stars as Suzanne, a 16 year old girl who won't sleep with her boyfriend, but starts sleeping with a number of men, including random strangers. Her father leaves the family, leaving the older brother in charge. The brother beats Suzanne for her behavior and how it affects their mother. Bonnaire was very good and I also liked Maurice Pialat as the father.

The Proud and Profane (1956) - 8/10 - A Red Cross volunteer (Deborah Kerr) arrives in the South Pacific, hoping to be able to visit the place where her husband died on Guadalcanal. She is full of self-pity and comes under the sell of a rough and mean colonel (William Holden). A number of experiences in the islands serve to change her. Kerr and Holden are pretty good as is Thelma Ritter in a supporting role.

Take a Letter, Darling (1942) - 7.5/10 - In a reversal of typical gender roles, Rosalind Russell is a successful advertising executive who hires Fred MacMurray to be her personal secretary. Russell plans to use MacMurray as eye candy to help land accounts, but starts to fall for him. It's a fun romantic comedy.

The Big Clock (1948) - 8/10 - The editor of a crime magazine (Ray Milland) wants to go on his honeymoon with his wife (Maureen O'Sullivan). It has been postponed for a long time due to the demands of his job. He finally gets away, but has to return when he realizes that he is being framed for a murder and he has to figure it out before they pin it on him. A nice noir film with a fair amount of humor,.

The Double Life of Veronique (1991) - 8/10 - A young woman named Weronika is an aspiring singer in Poland. She has an identical, but unrelated, twin named Veronique who is a French music teacher. Weronika auditions for a job with an orchestra and Veronique pursues a relationship with a puppeteer.

Cairo Station (1958) - 8.5/10 - The story revolves around people who make their living at Cairo Station. Hanuma is a young woman who sells cold drinks to passengers. Her fiance, Abu Siri, is a porter who wants to set up a union. Qinawai walks with a limp, sells newspapers, isn't quite right in the head, and is obsessed with women, especially Hanuma. I enjoyed this one quite a bit.

I'm not sure how many times I've seen JFK. It's certainly a better film when you're fourteen and you just know less about the world. I can see it more clearly now for what it is: a dazzling work of expressionism about a pretty insane lawsuit. But I still find it pretty intoxicating. Maybe that's because left-wing conspiracies are just better, maybe he just does an excellent job of selling Costner's Mr. Smith getting lost in a web of conspiracies (Stone makes excellent use of Costner), or maybe it's because I like the fact that I just think it's so wild that this big budget gonzo feat of expressionism about a post-assassination world turned upside-down exists in the first place. It's just such a remarkable piece of craft, with its astonishing editing and Robert Richardson cinematography which makes every scene feel like it's under the interrogator's lamp (my choice for best of the dp's career). I always just end up getting sucked into it even though I know too much about Kennedy now to fully buy into its myth-building. I also find some of its more problematic ideas so weirdly interesting, like how Oliver Stone completely deifies Garrison and his family and pits their sanctity against the unnaturality of this new world order (its depiction of gay lifestyle is pretty indefensible; did those parties exist?) or how at the end of the second act Garrison's wife forgives him instantly upon Bobby Kennedy's assassination with a "My God, you were right about everything" and they make love (truly, that's the most left-wing wish fulfillment in the film). Or how the entire film pivots around the framing of a totally fruitless, baseless lawsuit as an act of civic duty.

I think what I love about JFK is that while I watch it, it almost manages to still persuade me and I miss the part of me that could be persuaded by this type of agitprop. I still like JFK very much.


I'm also certain that I didn't understand Life is Sweet when I first watched it as a teenager, especially that the Nicola character was a college leftist-turned-bulimic "slacktivist." I wouldn't call Life is Sweet a conservative film per se, but it's clearly a portrait of the working class family unit as a force of good. They'd certainly be a lot happier if they had more money, but Nicola's twin sister Natalie is a plumber who saves up to go on a trip to America and that's generally a good thing. Nicola on the other hand had a nervous breakdown and all she can do is lash out at everyone around her with labels. Today, she wouldn't just be labeled a negative stereotype of an SJW, I'd say the film wouldn't work because she'd be online all day. She might even cultivate a following. She wouldn't feel alone, which is the moment of catharsis that the film presents for her redemption. I didn't spend all the film thinking about that but it was hard for me not to because she's easily the most compelling character in the film, but it certainly crossed my mind how many Nicolas are online right now and really need help. There's a pretty remarkable conversation between the twins about how every man is a potential rapist that I think would go a little differently today.

The film itself is good. I mainly recommend it for how it moves along in unconventional ways, letting us pick up new details about the characters slowly but surely until we realize that that's the story. It's a nice to surprise to learn that Jim Broadbent is actually a chef of some regard, although you'd think he would be more savvy about starting his own business. I've heard that Mike Leigh resists the label "kitchen sink" to describe his films; well, sorry, bud. The whole cast is quite good with one exception: I just couldn't stand Timothy Spall's Aubrey. I found him so abrasive and obnoxious. I suppose I like the idea of a character like this presenting some form of conflict in the second half of the film and I understand the need for a little comic relief but he presented none for me. Good but perhaps a bit overrated.


Similarly, I've seen My Own Private Idaho in bits and pieces over the years and my reaction is almost always split: Shakespeare parts suck, non-Shakespeare parts are great. I can't say I wholeheartedly like the Shakespeare parts now but I like them more than I ever have. They give you a sense of family that I don't totally believe, but while I watch the film I want to. They're also more conceptually playful than playful, but I think they add to the whole of a film that's always leaping through time and place and darting expectation. A leap into Shakespeare is certainly that. Siskel and Ebert remarked acutely about what a challenge it must have been to create a dramatic structure around someone who's always falling asleep (they also said the film was "challenging," which idk). Gus Van Sant does a great job of structuring the film by contrasting Scott's destiny (he's going to find success and leave) Mike's lack of a destiny (always reaching anti-climax, even when he's awake). Mike's journey to meet his mother goes nowhere, but it's all the more haunting because Scott is such a spotlit presence throughout the film. He's a tourist who's very confident in his eventual exit strategy. That Mike's search for his mother ends in a dead end that also results in him losing Scott to a woman is so tragic. It's like Mike's hopes and dreams don't matter anymore, but because Gus Van Sant shows us the presence of his mother and tiny glimpses of what's been lost, they matter to us. Jess King wrote in her book "Inclusive Screenwriting for Film and Television" that straight lives tend to follow a three act pattern of finding a mate, having children, etc., but queer lives are always in loops. For example, a queer person will likely always have to keep coming out to people. My Own Private Idaho is a great example of how to make those loops dramatic, full of life, and haunting. It's also funnier and wittier than I remember. Like when Mike talks about having a normal life, a Dad, a Mom, and a dog, and Scott remarks "You didn't have a normal dog?"

Keanu Reeves also grew on me this viewing. This isn't normal Keanu space cadet line-reading. He plays Scott as an entitled tourist, confident in his exit strategy, which just draws other people close. It's as good as I've ever seen him. It remains impossible to watch River Phoenix in this role without wondering what could have been. This is an excellent film, possibly my favorite Gus Van Sant film, but certainly the one I would recommend to anyone as the best example of who he is and what he does.

Our Very Own (1950) - 8/10 - 18 year old Gail (Ann Blyth) is only a few days from graduation when an an argument with her younger sister Joan (Joan Evans) reveals that she was adopted as a baby. Her world is turned upside down and she wants to find and meet her birth mother. Natalie Wood steals the show during the opening segment as Gail's perky baby sister Penny. She talks almost non-stop at times and bugs the heck out of the man installing the family's new tv.

The Tragedy of Macbeth (1971) - 8/10 - This is a very bloody, but good adaptation of the Shakespeare tale. I liked it more than the more recent adaptation.

Playtime (1967) - 8.5/10 - Jacques Tati stars as Monsieur Hulot travels around an ultra-modern Paris, often running into a group of American tourists. Much of the humor is in the form of visual gags with the office setting being my favorite. I didn't like the restaurant setting quite as much, but it still had its share of fun. Very entertaining.

The Man in the Iron Mask (1939) - 8/10 - Louis Hayward stars as Louis XIV and as his twin brother Philippe in this adaptation of the Alexander Dumas story. We also get the Four Musketeers in supporting roles and Joan Bennett as as Spanish princess. It was pretty entertaining and well done.

Shunko (1960) - 8/10 - A new teacher (Lautaro Murúa) arrives in a small village in Argentina. Their only classroom is a set of benches and a blackboard under a tree. Parents are resistant to sending their kids because they don't see the value or want them to work in the fields. The teacher slowly wins the students and parents over and learns from them as well. I liked this one a lot.

Treeless Mountain (2008) - 8/10 - Two little girls are left with their paternal aunt when their mother decides to try and track down their estranged father. The aunt is an alcoholic and doesn't really want the kids so they are often left to their own devices. Some won't like the film due to a lack of action or the slowness as the girls hope and wait for their mother to return, but I think it is a very good film with a nice performance from the older sister.

Passenger 57 (Kevin Hooks, 1992) 6/10

Probably Wesley Snipes' first lead role after making striking appearances in smaller roles for Spike Lee, Abel Ferrera and Mario Van Peebles. B-movie heroics in this fast moving action-thriller that fits into the hijacker-on-a-plane genre. An airline security expert (Wesley Snipes) finds himself confronting a vicious terrorist (Bruce Payne with a drippy Brit accent) on an airplane. The cat-and-mouse game that ensues between the two, both in the air and on the ground, results in several cold-blooded deaths, chase sequences and a whole lotta fistfights and kicking action. Snipes is great fun passing wisecracks â la Bruce Willis (in Die Hard) while Payne brings to mind Alan Rickman (also Die Hard) and Jeremy Irons (The Lion King & Die Hard III) who also played similar dripping-with-sarcasm lethal characters. The script here steals from a number of films that came before it while a number of films that came later stole generously from this one. This was Elizabeth Hurley's first Hollywood production playing a sassy stewardess.

End of Summer (Linda Yellin, 1995) 5/10

Old fashioned drama that takes a dash of Henry James, mixes it with a subtle Merchant-Ivory sheen and then unfortunately wraps it up in a stale Harlequin romance cover. A spinster (the gorgeous Jacqueline Bisset), who takes her yearly holiday at an upstate New York resort, finds herself face to face with an old lover (Peter Weller) she knew years before when they were both students. Secretly glad to meet up again she looks forward to a renewed romance when their friend's young daughter (Amy Locane) comes between them. Chaste drama - Bisset is all wound up in pride and the puritanical mores of the late 19th century - has sudden moments of soft core sex scenes between Weller and Locane, while Julian Sands, as an irreverent clergyman, gets it off also with a local maid which ends in a pregnancy and a suicide attempt. Best of all is Elizabeth Shepherd as a society matron who is not above indulging in a little blackmail on the side which she gracefully conceals under a smiling facade.

Jugjugg Jeeyo (Raj Mehta, 2022) 5/10

Comedy about failed marital relationships set within the confines of a boistrous and colorful Punjabi wedding. A young married couple (Varun Dhawan & Kiara Advani), stuck in a stale marriage, decide on divorce but agree to stick together until his sister's wedding is over. Trying to break this news to his father (Anil Kapoor) he gets a shock when the man announces that he is in love with another woman (Tisca Chopra) and wants to divorce his mother (Neetu Kapoor). Pandemonium ensues as the father feigns a heart attack to deflect from the news, his daughter, the bride, wants to back out of her own marriage to be with the man she really loves while the bewildered young couple try to give support to the various family members who are going through crisis. The screenplay uses stereotypes as a means to be funny which often backfires. Kapoor overacts shamelessly and in comparison an obnoxious Manish Paul, the film's actual comic relief, comes off looking good. It was a pleasure to see Neetu Singh making her comeback after years and is radiant throughout. She, along with the marvelous Kiara Advani, are the only two reasons to watch this rather silly film. And yes, Karan Johar (he produced) manages to wring the obligatory lashings of tears via his dramatic set-ups as family members confront each other and melodramatic dialogue gets spoken.

Tarzan Goes to India (John Guillermin, 1962) 6/10

When elephants and other wild animals are threatened by the construction of a much needed dam in India a dying Maharaja (Murad) sends for Tarzan (Jock Mahoney) to help the animals. Shot in and around Madras (now Chennai) the film is typical of its kind - lots of wild life footage (mongoose attacking cobra, rampaging elephants, a leopard attack), and because the location this time is India we get two local actors, who would go on to be popular Bollywood stars, play supporting roles - Simi Garewal as the sympathetic Maharaja's daughter and Tarzan's ally and Feroz Khan as an engineer who opposes the plan to save the elephants. Fairly exciting entry in the long running series of films made on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Veteran stuntman Jock Mahoney was finally cast in the lead role after auditioning years before and succeeded a long line of actors who played "Lord of the Apes" - Johnny Weissmüller, Lex Barker, and Gordon Scott. Mahoney would appear in two Tarzan films but later gained notoriety as the step-father of actress Sally Field who had repeatedly molested her sexually when she was a child until age 14 which she wrote about years later in her autobiography. Must be the nature of the role because previous Tarzan Lex Barker, when married to Lana Turner, also repeatedly sexually abused her young daughter.

The Verdict (Sidney Lumet, 1982) 9/10

Down and out alcoholic lawyer (Paul Newman), is given an impossible case - a woman during childbirth goes into a coma after reacting badly to the anesthesia administered at a hospital owned by the Church. Her family members want to settle out of court in order to use the money to keep the victim comfortable in hospital. Thinking he can win a huge settlement the lawyer, against the wishes of the victim's family, decides to take the case to court. The Church retaliates with full guns blazing by hiring a top attorney (James Mason) to fight the case. Things do not go as expected - the opposing attorney has a well-oiled firm of lawyers at his beck and call, the girl's family react angrily, a key witness disappears, the judge (Milo O'Shea) is hostile and a new love interest (Charlotte Rampling) proves to be seriously disappointing leading to an unexpected dramatic moment between the two. Tautly directed film is superbly anchored by Newman's outstanding central performance as the pathetic drunk who is moved enough by the comatose woman to bring her some dignity and in turn find some semblance of redemption for himself. He is ably supported by the wonderful cast, with memorable turns also by Jack Warden as the lawyer's close pal and Lindsay Crouse as a crucial witness. Shot almost entirely on indoor sets or locations - in dark offices, hospital wards, and the courtroom. Andrzej Bartkowiak's stunning camera work gives the film a noirish feel. The literate screenplay by David Mamet (based on the book by Barry Reed) was nominated for an Academy Award as were the film, Newman, James Mason and Sidney Lumet.